-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-

Darry whacked his alarm clock without batting an eye.

-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-

"Man, I'm tired," he looked over at the clock, which he had almost crushed effortlessly. Seven thirty. Half an hour to make breakfast for himself and Ponyboy, and get ready for work. Hmmm, it was Thursday. That meant he could get off work early today.

Darry pulled on some jeans and headed towards Ponyboy's room. He smacked the door. "Pony, get up. You got an hour before school starts." No reply. "Pony, I'm serious, get up." He climbed down the stairs, and headed straight towards the kitchen. But something had caught his eye in the living room.

Slowly, he walked back. It was probably Two-Bit or Steve asleep on the couch. He rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes, and entered the living room.

Darry stood there for about 10 seconds, mouth wide open, in shock. For weeks and weeks, he had this nagging feeling in the back of his mind that Soda was dead. So many parties were being thrown because someone's big brother, or best friend had arrived home safe and sound. But there was no sign of Soda. Of course Darry hadn't given up hope completely, but he was almost sure Soda wouldn't be coming back, and was expecting a letter in the mail any day confirming he was dead. Even thinking about it made his head spin.

And now, in front of his eyes, Soda was kneeling beside the couch next to Ponyboy, with his arms around him, fast asleep. Tears of joy and relief were starting to fall from his eyes. And finally, when he was dragged out of his thoughts, the reality of the situation hit him.

He ran towards Soda as fast as he could, slid on the ground, and hugged the daylights out of him. Soda's eyes opened suddenly, and when he realized what was happening, he hugged Darry back with just as much enthusiasm.

Soda faced his older brother, and when he saw that he had tears in his eyes, he began to cry too. This was only the second time that he had ever seen Darry cry.

"Come on Darry, don't cry. I'm home now," Soda whispered.

"Oh Soda, I thought we lost you. I was so scared, but I didn't have the heart to say anything to Pony. I mean, he was so hopeful. And now your home, all safe and sound, you don't know how scared I was, little buddy," Darry started, he wiped away the few tears running down his cheek. "Wow, you've lost weight. Come on; let's go get you some breakfast. Tell me all about everything. Some of the boys will probably be here soon anyway. What time did you get home?"

"Oh, around one or two, I don't remember, I'm really tired."

"Of course you are, look at everything you've been through. You can rest today, I'll go start breakfast, you wake Pony." Darry headed towards the kitchen with a little bit of a spring in his step.

Ponyboy stirred. He rolled over, and Soda remembered that Pony still didn't know he was home. Soda leaned over and touched his cheek. Slowly, Ponyboy opened his eyes.

"SODAPOP! You're home! I missed you so much! Is Darry awake? Let's go tell him you're home." Ponyboy grabbed Soda and pulled him into a hug, then he jumped out of bed, and started running towards Darry's room. "Darry, Darry! Soda's home!"

"Wait Pony! He knows! Darry's in the kitchen fixing breakfast," Soda exclaimed. Ponyboy ran back into the living room, and grabbed Soda's arm.

"Come on, let's go have breakfast, and you can tell me and Darry everything. Oh, I missed you so much Soda!"

"And you have no idea how much I've missed all of you guys Pony."

There was a sound of footsteps coming from outside, and someone came in the house. "Anybody home?" came Two-Bit's familiar voice.

"Yeah, what's for breakfast today, Darry?" Dallas Winston shouted.

"SODA'S HOME!" yelled Ponyboy.

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