When I got home that afternoon, Darry was still at work, but Pony was there, and the two of us had the house to ourselves. He was sitting in the living room doing homework, and I plopped down in front of him, stretching my legs across the couch and his work.

"Soda," he complained with irritation in his voice. I didn't say a word. I just watched as he suddenly remembered what Darry had told him about Steve (and probably also about me), and he put his work down. His voice was much softer when he asked, "How are you?"

I sighed, shrugged and pushed myself further down onto the couch. Slinging my arm across my eyes, I said, "Steve came to work today."

"He did WHAT?" I could hear the shock in his Pony's voice, and I couldn't blame him. I felt the same way when I first walked into the DX. But then I'd understood, and I tried to explain it to Pony.

"He needed to pretend things were still normal. Remember doing that? When we would just get up and eat breakfast and go to school that whole week even when all we really wanted to do was stay in bed? Like if we pretended things were still the same, maybe they actually would be?"

Pony didn't answer, and I pulled my arm away from eyes to look at him. He was staring at me really seriously, and he said, "You've been thinking a lot about Mom and Dad today." It wasn't a question because if anyone can see right through me, it's my younger brother. I nodded and glanced sideways at the television, which unfortunately, was not on.

"Yeah," I said quickly. I didn't change the subject, but I didn't say anything else either, so after a little while, Pony asked "So how was Steve?"

I sighed and shrugged again. "It's complicated with him, you know? He was so upset and mad at his dad last night, and he would have been happy to never go back home. But then when he was at work with me today, this guy drove up in the car Steve's dad used to have, and he just lost it. I don't know what he's going to do."

Pony was staring at me. "Wait a second, Soda… Steve… Steve Randle LOST it? You mean…?" He trailed off, and I just looked at him. I didn't have to answer him for him to understand what had happened, and his eyes widened. "Whoah," he mumbled under his breath.

"Pony, listen," I said quietly. "This is going to be harder for Steve than it was for us. I mean at least we knew Mom and Dad loved us. We didn't have to wonder about any of that, so we could just miss them. Steve has a whole lot to wonder about and figure out, and on top of all of that, he needs to realize that it's ok to miss him. So we're ALL going to need to just be there for whatever he needs, ok?"

Pony rolled his eyes. "Of course, Soda. I know that. I'm not a baby. Steve and I may not always be best buddies, but you know I'd do anything for him if he really needed it."

"Well, good," I said. Under my breath, I added, "Because he's really going to need all of us a whole lot." I didn't know if Pony would hear that, but he obviously had because he nodded at me.

"Yeah," he said, and from the look of sadness that crossed his face, I knew he was remembering Mom and Dad too. "I remember."