This is what would've happened if the Curtis brother's parents died when they were really young. Darry is 15, Sodapop is 11, and Ponyboy is 9.
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"Darry...?" Ponyboy pushes open my bedroom door and steps inside.
"Yeah Pony?"
"I had that nightmare again." He says. I can hear the unshed tears in his voice. I quickly sit up.
"Come here, sweetheart." I open my arms and he runs into them. He's sobbing into my chest. I stroke his hair and kiss the top of his head.
"You can sleep with me tonight, okay?" He nods and lays down. I pulls the blanket onto us and wrap my arms around his shoulders. He cries for a little while longer, then his breathing begins to steady.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I wake up a few hours later to the sound of sobbing. I look at Ponyboy, who is still sound asleep. It must be Sodapop. I stand up and begin walking towards the door. Then Ponyboy grabs my arm.
"Darry... where're you going?" He asks.
"I'm just gonna go check on Soda, Okay? I'll be right back." He lets go of my wrist. I open Soda's bedroom door.
"Hey, little buddy. Everything okay?" He doesn't answer me. He doesn't even look up. He just continues crying. I walk in and sit on the edge of his bed.
"Sodapop." He still doesn't answer.
"Buddy, look at me." He looks up at me but still doesn't answer. "I know you miss mom and dad. I do too. So does Ponyboy. But we have to move on. We can't stay depressed forever. Then life won't be any fun."
"I can't move on! I don't have a family anymore! And the accident happened a month ago! I can't get over it that quickly! It's too soon!" He buries his head in his hands.
"Soda, you do have a family. You still have me and Pony, and the rest of the gang. And I know it's gonna take some time to get over the initial shock of the whole thing but you've gotta stay positive. Mom and dad are watching us from heaven. And you know what dad would say if he say you crying. 'Pepsi-Cola! Be a man! Curtis men don't cry!'" He chuckles a bit then throws himself into my arms.
"Thanks for not throwing us in a boys home, Darry." He says. Then Ponyboy comes in and climbs onto the bed and sits in between us.
"I could never abandoned my little brothers. You guys are the most special things in the world to me." I yawn and lay down. "Now let's go to sleep. I'm beat." Soda curls up on one side of me and Pony curls up on the other. I lay my arms over them.
"Goodnight, little brothers."
