After a long writers block, and a rough end of February, this is finally up. I hope y'all didn't give up hope on me now.

Soda's POV

Sittin' on our couch was hard to do by myself, that's why I was thankful for Tim being there. He may not be in our gang, but he's still a friend. I told him where Ponyboy was and he was thankful that he wasn't out in the wild. Then, we decided to drop the subject. We talked for a while about some of the most random stuff until Steve walked in, covered in thick blood and bruisin'.

"Steve!" I yelled, getting up and going to him. Slowly, I helped him to the armchair and sat him down. I went to the kitchen to get a wet rag while Steve and Tim talked.

"It's all that little brat's fault. If he wasn't missing like last time, I wouldn't look like this," I heard him tell Tim.

"That's not the truth and you know it," Tim scolded.

"Don't say stuff that isn't true, Tim. You know if Ponyboy wasn't out there, I wouldn't have gone to Soc territory looking for him."

"You went to Soc territory?" Tim asked. I was getting the first aid kit, goin' as slow as possible to hear more.

"Hell yeah. What if the Socs kidnaped him? You know what they do to little, vulnerable boys. One word. Rape."

"I know, but..."

"Tim, just shut up." I knew that tone in my best friend's voice and if I didn't get in there quick, Tim would need his own operatin' table. I went in and knelt next to Steve and began wipin' the blood from his face. "How much of that did you hear?" he asked me while I wiped his forehead.

"Most of it," I told him, grabbin' his arm and wipin' it down. Tim was looking at me with a look in his eye that told me if I didn't tell Steve where Pony was, he'd kill me.

"If only someone knew where that little bitch is..." Steve trailed off.

"I do. Tim does too." Steve's eyes met mine and I saw something that looked like relief and anger all in one.

"You do? Where the hell is he?"

"I won't tell you yet. Not till you promise not to kill him or the person he's hidin' out with."

"I promise. Now tell me where the bitch is."

"Stop callin' my little brother a bitch, Stevie-boy." I threw the box of bandages at him and took the rag back to the kitchen. I came back and Steve had himself covered in bandages.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"Two-Bit's house. He wants to stay for another day. He told me he needed some time away from here. I'm not gonna stop him."

"Darry will."

"Darry will what?" we heard as the door opened. Darry himself entered, lookin' a little tired. I noticed the cut on his hand that he was massagin'.

"Darry will promise not to kill Sodapop and Ponyboy when Sodapop tells Darry where Ponyboy is," I said, using third person. Darry's eyes grew.

"Where is he?"

"Promise not to kill Ponyboy or me." His hand flew behind his head to scratch it, something he did often, and looked around.

"I promise."

"Pony is with Two-Bit." Suddenly, Darry exposed his hand, showing that his fingers were crossed.

"I'm going to kill Two-Bit and Ponyboy both," he announced, headin' out the door.

-- -- --

Ponyboy's POV

Both Two-Bit and I were sitting on his couch, watching TV when out of nowhere, there was a bang at the door. Two-Bit leapt up and went to the door. He opened it and was met with a large hand grabbing him by his collar. Darry owned the large hand, I found out when he carried Two-Bit back in. Two-Bit struggled to get free, kicking a little in the air.

"You were hiding Ponyboy from me even when I came by?!" he yelled his question.

"L-let... me go. I... can't breathe..." Two-Bit gasped. I was staring in awe, watching Two-Bit kick his legs. It felt like I was frozen in place. Then I jumped up and grabbed Darry's hands. I tried to remove his hands from Two-Bit's neck.

"Darry, you're going to kill him!" I yelled. One hand came free only to accidentally sock me in the face, hard. The bad thing was that it was a closed fist. I fell to the floor about the same time Two-Bit did; Darry had dropped him. Instantly, both of them were beside me. Two-Bit was coughing and Darry was holding my face and looking at it.

"Ponyboy, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to," he said, tilting my head back and looking at my nose. I could feel the blood trickling down the side of my face and over my lips. Darry groaned and looked at Two-Bit, who was quiet.

"Dar," Two-Bit said after looking at me, "you broke his nose." My blood ran cold.

"W-what?" I asked. I sounded funny from the blood in my nose.

"Ponyboy," Darry said, tilting my head back to face him. "I'm going to have to pop your nose back in place. Bear with me, alright." I nodded. He put the sleeve of his coat in my mouth and I wanted to know why. Slowly, he put the bases of his thumbs on either side of my nose sending a shock of pain through my face. I bit down on the sleeve, finding out why he gave it to me. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yes," my muffled voice said. Two-Bit's arm was under my hand, and I grasped onto it. I suddenly heard a loud crack; my teeth shot down onto the sleeve and my hand squeezed Two-Bit's arm. I spit out the sleeve and held my nose in my free hand. I silently screamed with my eyes clenched shut and my hand leaving bruises on Two-Bit.

"Pony, you okay?" Darry asked, stroking my hair.

"Yes," I squeaked out. Flaring my nostrils, I felt the pain still. "Ow..." I pulled my hand off of Two-Bit's arm. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

Slowly, I got to my feet and went to the kitchen, staggering and holding my nose gently. I reached in the ice box for an ice cube, then pressed it to my nose. I felt it numbing quickly. Darry had followed me in there with worry painted on his face.

"Why did you run away?" he asked, pulling my into his chest.

"I needed to get out. I needed to think." I felt him take a big sigh before resting his chin on my head.

"Was it something I did?" Yes, I though, it was.

"No... it wasn't you." We paused for a moment. His breathing was low against my back and I felt safe against my brother. But sometimes it smothered me and I needed out. Two-Bit was carefree and playful, someone I liked to hang out with.

"Do you want to stay another day?" Darry asked slowly. I was appalled. I didn't think he'd offer for me to stay another day.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Tomorrow is Sunday, come home at the end of the day tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure thing, Dar." He released me and went back to the living room. I heard him apologize to Two-Bit, who accepted instantly. Then, he told him I would be staying for an extra day. Two-Bit gave a small okay. The door opened and shut followed by Two-Bit joining me in the kitchen.

"That wasn't so bad."

"You didn't get your nose broken."

This might be the last chapter unless I get another idea for what will happen next chapter. Anyone got any ideas? I'm open for them.