❝it's ironic, isn't it? how hope keeps us going just to kill us in the end.❞
A cold wind blew threw my hair as I readjusted my backpack on my shoulders. My black sweatpants (they belonged to Dallas Winston, I'll admit) kept my legs warm from the cold weather. I pulled the hood of my Levi's sweatshirt over my head as I continued on my way home from school.
Ponyboy would usually be with me, but I had to stay behind for basketball practice. Basketball was the only sport I truly enjoyed playing, and our practices were two hours long, so I stayed at the school until 4:30 on a typical practice day.
As I continued on my way, I suddenly heard a shrill voice shout, "Help! Anyone, help me!" I could recognize that voice anywhere. It belonged to Johnny.
I ran towards the direction of his voice, where some stupid Socs had him pinned up against a chain link fence. They hadn't done anything to him yet, and before they could, I ran up to the group of them.
"Stop!" I screamed as I ran in front of my friend. Johnny turned to look at me, and so did those damn Socs. They pushed Johnny further into the chain link fence, and I stepped in to protect him. I was scared, and without thinking, made a big decision. I still don't regret it, though.
One of the Socs turned to me, and I recognized him as Bob Sheldon. "And what do you want, greaser girly?" he asked, clearly drunk. I stood up to him and his friend, Randy, turned to me as well.
"You leave Johnny alone, and you can beat me up all you want." I spoke up, moving closer to Bob. Johnny's head quickly snapped towards me, and he looked even more terrified than before. Bob and Randy exchanged glances before smirking evilly.
"No... Log..." Johnny began to speak, but I cut him off. Bob and Randy came towards me, and I insisted on Johnny getting out of there.
"Go to my house! I'll be okay, just run!" I shouted, and reluctantly, Johnny took off. I could tell he didn't want to leave me to get jumped, but I did it voluntarily. Johnny Cade already had to deal with enough at home, and a beating from the Socials wouldn't help.
Randy charged towards me with a switchblade, and Bob has multiple rings on his fingers. Bob Sheldon pushed me into the chain link fence, and I knew that none of my gang members would reach me in time. I was still a good distance from our house; 20 minutes running takes a lot out of you. Especially Johnny Cade. If it was Ponyboy, he'd probably be able to get to our house in five minutes, but Johnny, with all the injuries he receives on a day-to-day basis, probably couldn't run very fast.
Without any warning, Bob punched me in the face, and hit me directly in my eye. Next thing I knew, I was down on the ground with Randy on top of me. He slashed my stomach with his switchblade multiple times, and boy, were the gashes deep. Bob kept hitting my face, and after awhile of doing that, cut my already bruised skin with his rings. After what seemed like forever, they finally ran off.
My head was in so much pain, and so was the rest of my body. Nobody was here, though. There was no sign of Johnny or Ponyboy. I half expected to see Dally or Steve running towards me, with Sodapop, Darry and Two-Bit right behind me, but I didn't see anybody.
I slowly sat up, inspecting my injuries. The gashes on my stomach were deep and my Pepsi-Cola shirt was blood soaked. My left eye was already swollen shut, and I had dark, big bruises all around my face. The cuts on my face were deep, too, and I would probably need stitches. I knew by just lightly touching my face that I looked worse than Johnny did when he got jumped. And boy, did he look absolutely terrible.
I slowly made my way to my feet, and carefully picked up my backpack. It felt like I had been beaten forever, but in reality, it was only a few minutes. Knowing Johnny, he probably took a long route home, but I knew a shortcut. I knew that if I didn't make it home soon, I'd probably pass out in the middle of the streets of Tulsa, and that wasn't fun.
When I turned a corner, I immediately recognized my house. As quickly as I could, I made my way to the porch and quickly turned the doorknob. As soon as my trembling hands opened the front door, I stumbled through and let out an enormous cry of pain.
Most of the gang was in the kitchen, but Dallas was right there sitting on the couch. As I fell to the floor with a thud, he rushed over to me, but not before exclaiming, "Holy shit! Logan!" That made my head spin.
"Dal... h-help me." I mumbled, and he took of the denim jacket he was wearing and pressed it to my bleeding stomach. I guess that Soda had heard either my cry or pain or Dally's panicked scream, because either way he came rushing into the room.
When he saw me, his eyes went wide open. He quickly went back into the kitchen to grab a towel. He came back in and pressed it to my face, while Dallas was still working on my stomach.
"W-Where's Johnnycakes?" I stuttered, and Dally looked at me. I guess my stomach had finally started to stop bleeding, because he took his jean jacket slowly off of it. It was stained with blood.
"He hasn't come here yet."
By now, the entire gang was in the living room, scrambling around me. I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't. Johnny scrambled through the door just as Sodapop finished cleaning off my face.
"How is she?" Darry and Johnny asked in unison, and Dallas looked at them.
"Her stomach has stopped bleeding, but I'd recommend that we still check on it to see if it gets worse." he explained, and Steve and Two-Bit gently placed me on the couch.
I was zoning out by this point. I didn't know what was going to happen next, and I felt like I could join my mom any second now. Suddenly, Sodapop and Ponyboy wrapped my arms around their shoulders and helped me to my room. Soda grabbed one of Ponyboy's Gone With The Wind t-shirts and gently helped me change into it.
I felt like an idiot. I hated the fact that everyone was taking care of me.
Darry came into the room and handed Ponyboy an ice pack. He left the room with Soda and Pony gently climbed in bed beside me. "This is gonna hurt, Logan. I'm so sorry." he whispered, and placed the ice he was holding up to my swollen eye. I winced and he apologized profusely, but I knew it was something that Pony needed to do.
I tried my best to move closer to him, and when my twin saw that he couldn't, he gently pulled me by the arms and sat me between his legs. I leaned into his chest and he placed a soft kiss on the top of my head.
"I-It hurts, Pony." I whimpered, and he looked at me with concern.
"I'm so sorry, Logie-Bear. I should have been there to protect you. I failed you as an older brother. I love you so much, and I can't afford to lose you." he whispered, close to tears by now.
To show that it wasn't his fault, I gently nuzzled myself into his chest, "I-I love y-you too, Pony." I closed my eyes gently and fell asleep in his arms.
During that moment, I felt like staying on earth was worth it.
sorry this was a piece of shit! anyway, here's a tommy gif to hopefully make it up to you ;)
this is from the hitcher, 1986!
a/n: you matter. please stay. i love you. remember there is a light at the end tunnel. if it's not okay, it's not the end. the national suicide prevention lifeline is 1800-273-8255.