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The first time it happened, Ponybot sat up in his bed, shock written all over his face. The last time he’d wet the bed was when he was just a little kid, so waking up to soaking wet sheets was definitely concerning.
What was even more concerning was the fact that Darth and Sodapop were sure to figure out if he didn’t clean this up right now. And they would only tease him for it, maybe even tell the rest of the gang.
That was something he couldn’t live with, so he took a deep breath, preparing to get up and clean it when his bedroom door swung open and Darry’s face peeked in.
“Oh! You’re already awake.” But when he studied his brother’s face for a little while longer, he noticed that something was wrong. “You okay, then?”
“I’m f-fine.” Dammit, he thought. He just had to stumble on his words.
“Whatever you say, Pony.” With another glare, he slipped out of the room, and Ponyboy jumped up, pulling his pants off faster than he ever had before. He threw them onto the bed, and just as he started to tear at the corner of his sheets, the door opened again.
He spun around, wearing nothing but his soaked underwear, and gasped. Sodapop stood staring in confusion.
“Ponyboy?” He couldn’t help but smile. “Did you piss yourself?” he laughed.
“Not so loud,” Ponyboy hissed. “You can’t tell Darry.” His older brother said nothing, but the smile didn’t falter. “Please, Soda. You can’t.”
“Alright, alright,” he sighed, throwing his hands up in surrender. “I won’t tell him. But how did you plan on cleaning this up?”
Ponyboy shrugged. “I was just gonna do it real quick before school.”
Then Sodapop laughed. “And you didn’t want Darry to know? Look, I’ll deal with it. I can call in sick today and get it all taken care of.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Ponyboy said, continuing to strip off his sheets. Sodapop stopped him.
“Go shower, Pony. I’ve got it.”
Ponyboy stared at him for a few seconds, not saying anything and then hurried to the bathroom to clean himself up before Darry saw him.
-
When he got home later that night, his bed was already made, and Sodapop was on the couch with Steve and Darry, watching cartoons. When he heard the front door open, he turned with a big smile.
“Hey, Pony. How was school?”
“H-hey, Soda. It was alright. How was your day?”
Steve chuckled and hit Sodapop in the stomach. “Said to his boss he was sick. Stayed home all day, and he wasn’t sick at all.”
He grinned at his little brother, but Darry got up. “You do that again, I’ll beat you, Soda.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Then Ponyboy glanced at the clock and started heading towards his room, relieved when he saw the sheets had been replaced. He laid down in the bed and sighed just as Sodapop came in after him.
“Soda? What are you doing?”
“I just thought I’d give you your pyjamas back.” He tossed the pants at Ponyboy on the bed. “Don’t want you to freeze tonight.”
“Thanks,” the younger boy mumbled. Then he closed his eyes.
-
It wasn’t until the morning that he woke up again, once again covered in his own piss. He got up out of the bed, hands shaking as he pulled off the jeans he forgot to take off the night before.
“Shit,” he cursed, throwing them onto the floor in rage. “God…”
The door opened, and Darry stepped in. “Ponyboy? What’s the matter with you?” Then he saw the bed, and he walked towards it, leaning down to sniff it before his eyes widened and he pulled away. “Shit, Ponyboy. You wet the bed?”
“Yeah I fucking wet the bed!” he shouted back, and Darry put a hand over his mouth.
“Will you shut it?” he whispered. “Unless you want the others to know about this, you better hush your mouth.”
He picked up the jeans on the floor and put them in the middle of the bed, wrapping the sheets around them. “Darry, I can clean it up myself.”
“Like hell you can. Just go clean yourself up before anyone else sees you, okay?”
Ponyboy shook his head. “Why are you being so nice?”
“Just don’t want you to be too embarrassed,” Darry mumbled. “Go clean yourself, kid. Can’t have you late for school.”
Ponyboy sniffled and nodded, scampering off to shower once again. But in his hurry, he didn’t even see Sodapop walking down the hall and ran right into him.
“Whoa, Pony,” he chuckled. “What are you in such a hurry for?” Then he noticed that his little brother was wearing next to nothing, and his underwear were wet, once again. Before the younger boy could even find the words to explain himself, he ran past Sodapop and into the bathroom.
Sodapop, in turn, went to Ponyboy’s room to find Darry cleaning up the sheets. “Darry…?”
Darry turned around. “You should go, Soda. I doubt he wants anybody seeing this.”
“It happened last night, too.”
Darry picked up his bundle of sheets and started to head out the door. “What do you mean?”
Sodapop followed him on his way to the laundry room, glad that Steve and Two-Bit were the opposite way in the small house. “It’s the reason I stayed home yesterday. To clean up for him.”
Darry sighed. “You risked gettin’ fired for that, Soda.” Then his anger melted into sympathy. “You could’ve just told me, you know. I would have had it cleaned up before any of us left.”
“Darry, he was fuckin’ scared. Sounded like he thought you’d beat him for it.”
The older boy looked Sodapop up and down and saw that he was telling the truth. “Well, I won’t. Not for something he couldn’t control.”
“Poor kid probably thinks this is his fault.”
“You said it happened last night,” Darry said as he started the washer, and Sodapop nodded. “What d’you think is causing it?”
“I dunno,” he whispered. “Could be stressed. I mean, it hasn’t been too long since mom and dad--”
“Shut up!” Darry suddenly snapped. “Just… shut up. Don’t talk about them.”
“I just think that maybe…” His words died down when he saw Darry’s face. It looked like he was about to cry, but the anger almost hid it entirely. “Sorry.”
“I think you’re right, though.” Darry punched the washer and started on his way to the door. “Talk to him, Soda. Maybe you can fix this.”
-
That night, Ponyboy avoided talking to the rest of the gang and instead, sat on his bed, reading a book. When Sodapop walked in, he didn’t even look up.
“Hey, there, Pony. Could I talk to you about something?”
“Sure,” his little brother responded, not even looking up from his book.
“So, you’ve wet the bed twice now.” Ponyboy looked up and threw his book onto the floor. “Now, before you get too mad at me, I just want to say that you’re not in trouble or anything, but maybe we should talk about what’s causing it.”
“You think if I knew what was causing it, I’d let it keep happening?”
“Hey, I’m not saying you’re doing it on purpose. Calm down. I’m just… maybe it’s stress, you know? Maybe because of mom and dad, maybe school?”
“I’m not fuckin’ stressed, Soda! Just leave.”
“God, it’s okay to be stressed. I was pretty stressed after they died, too, you know.” Ponyboy said nothing. “Has school been okay?” Hesitantly, he shook his head. “Want to talk about it?”
This earned him a glare. “No. I’m not talking about my feelings.”
“Pony…”
“I’m not gonna piss the bed again. Just leave it alone.”
“What if you do?”
“Leave.” Soda didn’t get up. “Leave!” With a shaky breath, he did leave, and he knew Darry wouldn’t be happy about it.