A/N hey y'all. I know updates are random at best and nearly never at worse. But if you have been keeping up with the story, I'm sure you can guess what happens in this chapter. Some might suggests tissues to go along. Anyway, enjoy reading and try not to be mad at me.

From my perch on the kitchen counter I had a pretty good view of everyone as they got ready for the rumble. Soda and Steve were at the kitchen table, alternating between cards and arm wrestling. Two-bit was out on a beer run, apparently having already drink through our supply.

"What are you thinking about?" Darry asks, stepping between my legs.

"Hmmm, nothing really," I shrug, rolling the beer bottle between my hands. Darry grabs the bottle and takes a swig before handing it back to me. "Oh, I'm your cup holder now?" I sass.

"Exactly," Darry grins. Darry and I used to go out all the time in highschool, practically every weekend. We called most of our drinking and partying off when he got custody. Rumbles and holidays, and we'd tried to keep most of it from Pony.

"Can I say I don't want you to go tonight?" I ask, taking a drink. Beer wasn't my favorite, but it was what was around, and easy to get. Back in high school when there was a big party, most of us on the cheer squad would pitch in and share a bottle of wine.

"You can say it, but I doubt it will do anything," Soda says.

"Why are you so against rumbles anyway?" Steve asks.

"You already know that," I counter.

"Oh right, you don't like seeing Darry's face messed up," Soda teases.

"I don't like seeing anyone's face messed up, as you put it," I counter.

"Than why aren't you begging us not to fight?" Two-bit asks, setting the beer he managed to get on the counter.

"Oh Two-bit, please don't fight, it would destroy me to see get beat up," I fake, trying not to laugh.

"That's what I like to hear," Two-bit grins.

"Soda, when'd you start shaving?" Pony asks from the bathroom. I take another sip of beer to stop myself from laughing, this can't be heading anywhere good.

"When I was fifteen," Soda response.

"When did Darry?" Pony asks.

"When he was thirteen, why figuring you're gonna grow a beard before the rumble?" Soda teases, throwing down some of his cards.

"Thirteen, really?" I ask, pulling Darry closer with my legs.

"It's not a big deal," Darry shrugs.

"You were in junior high when you were thirteen," I point out.

"What's your point?"

"Please tell me you weren't one of those obnoxious guys that bragged about that," I plead.

"He was," Two-bit butts in.

"Do you like fights Soda?" Pony asks coming into the kitchen.

"Yeah I like fights," Soda says, grunting as he arm wrestled Steve.

"How come?" Pony asks

"It's a contest, like a dance or a drag race, or something like that" Soda replies. Darry starts unbuttoning his work shirt, but I swat his hands away doing it myself. Two-bit whistles, wriggling his eyebrows.

"When I get in a fight I want to stomp the life out of-," Steve says, that last part of his sentence gets cut off by me laughing too much at Two-bit. I get Darry's shirt all the way off and he breaks away to find his 'lucky' shirt. Or that's what I call it. He wears the same shirt to every rumble. It was probably my fault since I mentioned one time how great he looked in it.

"Why do you like fights Darry?" Pony asks. I don't know what was with Pony tonight, being so weird about this rumble. Normally he is getting just as jazzed up as the other guys.

"He likes to show off his muscles," Soda says, laughing.

"He likes to show off for Catie," Steve says at the same time, winking at me. I laugh more, waiting to see how Darry answers.

"Hey, I'm going to show them off on you little buddy if you get any mouthier," Darry warns, putting on his shirt. "Hey Pony, I don't know if you ought to be in this rumble."

I sigh, making a face. I told Darry that Pony would be fine, that he spent the morning with me and the afternoon with Two-bit.

"What was that?" Steve asks, dropping his empty bottle in the sink.

"What was what?" I ask.

"That face."

"Didn't want battle of the brothers tonight."

"It ain't that bad," Two-bit shrugs.

"You don't live with them."

"We practically do," Steve counters, pulling me off of the counter.

"Hey!" I protest.

"You should come with us," Two-bit says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"There's going to be a huge bonfire, and everyone hangs out."

"Mmhmm sure, and then I'm going to get caught in a fight," I point out, finishing the beer in my hand.

"You can leave once the socs show," Two-bit points out.

"Yeah Catie, you can split once they show."

"Y'all aren't going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope," Steve smirks. Darry choose that moment to go running out the door screaming.

"Come on Catie," Two-bit says, dragging me along.

All of the boys were hooting and hollering, doing flips and jumps off of things. It took Darry and I nearly a whole summer to teach them how to do a flip. It started with Darry spotting me as I worked on tricks for cheerleading, with the help of his dad, but then Soda wanted to learn too.

"Come on Catie, do something fancy," Steve begs. Once Steve said it, all of the guys joined in. I get a running start before doing a roundoff to a back handspring. I land with my arms down, cheerleader style. Two-bit takes a running start, trying to go for the same thing, but landing on his butt instead.

"I'm good, I'm good," Two-bit says, struggling to stand up. I go over, grabbing his hands and pulling him up.

"I'ma greaser! I'm a JD and a hood!" Soda shouts, "I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!"

"Greaser, greaser, greaser," Steve adds in, "Oh victim of the environment, underprivileged, rotten, no-count hood!"

"Juvenile delinquent, you're no good!" Darry shouts. As if Darry was ever considered a juvenile delinquent.

"Get thee hence, white trash," Two adds, trying to sound posh and stuck up, "I am a soc. I am the privilege and the well-dressed. I drive fancy cars, throw beer blasts, break windows at fancy parties."

"And what do you do for fun?" Pony asks.

"I jump greasers!" Two shouts, running towards the lot.

"What are you doing here?" Darry asks, picking me up from behind.

"I'm going to fight," I joke.

"Like hell your going to fight," Darry says putting me down, but keeping his arms around me.

"I think I could take them," I say, trying to sound genuine.

"Listen, Soda, you and Pony, if the fuzz show, you beat it out of here. Try and get back to the house with Catie. The rest of us can only get jailed. You two can get sent to a boys home."

"Nobody in this neighborhood gonna call the fuzz, they know what'd happen if the did," Steve says. That's the first thing you learn living around here, you mind your business and don't get involve with other people's drama. Nothing like where I grew up.

"All the same, you two blow it at the first sign of trouble. Get back to the house with Catie. Ya here me?" Darry asks.

"You sure you don't need an amplifier?" Soda asks. I look over my shoulder to see Soda sticking out his tongue at Darry and I.

"What's Catie going to be able to do? S'not like she can stop the fuzz?" Pony asks.

"Half of the goddamn fuzz know her," Steve points out. It's true, a lot of the police department live in my older neighborhood. Chances are if they came by looking for someone, they'd skip over the house if I answered the door.

"So?" Pony asks.

"Just get back to the house if something happens," Darry says as we step into the lot.

"Bring your girl to fight for you?" Some hood asks, walking up to us.

"Hey, layoff of them, they're newlyweds," Tim Shepard joins in.

"Shut it Shepard," Darry says.

"One day Curtis, one day," Tim smirks, walking off towards Pony. The older part of Tim's gang sticks around though.

"I heard the fuzz pulled your girl down to the station," one of the guys says. I can't quite remember his name, but it's either Joe or Benjamen.

"I heard she was also at the fuckers funeral, what digs?" most of the questions are directed at Darry even though I'm standing right there.

"Don't y'all remember, she ain't from here, she's a soc by birth," A third one adds in.

"Not a soc," I speak up. I was use to a lot of gossip going around, but I really couldn't take being called a soc.

"Where are you from then sweetheart?"

"Oakland Street, right by Thornden park."

"Isn't that by all them fuzz."

"Ya, I think so."

Luckily wherever this conversation was heading was cut off by Tim.

"Hey, Curtis," Shepard shouts. Darry and I both turn, and I can see Pony and Soda look up as well.

"Which one?" Soda yells back.

"The oldest one, come over here."

"Catie, looks like they're here," Darry says to me, looking towards the other side of the lot.

"Please, be careful."

"You should get back to the house before the notice you," Darry says, not looking away from the soc cars. I pull on his arm, bringing his attention to me.

"Darry, I'm serious, be careful."

"I will be, now go," Darry says, pushing me back towards the house. I walk back to the house, making it under the porch just as it starts raining. I hear the yells when the rumble starts. It's a waiting game now. I go around the house, cleaning up plates and bottles. After getting most of the mess put away, I start getting out our first aid things. I fill a few ziploc bags with a mix of ice and salt and put them in the freezer. I don't know what to expect really, so it's hard to prepare.

It's probably no longer than a half hour before they return, but it felt like hours. Once I hear them, I head out onto the porch. Steve and Two-bit have their arms slung around each other, but I can't tell who is supporting who. Soda and Darry are farther back, almost a block away.

"We won," Two-bit says coming up the porch steps, but I keep looking out, waiting for Darry to get close enough to see clearly through the rain.

"Catie, listen," Two-bit says, pulling my arm to look at him. He looks roughed up, with blood covering part of his face, I'm guessing from a broken nose. There are also bruises covering his arms. I look past him to Steve, who is leaning against the house. He has some cuts on his face, and was nursing his side. My guess would be someone got his ribs good.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"This rumble was rougher than a lot of them have been in the past, there was a lot riding on this one," Two-bit explains. "We probably look a lot worse than it is, but you don't need to freak, or worry, it's nothing serious."

"What happened to Darry?" I ask, seeing through what Two was trying to say. There is really one reason I would freak out, and that's if Darry was seriously hurt. I was used to all of the other guys, including Soda, coming back roughed up some nights. It's just what happened around here. Darry and Pony stayed out of it for the most part though.

"Just remember it's not as bad as it look Catie," Steve says wincing. I bite my lip not knowing what to say. It has to be pretty bad if Steve and Two are trying to tell me not to worry. I turn back to the road as Darry and Soda get to the gate. Soda opens the gate, holding it open for Darry. He's walking weird, holding his shoulder. I move forward, to go out into the yard and see what's wrong, but Two catches my arm, stopping me.

"Just wait Catie," Two says. I don't fight his grip on my arm, I just keep my eyes focused on Darry.

"Did you-?" Soda asks, coming up the stairs first.

"Yeah," Steve says, cutting Soda off. So they planned someone coming up and talking to me. I try to steady myself, saying that it was only skins, and it can't be that bad. He's still walking, and it was only skins. It can't be that bad.

Once Darry gets up onto the porch I can instantly spot what's wrong. His shoulder is dislocated. This happened once at football practice, and the coach was able to set it back in, but warned since he wasn't actually a doctor it might pop back out again.

I take a deep breath steadying myself. This could be worse. I was there when the coach popped his shoulder back in, I could probably get one of the guys to set it.

"Okay," I say, mostly to myself, "Let's go inside and get out of the rain." I head inside first, going straight to the kitchen to grab the stuff I set out. Now that the shock had worn off, I was a bit mad at Darry. How could he be stupid enough to dislocate his shoulder. He knew this could happen again.

I go back to the living room and drop everything on the coffee table. I turn my back on Darry, deciding to tend to Two or Steve first. I grab some gauze and rubbing alcohol and had them to Two so he can get the blood off of his face.

"Why isn't she freakin' out?" Soda asks slowly. I huff in annoyance, not looking over at him or Darry. It's not like I freak out every time Darry get's injured. Or I haven't freaked out in a while. When he was still playing football, I would get so nervous during games. Especially away games when I wasn't also on the field.

"She looks pissed," Steve comments, looking between me and the brothers. Two-bit finishes getting the blood off of his face, and his nose is obviously broken.

"How bad?" Darry asks. I roll my eyes, he can't be serious.

I kneel down in front of Two. I set both of my hands on on his face in a triangle, around his nose. I bring my hands down quickly without warning, straightening his nose.

"Very," Two-bit answers. I grab a couple of tylenols, and hand them to him.

"Catie, come here," Darry says, but I ignore him. I can't deal with him right now. I go over to Steve who is laying on the couch.

"Shirt off," I tell Steve.

"How bad is it doc?" Steve smirks, pulling his shirt up. His torso is covered in bruises, with most of it coming from his left side. I sit on the edge of the couch, tenderly feeling his ribs.

"Fuck," Steve hisses.

"Not broken, but definitely cracked," I say, grabbing a wrap from the table. Steve sits up a bit so I can wrap his ribs to keep them from shifting too much. Once finished I let him lay back down and I had him some tylenol.

I turn around, sending a glare towards Darry and Soda.

"Where's Pony?" I ask. I will be even more pissed if they just left him in the lot.

"I saw Dal drag him off into some soc car," Two-bit answer.

"Great, just great," I say sarcastically.

"Listen, Catie," Darry starts.

"I really don't want to hear it," I cut him off.

"You know how to get his shoulder back in right?" Soda asks.

"Sure."

"Well?" Soda asks.

"I can't do it," I tell Soda.

"Catie, you can be mad, but you can't leave his arm hanging like that," Steve says.

"I'm telling you I can't do it," I repeat.

"She's right," Darry speaks up.

"You said she could do it," Soda says, spinning around to Darry.

"I said she knew how to do it, she saw coach put it back in. She's not strong enough to actually get in back in," Darry explains. "Right?"

I nod in response. There was no physical way I could get his arm in without causing unnecessary pain for both of us. It was already going to hurt like hell to get in back in.

"Soda, you are going to have to do it," I say to him. "Floor or bedroom, your choice."

"Let's just do it here," Darry shrugs. I head to our bedroom grabbing a few pillows. I bring them back as Darry is getting on the floor.

"Soda you are going to have to take his arm and pull it up and outwards, like a 45 degree angle. It should slide back into place."

"What are you going to do?" Soda asks. I sit down on the floor on Darry's other side.

"I'm going to keep him from moving too much," I say, placing both of my forearms on his chest. I lean forward, adding more weight.

"What?" Soda asks looking confused.

"Grab his arm, and start pulling it slowly, it should slide back into place," I explain again. Soda nods, grabbing Darry's arm. I watch as Soda pulls up and back waiting to hear the dull clunk of the bone going back into the socket. Once Darry relaxes I know it's fully back in. I stand and go into the kitchen. From the freezer I grab the bags of ice I made and bring them back to the guys. I hand two of them to Steve and Two, and fling the third one at Darry.

"Catie," Darry says, catching it easily with his other hand. I stare at him not saying anything, hands on my hips. Darry doesn't seem to know what to say either. I turn on my heel and go and sit on the floor next to Two. Darry could be an idiot all he liked, but that doesn't mean I have to deal with it.

The screen door slams open and Ponyboy walks in, almost in a daze.

"Where have you been?" Darry asks, turning to Pony.

"Pony what's wrong?" I ask softly. Something happened between now and the end of the rumble that really shook Pony. And if he was Dally, I can't imagine what he might have seen.

"Johnny… he's dead," Pony chokes out. Everything feels frozen. If Pony is telling the truth, and Johnny died, I don't even know. I grab Two-bit's arm, using him to anchor myself. I didn't go to the hospital today with Two and Pony because I didn't want to see Dal, but I skipped out on Johnny too. And now he's gone.

I feel tears start to build up, but I try and blink them away.

"Dallas is gone," Pony says, barely above a whisper, "He ran out like the devil was after him. He's gonna blow up. He couldn't take."

"So he finally broke," Two-bit says, "So even Dally has a breaking point."

No, Dally broke a long time ago. This is just the first the guys are seeing it. Pony starts shaking, looking like he is going to fall over.

Darry and Soda start whispering to themselves. I rest my head on Two-bit shoulder, feeling mostly exhausted. So much has happened in the past week, it feel unreal. How could anything else happen at this point? Haven't we gone through enough?

"Ponyboy, you look sick. Sit down," Soda says, moving towards Ponyboy.

Ponyboy backs up, looking terrified. I can only imagine this is what I looked like to the guys the past few nights. I bit my lips, wondering what Pony is going to do.

"I'm okay. I don't want to sit," Pony lies. Darry moves forward, and Pony spits out, "Don't touch me." Pony backs up even further, looking like he might fall over at any minutes.

The phone rings, making me jump. Two-bit looks over at me concerned, but I just shake my head. Darry heads to the kitchen, answering the phone. The rest of us remain silent, there isn't really much we can say. Soda keeps inching towards Pony, waiting to catch him if he falls over. I know Steve and Two-bit are watching me, but I just stay focused on Pony.

"It was Dally," Darry says, "He phoned from a booth. He's just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He'll be in the lot in a minute."

There a second of stillness before everyone is moving. Darry sprints out of the house, with Soda and Pony right behind him. Two-bit, Steve and I follow right behind them. It's still pouring out, but none of the guys seems to notice, or care. As we get closer to the lot, the sirens become louder, heading towards us. I have the feeling in the pit of my stomach that this isn't going to end well.

Everyone comes to a stop at the same time. Us, the cops, Dally. Dally is standing under a streetlight, facing off with the cops. He pulls out a gun, and my heart stops. This is it.

Someone screams as the cops start shooting at him.

He falls to the ground, but even then the cops continue shooting.

Someone grabs my arm, bringing me back to reality. I realize it was me who screamed when the cops started shooting, and now I can't stop the tears openly running down my face.

Pony collapses onto the ground, bringing everyone back in motion. Soda and Darry work together, picking Pony up and presumably bringing him back to the house. But it feels like I'm stuck, staring at his body.

How did all of this happen?

"Catie, we need to get out of here," Steve says, wrapping his arm around my waist, and steering me back towards the house. Two-bit is walking between us and the brothers, seeming lost to the world.

As we get into the house it fully hits me, Dallas Winston is dead. He can no longer hurt me. I start sobbing now, mostly in relief that is is over. It's truly truly over.

It's over, I keep repeating it to myself. I never really thought there would be a time when Dallas wasn't bothering and cornering me. But it's over.

It's sick that I'm relieved that someone is dead. That two people are dead. How can I feel almost happy when two of our group are gone, forever.

I calm down a enough to look around the room at everyone else. I was on the couch with Steve, his arm was still wrapped around me. Soda was sitting on the floor, staring at his shoes with more concentration than I've ever seen from him. Two-bit was sitting next to him with his head in his hands. I can't see Darry or Pony anywhere.

I stand up, wiping away some of the tears. I feel everyone's eyes on me as I go to find Darry.

I head towards the back of the house, knowing that he is probably with Pony.

I find Darry not in Pony's room, but in our room. Pony was laying on the bed, with Darry sitting on the desk chair.

I walk over to Darry, standing next to him.

"What happened tonight?" Darry asks.

"I have no idea," I respond at a whisper. I don't think anyone could have predicted everything that happened this week. I look at the clock on the nightstand, it was just after eleven o'clock. Not even a week since Pony and Darry first got in that fight.

"Is he okay?" I asks, looking at Pony stir in his sleep.

"I don't know, I didn't see much of him at the rumble," Darry tells me.

"Let's try and see what happened," I say, grabbing Darry's hand pulling him up. We head back to the living room with the rest of the guys. Darry sits down in the arm chair, while I sit on the floor in front of him, leaning back on his legs. Everyone else is watching us. That's the problem with being the oldest of the group, they all expected us to have the answer, even though we are barely older than them.

"Did anyone see Pony during the rumble? Do we know how bad off he is?" I ask for Darry. There a long pause where everyone gets lost in their own thoughts.

"I saw him under a dog pile," Two volunteers, his voice void of the usual humor.

"He was getting kicked pretty good by some socs, they got his back and head I think," Steve pitches in. The room falls silent again, everyone lost in their heads.

Johnny and Dallas were both dead. A true monster was gone, but why did it take someone else dying? And why Johnny? Johnny was so sweet and quiet, he didn't deserve this.

I can't imagine what the guys are thinking? Especially Pony. Pony and Johnny were like a quieter version of Steve and Soda. Pony relied on Johnny, and looked up to him too I think. The other guys didn't really give the time of day to Pony, with him being younger and all. But Johnny did.

It's quiet for a long time, long enough for Soda and I both to get fidgety. We were both the same like that. Darry and Steve could sit focused on one thing for what seems like forever, but I got bored, and jittery. Soda is the same way.

It's like we all have another half in the gang. Darry and I, Steve and Soda, Pony and Johnny. Two-bit was really the free floater of the gang.

I stand up and it seems that all eyes are on me.

"I'm going to go and check on Pony," I manage to say, the words feeling heavy.

No one response, so I go back into Darry's room. Pony is tossing and turning, not really staying put. I sit on the edge of the bed and lean over to feel his temperature. He is burning up. Enough to be worrisome. I look in the bathroom for a thermometer, finding one shoved behind some mostly empty jars of hair grease.

I bring it back to the bedroom and take Pony's temperature. It's about 104.7°. That's high enough to go to the hospital, I think.

I look into the living room, and everyone is still enough that it could be a picture.

Maybe I should just take Pony to the hospital myself. I grab the keys to the truck and put them in my pocket.

"Catie?" Soda asks.

"Hmmm," I hum, going into the living.

"Why do you have the keys to the truck?" Soda asks, sounding nervous.

"I think Pony should go to the hospital," I say slowly, chewing on my lower lip.

"What's wrong Catie?" Darry asks, sitting up.

"He has a fever, it's around 105°, I really think we should take him to the hospital," I explain.

"I can take him," Darry says, "Give me the keys."

"I don't think that's the best idea," I didn't want to say that Darry, or any of them for that matter, should be driving, but it was true.

"And why not?" Darry says, standing up. This wasn't going well at all.

"I don't think any of you should be driving, not after everything that happened."

"And you're in better shape than the rest of us? Really?" Darry asks.

"I didn't get in a fight earlier tonight," I point out.

"What does that matter?"

"Darry, I'm driving, that's the end of this," I say, cutting this off before it becomes a full fledged fight. "I just need one of you to help me get Pony to the truck."

"I can help," Soda says, standing up.

"No, I'm going with her."

"I never said you weren't. You just aren't driving."

"Not all of us will fit in the truck, and you can't lift Pony with your shoulder," Soda says.

"I'm not letting you three run off alone," Darry argues.

"What do you think is going to happen? I'm going to steal your brothers and runoff to Mexico? Soda's going to hijack the truck, ditch me and Pony on the side of the road? It's a fifteen minute drive to the hospital, nothing is going to happen. You three can rest up, and meet us there in a few hours. Chances are we are going to just be sitting there waiting, and there is no point of everyone being there."

"But Catie,"

"No," I cut Darry off. "This is what is going to happen. Soda and I are going to take Pony to the hospital. Once Two-bit, and yes Two-bit, neither you or Steve are in any condition to drive. Once Two-bit feels up to it, preferably in a few hours, he will drive the rest of y'all to meet us."

No one argues, so I continue on with getting Pony and Soda out of the house.

I go back to our room, and start trying to get Pony awake.

"Pony, c'mon baby, you need to wake up," I say softly, shaking his shoulder. He groans in response, but doesn't open his eyes. "C'mon honey, just sit up for me, okay baby?" With enough coxing Pony sits up, but he still seems pretty out of it. Soda comes over and puts his arm around Pony, pulling him up. Soda brings his brother out to the truck, while I follow behind.

"Catie," Darry says, catching my arm before I can get out the door. "Please, just be careful."

"I know. I will," I tell him, wrapping my arms around him in a brief hug before heading out to the truck. Soda is waiting in the passenger seat, with Pony in the middle, leaning heavily on Soda. I climb up into the truck, looking at Soda before starting the engine.

"He's going to be okay, right Catie? He has to be okay," Soda asks, worried.

"I'm sure the doctors will know what to do," I reassure him, but I'm not sure who I'm trying to convince, Soda or myself. I pull out of the driveway, and head towards the hospital.

A/N Did you survive? If you did you should favorite, follow and leave a review. Also I'm going to apologies here for the lack of Johnnycake in this story. He just didn't fit in. Hope y'all can forgive me.