A\N: Somewhat of a sequel to 'Overcooked.' Soda goes into Pony's room and comforts his brother the morning after Dallas and Johnny's passing. Enjoy.

FALLING TO PIECES

Under the shield of my bed sheets, I stared up at the blank, white ceiling. I noticed Soda was already out of bed, and could hear loud footsteps from the kitchen, so it meant Darry was up, too. I had to get up soon, but I couldn't. I still ached from the rumble the night before. I blinked, and it hurt as well.

My stomach dropped at the first thought of Johnny. He's dead. Cold, lifeless, sleeping forever. It made my heart hurt. Not just the fact that he was gone, just the fact that I knew he didn't want to die. He told me so. I was beginning to have regrets, like thinking about times where I didn't treat Johnny well, or I said something bad to him. I knew I should toss thost thoughts aside for my own sake, but they just kept coming.

My ceiling turned blurry. I swatted the tears away as soon as I possibly could. I didn't want to cry. For once, I didn't want to cry just because crying would make me seem weak. This one time, I didn't want to cry because of Johnny. We promised each other that wouldn't cry anymore. Of course, thinking of this only made me cry harder. I wasn't sobbing, but my eyes were flooded. It didn't take long for me to realize that it wasn't going to stop. I just sat there with my eyes closed, hoping the tears would go away and no more would come out.

Someone opened the door slowly. Perfect timing. "Pone…are you up?" Sodapop.

I hid under the covers, trying to get the rest of the tears out, but they just kept coming. I didn't want to cry in front of Soda, since I knew he was hurt, too. "Yeah, I'm up," I said, but my voice cracked terribly, and I knew Soda was going to jump into action.

I felt him sit down on his side of the bed, above the covers. "Pony…everything's going to be okay. Alright?" He paused, as if he were waiting for me to reply. In the state I was in, I wasn't going to talk to save my life. I tasted the salty tears as they rolled down my cheeks and into my mouth. Soda kept talking. "Johnny's in a better place now. He's not hurting anymore. He's happy, and you should be, too. Okay?"

I nodded, really wanting to end the conversation. But I knew Soda couldn't see that and I couldn't stand not to have someone to talk to. So I threw the covers off of me and wrapped my brother in as tight of a hug as I possibly could. "I'm scared, Soda," I said between sobs. I wasn't sure what I meant by that, but it was the first thing in my mind, so I just said it. It came to mind that I could never cry like this in front of Darry, and that really bugged me. But with all on my mind right now, I threw the thought aside.

"It's okay, Pony." He laughed a little. "I said that about a million times since I came in here, didn't I?" I quit sobbing and just rested my head against his chest and listened to his heart. "And don't worry about Dally, either."

Dally. I completely forgot about Dally. He was also dead and gone. Just when I was beginning to like the guy, he dies on what seemed to be a suicide mission. The thought made me cry harder than before.

I think listening to Sodapop's heartbeat comforted me. Just to know that someone was still here, that one of my best friends was around, right here, at my side. It just made me happy. Soda was stroking my hair and I would usually kill him for doing that, but I wasn't proud of the white-blonde mess on my head right now. He could touch it how ever much he wanted to. Maybe he'd get some of that bleach out of it.

When my crying settled down, Soda spoke again. "Pony, Darry's making us cake and eggs for breakfast."

"But…we're out of jelly," I said. I knew how Soda always ate his eggs with grape jelly, and how much he loved it.

Soda shrugged, his eyes dancing and happy that I was caring for him. "I'll survive."

It was then that I looked him in the eyes, and his eyes were a little red. "Soda…have you been crying?"

"You know how much I hate crying, Pony. It gives me a headache."

That was bull. I could have cracked, 'You must get headaches pretty often, huh?' but that's when I caught a whiff of the eggs. And I went out the door, excited for a decent meal.