A/N: For anyone who wondered (though I'm not sure who's even reading at this point...), the last "update" was just me combining chapters, so their lengths are not so different, thus nine chapters became six. This one is new!:)

"Hey, Soda, why'd you lock the door, man?"

Soda heard Steve's voice from the other side of his bedroom door, as he sat there fully dressed, the tears he'd kept back earlier streaming down his face. "Hang on a second. I'm comin'."

Steve attempted to turn the knob again, despite knowing the door remained locked. "Please let me in, buddy. I'm not in a hurry. I just don't want you to be alone like that."

Soda got up and unlocked the door, his back turned before it could open.

Steve let himself inside, going forward to lay his hands on Soda's shoulders from behind. "You've done this before."

"Done what?"

"Locked yourself in a room and cried."

"Cause I'm a grown man, Steve. Nobody should have to deal with me cryin'. Darry already did last night."

"I'm a grown man who had a nightmare, and you were still there to hold my hand in the dark at three in the morning. I'm not just anybody, and neither is Darry. We want to be here to do or be whatever you need. You know that, buddy. So please don't go trying to isolate yourself."

Soda moved to the foot of his bed and sat down, feeling Steve take the spot beside him. "I do know it's what ya'll want, and I know you're not just anybody. I wouldn't say you are cause you both mean so much to me. It's just that I feel like I should be past this."

"Past what?"

"Everything with Emily. She ain't a little baby who was just born anymore. She's four years old, and I know where I fit in her life. I'm even happy with it."

Steve got up and went to Soda's other side, only taking a moment to look at his best friend's face before he gathered him in his arms. "I've been wanting to hug you since I came in and saw you on the couch. Even more when I could hear you crying from the other side of that door. I sure don't expect you to be past anything. We both know that's not how this works."

Soda buried his face in Steve's shoulder, shedding more tears, as they hugged each other.

"And don't you dare say anything about being a grown man who needs a hug. You know there are plenty of times I still do. Hell, I need one right now too cause I can see you're hurting, and you have every reason to feel whatever's inside you. It's been five years since the shooting, and that's a big deal, man. Not just for you, but for me too."

"I hadn't even thought of that, Stevie. No wonder I'm feelin' like this. Maybe it ain't only Emily."

"Yeah, buddy. I thought of it pretty quick after Darry said you'd asked him to come over last night." Steve pulled away from the embrace, though he kept one arm wrapped firmly around Soda. "I know the timing ain't exact since it's May, but a lot happened from March through summer."

"Yeah. It did. How has it been five years since I got shot? I remember when it was only a year, and Emily was a little baby."

"Cause time didn't stop, brother. Not even when you wanted it to."

"Yeah, and I sure never thought I'd look back and be grateful that happened to me. If it hadn't, I could've come home in a box."

Steve felt a shiver that shook him all the way down to his soul, the arm that remained around Soda squeezing him tighter. "Yeah, it saved you from going through the worst hell there is all the way on the other side of the world."

"I couldn't have done it, Stevie. I ain't a soldier. Even without a bad nerve and a mental history, I'm not that."

"Neither am I, buddy. I guess it's supposed to make me feel like less of a man or something. But it doesn't. I know I didn't need to worry about it like you did, but I'm grateful they wouldn't have wanted me either. I don't belong in some other country fighting about shit I can't even understand."

"Nah. You belong here, so you can help me understand mine." Soda lifted a hand to wipe his eyes, as he leaned his head on Steve's shoulder. "And so you can help lots of other people. Cause of everything you've been through with yourself and with me, every person you see will be somebody. Not just a name on your list or in a file."

"You're sounding like me, man, with what I said about you not being a signed and sealed document."

"Yeah. But what I mean is you'll see everybody you counsel as somebody else's brother, son, or best friend. You'll always get how much it matters for you to help them heal."

"I get what you're sayin', buddy. I'll always know the reach somebody's recovery can have. Cause it's not only for that person." Steve kept his arm around Soda, as his eyes wandered to the wall that was covered with pictures of the Curtis brothers and their loved ones. His gaze focused in on a photo of himself with Darry, Soda, and Pony, then moved to another of Soda with Penny. "It's for everybody who loves them." His eyes shifted once more, landing on a photo of Emily. "It's for everybody who has a stake in both the turns the path takes and how it ends."

"Really, Mommy? I can get a kitty?"

Vivian brushed Emily's hair, beginning to make the blond curls into two braids. "Yes, really. As long as you help take care of it. Do you know what you have to do for a kitten?"

Emily put a finger to her chin, feeling the tug on her hair, as Vivian finished the first braid. "I'll have to feed it and play with it. Do I take it for walks?"

"No, honey. That's only for dogs. But you're right about feeding and playing. You have to do those things and clean up after it. Pets can be messy sometimes."

"Will Macaroni eat what I eat? And sleep in my bed?"

Vivian made the second braid, tying it at the end. "The kitty will have its own special food. It can sleep in your bed if you want though. Cats like to cuddle."

"So do I! I'm getting my own furry friend, Mommy!"

"You sure are, but remember a pet is a lot of responsibility. Your kitty will be depending on you for what it needs to keep growing."

"You mean like I depend on you and Daddy for all the stuff I need?"

"Yes. It's a lot like that."

"Will Macaroni be adopted too?"

Vivian touched Emily's cheek, her daughter's innocent blue eyes searching for confirmation of the connection she was making. "Yes, sweetie. So you and your kitty will have something very special in common."

"I'm okay now, Steve. Maybe you have lots of reasons not to believe me, but I really am."

Steve slid back into the Ford, as he handed Soda a chocolate milkshake, his own vanilla one in his other hand. "I wouldn't say I don't believe you, man. That makes it sound like I think you're lying or something, and I know you aren't."

Soda put a straw through the lid of his milkshake, as Steve shut the driver's side door. "No. I'm definitely not lying. I just meant certain stuff that's happened could make you wonder if my head is in a worse place than I've said."

"I think you'd tell me if it was, right?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't be lookin' to hide it. We've seen each other through too much for that."

"Absolutely, buddy. I'm glad we both see it the same way."

"I think what you said about it bein' five years helped me feel a lot better. Since that gives it an explanation, you know? Then, I could stop thinkin' about Emily so much and tryin' to figure out exactly what was botherin' me."

"You were putting all the eggs in one basket, like there aren't a bunch of other ones."

"Yeah. I sure was."

"That's probably the safest one too."

"How do you mean?"

"Emily's a bright spot in your life. Always has been. Even though it was painful for you and Penny to go through the adoption, there's a lot of light there, especially since everything's been so open. But the shooting and all that happened after has a lot of darkness in it. Going there means you've gotta think about death. It means you've gotta think about how you struggled with your flashbacks and thoughts."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense."

"And not even just that, man. It means you've gotta go back to everything with me too. It's all there. You can't think about the shooting without unpacking the whole scene since it's kind of like the beginning of a story."

"Nah. Just the beginning of a chapter, Stevie. Cause my story goes back so much further."

"All right. Yeah, it's the start of a chapter then. But either way you look at it, those pages are the scariest to reflect on, and they changed the course of your life in ways nobody could have seen coming. They did mine too, and I'm glad I've been here for every second of the ride."