Summary: Two-Bit vowed never to let tragedy affect him again after his dad left. Ponyboy vowed never to let death affect him again after his parents died. But when two of their best friends are in the caskets, all bets are off.
Disclaimer- The Outsiders are not owned by me, but by the brilliant S.E. Hinton.
Authors Note- The conclusion that Two-Bit was 10 in 1958 is based on my findings that he was born in 1948 and The Outsiders takes place in 1966. His sister, Laura, is 12 in 1966 in this fic so she was born in 1954 and was 4 in 1958.
Prologue
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Two-Bit (1958, age 10)
The yelling had started three months ago. For three months our house has been nothing but yelling, glass breaking, and, worst of all, silence. Laura used to come running to me every time mom and dad would start fighting, but now she just goes to her room and keeps on playing, unless it gets real bad. She hated the silence most. I think I did, too. The silence had us all walking on egg shells. Somebody would eventually break one and the yelling would start again.
I’m lying. I don’t hate the silence most. What I hate most is the faking. Every so often, when he wasn’t drunk, my dad would come home with flowers and chocolate for mom and a present for Laura and me. Laura always forgave him. She thought things were getting back to normal. It’s happened so many times now I think she’s started seeing through him, same as mom and me. I don’t see her playing with the toys dad bought her much anymore. Mine always go straight to the closet.
The raised voices of my mom and dad carried to my bedroom. The yelling would start soon. I sighed and abandoned the homework I’d been doing. It wasn’t going to get done once the screaming started. I stuffed it in my backpack, grabbed a dollar I’d been saving from Christmas, and put it in my pocket. I eased the window open and slipped out. I thanked God every time I did this that my room was on the first floor.
Laura watched me walk away from her window. I waved and gave her an encouraging smile, or what I at least hoped was one. Laura gazed back dejectedly. She was only three, but she knew what I was doing. I’d been doing it for a month now. She always watched from the window. She was always there when I got back; like she wanted to make sure I came back and didn’t just skip out on her and mom. She was only 4, but she understood so much.
I turned the corner and came into view of the Curtis house.
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