A/N: Hello readers! I swear I don't usually take so long to update, but I have moved so I've been super busy unpacking and getting the new house set up! I've gotten a ton done, and I'm ready to start typing more! Enjoy!
"Good morning Johnnycake," Two-Bit cheerfully greeted. He took a seat on the couch Johnny had slept on the previous night. Two-Bit had tried his best to continue being the upbeat greaser the long months that had passed. It had difficult moments as he missed having Soda and Pony around too, but seeing his friends and even Darry crack a smile every now and then was worth it.
"Morning," Johnny stretched as he sat himself up, "Thanks for letting me crash here again."
"Of course. You can come over whenever you want. You could even live here," Two-Bit smirked.
Johnny looked up at Two-Bit and couldn't help to smile, "I'll have to think about that one."
"That's what they all say," Two-Bit stood up from the couch.
"Are you that bored here that you just offer people to move in without asking your mom? How many people have you offered to live here?"
Two-Bit looked down at the small greaser with a jokingly serious look, "Just you."
Johnny chuckled, "I should have figured that."
"Well that's not completely true," Two-Bit laughed, "I offered Steve once, but I was very...very drunk. So drunk that when he said no, I may have shed a tear."
Johnny shook his head, "Speaking of him, have you heard from Steve lately?"
"Not really. It's probably been about a week since I saw him last."
"He's gotten more and more distant."
"He's been with Dally a lot. When Dally is with us though, he ends up staying home or something."
"He goes out with Sheppard or the Brumly Boys," Johnny commented, "You know that."
"I know. He just can't seem to handle all of us together when...them two aren't with us too," Two-Bit shook his head, "Well, breakfast is getting set out. Come eat!"
Steve let out a heavy groan as the sun threatened to peak through his blinds. It had been another night of heavy drinking and smoking, and his head was throbbing with a hammering pain. He felt sick, as he didn't care to be responsible with his drinking. He didn't keep track of eating or drinking enough water, so most mornings he felt sick and some of those mornings he was over the toilet. The nights were worth blocking his mind out of everything though, but the mornings made it regretful. He'd think to himself that he needed a healthier way to cope with Soda being gone, but as the days went on, he'd feel the depression and anxiety rise again and knew what he'd be doing the rest of the night. It had gotten to the point where even Dally would tell him they should just go see Two-Bit or Darry and lay low for a night. Steve didn't go with him though. It hurt too much to see his friends.
Turning away from the light, Steve shoved his face into his pillow, trying to get into as much darkness as possible. Thankfully he didn't have to push himself to get up for work that day. His work was slightly suffering in recent months, as he'd be late to work if his shift started early on in the morning. Anytime of day his mind would wander. He'd get moody and short with people. His thoughts would drag him to getting pissed off out of nowhere. That could happen at work or in public with other greasers. That lead to fights sometimes. The worst part was there was no definite end in sight for it all to be okay.
"We should go see Darry," Two-Bit said as he brought his empty plate to the sink.
"I'm down for that," Johnny said.
"I haven't stopped by for a couple days," Two-Bit said, "I try to when I can. I try to entertain him a little, and try to help him get his mind straight when he's going a little crazy on something."
"Maybe we'll get some good news," Johnny shrugged, "Or no news of course."
"Hello? Darry!"
Darry felt himself jump at the voice. He had no idea when he had fallen asleep last night. He had no idea what time it even was. He was just laying in bed and heard some walking around downstairs.
"Darry, are you up?" the voice yelled up the stairs.
"Uh yeah," Darry responded, attempting to get his voice louder, "I'm coming down." Sitting up, Darry rubbed his eyes to wake himself up. He assumed Two-Bit was downstairs. Two-Bit was decent enough to check in on Darry. He appreciated it. He appreciated the company Two-Bit brought. It didn't even matter if Two-Bit was being annoying, Darry just liked having someone in the house with him. Darry threw a t-shirt on and headed downstairs to find Two-Bit and Johnny in the living room.
"Hey," Two-Bit greeted, "How's everything?"
"It's going," Darry rubbed at his eyes again, "I don't know how much sleep I got."
"I know," Two-Bit placed his hands in his pockets, "So what are your plans today?"
"I'm just staying here. I can't miss if my lawyer calls today."
Johnny looked up from his spot on the couch, "What would he call about?"
"Just something we're filing. It's the most promising thing for me right now, so I'm hoping and praying hard that it will at least go through to the courts so I can actually speak this time."
"Well we'll be here for you man," Two-Bit said, "You know that. I was thinking of going to check up on Steve. Haven't heard from him in awhile."
Darry thought for a second, "I haven't either. Dally came by a few nights ago. He had gotten in some scuffle and wasn't sure if the fuzz was looking for him, so he was laying low here for a few hours. He said Steve was also running off to hide from the fuzz, and he tried getting Steve to just come here with him, but he was being an angry drunk and went his own way."
Two-Bit shook his head, "Damn. I think I'll go over there and see him."
"He's probably hungover," Darry commented.
"His problem, not mine," Two-Bit grinned, "You want to come Johnny or stay here?"
"I'd rather stay here than deal with that," Johnny looked at Darry for approval.
"Of course you can hang out here," Darry nodded, "I'm going to make some coffee."
"I'll be back," Two-Bit walked out the house.
Steve could not fall back asleep as the headache grew in pain. He knew he'd have to make the painful decision to get up and get in the shower to try to wash the dulled alcohol away. Before he could drag himself out of bed, he heard a knock on the front door. Steve didn't move an inch. He did not want to deal with whoever was at his house. Some poor sales guy was going to get his ass kicked for bothering him on the wrong morning.
They didn't go away though. In fact they knocked louder. There wasn't much break in between as the knocking continued and grew in volume and pace. Someone knew it was going to take effort to get Steve up.
"Not just a damn sales guy," Steve groaned. He slowly sat up, eyes squinting at the brightness within the room. "Damnit."
As Steve approached the stairs, the knocking was making his head rattle. "Stopit! I'm coming!"
"Hurry your ass up!" a voice called from the other side of the door.
"You've got to be kidding me," Steve rolled his eyes at the familiar voice. He sluggishly got to the bottom of the stairs, grabbed a pair of sunglasses from the coffee table and walked to the front door.
"Morning," Two-Bit smiled as Steve opened the door, "Did you wear sunglasses to bed?"
"Maybe," Steve groaned.
"Or are you going to puke if you don't wear them?" Two-Bit smirked as he helped himself inside the house, causing Steve to stumble back while Two-Bit brushed past him.
"Shut it," Steve mumbled.
"Want me to make you some coffee?"
"I don't work today. I don't plan on going anywhere today."
"I think you should come over to Darry's," Two-Bit walked straight into the kitchen and began preparing some coffee.
"Why?"
"Well, we haven't heard from you much. Thought I'd check in, make sure you're still alive."
"I've been around," Steve simply said. He sat down in a kitchen chair, leaning his head against his hand.
"Is the room spinning?"
"Stop it," Steve said.
"Do you still have a job?" Two-Bit asked.
"Yes I have a damn job," Steve groaned.
"Hey don't get sassy with me mister. I'm just making small talk to catch up with you."
"Yeah well," Steve shot his head up to begin yelling, but immediately regretted it as he laid it back down to his hand, "Ow."
"Yeah, you just relax," Two-Bit walked over and set the cup of coffee next to Steve, "You can't even get in an argument with me."
Steve slowly brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip, "Just stop please."
"Fine," Two-Bit sat down next to his friend, "But you should really stop drinking so much. I know everything's been hard, for all of us for quite some time now, but you can't do this to yourself. Doesn't help anything."
"I'm not in the mood for a pep talk."
"Well, it's nearly impossible to find a time to talk to you when you aren't hungover or drunk." Steve didn't respond to that. He continued to drink his coffee, knowing he'll need plenty of it to handle Two-Bit Mathews. "You're coming with me to Darry's, because more importantly, he's waiting for a big call from his lawyer."
"I've heard that before."
"I know, but this is an actual promising call. Darry may be able to go to court and actually talk for himself and everything. That's big."
"Sure, he'll talk, they'll deny and say just wait 5 more months. Courts think 5 more fucking months isn't a big deal."
Two-Bit looked down, "Steve, I know, alright? We all get it. We all are going through this. Darry will need a lot of support though. And we just need to know you're alright."
"I'm not," Steve simply said.
"Okay, yes, I know that. Just come on," Two-Bit stood up and grabbed Steve's arm, "You don't really have a choice anymore with that attitude. I'm deciding for you."
Steve didn't say anything. He didn't have the energy to fight back. He just let Two-Bit bring him to his car and drive to the Curtis house. The sunglasses were the only thing saving him from the coffee coming right back up in Two-Bit's car.
As they arrived, they entered the house. Steve didn't plan to say much. He'd get through the next few hours and plan to disappear again. Two-Bit didn't say anything either when he saw the look on Darry's and Johnny's faces. At first he wondered if the lawyer called, but it wasn't a disappointing look on their faces. They looked scared, or even terrified. Johnny was nearly shaking and Darry looked like he was going to cry or yell.
"What's going on?" Two-Bit asked.
Darry gulped, tears escaping his eyes, "They...They're gone."
"What? Who's gone?" Steve asked, suddenly waking up to the fear in Darry's voice.
"Soda and Pony," Darry swallowed the cry that was about to erupt from him, "They're gone. They ran away."