We Couldn't Get Along Without Ya

19

When I woke up, I almost panicked until I realized where I was: the back of Darry's truck.

"Morning." Pony said, looking over at me. He was in the back with me and Soda and Darry were in front, Soda was asleep and Darry was driving.

"Hey Pone." I said back, rubbing my eyes. As I did so, I saw my arm was all bandaged up and I was still wearing my Grand Canyon clothes. I wondered if they grabbed my other clothes before leaving.

"Do you want your sweatshirt? We grabbed your stuff before we left." Pony asked.

I gave him a weird look. "How did you know I was wondering that?"

"Eh, you had a weird look on your face while looking at your short sleeves." He shrugged. "Want it?" He asked, holding up the sweatshirt.

Part of me wanted to say 'yes' and cover up my arm. But what use was it? My brothers knew and the gang was going to find out anyway. It didn't really matter. So I shook my head no.

Pony smiled and put it back on the floor between our feet. I knew he had expected me to say yes and I could see he was happy I didn't.

"Ya know, I really was worried about you. We all missed you like crazy. You can see that, right? You know how bad we missed you, don't you?" Pony asked.

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you? Do you get the full extent of it? Steve and Two-Bit cried. Dally had no idea what to do. Johnny was so scared."

"Oh."

"Look, I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty, I'm saying it to make you realize how much you mean to us and if you ever killed yourself, none of us would make it. We couldn't get along without you. We love you."

I smiled a little and felt the urge to cry. "That was sweet, Pony. I love you too."

Soda woke up then. "Hey, look, everyone's awake. Does that mean we can stop and get breakfast?"

Darry shook his head and laughed. "Soda, it is 3 in the morning, we're almost home."

"Well, in that case, I think I'll tell y'all a story."

"Oh no." Pony fake groaned, all of us actually loving when Soda told 'stories,' which were really just long-winded jokes.

"Well it goes a little something like this..."

Soda had us laughing for the rest of the ride. It was what he did best: he made us happy when we were down. And it was nice to be back with him, and my other brothers, for that matter. I should've never left. Yet a part of me still wished I hadn't been found.

Finally, around 3:30, Darry stopped in front of our house. I'd only been gone 5 days but it felt like forever since I'd seen my home. Although at the same time, it felt like it was too soon.

I headed to my room and collapsed onto my bed. I stared at the ceiling and realized I was not going to sleep. So, I opted to lay in silence and think for awhile.