-12 years after the book-10 years after Soda's death in Vietnam-
The young man stood at the front door for a long time. Clammy hands seemed to keep him from raising a fist to knock. He couldn't believe he had driven all the way to the house. He wasn't even sure it was the right house. It was all based on what information he had gotten from other people. Most of those sentences started with "The last I heard..." or "So-and-so told me..." It was a far-fetched call on his part, but his emotions were on high and he was desperate. He was beginning to think he really was crazy, but he couldn't just turn around without finding out for sure. He was there now, so he might as well do what he planned.
There was a gentle knock on the door. The owner of the house wasn't even sure if he had heard it, but got up to check anyway. He shoved the cigarette in the ashtray, put on his glasses, and walked to the door. Flipping on the porch light, the man opened the door slowly. He looked through the open crack and saw the man standing there with dark brown hair and light facial hair. Realization came over him as he began recognizing him, opening the door further.
His mouth hung open, "...Ponyboy?"
"I must have the right house then," Ponyboy softly said, "It's nice to see you again Steve." The first thing Pony noticed was the complicated swirls were gone.
Steve just stared at the man from his childhood. "Wha-What are you doing here?"
"I..." Pony shrugged, "don't really know to be honest with you. Can I come in?"
Steve felt himself still in deep shock as he stepped aside, "Sure."
"Thanks," Pony stepped inside, removing his shoes.
"Do you want a Pepsi or..." Steve stopped, "Wow, sheesh kid you've got to be what? Twenty-four or twenty-five now? I can offer you a beer now."
"Twenty-six," Pony corrected.
Steve shook his head in disbelief, "Well would you like a beer?"
"Sure I'll have one," Pony said taking a look around the small house. He could tell Steve wasn't married. It wasn't messy, but it wasn't organized either. The living room had a couple armchairs, a table in between them, and a TV. "Thanks," Pony said as he took a sip out of the bottle. The duo stayed in the kitchen, waiting for a conversation to start.
"You drive all the way from Tulsa?" Steve asked as he poured alcohol in a glass, a carton of juice sitting off to the side to be added to it.
Ponyboy nodded, "Yep. Six hour drive. You made sure you got away from there, huh?"
"I had to," Steve said softly as he turned away, pretending he was looking for something on the counter.
"It wasn't easy for me either Steve. To lose Soda like that." Ponyboy hadn't realized he would have been so abrupt about it, but it just spilled right out.
"You didn't see it up close," Steve said quietly, not wanting flashbacks of Vietnam to return to him. He had worked so hard to keep them away. Turning back around to face Pony, Steve changed the subject, "I heard about Darry. I'm so sorry."
Pony kept the tears pushed back. He had gotten better at not being a bawl baby since Soda died. "Thank you Steve. I thought I'd have to tell you. How did you hear?"
"Two-Bit and me still talk from time to time. He called me a couple weeks ago, thinking I'd want to know."
Pony smiled, "I haven't talked to Two-Bit in years. He must have heard from his mom or someone else from Tulsa."
"Was he married? Kids?"
"No," Pony shook his head, "He was engaged. He proposed, and shortly after he started not feeling well. Then we found out he got sick..."
"It was cancer, right?" Steve asked quietly.
"Pancreatic. It happened so fast. He went through treatments, but...yeah," Pony let out a breath.
"I'm sorry Ponyboy, I really am," Steve said. He grabbed a cigarette and held out his pack.
"No thanks," Pony said, "I quit a long time ago."
"Wish I could," Steve said as he lit up.
"When did you get the glasses?" Pony asked.
"A few years ago. Just getting old," Steve smirked.
"Makes you look smarter," Pony chuckled.
"Thanks kid" Steve shook his head, his heartstrings being tugged slightly at the way the sentence flowed from his lips. He hadn't said it in so long.
Pony shrugged, "I'm just pulling your leg. You've always been really smart."
"Thanks."
"What do you do now?" Pony asked.
"Own a garage," Steve said.
Pony couldn't help but let a big smile cross his face, "That seems too obvious."
"It's true," Steve said as he blew out some smoke, "After I finally broke down and left town, I was homeless and getting into some bad shit. Finally woke up one day, in an alley, without a shirt or my wallet. I had to change. So, I got a job and went to school and now I'm here."
"Good for you," Pony said.
"When did Two-Bit leave town anyway?" Steve asked, "I hadn't heard from any of you for...I don't know four or five years, and then Two-Bit contacted me, saying he wanted to catch up. We've been exchanging phone calls ever since."
"Yeah," Pony sighed, "He left a couple years after you did. Darry and I were just having a rough time getting over Soda still. Two-Bit tried to hang around us and help out, but we just kind of pushed him away. We stopped seeing him, talking to him. So, he just eventually moved on with his life. I don't blame him."
Steve took in the story Pony just told him. He had never tried asking Two-Bit about the last time he had seen Darry or Pony, or about him leaving Tulsa. "He's married now."
"Two-Bit?" Pony asked in shock.
Steve smiled and nodded, "And a daughter."
"Wow. Out of all us..."
"I know," Steve chuckled.
"Well since you've kept in touch with him the past five years, you must have seen him and his wife or daughter?"
"Not once," Steve shrugged.
"Are you serious?"
Steve nodded, "He talks about going out for drinks but we never do. I don't know, maybe it's me, not wanting to revisit the childhood."
"You let me in pretty easily," Pony pointed out.
"I guess I did," Steve took a sip of his drink, "What do you do now?"
"I'm a guidance counselor at the high school," Pony said.
"Wow, handling little greasers huh?" Steve asked.
Pony shrugged, "Greasers and Socs aren't much of a thing anymore Steve."
"Oh," Steve pushed the butt into the ashtray, "Must be nice."
"The DX got bought out too, and became some international chain instead," Pony said.
Steve looked up in shock, "Really? I didn't know that..."
"To be honest Steve, it just wasn't the same without you and Soda. Especially you. No one else knew how to fix everyone's cars," Pony said.
"I just didn't have a purpose in Tulsa anymore," Steve said running a hand through his non-greased hair, "Not after Soda was gone."
Pony felt a jab in his chest at that statement. Steve had no idea how wrong he was. "You want to know something?"
"Sure," Steve answered.
Pony prepared himself for his next statement. This was the reason he had come to find Steve. There had been something bothering Pony ever since he had left. He had gotten over it some, but then after Darry passed away, it all came boiling over again.
"You did have a purpose Steve. I mean, you had plenty of purpose. You're being stupid if you didn't think so."
"Look kid, don't get all..."
"No!" Pony interrupted suddenly angry, "I'm talking. I have something to say, and you are going to listen."
Steve placed his drink onto the counter and looked at Pony, waiting for him to continue.
"After Soda's funeral you barely came over. You'd try, but you couldn't handle seeing the pictures or reliving the memories, so you'd leave. You'd talk to me at school or hang out with me and Two-Bit at the drag race track, but that was it. I didn't blame you for all that, I just figured giving you some space would help. That's how you've always been. You didn't talk your emotions or thoughts out, you needed space. But then you took off. A year after Soda's death, you just left town without a word. We tried to do something for Soda's one year, and you didn't show up. No one had heard from you and we had no idea where you were for days. We honestly thought you killed yourself or something, but we couldn't get into your house to find out until your dad finally returned from some drunken trip he took. But when you weren't in the house, we all knew," Pony went on, "Our suspicions were answered and we knew you were gone and that was that."
Steve couldn't look at Ponyboy. He turned around and faced the wall as he responded through choked tears, "How does that make me have a purpose?"
"You broke me Steve," Pony said quietly, "You were the one person who had some sort of Soda still in you. You made it seem like Soda was still around in some way. I may not have talked much to you or anything, but you...I don't know why I'm telling you this anymore." Pony began taking steps to head for the front door.
"No what?" Steve asked still looking away, "What did I do? What the hell did I do?"
Pony turned back. He watched as Steve slowly looked at him. For that moment, Ponyboy saw the seventeen year old greaser who use to hang around his brother all the time. The greaser who could do anything with cars. The greaser who could make Soda laugh. The greaser who could fight off Socs with anything he could find on the ground. Pony saw the kid who could never please his dad. The kid who always got kicked out for the random reasons, and had to sleep on a couch multiple times a week. The kid who picked on him all the time, yet in a second would stand up for him against anyone. Because Steve Randle could mess with Ponyboy Curtis, but no one else could.
"You just gave me some comfort Steve," Pony said quietly, feeling the tears come to attack, "Soda was gone, but at least you were still there. You made me feel like Soda was still around in some way." Next to the seventeen year old greaser, Pony watched a memory form in front of his eyes. "Soda..." Pony whispered as Soda appeared next to Steve. It was a view Pony hadn't seen in a decade, and it tore him up. He dropped to his knees, leaned against the wall, and cried.
"I had at least something, because of you, and then you disappeared," Pony said, barely able to get a sentence out through the tears.
Looking down at the crying man in his house, Steve watched Pony shrink back down to the thirteen year old kid who had just found out his parents died. Sodapop sat next to him, holding him close, crying his own tears, and muffling out the words that they'd be okay. Steve was there for that, pacing inside the house trying to figure out how to fix everything. Sixteen year old Ponyboy, finding out his older brother died while at war. Steve never witnessed that, but could only imagine the horror scene that evolved from that. Then that day came...the day Steve returned home shortly after. He walked into the Curtis house and...
"You hugged me..." Steve said quietly. The memory seemed to have vanished, and Steve had completely forgotten about it, but it was flooding back now.
"Huh?" Pony asked looking up from the floor.
"When I got back from Vietnam, I walked in your house and the first thing you did was hug me."
Pony stood back up, wiping his eyes, "Of course I did. I was relieved you were home."
"You were?" Steve asked.
"At least someone came home," Pony let out a breath.
Steve let small tears fall, "I miss him...so bad."
Pony slowly nodded, "I do too. And I missed you too."
"Ponyboy," Steve drew in a sharp breath, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I left. I...felt so alone. I didn't think I had anyone else after Soda was gone. Obviously, that was stupid of me to believe."
"You've always had us Steve," Pony said, "I guess I'm here, because I truly don't have anyone else anymore. When I started thinking back to the last time I felt so happy and safe and like everything could be okay, it was you coming home from the war. You coming home and being okay. I guess that's why I'm here."
Without another word, Steve pulled Pony into a hug. Pony grabbed on tight and cried into Steve's shoulders. Steve couldn't believe how happy he was to see Ponyboy. He didn't realize how much he missed the gang until this night. He hadn't realized how much he was wanted or needed by someone.
"I'm sorry Pony. For everything," Steve whispered.
Pony pulled away, "I forgive you Steve. Maybe we can catch up some more tomorrow."
Steve thought for a minute, "Maybe I'll invite Two-Bit over too."
Just a one-shot I thought of typing up! Maybe it will expand, I don't know! Let me know what you think!