Whut it is? Y'all knew that I was going to have another story up. Sorry. But once again, I'll be leaving. I'll do my best to get up as many chapters as I can. Alright. Here's the first place winner. Let's ride.

Staying Together

I don't own The Outsiders.

Chapter 1: Darry & Depression

It was morning at the Curtis house that night. It was 1:30 in the morning. Darry was sitting in the armchair reading the newspaper, Soda was stretched out on the couch asleep. But Ponyboy was sitting outside, reading Gone with the Wind. Darry took a glance at the door and made a deep sigh.

"Still out there?"

Soda's voice almost made him jump. Soda must have just been resting his eyes instead of sleeping.

"Yeah. He's been reading that book a lot lately. This is the third time he's read it."

"Man."

"You've been quiet yourself."

"I know."

"Still thinking about Sandy?"

"Yup. I want to mail her, but I don't want get too excited with that."

A tear slid down Soda's face. Darry reached over and ran his hand through Soda's hair.

"Hey it'll be fine, Pepsi-Cola. Hey. Go ahead and get your shoes on. We'll be leaving in a minute."

Soda sat up and stretched a little. He walked towards his room scratching his back. Darry folded up his paper and stuck it in his back pocket. He walked outside to his baby-brother.

When Darry opened the door, Ponyboy didn't seem to notice the door opening. Darry shook his brother's shoulder. Pony seemed startled by Darry.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm fine."

"Hey. You can go ahead and get into the truck. Soda getting ready to go."

"Okay."

Darry watched Ponyboy walk and climb in the truck. He sighed. They were about to go out of town. Explore a little. Darry thought that it would do well to his brothers. They lost Dally, Johnny, and Soda lost Sandy also.

It was hard getting this trip ready. Darry had saved up a lot of money for a long time. He also had to hide it. It wasn't that he didn't trust his brothers, but they sometimes didn't use their head and would use the money if there was an emergency. Darry also had to get some time off him and Soda's job. He had to negotiate with his jobs to find some time off. Good thing it wouldn't take off their salary. The bosses were worried about Darry anyway. With what had just happened, it wasn't easy to say no. Darry also had to convince Two-Bit and Steve that it was a family trip. Not an easy task either.

Darry leaned against the house and waited for Sodapop to come out. Soda finally exited the house and walked towards the house. Darry walked up to the door and locked it up. He turned around and walked towards the Ford truck. He got into the drivers seat.

"Ready?" he asked to Soda.

Soda was half asleep and mumbed,

"Yeah."

Darry looked at Ponyboy. He was in the back, looking out of the window. He gave a slight nod. Darry hoped this trip would put some excitement in them again.

He started up the engine and drove off.