"Rise and shine, honey," Sodapop sing-songed. Ponyboy's eyes cracked open. "Mmmmhh," he groaned, feeling rather cranky. He didn't eat dinner the previous night, and it had certainly caught up to him.
"C'mon, kiddo, it's Sunday! I was going to take you swimming today, but, seeing as you're too tired," Sodapop started, his wild grin growing sly as he noticed Ponyboy's eyes shoot open at the mention of swimming.
"Okay, okay, I'm up..." Ponyboy rubbed the sleep from his eyes, which were still adjusting to the light. "When were you gonna take me?"
Sodapop chuckled. "Oh, so now you're gettin' up?" He earned a playful jab in the arm from his younger brother, who looked rather unamused.
"Alright, alright," Soda budged, "I'm takin' you at noon. I wanna make sure you eat breakfast, because I know you didn't eat dinner. Money's been tight, I know... And we're sorry, baby, both me and Darry. We're sorry that we can't give you the... Upbringing... That them Socs got. We can hate them all we want, but we know they've got it better. And we're awful sorry, Ponyboy, that we can barely even feed you. We ain't the greatest brothers, and-"
Ponyboy cut him off. "Shut up!" He cried. "Just... Shut up..." He scrubbed his eye with the heel of his palm. "You don't get to say that, man! Not after everything we've been through! Because, even if we don't have money... At least we know how to love, and that's somethin' the Socs can't barely even dream of, Soda!"
He paused, clutching Soda's sleeve like a life reserve. "And you wanna know why?! Because you can't never love somethin' till you know what it's like to damn near lose it! And rich kids don't know a gosh darn thing about losing! So don't you go blubberin' about not bein' good to me, or bein' poor, or any of that bullshit, 'cause you've got love, damn it, and that's more than the world can say!"
He deeply inhaled, realizing that he just broke down for the first time in years. "I'm... Sorry, Soda. That wasn't like me... I don't know what came over me-" Sodapop's voice cut right through his apology. "Are you kidding? Christ, Ponyboy, with thinking like that, I'd almost be angry with you for not talking so much if I didn't know any better."
Ponyboy tilted his head, only to be met with a playful flick to the cheek. "I'm sayin' you're smart, kid. C'mon, I'm making chorizo, and you get to make the tortillas today."
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rather short chapter today ^^; what did you think?
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His Homage
Fanfiction"Oh- Oh, my God," Dally sputtered. Johnny whirled around to face him. "Do you think he's gonna be okay?" Two-Bit held his breath, reluctantly punching in Darry's phone number. [suicide, self-harm] (modern AU)
