Soda gazed at the wall in front of him without really seeing it, a seldom-seen mug of coffee wrapped between his fingers.
"Hey, Sodie!" Two-Bit greeted, crashing through the front door.
Blinking, Soda's mind returned to his body enough to acknowledge the elder greaser.
"Hey, Two-Bit."
"Any breakfast going?"
"Um…no, not yet. Guess I'd better fix some, seems I'm first up."
He went about fixing eggs and toast for everyone, knowing the whole gang would drop by at some point. He was right. Johnny and Dally came trudging through the door and minutes later Pony's bedroom door creaked open, the shower turning on moments later. Soda silently dealt out the food, timing it perfectly as Ponyboy came out the bathroom fully dressed and sat at the table.
"Who cooked?" he asked.
"Soda did."
"Really? So why's it normal?"
The gang paused as they noted the un-coloured food and turned to stare at the middle Curtis. He shrugged and was saving from answering as Darry came down the hall, the exact moment Steve breezed through the front door.
"Hey, guys."
"Hey, Steve. Didn't hear your car pull up."
"Walked it. Need to save on gas."
"Shoot, man," Dally growled, blowing a smoke ring. "Didn't see ya or me and Johnny'll have picked you up. Got Buck's T Bird. "
"Need a towel?" Ponyboy offered. "It's tipping it down out there."
"Nah, kid, I ain't that wet."
Maybe 'cos ya've just climbed out my brother's bedroom window and skirted 'round the house, Soda thought.
Steve dropped down in an empty seat and the gang tucked in with relish, especially after Darry got up and fetched the chocolate cake from the fridge. Said cake was then happily washed down with chocolate milk, beer (guess who had that) and, in a couple of cases, coffee. Soda received odd looks from both his brothers at the steaming mug by his plate but he said nothing so they didn't either.
Finally all plates were empty and the washing-up under way. Soda sat quietly at the table, not moving, until Two-Bit got up to go switch on the TV.
"Yay! Mickey!"
"Go join him, guys," Soda announced to the room. "I have something to deal with."
The remaining members of the gang glanced at each other.
"Ya okay, Soda?" Johnny asked softly.
"I dunno. Just go. Please."
Silent and mildly confused, the boys complied, Dally swinging his feet down from Two-Bit's vacated chair to stand up, Johnny hot on his heels.
"Except you," Soda added, pointing at Steve, who froze midway standing up. "And you," he continued, turning to his brothers by the sink.
Darry paused as Soda's finger landed on him and he slowly placed the dish towel back on the counter.
"You both sit," Soda stated, indicating the chairs across from him.
Pony put the remaining dishes in the sink and quickly left for the living room. Soda got up and shut the kitchen door behind him. Ponyboy turned at the sound and stared stupidly at the door for a moment. The kitchen door was never shut, he had forgotten there was even one there.
Back inside the kitchen, Darry was thinking along pretty much the same lines, until he noticed the expression on his younger brother's face as he joined the other two at the table.
"What's going on, Pepsi-Cola?"
"I was going to ask you two the same thing."
Author Note:Did you guess which Curtis brother it was? (Though a few of my early readers probably noticed I edited the last line of the first chappie to disguise it). Please feel free to comment and/or point out any errors, grammatical or otherwise!