In Bed

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

A/N: I've written a couple of these, but the site hasn't been letting me download any documents. Weird. Anyway, I hope you like this. It's got humor, a little sadness, and a risky amount of sap. It's completely based on a true story. Please review!

Chapter 4: Heros and Villains

"Soda?"

"Yeah." You think he'd get tired of saying that every night.

"If you could be anyone in the world, besides yourself, then who would you be?"

"King." He grunted.

"Which one?"

"The king. You know, Elvis."

"Oh. Why?"

"He's got the hair, the girls, and one hot car. He's tuff. Who would you be?"

"I'm not sure yet. What about Darry?"

"You wanna be Darry?"

"No! I mean who would Darry want to be?"

"How am I supposed to know who Darry'd want to be?"

"You know him better than I do. Come on, just guess. It's a hypothetical question anyway."

"Okay, probably... you."

"Huh?"

"Yeah."

"Why would Darry ever want to be me? Does he have a odd desire to yell at himself or something?"

"You've got your whole life ahead of you. You could still go college. You're even smarter than he was. You have a lot less responsibilities and someone older to look out for you. Darry lost all that when mom and dad died."

"I never thought of it that way." Pony was quiet and thoughtful for a moment. Just a moment.

"What about Dally?"

"Dally would be James Dean. Enough said."

"He'd wanna be dead?"

"You know what I mean. Now, you answer one: Johnny?"

"Johnny'd be someone with a nicer family."

"Yeah." Agreed Soda sadly.

"No-wait- I take it back. Johnny would be Dally."

"Oh yeah. his hero right? Okay: Two-Bit?"

"That's easy!"

"It is?"

"Yeah. Mickey mouse."

"That's not person."

"Don't tell him that." They laughed.

"Stevie?"

"Steve would be...himself."

"Well, I wish he wouldn't."

"Pone."

"What? He's a jerk."

"Okay then, what about you?"

"Me? I'm not a jerk."

"No. I mean who would you be, stupid?" Soda yawned.

"You."

"No, I'm serious."

"Me too."

"What? I'm not smart liek you or athletic like Darry. Dally's tougher, Two-Bit's funnier, and Steve's better with cars."

"Well, you always listen to people, like me, even when it's some thing real dumb. You get what people are saying too, like when me and Darry argue. Yous see both sides. Everybody likes you. Well, mostly everybody; not Socs and stuff, but all the girls and everybody around here. You're fun to be around, because you make people feel all right and you smile real big and handsome. You fight good though, and you don't do stuff just because everybody else is doing it. Your reason for life is just living. It's pretty tuff. It's pretty, I dunno, pretty gold."

Pony stopped talking, realizing he was rambling a little, or a lot. He mumbled the last bit, even though he somehow thought Soda may just get it. He waited for an answer, but none came. Not a thank you, not a squeeze of the shoulder, not an polite, modest protest.

"Soda?"

Nothing.

"Soda?" He turned around and saw his older brother fast asleep. "Figures. The one time I give you a real compliment you fall asleep during it and have no memory of it. Beautiful." Ponyboy rolled back over and closed his eyes.

Little did he know that, as he did so, Soda quit faking sleep and opened his eyes. He tossed one more killer smile silently into the darkness of their room, as an unseen tear dropped onto his worn pillow.

A/N: Well?