Darry POV

Steve and Pony ran out the room rough housing. I looked at Soda to see if he had an answer, but he was walking out of the room to empty his glass of water. I got up after him and walked to the living room.

"I want you guys to stay out here for a bit while I get Two-Bit situated. Got that?" Pony and Steve nodded their heads. I walked back to my room and closed the door after myself. I noticed Two-Bit still had the thermometer in his mouth, so I walked over to him and took it out. 102.3, great. I put it on the nightstand and took the washrag off of his forehead and dabbed a little bit of it onto his bare chest. He gasped slightly, then flinched away. I looked at him and he was squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

"Two-Bit? You awake?" He went into a full out coughing fit and leaned over to side of the bed. I propped him up and began to pat his back. He stopped finally and sat up against a bunch of pillows. He looked like he was trying to regain his breath again.

"It's okay, you're okay. Just breathe, man." He nodded his head and began to take deep breathes. I patted his leg and looked at him. His eyes were glossy and feverish from the fever… of course. The color had drained from his face and he was pale and sweaty. I agreed with Ponyboy when he said he'd never seen Two-Bit sick. I had never seen him sick before, maybe it was because his mother was a germ freak and did everything she could to keep Two-Bit and his sister healthy 24/7.

"Hey Darry?" Two-Bit panted.

"Yeah buddy?"

"Where's my shirt?" I chuckled to myself.

"In the dirty clothes. It was drenched with sweat," He nodded and closed his eyes again, but I shook him. "Hold on Keith. I want you to change out of your jeans and such and put on some of my pajamas so you're more comfortable. And when you feel up to it, you can take a shower. You're not leaving this bed till you're okay again." He cracked open his eyes and squinted at me, I think he was trying to get his eyes to focus.

"You… huh… wha?" He sounded too out of it to do it all himself.

"Ya know what? Just go back to sleep Two, alright?" He laid his head back down and as soon as his head hit the pillow beneath him, he was out like a light. Poor little guy, I thought. Welp, looks like I'm gonna have to do this all myself.

I groaned inwardly and stood up. I surveyed my surroundings and walked over to my dresser. I grabbed something that was baggy and roomy, like my pajama pants. I decided to keep him shirtless to see if it would cool him off the least. I sighed and walked over to the bed. Welp, here goes nothing. I put the pajama pants on the end of the bed and looped my fingers around Two-Bit's belt loop on each side, and carefully slide them off. When I got to his ankles, I put each foot through each pant leg, then threw them in the corner of my room. I managed to keep enough dignity between each other by not staring at his knob through his boxers. I put on the more comfortable pants with only a little trouble when I had to get them up to his waist. When I got done, I took off his cowboy boots and threw them in front of the door.

"Two-Bit, he buddy," I shook his shoulder in hopes to get him to wake up, but he was out cold. I put the thermometer back in his mouth, then grabbed his shirt, jeans and shoes and opened the door. When I walked into the living room, I saw Pony, Steve and Soda playing cards around the coffee table. When Pony saw me, he shot up and off of the floor.

"How's he doing Darry?" I looked at Pony then threw Two-Bits stuff on the couch.

"Are those his clothes?" Steve asked. I nodded.

"And his shoes. I told him to change into something more comfortable, but he passed out before he could blink. So… ya know…" I shoved my hands in my pockets and Steve snorted.

"You mean, you changed Two-Bit yourself?" I nodded proudly and gave Steve a you're-lucky-your-Soda's-best-friend-because-if-you-weren't-I-would-be-beating-the-shit-out-of-you-right-now. He frowned and looked back at his cards. I patted Pony on the back.

"He's gonna be fine. I'll be right back." I walked back into my room and took the thermometer out of Two-Bit's mouth. 102.6, it went up. I sat down and pushed Two-Bit's hair out of his face.

"It's gonna be a long week…"