Disclaimer: As much as I wanna own the Outsiders, I don't. It all belongs to S.E. Hinton. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Sodapop woke once again to the sound of Ponyboy's screams. He quickly sat up and tried to wake his brother. "Pony," he whispered. Ponyboy continued to thrash around on the bed and wouldn't wake up. Soda tried again. "Ponyboy!" he yelled. Moments later, Darry entered the room. His usually neat hair was wild, sticking up every which way, and was wearing only a pair of sweats. He rushed to the side of the bed and shook Ponyboy.
"Ponyboy, please wake up," Darry pleaded. Ponyboy sat up straight in the bed, gasping for air. Ponyboy curled into a ball and was shivering something fierce. Sodapop looked at Darry, concern written all over his face. Ponyboy usually woke up from his nightmares right away, and never once has he curled up into a ball right after he was woken.
"Darry, is something wrong with Pony? Is he gonna be alright?" Sodapop asked. Darry glanced at Ponyboy once more. He ruffled Soda's hair and said, "I don't know, little buddy. I just don't know." They covered Ponyboy up with blankets and Soda laid down with him. He threw his arm around Ponyboy's shivering form and fell into a restless sleep.
The next morning, Soda woke to find that Ponyboy was no longer in bed. Soda rubbed his face, trying the drive the sleepiness away. He slowly made his way to the kitchen to find Darry and Ponyboy sitting at the table, eating breakfast. He sat down at his place and began eating his breakfast, not tasting one bit of it. He still remembered the events of last night and it had left him scared.
What could have caused Ponyboy to curl up in a ball and not respond to his brothers? Was his nightmare that awful that he hadn't wanted to talk to anyone? He looked across the table at his baby brother (although he knew very well that Pony wasn't a baby anymore) and saw dark bags under his eyes. So he had stayed awake the remainder of the night.
The day went by fast and night slowly approached. At dinner that night, Soda couldn't stay still. Both his brothers noticed, but Pony didn't seem to think anything of it. Finally Darry couldn't stand it anymore and sent Pony to his room to finish his homework. He kept looking between Darry and Soda for a minute or so. Eventually he shrugged and made his way to his room. When Darry was sure that Pony wouldn't be able to hear their conversation, he addressed Soda.
"Okay Soda, spill." Soda gave Darry a look that said, What are you talking about? Darry gave him an exasperated look and said, "Sodapop Patrick Curtis. Don't you give me that look. I know somethin' is botherin' ya. And I wanna know what the hell is botherin' you, so spill." Was he that obvious? He didn't think so. He looked up at Darry and sighed. Well there was no lying to Darry. Darry always knew when someone was lying. Just like he could tell when Dallas was lying when he said he didn't know where Johnny and Pony where when they ran after Johnny wasted that Soc.
Soda felt a stab of pain in his heart. Johnny and Dally. Thinking of them brought tears to Soda's eyes. He quickly blinked them away but not fast enough. Darry caught sight of them and his hard, emotionless face softened. "Soda," he whispered, "what's wrong?" Tears spilled onto Soda's cheeks and he quickly wiped them away.
"I'm worried about Ponyboy, Darry. What happened last night has never happened. He's always woken up right after we shake him awake. And he's never curled up in a ball. He's always talked to us about his nightmares, but this time he didn't. Oh Darry. I'm worried about my baby brother." Darry came around the table and pulled Soda into a hug.
"I know, little buddy. But we gotta be strong for him. Don't worry, Pepsi-Cola. We'll figure something out," Darry said. Soda nodded. Soda headed to his room and changed. He lay down with Pony and put his arm around Ponyboy. He believed Darry. Darry always knew what to do and he was always right. As long as they had Darry, they would always be fine.
A/N: So….how was it? You like? Hated it? Well, guess I'll have to wait and see. So this was originally gonna be a one-shot but as I finished writing this, I felt like it wasn't finished and I could write more to it. I already have a pretty good idea where this story is gonna go, but that depends on you guys. If you want me to add more to it, then I will. So my lovelies, what will it be? Should I add more to this story or was this really that shitty? If you guys want me to continue, I promise to make the chapters longer. Please drop a review and tell me what you thought about this story and if I should add more to it or just PM me. Til then…
STAY GOLD