[Ponyboy's POV]
I opened my eyes slowly, blinking as I attempted to orient myself to my surroundings. The last thing I clearly remembered was feeling lousy and laying down on the couch after school. Was it already evening? And how did I get in my bed? These questions remained unanswered as my eyes met Soda's as he sat next to me on our bed.
"What time is it?" I asked, hoping to get an idea of how many hours I'd been sleeping.
"Around 9:30," he responded, running his fingers through my hair.
"I've been asleep for six hours?!" I asked in disbelief.
Soda chuckled. "Try 30 hours, Pone," he said.
I stared at him in disbelief. It was the next day? I knew I was feeling sick, but I didn't think I was that sick. Soda must've noticed the panic on my face.
"Hey, you've just been running a fever, but you're okay. You haven't managed to eat much, though. You want any soup?" He asked, attempting to calm me down.
I realized that I was practically starving.
"Yeah, I could eat some soup," I said.
"Don't move, kay?" Soda said, planting a kiss on my head.
I watched as he left, wondering how bad off I really was. Sodapop didn't exactly run his hand through my hair and kiss my head every day of the week, those were the things my mom used to do when we were sick. I wondered where Darry was and if either of them had to take off work to take care of me. We couldn't afford to take days off, or really to get sick in the first place.
Soda came back into the room, carefully balancing a bowl of soup between his hands.
"How sick was I? And where's Darry? Did anyone have to take the day off?" I asked as I bombarded him with questions.
"Woah, slow down there Pone, you just woke up," he sighed. "You were pretty darn sick, but you seem to be doing better now. Darry's asleep, he took off work to take care of you but it's fine and you don't need to worry. We've been taking turns taking care of you and it's my turn, so eat your soup and quit your worrying," he lectured, sounding like Dad.
I sighed and drank my soup as I noticed Sodapop watching me carefully. He kept reassuring me I was fine, and yet he wouldn't stop hovering or lose the worried look on his face.
"I'm fine, Soda. You can stop staring you know," I insisted.
Soda laughed loudly and ruffled my hair. "I know, I know."
My ears perked at the sound of footsteps down the hall, and my eyes moved to the door to see a bleary-eyed Darry poking his head through the doorway.
"Hey Ponyboy, how ya feeling!" He asked, alarmingly cheerfully. Definitely not typical Darry.
"Fine," I say, hesitating, "Did something happen that I don't realize?"
Darry and Soda shared a look before my oldest brother spoke up.
"You were just real sick there for a minute Pony, we didn't know if we were gonna need to take you to the hospital or not," Darry explained solemnly.
"Oh, well I'm feeling better now, so you don't need to worry," I declared with false confidence.
Truthfully, I wasn't exactly feeling one hundred percent, but I didn't want my brothers to worry. They seemed to pick up on this, though, so I quickly changed the subject.
"Did I miss anything?" I asked, hoping to ease their worries.
Sodapop then launched into some stories about customers he'd encountered at work, arm wrestling competitions he'd won with Steve on his break, the candy Two-Bit had stolen, a typical DX shift. I wasn't really listening, though, vaguely aware of my grip of the bowl loosening and my eyes closing.
The next thing I knew I was laying back down with a blanket tucked around me, this time with a brother on either side. I fell back asleep knowing that I was within the safety of their arms.
Epilogue
[Darry's POV]
I noticed Ponyboy falling asleep as Soda rambled on about his workday. I was grateful he was doing better, but I knew he likely still needed to rest. I made eye contact with Soda and tilted my head toward Pony, signaling that his audience probably wasn't listening anymore. Sodapop simply chuckled and gently took the empty bowl from Pony's hands.
I slowly removed the pillows propping him up and laid him back down, supporting his head and gently laying it on the pillow. Sodapop began to tuck him in as I went to leave before I felt a hand on my arm. I turned around to see Soda reaching out to me.
"You should stay, he'd want both of us."
I hesitated; Soda was usually the one who comforted Ponyboy. The pleading look in his eyes changed my mind, though, and I knew I wanted to be close to Pony anyway. We squeezed onto the bed with either of us at Pony's sides, holding him within the safety of our arms.