"It's funny how someone's entire world can come screeching to a halt all of a sudden."

. . .
third person
. . .

"What are you talking about, Two?" Sodapop asked, quickly sitting up straight on the couch. "What scars?"

Two-Bit ran a nervous hand through his hair. "She had a bunch of scars on her arms. Some of them looked new too."

Dallas stood up violently, anger overtaking his entire form. "I'll kill whoever gave those to her. I'll kill 'em!"

"Dallas, just calm down for a second," Darrel spoke up, attempting to take control of the situation. "We don't know what's going on."

"We need to go after her," Soda said, jumping up from the couch and rushing to put on his shoes by the door. "Let's go! We need to make sure she's safe and figure out what's going on."

The boys hurried to put their shoes on before all seven of them piled on top of each other into Darrels truck. He took off quickly in the direction of Penny's house, with all intent of finding her and figuring out what the hell was going on.

. . .
Penny's POV
. . .

The walk back to my house was quiet and uneventful, but I was too zoned out to even realize such a thing. My mind was racing elsewhere.

I shook slightly as my thoughts relived the previous situation. Had anyone noticed my arms while my jacket had been off? I prayed that they hadn't. That would cause too many problems that I didn't want to deal with.

I tried to reassure myself that everything was fine, as they hadn't mentioned it while I had been there. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something.

Safely arriving at my house, I made my way through the front door, closing it lightly behind me. Of course my mother wasn't home as she was more than likely buying beer or at the diner where she had possibly picked up an extra shift. It wasn't like she cared much about where I had been anyway, so I wasn't expecting to see her home anytime soon. I took a moment to survey the living room, which was littered with empty beer cans and take-out burger wrappers. I began to clean up the mess with a sigh.

I had just finished throwing out a load of trash when someone banged aggressively against the front door. Frowning I made my way from the kitchen back into the living room, watching the door nervously. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the door open a crack, slowly.

What met my eyes was something I wasn't expecting to see. The whole gang stood in front of me, anxiously waiting.

"Guys," I asked, voicing my confused thoughts. "What are you doing here?"

"Penny." Sodapop breathes a sigh of relief before giving me a hug, simultaneously moving me out of the doorway, allowing the gang to make their way inside.

Released from the hug, I closed the door behind the boys, feeling no less confused. "Seriously, what's going on?"

Darrel cleared his throat before speaking. "Penny, we're all really worried about you." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Two-Bit says he saw scars on your arms. Is everything okay?"

It's funny how someone's entire world can come screeching to a halt all of a sudden. My heart pounded in my chest and I struggled to breath as I watched the boys in front of me. I suddenly felt like a caged animal that needed out.

"We need to know what's going on, Penny," Soda spoke up quietly. "Please." He took a shaking breath, attempting to catch my eye. Finally, he continued tentatively. "Did someone hurt you, Penny?" He looked around the house, taking in the few beer bottles I missed while cleaning.

I struggled to find words, but Dallas spoke before I could come up with anything. "If someone hurt you, Penny, I swear to God I'll kill 'em!" he yelled, his voice dangerous.

My breaths came in quick bursts and I was beginning to feel dizzy as I stared back at the boys. "I...I...It wasn't anything like tha..."

I was quickly cut short by Steve. "It's okay, you can tell us."

"No. Steve, no one..." I attempted to speak again, my body shaking at this point. But once again I was cut off.

"Penny, please we only want to help you," Sodapop said quickly.

Panic was rising up inside me as I attempted to find words, already knowing where this conversation was going. "I'm serious, it's not like tha..."

"Penny plea..."

"No! Listen to me!" I shouted, surprising even myself. Swallowing thickly, I glanced around at the wide eyed boys in the room, attempting to steal myself before I could back down. This was it. "It was me. I did this to myself." Tears were welling my eyes as I stared with blurry vision.

"What are you talking about?" Dallas asked. Now it was the boys' turn to struggle to breath, as they tried to comprehend the situation.

Sodapop took a step forward, pain filling his chest like an ocean as the realization hit him. His voice came in whisper that physically hurt me to hear. "Penny, you did this to yourself?"

I let the tears fall as I nodded my head, letting my gaze drop to my feet in embarrassment and guilt.

Suddenly there were arms wrapped around me from every angle as the gang pulled me into a hug. I sobbed quietly into Sodapop's chest, only wishing to stay there forever and never show my face to the world ever again.

Finally I was released, but the boys all stayed close as if they thought that if they backed up I would disappear. I wished I would.

Darrel was the first to speak, his voice coming out soft. "Penny, why would you do this to yourself?"

I was grateful he hadn't asked to see my scars, but this question was no better. How was I supposed to answer it? How was I supposed to explain the void I felt in my chest? How did I tell them that the pain was what helped ground me? How on earth was anyone supposed to understand if they didn't know what it felt like?

"I don't know," I said quietly, refusing to meet his gaze. I took a moment to collect myself before continuing. "I didn't mean to start. But once I did, I couldn't stop."

"Penny, this can't be how you deal with things," Two-Bit spoke up. "You're hurting yourself."

I didn't respond to that. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but no matter how sick it sounded, it helped. It helped, didn't it? "I'm sorry," I whispered at last.

Sodapop wrapped me in another hug before leading me to the couch as the boys followed. He sat down, gently pulling me down beside him, his arm still wrapped around my shoulder. I sighed deeply, allowing exhaustion to consume me as I laid my head down on Soda's shoulder.

"It's okay," he whispered in my ear quietly. "You're okay now."

I let myself gently fall asleep listening to Sodapop whisper sweet nothing into my ear.