A/N:Request from cant_be_arsed! Yes, the title is in reference to the musical. No, I have not been flown out to New York all expenses paid to see it. Please keep me in your thoughts during this trying time as I am still not over it.

October 1956

Darry: 11

Sodapop: 8

Ponyboy: 5

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis the answer is no and that is final!"

Soda dramatically stomped away, leaving his mother to clean the kitchen on her own. It was a sunny October day with a slight breeze; the perfect kind of day to go to the park. After much pleading, begging, and tantruming, though, Margaret Curtis had insisted there was simply too much to get done around the house to go to the park today.

Soda plopped down on the couch in a huff, crossing his arms in frustration. Ponyboy, who had previously been invested in a cartoon, noticed his brother's behavior and was quick to mimic it. Ponyboy thought Sodapop walked on water and made it a point to copy everything his big brother did.

"It's so unfair that Darry gets to go fishing with Dad and we have to sit around at home," declared Soda.

"So unfair," agreed Ponyboy.

"I don't get why Mom says we're too little to go to the park by ourselves! I just turned eight, I'm big enough to watch us even if the park's kinda far," continued Sodapop.

"Big enough," repeated Ponyboy.

Soda suddenly turned to face his brother. "Are you going to repeat everything I say?" he asked.

Ponyboy didn't know what to say and instead opted for a shrug.

The boys turned back to the cartoon, though Soda found he was unable to focus. His temper flared each time he glanced out the window, simply wanting to be outside. Sure, he and Pony could play outside as long as they stayed in the neighborhood, but it wasn't the same as the park. The angrier Soda got the more he thought about what he could do about it. Then it hit him.

"Psst—Ponyboy," Soda whispered, poking his brother. "You wanna run away with me?"

"To where?" Ponyboy asked as he glanced nervously toward the kitchen where his mother stood cleaning. Ponyboy didn't like to be in trouble, nor did he like to stray far from home.

"I dunno, anywhere really. Maybe Oklahoma City?" Soda suggested.

Ponyboy didn't particularly want to run away, but he didn't want his big brother to think he was a baby. Any idea of Soda's surely couldn't be a bad one, right?

"Okay," Ponyboy reluctantly agreed, "but we gotta be back tomorrow so I can go to church with Mama."

Soda rolled his eyes but decided that running away for a night would be enough to show his mom his frustration.

"Go pack your bag, I'll pack mine," Sodapop instructed, pulling Ponyboy up by the hand.

Soda dumped the contents of his school backpack onto the floor of his bedroom and began filling it with an assortment of clothes and supplies. He decided that he wouldn't risk taking up space with something like a toothbrush, and instead opted to bring the important things, like Darry's switchblade Mom and Dad didn't know about, and a comb. He also dug under Darry's bed to find his secret snack stash, taking multiple handfuls of candy for him and Pony. Soda knew that stealing from Darry was a big risk, but he was serious about running away.

Once he finished packing, Sodapop zipped up his backpack and went to see how Pony's was coming along. He found his brother unsuccessfully attempting to shove a dozen picture books into his tiny backpack.

"Pony there's not even clothes in here, why're you bringing so many books?" Sodapop asked.

Ponyboy shrugged, looking through his books once more and weighing his options before removing a few from the pile. "I don't wanna get bored," he simply said.

Soda rolled his eyes as Ponyboy finally zipped his practically bulging backpack closed. Sodapop took his younger brother by the hand and led him to the kitchen where Margaret had started dinner.

"We're running away," Sodapop declared, Ponyboy being quick to nod along.

Margaret Curtis looked her two boys up and down and couldn't help but smile. "All right, just stay in the neighborhood, and be home in time for dinner," she said.

Sodapop grabbed his brother's hand once more and confidently marched the two of them out the door. His mother may not believe him now, but come nighttime she'd realize that he meant business.

The two brothers had made their way down the street when they spotted Two-Bit Matthews smoking on his front porch, trying to look tough.

"Howdy Little Curtis, Little-er Curtis. Where are you two off to?" Two-Bit asked.

"Pony and I are running away, wanna come?" Soda replied.

Two-Bit simply shook his head and laughed. "You guys won't make it two more blocks before you turn around and come home."

"No we won't! We're taking a bus to Oklahoma City, ain't that right Pony?" Soda countered.

Ponyboy nodded eagerly at his brother's words.

"All right then, don't come crying to me when you get lost and can't find your way home," Two-Bit said, and with that, the two brothers were off once more.

They had only made it one street over when Sodapop noticed the sweat forming on Ponyboy's brow. "You doin' okay there Pony?" he asked.

Ponyboy shook his head before quickly turning away. Soda knew his brother well enough to know that he was trying to hide his tears from him.

"What's wrong Pony?" Soda asked.

"My backpack's too heavy and I miss Mama. And what about Dad and Darry? Ain't they gonna wonder where we went?" Ponyboy lamented.

Soda thought quietly for a moment. It was at this point that he realized his plan may not have been as fool-proof as he had liked to believe. He had no idea how they were going to pay for bus tickets to Oklahoma City, let alone how to find a bus stop that would get them there. Now he was standing on a street corner, a backpack full of candy on his back and a crying little brother at his side, and he didn't have a clue what he was doing.

"Alright Pony we can go home, but only so I can come up with a better plan. We'll run away next week, okay?" Soda reassured.

Ponyboy quickly wiped his eyes and nodded, glad he wasn't a complete disappointment to his brother.

The two brothers turned around and began making their way back home, the walk home feeling much longer than the walk there. They passed Two-Bit Matthews once again, still smoking on his porch. He simply laughed at the two brothers before returning to his cigarette.

Soda shook his head at him. Thinks he knows everything just because he's nine, he thought.

After what felt like hours, but was likely only 30 minutes, Sodapop and Ponyboy returned to the safety of their home. They walked in to find the rest of the family sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying dinner. Ponyboy quickly threw down his backpack and ran to his parents, secretly glad they hadn't run away for real. Soda closed the door slowly in defeat, knowing that his master plan had failed.

"So how was your adventure Sodapop?" Darrel Curtis asked, chuckling. His wife had filled him in on his middle child's antics already.

"Oh it was fine, we just had to come home 'cause of Ponyboy and all," Sodapop said, trying to shrug his failure off.

"Nuh-uh, you said we could come back!" countered Ponyboy, causing the table to laugh.

"Come eat your dinner Soda, I saved you a plate," Margaret said.

Soda plopped down into his usual seat, not missing the way Darry was snickering at him.

"You really showed them Sodapop, didn't ya?" Darry teased.

Soda glared back at his older brother and pretended to be mad, but he knew deep down he'd rather be home too.

A/N:It's a fun challenge to try and write these brothers as younger without making them OOC! I imagined Ponyboy was a quieter kid, mainly opting for nodding and shrugging. Sodapop was of course confident, unable to see the flaws in his master plan. Darry was still the logical one, and obviously would've put a stop to an idea like this but got to poke fun at Soda in the end. Let me know what you think of the story, thanks for reading!