You guys are awesome! Happy Friday, by the way! I went ahead and started the one-shot story, it's called "Our Life: A Series of One-Shots." Please go check it out if you get a chance. Now, back to our feature presentation...


By the time they had pulled onto the main street, Ponyboy was slowly waking up. It probably had something to do with his parents dying in an automobile wreck, but driving made Pony uneasy recently. When he was a baby his parents would drive him around when he was crying because it used to calm him down; now he could hardly stand much more than fifteen minutes in a car.

The summer before the gang had driven over to Stillwater to see Dally compete in a rodeo. It wasn't anything too fancy, just a small, local competition but Dally was really proud of the horse he was going to be riding and practically begged them all to come – "Ponyboy, I'll do your chores for a week," "Darry, I'll give you half my winnings to pay for gas," "Johnny, you ever been to a rodeo, kid? You have to come, man." "Steve, there are cute broads everywhere," "Soda, you've always loved horses," "Two-Bit...there's cheap beer."

Dally rarely asked for anything, he thought it was a sign of weakness or something, so they knew that if he was trying to bribe people, it had to be pretty damn important to him. That Friday everyone, except Johnny who had been forced to stay home, got in the car and drove to the rodeo. Stillwater was only about an hour and a half away but it took them nearly three because of Pony continuously requesting to stop at the rest stations.

"We almost home, Darry?" Ponyboy asked suddenly rubbing a hand over his face, he felt worn down and groggy. Darry looked over at his younger brother; he hadn't realized he had woken up.

"Hey, little buddy." Darry smiled while turning his eyes back towards the road, "How you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess." Pony said shrugging and turning to look out the window. He might not be able to hide the fact that he was sick but that didn't mean he had to tell Darry just how bad he felt. Everyone was always treating him like a baby and Ponyboy was tired of it. Just because he was born last it didn't mean he was any less tough than the other guys in the gang.

"We'll be home soon." Darry said when he saw Pony fidgeting in his seat uncomfortably, he knew his little brother hated being in the car for too long, "We just need to stop and get some supplies first."

"What kind of supplies. You fixin' up the house or something?" Pony asked turning towards his older brother. The last time they had gone out for supplies it was so that Darry could patch up a hole in the roof – they had been keeping a small pot underneath the hole to catch rainwater, but the three brothers had quickly grown tired of emptying it out every time it stormed.

"No," Darry said as he pulled into the grocery store parking lot, "We just need to get some medicine, you know? Stuff like that."

"Darry, you know we can't afford anything fancy. I'm fine with just taken a few aspirin, that's all I need." He knew he was trouble and he hated causing Darry the financial stress. It wasn't fair to him.

"Ponyboy, I'm the one who takes care of the bills. I know what we can and can't afford. So stop worrying and start acting like a kid again. Okay, kid?" He spoke sternly but with a slight smile. He hated how Pony was always worrying about money; he just wanted the poor kid to have a normal life. The last year had been really rough on everyone – especially Ponyboy. It wasn't fair to him.

"Sure, Darry." Ponyboy slumped slightly in his seat. His headache was coming back at full speed and his stomach was starting to churn. Darry reached over and playfully rubbed his brother's hair until it became disheveled and messy.

"Knock it off, Dare. I'm going to have to add more grease now when we get home." Ponyboy said as he looked at his own reflection in the rearview mirror.

"I'll be right back – stay in the car." Darry said before slamming the door shut. Ponyboy watched as his brother sauntered into the store. His brother always walked with such confidence and pride, it was something Pony had always admired about him.

He laid his head against the window; the coolness of it provided him with some sort of comfort. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, the sickening feeling was rising in his throat. Ponyboy cranked the driver's side window down to get some fresh air but it didn't seem to be helping. It was at times like this especially that he wished his parents were still alive. They always knew how to make their children feel okay again. No matter what, his mother's homemade soup always seemed to make people feel better whether they drank it for a sore throat, flu, cough, stomach bug, winter cold, anything. In fact, two years ago Soda and Sandy had gotten into a huge fight over something real stupid and so small that Ponyboy couldn't even remember what it was. When Soda came home crying that night his mom fixed him up a bowl of it and he felt better almost instantly. After that Soda went around for months swearing up and down that his mother's cooking could even cure heart break.

Suddenly Pony's stomach rolled uncomfortably and he felt the blood drain from his clammy face. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to make the feeling go away. When he realized the inevitable was about to happen Ponyboy whipped the door open, jumped out of the car and proceeded to lose what little food he had remaining in his stomach. His body shivered and convulsed with each heave. After about a minute he brought a shaking hand up to his face and wiped his mouth clean.

"Ponyboy!" Darry called angrily from across the parking lot, "What did I say about staying in the car?" Darry walked over to his younger brother who was leaning against the outside of the truck. The boy didn't say anything in return; he just looked down at where he had exercised the contents of his stomach. Darry followed the direction of his brother's gaze while Ponyboy began to cry softly with embarrassment.

"Oh, Pony." He said pulling his tearful brother into a hug, "Let's get you home."


Thanks again, you guys! Please continue to review – it means a lot to me and I love hearing your opinions. Whenever I'm in class and I see that someone left a review it always brightens my day. I mean, heck, your words of encouragement are why I went ahead and created the one-shot series. Thanks again for reading, everyone!