Tuesday October 6th, 6:10 pm

Darry felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of his chest. Like something had been constricting his lungs and he hadn't been able to breathe and now he could finally take a deep breath.

When he had heard the front door open from where he had been standing in the kitchen, he'd been scared to get his hopes up, in case it wasn't his youngest brother at the door. But it had been. It had been him and Darry had yelled but only because he'd been so scared. Darry had crossed the room and crushed Ponyboy to him, thanking the heavens that his brother was home.

The poor kid was really shook up. He'd been covered in blood, eyes wide and scared. And while Darry still didn't really know the whole story, he knew whatever Ponyboy had been through today had been rough. But whatever it was he'd gone through, Darry would get him through it.

Darry had still been holding onto Pony, trying to offer up whatever comfort he could, when Daniel had called. Daniel told him that Daniel's brother and another detective were on their way over to get a statement from Ponyboy. While Darry was a little nervous about Pony being questioned by the cops, he was thankful that Daniel's brother would be one of the ones doing the questioning. Darry knew he was a good guy and would go easy on Pony.

He wished Soda was here, he'd be able to calm Ponyboy down. Darry also knew Soda must be going crazy with worry by this point. But he didn't have a way to get in touch with Soda, so he'd just have to do his best to comfort Pony until Soda got here.

And now they all sat there in the living room, Daniel's brother, Greg, or Detective McCoy as he had introduced himself, sat in the recliner next to the couch. Daniel and the other cop, Detective Mason, stood on the other side of coffee table. And tucked into his side was Ponyboy, so close that his arm was pressing into Darry's. Darry could feel the kid shaking, he tried to comfort him with a gentle squeeze on his knee.

"Okay Ponyboy, we just need you to tell us what happened, in your own words, for your official statement" said Detective McCoy. "You aren't in any trouble." He added, after noticing Ponyboy clutching his shaking hands.

Ponyboy started to recount what had happened. Detective McCoy mostly just let him talk, asking a clarifying question here and there.

"I ran into the locker room, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. Someone had run into me, knocked me down. I guess it knocked the wind out of me because I couldn't breathe right for a minute" Pony said, his voice quiet.

"And you didn't see who ran into you?"

Ponyboy shook his head. "No, it was too fast"

"Okay. And then what happened?"

Ponyboy took a big breath. "I…I caught my breath and then looked down. I had blood all over my clothes. It was all over the floor. And I saw him just laying there, I got real dizzy and I guess I passed out for a second."

Darry was dying to ask him again if he was hurt, but he didn't want to interrupt. He'd give Pony another once over after the cops left.

Ponyboy took a shuddering breath, trying to collect himself.

"I woke up and Matt was trying to stop the bleeding. He told me and Tommy to go call for help so we did. When we came back, Matt said he was dead."

Darry put an arm around Ponyboy and gave a squeeze, Pony leaned into Darry's touch.

"Ponyboy, Ray's wounds were fatal. There was nothing any of you could have done to save him." Detective McCoy said softly.

"Why don't you go get a glass of water, Pony?" Darry suggested gently. He could tell Pony was getting worked up and trying his hardest not to cry. He thought going to the kitchen to collect himself alone for a minute might help him finish a little easier.

Pony nodded and headed to the kitchen, trying to discreetly wipe his eyes as he went.

Darry watched him go, his heart breaking for him. The poor kid had already been through so much, and now this on top of it. Darry put his head in his hands, feeling overwhelmed and wondering how he'd be able to help Ponyboy cope through this newest tragedy. Daniel came over and gave Darry's shoulder a squeeze.

"He's a good kid, Darry. He'll be okay" Daniel said.

The front door opened. Standing there, with an expression of pure grief was, Soda.

"Darry" he said, his eyes filled with tears.

Darry knew instantly what Soda must be thinking. Before Darry could offer up any reassurance, there was the blur of a seasoned track star running across the room and crashing into Soda.

The look of shock on Soda's face would have been funny if the circumstances had been different. As soon as Soda realized who had crashed into him, he couldn't hold his tears back.

"Ponyboy! God, I was so worried about you!" Soda said, holding Ponyboy to him.

Darry got up and went to them to. Giving Soda a pat on the back and rubbing a hand affectionately through Pony's hair.

"What the hell happened?" Soda asked, brushing Pony's hair back from his face.

"We are actually in the middle of discussing that right now" Detective McCoy said, not unkindly.

Pony looked over at the detective "Sorry" he said sheepishly.

"It's alright" said Detective McCoy "It seems like you've all had a very emotional day"

Darry led them back over to the couch. He and Ponyboy took their same seats, Soda took a seat on Pony's other side, holding his hand in one of his.

"So we left off at you coming back from calling for help, what happened after that?" Detective McCoy asked.

"Matt said he was…he was dead. And then we waited for the cops to come." Pony said, seeming a little calmer now that he had both of his brothers with him.

"We waited in the locker room. Matt said he didn't want to leave him alone. I didn't think he'd want to be alone either" Pony looked up at Darry.

"You did real good, Pony" Darry soothed.

Darry could tell Soda was bursting to know what had happened but was keeping his mouth shut for now. Darry met his eyes over Pony's head, telling him he'd fill him in on everything later.

"And then you guys showed up" Pony said.

"And you didn't notice anyone else near the locker room? No teachers or students?" Detective McCoy clarified.

"No sir"

"Okay, I think we have what we need. Thank you, Ponyboy" Detective McCoy said, standing up. Darry stood up also, shaking the hands of the other cops.

"Wait" Pony said "Did you catch who did it?"

His voice sounded small and young. Darry could tell he was scared.

Detective McCoy seemed to be able to tell he was scared too because he said in a gentle voice "We have a suspect in custody, but we haven't confirmed if he's guilty yet."

Pony nodded, still looking a bit concerned.

Darry walked the trio of cops out front, noticing that Two Bit seemed to have vanished from his porch.

"Thanks for going easy on him"

"Of course. He's a good kid. We will give you a call when we have an update on the case". Darry thanked them again, gave Daniel a wave, and then headed back into the house.

Soda and Pony were where he left them, still sitting on the couch. Soda had his arm over Pony's shoulders and Pony's head rested against Soda. Darry sat down on the couch with them.

"You okay, little buddy?" Darry asked.

Pony nodded. Then he looked up at Darry.

"I'm sorry I made you worry. I tried to call, I promise. I tried calling everyone but no one answered"

"It's okay. I ain't mad. I'm just so glad you're okay" Darry soothed.

"You're okay, that's all that matters" Soda said.

"I didn't do anything to help him. I just stood there"

"There wasn't anything you could do, Pony. You called for help, you got the police there as soon as they could" Darry said, his voice gentle.

The front door opened loudly, making Ponyboy jump, and the rest of their gang came in.

Darry sent them a scowl for slamming the door, but it softened when he saw what they had brought.

"Did someone order room service?" Two Bit asked, holding up a bag of burgers.

"Thanks guys" Darry said, glad he didn't have to make dinner. Dinner had honestly been the last thing on his mind.

"Hey kid. Good to see ya" Steve said as he settled on the floor with his back against couch, Pony gave him a small smile and a nudge with his foot as acknowledgment.

"You sure gave all of us a heart attack,kid. That was some Houdini act" Two Bit said, digging into his fries.

"Yeah, ever heard of a phone? Why didn't you call one of us?" Steve said.

"I tried! Nobody answered! The DX phone didn't even ring!" Pony said with some heat, but no actual anger.

Steve barked out a laugh and looked back at Soda, who groaned.

"That might have been my fault. I knocked the phone off the counter and it got unplugged. I'm sorry, Pony".

"None of that matters. All that matters is that everyone is okay" Darry said.

Everyone settled in to eat. Ponyboy took another shower after finishing and then got into bed, despite it still being early. The school had called, saying it was cancelled tomorrow due to the investigation. Darry decided to call out of work tomorrow too, to be here in case Ponyboy needed him. Darry filled the others in after Pony went to bed. Soda followed Pony to bed shortly after and Two Bit and Steve decided to crash here that night also.

As Darry made his way to his room, he stopped in to check on his brothers. They were both soundly asleep. Darry quietly went up to the bed and pulled their blankets up. He ran a soft hand through Pony's hair, once again so thankful that he was okay.