Well, 6 years ago today, I posted my fist story – Finn. It seems fitting the sequel should be on the same day.

Dedication: For Finn's biggest fan, Zickachik.

Disclaimer: The usual

On with the shoe...

Chapter 1 – A Vacation

July 1970

Darry's POV

Every morning there were typical routines in our house, and over the last four years, they had become as natural as breathing. But vacations seemed to always throw them off. Not that I was complaining about laying about in bed at nine on a Monday morning, but I did feel a bit guilty about leaving Layne to the quiet house downstairs.

All in all, it looked like I was just killing time by pretending to sleep in. Apparently the dog felt the same way. Suddenly, there was a wet nose pushed against my left ear, and a slippery tongue all over my cheek. Lord, I hated that dog. All the things I thought were cute when he was a puppy were now just irritating.

"Choc!" I growled, shoving the excitable thing as far away as my arms would reach. At least he didn't jump on the bed anymore.

A happy bark was my only reply. I sighed. He never bothered anyone else when they were sleeping. Layne always said it was because he liked me. I thought it was because he had a death wish.

Grumpily, I shoved myself up, and threw my legs over the side of the bed. The dog was still sitting there, tail wagging, and tongue lolling out of his mouth like it was going out of style.

"Go find Layne," I told him, but he didn't move. "Go find Soda..." Still nothing. "Fine. Who's here?"

That got an excited bark, and Choc was nearly tripping over himself as he ran out of the room. The way he thundered down the stairs to get to the front door was usually what kept me from sleeping in these days. The resounding thud that followed the slip and slide the hound did over the loose carpet, crashing right into the front door made me shake my head. When we picked out the house, we really should have thought more about the dog. I had to constantly remind myself that the only reason why we still had the dog was because Ponyboy and Aries were attached to him. I threw my legs over the side of the bed, and couldn't help the silly grin I'd been wearing all summer.

Graduates. They'd both passed high school with flying colors, and now they were graduates. I could believe it, but it still made me smile every time I thought about it. What's more was that they both had scholarships. To be honest, that was the only way they were going to College. I may have made more money now, but Layne was still at The Dingo, and between the two of us, even with Soda chipping in, we couldn't support both of them at school. Pony was headed to Oklahoma State just down in Edmond. He'd been offered scholarships to some schools in Kansas and Texas, but he didn't want to be too far away. I was grateful for that, especially when Aries had offers from schools nowhere near home because of his last name. He was still keeping Stanford and Harvard waiting for his reply. I had the feeling he and Ponyboy would be happier together, but the kid was desperate to get out of Oklahoma. Thus the post graduation vacation.

I stretched my way out of bed and into the bathroom. I picked up my toothbrush, looking for the paste. Things were much easier to find in the bathroom with only Layne and me here for the past few weeks. As soon as the boys had graduated, Layne's eldest brother, Rock, had invited them to stay with him in New York for a month. I'd been against the idea, but Layne had fully agreed with it and talked me into it, arguing that they needed to have a vacation before college. It did seem only fair, seeing as how they had been in school for eleven years and were both looking at least four more before they finally got out into the world. They took off a week after graduation and would be back just before Ponyboy's eighteenth birthday. He would finally be an adult and my guardianship would officially be over. It was a strange feeling to have. Layne said it was a good feeling, that it was an accomplishment, but on Aries' birthday she had been distracted and glum all day, fidgeting from one thing to another. I had the feeling she felt more helpless than she had made out to be. The boys had to grow up, though, and this month away was eye opening in that respect. I had to admit that even though I missed having them around, it had been nice to have the house to ourselves. I hadn't felt so relaxed since before I turned sixteen and figured out a summer job could become an after school and weekend job, on top of helping out my parents, taking care of my kid brothers, and getting good marks. It was nice to just pick one thing and stick to it for once.

That didn't mean I wasn't looking forward to a month of the boys being home before they went to school. And even after they left, Soda and Steve would still be here. They had an apartment, but that didn't stop them from showing up almost every morning for breakfast, and dinners on the weekend. The only thing we had to worry about was Two-Bit wandering around at odd hours. The open door policy was still something he was willing to wander half way across town for, and often we woke up to find he had already raided whatever leftovers were in the fridge. He was still living in the old neighbourhood with his mom and kid sister, but I suspected he would ask to move in with Soda and Steve as soon as Katie was old enough to go to college. She was only a year or so younger than Pony, so it wouldn't be long now.

Then what were Layne and I going to do with ourselves? Get married? Have kids? I shook my head and rinsed my mouth out. That wasn't working out very well for Sevrin and Dallas. They had Charlie before they got married, but now that they were married, the pair of them fought all the time and Dallas crashed at Steve and Soda's place often. I knew we weren't Dallas and Sevrin, but the last thing I wanted was to change things between Layne and me.

I assumed Layne felt the same way, because it had been before Johnny died back in '66 that either of us had even brought up an actual wedding. I figured after four years of living together, we should have just been classified as married. One day, the state would get it right.

I hummed to myself absently, a bad habit I had picked up from Layne, and made my way downstairs. The radio in the kitchen was down low and I could hear Layne singing along softly. I smiled and walked in, watching as she worked at the stove on breakfast. From the looks of things, it was just the pair of us.

"Morning, Darry," Layne greeted, glancing over her shoulder at me.

"Morning," I replied, walking into the kitchen to kiss her.

She smiled into it, tasting like orange juice. I kind of winced, since the taste clashed horribly with my toothpaste.

Layne hadn't changed at all in the four years that I had known her. Her hair was still long and dark red, her blue jeans were usually faded and torn beyond repair before she bothered with new ones, and she still took care of everyone.

"So, I take it you got tired of trying to fake that you were sleeping," she guessed, and I nodded.

"There's something about lying around in bed that just makes me feel..."

"Lazy. Yes, I know. Here, try this," she ordered when we'd pulled away.

"What is it?" I asked, eyeing the orange slop in the saucepan she was working on.

"Rarebit," she replied, holding the spoon out. "Just try it for me, please?"

I sighed and opened my mouth obediently, which caused her to smirk. Over the past few years, Layne had been exchanging recipes with Mike through the mail. I had to admit, her cooking had improved, but every once in a while they tried something that I wasn't overly fond of.

And orange goop called 'Rabbit' looked like it would be one of those.

However, I was mildly surprised when the goop tasted like a tangy cheese sauce instead of carrots puréed into slop.

"That's not half bad," I complimented and she smiled.

"Then I'm happy," she replied. "Go sit down and I'll serve it up."

"How do you eat it?" I asked, doing as I was told.

"Well, on toast of course," she replied. "I think it said toast, anyway."

Layne spun around the kitchen, putting toast on a plate and working to get her rabbit goop into a bowl. By the time she was ready to sit down; there was enough food on the table for four. She was used to cooking for four, so it wasn't that surprising that she had cooked so much. Still, we usually had a lot of food for whoever stopped in.

"So I talked to both Kathie and Josie this morning. They've both gallantly volunteered to take both Sev's shift and mine the night the boys get in."

They'd be home in just another week, so Layne had put off asking until now just in case they chose to stay longer or so that her co-workers wouldn't forget. I wasn't sure which was her tactic, but that wasn't the point.

"Planning on cooking a welcome back dinner?" I asked.

"One that will have them sorely missing me when they go off to school," she assured me. "So they'll be coming back home often to get it."

I nodded. I wasn't so sure it would work, but I was willing to let her try. She wanted them home every opportunity she could get them back here. As it was, I think I was the only one around here who had planned only for holiday visits from the boys. If they were just an hour south in Edmond, it wouldn't be a terrible drive, but Pony's car wasted gas worse than either of our trucks and we couldn't afford that.

We ate the food in silence, listening to the radio and enjoying the quiet, because these moments were always few and far between. I was about to comment on just how nice it was when Soda's car pulled up out front. You could tell it was Soda's because he was the only one whose breaks squeaked along to the music that was always pouring out of the speakers.

"Well, I guess everyone in the neighbourhood is awake now," Layne commented, getting up to set two more plates on the table.

I shook my head and watched as both Soda and Steve came in through the kitchen door.

Aside from looking more grown up, Soda and Steve hadn't changed that much, either. They were living on their own and they were trying to get enough money together to buy into the DX or to set up a similar operation closer to our side of town, but it would take time. They would be good at running their own business, as long as they brought Layne their books every few months so that she could make sure they were correct.

"Hey, Layne," Soda greeted, giving her a hug, as if they hadn't just seen each other two days ago.

"Hey, goofball," she greeted affectionately.

"Morning, Darry," Steve chimed in, flopping down at the table and loading up his plate without any hesitation.

"Hey Dar." Soda smiled. "I thought you'd still be sleeping."

"You know your brother. Well, help yourself, Soda," Layne directed, putting our plates into the sink.

"Man, this is good," Steve groaned around a bite. "Mike must have cooked this."

"Ha ha," Layne replied, handing Steve a napkin.

"Have you heard from Mike lately?" Soda asked, sitting down and loading up his plate as well.

"Not since last month. He sent me this recipe," Layne added. "So far, they're still patching up after that hurricane."

And those were the perils of opening up a bar on the beach right on the Gulf of Mexico. Mike seemed to like being there, which was well above just tolerating Tulsa, so I didn't comment on how he deserved the repairs for picking the spot.

"Hurricanes. I think I'd rather have those than Tornados," Steve offered and Layne shook her head.

"Not once in the four years that I have lived here has there been a tornado anywhere near Tulsa," she commented, pouring coffee for the three of us, since Soda never did like the stuff. "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Steve and me are gonna help Darry fix the back deck," Soda supplied.

It was closer to 'replacing' the back deck. Some of the wood was coming up and the dog had caught his foot on a good splinter a few days ago. I also wanted to make it bigger, so that it went right along the whole backside of the house instead of stopping where the kitchen windows did. It seemed rather stupid to have it just that big when we were wasting room along the back we wouldn't be using for anything else. So I thought my time off would be best spent making sure that the deck was back up to snuff. Seeing as how Steve and Soda had the day off, I had asked them to come over and help, figuring that if we got a lot done today, Layne and I could finish on our own. I'd told her all that last night, she just liked asking questions.

"Good. Think it'll be done by the time the boys get home?"

"Why? You wanna have the welcome back party on it?" Soda asked, looking like he thought that was a great idea. I wasn't sure if it was the party or deck part of the idea, though.

For going on twenty one, Soda still acted like he was seventeen. It was mostly the energy he constantly had.

"I was thinking more like a welcome back dinner than a party, but having it outside would be nice." Layne shrugged.

"Did you invite Dallas and Two-Bit over to help, too?" Soda asked and I shook my head.

"Dallas is working and Two-Bit's been near impossible to get a hold of."

"So naturally, they'll probably be showing up anyways," Steve surmised.

"Yep," I agreed, looking around the table. "Has the newspaper come yet?"

"Yes. Then Choc may have gotten a hold of it," Layne offered with an apologetic smile.

"Again?" I asked, casting the dog an annoyed glance.

"Look at it this way, Dar – at least you didn't have to read any bad news." Steve shrugged, popping another piece of food in his mouth.

I gave him an even look before swallowing the rest of my coffee and getting up to go and finish getting dressed. The dog had never once done anything to his things, so I couldn't expect him to understand. By the time I came down, the boys were out back playing with Choc and Layne was washing dishes with a faraway look to her. I went over so I could wrap my arms around her waist and perch my chin on her shoulder.

She sighed after a long minute and put a damp hand over my arm.

"I don't know how I'm going to do this when they go off to school," she told me and I hummed for her to go on. "The quiet."

I nodded. I liked the house quiet, but Layne thrived off of the normal ruckus around here. She thought it made the place feel alive. All I had to do was listen to the dog slide around for an hour and I knew the place was alive, but I also knew what she meant.

"Just think – graduates. And in another four years – college graduates. It'll make it worth it," I assured her and she smiled a little. "Besides, we do have the dog still."

"You hate that dog!" she reminded and I shrugged.

"Yeah, but he keeps the place moving."

She shook her head, going back to the dishes, but I still held on, figuring that she wasn't all the way done. So when she sighed again, I knew she'd continue on.

"I guess I'm getting homesick for them," she dismissed. "A month in New York is far too long."

She was probably right that she was getting home sick for the boys. Every time we talked to Pony, they had something new and exciting going on. If I had been in their position, I wouldn't have wanted to come home, either.

"I miss them, too," I told her.

"Wonder what they're doing right now," she mused.

I glanced out the window at where Soda and Steve were being chased by the dog so they were literally climbing on top of the pile of two by fours I'd bought for the deck. Great. They were going to break their fool necks.

"Whatever they're doing, at least they're probably getting the chance to relax," I pointed out, kissing her cheek and moving to go out there and settle things down.

Secretly, I had to agree with her. As much as I liked the quiet around the house, I honestly didn't know what I was going to do with myself if things settled down too much around here. I had the feeling I wouldn't have to worry about that with the boys and Choc hanging around, but if there was one thing my life had taught me, it was that you never said never.

Well, one chapter down!

Any comments at all are welcome and flames accepted.

See ya in the Funny Papers!!!

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