Ponyboy woke with a scream lodged in the back of his throat. A nightmare had plagued him yet again, but that night it had been particularly bad. His eyes darted around the room, and finally rested on Sodapop, who was sleeping soundly with his arm wrapped around his waist.

Ponyboy moved closer to his brother and tried to calm down, but the comfort of Soda wasn't enough. Not for this dream. Shakily, he moved Soda's arm and crawled out of his bed.

He walked down the hallway, and stopped in front of his oldest brothers door. He hesitated before knocking. Did he really need Darry? He was fifteen, not some child. Then again, most fifteen year olds hadn't experienced the traumatic losses that he had.

First his parents, then Johnny and Dally. Pony remembered his dream and shuddered, realizing that he figured waking Darry was worth it, even if he was angry. Slowly, almost carefully, he raised his fist and placed three soft knocks on the hard, wooden door.

He heard shuffling around, before his oldest brother opened up the door, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Pony?" Darry looked at him for a second. "Why're ya crying?"

Ponyboy wiped his eyes quickly, not even realizing that he had let tears slip down. "I-I just...I had a nightmare Darry. I needed you."

Darry raised his eyebrows. "Where's Soda?"

"I don't want Soda, I want you." Pony began to get worried that he would be sent back to bed. He couldn't go back to bed though, not without Darry. "Please..." he whispered.

Darry widened the door, allowing him to enter. "Calm down Pony, you can sleep in here." The eldest Curtis stared at his little brother in surprise as he sat on the bed. He couldn't remember that last time Pony had wanted his comfort over Soda's. In his mind, he had just accepted the fact that Pony would never want him.

Soda and Pony always had a special bond. They never fought and never kept secrets from each other. They were as close as brothers could get, and Darry was always left out. He was almost never home, as he worked so much, and when he was, he was cooking, cleaning, or sleeping. So it made sense to him why neither of the boys ever included Darry.

He watched his shaking brother and furrowed his brows, feeling extremely sorry for the boy. Gingerly, he cupped Pony's cheek and raised it, so that they were looking at each other. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Ponyboy shook his head furiously. "N-no Darry, I don't remember...ya know I can't ever remember."

Darry sighed and sat down next to him on the bed. "Pony, I'm smarter than that." He wrapped an arm around him and pulled his littlest brother closer. "I know that if if you didn't remember it then you'd still be in there with Sodapop." He rubbed his hand up and down Pony's arm, attempting to make his goosebumps go away. He wasn't sure if they were there because of the cold, or because of his dream.

Pony bit his lip and nodded, leaning his head against Darry's shoulder. "Do you..." he swallowed hard, trying to form the words. "Do you love me?"

Darry blinked. "Of course I love you Ponyboy. I love you a whole lot."

"You sure?" Pony asked, lips trembling.

"Ponyboy I know we may fight all the time, but that don't mean I don't love ya." Darry pulled him into a hug. "You have to know that...I love you Pony." He knew deep down that he didn't say that enough to Pony. It was just...hard. Pony and him didn't have that type of relationship. "I'll start telling you more, I didn't get to tell Mom and Dad enough...and now they're gone. I'm not gonna make the same mistake with you."

Pony clutched onto the soft fabric of his brothers t-shirt while sobbing into it. "I-I'll tell you more too. I love you Darry."

"I love you too Little Colt." Darry wiped away most of Pony's tears with just one sweep of his thumb. "Now why don't you tell me about your nightmare?"

Ponyboy took a long breath and then exhaled deeply. "Okay," he sniffed and began telling his story. "I didn't expect it in my dream. You were being so nice to me. You had just taken me out for ice cream and we had come back home, about to begin a game of cards. I was having a whole lot of fun, until there was a knock on the door," he began sobbing again and it took Darry a few minutes to calm him down.

After Pony managed to contain himself, he continued on with his story. "It was the social worker. She came to take me away and you handed me over to her as fast as you could. I didn't get any time to say goodbye to anyone. I cried and cried, and you just stood there watching me. I screamed for you but you didn't seem to care. The lady dragged me out to her car and locked me in as we drove alway.

You shut the door quickly and didn't even look at me..." he paused to take a breath. "W-when I got to a boys home I tried to write to you, but you never responded. No one did. Not you, not Soda, not Two-Bit, and not Steve. I kept writing though. I missed you all so much. And then one day...I got a letter from you. It said that I was a burden and nothing but an extra mouth to feed. You said that since Johnny was gone no one cared about me enough to keep me around.

You called the social worker and demanded that I was taken away...you didn't want to ever see me again. Not until I was grown and had a job and could support myself..." Pony sighed, feeling almost relieved to have let it out. He glanced up at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with his brother. "It just scared me. I love you and I don't want to be sent away."

Darry stared at him wide eyed, hardly believing what he had heard. Had he really ignored Pony that much? Enough to where he dreamed about how much he hated him? The thought nearly brought a tear to his eye. "Ponyboy..." he whispered dryly. "Ponyboy..." Darry hugged him again, only twice as hard. "Pony I would never send you away. I love you way too much. I know I'm never around, but it's just because I'm working so the three of us can stay together. My biggest fear is losing either you or Soda..."

Pony couldn't believe it. Here was his brother, the foundation, the stone, super man, basically the only thing keeping their gang together, and he was admitting his greatest fear. The one thing that scared him more than anything else in the world.

Pony rubbed his eyes sleepily, happy to know that he wasn't a burden, and that Darry did indeed love him. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

His brother nodded and allowed Pony to crawl out of his lap, and then to the other side of the bed. Darry laid down next to him and wrapped his arms around Pony's tiny waist. Ponyboy snuggled up against him and rested his hands on Darry's chest. He inhaled the scent of the shirt Darry was wearing and smiled, knowing that he wouldn't ever have to leave him.

Darry brushed away some of the loose hairs that had fallen into Pony's eyes and then lightly kissed his little brothers forehead. "Pony...you don't ever have to be afraid to come and talk to me, you know. I know that me and you haven't ever really talked before, and it's because you're scared of me."

Ponyboy looked away in shame. He wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear but Darry's strong arms were stopping him. "Darry, there were so many times I wanted to come and talk to you. I wanted to ask how your day was, or tell you about something at school...I was just afraid that you'd think I was being annoying."

The older boy chuckled. "I'm still your brother aren't I? You can still talk to me about brotherly things." He sighed. "I know it seems like I've grown up too fast--"

"You have." Pony cut in. "You have and it's not fair. You work way harder than a twenty one year old should have to." He bit his lip. "I'm sorry."

Darry rested his chin on top of Pony's head. "It ain't your fault and you know it. Don't ever blame yourself."

Pony sighed and nodded. "Maybe one day when I'm gone you can go to college or something, like you've always wanted to."

Darry's throat tightened. He knew that he would never have the money to go, but thought it was so sweet of Pony to care that he just didn't say anything. He only tightened his grip on him. Both of them were quiet after that, feeling fatigue take over them. Darry had just closed his eyes when his bedroom door burst open, revealing a panicking Sodapop trying to pull on a pair of pants.

"Ponyboy's gone! I looked all over the house and he ain't here! We gotta go find him! Come on Darry get up!" Soda struggled with his blue jeans that he was putting on backwards.

"He ain't gone, he's sleeping with me tonight Pepsi." Darry turned his head and saw Soda relax and sigh in relief. Pony chuckled lightly, without looking up. He was too tired to even open his eyes.

"Thank goodness." Soda said, dropping the jeans and crawling into bed with Darry on the other side of Pony. "Gosh a mighty I was scared to death. Don't you ever do that to me again Ponyboy Curtis."

Pony mumbled an 'okay' and then he soon fell back asleep. Soda sighed lightly and kissed his brothers head. "I guess I'll go back to our room," he whispered while sitting up. He didn't want to ruin the only time with Pony that Darry ever really got.

Darry frowned. "How come?"

"He needs you right now, not me."

"Awe come lay down with us Soda." He smiled. "He needs us both."

Soda flashed his one of a kind grin and slowly laid back down. He wrapped his arms around Pony as well and soon fell asleep. Darry couldn't remember the last time him and his brothers had all been this close for such a long period of time, but he liked it. It was nice to know that they cared. Slowly, he let his eyes flutter shut, as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Soda woke up early to get ready for work. He gazed down at his sleeping brothers and smiled. What they needed was some time with each other. They didn't get nearly enough.

Darry had no clue who Pony really was, and it was the same the other way around. Soda saw that in them, and decided that the two were going to spend the entire day together. He told Two-Bit to find something else to do for the day, and Steve would be at work with him, so it wasn't hard to leave them a clean, empty house.

Him and Steve looked around the spotless house, that they had just finished cleaning, one more time before hopping in the car to go to work. Darry was going to call in that day, so he wouldn't need it.

After they were going me it only left the two sleeping Curtis boys. Pony was still curled up into Darry's side, clutching onto him as if his life depended on it.

He was the first to wake up. Ponyboy yawned and stretched, glancing at the clock across the room. When he realized how late it was, he began to panic. "Darry!" He whispered yelled and shook his brother. "Darry it's late, you're gonna miss work."

Darry groaned, curving his back so that it would pop. "I'm calling in today Pony. You and I are gonna spend the day together." He smiled and ruffled his younger brothers hair.

Ponyboy was shocked at first. "B-but...what about money? And the state? I don't want you to get in trouble."

Darry frowned at him. "Ah Pony the state isn't gonna get me in trouble for taking one vacation day for the first time in a year." He rubbed Pony's back. "It's just your dream. You're still a bit scared, but you don't gotta be. I promise you you'll never get taken away. I'm gonna forever make sure of it."

Pony grinned widely and hugged him. "I love you." He said.

Darry smiled and wrapped his arms around him as well. "I love you too. You'll never get taken away from me." The two of them finally managed to get out of bed. "Why don't you take a shower? I'll cook breakfast."

"I can help you cook. I want to, actually."

Darry raises an eyebrow. "You want to help me cook?"

The younger Curtis nodded eagerly. "It could be fun!" Before Darry had any more time to protest, Pony rushed into the kitchen, with his older brother following close behind.

As soon as they reached their destination, Darry had started pulling out ingredients for pancakes. "Flour...eggs...what else?" He mumbled to himself.

Pony was watching him absentmindedly, when an idea came to his head. Smirking, he grabbed a handful of flour and smacked it on top of Darry's head.

His brother flinched, before slowly turning around. There was a fire in his eyes, and Pony backed up, sure that he had just ruined everything. After their entire talk they'd had last night, and after both of them getting excited to spend a day together, he had just ruined it all.

Darry glared at him. "I knew there was a reason why you wanted to "help cook."" Pony gulped looking down. "Ponyboy...you are going to regret that decision pretty quick little buddy."

Pony looked up, confused, but was soon met with a face full of flour. Darry began laughing and through some more on his baby brother. Ponyboy grinned, and tried to retaliate, but was pinned to the ground and was met with some ferocious tickling.

Pony squirmed and laughed before managing to gasp out, "O-okay! You w-win!" He rolled out from underneath Darry. They both looked around at the mess they had made. "I'm sorry," Pony said sheepishly. "I can clean it up, I started it."

Darry shook his head. "We can leave it for later. How 'bout we go out for breakfast?"

Ponyboy grinned and stood up, running to go get changed. His older brother watched him with a smile on his face, before hopping up and going to his own bedroom, excited for their day together.