"You can't just sit there. You gotta go out and get hammered, or something. It's you're birthday, Dare," Two-Bit said, looking away from the cartoon playing on the TV at Darry, who was sitting in the kitchen. There was a pile of envelopes in front of him on the table, holding bills and cards from Darry's friends back in college. He didn't touch any of these, not wanting to spoil any sort of joy that his twenty-first birthday was supposed to have in store for him.

Darry didn't see what was so great about being older. To him, it was a year more of having to take care of his brothers without their parents their to guide him. One more year of having to take responsibilities he didn't know what to do with.

"What would I even do, Keith?" Darry inquired, huffing and placing his chin in his hand. "There's nothing to do around here. If there was, then you wouldn't be there watching the damn TV."

"Mickey Mouse is a gift from heaven. Don't even try and deny it, man." Two-Bit sunk back further into the couch, and a loud crashing noise came out of the TV, making his lips curve upwards in amusement. "Just go down to Buck's or somethin'. Find a broad and take her home. That's what I do on my birthday."

"What you do on your birthday is what you do every day; Get drunk and bang anything you see in sight. It's sick. You should find a new hobby."

"Never. Mickey Mouse and alcohol are the best things I got in this life, and I ain't letting them go now."

Darry stood up from his seat in the kitchen and went into the living room to join Two-Bit. He sighed and threw himself on the part of the couch that Two-Bit wasn't occupying, and looked at the TV. It didn't really entertain him. Mickey Mouse seemed childish to him, and Darry didn't have much time for childish things like Two-Bit did. Two-Bit didn't have to grow up suddenly when he was twenty.

"I can't get drunk. I have to work in the morning. If I fall off a roof of something, then I'm basically fucked."

"I never fall off of anything when I'mdrunk," Two-Bit grinned.

"Well, you don't ever so anything but sit on your ass and watch Mickey all day," Darry said. "And when you do that, you do actually fall off the couch."

"That's besides the point."

"Not really."

"What I'm tryin' to tell ya is that you ain't gonna fall off the damn roof if ya get drunk tonight. At worse, you're gonna have a headache."

Soda bounded into the room, a smile knit onto his mouth like always. "You guys talkin' about gettin' drunk? 'Cos I'm in."

Soda tossed himself on his brother's lap, since there was almost no where else to sit. He smiled up at Darry, who was glaring down at Soda with dissatisfaction. "What's up, bros?" Soda chuckled.

"Nothing," Darry replied.

"Just talkin' 'bout gettin' drunk, ya know, kid?" Two-Bit said, taking his eyes away from the TV for a second to look at Soda. "Normal stuff."

"Like I said," Darry grumbled. "Nothing."

"Booze sounds pretty good," Soda grinned. "C'mon, Dare. Let's do it."

Darry only shook his head, making Two-Bit and Soda whine simultaneously.

"We have to-"

"For your birthday-"

"Booze-"

"Girls-"

"Darry, c'mon."

"If you two want to make asses of yourselves, then I'll join along gladly. But I ain't touchin' a drop of beer, you got that?" Darry said.

Two-Bit grinned so widely that it seemed as if his face were going to split in two. "It's a deal."