A little note before this chapter. It takes place on the day after Ponyboy gets jumped. I know, it'll seem really confusing, but bear with me. It'll all tie together.

Also, there's a bit of swearing. Cover your ears ;)

The sun shined through the front window on to Johnny's face. It woke him up, yawning and stretching out. He had still been on the chair that he was sitting on when Two-Bit and Steve left. They had returned last night, but not until late. He was a light and nervous sleeper, so he had jumped up and dropped the knife that Steve gave him. He hadn't needed to use it at all. Dally had come back a few hours before Two-Bit, Steve, and Sodapop. He hadn't said anything, and in the darkness Johnny couldn't tell if he had gotten into a fight. He didn't bother asking, either. He just flopped on the couch and fell asleep.

He was ultimately brought back to the night he got jumped, with a more fearful perspective. He was petrified and frozen into place. He didn't want to go home, but he didn't want to be a burden, though no one would really mind. When Sodapop came home, he sat on the couch next to him and rambled on and on for what felt like hours. Johnny listened absent-mindedly, trying his best to nod in the right places and keep himself from falling back asleep. Sodapop didn't seem like his normal self at all.

"I just hope he's gonna be alright, Johnnycake. I just hope he's gonna be alright," he repeated again and again.

Johnny didn't know exactly what was wrong with Pony yet, but didn't care to ask. He didn't want to upset them all over again. They all seemed pretty shaken up and upset, so he knew it must be bad. Sodapop was shaking like a maniac and clenching and unclenching his fists. His hair was a crazy mess, probably from his nervous habit of running his hands through it when stressed.

In the morning, everybody was exactly in the same place. Dally on one of the couches, Steve on the other, and Two-Bit on the floor. Soda was in his and Pony's room, which he must have retired to once Johnny had fallen asleep while he was talking to him. Now that Johnny could see the Dally sleeping, he could tell that his knuckles that were hanging over the side of the couch were bruised and bloodied, his face unscathed.

He knew when Dally left that he would find who had hurt Pony. Him and Pony were not very close, but an attack on one of your friends may as well be an attack on yourself. It was the principle. He had found out who had hurt Johnny when he got jumped, and made sure that they paid for it.

Johnny stood up and picked up the switchblade on the ground. He went into the bathroom, and splashed some cold water onto his face. Boy, was he upset. He just wished that stuff like this didn't happen. Pony was just a kid, even though he was pretty big. He never went around asking for trouble, either. He saw how different he was from his brothers, and hated to think that he would turn hard like Dally or permanently defensive like Steve. Pony was better than that. Better than all of them, really.

He was staring at the sink when he felt two heavy hands on his shoulders. He jumped a mile, banging his forehead on the mirror pretty hard. He started shaking quite a bit before realizing it was Two-Bit behind him in the mirror.

"Come on, man!" Johnny said, touching where a bump was forming. "What's wrong with you?"

Two-Bit pulled Johnny close and rubbed his head. "Sorry, Johnny-kid. Just trying to lighten the mood."

"By bruising me like an apple?"

"Aw, don't say that Johnny-cake. You're a cantaloupe, at least." Two-Bit laughed. As much as Johnny could tell that Two-Bit was trying to relieve some of the tension, there was a layer of sadness and anxiety that he couldn't hide.

"How's Pony?" Johnny asked quietly. The question escaped his mouth before he realized that he didn't even really want to know.

There was a pause, but Two-Bit took a deep breath. "He'll be okay. That's all you gotta know, Johnny-cake."

Johnny rubbed his head. "No. I want to know what happened to him." The words sounded weird coming out of his mouth. He was never this assertive with anyone. He didn't like being treated like a baby when he was the same age as Sodapop. He deserved to know as much as anyone.

"Well, shit. Okay." He stopped for a second before continuing. He lowered his voice. "They stabbed him in the stomach, and cut his throat. He's bruised all over the place. God, is he bruised all over. And I think some of his ribs are broken. Plus he has a concussion. He's just rattled is all. Darry says he'll be okay in a few days." He rambled quickly, knowing that the last part was partly a lie. Darry didn't guarantee that he would be okay, but if everybody believed it, then it would happen eventually, right?

Johnny swallowed his breath, taken back a bit. He didn't think that they had stabbed him. He couldn't believe it. Suddenly, he was curious as to what Dally found out. He couldn't find it in himself to feel bad if he had jumped them right back, but knew that it wouldn't solve anything.

He couldn't find the right words to respond. Finally, he asked if Soda was okay. He protected Ponyboy with his life.

"Darry won't let him stay at the hospital, and it's making him upset. Don't mention anything about it to him, though. He finally calmed down about it."

Johnny nodded understandingly. Just then, Dally walked in. He cracked his back and stretched nonchalantly, yawning. Johnny and Two-Bit sat there expectedly, waiting for him to talk about what happened last night. He went to the bathroom and went back into the living room.

Two-Bit followed him out quickly, grabbing Dally's shoulder and spinning him around, then quickly realizing who he was spinning around and pulled his hand away faster than lightning.

"What's the hell?" Dally asked nonchalantly.

"Your knuckles are all bloody. Care to share?"

Dally examined his knuckles as if it were the first time he had seen them in years.

"Oh, yeah. I suppose they are," he said sarcastically.

"C'mon man," Johnny finally snapped at Dally. "Tell us what happened."

Dally raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I will, kid. I just don't think you're gonna want to stick around to hear it."

"Yeah, Johnny. You might not want to-"

"I can stay," Johnny stated firmly.

Dally put his arms up nonchalantly, then ushered for everyone to take a seat. Steve sprawled out on to the couch, groggily rubbing his eyes. He was intrigued. Dally leaned forward into the circle that the gang was forming.

"I'm only gonna say this once. No questions asked. Are we clear?" he asked everyone. When nobody responded, he continued.

"After I left, I went down to Buck's to see if anyone saw anything. Of course, no one did. Bunch of drunk son-of-a-bitches. Then I went down to the park, where we found the same assholes who jumped Johnny. There was a group of kids, but said they didn't know anything. So, I had to make sure they were telling the truth."

"You beat up some random kids, Dal?" Two-Bit asked, annoyed.

"Don't sell me that crap. All Socs are guilty of somethin'," Dally said, annoyed. "Are you gonna let me finish?" he asked Two-Bit with raised eyebrows.

"They told me they didn't do it, but they knew who did. One of their friend's older brothers or some shit like that. I 'dunno. So, I took names and appearances. They asked me what I would do if I found them. One of them asked if I was gonna kill them," he said with a laugh.

"Did you find them?" Steve asked.

Dally shook his head. "No. I'm going to look today. I swear, when I get my hands on them, though-"

"You're not going to do anything," Two-Bit interjected. "You can't." Everybody turned to him, astonished.

"The hell I can't. You're just going to let a bunch of no good Socs get away with jumping the kid?" Dally accused, pushing his finger into Two-Bit's face and swearing under his breath.

Two-Bit swatted the hand away. "Cut it out. I mean if you beat up the Socs by yourself... I mean, now... It wouldn't do no good. You'd jump them, they'd get some cuts and bruises, the end. Everything would go back to normal. We have to make sure that they know that they can't mess with us anymore."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Steve asked sarcastically, as if anything would get through the Socs' thick skulls. It was a never-ending cycle. Socs jump greasers, greasers jump Socs. The only difference was that the Socs had money. Getting jumped by greasers was completely meaningless to them.

Two-Bit shook his head. "I don't know. But we can't gang up on them. Not yet. We have to wait..."

"For what?! For them to kill one of us?" Steve asked, jumping up. "They put Soda's kid brother in hospital, for Christ's sake."

"If we go out and gang up on them now, they would know they have the upper hand. That's how it's always been. Ask Johnny," he said, motioning to Johnny then ultimately regretting it. Johnny being jumped was a highly sensitive subject with everyone. Two-Bit knew better than to bring it up in front of Johnny or in front of the rest of the gang at all, but needed to prove a point. This time it had to be different. "Sorry, Johnny, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's true. Fighting doesn't do no good. Why can't we just worry about Pony right now?"

Dallas and Steve's demeanor calmed at Johnny's words. Johnny normally didn't speak up for himself but when he did, it was worth listening to. Dally rubbed his eyes.

"Whatever. We'll wait for a few days to see what happens with the kid. How is he doing, anyway?"

Steve shook his head. "Not good. We weren't there for long... but not good."

"He'll be okay in a few days," Two-Bit said, reassuring the gang for Johnny's sake. "He's beat up now, but Darry's with him and he just needs a few days to get better, that's all."

"Then what's the deal with Soda?" Dally asked with an incredulous scoff. Dally wasn't too close with Sodapop, but he didn't have to be to pick up on his demeanor.

"He thinks it's his fault. Darry won't let him stay at the hospital," Steve explained bleakly.

"Don't talk to him about it," Two-Bit added. "Darry said we have to try to convince him to go to work today."

"Good luck with that," Dally scoffed.

"Good luck with what?" a groggy voice from behind the gang asked. Nobody had even heard Sodapop wake up or walk into the kitchen. Now that he was looking at them with eyebrows raised and hair disheveled, the conversation became awkward and everybody looked away.

"Really, tell me," Sodapop pushed on, seemingly calm. He walked over to the icebox in his underwear and stocking feet. He pulled out a chocolate cake and set it on the table. Two-Bit and Steve exchanged incredulous looks, wondering where the irrational Sodapop from last night went.

Steve shook his head and stood up. "Nothing. Let's go get ready for work." He started walking toward Sodapop.

"I'm not going to work."

Two-Bit joined Steve, hoping that he'd help knock some sense into Soda. "You heard your brother, Soda. He wants you to go to work, then we'll all go see Ponyboy afterwards."

"Darry doesn't know what's best for me. I need to be with Pony."

"You will be. Once you get out of work," Steve pressed. "You can't help Pony with no money."

Sodapop shook his head stubbornly. "You don't get it. You don't have a brother. If you were in my situation, you'd do the same thing."

"We are in the same situation," Two-Bit said. "Ponyboy is like a little brother to us, too. We love the kid and want to see him, just like you. But we care about you, too, Soda. We're not tellin' you not to go see Ponyboy at all. Just wait until after work."

Sodapop rolled his eyes at Two-Bit trying to be serious and sympathetic.

Sodapop stormed past Steve and Two-Bit, finally exasperated. "Well, I can't wait," he said, walking into his room and slamming the door.

The gang exchanged looks, wondering what the heck was going on.

"I need a drink," Two-Bit announced. Steve looked at the clock: 9:27 a.m.

I love the passion & enthusiasm you all have for this story. Thanks for loving it like I do :)