"Pony, wake up," Soda said. He shook his brother, wiping the younger boy's sweat from his brow. "Pony, Pony," he whispered. "Come on, it's just a dream." He grit his teeth, as if literally holding onto his nerves.

Ponyboy rolled over, still whimpering to himself. "No…"

"Another nightmare?" Darry stepped into the room, shirtless and tired looking. He had bags under his eyes, and Soda felt guilty.

"Go back to bed, Dar. He'll be okay."

Darry shook his head. "Nah, I'll wait it out with you." He joined them on the bed, stroking Pony's sodden hair. His nightmares had become infrequent, however, they were all the worse when they did decide to strike.

Pony let out a low wail, and Darry sprang up from the bed. "Jesus. We have to get him up, Soda. This one seems bad."

"Yeah, okay," Soda answered. He puffed air into his cheeks, trying to remain calm. "Pony," he called. "Pony!"

Pony's eyes finally opened, a scared and surprised expression on his face. He panted for a few seconds, and then promptly burst into quiet tears.

"I'll get him some water," Darry said, giving Pony a little pat on the back.

"What's the matter, baby?" Soda asked, imitating their mother in every way possible. He pulled Pony over to him, as she had often done, and held him tight.

"Nothing," Pony sniffled. "Stupid, I guess. Just dreamin'…" His tears began to quell, but he continued to shake. Soda wrapped their navy blanket around him.

Darry returned, carrying a glass. "Here, drink this, Ponyboy."

Soda helped him up, and Pony took a few reluctant sips. "Thanks…" he murmured, placing it on the nightstand.

"You want to talk about it?" Darry asked. He looked almost challenging, a fierce glint in his icy eyes. Pony couldn't tell whether that meant he wanted to hear, or not.

"No, I'm okay," Pony said weakly.

"Okay," Darry said, nodding slowly. "Can you go back to bed, now? You do have school tomorrow, kid."

"Yeah, I can go back to sleep," Pony echoed. He wiped his forehead, leaving marks between the sweat.

It was only once Darry had left, and they heard his door close, that Pony turned to his other brother.

"It was a bad one, Soda."

"Yeah," Soda said, nodding and rubbing Pony's shoulder blades. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Pony shrugged. "You'll think I'm crazy."

"No I won't," Soda said, honestly.

"Fine," Pony said. He was calmer now, anyway, and ready to talk about it. "I had a weird dream about Johnny and me."

"Johnny?" Soda asked.

Pony nodded. "Yeah. He and I ran away some place. And Soda," at this point his eyes widened, fear spewing from the way they darted around the room, "There was this fire, and Johnny – Johnny didn't make it."

Soda smiled a little, ruffling Pony's hair. "Now come on Pony, that's the weirdest one you've had yet. You're just worried about Johnny cause of everything that's happened." His glanced softened with sympathy, as he noticed the concerned way Pony's mouth twisted around.

"Go back to sleep, okay? Darry's right, you've got school tomorrow."

Pony made a face, but scooted under the blanket as he'd been told. It was warmer there anyway, and he felt safer.

Without meaning to, his thoughts traveled to Johnny. Where was he tonight? It was kind of cold out, and windy. It wasn't safe for him to spend all night outside.

"Soda?" Pony whispered, rolling closer to him. "Where do you think Johnny is?"

"Don't know, Pony," Soda whispered, already half-asleep. "I'm sure he's fine."

Johnny was never fine though, and Pony's dream certainly didn't make him worry any less. He never mentioned it to his brothers, but sometimes his dreams came true. Like the one where Soda left him all alone at school. That had come true, when Soda had dropped out to take the job at the Dx. Pony hadn't mentioned it though, since he worried it would make Soda feel bad.

Pony lay awake for several hours, even as he heard Soda's soft snores beside him. It was too hard to sleep, when he had to worry what he would see when he shut his eyes.

A/N: I know that it's super, super short but the chapters will definitely get longer as they go along. Please review, reviews are wonderful encouragement!