I'm sorry this update took a while, but I hope it's worth the wait! If you ever want to read something in between updates, feel free to check out my other stories ;)

(Darry's POV)

"You gotta eat something, Soda," I said to my brother as I handed him an apple I bought at the hospital's cafeteria. Soda took it without even looking at me.

It took some convincing, but I eventually got him to come with me to get food. Neither of us wanted to leave Pony's side, and I wasn't all that hungry, but I had to make sure my other brother was still taken care of, so I forced him to leave Pony's room while Steve and Two-Bit kept an eye on our brother. The line for food was long, so we sat down at an empty table and waited.

I told Soda about the conversation Tim and I had in the car the previous night when we were all looking for Pony. Soda seemed just as surprised and confused about it as I was, especially when I said that Tim said that we were different and like saints. Soda raised his eyebrows and almost laughed at that, but he was still holding onto anger towards the Shepards, mostly Curly, for getting Ponyboy sent to the hospital, so he didn't seem to care that Tim was complementing us or trying to make Curly sound like an innocent kid. When Tim and I had that conversation, Ponyboy was just missing, but a lot had happened since then, and ever since I laid eyes on my unconscious baby brother, my feelings towards Curly became less friendly.

After Soda took a bite of the apple, a look crossed his face and his eyes finally met mine. "You haven't eaten anything, so why do I have to?"

"I ate while we weren't paying attention," I said, lying to my brother. I already wasn't hungry when I convinced Soda to join me to our trip to the cafeteria, but once we left Ponyboy's room, it felt like there was a heavy rock in my stomach, and just the thought of trying to eat was enough to make me feel nauseous.

Soda looked like he was about to argue with me, but instead, he took another bite of the apple and looked back down at the table.

I reached forward a put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. I swallowed so the lump in my throat wouldn't be detected by Soda. "It'll be alright, Pepsi-Cola."

"It's been a day, Darry. A whole day," Soda said once he stopped chewing. He glanced up at me, and the look in his eyes me back to just a couple years ago when he was just a young, optimistic kid that hadn't seen tragedy after tragedy. Glory, it hurt to think about how much he had to grow up in such a short time. He's still young, and he just wants me to make everything better. He wants his older brother to fix everything, and I wish I could. "He's been here since last night… why hasn't he woken up?"

I sighed. "He's resting, Soda. Maybe Pony's the only one that knows how much rest his brain needs."

Soda shook his head, glaring at the apple in his hand. "If something… if he…" he trailed off, and tears started appearing in his eyes.

"Don't think like that," I said calmly but sternly. Please don't let that happen. After a few seconds, I ruffled Soda's hair, earning a glare before a small smirk. "Want to go back?"

Soda shot up to his feet and turned towards the door without saying a word. As I followed him, I watched as he took one more bite of the apple before tossing it in the garbage.

As we got closer to Ponyboy's room, I heard a few voices talking. I was excited about the possibility of Ponyboy being awake, and I could tell Soda was too since he started walking faster.

"He's hasn't woken up yet," I heard Two-Bit say in a short, irritated tone. So much for Ponyboy waking up. But who's he talking to like that? Soda walked into the room before me, and as Two-Bit started to speak again, Soda suddenly moved like lightning.

As I approached the room, there were a few noises that caught my attention, but what I was mostly focused on was the sound of someone struggling.

"You got some nerve, Curly Shepard," Soda snarled. I rarely heard Soda truly angry, but he was intimidating when he got to that point.

When I entered the room, I found Soda pinning Curly against the wall, pressing his arm against Curly's neck. Good. He deserves it for getting Pony hospitalized.

"It wasn't supposed to-" Curly started, but before he could finish his sentence, Soda cut him off by punching him in the eye.

"I don't give a damn," Soda said angrily. "You got Pony hurt! You're the reason he's here!"

I wanted to tell Curly to get out of the room before I physically made him, to tell him to leave Ponyboy out of his JD antics, but before I could, Tim Shepard strode into the room.

"What the hell is goin' on here?" Tim asked before shoving Soda away from his brother. "You really tryin' to start a fight in here, Curtis?"

I anticipated Soda's willingness to fight, so I grabbed his arm to keep him from getting within the striking distance of Tim Shepard. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Steve and Two-Bit both stepped forward to join in the fight if there was one, but my hold on Soda prevented it, at least for the time being.

"Sure, I'll take you on too," Soda spat at Tim, trying to break free from my grasp.

While I doubted Tim would start a fight with me, I wasn't so sure he would hesitate to fight Soda, so I stepped between them and pushed Soda behind me. If Tim wants to fight, I'll give him a fight, but I'm not about to let Soda get involved. I turned to look at my brother. "Not here, Soda. Pony needs this room to be quiet so he can rest." I figured Soda wasn't going to argue, especially since I brought up Pony's wellbeing, so then I looked at Steve and Two-Bit. "Take Curly outside for a minute." Before I lunge forward and skin him.

"Our pleasure," Two-Bit said as he obnoxiously cracked his knuckles.

"If you start somethin' out there, you'll be dealin' with me afterward," Tim spat in the direction of Two-Bit and Steve.

"We just need to talk for a minute," I told Two-Bit. "Don't make the nurses call the cops on you." Don't start anything… at least not until I'm there.

Two-Bit rolled his eyes, but he seemed to acknowledge my request. Steve and Two-

Bit walked up to Curly and grabbed his arms and led him into the hallway.

"It'd be worth going to jail to beat your dumbass," Steve fake whispered.

"You got that right," Two-Bit agreed loudly said even louder.

Once the three of them went into the hallway, it was just me, Soda, and Tim Shepard. Well, and Ponyboy.

"I get it, you wanna beat the shit outta Curly," Tim said as soon as the others were gone. "But I'm not gonna stand by and let you two send my kid brother to the morgue. You wanna get to him, you're gonna have to go through me."

Something about what he said made speak harshly before I even thought about what I wanted to say. "Is that a challenge, Tim?" I asked, talking a step towards the roughest hood in town.

Tim glared at me, but he surprisingly didn't take the bait. "If the roles were reversed and your brother got Curly put in a hospital bed and I wanted to pummel him, would you stand by and let me?"

I glared back at him, silently daring him to say one more thing before I was pushed over the edge and I socked him square in the face. If he even thought about hitting Pony, I'd send Tim Shepard straight to hell. Lucky for Tim, Soda broke my train of thought.

"Our brother wouldn't go lookin' for trouble and drag your brother into it!" Soda shouted as he took a step forward so he was standing next to me.

Tim shot a look at Soda. "That's what you think, but which one of them got involved in a Soc's murder last year?"

I didn't even think. My hand reacted faster than anything else. I punched Tim Shepard in the jaw, and when he brought a hand up to his face, I took a step forward. "You better think real hard about what you say next, Tim."

Tim returned his sights on me, and even though I was prepared for him to hit me back, he restrained. "Damn Curtis, you really can throw a punch, huh?" Tim mumbled. He regained his composure, then he smirked a little. "Feel better?"

I was stunned by his ridiculous question. "What?"

"You wanted to punch someone, and you got what you wanted," Tim said simply. "Feel better?"

Soda and I shared a quick glance before I looked back at Tim. Did he really say and do all of that so I would hit him instead of Curly? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was right and Tim is trickier than I anticipated. I'll be damned… he took the hit so Curly wouldn't… at least for the time being.

"A little," I said, despite myself. "Still not happy that Curly got Ponyboy into this mess."

Tim nodded silently, then after glancing at Pony's bed, he looked back at me. "How is the kid?"

I sighed. "I don't know. He had a seizure, he's still unconscious, and he might have a brain injury," I said in a low voice. Tim's eyes widened slightly, so I knew he was surprised. "The doctor said he needs to rest. That's all I know."

Before Tim could reply, Two-Bit and Steve returned to the room, with Curly hobbling next to Steve. "You guys done with your little chat?" Two-Bit asked loudly. He glanced at Tim rubbing his jaw and his eyes almost popped out of his head. "What did we miss?"

"Tim was smartin' off and Darry got him good," Soda said triumphantly. At his words, I felt the uneasy tension in the room get even worse. It was as if I could feel Tim's patience with Soda dwindle as the seconds went by.

"Damn," Steve muttered.

Curly looked at his brother like he couldn't believe Tim let me hit him. To his credit, he didn't say anything, which was smart because I was sure whatever he would've said would cause a fight to break out in the room.

Soda took a step towards Curly, and I saw Tim straighten up, ready to fight if the situation called for it. "Just remember Curly, we won't be forgettin' this. We still need to talk about you gettin' Pony into trouble stuck in here."

A few seconds ticked by, but Two-Bit cleared his throat, obviously trying to divuse the situation. "Well, I'm sorry we missed Muscles and Shepard gettin' into it," Two-Bit said with a smirk. "But Curly here told us what happened last night, and I think we got another problem."

I was filled with dread at my friend's words. How could we have another problem? "Like what?" I dared to ask.

"The Socs," Steve explained. "They still got a grudge against the kid."

I looked at him, confused by what he meant. "About what?"

"About what I did to their cars yesterday," Curly started to explain. I noticed that he had grabbed his crutches again and was standing next to Tim and away from Soda. "I bet they're still pissed about that, but that ain't it."

"What the hell happened yesterday?" I asked bitterly. "What did you get Ponyboy wrapped up in?"

Curly went on to explain everything that happened, from the Socs messing with Tim's car when he was locked up, to spotting Pony and tricking him to help out with vandalizing some Soc cars, then everything after that. Once he told us everything, I could see a small hint of guilt in his eyes as he looked over at Ponyboy's bed, where my kid brother was still unconscious.

"The Socs from last night first came after us because of me," Curly started. "But when they recognized Ponyboy, they wanted to get revenge for the Soc that was killed last year. I tried to distract them and get 'em away from him, but they couldn't wait to pummel him. I'm not sure how many of them feel that way, but I think a lot of them would love to beat on him given the chance."

Pony's got a target on his back. How am I supposed to keep him safe from all of the Socs on the other side of town?

Soda was glaring at Curly the entire time he was talking, but ask Curly stopped talking, Soda looked at me with a worried expression. "What are we gonna do? Another rumble, and hope they leave Pony alone?"

"We could," I said, not entirely convinced that another rumble would actually keep the Socs away from Ponyboy. Then I looked at Curly. "Could you describe them, Curly? The guys from last night?"

He nodded. "Sure, if you point them out to me, I'll be able to tell you if they were there. I know one had a huge nose. I think they called him Ed. I think he's the one that pulled a blade on Ponyboy."

My blood boiled. Someone pulled a blade on my brother?

"Did you even try to help the kid out?" Steve asked harshly.

Curly gave him an angry glare. "I already told ya, I tried to get them to focus on me, but they were more than happy to pound on him. We were outnumbered. What else did you want me to do?"

"How about not dragging Pony into one of your stupid ideas in the first place?" Soda spat.

The guys started arguing and raising their voices. That, along with my anger, concern, and all of the new information I received, I was starting to get a headache. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes while I tried to steady my breathing.

Eventually, it all got to be too much. "Enough," I said loudly as I opened my eyes. All of the guys looked at me. "We'll deal with this later. Right now, the priority is for Pony to rest. We'll figure out everything else once he wakes up." If he wakes up. I gave Tim and Curly a look. "Thanks for stopping by, but I think visiting hours are over."

Tim nodded. "I think you're right," he said. Then he ushered Curly towards the door. "Let's go, Curly."

I was glad they seemed to understand what I was telling them, but before they left, Curly took something out of his pocket and turned to extend it towards me. "Here."

I took the white envelope, and I felt my eyebrows furrow as I opened it. Once I saw some cash, I gave Curly a confused look. "What's this?"

Curly shrugged. "I took some money out of the Soc cars yesterday and hid it under the seat. After you left with Pony, I grabbed it from the car." So that's what he needed to do last night. "I was gonna split it with Pony for helpin' me out anyway."

Well that's comforting, I thought sarcastically. Pony was going to profit from helping out Curly Shepard.

"I hope he gets better soon," I heard Curly say before he and Tim left. I didn't bother to look up, I kept staring at the money in my hands.

What do I do with this? It's money that Curly from the Socs that beat my brother so bad that he ended up in a hospital bed.

"Darry," Soda said, trying to get my attention. At first, I ignored him as I kept looking at the cash in the envelope. The next thing I knew, Soda was shaking my shoulder. "Darry!"

"What?" I asked, putting the envelope in my pocket and finally looking at Soda.

"I think he's waking up," Soda said, pointing to our brother lying in the hospital bed.

We both rushed to Pony's side with Two-Bit and Steve standing next to us, and it was only then that I realized Pony's head was moving side to side, and he was making quiet groaning sounds. I reached forward to hold his hand and Soda put a hand on Pony's head, ruffling his hair.

"Hey honey, you gonna wake up for us?" Soda asked softly. Ponyboy groaned a little louder, and I felt myself start smiling.

I squeezed Pony's hand. "Can you hear us, kiddo?" Please hear us. "Come on, Pone. Please wake up."

It felt like eternity, but eventually, Ponyboy's eyes opened.