"Caught in the crossfire of a silent scream, where one man's nightmare is another man's dream."
{Bryan Adams}

//

"KIERAN, WE NEED to talk." Ponyboy spoke. We were sitting outside on the porch and I was swinging my legs back and forth.

"Fine," I shrugged, "talk to me."

He hesitated. "I want to talk to you at the abandoned church. Johnny told me he took you there before, I figured it was my turn to take you."

I gave him a small smile. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go."

Ponyboy and I haven't talked in a month. With him being around Cherry twenty-four-seven, I never really got to see him. This is the first time he's talked to me, and it's probably about Cherry. They broke up last night and Ponyboy was absolutely devastated.

//

Dally and I were sitting on the couch along with, Two, watching Mickey Mouse. Two-Bit turned towards Dally and I. "Y'all have been spending so much time together, it's like y'all are actually dating."

Dally scoffed. "We're only doing this to make Ponyboy jealous. Plus, I want Cherry back."

Two shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you say, Dal."

Just then, Pony rushed inside, tears streaming down his face. I immediately stood up and walked over to him. "Pony, what's wrong?"

He put his head in my chest and kept crying. I rubbed the back of his head, soothingly. "Does it have to deal with Cherry, Ponyboy? What did she do to you?"

"S-she cheated on me with Bob."

I rolled my eyes. "And of course, you didn't listen to me. I told you they were out kissing in that Mustang, Pony. Johnny and I both told you, but you didn't listen."

He looked up at me, his eyes a dark shade of grey. "I-I'm so sorry, Kieran. I'm so so sorry."

A dismal expression washed over my face. He sounded so serious and I felt bad for him. "Here, let's get you to your bed."

I lead him to the bedroom him and Soda shared, and he trudged over and collapsed on the bed, his face buried in a pillow. He started crying some more and I watched him from the doorway, my heart felt like it shattered. It killed me to see Pony this hurt. I gently closed the door and walked back into the living room. Dally came over to me and gave me a sad smile, "I guess we have to 'break-up' huh?"

I frowned, "It was fun while it lasted."

//

PONYBOY AND I walked to the abandoned church in a comfortable silence. It was noon and everything was peaceful. The sun was shining, and butterflies were floating everywhere. It seemed as if nothing could ruin this perfect day.

Pony glanced over at me and cracked a smile. "Thanks for last night. You didn't have to do that. After I hurt you, I figured you'd be laughing instead of being sympathetic."

I shrugged, "I was being sympathetic because I know what it's like for someone you love to hurt you."

He was silent for a moment and then cleared his throat, "I love you, Kieran Paige Smith. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. I wasn't happy with Cherry. I'm happy with you and I'm upset that it took me this long to figure that out."

My vision was blurred from the tears falling down my face. I grabbed Pony by the shoulders and whirled him around to face me. I grabbed his face and slammed his lips onto mine. It felt like electricity running through my veins. When I pulled away, Pony looked at me, shocked.

PONY'S FACE WHEN KIERAN KISSED HIM AFTERWARDS DNGNBJEBCN) PRETEND THIS IS NOT DYLAN O' BRIEN

AND WHAT THEIR KISS LOOKED LIKE FJNFJSDNFJDSN IGNORE STYDIA, PRETEND IT'S KIERAN AND PONY LMAOOOSDSKFJDSBF

"I love you too." I breathed.

We continued walking and we arrived at the abandoned church. Something felt weird about it. "Pony, I don't think we should go in there."

He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at me. "Why not?"

"I-I just have a bad feeling about it. I don't know why."

He grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. "If anything happens, I'll protect you."

I nodded and we entered the abandoned church. Everything was quiet, just like when Johnny and I were here. Pony and I heard something that sounded like a whistle and shot our heads towards the sound. My eyes went huge and I screamed, "Pony, run!"

[YOU DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE WHOLE THING, BUT

PLEASE LISTEN UNTIL YOU GET TO 1:17! IT GOES RIGHT WITH THIS]

It was too late. The fireworks exploded and I pushed Pony out the window. The whole church went in flames. "KIERAN!" Pony shouted and grabbed me by the arm. He yanked me out and I started hearing sirens everywhere. I slowly started to close my eyes, "No, Kieran! Please stay up!"

The next thing I heard were firefighters and EMT's rushing towards me and then I blacked out.

//

We got up to my front porch and Johnny shouted. "Stay gold, Kieran!"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What did you just call me?"

He started laughing. "Stay gold. It's a thing Pony and I say from a poem. Nothing gold can stay."

All these flashbacks were thrown at me. Am I in Heaven? Or am I in a coma and all of these things are being thrown at me to show me to be thankful for what I have?

//

"Hey, you leave her alone!" A voice shouted from behind us. A wash of relief poured over me as Bob finally walked away from me, walking towards the other person. I whipped my head around and saw a boy with bleach blonde, greased backed hair.

"Well, what do we have here?" Bob questioned while walking over to the bleach blonde boy. "The little hero who tries to save everyone. You can't save every single one of your greaser buddies that I pick on, alright?" He asked in an arrogant voice which made me roll my eyes in disgust.

//

He ran towards me and I ducked right as he raised his fist to hit me. The boy took my hand and dragged me away from Bob, running extremely fast. He must be in track or something. We disappeared behind a wall, and Bob ran right past us. I breathed out a sigh of relief and glanced over at the boy who saved me. "Kieran Smith. What's your name?"

"Ponyboy Curtis." He answered and I immediately grinned. "I like your name. We both have unique names." 

He smiled at me. "Yeah, I guess we do."

//

I SHOOK AWAY the flashbacks as soon as I heard Pony's voice. He was crying. "I-is she going to make it?"

I heard Derek's voice and he was crying also. "I don't think she will, Pony."