Darry sighed heavily and sat down at the table after a long day of work and started looking through the mail. Then something caught his eye. Pony's report card.

"Ponyboy!" he yelled.

"Yeah, Dar?" Pony asked.

"Come here and look at this," he said, pointing to his math grade. "What is this?"

"A B?" Pony was confused. He thought that they were starting to get along.

"Yeah? And why don't you have an A?"

"What? I ain't perfect, Darry. It's just a B."

"It is, but you've been getting A's and so I'd like to know why you went down a whole letter grade."

"And I'd like to know why I always have to be so perfect!" Ponyboy was starting to get irritated.

"Let's see, shall we?" he said, getting up from his chair. "If I'm not mistaken, you've been getting straight A's for as long as I can remember. And you could get a scholarship, and that would make it easier on me." Darry thought that last part was a little selfish, but it was the truth.

"I'm nothing but a pain to you, huh, Darry? Nothing I do ever satisfies you. Since I'm such a burden to you all the time, why don't you just throw me in a boys' home now?" Pony was really confused since he thought Darry had changed. He didn't want to go to a boys' home, of course, and Sodapop wouldn't allow it anyway.

"Sometimes I want to. You're never using your head, and what with you slacking off in math, sometimes I just don't know what to do with you!" Darry immediately regretted what he said. He was just tired and frustrated, and he hadn't meant any of that.

"I knew it! I knew it all along. You've always wanted to get rid of me, haven't you? All that time, you were just trying to make Soda think that you cared. And if you can't find me one morning, you'll know why!" Pony yelled angrily, then stormed off to his room.

Darry slowly sat back down and ran his fingers through his hair. He was just having a bad day, and he hadn't meant to be so cold.

"What have I just done?" he muttered to himself. Then he remembered that they had promised Soda not to fight anymore. He had to keep his regret to himself and hoped Pony wouldn't say anything, he didn't want Soda to get mad too. The last thing anybody wanted was for Soda to be mad at you, because that meant that probably the most happy-go-lucky guy on earth was mad at you, and that was not a good thing at all. He decided to try to apologize to Pony in the morning and let him cool off for now.

The next morning, Darry was the first one to wake up, and he made breakfast. Suddenly, Sodapop ran in.

"Darry, I can't find Ponyboy!" His voice was frantic, and Darry's vision went red. "I looked everywhere in the house."

"He's gotta be somewhere, Soda. Maybe someone in the gang knows where he is." They went to Two-Bit's house first and knocked on the door. His mom answered.

"Is Two-Bit there?" Soda asked.

"Yeah. Two-Bit! Darry and Soda are here to see you," she yelled. Two-Bit came to the door.

"What is it?"

"We can't find Ponyboy. Have you seen him?" Darry asked.

"Sorry, guys. I haven't seen him. I'm sure the kid's around here somewhere, though."

"Okay. See ya later." Then they went to Steve's house.

"Hey, guys, what's goin' on?'

"Have you seen Pony by any chance?" Soda asked.

"I haven't seen him. Sorry."

"Well, if you do, just give me a holler."

"Okay. See you around, Soda." They asked Dally and Johnny and got the same answer.

"What're we going to do, Darry?" Soda asked in a panicked voice.

"I don't know. Man, this is all my fault." Darry immediately realized that he just got himself in a world of trouble by saying that and clamped a hand over his mouth.

"What?" Darry didn't answer. "Darry…" He remained silent. "Tell me what you mean by that." Soda narrowed his eyes, and Darry sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get out of this one.

"I, uh, fought with him."

"YOU WHAT?" Soda yelled.

"I'm sorry. Look, I was having a bad day, and I said some things that I didn't mean and got him mad."

"I can't believe you did that! Why did you fight with him?" Darry bit his lip. He didn't want to answer that because he knew that it would only make Soda more upset, but he knew that Soda wouldn't let this drop. He held up Pony's report card.

"This is why."

"So, Pony got good grades? What does that have to do with anything?"

"His math grade."

"He only got a B! Jeez, Dar, can't you ever lay off? It's not like he's failing."

"I know. I was just frustrated and tired."

"Yeah? Well, it kind of caused Pony to run AWAY!"

"It wasn't just that in itself."

"What else, then?" Soda was getting madder by the second. When Darry told him, Soda clenched his fists.

"I can't believe you said that! No wonder he always thought that you hated him. Why can't you leave my kid brother alone? You guys promised not to fight anymore. You promised."

"I know. Maybe he's not too far off by now. He probably isn't as far away as last time."

"Well, if I were him, I'd be in Texas by now!" Soda seethed. A hurt look crossed Darry's face.

"You don't mean that. This isn't like you…"

"Well, it isn't my fault that you caused my little brother to run away. This is all your fault!" Soda yelled, and started towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Darry asked softly.

"Away from you!" With that, Soda walked out. Tears welled up in Darry's eyes, and he sat down on the floor and hugged his knees to his chest. He knew Soda was really mad at him, but he wasn't running away. Soda wouldn't do that. 'It's all my fault. Why couldn't I just get off my high horse and not yell at him? I'm always screwing things up.' Guilt washed over him, and he let a few tears slide down his cheeks. Once Pony was back, he would apologize to him, and he vowed never to yell at Ponyboy Curtis like that ever again.

A/N: So, what did you think? I'd love a review. And please don't tell me that Soda is a bit out of character, I already know that. And no, the story's not over yet. There will be at least one or two more chapters. Oh, and S.E. Hinton gives today as Darry's birthday, so… Happy Birthday, Darry!