Chapter Text
Darry woke up alone in his bed, sighing as he missed his brother’s comfort. Darry could hear some muffled arguing coming from the kitchen. Darry got up and stretched, then changed into some clothes for the day and walked out of his room to the kitchen.
He walked over to see Ponyboy sighing and shaking his head, “I am not letting you make our pancakes blue, Soda.” Ponyboy sounded disappointed in Sodapop as he held the blue food dye in his hand. Darry smiles as he realizes what likely happened.
Ponyboy was probably making pancakes and looked away for a second, but not long enough for Sodapop to slip in the blue food dye.
“Darry loves blue pancakes, I don’t see what you mean.” Sodapop replied. It seems like the two of them didn’t even notice standing there.
Ponyboy sighs and sets the food dye back into the cabinet, “Soda, just one morning without blue pancakes..”
“Alright, fine.” Sodapop rolled his eyes and sighed. Darry chuckles, catching the attention of both of them. Ponyboy turns around and smiles once he sees Darry.
“Morning Darry!” Ponyboy said.
“Morning, Dar.” Sodapop also smiled at Darry.
“Good morning you two, I see Pony is attempting to make some pancakes?” Darry leans against the counter as Ponyboy realizes he should keep watch on the pancakes so they won't burn.
“And I also see you got into the food dye again?” Darry turns to Sodapop. Somehow Sodapop got through the lock Darry put on the cabinet that held the food dye, Darry honestly didn’t even know how Sodapop managed that.
Sodapop grins, “You will never be able to keep me away from my food coloring.”
They all sit down at the dining table with their normal boring brown pancakes after Ponyboy finishes them. Of course they will never be as good as Darry’s pancakes, but they still tasted great.
“Hey, Darry?” Sodapop started to say in the middle of breakfast.
“Mhm?” Darry responds and takes another bite of his pancake.
“I called your boss today, got ya a day off.” Sodapop said, glancing at Darry to see if his reaction was good or not. Darry hums and nods his head. He usually wouldn’t want to take a day off of work so he could pay the bills, but even he knew he needed a break after what happened the day before.
Sodapop smiled at Darry and nudged Ponyboy in the bicep, “He likes your idea.” Ponyboy glances up from his pancakes, having zoned out the entire conversation since he was just enjoying his food.
Ponyboy glances at Darry then back at Sodapop, pancakes still in his mouth as he spoke, “What?” Both Darry and Sodapop laughed at his reply.
Kinda a scene shift? Kinda? Eh, good enough.
Sodapop unfortunately still needed to go to work that day, but he was able to get a later shift so he could hang out a bit more in the morning. However, that did mean he was going to be home later instead.
Ponyboy jumps onto Sodapop’s back before he leaves, taking him down to the floor. Ponyboy laughs and then he and Sodapop start to wrestle playfully. It continued for a few minutes until Ponyboy saw that Darry was just watching them do this, and decided to pull him down to the floor with them by his wrist.
Both Ponyboy and Sodapop decided to gang up on Darry and trap him. Ponyboy grabbed Darry by the legs, and Sodapop put Darry in a headlock.
They thought they had him, but then he did some weird move neither of them saw before and then put Sodapop in a headlock. Ponyboy sits up and leans back on his hands as he watches Darry and Sodapop wrestle. Ponyboy laughs as he realizes it’s less of wrestling and more of Darry beating Sodapop up. (Not actually, pretend kinda y’know?)
Eventually Sodapop gives up, panting as he and Darry stop wrestling. “Those were some new moves I haven’t seen before..” Sodapop said with a grin. Darry shrugs. Then Darry smirks and pulls Ponyboy into a hug to rub his knuckles into Ponyboy’s hair. (Does that make sense, I think it does?)
Ponyboy laughs and struggles to get out of Darry’s grip, reaching his hand out to Sodapop for help. Sodapop shakes his head with a grin and joins Darry, starting to tickle Ponyboy. Ponyboy laughs harder and tries to kick and punch both Darry and Sodapop off before just giving up and trying to block the attacks instead.
Eventually the two of them stop torturing the poor boy and let him breathe from laughing so much. “You alright, bro?” Sodapop asked with a grin. Ponyboy nods his head and gave him a thumbs up, making both Sodapop and Darry chuckle.
“Well, I should be headin’ off now.” Sodapop said as he stood up and dusted off his uniform.
Darry also stands up, “Alright, hope ya have a good day at work.” Ponyboy stays on the floor and smiles up at Sodapop. Sodapop leaves with a wave, Ponyboy waves back as Darry practically collapses onto the couch.
Ponyboy chuckles, “Ya good over there, Darry?” Darry nods his head in response. Ponyboy hums and goes to grab a random book he knew Darry liked at some point. Darry wasn’t one for reading often or much at all, but he did have a favorite book. It was one his father gave him. (No I ain’t saying what book it is, cuz I have no idea)
Ponyboy sat down on the floor again and leaned against the couch, starting to read the book to Darry. Ponyboy kept reading the book until he heard Darry snoring.ponyboy smiled and quietly closed the book, then got up and put it back on the shelf.
Ponyboy grabbed his sketchbook, a pencil, an erasure, and a fine pen. Ponyboy sat parallel to Darry, his knees up to his chest as he began to sketch Darry sleeping. Ke sketched until he felt he got everything right, then he gently erased the lines a bit so they are a bit lighter. He grabbed his pen and started to trace over his sketch lines and make it look finished. (I bet y’all wish you could have that drawing. (Me too))
Once Ponyboy was done, he added the date and then just started to doodle on the next page with random small things. He had just finished doodling and filling up the entire page when Darry woke up with a soft groan.
Ponyboy closed his sketchbook and set his supplies down in favor of Darry waking up instead. “Morning, Dar, did ya have a nice nap?” Ponyboy asked, even though it wasn’t actually morning.
“Yeah I did, but it also ain’t morning.” Darry replied. Ponyboy rolled his eyes with a smile.
“Afternoon, how about that?” Ponyboy said. Darry chuckles and rolls his eyes himself.
“What time is it anyway?” Darry asks with a yawn. Ponyboy glances at the clock and is surprised to see it was 2pm. He must’ve been drawing longer than he thought.
“Uhh, 2pm?” Ponyboy replied with a sheepish grin, though he was glad Darry got the sleep he deserved. Darry looked surprised and made a ‘huh’ noise.
“You hungry?” Darry asks. Ponyboy nods his head and gets up from his sitting position to walk into the kitchen. Darry stops him before he can enter, “You cooked breakfast, I think it’s only fair that I cook lunch.”
“How about we both make lunch, that sound fair?” Ponyboy suggested with a smile. He was not about to let his big brother cook alone on his rest day. Darry smiles and nods his head. They then start to cook some pasta in the kitchen together, though Ponyboy made sure he did most of the work without Darry noticing.
At some point while they were making the pasta, Dally showed up. Dally looked around confused, “Where is everyone?” Ponyboy shrugs.
“Doing whatever they do when they aren’t here.” Darry replies. Dally grunts in response and leaves the house again to go do whatever.
“How much ya wanna bet he thought Johnny was here?” Ponyboy asks with a grin.
“Oh, he totally did.” Darry grins back.
The rest of the day Ponyboy and Darry did stuff together, including a bit of homework that was actually more fun than usual for Ponyboy. They ended the day by both of them sleeping in Darry’s bed, partly because Ponyboy wanted to stay with Darry and make sure he was still okay, partly because they both knew it would still be an hour or two until Sodapop got home and Ponyboy couldn’t sleep without him from his nightmares.
Sodapop came home expecting Ponyboy to be waiting on the couch, but was surprised to not find him there or in their shared bed. He checked Darry’s room and smiled when he saw Darry spooning Ponyboy in the bed, both of them snoring.
Sodapop went back to his and Ponyboy’s room and fell asleep for the night.
A bonus scene 👍
Darry woke up before Ponyboy, gently shaking Ponyboy’s shoulders to wake him up as well. “C’mon Pony, time to wake up.” Darry softly said. Ponyboy groaned but got up with a yawn.
They then both realized there was a sweet smell of pancakes filling the house. They looked at each other, then Ponyboy sighed with a soft smile. “You up for some blue pancakes, Dar?” Ponyboy asked. Darry laughed and nodded his head.
Sodapop and Ponyboy made sure they never had to see Darry break down like that again.