#by like

Pony was sitting on the kitchen table eating a slice of his chocolate cake when the realization hit him.

It’s not like Soda being late is a cause for concern - he’s always going places with Steve and Two-Bit after his shift at the DX. But he almost always tells Pony the morning of, even if it’s in an offhanded way.

The fork hovers above the plate as Pony tries to remember if Soda mentioned something to him. Was he going to the rodeo? Did he have something with Sandy? All Soda had said this morning when he left was, “bye Pone! See a later!”

Pony set his plate to the side as he slid off the table. He didn’t want to tell Darry because he didn’t want Soda to get into trouble (even if Darry would never yell at him) but what if something bad happened?

Pony paces the kitchen as he thinks. He practically could hear Two-Bit making fun of his overthinking, but he couldn’t help it. He tried to focus on finding solutions. Should get Johnny to help him search Tulsa? No, that’ll just end up with them getting distracted. Should he call Steve? Hard pass, Steve hates his guts, and besides he’s probably with Soda anyway. Pony chews the inside of his cheek, his imagination working in overtime. He tried hard to push any thought of a vehicle accident out of his head before he went crazy.

Pony’s head snaps to the door as he hears it bang open. The sound cut through the silence like a bullet, causing him to jump. His sigh of relief catches in this throat when he sees Soda - he’s got a bruise forming on his cheekbone and busted knuckles. Soda shot Pony a grin as he headed to their shared room, like this was just a regular work day.

“Soda, what-“ Pony follows Soda worried for his older brother.

“I’m good, Pone. Just a little tussle.” Soda smiles and ruffles Pony’s hair, trying to comfort him.

“But what happened?” Pony pesters his brother, not wanting to let him go without an explanation.

“Jus’ some Socs at the DX.” Soda sighs softly. “Mouthing off about me an’ Steve bein’ lousy greasers an’ they said something ‘bout his parents. I wasn’t gonna let that fly.” Soda rolled his shoulders back slightly. “An’ you know I never lose a fight.”

Pony gave his brother a look (it was both a why-would-you-do-that and for-Steve?-you’re-insane look).

Soda grinned as he caught his brother’s eye. “I’m just fine, honey. You should see the other guy. He looked something awful. Now, where’s that chocolate cake you said you were baking?”

Pony looked at his brother with a mixture of awe and incredulity. “It’s on the counter.”