"Maybe I should run back home and talk to Ponyboy," Darry suggested.

"No, no," Soda shook his head, "Just leave him be and get to work. He probably wouldn't talk to us anyway. We can both talk to him later after he's had time to himself."

Darry didn't immediately like the idea, but he knew Soda was right about Pony not going to be willing to talk much. "Okay. I'll come pick you up later, assuming Steve isn't going to bring you home."

Soda shrugged as he opened the passenger door, "It wouldn't be like Steve to ditch work the whole day, but go ahead and come pick me up after work."

"How can he be so fucking stupid?" Steve growled. After his confrontation with Ponyboy, he had gone straight home. He didn't feel good about being harsh with the kid, but he was beyond frustrated. "I give him all my advice, I tell him every bit of shit I have gone through, and he still wants to try that shit? He knows exactly what road he'll go down. That's the exact thing he was afraid of doing, but of course that kid thinks he's strong enough to try it and not turn into what I turned into."

Pony stayed in his room for a long time. He hadn't expected Steve to yell at him. He hadn't expected Steve to react that way towards him. Most importantly, he didn't expect Steve to find his blade. That was a big mistake on Pony's part, and he only blamed himself for that one. Pony didn't even try anything, and that was the most frustrating part. There hadn't been time to explain that to Steve though. He wasn't even sure Steve would have been willing to listen to him. Now Pony was lost in wondering if him and Steve were going to come out friends from this. Was their friendship going to stay strong, or was it back to when Steve ignored his existence?

Flipping his blade open and shut over and over, Pony said to himself, "Doesn't even matter now, does it? If he's mad at me, who cares?"

There was nothing to hold him back now. No turning back. Pony pushed the blade against his arm, pierced the skin, and dragged across.

Steve lifted the receiver as his home telephone rang. "Hello?"

"Hi Steve."

Steve sighed at his best friend's voice at the other end, "Hi Soda."

"What's going on?"

"I'm just not feeling that great."

"Stop. I know something happened between you and Ponyboy. He wouldn't come out of his room before I went to work and you stormed off. What happened?"'

Steve shrugged, "Just a misunderstanding. He got me mad is all."

"Mad at what? Did he say something that I should be worried about?"

Steve didn't answer that question right away. He knew Ponyboy didn't actually do anything, not yet anyway. Steve was feeling ignored though, as if Pony wasn't taking his warnings seriously. His words weren't being heard. Pony probably wouldn't be happy if Steve told Soda, but he couldn't keep it from Soda either. Steve would have to give Soda a try to talk sense into Pony. "Soda...I found his blade in the downstairs bathroom. He had gone in there with it after his nightmare. I think he was planning to try cutting himself before I had caught him in there."

There was nothing, but silence on the other end of the line.

"I got mad that he was going to try it and not actually come talk to me, so I got on his case this morning. You'll need to talk to him Soda, because he isn't hearing me on everything I've warned him about. I feel bad for yelling at him, but I was so damn mad. You should try talking to him about all I've gone through, you have to."

"Yeah," Soda said with a low tone, "Damn, I was worried about this."

Steve knew what he meant by that. He was worried when Pony heard all of these stories they would truly mess with his head and lead him to get too curious about things. "I'm sorry Soda."

"It's okay Steve. I'm trying not to get too upset about this," Soda stopped there, not wanting to get himself mad after making things better with his best friend recently, "I'll talk to him when I get home later."

"Good. I'll talk to you soon," Steve sighed as he hung up the phone.

Darry spent his workday worrying. He was trying not to, but he didn't like being in the unknown. He knew Pony probably wanted to be alone, but he certainly didn't like leaving Pony home alone right now. What happened between Steve and Pony that made one of them storm out and the other stay in his room by himself?

Normally, Darry wouldn't give a second thought if Pony and Steve had a little tiff with each other. Lately though, Steve was Pony's backbone. Steve was becoming a deeper part of Pony's life. Ponyboy did have a deep emotional side as well, and if he got in an argument with Steve, Darry was worried how Pony would react.

After the first couple of hours passed, Soda gave home a call. He wanted to check in with his little brother.

"Hello?"

"Hey Pony, it's Soda."

"Oh hi."

"How are you doing?" Soda asked.

"I'm fine," Pony responded.

"Well, I know something must have happened with you and Steve."

"W-Why?" Pony asked with a slight nervous tone.

"You wouldn't talk to me this morning and Steve left out of nowhere. I know he was mad about something," Soda sighed, "I'm sorry I wasn't around. I was in the shower when whatever happened happened."

"It's fine. It's okay."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Soda asked, hoping Pony would bring up his weak moment the night before, but knew deep down he wouldn't.

"Not really."

"Well," Soda knew this wasn't the time to bring up that Steve already told him what made him so mad. It would have to wait until he got home, but he didn't want Pony to overreact about anything before that time came. "Don't worry too much, okay? Steve can get overheated about things, but he'll cool down and be fine. Just a bad morning."

"How does he seem?" Pony asked.

"Well I don't..." Soda stopped as he realized Pony was under the impression Steve was at work, "...he seems fine."

"He didn't tell you what happened this morning?"

"No," Soda continued to lie, "He's kept to himself."

"Oh."

"But that doesn't mean anything Pony. He might want to let you tell me yourself, when you're ready. Don't worry yourself in the head over it, okay? We can talk about it when I get home, alright?"

"Will Steve be coming back here after work?"

"I don't really know," Soda responded, "Do you not want him to?"

Pony was quiet for a second, "I know he's pretty mad, but I think I should talk to him too."

"Okay, I can see if he'll come by after work?" Soda didn't really want Steve over. He wanted to talk to his little brother himself, but he tried to hide the tone of disapproval.

"He didn't give me much of a chance to talk, he just yelled at me," Pony explained.

"Okay little brother," Soda felt his heart skip a beat from the statement. He understood why Steve would have yelled the way he did, but it did concern him how Pony would have taken that. It didn't make Soda feel any better knowing Steve didn't give Pony the chance to defend himself. He knew how his best friend could be, but this was his little brother, and you just didn't mess with his little brother. Steve knew that. "We'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for calling Soda."

"Of course. Love you."

"Love you too."

As Soda hung up the phone, he felt decent about the phone call. He didn't expect Pony to admit to him what the argument was about, but Pony didn't seem too distressed over the phone. At least Soda could now try to continue his shift in peace.

Pony slowly replaced the receiver as the phone call with Sodapop ended. He looked back down at his arm. There was still some blood sitting there from the opening. He wasn't happy. He wasn't nervous. He wasn't scared, or mad, or thrilled. He felt numb about it. It was easy to accomplish too. He just simply did it, then he stopped, and then he watched.

Walking over to the kitchen sink, Pony rinsed off his arm. There was a little sting to it, but the bleeding stopped in little time. He hadn't cut too long or too deep. Grabbing the first aid kid, Pony grabbed a couple band-aids and put them over the cut. As he finished cleaning up, he was planning to go upstairs to grab his sweater to get his arm covered. The phone began ringing again, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hello?" Pony asked, taking one good look at the sink and counter to make sure he cleaned it up well.

"Hey Pony."

"Oh," Pony said with some surprise, "Hi Steve. Did Soda tell you to call?"

"No, no. I just had some time to cool down a little and thought I'd check up on you."

"I'm fine Steve," Pony said with a low voice, "I'm sorry for what happened. I was going to come to you last night, I really was. I was standing right next to you, ready to get some help from you for my nightmare. I panicked though. I had these flashbacks of the nightmare and I ran away instead. You knocked on the door before I did anything though."

"I know Pony, I know the panic can get to you and make you react without thinking. I've been there plenty of times, and I understand. I shouldn't have yelled at you for it. I should have talked to you and listened. I was just so frustrated though. And honestly, I've never dealt with this with anyone else. It's just been me dealing with myself. Even though I know how I should handle it with anyone else, sometimes my temper can still get in the way."

"I know why you were mad. I am sorry. I should have come to you instead," Pony looked down at his bandaged arm, "I promise I will next time."

The workday had ended. Darry picked Soda up from work and headed home. Soda talked to Steve on the phone one more time asking him to come over and help him talk to Pony. He still wanted the chance to talk to Pony himself, but maybe Pony would open up more if Steve was there to help first.

"I called Pony earlier today," Soda told Darry in the truck, "He sounded okay."

"That's good."

"I told Steve to come over tonight to help me talk to Pony."

"Did you talk to Steve about what happened?"

"Yeah," Soda replied, not wanting to tell Darry yet what Steve had told him. He knew Darry would have a hard time not confronting Pony about it, and Soda wasn't in the shape to risk Pony's trust right now. "He told me a little bit, but he can tell us a little more when he comes over. It's all okay though."

"Alright."

The older brothers arrived at home and entered the house. They found Pony sitting on the couch sketching in a notebook.

"Hey Pony," Darry greeted.

"Hi," Pony replied.

"Feeling better at all?"

"A little."

"What did you do today?" Darry asked, setting his tool belt aside.

"Just hung out. Read a little, been drawing for awhile now."

"Steve should be coming over later," Soda said taking a seat on the couch.

"Oh okay. He called me to apologize," Pony said.

"Really? What did he say?" Darry asked, slightly surprised of Steve for doing that.

"Just said sorry for overreacting," Pony simply said.

"Do you want to tell me what he overreacted to?" Darry asked.

Soda looked at his little brother, "It's okay to tell us."

"I want to wait until he's here," Pony said.

"That's okay," Darry said, feeling frustrated by the answer, but he wanted to be supportive, "We'll talk about it tonight though."

"I know," Pony said. Darry walked into the kitchen, leaving his little brothers on the couch.

"Hey Pony," Soda said looking up and down at his little brother.

"What?"

"Did you know it's like...summer outside?"

"So I hear," Pony shrugged.

"Why are you wearing a sweater?"

"It's not that hot in the house," Pony pointed out, "When is Steve coming?"

"He didn't say for sure," Soda responded, "Probably after dinner."

"I'm going to go lay down for a little bit then. It's been a long day," Pony got up from the couch and headed upstairs. Soda stayed in his spot for a bit. He started thinking about how Steve told him he found Ponyboy's blade in the bathroom. He started remembering how he thought it was odd of Steve's clothing choices a few years back, just to realize later why he was covering up.

Later in the evening, the Curtis brothers sat down for dinner. There wasn't much conversation. Pony knew his older brothers wanted to ask about what happened that morning. Soda knew what happened that morning, but he couldn't let that on. He was also concerned with the timing, if there was a deeper reason his little brother was wearing a sweater. Darry tried his best to keep conversations elsewhere, wanting to respect Pony's wish of waiting for Steve to be here.

"Was it busy at work?" Darry asked.

Soda nodded, "Yeah it was. Gracie actually came in."

Darry looked up, "Oh yeah? You haven't seen her in awhile."

"Almost a year."

"Has it been almost a year since she pulled that stunt?" Pony asked.

"Yep," Soda said, "I was surprised she showed her face. She was by herself too."

"What did she say?" Darry asked.

"She asked how I had been and how Steve had been. I didn't say much back. She hinted at us going out to the Dingo though."

"I hope you said no," Darry said firmly.

"Of course I did," Soda's eyebrows furrowed, "I wouldn't do that to Steve."

"She's just a troublemaker," Darry shook his head.

"Sucks, because she's cute."

"You think she'll try asking Steve out too?" Ponyboy asked.

Soda rolled his eyes, "It would be stupid of her, but I wouldn't put it past her. She realized she lost Steve trying to get to me, but when she got caught she wasn't going to have me anyway. Now she probably misses Steve after realizing he's a good guy."

"Oh well," Darry stood up, taking his empty plate to the sink, "Hope she doesn't start some drama now."

"I heard she was with someone for some time, but now it's over," Pony added in, "She just can't handle being alone."

"And those are the girls that cause trouble," Soda nodded, "Remember that Ponyboy? Girls who aren't happy with themselves won't be happy with you either."

"Pony doesn't need girls right now," Darry grinned at his little brother.

"Hey maybe he does," Soda shrugged, standing up with his dishes.

"I'm good," Pony said with a chuckle.

Soda and Pony sat on the front porch swing waiting. They were expecting Steve to arrive shortly after dinner, but he hadn't shown up. The sun was setting and it was getting dark out.

"Where do you think he is?" Pony asked.

"I have no idea," Soda said, "I mean maybe he got in a fight with his dad or something."

"Should we call him?"

Before Soda could answer, the front door opened and Darry stepped out. "He's still not here?"

"No," Soda shook his head, "I can give him a call."

As Soda stepped inside, Darry looked down at Pony. "If Steve doesn't come by, I still want to talk with you about what happened this morning. If Steve got upset with you about something, I'm pretty concerned of what that could be."

Pony looked down, "I know."

"I'd never thought I'd be concerned over any problems between you and Steve," Darry chuckled.

"Right."

"Don't be afraid to talk to me and Soda, okay? We'll sit and listen to what happened and help you out."

"I know you will."

"Come on. Let's get inside," Darry held out a hand and lifted Pony to his feet, leading him inside the house.

"Anything?" Pony asked watching Soda hang up the kitchen phone.

Soda shook his head, "No answer." Soda watched the disappointment set on his little brother's face. This was it. This was where his biggest worry about Steve was possibly coming to the light.

"Let's just forget about that for right now," Darry said taking a seat in the armchair, "Let's just sit and talk, us three for now. We should be able to talk to each other about anything."

Pony sat down on the couch while Soda took a seat on the floor by the coffee table.

"Now Pony, what went on this morning? Why did Steve get so mad and leave?" Darry asked.

Pony took a hard swallow. The words were going to be difficult to let out.

"Pony whatever it is, you can tell us. We can have a calm conversation about it. I promise," Darry went on.

"Really? Because Steve couldn't," Pony said with some frustration.

"Pony," Soda began, "I know you're mad that Steve isn't here after saying he would be. And I know he lost a little of his temper this morning. We won't do that though. We just want to help." Soda felt himself bite his lower lip, hoping Pony would spill out the truth so he didn't have to admit he already knew.

Pony rolled his eyes at Soda's statement. He knew Soda was right. He was feeling mad that Steve ditched him tonight without a word, and he had to try and not take that out on his older brothers. "Steve got mad...well, because he found my blade in the bathroom."

"What do you mean?" Darry asked.

"Last night, I had a nightmare. I came down here to try and talk to Steve, but I was panicking and just couldn't get myself to relax. I was so scared and just couldn't stop moving around. I rushed into the bathroom with my blade..."

Darry looked down, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Pony said, "Steve woke up and knocked on the door. I hid my blade from him, but he found it this morning and got mad about it. That's what he was upset about."

"Are you thinking about doing it?" Soda asked.

Pony shook his head, "No. I don't even know if I would've last night. I was just rushing and moving too quickly, but when I was at that moment...I don't know if it would've happened."

"I hope not," Darry took a deep breath, clearly trying hard to keep his promise of having a calm talk, "I know it seems like it could help distract you from fear and pain, but it only causes more. You heard everything that happened to Steve. We cannot let you go down that path as well."

"I know," Pony said, "I'm sorry Darry. I'm sorry Soda. I promise I'm not thinking about doing it. I don't want to do it. I don't want it as a distraction or anything. When I think about it, it just bothers me more than anything."

"It's okay little buddy," Darry said, "I'm glad you could tell us the truth though. I know it may not have been easy, but we have to know these things.

"Well that's why I wanted Steve here. He could help me talk about it," Pony said, "And I wanted to talk to him more too since he didn't really let me this morning."

Soda shrugged, "Maybe he just got..."

"To hell with the maybe," Pony suddenly blurted, standing up and marching towards the stairs, "Something more important came up and he ended up doing that instead. Just like you said Soda."