A huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through this story, and especially to everyone who is reviewing! I appreciate you more than you can say. There will be two chapters after this, including the Epilogue, and then it will finally be done! I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Moving On

Darry leaned forward in his seat, grinning when Soda elbowed him, pointing at Ponyboy as though he hadn't been watching their little brother this whole time. He was third among the boys running around the track, arms pumping so hard they were a blur, and Soda screamed his name, cheering and shouting as he moved up to second place at the last turn.

Pony's last year of high school had, so far, been a lot less eventful than the first two, although it was only October, so Darry guessed there was still time for things to go downhill. Still, no fights at school. Close to a 4.0 GPA. And he was always on time for dinner now, thanks to the watch Sodapop had gotten him.

Well, Two-Bit had gotten it, technically.

It had started a month or so ago, back in September, when he'd gotten caught up playing cards with Johnny at his place. It had been Darry's first fight with Pony in a while, the two of them snarking at each other for the rest of the night. Looking back, it felt like such a stupid thing to have been so angry over. It wasn't like he'd even been that late. But Darry had had a shitty day at work and Pony had been chafing at him talking to him like he was a little kid…it hadn't been either of their proudest moments.

He'd gotten the story from Steve later. Soda had told him and Two-Bit all about their fight at the DX the next day. It hadn't even been that bad of a fight, not compared to how things had been before. Sure, they'd been avoiding each other since, but surely, he'd thought, Pony knew by now that he loved him even if he was irritated with him. Still, Two-Bit had apparently seen how upset Soda was and had 'acquired' the watch. Then he'd given it to Sodapop who'd walked into the living room the next evening after work.

"Where's Pony?"

"In his room," Darry had muttered. Pony had barely said two words to him when he'd come home, shutting his bedroom door just hard enough to let Darry know that he was still mad. He hadn't bothered trying to talk to Pony either, and as far as Darry had been concerned, he'd been waiting on an apology from the kid.

Soda had shaken his head, eyes narrow, then he'd practically stormed into Ponyboy's room, opening the door without knocking.

"Soda…what…" Darry had heard Pony start to say, but Soda had cut him off.

"Come here," he'd ordered, and Darry had put his paper down, watching in open confusion as Soda had dragged their brother into the room by his arm, coming to a stop in front of the sofa and giving Ponyboy a push so he'd sit down. Pony had, giving Darry a bewildered look. Darry had just shrugged, too confused to remember he was mad at him.

"We ain't doing this shit again, you hear me?" Sodapop had asked, looking between the two of them, and Darry had realized that he looked scared, eyes wide with it, hands shaking a little, and he'd remembered how Soda had seemed to flinch with every word him and Pony had snapped at one another. Ponyboy had noticed too, sharing another look with Darry, this one worried. Darry hadn't really thought about how their fighting had affected Sodapop, but suddenly it had become real clear.

Then Soda had turned to their little brother, serious as he'd ever been. "Here." He'd yanked the watch out of his pocket, taking Pony's arm and fastening it around his wrist. "You have got to be on time for dinner, okay? Or if you can't be, you have to call us. I know you can take handle yourself pretty well and I know you ain't stupid or nothing. But we still worry about you, you dig? We need to know where you are. It ain't like we're asking a lot. Be on time for dinner when you aren't working. Call us if you're going to be late. Okay? I mean it, Pone."

Pony had nodded, shamefaced, and Soda reached out, squeezing his shoulder. There wasn't much Ponyboy hated more than upsetting Sodapop. "Yeah…I dig. Sorry."

Then Sodapop had turned around to face Darry. "And you. Ease up, okay? It ain't worth it. After all the shit we went through…" Soda had shaken his head, still holding onto Pony's shoulder almost desperately, like their kid brother was going to run out the door like he had that night...like it could all start again. "We're all we've got, Dar. We finally….we're finally okay. You know? Just…"

Soda's eyes had been bright as his voice had finally broken, and Darry had nodded, jumping up and putting an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah…I know, kiddo." He'd reached down for Pony then, tugging him up and pulling him into the hug too. Ponyboy had grinned, almost laughing as Darry had ruffled his hair, and Soda had let out a breath, holding them both tight.

That night, a door opening and closing had woken Darry, and even though it had been a long time since Pony had had nightmares, something inside him had told him to get up and check on him. So he had, peeking into Pony's bedroom, not surprised to find it empty. He'd gone to the porch then, finding Ponyboy sitting on the back steps, his head in his hands, shoulders shaking. Darry had sat down beside him without hesitating, putting his arm around him and pulling him close. For a moment, it had been like he'd been fourteen again, hiding his face in Darry's shoulder and gripping his shirt.

Pony never screamed in his sleep. Not anymore. Richard had apparently broken him of that for good, and Darry thought he could kill that man for it.

"Do you remember it?"

Pony had nodded, taking a shuddering breath and obviously trying to calm down. Darry had just rubbed his back, remembering how he'd been when he'd first gotten back from New York…how he'd been unable to meet their eyes. How his hands had shook when he'd tried. And he'd felt stupid all over, getting so mad over Pony being late for dinner.

His brother had tried to laugh after a moment, the sound coming out shaky. "You'd think I'd stop dreaming about him after all this time."

Darry had just run a hand over his back, keeping him close. Letting him talk. He'd learned it was the best thing he could do for him…the best way he could help. It had been a hard lesson to learn, but once Darry learned a lesson, it stuck.

"He's in prison. I haven't seen him in more than two years. But it's like…like I'm back in that house and he's beating on Rita's door." He'd taken a deep breath, wiping the back of his hand over his face, the watch glinting in the moonlight. "I'm sorry I was late."

"I know, kiddo. It's okay."

"I'm sorry about what I said."

"Hey," Darry had murmured, squeezing him close for a second. "It's okay, Pone." He'd hesitated. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gotten so mad. Not about something like that. I had a bad day and I…I overreacted," he'd admitted.

Beside him, Pony had smiled at him, tentative. "You? Overreacting?"

He'd snorted, giving Ponyboy a shove and making him laugh aloud. Darry had put his arm back around him then, and for a moment, they'd been quiet. Then Pony had held his arm up, the face of the watch glinting in the moonlight.

"Who do you think Two-Bit stole this from?"

"I'm trying not to think about it. Just check it every once in a while, would you? For my sake?" He'd hesitated. "I couldn't stand it if something happened to you, Pony."

Pony had given a shaky nod. "I know…I will."

And he had.

Now Darry watched Pony pull ahead, cheering with Soda and Two-Bit when he crossed the finish line a full three seconds before the others. It was the first big meet of the season at a school that had thankfully been close enough that Darry and Soda had been able to drive over after work, Two-Bit and Alice coming to cheer him on too…and boy was Alice cheering, her and Soda whistling and clapping, and Darry had to grin. He knew Sodapop liked her real well, and it didn't hurt at all that she was awful fond of Pony.

Afterwards, Soda pulled him into his arms, spinning him around and laughing and congratulating him. Pony laughed, trying to squirm out of his arms as Darry came up next, squeezing him tight and patting him on the back. "Good job, kiddo."

"It's just the first meet, Darry. There'll be lots more." He shrugged, uncomfortable as ever with being the center of attention. "You all didn't have to come."

"Of course we did! We weren't going to miss seeing you win!" Alice cried, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder, making his ears turn bright red.

"She's right, kid," Two-Bit put in, handing him a half full bottle of Pepsi that Pony drained. "She's always right, because she's a smart lady."

Alice grinned indulgently at him and Soda rolled his eyes. "Will you quit? Flirt with your own girl."

"She ain't here."

"Where is Rita?" Alice wondered with a laugh..

Darry tuned them out then, ruffling Pony's hair and gesturing towards the empty bottle in his hand. "You want another one?"

His brother nodded, the two of them heading toward the concession stand. Along the way, lots of guys congratulated Pony, even a few guys from the other school, and Ponyboy always grinned, ducking his head and thanking them and looking embarrassed. A few girls were looking at him too, but Pony didn't seem to notice them much, just walked beside Darry, sticking close, thanking them when they congratulated him too.

"You did good, Pone," he told him as they waited in line.

"Thanks."

"Soon there's going to be college scouts at these things."

"Yeah. Coach said they usually waited until the middle of the season to start showing up."

Darry handed over the money to the guy at the concession stand and handed Pony the bottle of Pepsi, taking one for himself. "How's Sue?" he wondered, watching a red headed girl try and fail to get his brother's attention by walking by for a second time, him and Pony drinking their sodas off to the side of the building. Plenty of people were milling about, and he had to raise his voice a little for Pony to hear him.

"Oh…she's good." Pony narrowed his eyes, puzzled at the abrupt change in topic. "Why?"

He chuckled as the girl gave up, giving Pony one last look over her shoulder as she ambled back to her group of friends. "Just wondering."

Ponyboy followed his gaze, looking around like he was missing something, then gave Darry a suspicious look that he ignored.

"You send off your application?"

Pony nodded. "Yeah. Soda drove me over to the post office Saturday so we could drop it in the mailbox there before we went to the game."

It hadn't been the first time Ponyboy had gone along with Soda and Alice to a game or a race. Sometimes Johnny would come too, and the four of them would hang out. Alice never seemed to mind…she liked Pony a lot, and when Sue had first gone back to New York along with James and Marcus, Soda had told Darry that she'd asked him to bring Pony along a couple of times when they went out, hoping to cheer him up. And Darry was glad she cared about him…glad that Sodapop had found a nice girl.

It was why things hadn't worked out with Mary.

He'd liked her real well, and she'd seemed to like him. Soda and Pony too. But then, when she'd asked him a few days ago to take a trip with her for a week…there had just been no way. "I can't. My boss ain't going to give me a whole week off."

"He did last year," she'd pointed out, and his blood had frozen in his veins at the reminder.

"I didn't take a week off work to take a vacation, Mary. I took it because I thought my little brother was going to die," he'd half whispered, like if he said it too loud, he'd be back in that hospital room again, watching his baby brother cling to life. When she'd just looked at him, still on the verge of irritated, he'd gone on. "Besides, I don't want to leave Pony on his own for that long. And he's got his first track meet of the season."

"He's sixteen , Darry. He's not a little kid. I'm sure he'd be fine for a few days."

It's not that she'd been wrong. He was sure that Pony would have been fine, especially with Sodapop there, and the guys keeping an eye out for him. No…it hadn't been her words. It had been her tone. The way she'd rolled her eyes, looking put out. And then she'd kept talking.

"You act like he's your kid or something. Like he's got to come first all the time. What, is he going to throw a fit if you can't make it to one race? Can't he go a couple of days without you?"

She'd hinted at feelings like this a few times over the last couple of months. Comments thrown away when Pony had needed him for something, or when he'd insisted on getting home before midnight…when he'd said no to staying the night at her place. But it all got real clear just then. Because of course Pony wouldn't throw a fit. Hell, he'd be upset if Darry didn't do something because of him, and, Darry had thought, Pony would probably also be upset when he found out that this was the reason he broke up with his girlfriend. Darry was just grateful that she'd never said any of that shit in front of Pony. Or Soda for that matter. But he sure didn't want anything serious with a girl that didn't understand how important his family was.

"He's not my kid," Darry had told her coldly. "He's my brother. I'm his legal guardian. So yeah, he comes first. Him and Soda both. They have ever since that police officer knocked on our door and told me about our parents and said him and Soda would have to go to a boy's home if I didn't take care of them. And I wouldn't give that up for nothing."

That night when he'd dropped her off at home had been the last time he'd seen her, and she hadn't tried to call since.

But he didn't want to think about Mary…not now, on the night when Pony had won his race and was unconsciously turning away girls left and right. Darry almost laughed out loud when one girl whispered to her friend, both of their eyes on Pony, blushing brightly when he gave them a hesitant smile like he was trying to remember if he knew them. It made sense. Him and Soda both were good looking, and Pony looked more like Sodapop than ever. He was different though…shy and quiet, while Soda seemed to soak up the attention he got from girls.

Pony seemed content talking to Sue on the phone every week and writing her letters.

Darry didn't ask about that either. Not that night. He just followed his brother back to the others, giving him a ride home in the truck while Soda and Alice headed out to dinner.

Pony kept winning his races. Kept getting A's and a few B's, and Darry did his level best not to tell him he needed to bring those up…that he could get straight A's if he just worked hard. Pony was working hard. He was doing good at his job and winning his races and getting good grades, and he was always on time for dinner and never missed his curfew. So Darry just patted him on the back when he brought him his tests, hating that he looked nervous.

"Good job, Pone. Let me know if you need any help."

He did. Sometimes Darry helped him with math or chemistry. A few times, Darry had to rub his eyes and do a double take when he found Pony sitting at the table with Two-Bit, the two of them working on assignments. He was less surprised when he caught Two-Bit copying Pony's math homework. But as long as their friend finally graduated, he guessed it didn't matter.

Ponyboy turned seventeen. One more year, Darry thought the morning of his brother's birthday. A Friday. A Friday where he had to work and Pony had school and then work after, so they'd barely see each other, but that didn't matter because they'd have a party the next day. One more year before he turned eighteen and was an adult and they didn't have to worry about anyone taking him away ever again.

He stepped out of his bedroom and found Pony standing at the stove, frying bacon for Darry's breakfast, and he wondered if this was how their parents had felt…this overwhelming pride and fear mingled together. Pony had gone through something so horrible that he'd worried his little brother would be broken forever, but now he was doing so good and working and getting good grades and when he made breakfast, he always made Darry and Soda's first. And that was such a silly thing to be proud of him for, but Darry went over and put an arm around him, closing his eyes as he hugged him hard and remembered how he'd been when he'd first come back from New York, and remembering how far he'd come since.

"Happy birthday, kiddo," he murmured, and Pony grinned up at him, reminding him of Soda and their parents but also just himself. Serious and quiet and funny. More easy going than he'd been a few years ago but still prone to freezing up at the strangest moments, mind going back to the things that had been done to him. Just a few days ago, they'd had pasta for dinner, and when Pony had been scraping his plate into the trash, he'd frozen, staring down at it until Darry had approached, careful not to startle him.

"Pone?"

"I used to dig old food out of the trash when I got real hungry…when they hadn't given us anything in a couple of days." Pony had told him, soft and detached, eyes far away. "We weren't allowed to get food out of the kitchen. She'd tell Richard if she caught us. Once I waited until they went to bed and ate burnt pasta out of the kitchen trash can." Pony had shuddered and Darry had taken the plate before he could drop it, putting a hand on his shoulder, and then his brother had looked up at him, so sad and bewildered he couldn't stand it. "Why would they do that? Why wouldn't they let us eat? They got money for taking care of us…" His voice had cracked and Darry had wrapped his arms around him, holding him close and ready to protect him from the monsters and the memories, only it was too late. It had already happened.

And he'd been so mad…so furious he could hardly stand it. Because Pony was right. They'd gotten money from the state to take care of his kid brother and they hadn't even let him eat. Darry hadn't answered straight away because he was sure that if he'd opened his mouth, he'd only be able to say how much he hated those people. How he'd kill Richard Norton if he ever saw that man in person.

He'd fucking kill him with his bare hands.

Instead, he'd smoothed his hair back, holding Pony until he'd started to pull away, shaking his head a little like he could shake off those memories. "I don't know, honey," he'd whispered, shaking his head. Because he didn't. He didn't know what had made those people so evil they'd beat his little brother and refuse to let him eat in their home anymore than he'd ever known what had made Johnny's parents the way they were, or Dal's. But nothing like that was ever supposed to touch his brother.

Pony had nodded, trying for a smile that looked normal as he'd run a hand over his eyes, casual like he didn't want Darry to know he'd been crying, and Darry had marveled at the fact that his brother had been able to talk about it like that.

Now he handed Darry his breakfast sandwich and got started on Soda's eggs, stirring them around the pan while Darry grabbed the grape jelly. Sodapop woke soon after, wishing Pony a happy birthday, the three of them eating breakfast in a sleepy silence. And Darry was grateful. He was grateful that his little brothers were both home and safe, and that they could all go weeks now without fighting, and even when they did, it was never too bad. He was grateful that Pony had gotten a job and insisted on giving him most of the money he earned, because as much as he hated the fact that his brothers had both started working so young to help with bills, he also knew that that extra money gave them some breathing room. And he was grateful that his brother was going to go to college and do study something he actually liked…and that he might get to do the same someday soon.

When he'd gotten custody of his brothers, something he hadn't hesitated for a second to do, Darry had worried a lot about Pony, especially when he'd started to withdraw from everyone, spending more and more time alone. He'd worried that his little brother would never be able to move on from the death of their parents. He'd worried about bills and keeping the house and Soda dropping out of school and deep in his heart, so deep he'd never even admit it to himself, sometimes he'd resented all of it. Pony for being so ungrateful and for fighting with him all the time. Soda for being so easygoing, seemingly unaffected by their troubles. The guys for coming around and eating their food and blasting the radio and never giving him a moment of peace. Even his parents for dying.

But it felt like he didn't have to worry so much anymore. They had just a little bit more than enough to get by. Sodapop was seeing a girl he really liked. Johnny and Steve both had gotten their own place and didn't have to worry about their parents beating on them anymore. Two-Bit had a job and was actually going to graduate from high school.

And Pony was finally, finally okay.

He hung out with the guys on his track team, although he didn't go to any more parties with them, and he talked to Sue on the phone or wrote her letters. He worked as much as he was allowed, saving up for college now, and spent time with Johnny and Two-Bit, and Dally too, once him and his girl broke it off again. He came home on time and when he did fight with Darry, it always blew over fast. Soda stopped looking so scared every time they had an argument, and even confided in Darry that Steve had asked if he wanted to move in…share that apartment. And he'd been thinking about it.

"I know we're doing better…I mean…I won't if you need my help with the money. I just…Pony might move in with Johnny after college and…" He'd shrugged, rubbing a hand over the back of his head. "You and Pony…you guys would be okay without me."

"We wouldn't be okay without you, Pepsi Cola," Darry had murmured, gripping his shoulder and smiling. "But we'd be okay if you wanted to move out."

"I ain't going to anytime soon. I just mean…maybe in a couple of years."

Darry got it. He wanted his brothers to have their own lives. To move out and spend time with their girls and friends, and he wanted to do the same. He knew he wanted to keep their parents' house, but he didn't know if he'd be able to on his own, even with Pony helping. But he'd do his best to make it work. If he couldn't, he'd sell it and they'd split the money and they would still be okay.

He had his family and that was all that mattered.

Thank you for reading!