Sorry it took so long to update, I've been kind of busy...

"I don't want you to hang out with him anymore."

"What?" responded Ponyboy, nearly shouting. "You can't tell me who to hang out with. Soda, tell him."

Soda winced. "Actually Pony, on this one I think he might be right."

"What do you mean he might be right? It's not Roys fault I got jumped."

"Yeah, I know that Pony, but I just don't want you to get hurt again."

Ponyboy turned and limped to his room, he was still having trouble walking on his right leg almost a week after he had been jumped, and slammed the door.

Darry sighed and looked at Soda at a loss as to what to do next.

"I'll talk to him," Soda promised.

- - -

When Ponyboy came out of his room a little while later Steve and Two-Bit were sitting on the couch watching TV with his brothers.

"Well look at that," he muttered, limping towards the kitchen. "gangs all here."

Soda got up when he saw that Ponyboy was out of their room and came into the kitchen.

"Need help with that?" he asked watching his brother struggle to get the lid off the peanut butter with a sprained wrist.

Ponyboy sighed and handed him the container.

"You know me and Darry, we aren't trying to be mean, we just don't want you to get hurt again. You get that right?"

Pony sighed again and looked at his brother. He looked tired and worried, which was unusual for Soda. ëI shouldn't be upset with them,' he thought.

"Yeah I know. And I know I shouldn't have been out there by myself and I promise I won't do it again. Okay?"

"'kay," agreed Soda with a smile that made Ponyboy smile.

"Want to go to the party down at Buck's?" asked Steve a second later, sticking his head in the door and directing the question towards Soda.

Soda glanced towards Ponyboy and said. "No, I think I'll stay in tonight."

Steve glared at Ponyboy and went back into the living room.

Pony looked at his brother suspiciously as he licked the excess peanut butter from the knife.

"What?" asked Soda, catching the look. "I just want to stay home is all."

Pony shook his head and went back to making his sandwich. Soda smiled, ruffled his hair and followed Steve back to the TV.

- - -

The phone rang and Pony got up from his homework to go get it. Soda was out with Steve some where and Darry was still at work.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Pony." It was Roy, they hadn't talked since Darry and Soda had come and picked him up from Roy's house more than a week before, Pony had been out of school for a few days. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm doing okay." responded Ponyboy, desperately trying to come up with a reason that they couldn't hang out.

There was a silence for a few seconds and then...

"I guess your brothers weren't to happy about the whole going to my house and getting jumped thing."

Pony sighed, he'd just have to tell him out right. "Yeah, they, um, they don't really want me to hang out with you anymore. You know, they don't want he to get hurt again."

He heard Roy sigh over the phone, "Yeah, I figured something like that when you didn't call. You think they don't want us to hang out at all or just not and the Soc side of town? You think I could still come over there?"

Pony thought about that for a second, the idea honestly hadn't occurred to him, he had just assumed that Roy would not want to come back to his house after the welcome he had received the first time. "That would probably be okay."

"Great, I'll be over in a few." He hung up. Pony smiled, he hoped Darry wouldn't be mad at him.

- - -

It was a few hours later when Soda came home, he heard laughing through the open window and opened the door to see Roy and Pony sitting on the floor playing cards. He raised his eyebrows and threw his DX hat onto the couch.

"Hey Soda," said Pony levering himself up on the couch. Roy stood up too and ran a hand though his hair nervously glancing in between Pony and Soda.

"We were just playing cards and I haven't left the house, honest." said Pony still looking at Soda for his reaction.

Soda looked at Roy, he looked like a good kid, for a Soc, and Pony needed some more friends. It really hadn't been Roys fault that Pony got jumped. He glanced between two of them again, they had been having fun before they got home, Pony had actually been laughing, something he hadn't been doing a lot of lately. He gave them one of his winning smiles and dropped down onto the floor beside the two boys, "What are we playing?"

Roy smiled back, it was impossible not to, and sat back down. Pony grinned, happy that his brother was finally excepting his new friend.