THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSAULT. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THIS THERE WILL BE A SUMMARY OF THIS CHAPTER IN THE NEXT CHAPTER SO YOU WON'T MISS ANYTHING

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SOMEONE WAS FOLLOWING me. I could feel their eyes following my every move, whoever they were. I casually glance around the dark street. There was still nothing. My grasp on the blade that was tucked in my front pocket tightened. Whoever was following me wasn't gonna hurt me. I had learned from my and Ponyboy's walk from the movie theater.

I turn the corner into a narrow alley that I used sometimes for a quicker way home. My walking comes to a halt when the shadow of a man blocks the light to the exit. I freeze where I stand and take a step back as he takes a step forward, his face hidden by the shadows.

I flip around, freezing when the outline of a different man appears at the entrance of the alley. This small alley was narrow. Only wide enough for one person to walk at a time. I was trapped.

I feel a hand clasp on my shoulder, close to my neck. In reflex, I pull my knife, aiming to jab it at the man, only for him to dodge it and grip my wrist harshly, slamming it into the brick wall beside us. A yelp of pain leaves me, but it is muffled as the other soc shoves a handkerchief into my mouth.

"I really wouldn't try anything stupid right now." The one with the firm hold on me whispers in my ear, his words slurred. His hot breath on my ear made my stomach clench, and I yanked away from him, causing him to squeeze my throbbing wrist. One hand held my throbbing wrist while his other arm trapped my arms to my sides, his hand wrapped around my neck, squeezing just enough to show me that I was powerless and at this stranger's mercy.

Another groan of pain leaves me and I hold back tears that threaten to fall. "Shhh, shhh, calm down. We're not gonna hurt you, pretty girl." The one in front of me coos, his hand twirling a strand of my hair around his finger. I snarl through the handkerchief, thrashing my body, causing the one holding me to hold me tighter, squeezing my neck harder, causing my airway to be cut off.

My eyes bulge out of my head as I thrash again, my eyes filling with tears as my heart pounds in my ears from lack of oxygen. I thrash my body, desperate for air that I almost think they won't allow me to have until "That's enough." The man in front of me says. Relief fills me as the man's hand loosens around my neck. I could feel the bruises forming as I forced chunks of air into my lungs through my nostrils.

The man in front of me bends down and, seconds later, comes back up. My knife's blade shines in the dim lighting of the alley, and my body tenses as he presses it firmly to my cheek. I hold back a wince as I feel the sharp blade start to cut my skin. "You feel that?" The man in front of me whispers, forcing the blade further into my face causing me to wince. I could feel warm blood start to ooze from the wound.

I shudder as he trails the knife from my cheek, down my neck and front stopping on my stomach and pressing lightly. I suck in a breath not able to stop the tremble in my body as blood drips from my cheek.

I didn't understand why this was happening. I haven't pissed anyone off, as far as I know. So who the hell are these people? From the way they smelt of expensive cologne and wine, I knew they were Socs. Maybe they were just doing this for fun. Their slurred words told me they were definitely drunk.

"You're little friend killed ours, you know that?" The soc hums, his voice numb. A shard of ice stabs through my stomach and I feel like I'm about to throw up. Were they going to kill me? They definitely had the money to get away with it. "And he gets to walk a free man. Do you think that's fair? Hm?" The soc questions. My body jerks as I feel his hand slide up my shirt, his cold palm flattening against my stomach.

I let out a noise of protest, wiggling again in the man's arms as my heart started to pound in my head. "Shut up." The soc growls pressing the knife to my neck right against my vein. One little slice, and he could kill me. One little slice and I didn't even want to know what they'd do to my body.

"Listen to me okay? You're gonna be a good girl and be quiet for me. Then your gonna go home and tell that little shit we're comin' for him. Understand?" The soc whispers as he lets the knife fall to the ground, his hands gripping the back of my thighs and slowly moving up to grope my ass.

I feel the man behind me hold me tighter as I try to kick. With every move I made, he tightened his hold on my neck to cut my airway off so I was too weak to fight them from lack of oxygen. This was a game to them. A sick, twisted game that they seemed to have played before.

The man in front of me hushes me softly, petting my head as I squirm, tears building up in my eyes. His mouth finds my collarbone as one hand comes up to cup my breast. His lips and tongue glide against my skin causing vile to rise in my throat. "Don't be nervous, baby." He whispers his other hand finding the button of my jeans. I squirm harder, screaming as loud as I can into the handkerchief. I thrash my head back and forth, side to side. I feel the man holding me stumble and I take it as an opportunity to bring my feet up to kick the man in front of me.

As he shoots backward, the man holding me falls over, letting go of me to catch himself. I roll away from the men, jumping to my feet and ripping the handkerchief from my mouth, bolting towards the exit of the alley.

I hear the socs yell for me and the pounding of their feet as they start to chase me. I speed up my pace, running faster than I ever had before. I jump the fence of someone in our neighborhood and rush across their yard, going through people's yards and hopping fences until I find my house.

I bolt up the steps yanking at the door that wouldn't open. With my heart in my ears and the fear that the two men would grab me any moment. I breakdown.

"Open the door! Dally! Darry! Someone help!" I sob, beating on the door so harshly that I can feel my knuckles start to split open.

The door is opened by a sleepy, confused Darry. I waste no time launching myself into his arms, sobs shaking my body. My body still tingled in every place his filthy hand touched me. My skin was still cold and slightly wet from where he glided his tongue against my collarbone. Two of the buttons on my blouse were undone. Thankfully, I got away before he got farther.

Darry lifts me into his strong hold, shutting and locking the door. He sits in the armchair and rubs circles on my back, like daddy used to whenever I would have nightmares. The only difference between now and then was that I had lived a nightmare.

Darry doesn't ask me what happened, just holding me close and whispering sweet, reassuring phrases like "You're alright, kiddo," and "Nobody's gonna hurt ya,"

"Angela?" I hear the sleepy worried voice of my youngest brother. I bury my face deeper into my strong strong chest. I felt pathetic and weak. Ponyboy shouldn't see me like this. "What's wrong with her Darry?" Pony asks, worry clear in his voice.

"I don't know, Pony. Now you go on, you've got school in the morning." Darry instructs calmly, still rubbing my back.

I hear Pony's footsteps disappear before I hear the soft click of his bedroom door shut. I start to calm down after a few more minutes, now just laying in Darry's strong, comforting hold as soft hiccups leave me.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Darry questions after a while in the silence.

"The socs are after Johnny, two of them followed me home and they—" I stop mid-sentence, the words refusing to come out. I force back more tears that were starting to build, pushing my head up and wiping away my dried tears as I sniffle. Darry's eyes find my cheek, which was stained with dried blood. His jaw tensed. "We've gotta look for Johnny," I mumble as I get off of Darry.

My cheek throbbed painfully as I shuffled to the bathroom. I need to clean my cheek and find Johnny before those socs do. They were dangerous and I didn't want him getting hurt. He would get a lot worse than me.

I turn my face so I can get a better look at the gash on my face. Blood had dripped down my face and even gotten on my shirt creating dark droplets on my white blouse. Grabbing an alcohol wipe with my good hand, I rip it open and dab it onto my broken skin, holding back winces and hisses of pain as I do.

"Angela, it's too late to be lookin' for Johnny.  I bet he's at home asleep." Darry tries to reason with me as he watches me clean my cut in the mirror. It was only eleven. So I doubt that Johnny was at home asleep.

"I don't care," I answer, cleaning the dried blood from my cheek. "Those socs were drunk. They'll do Johnny a lot worse than they got me, and I dropped my fuckin' switchblade, so they have that now." I tossed the used alcohol pads into the trash; we didn't have bandaids big enough to fully cover my cut, so I was stuck with leaving it exposed.

"You're not going back out there," Darry argues as I examine my wrist, which is slightly swollen. I could still move it, which meant it was just a spring. I grab a wrap and start to messily wrap my wrist.

I look at him as I'm halfway done wrapping my wrist. "I'm going to find Johnny before those socs do. You can help me or not but you can't stop me." I tell him.

Darry looks as if at battle with himself. I felt like an asshole for putting him in this position because I knew he didn't know the right decision. On one hand, I had come home sobbing and terrified and Darry still didn't know all that happened to me. He wanted to be a good big brother and protect his sister. But on the other hand, he wanted to protect Johnny.

Darry was only twenty years old. Three years older than me. He didn't deserve the stress of everything. He was still young, barely an adult.

"Let me get dressed." Darry mumbles, giving in as he walks away from the bathroom. I felt relief flood through me. I would feel safer knowing Darry was with me. Because if those socs found us, if it wasn't Darry's build that would scare them off, they were probably too drunk to remember anything that happened. So if Darry knocked them out, there'd be no witnesses.

I put on a thick jacket that originally belonged to Soda, I wanted to look as bulky as possible to hide my figure.

"Ready to go?" Darry questions. He now wore a pair of jeans and a thick jacket. I nod my head and open the front door, stepping out first. I let my eyes scan the dark looking for the outline of men or movement in the shadows. I was grateful to see none.

"Let's go to Johnny's house first and see if he's there." Darry instructs.

I don't argue and we start walking down the sidewalk. Darry was talking to me, but I couldn't hear anything. It sounded as if I were underwater, Darry's voice muffled and inaudible.

Something ahead catches my eye. The outline of a body lay in the ditch a few feet ahead. I feel myself go numb and I stop in my tracks.

Darry stops with me, looking at me with confusion. He asks why I stopped,, but I can't answer. A frog was lodged in my throat, making it difficult to swallow and breathe through my bruised throat.

I stumble towards the lump in the ditch. Please don't be Johnny. Please don't be Johnny. Please don't be— "Oh my god," I gulp dropping to my knees.

Johnny lay half-conscious, shallow breaths leaving him as I prop his head up. I couldn't see how badly he was beaten because it was too dark. "Stay here with him, I'm gonna go call an ambulance." Darry instructs before rushing off towards the direction of our house.

I hold Johnny close to my chest rocking back and forth light as I hum a soft melody. He lets out a sputtering cough, one that shakes his whole body.  "It's okay, Johnnycake. Helps comin'." I whisper in a gentle voice. I feather my fingers through his greased-backed locks, swallowing back tears as I keep my humming steady and light. I can't break right now. Johnny needed comfort right now.

He needed a sister and I was the closest thing he had to one.

He doesn't respond, only letting out a quiet cry, nuzzling close to my body. "Was it socs?" I ask. He gives the slightest note of his head and I feel my body tense as I hold Johnny closer. I was too late. Johnny still got hurt.

Darry comes back after a minute or so, he tells us the ambulance is on its way. We sit with Johnny and I hum softly in hopes of soothing him. It seemed to work but I really couldn't tell since he wouldn't speak. Or maybe he couldn't.

The blaring sound of sirens is heard and an ambulance comes to a screeching stop beside us. Two men jump from the car quickly pulling a stretcher from the back and losing Johnny onto it. I get to my feet, following them as they haul Johnny into the back.

I feel someone grab my arm before I can step inside and I turn to see Darry. "Go home and rest, you've had enough tonight." He instructs.

"We can't just leave him alone," I argue. I refused to let Johnny wake up in a hospital bed completely alone.

"I'll go with him, you just go home," Darry replies sternly.

Usually, I would fight more, but I was drained of any fight I had in me. With a tired nod, I pull away from Darry. He climbs into the ambulance and I watch as they speed away. I don't take my eyes off the road until the red colors blend into a blur.

I'm quick to go back home, not wanting to be outside alone for any longer than I have to be. The thought of sleeping right now sounded horrible. So instead, I curl up on the couch and wait for Darry to return.

💥|TIME SKIP|💥

I MUST HAVE fallen asleep because I jolt my head up at the sound of the door being unlocked. I look over at the clock hanging from the wall. It was close to two in the morning.

I'm both confused and curious when Soda opens the door. He slips inside quietly and shuts the front door. He jumps from his skin when he turns around and finds me on the couch. "Jeez, Angela!" He gasps quietly, putting a hand over his chest. "What are you doing out of bed?" He questions.

I don't answer, a ball of tension forming in my throat. Soda's face drops of its playfulness, and his eyes widen. "What happened to your face?" He demands, walking over to me.

He crouches to be at eye level with me, tenderly touching below the gash on my cheek. "You get in a knife fight?" He questions. I shake my head. "Attacked?" He questions hesitantly.

My body tenses and Soda knows he has his answer. He doesn't ask any more questions, instead kissing my forehead and telling me goodnight.

As he walks away I speak up, "Johnny is in the hospital." I say, my voice a low rasp from lack of use.

Soda pauses in his steps and looks back at me "How bad is he?" He questions.

"I don't know," I answer quietly; Soda is about to start walking against me when I call his name. He turns to look at me, and suddenly, I feel like a pathetic child for what I ask him. "Could you...could you sleep with me tonight?" I mumble.

It was one of the rare nights Dally slept at Buck Merle's, so I would be alone in my room. I didn't want to be alone right now. Soda's face softens, and he gives me a small, gentle smile. "Yeah, come on." He answers.

I get to my feet, and we walk into my room, where we find Ponyboy passed out on the floor, leaning against my bed. It seemed like none of us wanted to be alone tonight.

I climb into my bed while Soda gently picks up Ponyboy who stirs slightly. Pony's eyes crash open and he smiles when he sees Soda.

Sodapop lays Pony in my bed. The boy wraps an arm around me and snuggles close as he lets out a content sigh before falling back asleep as I thread my fingers through his hair. Soda lays next to Pony, all of us have to lay on our sides so we can all fit on the small bed.

My twin reaches his arm over Pony and me, hugging the both of us close. No matter what, I knew I could always count on my brothers. Yeah, we fought and argued. But at the end of the day, we were all we had left.

"Where were you before you came home?" I whisper, breaking the peaceful silence that Soda and a sleeping Pony lay in.

Soda waits a moment before answering "I was with a girl."

"Sandy?" I question curiously.

Soda gently shakes his head. "We broke up; I've been seeing this new girl for a bit now." He explains.

I nod, my eyes growing heavy "Tell me about her." I tell him as I fight sleep. Soda is quiet and I think he's not gonna tell me. Then he softly starts to speak.

"She's kind and smart...and very, very competitive." I hear the smile in his voice as he speaks of the girl. I hear him chuckle as he says "She laughs like a hyena."

I can't help but snicker "So does Bea." I tell him "But don't tell her I said that." I mumble before falling asleep.