The smell of bacon is what woke Sodapop. It made his stomach growl, but as soon as he opened his eyes, the light sent an ache through his face. Soda knew he would regret drinking. It helped him get through the emotions, for now. He didn't drink often enough to not go through the painful hangover though.

"Oh no," Soda groaned.

"Well good morning," Steve greeted as he folded the newspaper and tossed it onto the coffee table, "Was wondering if you'd get up today."

Soda barely opened his eyes as he looked over at Steve, realizing he was on the couch and not in his bed, "What is going on?"

"That's called a hangover," Steve shook his head, "Two-Bit said you'd be hurting today."

Soda grabbed the blanket and pulled it over his head to hide from the world. The last thing he wanted right now was to socialize with his brother or friends. To him, they were against him and were only going to hurt him with their plans.

"Sleeping beauty is up?" Two-Bit asked as he came from the kitchen.

"Oh yes," Steve answered, "He'll be suffering today."

"Eat some bacon, drink some coffee," Two-Bit said as he nudged Soda's leg.

"Leave me alone," Soda said.

Darry was next to enter the living room, "Guys, go grab some food. I've got to head out and get to work."

"Alright, thanks for the food," Steve got up from his seat, "Good luck today."

"Thanks. Soda, go eat something please," Darry said, "I'll be home later." Soda didn't answer as he stayed under the blanket. "Bye Soda." No answer. Steve and Two-Bit nodded at Darry to go ahead.

"Are you coming out of there?" Steve asked.

"I'm really not in the mood to be around any of you," Soda mumbled.

Steve shook his head as he sat next to Soda, "Come on Soda. Let's hang out today. Just you, me and Two-Bit. We can have fun like we always do."

Soda tossed the blanket off and sat up, immediately regretting it as he grabbed his head, "How...oh, ow." Soda took a deep breath to settle his turning stomach as he continued. "How can we have fun? You guys are against me."

"What are you talking about Soda?" Two-Bit asked with a plate full of food in his hands.

"You guys are helping Darry with the house even though I'm completely against it. I'm not leaving," Soda argued as he returned to under the blanket.

Steve sighed, "Soda, I know..."

"No you don't. I think you guys should just leave."

"Soda..." Steve began.

"No I'm serious. I don't want you guys here." Steve just sat on the couch dumbfounded. He didn't expect Soda to feel better, but he thought he'd want to at least talk about it or still hang out. He just looked down at the figure that was still underneath the blanket, waiting for Soda to change his mind. "Please guys. Just go."

"Soda, don't do this."

"Come on Steve," Two-Bit grabbed Steve's arm, helping him to his feet, "Soda doesn't have hangovers often so we better leave him be today."

"You know he's going to hate us for awhile," Two-Bit said. The two boys stood outside the Curtis house. They leaned against Steve's car while deciding what to do.

"I know," Steve said, "Doesn't mean I'm going to be okay with it or can just ignore it."

"I know it won't be easy, but we have to do this for Darry. Soda just doesn't realize what it could do for him and Darry yet. Selling a house doesn't erase memories like Soda says.

"It's going to be a long process of fixing up the house with Soda."

"I know. I think in the long run, it will be worth it. Besides, Darry has extra money coming in with that promotion. Soda can't expect him to not take advantage of that."

"I guess you're right," Steve said, "Soda couldn't expect Darry to live here forever."

"It's just ugly timing. We'll leave Soda alone for the day."

Steve shook his head, "I'd worry about leaving him alone, but with that hangover he has, I'm not worried about him getting into any trouble."

"Are your pills still there?"

"Yeah, but I think I hid them fine. And like I said, I doubt Soda will move from the couch much today."

"You're probably right. So now what do we do today? We kind of got kicked out, and not by Darry this time."

Steve laughed, "Want to go race?"

"It's only noon," Two-Bit laughed, "There ain't going to be anyone at any tracks."

"So? I feel like I haven't raced in forever. Me and you can race. Come on man. Let's go blow off some steam."

Two-Bit pointed to himself, "Me? Are you, Steve Randle, begging to hang out with me?"

"Shut up," Steve rolled his eyes, "Are you in or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I got nothing better to do."

"Hello Darry." It was Jake Collins, Darry's boss.

"Hi Mr. Collins," Darry greeted as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"How is it going? Glad to be back?"

"It is nice to get back into things. A nice little distraction."

"Yeah," Jake nodded, "How are things at home?"

"They're...alright. Hanging in there."

"I know. I'm glad you came back though. We did miss you."

"Thank you sir, glad to hear that."

"If you decide you need some more time off though, just let me know," Jake said.

Darry nodded, "I'm hoping I won't, but I appreciate it."

"I'll take advantage of you being here today though. The owner of this house is here and wants to meet those who are running the project, so if you're up for it?"

"Oh yes, of course. That's a different task for me now, huh? I'll have to get use to having more responsibility with the new title and all."

Jake grinned, "I know you'll do great Darry. She's just meeting Tyler, I'll bring her around in a minute."

"Okay, sounds good sir." Darry grabbed a towel from his truck and did a quick cleaning of himself.

"Darry, this is Janie Davis." Darry turned from his truck and saw a woman standing next to Jake. She wasn't a woman he was expecting though. He thought she'd be someone older to own a house and get the entire thing fixed up. That wasn't the case though. She looked closer to Darry's age. She had long black hair, piercing green eyes, and the warmest smile. "Ms. Davis, this is Darry Curtis. He'll be alongside Tyler supervising the exterior projects of the house. He has plenty of knowledge though for the interior as well."

"Hi Darry," Janie greeted as she extended her hand.

"Hello Ms. Davis, it's nice to meet you," Darry grabbed her hand firmly and shook it.

"Oh please call me Janie."

"Okay," Darry grinned, "It's nice to meet you Janie."

"Same here," Janie smiled, "I'm sorry to walk in on everything, I promise I'm not a bitch about things, I just like to know what's going on."

"Oh no, of course," Darry nodded, "A lot is happening here."

"It's all in great hands," Jake added in, "You can stop by anytime to check up or let us know if there's anything you need."

Janie smiled as she glanced at Darry, "I think I will be."

Two-Bit stepped out of his car, loudly laughing. "Oh my God, I think we almost died."

Steve stepped out of his car as well, barely containing his own laughter, "When there's no one else around, it's easier to get a little out of control."

"You mean it's easier to get out of control when you've been going through a lot and need to let shit out," Two-Bit commented.

"That too," Steve climbed up and sat on the hood of his car. He pulled out a cigarette and lit up. "This is nice."

"Do you think we should go check on Soda soon?" Two-Bit asked.

"He probably went back to sleep," Steve shook his head.

"You just don't want to go back there. You're having too much fun," Two-Bit smirked.

"Yes," Steve agreed.

"We should at least go check up when Darry gets home. We can always come back out for a night of fun. Maybe Soda will join us this time."

"Yeah, maybe. Even if he doesn't, we'll go find some action."

Soda sat in the backyard with a cigarette between his lips. He was hoping it would help his headache. He ate a little bit of food and was sipping coffee. It had been helping a little bit, but it wasn't helping his mood. He didn't feel bad about telling his friends to leave. He really didn't feel like being around people.

Tossing his cigarette, Soda felt tears threaten to come down his face. He looked up towards the sky. "I miss you Ponyboy. I know you'd be mad at Darry for this too. Don't worry though. I won't let Darry get rid of the house."

"How was the first day back?" Steve asked as he watched Darry prepare dinner.

"Great," Darry said. Steve looked up as he noticed his voice was rather chipper.

"It went that good huh?" Steve asked, waiting for Darry to elaborate.

"Oh yeah. It was nice to get back out there, you know?"

Steve nodded, "Mhmm, did anything else happen?"

"Uh no, why?"

"You seem very, very pleased with your day. Just curious."

Darry turned and asked in a low voice, "Did Soda come downstairs yet?"

Steve glanced into the living room, "No. Why?"

"I don't know," Darry shrugged, "Just seems bad timing to be excited about work I guess. This new job is partially why we can move."

"Yeah. So what is it then?"

Darry was about to attempt to argue nothing special happened that day, but he couldn't help but let a smile cross his face.

"Man, it must be good. What happened today?"

"Well, I...kind of met someone."

"You mean a girl?" Steve asked quietly.

"Kind of."

"What do you mean kind of? She's kind of a girl?" Steve smirked.

"No you idiot," Darry shoved Steve, "She owns the house we're working on and she came to meet all of us who are head of the projects going on. I don't know she just...caught my eye. She was so pretty."

"Did you talk to her?"

"I really only just met her, that was it. But when my boss told her to come by anytime to check on things, she made a comment that she would be."

"Oh yeah?" Steve grinned, "You going to ask her out?"

"Oh stop," Darry shook his head, "She's basically employed me to do work for her."

"But you're making it sound like she's flirting or at least is showing a little bit of interest."

"I guess, maybe."

"So..." Steve raised his eyebrows.

"Like I said, we barely talked. She just caught my eye is all. It's not like I looked decent anyway. I was dirty and sweaty."

"Well then you're doomed, because your personality could use some work," Steve said as he busted out laughing.

"Who invited you here?" Darry shook his head.

"You," Steve continued laughing, "Oh I wish Two-Bit had stayed for dinner."

"Makes one of us. Just don't tell Soda, alright? It's not a good time, you know?"

"I won't," Steve promised, "I understand. Man, Darry Curtis getting a girl though. You could use that."

Darry grinned, "It'd be a decent change."

"Just don't wait too long. Jump on it before Two-Bit gets a hold of her," Steve smirked.

"She ain't blonde, so I may not have to keep him away."

"Well, whatever happens, I'm glad you had a good first day back. I'm wishing the best for you."

"Thanks Steve."

"No problem," Steve grabbed a few plates, "Well, are we just about ready?"

"Yeah, can you go get Soda and..." Darry stopped himself, and swallowed the name that almost flowed out. He hadn't realized how much meeting Janie had distracted him from reality. "Can you get Soda?"

Steve patted Darry on the back, "Yeah I'll drag him down."

Darry was still. He stood there, with the pot in his grip, frozen from setting it down on the table. "It just isn't the same without you buddy."

It was a quiet dinner. Steve wanted to ask Darry more about work, but he knew this wasn't the time to bring it up in front of Soda. Darry wanted to talk to Soda, but didn't want to turn into an argument over the house.

"Two-Bit and me are thinking of going out tonight. Do you want to come with us?" Steve asked his best friend.

He was expecting a hard no, but was surprised to hear Soda respond, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. Might go race, might go into town and see what everyone's doing. We just haven't done much in awhile, so we're just going to have some fun."

Soda shrugged, "Sure."

"Good," Steve responded, "It'll be good for you."

"I'd prefer you don't get drunk like last night," Darry added in.

"Okay," Soda simply said.

"We'll keep an eye on him," Steve assured the oldest greaser.

The three greasers ended up at the tracks. Steve wanted to get some more racing in, and Soda didn't seem to care what they did. Soda didn't race, he just watched everyone. He started getting into it a little bit as he felt the excitement begin to go through him.

"Glad you came out with us Soda," Two-Bit said. Steve had just finished a race and they were waiting for him to rejoin them.

"I'm kind of glad too," Soda replied, "Especially without the beer."

Two-Bit let out a small laugh, "Yeah, you're not one to down those."

"No, I'm not. It was nice at the time, but not this morning."

"Hey Soda," Two-Bit nudged his friend, "Don't be so hard on Steve, alright? Or Darry. I know you don't like what's going on, but just try to understand, okay?"

Soda shrugged, "Sure."

"I'm not trying to ruin tonight, just don't give them such a hard time. You don't have to pretend to be happy about it."

"Don't worry, I won't."

Two-Bit didn't say anything else. He didn't want to start a rough conversation. He just stayed quiet until Steve walked back over.

"That was a good one," Two-Bit said.

"It was," Steve agreed, "Time for a little break. Now I just want to watch for awhile."

The three greasers continued making small talk until someone approached them.

"Hey Soda." It was DJ. He was another greaser the gang would see from time to time. He was a good kid.

"Hi DJ," Soda said, "How've you been?"

"Good, hey Steve. Hey Two-Bit."

"What's been going on with you DJ?" Two-Bit asked, "Haven't seen you in awhile."

"Just been around. I just came to extend my condolences Soda. I am so sorry for what happened."

"Oh thanks," Soda looked down.

"I know it's not easy to talk about. I just wanted to take my opportunity to come tell you."

"I appreciate it," Soda nodded, "I really do. Thank you."

"I can't imagine what Darry's gone through. He must be putting himself through some guilt," DJ shook his head.

"Guilt for what?" Soda asked.

"Well with it being a car accident you guys were involved in."

"What are you saying?"

DJ looked uncomfortable, unsure what Soda was getting at, "Just that Darry got in the accident. He must thinks it's his fault or something even though it was just that, an accident."

"Darry didn't get us in the accident," Soda firmly said.

"I'm not saying that he did it on purpose," DJ looked at Steve and Two-Bit for help.

"Soda," Steve placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"Is that what people are saying?" Soda brushed Steve away, "It was Darry. Well it wasn't. You can go back to whoever told you that story and tell them it was me."

"Soda, hold on," Two-Bit began walking between Soda and DJ.

"I was driving."

Steve grabbed Soda by both shoulders this time and tried pulling him away, "Soda stop."

"I drove. I caused the accident. You can tell everyone to leave Darry out of it, because he did nothing!" Soda barked.

"I'm so sorry," DJ said, unsure of what else to say..

"You didn't do anything," Two-Bit assured the greaser, "Just go, we'll take care of him."

"Darry didn't do anything. I killed Ponyboy!" Soda yelled.