For grace2777

You opened your front door quietly so your dad, drunk and asleep on the couch, wouldn't wake up. The door creaked just as it was almost fully open.

Your dad woke with a start. "Where you goin, you little bitch? Huh?" He got off the couch and walked towards you, taking hold of your shoulders. His grip was tight and slowly getting tighter. "Where do ya think you're goin? Little shit." His face was contorted in a mixture of joy, anger, and just plain maliciousness.

"Uh-um n-nowhere," you stuttered, trying to withstand the pain in your shoulder. "I w-wasn't goin anywhere, s-sir." You kept your gaze on the floor at his feet. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him.

"That's what I thought. Murderers don't need to be out. Ya might kill someone else," he sneered, a pained expression flashed on his face for a split second before reverting back to it's dry, angry look. He let go of your shoulder and shoved you really hard into the door, your side slamming into the doorknob. He walked back to the couch and going back to sleep.

You stood there thinking about what he had said. Your mom had past away shortly after giving birth to you, and your dad blamed you for it. He refused to even take you home from the hospital, so you lived with your grandmother until she died 5 years ago. Since then, you've had to live with your dad, being beaten constantly just for being alive and enduring verbal abuse that made your head spin after a while.

You walked back to your room and decided to do what you should have done in the first place, go out the window. Your house was only one story, so you didn't have to worry about dropping far. You closed the window just enough to where you could still open oit when you needed to. You took off for the Curtis house. The Curtis brothers, Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy, and the rest of the gang, Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny, and Dally, were your best friends. Anytime you needed help or just needed to get away, they were there for you. They were the family you didn't have.

You walked into the house and just absorbed the happiness in the very atmosphere. You could just feel all of your worries melt when you were there. This was your home.

"Hey, Grace! Where've ya been?" Two-bit greeted you, hugging you tightly.

You winced in pain. He happened to hug you right on the spot you hit on the doorknob, not to mention the countless other bruises and scrapes from other beatings. "Oh, just at home."

Two instantly let go of you at your indication of pain. His body tensed up. "What'd he do?"

"Nothing. Two, don't worry. I just fell off the bed a couple times last night," you lied, trying to be as convincing as possible. None of the boys were buying it.

Ponyboy walked out of his room with a book, like always. He noticed you still standing there. "Oh, hey, Grace!" His face lit up in a smile. He noticed everyone else's expressions and he frowned. "What's wrong?"

You sighed. "Nothing is wrong. Everyone is just worrying for nothing." You had a bit of a crush on Pony, but you tried not to get too close to him. Your dad's discouraging words were starting to get to you. You didn't want anyone to have to deal with your problematic self.

Ponyboy walked over to you, smile on his face but worry evident in his eyes. "Grace, can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure, Pony," you consented, a little confused. You followed him as he walked back into his room that he shared with Sodapop. When you two were in the room, and he closed the door, you asked, "So what do you need to talk about?"

"Well, Grace," he paused and took a deep breath.

You had taken a seat on the edge of the bed, while he stood, pacing a little. He suddenly sat down next to you, taking both of your hands in his.

"Grace, did your dad hurt you?" He looked at you, searching your face for confirmation. It didn't take very long for him to know his answer.

Your face had instantly turned from a slightly confused expression to a look of utter terror. You tried to quickly shake your head and play it off, but you knew it was too late. "Pony, don't worry about me, okay? I can take care of myself."

"That's the thing, Grace," he started, a slight smile playing on his lips, "I can't not worry about you be-" He stopped. "Because I love you."

You were stunned. Did he really just say that? "B-but, Pony, you c-can't. I-I'm not good for you. I'll end up hurting you too." Your voice was shaky from the tears coming up. You wanted to tell him that you loved him too, but your dad's words were ringing through your head. You couldn't let Pony be with someone like you.

Now, Ponyboy looked confused. "I don't understand. How could you hurt me? I care about you. I want to make sure you're okay."

You swallowed back the urge to burst out in tears. "I'm okay, I promise. Look, Pony, I- I love you too, but I don't want to get you into anything." You hugged him and got up, leaving the room.

You decided to go home. You said bye quickly before trying to leave, hoping the boys wouldn't start asking a bunch of questions. Too late.

Dally got up. "Hold on, now. You ain't goin out by yourself, especially at this time. Let one of us go with you." He was like a big brother to you.

"It's fi-" you started before getting interrupted.

"I'll walk with you, Grace," Ponyboy volunteered. You didn't even notice that he had come out of the room.

"Okay," you said, shifting awkwardly. You were kind of embarrassed about what you did earlier.

It was a silent walk to your house. You two stopped at your front door and stood there, uncomfortably.

"Night, Pony," you said, breaking the silence. "And thank you for walking with me."

"It's no problem. Wouldn't want you out here this late," he stated.

You two stood there in silence again until Pony nodded and started walking away. You sighed and walked into the house. You didn't even think about whether you were quiet or not because your dad was normally at the bar downtown at this time.

Tonight was not the case. Your dad slammed the door to his room and came stomping and screaming at you. "Where the hell have you been?! Huh? Answer me!! You piece of shit." He slapped you as you stood there cowering. Then he pushed you against the wall, and your head hit the wall with a loud thud. One of the only picture frames that hung on the wall fell down from above you right onto your head, making your vision blur. You felt something warm run down your face, most likely blood.

You had slumped to the floor when the frame hit you, but now, your dad grabbed you by your shirt and pulled you up.

"Get up and handle it! This is what you deserve!" he yelled at you.

Tears were flowing freely down your face. You tried to get away, but you were too weak, and he was too strong. Suddenly, you felt his hands off of you long enough to back away from him. You could hear him struggling and yelling. Then there was a loud thud.

"Grace! No, no, no. Hey! Can you hear me? Grace?!" a familiar voice spoke to you.

You tried to respond, but all that came out was a faint groan. You felt the person pick you up bridal style before you passed out.

When you opened your eyes, your vision was blurry. You rubbed your eyes to get the sleep out, and you could see a little better. The room was dim, and you were lying in a bed. You realized that you were in Ponyboy and Sodapop's room. You looked over and, sure enough, there was Ponyboy sleeping next to you. You suddenly remembered what happened last night as you spotted some dark bruises scattered across Pony's face and arms. You couldn't help but cry.

Pony woke up from the sound of you sobbing. He instantly sat up and held you in his arms. "Grace, what's wrong, Doll?"

"I-it's all my fault! I told you that you'd get hurt 'cause of me," you managed to choke out in between sobs.

"Listen, a few bruises are nothing compared to making sure that you're safe and happy, alright?" He smiled at you so sincerely and wiped the tears from your cheeks. He leaned towards you and kissed you on the lips.

You were surprised but quickly kissed back. You pulled back, breathless. "I love you, Pony. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Let's not think about that," he said. "I love you too." He took you into his arms again and held you close to him.

I am sooo sorry at hope late this was! But I made it kinda long, so I hope that makes up part of it. I haven't really been writing lately because school started back up a couple weeks ago, and I already have a bunch of work. Urrrfggg!

I hope you like this tho and sorry for my lame excuse for being so late with this. I really wanted this one to be written well because this is such a serious topic. It's sad that there are people, adiults and kids alike, that go through things like that all the time. I wish the world was a better place, but until that happens the best we can do is help the people going through this.

I want you to stay safe, okay? I don't know pretty much any of you, but I want all of you to be as safe as you can be. It's simple science: everything is made of matter, so we all matter (you have to say it like you mean 'we're all matter' but you get it I'm sure). M'kay.

~Mariah