Work Text:
“Soda, is that an ace up your sleeve I see there?” Steve remarks, raising one eyebrow at Soda from across the table.
It was a typical Friday night for the gang, huddled around the Curtis’s dining table with cards and loose change scattered everywhere. Poker nights were their thing—half the fun was in the banter, the other half in trying, and failing, to catch someone cheating.
“An ace? Me? Never.” Soda grinned, trying his best to look innocent.
“Sure, because you’d never cheat,” Steve said, rolling his eyes. “You’re about as subtle as Two-Bit at a liquor store.”
“Hey!” Two-Bit protested with a drink in his hand.
“So let me get this straight,” he continued, switching topics, “Mr and Mrs Curtis used to take y’all camping in Colorado? Why Colorado?” Two-bit questions as he takes another sip of his beer.
“That’s where Dad grew up yeah?” Soda says, looking over at Darry as if to confirm.
Darry nods, smiling at Soda, “He’d take us to his favourite spot, this small campsite surrounded by hills and trees.”
“They only took us a couple times, but it was real nice” Soda looks down at his cards, smiling sadly at the memories.
“What’s stopping us?” Two-bit blurts out.
“Huh?”
“Why don’t we go? Tomorrow morning. Hell, I can get us a van that’ll fit us all.”
Steve splutters, nearly choking on his drink, "Two-Bit, how the hell are you gonna find a van by tomorrow?"
“I know a guy…”
“I dunno man,” Dally says slowly, taking another puff of his cigarette.
“C’mon you lot” Two-bit urges, looking hopefully around the table until eventually, everyone gives in.
“Alright fine,” Darry sighs, “We’d better call it a night then, everyone meet back here in the morning.”
There’s a mix of reactions as everyone starts getting up, some more eager for the trip than others.
“I think it’ll be fun,” Pony smiles as he hands Soda his cards.
“It will be… and I think Mom n’ Dad would be happy we’re doing this,” Soda says softly, giving Pony a side hug before packing up the rest of the deck.
////
Around 8 am was when noise was heard throughout the Curtis house, each greaser with something to do.
Well, not everyone.
“Steve, why aren’t you packing?” Soda stops in front of Steve, who has indulged himself in chocolate cake.
“Already packed, it’s in the van,” Steve says through multiple bites of cake.
Soda shakes his head, “You’re gonna regret eating all that later.” Before Steve could respond, Soda walks off.
“Pfft, whatever,” Steve grumbles under his breath.
As Soda walks outside with his freshly packed bags, he’s greeted by the sight of a confused and exasperated Darry who’s staring at the newly arrived van.
“Two-Bit…” Darry pinches the bridge of his nose, “Why the fuck does the van say ‘free candy’ on it?” he sighs.
“Like I said, I know a guy.” Two-bit shrugs as he helps Johnny load his stuff in.
Soon, the gang had loaded their gear into the van.
“Wait, who’s sitting where?” Pony asks, looking inside the van.
Two-bit heads towards the driver's seat, “I’ll drive!” He announces with a grin.
“No Two-bit, you will not be driving.” Darry places a hand on Two-bit’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I don’t really plan on dying today—”
“Oh shut your trap Steve,” Two-bit rolls his eyes, punching Steve’s shoulder jokingly as he walks to the other side of the van.
Darry sighs, “I’ll drive.”
Eventually, after some minor arguments, everyone piles into the van.
Darry takes the driver's seat, with Two-bit playing passenger princess. Soda and Steve take the next 2 seats, with Johnny and Pony behind them, and Dally stretching out in the very back.
They finally drive off, and for once everything seems somewhat peaceful.
But of course, that can’t last long.
“How long till we’re there–”
“Ponyboy Michael Curtis, I swear to god if you keep asking that this entire trip, I WILL drop you off on the side of the road,” Darry snaps, looking at Pony through the rearview mirror.
Pony looks back down at his book, mentally noting not to ask that again.
The gang starts to settle a bit, attempting to entertain themselves.
Two-Bit sticks his head out the window, yelling at passing cars. Soda and Steve’s card game keeps getting progressively louder, Johnny looks over Pony’s shoulder as he reads and Dally sprawls out in the back, enjoying having the space to himself.
“Could you two stop being so loud?” Pony rolls his eyes looking up, unable to concentrate.
“Sorry Pones.”
“Whatever Pony.”
Dallas is unbothered by whatever is going on, deciding to take a nap.
As Johnny continues to read over Pony’s shoulder though, he suddenly starts to get more and more pale.
Pony looks over at Johnny, “Uh… Johnny? You ok?” he asks, concerned.
“I think I’ma be sick…”
“OH GOD!”
“DARRY PULL OVER!”
The gang scrambles to help, and Darry pulls over as quickly as he can.
But it’s too late.
“...shit.”
Johnny looks at the ground embarrassed, “Sorry.”
“It’s all good Johnnycakes, okay I guess we’re gonna have to find a gas station and stop,” Darry sighs, looking back at poor Johnny who’s trying not to cry.
Pony rubs Johnny’s back to try and comfort him, secretly grateful it didn’t get on himself.
Before they know it, the gang arrives at the closest gas station.
“Darry… this gas station looks a little weird,” Soda whispers as they get out the van, looking at the not-so-nice gas station they’ve stopped at.
Darry sighs, “It’ll be fine, we’ll just be quick.” He gives the gang a reassuring look before heading inside, the gang trailing behind him.
The Greasers all split off, with most of them on the hunt for snacks. Darry starts cleaning the van, looking over at Johnny every once in a while who is still looking pale than ever as he leans against the car.
“Two for the price of one, hell yeah,” Steve exclaims, looking over at Soda as the two grab all the deals they can.
Pony sneaks off from the gang's view as he goes to the bathroom.
“Don’t any of y’all go puking after eating all that shit,” Darry grumbles looking at the amount of junk the boys bought. Johnny feels nauseous again just looking at it all.
The moment Johnny drops into his seat he’s out like a light, not noticing that a certain person isn't sitting next to him as they drive off…
As Pony walks out of the bathroom, wiping his hands on his jeans, he looks around to find a snack.
‘Dang, the other’s must’ve been quick, no one’s in here’ He thinks to himself as he picks out a cheap candy bar.
Pony looks around the isles to try and find anyone- mainly one of his brothers to pay for him, but out of luck, he goes and uses the last bit of spare change in his pocket to buy it.
Ponyboy walks out of the gas station, hoping Darry managed to clean all the vomit when he stops in his tracks.
‘Where’s the van?’
He was certain this is where Darry parked, and the gas station is pretty empty. The van isn’t hard to miss that’s for sure.
‘Did they forget me?’ is Pony’s immediate first thought. ‘Johnny surely would've noticed right? Soda too?’
Pony’s chest feels tight as he races back inside, unsure of what to do.
‘Soda was talking about this being a weird gas station... What if I get kidnapped!?’
Ponyboy’s heart aches and tears line his eyes as he curls up in a small spot against the drinks fridge.
‘They really did forget about me.’
////
Meanwhile, in the van, It’s quiet… too quiet, though no one seems to pick up on it as they’re all focused on their own things.
Johnny’s still not feeling great, falling in and out of a restless sleep.
“Pony?” Johnny mumbles out of the blue, his eyes still closed.
Steve raises an eyebrow, turning to Soda confused “Johnny he’s next to ya.”
There’s no response from Pony, causing the two boys to turn around.
“No he ain’t...” Soda says, not processing it at first.
…
“Oh my god no he ain’t.”
////
Ponyboy has not moved from his spot, too scared to roam around. He’s suddenly startled when the old and only gas station worker is suddenly looming over him.
“You lost?” The older man croaks out, his voice gruff. ‘Boy howdy, he could sure be a serial killer’ is all that crowds Pony’s mind as he refuses to make eye contact.
"Uh, no- no, I-I’m fine," Ponyboy manages to whisper, though even he doesn’t believe it. The man studies him for a moment, somewhat convinced. With a small glance back at Ponyboy, he returns to the counter.
Ponyboy hugs his knees tighter to his chest, the movement doing little to shield him from the coldness of the fridge against him. His heart continues to ache, and his thoughts circle endlessly back to the gang.
Sure, he was angry at them, but the pain of being forgotten cut deeper than he could have imagined. He couldn't get his mind off of the fact that his own brothers didn't even notice-
The gas station door bursts open as a very worried Sodapop rushes in, his eyes scanning the isles until he sees his little brother, all curled up against the drinks fridge looking petrified.
“Ponyboy? Pony- oh thank god!”
Soda runs up to Ponyboy, suddenly stopping when he realises how distressed his little brother looks. Instead, he slows down more, carefully crouching down in front of Pony.
Ponyboy mumbles something, refusing to make eye contact with Soda.
“What was that honey?”
Tears stream faster down Pony’s cheeks, “You left without me…I was so scared,” He says, barely above a whisper.
Soda feels guiltier than ever as he sighs, knowing that he let his baby brother down, “Kiddo I’m so sorry, I thought you were in the van I promise, we didn’t leave on purpose.”
“I know that probably doesn’t mean much, but I'm sorry.”
And then, the dam breaks.
Soda hugs Pony, letting Pony hide his face in his neck as he rubs his back,
“I’m so sorry colt.”
After what feels like forever, Pony starts to pull away from the embrace and wipes his eyes.
“Wanna head back now?” Soda asks, standing up and holding out his hand to Pony.
Ponyboy nods, taking Soda's hand as he stands up too, dusting himself off.
The walk back to the van is silent, Soda rubbing Pony’s shoulder as they make it to the door.
The moment Pony steps into the van, he’s met with even more guilty faces.
No one speaks for a bit until Darry sighs, “We’re real sorry Pones, I should’ve been more aware of everything going on.”
Everyone else nods and agrees with Darry, apologising as Pony walks back to his seat bright red, feeling quite embarrassed and awkward.
Johnny looks at Pony, even still not feeling great he gives Ponyboy an apologetic look.
“Okay, y’all can stop feeling all guilty now,” Pony grumbles after the van becomes silent after hitting the road again.
Everyone, almost on cue, starts back on entertaining themselves once again.
After all, they’ve still got a while to go.
////
It doesn’t take long for everyone to become bored again.
“How about we play uhhhh… eye spy!” Two-bit says out of the blue.
Pony smirks, “Ok, I’ll go first... Eye spy uh someone with a big ass nose.”
The gang immediately knows who Pony is talking about.
“OH THAT’S IT—” Steve turns around in his seat and reaches back to grab Ponyboy. Soda quickly steps in and holds Steve down before he can do anything, trying to hold back his laugh as he does.
As that commotion goes on in the back, Darry shakes his head as he tries to focus on the road, though the others do like to make it hard for him.
“Darry you missed the turn,” Two-bit says looking at him,
“I think I know where I’m going.”
“Ya sure? Because—”
“Two-bit, just shut up and be a passenger princess will ya?”
“Alright then.”
Two-bit decides to put his feet up on the dashboard, enjoying now being a passenger princess.
“...put your feet down.”
////
A little while after the chaotic eye spy game, Steve’s stomach starts hurting. He tries to hide it but Soda can tell he’s in pain.
Soda chuckles remembering his previous talk about having too much cake this morning, “Well I did try to warn ya—”
“Not. Now. Sodapop Patrick Curtis” Steve grumbles, not in the mood for an ‘I told you so’ moment.
The previous song on the radio ends and suddenly Elvis Presley's Hound Dog’ starts playing.
“DARRY TURN IT UP!” Pony chirps from the back, a grin forming on his face.
Soda tries not to chuckle, hiding his smile at seeing his kid brother so happy over a song.
Suddenly, something else catches Pony’s attention, “Woah, look at the sunset,” he whispers to Johnny.
Johnny raises one eyebrow, confused as to why Pony’s so mesmerised, “...It’s just a sunset?”
Ponyboy smiles, “A real nice one that’s for sure.”
“Hm, I never really look at sunsets, never noticed how nice they look, all golden and everything.”
As Johnny says that, it reminds Ponyboy of a book he’s reading.
“Nothing gold can stay,” he mutters under his breath, not even Johnny hearing.
Once again it’s somewhat quiet in the van, though I think we’ve learnt by now that doesn’t last long.
“Darrel stop the car,” Dally blurts out, quickly sitting up.
“...why?” Darry sighs.
“It’s an emergency.”
Darry chooses not to question it yet, stopping the car as Dally rushes out.
“What’s the emergency?” Darry asks, now concerned.
Dally avoids Darry’s eyes, “... I needed a smoke.”
“Dally you got smokes?” Pony hops out of the van quickly before Darry can even begin snapping at Dally for calling it an emergency.
“No Pony, don’t you even think about it,” Darry turns his direction to Pony.
“IT’S ONLY ONE!”
“YOU ALREADY SMOKED ABOUT HALF A PACK BEFORE WE LEFT!”
Soda gasps, also stepping out of the van, “Pony! We talked about this!”
"Shut up Soda, you're not my therapist" Ponyboy rolls his eyes, just wanting a goddamn weed, not a lecture.
The gang all end up getting out, taking this as some time to stretch for a bit. Darry eyes down Pony the whole time, knowing he can’t trust the teen to not sneak a cigarette, he also doesn’t have faith that Dallas won’t give him one.
Pony ends up forgetting about the cigarette, deciding to watch the sunset instead. Darry smiles looking at him, praying to god Pony never changes. His kid brother doesn’t always use his head, yes, but he’s going places, and his heart is in the right place.
Eventually, they get back on the road, Darry not wanting to waste any more time than they already have.
////
“Nearly there guys,” Darry says after passing a sign.
“Thank god—”
Pony’s cut off with Darry glaring at him through the mirror. Ponyboy doesn’t push it knowing Darry’s on his last straw with him.
It's silent once again... But not for long because Two-bit decides to crack a joke.
“How did Mickey Mouse feel when he first saw Minnie Mouse?” He grins.
“Huh—”
“It was GLOVE at first sight!”
This causes multiple groans.
“Of COURSE it’s a Mickey joke,” Pony groans.
“Tough crowd huh...”
Steve rolls his eyes, “Two-bit, that has got to be the worst joke I’ve ever heard.”
“Hey! Took me the whole trip to come up with that and look what I get in return.” Two-bit dramatically puts his hand to his chest, acting offended.
“Nah that was pretty good Two.”
“THANK YOU!, see at least Sodapop appreciates my amazing humour.”
“Soda you don’t have to lie to him—”
“Oh shut ya trap Steve, I'd like to see you try huh, you know humour like this doesn’t come naturally for everyone.” Two-bit cuts Steve off, turning back around with a smug grin when Steve just huffs.
And finally, after many long hours, the gang arrives at the campsite.
“Darry is this the place?” Soda asks, looking through the car window.
“Sure is.”
Soda smiles, “Just how I remember it.”
Darry parks the van and everyone starts getting their stuff out, eager to set up quickly.
Darry looks around, smiling sadly at the sight. As much as he’s happy they decided to do this, he can’t help thinking about all the memories with their parents here.
“They’d be real proud of ya Dar.” Soda smiles, walking up to Darry and slinging an arm around him. It’s almost like Soda could read his mind.
“...Thanks little buddy, they’d be just as proud of you too.”
The end <3