I do not own The Outsiders, all rights go to S. E. Hinton.

I write this for pure enjoyment, I do not obtain money from these fan-fics.

Enjoy, everyone :)

-Stay Gold.

Secrets in November

J. H. M. Lancell

"Hey ladies!" Two-bit Matthews called out to a group of blondes in a blue convertible, filling up their gas tank. "Which one of you lucky ladies gets to split a Coke with good ol' Two-bit?" He grinned.

The, obvious Socs, scoffed at Two-bit's offer, one even dared to speak at him. "Dream on, Greaser!"

"Oh, okay." Two-bit smirked, before he left he turned around to talk to the girls who turned him down: "Well, when I do, I'll think of something a little bit thinner!" He laughed, walking to the garage of The DX.

Two-bit whistled loudly at the sight of a new Mustang that currently, his buddy Sodapop Curtis was under. "Wow, she's a beauty."

Sodapop Curtis smirked, rolling from under the car. "Sure is, Two-bit. Hey, what time is it?"

"Almost five."

"Quitin time." Sodapop smiled, "Yo, Stevie, dinner at my place!"

The three Greasers wen't quiet when they left the store, normally they'd be excited for another vigorous night of looking for a fight, or maybe picking up a girl. However, tonight was different. Tonight, Darry had asked Sodapop if he could come straight home.

It was a request that Darry normally never asked of Sodapop, but it was actually Sodapop who wanted to get home as quick as possible.

"Why so quiet, Soda?" Two-bit asked.

Sodapop smirked, "Nothing. Just tired today, I guess."

"We didn't work that hard today." Steve pointed out. Sodapop ignored Steve's comment and took the stairs two at a time. "Darry! I'm home!" He called, looking around for his older brother. Sodapop beamed when he saw his little brother doing homework at his desk in the room they shared.

"Hey, Pones." He greeted.

Ponyboy slowly looked up, worrisome in his eyes. "Hey. . . " He replied back, slowly, resuming his homework. Sodapop stood in the doorway for a moment, smiling at the sight in front of him, hoping that nothing was tarnishing the innocence of his little brother.

"How was school?" Sodapop asked after a while.

That made Ponyboy smile, "Fine. Since when did you care about school? You going back?" Ponyboy asked, hopefully. Sodapop laughed, shaking his head.

"Nice try, Pony. Maybe another time." Sodapop didn't miss the frown on Ponyboy's face when he laughed. He didn't like school, it just wasn't for him. "Hey, is Darry home yet?" Sodapop asked.

Ponyboy shook his head. "No. But you're home early, is something wrong?"

Sodapop shook his head, reaching over to tassel the boy's hair, earning a scowl from his little brother. "Naw,everything's fine, Ponyboy. I'm just hungry, got any cake?" With that the blonde left the room in search of chocolate cake.

X x X

Ponyboy, seeing Sodapop had left, closed the door and sat against it, falling to the floor as he dug out yet ANOTHER letter addressed to his late mother. The envelope felt cold, and fat with probably a long, long letter inside. Ponyboy gulped. His mother was dead, but should he open in?

Why do they send mail to the deceased anyway? He wondered.

Then he began to think, who would want to contact his mother? He tried to think of any of his parent's friends that might not know they're dead, or maybe they're family reaching out? Whatever solution Ponyboy came up with, either didn't make sense, or give him a good feeling. He sighed, hiding the letter among the many that he stashed away in his secret drawer.

He didn't want to open any more mail that wasn't his. Last time he did now has him doubting who he really is.

"Who's James?" He asked himself.

Too many questions, but no answers.

X x X

"Hi, Darry!" Sodapop called, seeing Darry walk into the kitchen from a long day at work. Darry nodded at him and began his usual ritual of taking off his shoes, work belt and dirty work shirt. Darry made his way to the bathroom, Sodapop trailing him.

"So-o-o. When can we talk?" Sodapop asked, rolling on the balls of his feet. Darry looked at his little brother with a face mixed with exhaustion, annoyance and confusion.

"Wha?" Darry asked, splashing his face with some water.

"Ponyboy. When can we talk about him?" Sodapop repeated. "Remember? Last night? He had a nightmare. . . I told you about it this morning?"

Darry tried to think back to that morning, which felt like forever ago, until he could clearly remember Sodapop bouncing up and down in his face asking for Darry to hurry home; Ponyboy had been sitting glumly at the table, poking his food and something about Two-bit calling out dirty jokes.

It took Darry a moment then he nodded, "Oh, well, we'll talk about it at dinner."

Sodapop shook his head, "Okay, but I'm cooking tonight. Blue mashed potatoes!" He cried out, almost in a warning to anyone else in the house who didn't like them as much as he did.

Two-bit, Steve, and Ponyboy were called to the table and the five Greasers all sat down and began eating. Two-bit and Steve had no trouble gobbling down their food. Sodapop noticed how Ponyboy was poking at his dinner and cleared his throat.

"Ponyboy, you haven't eaten much, is everything okay?" He asked, concerned.

Ponyboy flashed Sodapop a smile and began eating. Sodapop looked across the table at Darry and nodded his head towards' Ponyboy, hoping his older brother would get the hint to approach his little brother.

"So, Ponyboy. Anything in the mail?" Darry asked.

Ponyboy paled. ". . . No." He lied. "Just bills. They're on the counter." Darry saw the stack, but he could see through the Greaser's little lie.

"Anything else?" He asked. "How's school going?"

Tell them! Tell them all about the letters from this 'James' guy, about the car coming, the stranger at the door, tell them everything! Ponyboy screamed at himself. All eyes were on Ponyboy now, Darry and Sodapop's concerned glances, Two-Bit's lost stare and the anxious light in Steve's of hopes that the kid would be in trouble. Ponyboy swallowed all the fear and sickness in his throat and gave a smile.

"No." He lied, again.

That was it.

Sodapop slammed his fit on the table, alarming everyone at the table.

"Who's playing a joke on him?!" This was not like Sodapop at all. What happened to the carefree boy just a second ago? everyone wondered. However, when it came to his family, the blonde was not one to take matters lightly. He pointed to Steve.

"Was it you?!" He accused.

"What did I do?" Steve asked.

"You?!" Sodapop glared at Two-bit, who stuffed a dinner roll in his mouth, shaking his head 'no', he was just as lost as Steve was.

"Sodapop, what's going on?" Darry asked. Sodapop huffed and turned to Ponyboy to demand an answer from the auburn when there was a knock at the door. Everyone jumped and Darry stood up to answer the door. Ponyboy leaped from his chair and hugged Darry's left leg.

"Ponyboy!" Darry cried, trying to wiggle the boy off.

"Don't answer it!" Ponyboy cried. It's him! He's back!

Darry had no idea what had gotten into his kid-brothers, but with or without Ponyboy, he was going to answer the door. So he trudged the boy along on his leg and opened the door.

X x X

Dear Lara,

This is the final letter I'm sending. You can't keep me from him anymore. Fourteen Years is too long for a boy to go without his father-his REAL father. Call Darrel Curtis and have his little buddies rally around me, I don't care. I'm coming over to see my son! You know just as much as I do that he's mine too!

-James.

With that, the letter was stamped, licked shut, and slammed into a mail box. The man was about six-foot-two, with his deep-rusty hair combed back. He opened the side of his white Impala and drove off on to the busy street. It has been years since he left Tulsa, now he'd do it with his son.

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-Stay Gold