Here it is, hope you like!

When Pony woke up the next morning the first thing he noticed was how much his back hurt.

Then his wrist.

Then his head.

Groaning, he rolled over, slightly relieving the pain in his lower back.

"Pony," someone whispered. Pony recognized the voice instantly. It was the voice he'd heard first thing in the morning every day for months. He didn't know whether to be relieved by his brother's presence or worried in light of yesterday's events.

Soda prodded Pony in the back; Pony winced and barely repressed a groan instead mumbling, "Soda g'away," into his pillow.

Sodapop laughed and pulled Pony out of bed, despite the younger brother's protests.

"Hey," another voice came from the doorway, "Be careful with Pony, little buddy. He ain't in a good shape right now, okay?"

Soda sighed and relented. Pony crawled out of bed, not planning to change out of the clothes he wore yesterday and slept in.

Then Ponyboy looked into the eyes of his oldest brother and knew that he was in for a long day. Suddenly he decided that if today was going to be difficult he might as well be in fresh, clean clothes when he faced it.

In a moment of stupidity Pony didn't wait until his brothers were gone to change his shirt. He pulled off the old garment, taking care with his extra sensitive back. Pony only realized his mistake when Soda gasped.

"Geez, Pony," he said looking upset, "did you do that yesterday? With Steve?" It took Pony a moment to realize that Soda was talking about his back.

Pony didn't know how to answer so instead he kept quiet, trying to change quickly, but Darry answered for him, "Well he sure didn't do it in his sleep!"

Pony refrained from saying anything and grabbed the closest shirt in reach, which was on the floor, to cover his back which, he surmised was not in good shape. It musta' looked as bad as it felt.

Darry rolled his eyes and snatched the shirt out from Pony's hands, "C'mon we need to have a look at your back. Soda grab the first aid kit from the bathroom!"

Soda left, but not before Pony saw the look on his face. Soda would be torn up by this and Pony felt a rush of guilt. How would he feel if Soda despised Johnny as much as he hated Steve? Not that that would ever happen but still, the idea was disturbing.

Pony vowed right then to make this as painless as he could, not only for Soda but for the rest of the group as well.

"Listen Darry—" Darry cut him off and ordered him into the kitchen, Pony tried to talk as they made their way across the small house.

"Well, I, uh, think that there has been a misunderstanding." Pony began, unsure of how to play this off. If Steve looked half as bad as Pony felt it would be extremely difficult to pretend their injuries were the result of an accident during some rough housing that got out of hand, especially considering what the gang saw. The gang may not be great at school but they weren't that stupid.

"Oh there has, has there?" Darry asked, not sounding fooled at all. Pony sighed, this would be harder than he thought, if he wanted to pull this off he'd actually need to work with Steve. It was Pony's exact idea of hell.

Speaking of Steve, Pony and Darry walked through the living room where Steve lay unconscious on the couch, having no idea of the hell he would awake to. It was funny, Pony had seen him there hundreds of times and every single time before this he had felt the same rush of hatred for the guy. But now, looking at him Pony just felt…guilty. And unprepared for the coming challenges.

Huh, maybe Steve had hit Pony's head a little harder than he'd thought. Pony assured himself that his natural hatred for Steve Randle would come back soon enough.

Several pairs of eyes locked on Pony as he and Darry entered the kitchen. Pony could never recall a time when he felt more awkward in his own home, that is until Two-Bit yelled, "Hey Casanova how about you put on a shirt?"

"You don't know who Casanova is, Two-Bit," Johnny muttered rolling his eyes.

"Oh, and you do, Romeo?"

"You don't know who Romeo is, either," Pony laughed.

Soda entered the room behind them carrying the first aid kit, "I'm going to wake up Steve, okay?" He asked Darry.

Darry nodded looking solemn. Pony grimaced, Darry was obviously pissed. That was going to make his and Steve's job much harder.

"Hop up." Darry said, patting them counter top in from of him.

"Darry," Pony complained, yanking his shirt back, "There isn't anything you can do for it!"

Darry just raised his eyebrow and gestured to the counter again. Pony sighed and marched up there, not prepared to be a specimen on display for the rest of the gang.

Two-Bit let out a loud, backwards whistle when Pony turned his back to the gang. Even Dally raised his eyebrows.

"Gosh Ponyboy, your back looks like a rotten apple!" Dally said.

Pony's eyes narrowed, "Gee thanks, Dal."

"Golly Ponyboy, does it hurt an awful lot?" Johnny asked.

"No," Pony lied through his teeth, the muscles in his back bunched when Darry applied the freezing cold ice.

When Darry was finally convinced there was no more he could do he let Ponyboy down to put on his shirt. Pony had just taken his seat at the table when Soda and Steve walked in.

Judging by their expressions Soda had already tried to talk to Steve and Steve hadn't given the answers Soda wanted. Ponyboy swallowed, it was near audible in the suddenly quite room. Steve walked over to Darry who treated his wounds as best they could, which was basically to wrap his shoulder and around his chest where they thought he may have some broken ribs and ice his bruises.

"Now," Darry said as Steve sat down, "I think you two owe us an explanation."

Hope you liked, if you have any ideas feel free to leave them in a review because I'm really not sure where I want the story to go. When I have a good idea I'll be able to update more often.