A/N: Sorry that this chapter took a little longer to get out, school's been busy since its the end of the year and finals are coming up (plus it's also shutting down after this year and I need to go somewhere new next year and for the year after so I'm a little stressed out :D)

But I really hope I'm getting the characters and their feelings across well. I know it seems a little slow now but it'll start getting better soon!

Please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes!

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"Darry,"

A whispered voice made its way through the cloudiness of sleep, and he could feel a hand on his shoulder, shaking gently. He promptly forgot about what was going on and he was pissed someone was waking him up. He was so tired and this was the best sleep he's gotten in a few days. He was about to shove them off when he remembered who put him to sleep, and why.

Forcing his eyes open, he saw the shadowed figure of Two-Bit standing over him, looking down, his hand still firm on his shoulder, as if he was ready to shake again. Even through the shade, Darry could tell he had a troubled look on his face, his eyebrows drawn and a tense look to him.

"Two-Bit? What's wrong? Who is it" Darry asked, already getting up from bed. He knew he wasn't going to be able to lay down for a while again.

"It's Pony," He said, with no trace of a smile on his face.

"Is he okay?"

"No, man... we think he's worse. His temp went up a ton and he threw up, too. And he was delirious, he... he was calling for your parents." He said the last part slowly, as if he was nervous to do so.

Darry froze from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed, shoving some slippers on. He could practically feel the blood draining from his face and his stomach fall to his knees. Not this again.

He remembers the days when Pony was sick directly after the rumble and their deaths all too well. He remembers how delirious he was during the time, how he wouldn't stop calling out for their dead parents, for Soda, for Johnny, even for Darry himself. How he'd called Darry 'Dad' through his bewildered and feverish state because through his eyes at the time they looked interchangeable, and how he'd been confused when he heard Darry's voice instead of his fathers when he spoke. How he started to cry when he realized the hands that stroked his hair and face were comforting, but never his mothers touch. When his nightmares got so violent that the doctors at the hospital would need to put him under light sedatives and refused to let him go until they calmed a bit, even though they never fully stopped.

Without saying anything, he shot up from where he was sitting on the bed and strided out into the hallway and to his brother's room that was directly next to his. Two-Bit followed him quickly, his steps more quiet and tense then Darry had heard in a while.

Lorraine stood at their bedside, pressing a fresh washcloth to Pony's forehead, who laid on the bed, sweaty and a sight for sore eyes. Soda laid on the other side of the bed, dead to the world, laying on his side.

He went over and stood next to Lorraine, looking over her shoulder and down at his little brother. He noticed how his cheeks were flushed and his hair was a ruffled mess, grease-free and wild as it laid against the pillow.

Lorraine stepped over to give Darry some room, letting him take her place hovering over . He rested his hand on his cheek, cringing when he felt the heat from the fever radiating off his skin. His eyes cracked open at the touch, bleary with sickness. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and discomfort as he looked up at him, taking a few seconds before he spoke.

"Dad?"

Ponyboy's voice was quiet and hoarse but it may as well have been the worst thing had ever heard.

This had only happened once before, once again when he was sick after the rumble. He'd called out for his parents countless times, but nobody expected it when he'd mistaken Darry for their father. He was still in the hospital at the time, it was two days after they died and the morning before he was brought home. It was a better night than the first one, he only had one nightmare, and it wasn't bad enough for the doctors to intervene. He still had a nastily high fever, though, and he hadn't been sleeping very well. But when he did, it was either scarily heavy or light enough that he 'woke up' to the lightest of noises, like a door opening or closing. But the nurses had just got him awake long enough to try and get some water in him, and he hadn't been asleep just yet. When Darry ran his fingers through his hair to try and help him lull him back to sleep, he must've gotten confused through his delirium and thought he was someone that he definitely was not.

He remembers his stomach dropping with dread, exactly the same as what he feels now. That's a feeling that will never change no matter how much it happens.

He hates that it's happening in the first place.

Regardless, Darry played along and with his voice cracking, he murmured, "I'm here, baby, go to sleep." Pony obeyed immediately, his eyes practically falling shut as soon as he said it.

He turned away then, looking at Lorraine and Two-bit, who had backed off to give them some space. They looked similar in the moment, faces serious yet worried at the same time. At this, he turned his attention onto , wanting to change the subject so he didn't have to see those pitiful looks on their faces.

"Is Soda okay?" Darry asked, voice dull and tired. He walked around the bed and onto his side, brushing his hair back off his forehead to observe the bandage. They would probably need to change it today.

"Uh, he seems okay. We woke him up a little earlier and he was able to keep some food down." Lorraine said after a second, her face lined with worry as she spoke. "They'll be okay, Darry. Why don't you go take a shower? There's some soup leftover, too."

Hesitantly, Darry complied, leaving the room after a second of looking his brothers over, not really wanting to leave them, especially after what happened when he was gone. He knew he shouldn't have taken that damn nap. But either way, smelling bad wouldn't do any good for anyone.

He wanted to be in and out of there in minutes, but once he stepped under the hot stream of water he couldn't do anything but stand there under the warmth. It took everything in him not to just break down in fear of the whole house hearing him, but he hadn't felt this much stress in a long time.

But deep down he knows they'll be okay. They've got to be. A little case of the flu never killed anybody.

",Except for maybe forty years before during the influenza pandemic." He thought to himself quickly before shooing the thought away. But that was before the flu shot was invented anyway. Nowadays, it was just considered a little bug you catch at school.

And Soda's been roughed around with before. He wouldn't let a few bumps and bruises take him down

"Even if those bumps and bruises make you fall asleep for the better half of the day?"

Sometimes Darry wishes he could turn off his brain in situations like these. Maybe he's more similar to Ponyboy than he thinks.

After another minute, he quickly washes his hair and body down before hopping out and drying off. He brushed his teeth and combed through his hair, getting all the little tangles out and washed his face another time for good measure. He changed into clean clothes and walked out to the kitchen, where Lorraine was stirring a pot of soup on the stove. She looked so much like his mother from behind it was painful.

"Oh h, sweetie, sit down." She said when she heard him step in. "Just heating up some soup for ya'."

"Do you want me to do it?" He asked, feeling bad. She may be here to help, but she didn't need to make the meals either.

"Oh, don't be silly. It'll be done in three seconds." She smiled kindly at Darry, motioning at him to sit down.

It was ready after a minute, and she set it out in front of him after pouring it into a bowl, sitting down next to him. Darry didn't realize how starving he was until he started to eat it and he practically inhaled it in seconds.

"Wow, you were hungry! Want some more?" She asked, laughing.

"No, thank you, ma'am. But it was really good."

"Thanks. It's my specialty. I call it 'Campbell's Canned Chicken Soup'." She joked, and Darry couldn't help but crack a laugh. She took back the bowl and walked over to place it in the sink. She began to clean it and he went over to help when he realized the sink was full with other dishes.

"So," She began, looking at him quickly while washing the bowl. Darry grabbed a plate of his own and scrubbed it down, waiting for her to continue. "Tell me, honestly, how you feel."

"Oh, I don't think I caught what Pony's got, don't worry." He said, thinking that's what she was talking about.

"No, not that, silly. How are you doing with everything going on in general? Your brothers, the state?"

He contemplated lying for a moment, just saying that he was fine and that besides the current situation, they were doing good. But then he realized that this woman was a mother, and she would catch onto any lie that came out of his mouth. She would force it out of him one way or another, anyway, and she knows anyway that he and his family are far from good, so he just spit it out.

"I just feel like I'm not doing enough for them." Darry said quietly, like he didn't want to be heard. He expected Lorraine to stop what she was doing and stare at him like he was crazy, which is what he was worried for, but she didn't.

"Honey, you're doing everything for them. Do you know the amount of kids in this neighborhood that would leave their families in the dust if it meant they could have a better shot at life?" She responded, genuinely and quick-witted.

He just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really know what to say. Gaining guardianship was only the bare minimum.

"They could be stuffed in a home right now where people only take them in for the money they'd get from the government. You're the best thing they've got."

"Am I, though? Sometimes I don't even know if I'm able to split my money each week to pay for food and the bills." He admitted, sounding defeated and slightly embarrassed. He doesn't remember a time where he spoke like that to anyone. As a matter of fact, he doesn't think he ever has. Maybe to an old buddy from highschool or something, but that was in the beginning when he hardly had any bearings at all. Plus, those may or may not have been drunk confessions. He didn't exactly have good coping mechanisms back then, but his brothers never knew that. And plus, he's been sober for a while and he doesn't plan on changing that.

"Absolutely, you are, Darry. You're their big brother. The only place they'd want to be is with you." She said sincerely, looking him in the eyes. "Look, it doesn't matter if you have all the money in the world. You're able to support your two brothers and my son, which makes a third, who mooches off you and your meals nearly everyday."

"Well, I wouldn't say mooch. Two-Bit may be annoying but he does a lot for us, too." Darry joked, but saying it honestly. Lorraine laughed at that.

"You're a good man, Darry. Give yourself some credit." She said after a moment. "You're just like your parents."

And just like that, Darry's eyes began to sting and Lorraine wrapped him in a hug in an instant. For the first time in forever, he let the tears fall freely and let Ms. Matthews hold him for a few minutes.

"I mean it, honey. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise, you hear?" She said, voice firm. He nodded wordlessly before letting go of the hug, wiping his face with his sleeves.

"Go check up on your brothers, honey. I got the dishes." She said, giving him a sweet smile and turning back to the sink before he could say anything.

He walked back to their room and stood outside the door. He was about to walk in when he heard soft voices from the other side,one he recognized as Two-bit and one as... Soda? He heard their voices but couldn't hear what they were saying, so he didn't hesitate to barge in, excited to see if his brother was really awake.

Upon entering the room, he saw Two-Bit sitting in the desk chair on Soda's side of the bed, grinning like a maniac and cracking some sort of joke.

Sodapop laid beside him on the bed, not propped up but clearly awake and smiling at whatever nonsense Two-Bit was saying. Pony was still asleep next to him.

"Hey, Darry! Your kid brother finally woke up, how 'bout that!" Two-Bit announced, sounding ecstatic. He still managed to keep his voice lower than usual though, as to not disturb the other sleeping patron.

"Hi, Darry," Soda said, voice hoarse and groggy but he was up and smiling for the time being and that's all that mattered.

"Hey, little buddy," Darry smiled, walking over to his side of the bed and rested a hand on his head as he sat on the edge. "How do you feel?"

"A little better. My ribs hurt like hell but my head isn't as bad anymore."

"Good."

"Is Ponyboy alright?" Soda asked, face suddenly more glum.

"He'll be alright kiddo. He's just a little sick, remember?" Darry said, keeping his voice low when his eyes started to squint slightly, as if his head started to hurt again.

"Oh, alright." he said, sounding as if he was unsure.

"Aw, Pepsi's just worried because he tried to wake pony up before but all that happened was a weird groaning noise that came out of his mouth." Two-Bit joked. Soda smiled at him.

"Aw, well, he's alright buddy." He said, grabbing a new bottle of aspirin off the nightstand. "Why don't you take some medicine and go back to sleep. You want anything to eat?" Soda shook his head at that, but took the two Aprins Darry held out in his hand and swallowed them with a sip of water.

"Thanks, Dar." He said, before closing his eyes and falling to sleep rather quickly. His attitude changed like the weather during tornado season in Oklahoma, but he figured that was to be expected with a head injury and tried not to worry about it too much.

Well, at least someone was starting to recover.

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A/N: Things will start getting better after this chapter I swear lol