"Why didn't you tell me?"

Darry and Steve were now in Darry's bedroom. Steve was relaying the incident that was haunting his head everyday. He was worried how Darry would react, but he couldn't blame him for getting mad. Soda should be getting deeper help for this, and all Steve was doing was ignoring it. Now that was biting him in the ass.

"Steve, why didn't you tell me right away?" Darry asked as he paced his bedroom.

"You were still in the hospital," Steve wiped his eyes, sitting on Darry's bed, "You were still healing and then Pony...that had just happened. I...was just going to handle it myself."

"And now look where it got you," Darry said, shaking his head.

Steve looked up at the older greaser, "I know you're...very disappointed in me, and..."

"I just wish you would have told me. I need to know these things, regardless what all I'm going through. I would have handled this moving thing a lot differently if I knew I'd have to keep an eye on him."

"I'm sorry Darry," Steve sighed, "If it's any consolation, I've been tortured by all of this. I can barely take my sleeping pills, I can barely function. I-I...I have nightmares."

"Steve, you don't deserve to deal with that," Darry shook his head, "So, that's why you had stopped taking your pills? That's why you ended up in the hospital?"

Steve slowly nodded, "I kept seeing him holding the bottle...I felt sick, I panicked every time I tried taking one. I-I just couldn't. After the hospital though, Two-Bit knew what had happened with Soda, so he was helping me keep track of my pills."

"Damn, Two-Bit saw all of that too?"

"Yeah...he saw me and Soda fight over the bottle and the pills flew everywhere. It was the worst...I couldn't believe what could have happened to him. It was Two-Bit who saved him, honestly. I wouldn't have left the hospital to check on Soda if Two-Bit hadn't brought it to my attention the way Soda said things."

"Thank God, "Darry said quietly, "Has...Soda given you any other reason to be concerned? Any reasons to think he'd try this again?"

"I mean, I'll be worried regardless, but no. He hasn't asked where my pills are, and he hasn't said anything about his attempt. It's honestly like it never happened to him."

"That's not healthy to just act like it didn't happen."

"I know."

Darry thought to himself for a minute, "Well...originally, I asked Soda if he thought maybe you could go home now. Things seem to be going okay, I thought I could handle things just fine now. I can't ask you to stay here forever, but now I'm...not so sure."

"Darry, I'll stay around as long as you need. If you want extra eyes around here, I'll be here."

"Thanks Steve. You've been a big help, and I'll never be able to show you how much I appreciate it. As far as Soda though, I don't even know how to handle this. Should I talk to Soda about it? Should I bring it up and see what he says? Or..."

"Honestly Darry, I have no idea. He hasn't said anything about it, so I don't want to bring it up. I don't want to give him ideas."

Darry nodded, "I wouldn't want to either. Maybe I can talk to his therapist and get advice on it. For now though, we should try and get back to sleep."

"Yeah," Steve got up and headed for Darry's bedroom door, "I'm sorry again Darry. I really wasn't trying to hide it for any bad reason."

"It's okay Steve. I understand. Good night."

"Night."

Steve began walking past the bedroom and heading for the stairs.

"Hey." Steve turned and saw Soda coming out of the room. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just going to get some water and I'll be back up," Steve said.

"Okay. Are you sure?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay buddy. Get back in bed, I'll be in soon."

"Okay," Soda walked back in the room, closing the door. Steve went downstairs. He stopped in the living room, unsure what he wanted to do. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, at least not by himself. Even if he managed to go back to sleep, he really didn't want to have another nightmare like that. He was scared to go back to sleep and experience that again. He figured he had two options. One of them was to just stay up the rest of the night, which wouldn't be that difficult. The other option isn't one Steve would normally consider, but he was desperate to take some control over his dreams, or at least remembering them. Steve retrieved his pills, and poured two of them in his hands.

Steve hadn't even realized he fell back asleep. He took the two pills, sat on the couch to watch TV, and passed out. He only awoke when he felt someone shaking him.

"Steve, rise and shine."

Steve opened his eyes and saw Dally standing above him.

"Hey Dal," Steve sat up, "What time is it?"

"It's 1 in the afternoon you lazy bum."

"What!" Steve got to his feet, "Where is everyone?"

"I'm assuming Darry and Soda are at work," Dally said, "I just got here to see if anyone was here and you were just out."

"Gees, I didn't hear either of them get up. I didn't hear you walk in."

"You probably needed that sleep."

"I did, and now I'm starving," Steve said as he headed for the kitchen. He was shocked. Those pills knocked him right out. Darry and Soda must have noticed him fast asleep on the couch, but didn't want to disturb him for breakfast. Steve tried to promise himself that'd be the only time he'd take 2 pills like that. He knew it couldn't be safe.

"Do you and Two-Bit want to go do something tonight?" Dally asked, "Maybe Soda if he's up for it?"

"Sure. Soda wanted to do something last night and I wasn't able to, so I'll see if he wants to go racing tonight."

As Steve began cutting himself a slide of cake, there was a knock at the door. It made the two greasers on edge as anyone would know to just walk in the Curtis house.

"I wonder who that could be," Steve commented.

"Could it be the state?" Dally asked.

"No way," Steve shook his head. He walked across the living room and pulled open the door.

Darry was walking around the house checking up on everything. He was beginning to feel a little down about the project getting finished up, at least his part. He was hoping Janie would want to continue their relationship once he was done working on her house. It seemed like a ridiculous worry, but he couldn't help to wonder.

After he was finished checking up on some things, Darry stepped outside. He looked up and saw Steve parked across the street. He walked across the street and saw Dally in the passenger seat.

"Hey Steve, glad to see you finally woke up," Darry said leaning against the driver's door, "Soda and I couldn't get you to move a muscle."

"It took me about ten minutes to get him to wake up," Dally commented.

"I'm surprised I even fell asleep," Steve said. "Are you on a lunch break?"

"I will be in about twenty minutes. Why? What's going?"

"Someone came by the house," Steve said, "We'll explain it all at lunch."

Steve wasn't sure if he wanted to be at the house when Darry broke the news to Soda, so he agreed to go out with Two-Bit and Dally for the evening.

"So when do we get to meet this new girl?" Two-Bit asked, "I got to meet Darry's already."

"That was by accident."

"No it wasn't," Two-Bit laughed, "We went there with some other intentions and she just happened to be there by some weird, lucky coincidence."

Steve rolled his eyes with a laugh, "Yeah apparently."

"So..."

"Steve has a new girl?" Dally chimed in.

"Maybe," Steve answered.

"Yes he does," Two-Bit nudged at Steve, "Look how gazed he is about her. He really likes her."

"Oh man," Dally smiled, "How cute."

"Shut up," Steve shook his head, feeling his own face turn red.

"So? When can we meet her?" Two-Bit asked.

"I'm sure I'll bring her by soon. Can't let you scare her off that quick."

"Me? Scare people away? I don't see how."

"I know you wouldn't," Steve said, "What do you guys want to do?"

"I'm going barrel racing," Dally said, "You guys coming to watch?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The three greasers drove to the stables. Two-Bit and Steve watched Dally ride the horses Buck had ready for him.

"How have you been sleeping?" Two-Bit asked.

"Good. Taking the pills suck, but then I usually pass out," Steve said, "Last night I woke up though."

"Why?"

"I had a nightmare," Steve admitted, "I had to tell Darry about what Soda did, or almost did, with my pills."

Darry was sitting at the kitchen table. He was getting his courage up to tell Soda what Steve and Dally told him. "H-Hey Soda," he managed to get pass his lips, "Come sit down."

Soda got up from the couch and joined Darry in the kitchen. "Yeah Darry?"

"So, while we were at work, someone came by the house," Darry began, tapping his feet, "Steve told me someone wants to buy the house."

"Oh..." Soda slightly sank in his seat.

Darry sighed, "So it's sold. The house...it's officially sold."

"Okay..."

"How are you feeling hearing that?" Darry asked, keeping in mind everything Steve told him last night. He was struggling to come to terms with all of that. He was imagining how he had been in his hospital bed while his little brother was here, in the house, trying to end everything. As if he needed any other reason, that was the cherry on top for Darry to get out.

"I'm...angry, I'll admit that, but I'm trying to keep understanding it. So, I don't want to yell, I don't want to fight. Just know, I'm trying, but I am angry."

Darry watched as tears came into his little brother's eyes, "That's okay Soda. You can feel mad about it. I'm here, Steve is here, everyone is here to help you through it all. We love you."

"How did Darry take it?" Two-Bit asked.

"Better than I would have thought," Steve shrugged, "I was expecting to get yelled at or even hit, but..it went okay. We're going to get things figured out."

"Then what? Were you up all night after that?"

Steve thought about how he had taken two pills after the nightmare. He was desperate to not relive that nightmare. It wasn't the smartest technique, Steve knew that, but he didn't know what else to do. If he stayed up all night, he risked falling asleep without meaning to and having another nightmare. The only positive thing was that was the easiest he had taken the pills.

"Yeah I was," Steve lied.

"Damn, that sucks."

"It was fine. Thanks to you I've been pretty caught up on sleep lately, so it wasn't much of a loss," Steve said, shoving into his pocket and grabbing a cigarette.

The three greasers returned to the Curtis house late. "Hey guys," Darry greeted. He was by himself on the couch.

"Where's Soda?" Steve asked.

"He's upstairs."

"Is it safe to go up there?"

"Yeah, I think he's okay," Darry said, "Go on up."

Steve walked upstairs and entered the bedroom. "Hey buddy."

Soda was laying in the bed, turned away from the door.

"So...Darry talked to you about who came by?" Steve asked, still standing at the doorway, "I'm taking a guess that he went ahead and sold the house." Soda stayed silent as Steve walked around the bed, and sat next to his best friend. He could see tears sliding down his face, but he wasn't really crying. Steve didn't say anything else as he leaned over and hugged Soda. He knew he couldn't say anything to fix Soda's feelings. All he could do was hug him and let him know he was there.

That's when the crying began. Steve felt Soda's shoulders begin to shake as he took quivering breaths.

"It's going to be okay buddy," Steve soothed, "I know you'll miss it here, but you guys will get to buy a much nicer house. It's going to be okay."

"I'm trying to understand Steve," Soda cried, "It's just too hard."