Disclaimer- All rights go to S. E Hinton :)
A/N- I'm no good with fluffy writing, hahaha

Chapter three

Ponyboy's POV

I went to bed as soon as I got to my tent.

But like every night, I couldn't sleep. The nightmares I had before I came to Vietnam were pretty bad, but now they're overwhelming.

Every time I did sleep, it would always be a similar dream- Watching one of my brother's die, or me watching myself die. And every time I had a dream like this, I'd wake up sweating and scared, wishing for Soda's comfort but Soda wasn't here to give me comfort, and there was no way that I'd ask Eric... How embarrassing.

And at that moment, like I had actually summoned him, Eric waltzed into my tent, uninvited, grinning from ear to ear.

"Can't sleep either Curtis, eh?" He asked, way too loudly.

"Obviously not, Warren." I replied. Eric laughed.

"Smartass, now I know why Steve didn't like you. Your mouth is bigger then ya head." I chuckled; he was right about the smartass part.

"Yeah, alright smartie. Hey, have you gotten a letter from home recently?"

"Mhm, I got one a few days ago with a picture of Taylor." The smile that crossed his face when he mentioned his daughter was the best thing I'd seen in months- Besides the letters I got from Darry and Soda.

Reaching into his pocket, Eric pulled out a letter with a picture sticky-taped to the back of it and passed it to me.

The first thing I noticed was the crazy red curly hair and then the china-blue eyes. The only feature she shared with her dad was the pale skin. I held the picture up to Eric's face to try and get another feature. Eric had light brown hair and eyes that matched, and abnormally straight teeth.

"Are you sure she's yours?" I chuckled, looking over at Eric.

"Yep, I'm sure. She takes after Amanda." Eric smiled at the in my hand, pride clear on his face.

"I can't believe you were 16 man. I wouldn't know how to look after a dog, let alone a one year old baby." I didn't mention that Darry would of killed me if I had, had a kid at 16.

"You get used to it after a while. I just hope I get the hell outta here. She needs a dad." I didn't miss the flicker of anger that crossed his face.

"I got your back man, you'll get back to her." I said confidently. I knew then that I'd get Eric home, even if it killed me in the process.

Eric gave me a genuine smile, "I got your back too, Curtis."

I handed back the picture and he put it back in his pocket carefully, trying not to damage it.

"So, do you have a picture of your brothers? You've told me pretty much everything about them, so it's a little ironic how I've never seen a picture."

I grinned and reached into my duffel-bag, retrieving a picture of my brothers and I.

"It was taken a few days before we left for 'Nam." He examined the picture and grinned.

"You never told me you were a twin." I looked at him, confusion evident on my face.

"I'm not?"

He turned the picture around and pointed at Soda, his eyebrow raised. Laughing I said,

"Soda is three years older than me. He turned 20 a few months ago in October." My face dropped. I looked away so Eric wouldn't see, but like always- he did.

"Ay, what's the matter?" He asked, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's nothing, really. I just realized that in a few more days it'll be 7 months since I last saw them."

I took the picture from Eric and examined it myself. I remember Darry saying how much Soda and I looked alike- I didn't see it, and I still don't. Man did I miss them.

Sighing, I placed the picture back in my bag and looked up at Eric, who had remained silent. After a few more minutes of silence, he grinned at me.

"We'll find 'em. They can't be that far away." I chuckled at the stupidity of what he just said.

"Yeah, because Vietnam isn't that big or anything."

"Don't get mouthy with me Curtis." He smiled and walked towards the tents exit, "Cya in the morning, and try to get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Night Eric." And with that, Eric walked out, zipping up the tent behind him.

A/N- POW camp chapter will be up next. I was on a mini holiday and didn't want to write a long action one in the car :D
Review? ;)