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Chapter Text

Ponyboy remembers the day he realized he was actually a tag along and the gang was annoyed by him.

It was the end of December and Pony had gotten back from the library a little early then he said he would. He was quite on the steps so nobody heard when he was Infront of the door listening in on a conversation. 

"Yeah, I guess he is kind of annoying" He heard soda say. "He's my little brother and I love him but he needs to learn that he can't always be so... I don't know loud?" They were talking about him. 

Ponyboy sat on the steps and listened as they talked about him. 

Steve was complaining about how he was a tag along kid and never left them alone.

Two-bit talked about being like a babysitter.

Dallas talked about him being weaker then them all.

Johnny didn't say anything because he didn't have any problems with ponyboy, but he wasn't going to defend the younger boy.

Ponyboy let out a quite sigh before he left the porch and made his way to the highschool. 

He still had a few hours till he had to be home so he decided to join his friends who hangout in the football field after school.

He met these boys in 8th grade. They weren't socs or greasers, just middle class. They'd share food with pony when he couldn't afford school lunch and they'd help him in his weak subjects.

They were good friends. He'd probably be spending more time with them.

He walked up to them and sat down on the grass.

"Hey Ponyboy" one of them says. "Hey" Pony was upset and his face reveled that. "What's wrong?" Someone else says. "Nothing" They don't believe him and he doesn't believe himself. 

"Want to go to the DX station and pick up some candy?" One asks.

Ponyboy remebers that Steves shift starts in about ten minutes, he also knows that Soda would be joining Steve to keep him company even though he wasn't working that day.

They all got up and Ponyboy reluctantly followed. They would arrive at the DX station in about 15 minutes. 

They walked past the house where Angela shepherds friend lived. She was on the porch and waved to ponyboy as they walked passed.

Pony didn't know Angela to well, he knew her brother and he had interacted with the girl a few times but he wasn't all that interested in her.

They made it to the DX station and walked in. Steve, as always, gave Pony a mean look. That was normal but now it felt different, like there was a new meaning to the look. 

They grabbed there candy and went up to pay. There was a different person at the register so Pony was glad he didn't have to interact with Steve who had when to talk to soda outside. 

One of his friends payed for them all the  they left. 

As they walked away Soda called out to Ponyboy. "Hey Pony! I thought you were at the library" Pony looks back. "I got bored" He replies before him and his friends walk away.

He entered the house and was greeted by two-bit. 

He felt off, everything felt weird. He knew they didn't like him much but they acted like they liked him. 

"Hey ponyboy" Darry says. Ponyboy looked at him. "Can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Darry asks and pony nodded.

"How do you feel about sleeping in your old room?" Darry asks. Pony hasn't slept there since there parents died. Soda must've told darry he didn't want to share a room with Ponyboy anymore. "Yeah, I can start sleepin there again" Pony answered. He didn't think he'd be able to but he could try. 

Later that night all his stuff was in the previously empty room.

It felt cold and empty. The room was located far from the living room so it was quiet and he could barely hear the wrestling that took place in the living room.

This night was going to be lonely.

He laid on the cold bed and closed his eyes, he fell asleep a minute later. 

Curly shepherd was a horrible influence on Ponyboy. He'd break multiple laws to show off to Pony and smoke more when he was around the boy.

He didn't understand why he felt the need to impress this kid, he had no reason besides he didn't want ponyboy to start hanging around Mark Jennings.

He had seen Ponyboy talk to the other guy and Curly hated Mark. He didn't want pony to hangout with Mark mostly because he was the "brother" of the guy that hurt his sister who now like ponyboy. 

Curly liked that Angela liked his mostly innocent friend, he knew Pony wouldn't hurt her in anyway and he'd treat her good. He doesn't think Ponyboy likes her back but he wasn't going to ask him if he did.

Ponyboy and Curly hung around the shepherd house because the gang had left to do something and they didn't invite ponyboy.  

"Want a beer?" Curly asks. "No thanks" Pony says. "Come on man it's not going hurt you" Curly says handing him and open can. "Fine" pony takes a drink. He hates the taste of alcohol. Maybe if he drank something stronger he'd get drunk and not care about the taste. 

"We should beat up some socs" Curly says. "Why?" Curly shrugged and took a drink of his beer and they walked to his room. 

"There's a party tonight at Angela's friends house" curly wants pony to come to this party. "Darry would never let me go to a party" "that's why you aren't going to ask, you have your own room now so just sneak out the window and I'll wait for you around the block and we can walk there together" Pony was okay with this plan so he would attend the party.

He put on his jacket, well it was the one he got from Dallas a few months back. He opened the window and crawled out. 

He probably needed more layers because it was so cold and it would probably snow later in the night. 

He met up with curly and they walked to the party.

As soon as they got inside he had lost Curly. He looked around for people he genuinely knew. He wasn't friends with most people here but he spotted Mark Jennings who he had met about a month ago. 

"Hey Curtis" Mark says as he walked up to his friend. "Hey Mark" "didn't think I'd see you here" The noise around them blocked out most things Mark said.

They both walked around for awhile. 

Mark stopped to talk to some guy and then walked back up to Ponyboy. 

"Hey, want to try these with me?" Mark asks opening his hand to reveal pills. Ponyboy wanted to seem cool so he reluctantly said yes.

Big mistake.

Chapter Text

The rest of that night was a blur. He woke up on an unfamiliar couch. He sat up and a sharp pain went threw his head. It was still dark outside. He tried to read the clock but his vision was blurry.

He looked around more and noticed Mark on the floor next to the couch. 

He lightly kicked his friend. Mark groaned and opened his eyes.

"What?" He asked. "What happened last night?" Ponyboy asks. "Uhm, I'm not sure" Mark is now sitting up and looking ponyboy. 

Ponyboy can finally see the clock that shows it is 3:15am. "Shit, I have to go home" he says trying to stand up, he ended up falling on the floor next to Mark.

"What did we take?" Mark asks rubbing his eyes."We took something?" Ponyboy wasn't even allowed to drink alcohol, Darry would kill Pony for taking unknown pills.

"I'll drive you home in a little bit" Mark says. Marks mom, well his friends mom, was in the hospital so they had her car. Mark definitely didn't have a license.

When Mark finally manages to stand up and support Ponyboy, they walk outside to the car. "I forgot the keys" Mark says before walking back inside to get the keys.

Ponyboy sits in the passenger seat, he stares at the bright porch light until Mark exits the front door and enters the car. 

Ponyboy didn't notice the car was moving but when he did he noticed that they were on the wrong side of the street. "Mark!" Pony with panic in his voice. "Your on the wrong side!" He yells but Mark doesn't move to the correct side until a car is coming straight for them. Mark quickly moves the car causing Pony to slam hard into the door. 

Mark pulls over and looks at Ponyboy. "Are you okay man?" He asks. Ponyboy nods. He hit his arm really hard so he wouldn't be surprised if it bruised. "Shit" Mark puts his head on the steering wheel. 

"Mark, just sleep in the car for a bit. I can walk the rest of the way" Ponyboy says. "Are you sure?" Mark asks and pony nods before he gets out.

He says bye to Mark before walking off. He holds his arm tightly as he makes his way home. He realizes he left his jacket somewhere and the cold finally hits him.

He arrives at the house and quietly sneaks to the side of it and crawls back into his window.

The room was cold because his window was open all night but he was so tired that he just passed out on the bed. 

The next morning Soda came it to wake him up for breakfast. 

"Pony" He opens the bedroom door and is hit with the cold. "Jesus, did you leave the window open?" He asks as he goes to close the window. He left the room with Pony following behind him.

There was either going to be eggs or cake for breakfast but Pony knew he wouldn't be able to eat anything. He didn't bother puting on a shirt when he left his room, so when he went into the bathroom to brush his hair he noticed a big bruise on his arm. He couldn't remember where he got it but it hurt when he touched it. 

"Pony come eat!" Darry yells from the kitchen. Pony puts his hand on his forehead as the loud voice echos in his head.

He walks into the kitchen to grab his food. The whole gangs there like they are almost every morning. 

"To lazy to put on a shirt?" Two bit asks as Ponyboy sits down at the table. Everything sounded strange, like he was underwater as they talked. "Where'd you get the bruise?" Dallas asks, Ponyboy just shrugs. He tried thinking of where the bruise came from but he couldn't remember anything. 

"He probably stayed up late studying" Soda said messing up Ponys hair. He would acknowledge them and bring himself in the conversation but he remembered they didn't like him so he just stayed quite a spaced out. His fork moved around his plate as the wooden table became only thing he could see.

"You feelin okay, pony?" Johnny asks and Pony just nods in response. Darry walked over and looked at pony. "Maybe go get some more sleep" He says. "Okay" pony responds quietly as he gets up with his plate.

He almost collapses in the hallway as he walked back to his room.

What was happening to him? And what happened last night? He didn't have any answers. Maybe he needed water.

He went into the living room about an hour later and Tim shepherd was there talking to Dallas and Darry. 

"Curly got in a fight at a party last night so I spent the night at the police station" Tim was talking about the party that curly and Pony had been at last night. Pony knew that he had gotten separated from Curly so he wasn't involved in any fights. "I never have to worry about Ponyboy, he doesn't even like party's unless he's with Sodapop or dally" Darry said. Ponyboy would never let darry know that he was at that party.

His headache was no longer there. He got a glass of water and just leaned against the kitchen counter as he took small sips. 

The more he thinks the more he remembers. Mark almost killed him when they were in the car. He was never going to be in a car that Mark was driving again. 

A month has passed.

Ponyboy was spending more time with Mark and doing more rebellious things, such as stealing, fighting, skipping class, breaking other people property. He came home with a new scratch or bruise every time but nobody ever noticed. 

Curly had just about had enough of Mark. He turned a innocent kid into a guy who ran from cops and beat up socs for fun. Angela didn't know if she liked or hated Ponyboy. Curly knew that Pony had the potential to be like Dallas winston and possibly worse if he kept hanging around Mark Jennings.

Ponyboys brothers didn't notice the fact that there kid brother was never in his bed at night. 

Curly rarely showed up for class, but when he did ponyboy was sleeping.  

Marks loved Ponyboy being in his circle of friends. Ponyboy never said no to his stupid ideas. When Mark wanted to steal a car and go around town but everyone else said no, Ponyboy would be sticking his head out of the passenger window as they sped down the streets of Tulsa. When his brother was to busy with his girlfriend Ponyboy would hangout with him and they'd throw stuff at socs who passed them on the street.

Ponyboy enjoyed being friends with Mark. He didn't fear socs anymore because he was never alone outside the house. Yeah he was still upset that his gang didn't like him and they practically forgot he existed, but with his new friends he was never left out. He still hung out with Curly shepherd but not as much as he hung out with Mark.

He didn't know if what he was doing was healthy or not but he didn't care.

Chapter Text

Ponyboy and Mark had almost every class together. The teachers hated it, They'd separate them if they waved to each other. 

Ponyboy quicky changed from a teacher favorite to the class clown. He'd make remarks about the thing they were learning and insult the teacher when she left the room. 

Angela became obsessed with the boy, she'd try to hang around his friends so that she could get close to him. Mark didn't like Angela at all, his brothers ex trying to date one of his best friends did not sit well with him. 

Ponyboy was oblivious when it came to girls liking him. One time in 8th grade a girl left chocolate and a note in his locker, he thought it was just  a friendly gesture. In his current school year during Valentine's day many girl hinted that they had feeling for him, this included Angela shepherd who wouldn't leave him alone for 1 minute that day. His friends tried to tell him the girls liked him but he didn't really care, he wasn't interested in dating anyone.

He now spent a lot less time at home, he'd sneak out almost every night and on weekends he'd sleep at Marks house.

When he was home the gang wasn't. They'd make plans and do stuff without inviting Ponyboy or taking into consideration that he might have wanted to go to the movies with them.

When Ponyboy got in trouble at school for the first time he was worried about what Darry would say, but he didn't say anything, nobody did. He walked into the house that day and nobody acknowledged him so he just went to bed. 

He started skipping meals a lot. He'd be to tired in the morning to remember, he couldn't afford school lunch, and he got home after dinner was gone. He still kept a good build. Sometimes his friends mom would make him food. 

Now that Ponyboy spent every weekend at one of his friends house he got pretty close with there families. Spring break was coming in about a week so Pony couldn't wait to spend more time at his friends house.

The first day of spring break and Ponyboy was already at Marks house. Pony knew the gang wasn't going to invite him anywhere so he wouldn't be home at all for the next week.

It was almost midnight and Mark and Pony went to meet up with their friends.

There was rain clouds forming in the sky but nobody seemed to notice. They were in a darker part of town so they kept a blade on them. 

They all joked around and talked about girls as they walked down the dimly lit sidewalk. 

Ponyboy looked across the street then quickly put his jackets hood up. Dallas and Johnny were walking on in there direction, thankfully they didn't care to look a little closer at the hooded boy.

Dallas would lecture Ponyboy about hanging out with these types of people, then he'd tell Darry.

As soon as they were out of sight Pony put his hood down. 

"Hey guys" Mark said turning around and getting everyone's attention. When he had everyone's attention he pulled out a yellow cylinder with a white cap. Pills.

Drugs weren't an everyday thing for Ponyboy. Infact he hasn't touched any since that party that had made his and Marks friendship official. He barely even messed with Alcohol.

"Shit, man. I ain't messing with pills" One of their friends say. "Not unless I'm in the safety of my own home" He stuffed his hands in his pockets, they can all tell he's ashamed, but to his surprise they all agreed with him. Mark pouted before he put the bottle back into his jacket pocket.

"My cousin works at the liquor store a few blocks away, she sells to me all the time" Another friend says. No objections. They let him lead the way to the store.

"Hey Jamie!" A girl with long blonde hair greats as they walk in. "Hey, Jen!" He grabs a random bottle and takes it to the counter. She sighs "y'know their thinkin bout havin us keep track of the ID's so we don't sell to no minors" She explains. Jamie just chuckles before putting the money on the counter. She opens the register and hands him the change. He thanks her and she leans of the counter to whisper something in his ear. "Oh come on. He's not even 15 yet" Jamie says. "Well he looks very mature for his age" She smirks, it becomes very clear to everyone that she was talking about Ponyboy. 

Ponyboy was younger than everyone because he got moved up a grade in elementary school, and some of them got held back a year. "Give me his number next time I see ya" She not so quietly says, he just groans before walking away.

"Jamie, how old is she?" Mark asks as they walk away from the store. "Twenty-five, well twenty-six in May" Ponyboy feels a bit creeped out but doesn't make it obvious. "Damn, that's a ten year difference. Lucky kid" one of the others says quietly. Mark laughs at his friends response, he can tell Ponyboy was uncomfortable but he didn't think of it to much, he thought the kid was the luckiest, he had a hot broad like that going after him. Mark thought she was a big step up from Angela shepherd. 

Jamie twists off the top of the bottle and takes a quick drink. He hands it to the nearest person who is Ponyboy.

Ponyboy didn't do drugs and he didn't mess with alcohol often. 

"Come on Pony, just a quick drink then pass it over to me" Mark says. Ponyboy couldn't not listen to Mark. He hates the taste but quicky gulps it down. "Yeah Pony!" One of them cheers. "They grow up so fast!" Another says. Ponyboy hands it over to Mark as they countines walking. 

Eventually the bottle makes it back to Ponyboy. What nobody notices is that somebody took the yellow bottle from Marks pocket and there was now a few pills in the alcohol bottle. "Hey Ponyboy, you should drink the last of it" The guy who put in there says. "Yeah Pony!" Mark encourages. Ponyboy does. He didn't feel the pill go down, but it would definitely have an effect on the night.

Rain started sprinkling down on them and Ponyboys head was aching but he didn't say anything in fear he would ruin the night. 

Mark put his hands in his pockets when the rain touched his hands. His eyes grew wide as he felt around in his pocket. "Shit" he mutters. "What's wrong Mark?" Jamie ask. "Did somebody take the pills?" He asks. Before anyone could answer he saw Ponyboys head was in his hands. "Someone slipped it in the bottle" Mark says shocked, he glares at the last person to drink before Pony finished the bottles. The guys smirks "it's not a big deal" he laughs. "Thats fucked man" Mark says before he punches the guy in the face. "Woah, Mar-" Jamie starts but is cut off by the sound of someone hitting the ground. Ponyboy passed out. "How many did you put in there!?" Mark asks the guy who's holding his nose. "Three, maybe four" mark curses under his breathe before he kneels down to Check on the boy. "Ponyboy? Wake up Pony!' Mark shakes him. 

Headlights are seen then a car pulls over. "Jamie? What's goin on" Jen rolls her window down and the rain starts going inside her car. Jamie explains the situation. "Hey get him the car! We can take him back to my apartment!" She says. Jamie opens the back door so Mark can get himself and Ponyboy in. Jamie goes around the car to get in the passenger seat. 

She speeds down the road and they arrive at her apartment. Jamie's older and a bit stronger than Mark so he caries Pony up the stairs. When they get inside the door she closes the door. "Mark, be a dear and hand me that trash can" Mark hand her the trash can and she has Jamie lean Ponyboys head above it. "I'd look away if I were you" She says. They close their eyes and Jen sticks a pen down his through causing him to throw up into the trashcan. She grabs a napkin and wipes his face. 

"Take him to my bed, he needs to rest" She says "You guys can stay the night" the rain was now pouring. Mark sits on the couch and sighs. Jamie comes out a second later. "He's in good hands, Mark. Jen was in community college for a year so she helped tons of people who took to much pills" Jamie tries to comfort Mark, he succeeded. 

Mark was going to kill the guy who put the pills in the alcohol bottle. 

Chapter Text

Ponyboy became quite. His break ended early after he got sick. He went home but nobody asked why he came back so early. He still felt sick.

A few days passed and it was now Wednesday. Scratches appeared on random parts of his body. He threw up a few times. Nobody noticed and he was praying for somebody to check on him and ask what happened that night. It didn't end well when the girls bedroom door closed, when Mark was passed out and couldnt be his voice and tell her to get off of him.

He wished he never drank. He would never blame Mark. He was convinced it was his own fault. He hated looking in the mirror.

Maybe he could just tell Soda what happened.

"Hey, Soda?" Ponyboy said as he went up to his brother in the kitchen. "Hey, Pony" Soda smiles bit he seems kind of annoyed. He was probably annoyed by the fact that some women was yelling at him during his shift, but Ponyboy thought it was his fault.

"I ne-" "SODA LETS GO!" Steve yells from the living room. "Oops, I gotta go. See you later pone!" Soda jogs to the front door. 

'nevermind' Ponyboy thinks before walking back to his room.

He thought maybe he could confide in Two-bit. No, Two-bit had better things to do. Normally he would run to Johnny after he knew Soda was busy. Things werent like that anymore, he became to distant from Johnny.

Ponyboy starts to Panic when he realizes he can't even Remember Johnny's voice. shit. He forgot dally's voice, and Two-bits. 

His vision becomes blurry and he can't hear anything besides his heavy breathing. 

He doesn't hear the footsteps coming into his room.

There's a hand placed on his shoulder.

"Hey, kid" No way. Nope. Cannot be.

Tim shepherd came by the house often. He was somewhat friends with darry and would read newspapers on there couch.

"Your going to be okay" Tim shepherd wasn't the most comforting person and he knew that about himself. 

Ponyboys breathing becomes slower and steady. 

"What's going on kid?" Tim ask. "I can't tell you, you'll tell Darry" Ponyboy says. "I ain't no snitch, everyone knows that" Tim says. "I almost got myself killed on Saturday night" Ponyboy gives no context to this statement and Tim shepherd thinks about the things that could've happened.

Socs? He looked fine, no showing injuries. Cops? Darry would've skinned him before him a Tim could have this conversation. "How so?" Tim asks.

"Somebody slipped pills in my drink" not what Tim expected to hear. "A lot?" Ponyboy nods. Tim, out of instinct, puts his hand on Ponys forehead to check for a fever. Curly had gotten himself into some trouble, such as drinking to much. So when he was hung over Tim was left to take care of him.

"Have you been drinking water?" Pony nods. Something about Ponys face says that's not all that happened that night. 

"Look. Next time if something like that happens, come over to my house. If I'm not home Curly will be and he cares for you more than you think" Tim says.

Maybe Pony should stick with Curly for awhile. Marks friends where stressing him out.

Chapter Text

School had started up again and Ponyboy pushed his way to class. The school was pretty big and SOCs made it their job to slow down the hallways.

Ponyboy hasn't talked to Mark since the second day of spring break.

He purposely made it to class before Mark so they didn't run into each other in the halls. The teacher was strict, so when Mark arrived at the classroom and tried to talk to Pony the teacher quickly told him to go sit down. 

When the bell rang Ponyboy quickly left the classroom to avoid his friend.

Mark tried his best to get to Ponyboy but he disappeared into the crowded hallways. 

Ponyboy was always tired in his second period. Sadly Angela was in this class with him.

She sat next to him and smiled.

"Hey Ponyboy" She says. Angela looked like an angel, she also sounded like one. "Hey angel" He says. He didn't normally call her by her nickname but he didn't care enough to notice he called her angel. 

"Curly wanted me to ask if you wanted to go with us to the movie theater tonight" She says. Ponyboy hasn't been to the movies in months. "Sure, that sounds good" He responded and smiles at her. Angela blushes and says a quick 'okay' before she starts paying attention to the teacher. 

 Angela's arm is next to his and she hesitates before grabbing his hand. shit. He gave her the wrong idea, he's screwed.

Angela didn't let go of his hand until they left the class and went their separate ways. Ponyboy didn't pay attention at all because the only thing on his mind was how screwed he was.

"Pony!" He heard Mark yell. He just continued walking. 

For the next few periods he'd take the long way to classes so he could avoid Mark and his other friends who started to join Mark in getting his attention. 

During lunch he went to the football field. There was only a few jocks talking about the chicks they scored over the break. Ponyboy stayed away from them, he didn't want a problem.

He doesn't notice when Angela comes looking for him and the Jocks block her way and start making inappropriate gestures at her. He only looks up from the ground when Angela yells for his help.

Angela was strong and wouldn't hesitate to punch a guy on the bus for looking in her direction, but she couldn't fight 4 boys alone.

Ponyboy jumps up and quickly walks over.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" He yells.

One of the guys let out a laugh. Ponyboy was a bit small but still had good strength. Clearly these guys didn't think he could cause them any damage.

"What are yo-" one starts but his sentence is cut short by Pony punching him. Another tries to defend his friend but ponyboy kicks him in an area he knew they guy would stay down from. One guy tries to get Angela but Ponyboy motions for her to grab something from his back pocket.

A dark grey switchblade with the letters 'PBC" carved on it.

She grabs it and keeps Infront of her to keep they guy aways. 

One guy managed to get a punch on Ponyboy, he busted his lip. The guy was the biggest of the four and got Pony twice. Blood dripped from both ponys nose and mouth.

Before more damage can be done a teacher comes running with the school officer. 

"Explain your sides of the story" The principle said. "He was just trying to protect me!" Angela says quickly. "Who does this belong to?" He puts the Switchblade on his desk. "Mine" Ponyboy said. "Please Mr. Those Jocks were trying to hurt me! Don't make Ponyboy get in trouble because of me!" Silence filled the office. Ponyboy said nothing, he wouldn't lie, it hurt to move his mouth. There was dried blood from his nose to his chin and he just knew if he moved his mouth again, more blood  would come out of the cut.

The principal sighs. "Fine, two days in school suspension and detention for 2 days" Angela didn't like that but it was the best she could get for Ponyboy. She didn't get any punishment and even got an apology from the Jocks.

After school, Angela comes up to Ponyboy as he's walking home. 

"Hey, I thought you had detention" She says. "Doesn't start till tomorrow" He responds. "Well if you don't get grounded, come by my house so we can go to the movies" She says before walking away.

He made it home and with the luck he's having today, everyone was in the living room when he entered.

Soda starts to greet him before he abruptly stops. Silence fills the room. Everyone looks concerned, except for Dallas, he looked pissed.

"Who did that to you?" Dally stood up and asked. "Nobody" "You punched yourself in the face." Dallas has a look on his face that screams 'Bullshit' "Why do you care" Pony says as he glares at him. "Pony, we all care" Soda says. Ponyboy was pissed. They only cared when he had noticeable damages. They didn't care when he had been in fights during the past three months, they didn't care when somebody slipped drugs into the alcohol he was pressured into drinking.

"Where were you when somebody tried to kill me last week!?" He didn't mean to yell, he was just tired and angry. "What?" Soda was stunned.

Before anyone could say another work he was running down the street. 

He ended up at the shepherds household.

He knocked on the door. He could hear Curly groan before footsteps come close to the door and open it.

An annoyed face turns into a look of concern.

"Ponyboy, what happened?" Curly asks and Ponyboy fights off tears. 

Curly drags him inside before closing the door.

Nobody in the Shepherd family knew how to comfort. Curly decided that a hug would possibly work.

Ponyboy dug his face into his friends shoulder as he continued to fight of tears, he refused to break.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Curly asks. "I got into a fight at school, then the gang tried to talk to me" Pony explains.

Curly knew that Ponyboy has barely said a word to the gang in the past four months. 

"Let's get you cleaned up" Curly leads Pony to the bathroom. He puts a wash cloth under water and brings it to Ponyboys face. He gets most of the blood of but some of it stains Ponys face. "They hit you hard, huh?" Curly asks quietly. 

"Curly" Ponyboy says and Curly hums. "I don't like Angela, she thinks I do. I accidently gave her the wrong idea" ponyboy explains. "She will understand, don't worry" Curly puts a hand on his shoulder. 

"Are you hungry?" Curly asks, Pony shakes his head. "Tired?" Pony nods. "You can go lay in my bed" Curly says. Ponyboy leaves the bathroom and heads to curly's room. 

Curly goes to the kitchen for a Pepsi when Tim walks through the front door. 

Tim comes into the kitchen to get himself some water.

"Y'know the Curtis brothers are lookin for Ponyboy?" Tim says as he turns on the sink. "Yeah, he's sleeping in my room right now" Curly takes a quick drink of Pepsi. "Alright, we should let him stay the night" Tim says walking out of the kitchen.

That gang didn't know where to look for Ponyboy. They didn't know he hung out with Mark or Curly. Hell, they don't even know who Mark is.

Curly went to the couch and turned on the TV. He barely noticed when Ponyboy came and sat next to him. 

Chapter Text

The gangs reaction to Pony running out was a bit delayed.

There was a few minutes of silence before two-bit and Dallas decided they were going to go after him. Darry told Soda to stay because he had hurt his leg at work.

A few days ago Two bit and Steve were playing with a blade and dropped it. It went and cut straight down Sodas leg. It was pretty bad so they took him to the free clinic and he got a few stitches. 

Two-bit and Dallas walked around the block and asked a few people who knew Pony if they had seen him. They didn't. 

They came across Tim Shepherd.

"Hey Tim" Dallas greets him. "What do you want, Winston?" Tim asks. "Have you seen Darrys little brother anywhere?" He asks. "No, ask Mark Jennings. Ponyboy hangs to him like gum on my shoe" Tim responds.

Who the hell is Mark Jennings? That's what Two-bit and Dallas were thinking.

"Okay, thanks Timothy" Two-bit says. Tim glares at them and they quickly walks away.

"Who the hell is Mark?" Dallas asks. "I think Ponyboy sleeps at his house during weekends" Two-bit says. Dallas hums in response. Now they have to ask around for two people.

After an hour they decide to call it a day, the assumed pony would be back before dark.

Just as curly didn't notice when Pony sat down, he didn't notice when the kid got up. 

Ponyboy didn't have a jacket, a plan, or money. He just wanted to leave. It was April so it wasn't cold out, but it was going to be cold at night.

He walked down the street. He had no one to runaway with but he was going to make it work. Somehow.

He knew it would take him 2-3 hours to walk to the next town, but after he swiped a wallet he decided to cut that travel time to 30 minutes to an hour. 

He thought about places to go. Denver Colorado was first on his list of places. Colorado had a ton of hippies and Curly had always talked bad about them.

He thought about LA, some of his favorite movies were made there. Everything was expensive there and the streets are flooded with all kinds of people.

He wanted to go to a small town, no batshit crazy people, no drunks yelling at him when he walked down the street at night. Just peaceful living.

He spent about a quarter of the money he stole on his way to a new town.

 Ponyboy exited the bus and it was about midnight. For the first time since leaving the Shepherd household, he didn't know what he was going to do.

He had enough to stay in a motel for about 2 nights. 

A town with a population under 800 was alright. He found a sketchy motel, cheapest in a 70 mile radius. 

The room was disgusting but the bed was nicely made. There was a shower so he decided to just stand under the water for awhile. The pressure of the water was worse than at his home. He heard a couple arguing in the next room over. 

He got bored and decided to go out and smoke a cigarette. He still didn't have a jacket so he shivered as he lit his cigarette and found warmth in the flame. The cigarette was between his lips one someone came behind him and griped his shoulders. He jumped and the boy said 'boo'. He looked at the 'ghost' who was very tan so he didn't pass as a ghost. His eyes were like no other, literally, hes never seen eyes like this boys. One blue, one brown.

"Hey, you got a light?" He asks holding up his cigarette. Ponyboy hands him his lighter.

"You look cold" The boy says. This boy was wearing a jean jacket that reminded him of Johnny. "Yeah, I am" Ponyboy says. "I have an extra jacket in my room, I'll go get it for you when i finish this" He holds up his cigarette. "No, its fine" "Nope, I insist" He smiles. 

Ponyboy has never met someone so optimistic. This boy was different from everyone that Ponyboy has met in his fourteen years.

"I'm, Robin by the way" He flicks his cigarette but and tells Ponyboy to wait there. He walks to room 8. Less then two minutes later Robin hands him a white hoodie. 

Ponyboy doesn't know how this whole runaway thing will go, but at least he has a friend by his side.