~Purly~ (The Outsiders)

Chapter 9

  I woke up when I heard someone yelling my name. I felt a light slap on my face, and my eyes shot open. Ponyboy was crouching over me, a terrified and worried look on his face.

  "Lord, Curly, what happened to you?" He asked as soon as he saw I was awake. I was confused about what he was saying at first, but then I remembered. The Socs.

"It was nothin' but a few Socs. Don't worry 'bout me, Pony," I told him. "Curly, one of your eyes is swollen shut, your lip is halfway open, and you're bleedin' an awful lot. I'm takin' ya to Darry." I didn't know I was beat that bad. I nodded; could I really refuse in my state?

I sat up and immediately regretted it. My head spun and I almost got sick right there. I fell back and groaned. "Alright, try 'n' stand up, I'll hold ya up. Just don't get sick on me," Ponyboy instructed. I tried to stand up, groaning, and almost fell on top of Pony. Fortunately for the both of us, I caught myself.

I trudged along, leaning on Ponyboy, who was walking slowly and carefully to keep with my turtle-like pace. I was getting a bit delirious from all the blood loss, and I told Pony, "Ponyboy? Did you know I'm gay as hell? Like, guys are just so cute, ya know?" He chuckled and shook his head. "I did know that, Curly, and I think I need to get you to Darry before you tell me anything else."

I think I may have passed out after that, and Ponyboy may have dragged me to his house, cause all I can remember is suddenly being on a couch that felt somewhat familiar. Out of nowhere, I felt my leg burn real bad, and I yelped. "Calm down, Curly, it's only alcohol," a deep and husky, yet sweet and gentle, voice told me. My thoughts came back to me and I figured it was Darry. I had my eyes screwed shut in pain.

"Well, Mr. Shepard, do I have some news for you!" Darrel said, clasping his hands together. "Good or bad?" I whispered; my head hurt too much to do more than that. "Bad." I groaned. "Lay it on me."

"Ooh, can I tell him, Dar? Can I?" I saw Sodapop pop out of the corner of the room. "Uh, yeah, I don't see why not," Darry shrugged. "Okay, Curly." He cleared his voice. "You have a broken nose-" "Not again!" I sighed. "Yep. You also have several cuts and bruises on your legs, a slight concussion, and four broken ribs," Soda said grimly. Despite the news, and my pain, I couldn't help but let out a small snigger. "Damn, them Socs really got me well, didn't they?"

"Also," I said, turning to Ponyboy, who was perched on the backrest of the beat-up couch, "Did I happen to say anything while I was in that -what do they calm 'em - 'state of delirium'?" Pony laughed. "Nothin' much, just that you wanted tacos and are madly in love with me!"

Oh, God.

My face flushed to an impossible shade of red. "I-I told ya that?" I asked shakily. Sodapop whistled. "Ya sure did, I heard ya!" Jesus, even in half consciousness, I'm an idiot. Ponyboy was blushing in the slightest and smiling. "Uh, well, we're gonna leave you two for a bit," Darry said awkwardly. "We are?" Sodapop asked. "Yes," Darry said to his brother, "We are."

((A/N: This is certainly the best chapter I've written! I really like how it came out, let me know if you do too!))