A.N. Ok, I lied. I'm not sure if it will be 2 or 3 chapters more. I know I'm writing an epilogue, but this may or may not be the last chapter. We'll see how much I write in this chapter.

Scout POV

Thefirst thing I felt a numb feeling spreading throughout my body. As my body slowly woke up I became more aware of my surroundings. I began to hear a murmur of voices in the background and warmth in my left hand. I groaned slightly and opened my eyes. I was greeted by a white ceiling. Then it was Two-bit's face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, kiddo. We were worried sick about you."

"Ponyboy, Dally, Johnny", I heard myself say, "where are they?" I began to panic.

"Get out of the way, Two-bit. Hey calm down, kid, they're gonna be fine", the voice sounded firm yet soft, cold yet warm, worried yet comforting. It was Darry. I turned my head to the side and saw Darry sitting in a chair next to my bed. His face was creased with worry, but a smile graced it. I threw myself upon him and began to weep.

"Darry, Darry, I'm s-so s-sorry." He shushed me quietly and rubbed my back.

"Everything is going to be ok." I calmed down.

"What happened?"

"You, Johnny, Pony, and Dally saved a bunch of children from a fire." I remembered that. "The parents think you guys are the bravest teens they have ever heard of." Wow. "Pony is fine, just a few minor burns and smoke inhalation." Good, Dally's jacket must have taken the flames. "Dally burned his arm putting out a fire on Ponyboy and moving some burning rubble. He'll be fine too." Of course Dally'll be fine. Dallas Winston can handle anything. "Your left leg was burned severely. They gave you morphine so it won't hurt. It'll take a while, but you will be fine." You have to be fine, is what he meant. But, I'm sure I'll be ok. I'm a Curtis.

"What about Johnny?" Darry hesitated.

"Johnny, well." Darry sighed. Oh my gosh, what happened to my Johnnycake. "The muscles in his back got all messed up. His back was also very badly burned. If he survives there is a chance he may never walk again." No, that isn't possible. Johnny's fine. Johnny IS fine. He has to be. I love him. He's not going to leave me, not ever, he can't! He won't, I won't let him!

Darry squeezed my hand. He must have noticed my panic.

"We're gonna have a rumble tonight. We are going to beat the socs for you and whop their asses from one end of this town to the other." I started giggling, Darry smiled at me. Darry always knew what to say. His smile meant everything. It meant he was happy I was happy; it meant I'm finally happy; it meant Johnny will be alright.

Darry kissed my forehead and I slowly fell back asleep.

THEOUTSIDERSTHEOUTSIDERSTHEOUTSIDERSTHEOUTSIDERS

The next time I woke up I was surrounded by the whole gang, except Johnny. They looked completely disgusting and bloody and sweaty, but they were smiling.

"We beat those damn socs! Kicked them out of our territory!" Steve jumped up and punched the air.

"You should have seen them run, the cowards." Dally said this pretty cooly, but I knew he was elated. Wait, Dally was in the rumble. I thought he was injured. I shook my head a little at the thought. Like anything would keep Dallas Winston away from a rumble.

"I bet they ran home crying. 'Mommy, protect me from the meany greasers'!" Soda imitated the socs laying all over Pony as he laughed. Two-bit cackled in his drunken state and Darry just shook his head smiling. I laughed sitting up.

"You want to see Johnny", Darry asked me. I nodded my head fiercely. Darry wheeled me down the hall in a wheelchair it Johnny's room.

"We'll give you two some time."

I looked over at Johnny. He was laid on his stomach looking at me from a mirror beneath his face. I grabbed his hand.

"How are you doing?"

"Good, the doctor said that with physical therapy I would walk again."

"Really, that makes me so happy Johnny!"

"Hey, Scout."

"Yeah."

"Can you see the sunset from your room?"

"Yeah, it's real pretty. All red and purple and orange streaking across the sky. The world taking one last breath before the sky grows dark. Why?"

"Just asking… Have you ever heard of Robert Frost?"

"He's only my favorite poet ever, why?"

"Nothing gold can stay."

"You know, Pony and I could never figure out what that meant."

"It means you're gold when you're a kid, like green. When you're a kid everything's new, dawn. It's just that when you get used to everything that it's day."

"How did you hear about the poem?"

"Pony told me one morning while you was sleeping. We saw the sun rise and everything, it was beautiful."

"You really figured it out, huh Johnny? I never thought of it that way."

"Scout, can you promise me something?"

"Sure."

"Promise me that you and Pony will always stay gold. Don't grow up too fast. Please, stay gold."

"Of course." I knew that moment everything would be fine. No matter what we went through, no matter how hard something was, we would always make it through. As long as we stayed gold.

A.N. This is the last chapter. I'm writing the epilogue right now and then the story will be finished.