Authors notes:

Rated T for swearing, nothing more then 'shit'.

I'm debating weather or not to continue or just leave it, so let me now what you think!

Please leave a Review... but only if you liked it ;)

Darry didn't bother with a greeting when he walked through the door that evening. He hadn't said a word to Sodapop since the night he had struck Ponyboy, except to say things like "please pass the salt." Soda had to tell him. The sweatshirt was folded on his lap and Sodapop wondered how long until Darry noticed. It wasn't long.

"Soda… is that Ponyboy's?"

Soda nodded his head slowly. "It was at Buck Merril's place" - Darry's face turned white - "He said that Ponyboy and Johnny were there lookin' for Dallas."

Darry cursed out Dallas Winston. "Where is he?"

"I don't know Darry… Darry I looked!" he said as Darry made his way towards the door. Darry swung hard, punching a hole in the screen door and cussed again. He walked back to Soda, knelt in front of him and buried his face in his little brother's lap and his other little brother's sweatshirt. It smelled like Buck's place: alcohol, cigarettes, perfume, sweat, and aftershave. But the smell of Pony was sill there. Sodapop started to rub Darry's shoulders.

"Stop it!" Darry pushed Soda's hands away. "It's my fault Soda. Can't you see that? It's my fault Ponyboy ran away, and if Ponyboy hadn't ran off then… then…" His voice cracked.

Darry doesn't break down, at least not in front of anyone. Not anyone. But Darry fell to the floor and clutched his chest. Sodapop tried so hard not to cry, but to no success. The two brothers bawled in each others' arms until hunger forced them to abandon the tears and get up off the floor. They ate dinner without a word, haunted by Pony's empty seat. Sodapop went to bed without a 'good-night.'

"Hey Soda?" Darry was a shadow in the doorway.

"Hmm?"

"Can, um, can I sleep in here tonight?"

Soda looked at Ponyboy's cold, untouched side of the bed. "Sure Darry."

Darry curled up under the blanket. "I'm so sorry Soda."

His voice was muffled by Ponyboy's pillow.

"It really wasn't your fault, Dar."

"Don't bullshit me, Soda, please."

"Fine." Soda said sleepily, "it's all your fault." He rolled over to see Darry's face but could only see the back of his head. "There, you happy now?"

Darry whispered, "I'll be happy when Ponyboy and Johnny are safe at home."

Darry shivered and Sodapop threw his arm over him.

Sodapop and Darry decided to confront Dally alone but never got the chance. The gang never left their side and once the news came on the television no one was going anywhere.
"You ain't going to Texas." Dally said to Two-Bit, who was creating a hole in the floor.

Dallas told the boys that he told the fuzz that Johnnycake and Ponyboy were heading towards Texas. But when the gang asked, Dally just said, "I don't know anything."

"Well we gotta do somethin'." he said without breaking stride.

"Two-Bit's right, we can't just sit here!" Steve piped in.

Soda tuned them all out and continued to stare at the TV set, where his little brother and Johnny stared back at him. The news channel had been on in the house all day: every twenty minutes they'd run photos of the boys and warnings on how they may be armed and dangerous. Sodapop could barely see the screen, but he didn't bother wiping his eyes, he knew that if he brushed away the tears new ones would just replace them. The TV was turned all the way down but the whole gang knew what they were saying.

"Again… These two juvenile delinquents, Ponyboy Curtis – age 14, and John Cade – age 16 – are wanted for the murder of Robert Sheldon – age 17 – and are believed to be on the run in Texas – according to a source close to them." And then something like, "Family of both boys are unavailable for comment." Or they would talk about Sodapop, Darry, and Ponyboy's living situation and how that was being looked into. Probably'll throw in something about how odd their names are. "Oh no Sally," they'd say laughing, "that's their real names! Ponyboy and Sodapop."

The phone rang and all the boys – except Dally – jumped. Darry got to it first.

"Hello?" He looked at Soda and his face fell.

"No officer." Darry said into the phone. "Look, we haven't heard anything. We don't know anything!" Darry almost yelled into the phone, letting his anger for Dally slip. Dally was taking this way too coolly. He was hiding something and both Darry and Soda knew it. And so did the rest of the gang. They just didn't want to admit it.

Then, in a whisper, Darry added, "Thank you," and hung up.

"How many times are they gonna call before they figure out that we don't actually know anything?" Steve asked the air.

"Is that true?" Soda's voice was hoarse from almost a whole day without speaking.

"What are you talking about Soda?" He ignored Steve and watched as Dally raised his head. He knew. "Soda, I told you…"

"Bullshit!" Soda screamed. "Bullshit, Dallas, the only way the fuzz would ever get it out of you that Ponyboy and Johnny were in Texas is if you knew other ways!"

"Dally." Darry was still standing by the phone. His face was hard and even behind the tears his eyes were as cold as ever.

"I don't…" Dally began.

"Get out." Soda cut. His voice was no more than a whisper, but he was sure that even Ponyboy – where ever the hell that boy was – heard him.

"Sodapop…"

Both brothers moved at once but Soda got to him first. He grabbed Dally by his shirt collar and hurled him to the ground. He pointed to the door, while screaming at Dally to leave. Dallas got up slowly but stopped at the door.

"Get out of our house, hood!" Darry slammed his fist onto Dally's jaw and it was poor dumb luck that Dallas Wilson didn't fall down the stairs.

"He's lyin'…" Soda chanted when the door slammed. "That son of a bitch is lyin'." He didn't know what he grabbed, all he knew was that it smashed with a loud bang against the wall and rained on the TV. Sodapop ran into his bedroom and hit the bed hard.

Darry sighed.

"What do you know?" Two-bit asked, looking between the closed screen door and the closed bedroom door.

"Let us deal with it first, okay? Please?"

Two-bit looked to Steve, who nodded slowly.

"I'm real sorry, men."

Soda heard the sound of the screen door opening and shutting. He let himself think for a second that it was Ponyboy coming through the door, followed by Johnnycake. He grabbed a pillow and buried his face into it. It smelled like his little buddy. He closed his eyes and imagined that it was Ponyboy he was holding, not his pillow. The door of the room opened and Darry laid down on Pony's side of the bed. The tears were gone from his face and eyes. He didn't turn to look at Soda, he just stared at the ceiling. Sodapop put his face back into the pillow and cried.

"First mom and dad…" Darry said to the ceiling, "now Ponyboy."

"No," Soda whimpered, lifting up. "No, don't say that."

He started to bawl again and Darry wrapped his arms around him.

"It's going to be okay, Pepsi Cola. Ponyboy'll come home, him and Johnny."

Darry brushed Soda's hair from his forehead and Soda cried himself to sleep in his brother's lap.

The clock on the wall read 3:00 am and Soda rolled out of bed – careful not to wake up Darry. Sodapop sat at the kitchen table where a chocolate cake sat untouched. The paper was cold under his hand as he rubbed the lead against it. He left a note for Darry, telling him that he was going to the store for eggs and made sure to dump the pack of one dozen eggs into their neighbor's trashcan.

Dally's house was littered with beer cans and Soda kicks one as he passed. It was twice as dirty as the Curtis home and if it wasn't for the opened door it would be pitch black.

"Who is it?" Dally called from a back room.

"Sodapop Curtis."

Dally appeared in his boxers and a freshly lit cigarette in between his fingers. He put his hands up and said, "now look Sodapop…"

"I ain't here to fight with you Dally." Soda held out the letter and Dally took it.

"It's for Ponyboy."

"Soda…"

"No, just don't, Dallas. Please give this to my little brother."

Dally gave him back the paper. "Look, Soda, I'd love to help you but I don't…"

Soda cussed and felt like swinging. Maybe he was here to fight Dally after all.

"Dally, you don't have to tell me anything. Just give this to Ponyboy and I'll…" He thought for a moment. "I'll give you half my next paycheck."

Dally took a long drag and nodded his head. "Alright."

Sodapop reached out and took the cigarette from Dally. That was all that was said. Sodapop left the house, breathing in the smoke and made sure to stop at the market on the way home.

"No… no, Sodapop, I'm not letting this go!" Darry hollered.

"Look we're not gonna get anything out of him, Darry, so what's the point of drivin' ourselves nuts? We're nuts enough as it is without adding Dallas into it!"

Darry slammed the pan into the dish water so that it spilled out onto the floor. He cussed and Soda grabbed a towel.

"Look, we know Dally and if he doesn't want to talk he ain't gonna."

Darry stood above as Sodapop wiped up the floor. Soda looked up and stopped when he saw the hard look on Darry's face.

"What aren't you tellin' me Sodapop? You don't think I can't remember when I buy eggs?"

Soda sighed and threw the towel to the side.

"I wrote a letter to Pony yesterday and asked Dally to deliver it. He still wouldn't say where he is but he took the letter."

Darry leaned back on the counter. "That's it then, isn't it?"

Soda nodded. Darry's smart, he knows when to let thing be, when to let them play out. "Now all we do is wait?"

"Yeah," Soda breathed. He leaned back on the counter and ran his hand through his hair. "Uh…" He groaned and turned to wash the hair grease off his hand.

"Greasers shouldn't run their fingers through their hair." Darry said with a small smile. "It should be a rule."

Soda looked at Darry. He cracked first but Darry soon joined in with Sodapop's laugher, as they all do.

"Why us?" Soda asked, more to God than to Darry.

"I don't know," Darry answered. "You know, maybe it's not us. Maybe it's the world."

Soda smiled. "Yeah, maybe."

"Yo, anyone in!" A voice came from the door.

"Yeah, we're in the kitchen," Darry called.

Two-Bit and Steve came through the door. Steve went to stand by Soda. "Hey, man," he said as Two-Bit asked, "So you figured it out yet?"

Darry gave him a look that was as clear as any words.

"Hey, ya'll know Dallas left this morning?" Steve said cutting himself a piece of cake.

"What?"

"Yeah, he came by the DX right as I was openin', in a sweet ride. Obviously not his." He added as Sodapop and Darry exchanged a look.

"Really?" Two-Bit managed to get out as he shoved chocolate cake into his mouth. "Asked me to fill'er up. Grabbed a Coke and drove off without a where he's goin' or who's he seein. Oh, Soda, boss wants to know if you're workin' tomorrow," he added off- handedly.

"Uh… yeah, I'll be in."

The phone rang and Two-Bit grabbed it. "Curtis residence," he said with a mouth full. He swallowed with a loud gulp. "Na this ain't Darrel." He said 'Darrel' in a mocking voice. Probably the man's on the other lines. "yeah sure." He added, and held out the phone to Darry. "Who?" he mouthed. Two-Bit breathed back, "Cop."

"Hello, this is Darrel Curtis."

"Mr. Curtis," a man said. "We have some information we think you might want to know."

Darry motioned for Soda. He ran over and pressed his ear up against the phone.

"Okay?"

"Your brother's back in town." – Soda was running to the door – "at the hospital."

Darry wasn't waiting to hear if he was okay, he raced after Soda.

Ponyboy was home. In the hospital, but home.

Sodapop jumped out of the truck before it was fully stopped. Darry didn't try to stop him. Soda looked around the emergency room frantically. No sign of Ponyboy or Johnny or Dallas or even a cop. But everyone was sure in a tizzy.

"Oh, ma'am!" Soda ran across the room and almost slammed into the front desk. "I'm looking for Ponyboy Curtis."

"I'm sorry son…"

"We're his brothers." Darry said, just arriving.

The women looked at him.

"I'm Darrel Curtis and this is Sodapop." His voice was coming out in a panic. His was thrashing his head around trying to catch a glimpse of Ponyboy.

"Do you have any ID?" the nurse asked. Darry's hand plunged into his pocket but Soda had enough and started walking away from the counter, towards two big swinging doors he just saw a heavy look man go through. He heard two conversations at once. Darry saying, "Can you tell me what happened? Is my little brother alright?" and a deep, muffled, older voice that was saying. "You shouldn't be smoking."

Then Soda could've cried with bliss as the voice of his little buddy answered back.

"How come?"

Sodapop was sprinting to the door and almost slammed into Ponyboy. Pony had Sodapop around the waist and Soda swung him around.

"Soda."

"Ponyboy." Sodapop set him down and looked at him. He was covered in soot and his hair was cut short and ash blond. Or maybe it was just the soot.

"Oh Ponyboy," Sodapop grabbed a fist full of Ponyboy's hair and tugged slightly. "Your hair…" He brushed it out of Pony's face, wiping soot away from his forehead in the process. "your tuff, tuff hair…"

Darry didn't know what to do. He felt like an intruder, not another family member. Ponyboy caught a glimpse of him over Sodapop's shoulder. Well, he's not physically hurt, Darry thought.

Darry swallowed and said in a gravelly voice, "Ponyboy…"

Pony let Soda go but stood there. Darry's words came out louder than he meant them to. "Pony, where have you been all this time?"

Ponyboy still didn't respond and Darry looked away, ashamed. Then Ponyboy spoke… screamed. "Darry!" He had Darry around the waist and was holding on like he was afraid that someone was going to come along and drag him away.

"Oh, Darry, I'm so sorry!"

Darry stroked Ponyboy's hair as a sob racked through him. Soda came up and joined in the hug.

"Oh Pony…" Darry's voice shook. "I thought we'd lost you…" He buried his face into Ponyboy's hair and clutched at his shirt. "Like we had mom and dad."

Soda grabbed Pony's hair and Darry's shirt. Darry continued to hold Ponyboy and Ponyboy held Darry and rested his head on Sodapop's chest.