A/N: I'm sorry for the wait! I'm still getting back in the swing of things and we've had some family tragedies recently. But we're getting through it. Thank you guys for reading. Soon it should be back to normal. I hope you enjoy this.

This was requested by Spiritblaze

Story Fifteen

Darry and Johnny

"He's Mine"

Darry pushed the truck into park and turned it off, unable to make himself get out. He took a deep breath to steady himself and wondered vaguely if he should be home instead. He should be with Ponyboy right now. But when his parents had died this gang had become his responsibility. He had to be here for him.

Exhaling slowly, Darry got out of the truck and went inside the hospital. Each hallway seemed long and never-ending, like a nightmare. But this entire week had been like a nightmare. Numbly, Darry stopped near the door, watching a couple walk out of the room. They looked like they were in their thirties. The couple looked tired, the woman had tears in her eyes.

He went to squeeze past them and the man stopped him. "Is he yours?"

Thrown off guard, Darry eyed him. What exactly was he being asked? Was he his son? Surely not. It was obvious that Darry couldn't be the father of a sixteen-year-old. "I… He's my buddy," he finally answered lamely.

The man gave him a small, sad smile. "You should be proud," he said after a moment. "He's a brave boy."

The woman nodded her head. "We're very grateful." Her voice broke and her husband moved away with her, his arm around her.

Darry slowly moved to the bed and sat down. He was rather surprised that a nurse or a doctor hadn't stopped him, although he also didn't expect to see a random couple in here. "Hey, Johnnycake."

Johnny didn't even look up. "Hey…" Darry winced at the sound of his friend's voice. Johnny didn't sound like himself, he sounded broken and weak. He sounded like he was dying. Darry felt like there was lead in his stomach as he wet his lips, trying to find words.

"That couple…?" he finally settled on asking.

"They came to thank me," Johnny rasped. "For saving their kids." They lapsed into silence again.

Why did I not spend more time with Johnny Cade? He asked himself.

He knew the answer and it made him feel sick. There was always something else to do. He was always working or trying and failing to relax, or thinking about other things. Before his parents died, he'd been studying or playing football with the others as a group, or helping Soda get through being a teenager.

"They ain't the first," Johnny said quietly.

Darry looked at him, jolted out of his daze. "What?"

"They ain't the first. People have been… been coming."

Darry brought his hand up rested it over his mouth, his elbow on his knee. He bit at his fingernail as he thought this over. Johnny Cade deserved more than thanks and a few visitors. He deserved his name all over the news, he deserved to find love, he deserved to live. But he was a greaser and his chances weren't good and life wasn't fair.

"Good," he said, his voice little more than a croak. "How are you feeling?"

"It hurts sometimes," he admitted. He looked at Darry then and Darry could see his dark eyes clouded with pain that he wouldn't admit.

"Darry, I need you to do this for me, okay?"

"Mom, I've got a math test and-"

"Darry. Please. I have to take care of your brother." His mother's eyes told him not to argue. Darry chewed on his lower lip and nodded. He went out onto the porch and sat down beside Johnny Cade, who was staring at his shoe.

"Hey," Darry said.

"Hey…"

Darry cast his eyes toward the sky. The instructions of "find out what's bothering him" were harder to fulfill than one might thing. They didn't often discuss this kind of thing.

"You don't got to sit with me," Johnny said finally.

Darry blinked at him in surprise as Johnny turned his dark eyes to him. As their eyes met, Darry's blue and Johnny's black, Darry felt guilt swimming in his stomach. How could he have thought math was more important than this?

"I know," he said quietly and he instantly knew he'd said the right thing. Johnny's dark eyes flashed with a quick but noticeable gratitude before he turned away again.

"What's going on Johnnykid?"

"Nothin'."

Darry leaned back on his hands. "We know you too well for that."

"It's nothin' new," Johnny whispered.

"I want to hear it anyway."

Silence followed his words and Darry watched his younger friend carefully. "Are they fighting?"

Johnny flinched. It wasn't noticeable, not really. But Darry had been watching for any kind of clue in the other boy and there it was. He softened his voice and asked, "Are they dragging you in it?" Darry took the silence as his answer. "Man, you shouldn't have to put up with that. You didn't do anything wrong."

"No," Johnny said quietly. "They told me to get out. That's it. They just wanted me out."

"Isn't that better than being beat on?" Darry asked.

"I don't know," Johnny said slowly. "At least they acknowledge me when they're hitting on me."

Darry had always known that Johnny Cade had it rough. But as he watched him now, it hit him harder than ever before. When a child was so neglected that he would almost rather be hit, there was something more than wrong.

What could he say to make this right? Was there anything? He sat for a long time, unsure of how to make it better. He didn't know how to do anything even close to making it better, but he knew he had to do something.

And it was then that he knew that what Johnny needed was attention.

He hit Johnny lightly on the knee and got up. "Come on."

Johnny looked at him for a moment before getting up. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to play football." Darry leaped off the porch and grabbed a football off the ground.

Johnny hesitated on the steps. "Should I get the others?"

"It'll just be us today I think," Darry said. "That okay?"

And Johnny Cade's face lit up.

How had Darry neglected Johnny after their exchange, even if it was years ago? They were friends. Darry was supposed to look out for all of them. He thought back to the couple leaving the room.

Is he yours?

The answer came to him now.

Yes.

"Do you ever get angry?" Darry asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"You shouldn't be here, kid. You deserve it least."

Johnny gave him a small smile. "They needed me."

That was it. For once, Johnny had felt needed. Oh, the gang needed him plenty but now Darry was aware of how little they let him know that. He closed his eyes, pain gripping his heart so hard that it felt like it might explode. In that fire, Johnny had finally felt needed.

"We need you," Darry whispered.

Johnny was saved responding by a young woman entering the room.

"I just wanted to thank you," she said quietly. "You saved my little sister. We're all we have left and I… I don't know what I would have done."

Darry blinked and fixed his eyes on the floor. He knew that feeling. What would he and his brothers have done without Johnny Cade? Would Ponyboy even be alive right now?

The woman only stayed for a few more minutes before she turned to leave. Darry looked after her and said, "Thank you for coming."

She looked back at him for a moment before asking, "So he's yours?"

"He's mine," Darry said. He could feel Johnny's eyes on him as he spoke.

"You must be proud."

"I've always been proud of him."

She gave him a sad smile before leaving.

Darry looked back at his friend, who was watching him as if he was just understanding just how much he meant to them.

"So," Johnny whispered finally, "is anyone else coming?"

"I think it's just us," Darry said quietly. "That okay?"

And Johnny Cade smiled.