"Today's weather is going to be sunny. The high will be—" the weatherman announced but Ponyboy Curtis zoned him, as well as everything else around him, out as he flipped through his book. His vision blurred for a moment as his glasses fell to the tip of his nose. He blinked as he pushed it back up, scrunching up his nose a bit.

It's been half a year since Vincent was caught. Since then, life has smoothly fallen back into place. Well, to the most part. Ponyboy had still yet to return to school. He just wasn't ready yet. The news and rumors were still popular topics amongst students. He didn't want to feel overwhelmed or triggered by anything, so he figured that he would lay low—do some homeschooling—before returning.

He had gotten a lot better. Meat was now on his bones, there weren't dark bags under his eyes anymore, and his vision was mostly back to how it was before thanks to his new glasses. The only thing that he couldn't heal was his boredom. There wasn't much to do these days besides watch TV, draw, or read. But reading was quite enjoyable.

He was so focused on his novel that he didn't even notice the front door open until someone spoke.

"Soda, ready to go?" Steve called out, letting someone else in the house as well. Ponyboy still didn't pay attention to the newcomers.

Soda came running out of his room while trying to slip on his shoes. Although he was just tripping around without getting anywhere until he stopped in front of them. "Yeah! I just need to grab one more thing," Soda replied with a huge, goofy grin plastered on his face. Soda then turned to the other person. "Who's this?"

Steve jabbed a finger towards the newcomer, leaning heavily on one leg. "This is Sawyer, the guy I was telling you about."

"Hi," greeted a new voice that Ponyboy didn't recognize. Still… he didn't look up from what he was doing. He drowned the conversation out like he did with the TV. It wasn't like it involved him anyways. That was until they started to talk about him.

"Hey," Sawyer whispered—though it was quite loud. "That's him, right? He was the one who got kidnapped; the one on the news?"

"Yeah, that's him," Steve replied nonchalantly.

"Man, I heard he was raped." At those words, Ponyboy tensed up. His hands gripped the edges of his book tightly as he stared holes into the words that he wasn't even reading anymore. Even though it happened a while ago, the memory was still fresh in his mind. Everything Vincent did to him was like that. There were just some scars that couldn't be healed. "I also heard that he wanted to go back to his kidnapper at one point… that's messed up. He must have enjoyed it. It's really disgusting."

Disgusting. Nasty. Corrupted.

The pages started to rip out of his book and all Ponyboy just wanted to do was run into his room and hide under the covers of his bed.

You'll never be seen the same by anyone. You're such a burden. Why don't you—

The sound of a skin slapping against skin caused Ponyboy's attention to snap up from his book. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Steve's fist raised and Sawyer's face turned to the side. It didn't take a genius to tell what had just happened. Steve had just punched Sawyer in the cheek.

"What the hell, man?!" Sawyer hissed, holding the area where he was just socked. It was already turning red.

"Don't you dare talk about him like that!" Steve snapped; eyes harsh. So much rage filled them that it scared all the occupants in the room. Not even Soda, who was glaring at Sawyer with clenched fists, could top it. "Now, get out!"

Sawyer looked appalled. His mouth dropped slightly. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Get out!"

"It's not your house."

Steve just raised his eyebrows and gave him an are-you-really-pulling-that expression. The two of them looked at Soda who's smile had long since dropped. Sawyer then knew that he wasn't going to be able to stay. He didn't know exactly what he was expecting. Soda was Ponyboy's older brother after all. "Get out now," Soda ordered, voice lowered into a growl.

Rolling his eyes, Sawyer flipped them off. "Fuck you all."

And, just like that, Sawyer was gone after slamming the door. The two greasers turned to Ponyboy who fidgeted on the couch uncomfortably under their stares. "You alright?" Steve asked with concern when he noticed Ponyboy's trembling hands and the ripped pages of his book.

"I'm fine," Ponyboy answered, closing his book to rub at his fingers instead. They were stiff with how tightly he was holding the edges of his book. He looked down again to avoid their gaze, a bit ashamed. He knew that people would think that he was disgusting, but he still wanted to be as oblivious as he could about it… because there was still the chance that the gang thought those things as well but just weren't admitting it to him. God forbid them from finding out what other things that he did in the basement. The image of blood flashed on his hands for a second. Even though he should tell them the entire story… some things are just meant to be kept in secret.

"You know you're not any of the things that he said, right?" Soda asked worriedly. His frown deepened when Ponyboy still kept his face turned down dejectedly.

"I know."

Soda placed his fingers on Ponyboy's chin, lifting his head up so they could look into each other's eyes. "I know that you're still thinking about it. Stop thinking that you are. You're not. He manipulated and used you. The names are all wrong."

"I know," Ponyboy repeated emptily. Whatever would get them off his back. It seemed to work because Soda let go of his chin.

Steve looked out the door, tilting his head with thought. "Hey, want to come with us?" Steve suddenly asked and Ponyboy looked at him curiously. Steve never asked him to tag along. He always complained about him joining them. But here he was, trying something different for his sake. "We're going to go around town to find something to do."

Ponyboy bit his bottom lip in thought. It would be nice but… "I don't want to be a burden," Ponyboy brought up.

"We're the ones who are inviting you. Now, come on, kid. You coming or what?"

The boy smiled a bit, nodding. "Okay… Let's go. And… thanks, Steve."

Steve grinned, giving him a noogie. "Of course."

The trio gathered their things and headed outside. When Ponyboy left the house. He didn't hear the newsman announce, "Vincent Cox, who had been charged with kidnapping, rape, child pornography, murder, and vandalism had recently disappeared from prison. Law enforcement officials are tracking him but have not found anything as of yet. If you see him, please contact the police immediately."

o-o-o

Boom! Done!

Thank you so much for reading this story and for giving me so much support! Thank you to all the people that reviewed, you really helped me keep this story going. Please, tell me what you think about this story. Also, I will NOT be writing a sequel. Sorry. :p

I'm just going to leave this like this to infuriate you guys a bit. Haha.

Anyway, if you like my work, please check out my new story! It has nothing to do with this and has a lighter theme. It's called, Wrong Place at the Wrong Time.

But, for now, stay gold!