"So I have to come every week again, huh?"

Dr. Morgan remained in her seat at the round table, as Soda was now on his feet, the impulse to move around having built up during what felt like a long counseling session. "Yes. I definitely insist on that at this point. From what I understand, it's already been nearly ten days since your incident with the medication, so I'm not worried, especially given how you described the experience to me. However, I think it's important to prevent the overwhelming stress and emotions that led you to act on a thought so closely related to what you've had in the past. Also, this just seems like a fragile time for you and one where you're prone to internalizing feelings, so I want to help you work through them more often and get you to a place of relief."

Soda stood near the bookshelf, his fingers brushing over the titles displayed there. "I know how to cope in healthy ways. I really do."

"I know that, Sodapop. I've heard you tell me about it. I've witnessed it. So don't be discouraged with needing additional support. It's why I'm here, and I'm set on making sure you're always able to use every single tool that's beneficial for you and keeps your recovery moving at a steady pace."

"I figured I'd find you here, man. Everything go all right?"

Soda sat on the porch swing, as Steve made his way up the steps to join him. "Yeah. It did. Dr. Morgan wants me to come back every week again though. Which ain't exactly a surprise, I guess."

Steve sat down on the swing beside Soda. "I don't think it's surprising at all. She wants to take care of you, buddy."

"Yeah. I know she does. It always shows."

Steve attempted to break through the awkwardness he felt, as he had to refrain from asking Soda the kinds of questions he typically would. "So, uh, are you still up for playing pool? I figured we could do that and eat pizza. Or we can even eat something else. I don't know what."

"Pizza's fine, Stevie. I do still want to play, especially since you're so sure about kickin' my ass."

"Well, um, just let me know when you're ready cause I already showered and stuff. So I'm all set to go."

"You don't gotta try so hard, you know."

"Huh?"

"I mean you don't need to get us talkin' about somethin' different. I know you're used to askin' more about my appointments, so you can tell me that."

"Oh. Yeah, I am. I guess I'm just trying to make sure I give you space like you wanted. But I'm still sitting here wondering what Dr. Morgan said and stuff like that. I can't help it because I'm used to knowing more. I have been since you started seeing her. But I don't want to make you uncomfortable, and I don't want to make it seem like I don't respect your right to keep things between you and your counselor. Cause I do. I respect anything when it comes to you, man. Anything that you want as long as it doesn't hurt you." Steve got to his feet and went over to the porch railing, not having to look behind him to know Soda's eyes hadn't strayed. "But I guess that doesn't stop it from being hard for me to be left out of something when I'm always right by your side. Always there to face things with you. That's a tough feeling, buddy, but I'm really trying hard to accept it."

Soda got to his feet as well, going over to Steve and touching his shoulder. "I know you respect anything I ever decide or want. It's why you're not badgerin' me with questions. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, Stevie. But it's all right for you to say somethin' hurts you. I get it. I ain't leavin' you out of anything though. Cause, yeah, there is some stuff I feel like I can only talk about with Dr. Morgan right now, but there's always a ton of stuff I can only talk about with you."

Steve gripped the porch railing with both hands, as he took a breath that came out shakier than he'd anticipated. "Can I ask you just one thing, Soda?"

"Sure."

"Are you- I mean, are you okay? You said you needed somebody to be objective, so it makes me worry that you aren't. Or that you're feeling as bad as you have before or maybe you're-"

"Easy, buddy." Soda could feel the tremble in Steve's shoulders, as he led him back over to the swing. "I am okay. There's nothin' to worry about. Dr. Morgan asked me to come once a week, remember? You know it'd be more if I wasn't doin' all right. I think she's even seein' a lot about how I'm doin' that's good. Cause I was open about stuff, like the cough syrup and all. And I made the appointment when I knew I needed it. She told me not to be discouraged, so I don't want you to be either."

Steve swiped at his eyes, as he tried to pull himself together, even though the tears refused to abate. "Okay. Sorry. I don't- I don't know why I'm falling apart."

Soda drew Steve into his arms, wrapping his friend in an embrace. "Shh. You're just gettin' emotional. That's all. You've been the one holdin' me a lot lately, so maybe you need it now too."

Steve hid his face in Soda's shoulder, the comfort more than welcome, as he felt a few tears fall down his cheeks. "Yeah. Maybe I do."

Soda was quiet for a short stretch of time, as he held Steve, realizing this moment gave him the chance to keep overcoming the traces of anger he felt inside. "I want you to know you're still facin' things with me. I'm keepin' you right next to me, Stevie. All the time. Every second." I am, he thought. I won't let that get in the way. "So what do you say we go play that game of pool you keep talkin' about? Pizza's on me, all right?" I won't let it stop me from being the friend or brother I've always been.

"I don't know, TwoBit. Maybe I'm overthinkin' it. I just can't help but wonder if he's actually better."

TwoBit walked with Pony into the Tasty Freeze, the two friends finding a booth in the corner to claim as their own. "Well, of course you're overthinkin' it, Pony Kid. That's what you do. It's what makes you so damn smart."

Pony slid into the booth, grabbing one menu for himself and giving the other to TwoBit. "But it gives me a headache. It's not like thinking too much about school or studying. Those are questions or problems I know exactly how to solve."

"Are you tellin' me you've got a headache right now?"

"Yeah. Just a bit of one though."

TwoBit reached across the table to touch Pony's head, his younger friend ducking away from his hand. "Hey, I'm just checkin'. I want to be sure you ain't warm."

"I'm not sick, TwoBit. I promise. It isn't that kind of headache. I'm just having too many thoughts."

"Aw, well, okay then. Can't even say I know what that's like. I prefer to only have two or three thoughts a day."

"Beer, blonds, and food?"

"You got it, Kiddo. As you might put it yourself, those are the three pillars of success."

"You can do it, Stevie. I know you can sink that ball."

Steve cocked an eyebrow at Soda from across the pool table, as he took aim at the red stripe that was his last remaining ball. "Are you wanting to lose, man?"

Soda only grinned, as he gripped his cue stick in one hand, two of his solid colored balls still on the table. "Nah. Just tryin' to be encouragin'."

"All right. If you say so. Red ball, side pocket." Steve lined his cue stick up with the cue ball and took the shot.

Soda watched the cue ball make contact with the red stripe, causing it to roll along the surface of the table, then into the desired pocket.

"Great shot, buddy! Now, all you've got is the eight ball!"

"Get ready to owe me five bucks, man." Steve lined up his next shot, taking aim at the cue ball that was about a foot away from the eight ball. "Eight ball, corner pocket." He let the cue stick slide between his fingers to make contact with the cue ball, which then rolled just far enough to bump into its target.

Soda watched the eight ball hover near the corner pocket, slow motion seeming to seize the moment ,as it rolled over the edge. "Hey, you did it! That was awesome!"

Steve clapped his own hand against Soda's in a high five, his best friend then giving him cash from his pocket. "I could swear you're glad to lose money."

Soda started to gather up the balls, putting them in the rack. "Nah. I'm just happy to be out tonight and for us to be havin' a real good time."

"Hey, are you sure it's just a little bit of a headache?"

Pony pressed a hand to his temple, as he and TwoBit walked along the strip. "Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about me."

TwoBit wasn't convinced, his hand reaching over to squeeze Pony's shoulder. "Too late, Kiddo. Let's just walk home, all right? No sense in stayin' out if you're in pain. It's a school night anyway."

Pony grinned, as he tried to focus on his friend, despite the pounding in his head. "I've never heard you say anything like that before."

"Well, you're about to be applyin' to those fancy colleges and stuff, ain't you? So I gotta make sure I'm a good influence."

"Yeah, you don't want to lead me astray."

"Never, Kiddo." TwoBit wrapped his arm around Pony's shoulders, as the pair continued to walk in the direction of the Curtis house. "I couldn't do anything to mess up your chances of havin' whatever the hell's out there for you."

"Damn, the pizza's really cheesy tonight."

Soda helped himself to a breadstick, as Steve was biting into a slice of pizza. "Yep, just the way I like it to be, Stevie. Saucy and cheesy.

Steve rolled his eyes, as he chewed, barely tasting the pepperoni over the cheese and sauce. "Easy on the rhymes there, man. Or you'll be the one that's cheesy."

"Hey, you just added to it! Stevie, saucy, cheesy, and easy."

"Yeah, I guess we've still got that poetic side, huh? I wasn't even trying, and it happened anyway."

"We're just always so in step with each other. So what are we doin' after this?"

"Going home?"

"Aw, I was thinkin' we could go for a drive. Hey, we should go bowlin' one night this week. I ain't sure if I can bowl with my arm and all, but I could try with my left side instead."

"Yeah. That might be better. Why are you wanting to go for a drive?"

"I don't know. I just do. We don't have to though. I know we've both got work in the mornin'."

"Well, it's not like we ever go to bed early anyway. So let's do it, and make our night last just a little while longer."

"Yeah, he's got a headache, so we just decided to head this way."

Darry only just registered TwoBit's words before he looked over at his youngest brother. "Is it bad, Pone? Take two aspirin. I don't want you taking four of them. It's too much."

Pony, open medicine bottle in hand, poured out two pills. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Dar. That's all I'm getting."

TwoBit saw Pony down the pills with some water, the teen then going to lie down on the couch. "He's not warm or anything though, Superman. I checked."

Darry worked on putting away the rest of what he'd had for dinner, setting it in the refrigerator. "Thanks, TwoBit. Probably just a regular old headache."

"Yeah, maybe. But..."

"But what?"

TwoBit made an effort to lower his voice. "Can we talk outside?"

"Sure." Darry led TwoBit out the front door, both men stepping onto the porch. "What is it? Did something happen?"

"No. Nothin' happened. I just thought you should know that Pony said his headache is from thinkin' too much."

"About?"

"Soda. He said he talked to him a few nights ago. He told Pony some things he hadn't before."

"Like what?"

"I ain't too sure. Pony didn't say exactly. Just that he's wonderin' if Soda's really better. And by that, I think he means he's worried."

"Yeah. Sounds like it. Soda hasn't mentioned anything that he told Pony, but the timing makes me have a decent guess on what they might've talked about." Darry paced over to the porch steps, sitting down on the top one. "Damn it, I dropped the ball here, TwoBit."

TwoBit joined his older friend, sitting down alongside him. "How? You've done the best you can. With everything. There ain't a chance you can convince me otherwise."

"I have done my best. But maybe my best wasn't enough. Of course Pony's worried about Soda. I should've known he would be. After everything he saw and heard last year and lately, there's no way he wouldn't be bothered by all of it."

"Lately? Soda is all right, ain't he, Superman? Has anything been wrong that he could've decided to tell Pony?"

"Soda's had some moments lately, and I'm sure Pony's noticed me and Steve both spending extra time with him. It'd be impossible to miss that around here."

"So you think Soda maybe told him why, and it's got him worried?"

"Yeah, and I just feel like I should've realized, you know? I take it for granted that Pony will just let us handle things and not be too affected. But he's older now, and he knows enough about how bad Soda got before that I need to make sure he gets what he needs too and doesn't get lost in the shuffle."

"Man, I think you need to lay off that Mountain Dew."

Soda laughed from his place in the passenger seat of Steve's car, as he took a few swallows of his drink. "Nah. Sodapop is enjoyin' his sodapop."

Steve drove the Ford along a stretch of highway just past the strip, his friend's laughter making him smile. "Yeah. You're sure in a good mood, buddy."

"Probably cause I got a lot off my chest earlier. It felt good. It felt good to be there for you too. Both today and yesterday with Audrey."

"I know what you mean, man."

"You always do, Stevie. Sometimes, I feel like you know pretty much everything. You're like this expert on life."

"Expert, huh? I didn't realize I knew that much."

"Well, you do. About feelings. About memories. And especially about me."

"Hey, I think best friends are supposed to be experts on each other. It's part of the deal."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Soda put his drink down in the cupholder, laying his head back against the seat, as he put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "But I still think it's special."

Steve glanced over at Soda, seeing his friend's eyes staring out the windshield. "Getting a little bit reflective there, man?"

"Yeah. Maybe even a lot reflective."

Steve felt Soda's hand tighten on his shoulder, then took one of his own off the steering wheel to cover it. "But you're right. That is special. Every part of a treasure always is."

"Yeah, it's better now, Dar. The aspirin worked."

Darry found Pony in his room, the teen propped against a pillow with a book in his lap. "That's good, Pone. Because I want to talk to you, but I'd rather not do it when something is hurting."

Pony closed the book, feeling the dull ache that remained in his head, as he looked up at Darry. "What do you want to talk about?"

Darry sat down on the edge of the mattress, his gaze turning upwards, as he sought the words he'd already rehearsed internally. "TwoBit told me that you said your headache was from thinking too much about Soda. So now, I'm wondering what exactly it is that's on your mind. Did Soda tell you something that's bothering you? TwoBit said he knows you two talked, but he wasn't sure what about."

"I should've known he'd tell you. He even looked worried. I think it's cause me havin' a headache for any reason gets to him."

"I would imagine it does. So talk to me here, Pony. I'd like to think we've gotten to a place with each other, where we can be upfront about things. We've sure been through enough for that to be the case."

"Yeah. We have. Soda told me what happened with the cough syrup and why it was a big deal."

"Okay. I suspected that's what he might've told you. I just didn't know he was going to."

"He didn't either. I asked him what was going on because he called you when he got home from his date on Friday night. Between that and how you and Steve are watching him so much, I could see something must be up. I was good about it though, Dar. I didn't give him a hard time. Not even when he said he'd lied to me about taking the cough syrup cause he was sick or when he said he'd thought about taking medicine to kill himself."

"That's great, Pone. I know it's hard, so I'm really proud of you for handling it better this time when Soda confided in you."

"I want him to be able to trust me like that, so it wouldn't make sense to ever be mean again. But, now, it's like I can really understand why he didn't tell me certain things before, and I wish I didn't know what I do."

"It's over now though. I want you to remember that, okay? Soda and I talk a lot, and his mind isn't in such a dark spot anymore. Even the day he took the cough syrup, it was about having a chance to just stop for a while. It wasn't about death or anything like that. I'm not saying I'm okay with him doing it, but I can understand what his mindset was like at the time."

"Yeah, he told me he wanted to get away from feelings. I guess I can understand that too. But it bothers me a lot to think of Soda trying to not feel because emotions are a big part of who he is. Even when they're something besides happy or worse than sad, they make him Soda."

"That sounds like something I've said to him about his heart being what makes him the person he is. But I think his heart feeling everything so strong is what makes him feel overwhelmed enough to need some help."

"Yeah, I used to think he only felt the high of being happy, but now, I know he can feel just as low and everything in between too." Pony rubbed his head, the dull ache starting to get sharper. "I guess I got worried about him bein' all right, but it's not just that. It's tough to realize he was thinking anything specific last year. That makes it so much more real, Dar."

Darry pulled Pony close so that his little brother's head rested on his shoulder. "I know. It really does. Getting that inside look at his thoughts makes it way too damn real. He's better though, Pone. I'm saying that because I see it and because he probably wouldn't have told you those darker parts if he was anything like that now."

"Thanks for coming to talk to me. I know there have been times I didn't make it easy."

"I can say the same for myself, Kiddo. But no matter how tough it is, if I know you need me, there's no way I'd ever stop trying."

"We really do need to take that road trip together, Stevie."

Steve drove in the opposite direction now, the glow of street lights falling on his and Soda's faces, as they went toward the Curtis' house. "How about in the spring then, buddy? Seriously. We can take a long-weekend trip."

Soda's eyes moved from the window to look at Steve, his lips stretching into a smile, as the Ford moved along the road. "Yeah. And we can split the money it'll cost for gas and stuff."

"And take plenty of our own food and drinks."

"So where will we go?"

"I don't know. Maybe Kansas or Texas. Not very far. Just a few hours of driving. We can even stay in a hotel a night or two."

"I haven't been in one of those since I was a kid."

"Yeah, brother. Let's do it. It doesn't even matter where we go, so long as it's far enough to change the view."