Status: rewritten and updated to be less cringe.

Johnny only woke up twice that night, and it only took me a few minutes this time to get him to realize where he was. 

When I finally wake up the next morning, I'm surprised to see that Johnny is already awake. That meant he had woke up on his own, and didn't freak out. "Good morning..." I yawn, and then freeze. Johnny and I are in the same bed. I must have fallen asleep while trying to calm him down. 

"Morning..." he looks a little uncomfortable.

"Sorry," my voice is groggy. I sit up, in a panic, and explain what must have happened.

"No...it's not, I mean, it's fine. I actually slept good last night." He sighs lightly. "I just thought you'd be mad at me."

"Why would I be mad?" I ask.

Johnny shrugs, averting eye contact. "I just thought you would be."

"Well I'm not, so don't worry about it, okay?"

He nods. "Okay." 

It was silent and awkward again. "I should probably get going...my moms gonna be mad." He finally says.

I frown and unconsciously place my hand on his shoulder. I didn't want him to have to go home again. I never want to see Johnny beaten like that ever again.

"Are you sure? You could, I mean, we could do something. I don't want you to go." The tips of my ears are burning.

"I gotta..." he mumbles. His gaze is sad. "I'll get killed if I don't." He says, like he's trying to make it all a big joke, but I don't find it funny. It's hard to know that when he goes, he's gonna get hurt. He could try to kill himself, or hurt himself...it's easier to know that when he's here, with me, for the moment, nothing bad can happen to him.

"You sure you don't wanna stay for breakfast or anything?" I ask in a desperate attempt to get him to stay longer.

"I'm sure...I really do need to be going..." He stands and stretches. I keep my head low, because my eyes seem to insist to want to follow his every movement.

I walk him downstairs to the door. "You coming back over tonight?" I ask.

He glances at Two-bit, Soda, and Steve who are behind us and shrugs. "Maybe," But I know he means no.

"Johnny--"

"I know, I know." He smiles at me. "I'll be fine. Maybe I'll see you around school?"

"Yeah. You can get lunch with me if you'd like."

He nods. "That'd be nice...I guess I'll see you then. Bye Pony."

"Bye Johnny..." I sigh as he leaves and shut the door.

"I swear you act like you're never gonna see him again." Steve sneers.

I bite my lip. If only you knew.

Johnny's parents are dangerous. They could easily kill him if they wanted to. Then, of course, there was the awful thought that he might commit suicide. I shudder thinking about it.

"You okay Ponyboy?" Soda asks, pulling on his DX shirt. I just nod, numbly. He frowns, but lets it go. "Steve and I are going to work. Two-Bit's gonna stay here with you."

"I'm old enough to take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter." I snap.

"Who says I'm babysitting ya?" Two grins. "I could just be mighty bored and want a friend to hang out with."

I roll my eyes, but laugh in spite of how mad I've been at him lately. After Soda and Steve leave, I collapse on the couch. 

"What do ya wanna do baby Curtis?" Two rests his chin on his wrist and smiles at me. I shrug. "How about we go see a movie? I know you like them."

"Yeah, I guess so." I stand, honestly not that excited. "Let me go get ready."

But I still shower and get dressed, because he's trying, and Two-bit and I walked to the movie house. "I usually don't like movies, but I'll watch it this one time. Think of it as an apology of some sorts. I know you're mad at me."

I roll my eyes. "Sure Two-bit." We walk into the movie house.

-

"Gosh that sure was boring." Two yawns as we walked down the road.

"Yeah, yeah," I say, but I'm laughing. We walk and talk until we're stopped by the sound of yelling.

Two-bit gives me a questioning look and we walk a little further up the street. When we finally come into view of the source, my heart feels like it stops. It's Johnny's house, and a woman is outside of it, beating him with a two by four.

"Oh my god..." I begin running towards them as fast as I can, but Two-bit stops me. "Get off of me! That's Johnny! He--"

"I'll get him, I don't want you getting hurt." He shushes me and then takes off. He steps in front of Johnny and takes a hit to his own arm. He winces a bit before grabbing the piece and throwing it to the side. "Get away from him!" He screams.

Johnny's mom begins yelling back and soon enough her and Two-bit are in a fight. I rush over and kneel by Johnny. "Are you okay? Does it hurt? I knew I shouldn't have let you leave--"

"Pony I'm fine...I've had worse." He slowly sits up and I pull him into a hug.

He immediately pushes me off of him. "Well I'm fine. Let's just get out of here before my mom kills your friend."

I stare at him, a little hurt, before moving my gaze over to Two-Bit. "Come on, we're leaving!" I yell.

He runs over, flipping her off, and helps us up. "Lets go!" We walk swiftly down the street to get to my house. "Johnny...that was your mom?"

He nods. "Yeah. Stuff like that isn't really all that uncommon."

Two frowns and looks down. I do, too.