Ponyboy kept his eyes focused on his plate for the majority of dinner. He could feel Darry moving his cold gaze from Soda to himself.

"How was your day, Pony?" his eldest brother asked.

"Fine." Pony mumbled.

"Soda, how was your day?"

"Alright." the boy answered.

"I had a strange day. I finished my job early, it was just a shed-like unit. So I got to come home early. You'll never guess what I saw when I went to check on my kid brothers." Darry said conversationally.

"What?" Soda asked, daring to look up.

"Well, I thought I saw my kid brothers having sex! Can ya believe that? I thought I must have been a bit hacked off after being in the hot sun. It is August. So, I went to take a shower. When I came out, they were sitting in the living room watching Mickey. So I must have been mistaken, hmm?"

"Probably." Soda said.

"Why didn't ya tell me?" Darry decided Pony would be more likely to crack, so he looked to him while saying this.

Pony stayed silent, out of fear. Soda said he would handle it, as his big brother should. Soda had promised that if they were caught, he would talk to Darry.

"Why do you need to know?" Soda tried.

"Are you kidding? Hmm,maybe we should tell our brother that we're fucking!" Darry said, eyes widened.

"That's a crude word." Soda narrowed his dark brown eyes.

"What?"

"'Fucking', it's crude. And it's not what we do."

"What do you do then?" Darry asked.

"We make love. If that's too... weird for your mind, we have sex. Fucking sounds dirty." Soda said. Pony moved in his seat, feeling off at hearing his sweet, fun brother saying 'fuck'.

"Brothers aren't supposed to do that." Darry states, frowning.

"We love each other. Isn't that what matters?" Soda asked.

"It's wrong. Brothers arent supposed to touch each other at all except to hug. And hold them when they are babies." Darry stated.

"It's not wrong." Soda stood up. "I love Ponyboy. And he loves me. And that's all that matters. We make each other happy."

"Find a girl that makes you happy." Darry begged. "You have to. You can't marry your brother. You can't have a family with Pony."

"I can do whatever I want. I am eighteen and you can't tell me what to do."

"As long as you live under the roof I pay for, and eat the food I pay for, you will." Darry growled.

"You can't do this." Soda said, almost crying.

"Do you know what would happen if the job man found out about you two?"

"He would turn Pony in. And I could gain custody of him."

"You would go to the cooler for rape, Soda." Darry said matter of factly. "And in Jail, you wouldn't last a day. You've got a sharp tongue and a pretty face."

That was when Pony started to cry. Tears streamed down his face, he pushed the chair out and ran out the door. He sat on the curb of the street, and cried.

"Pony." Soda ran after him, a scowl on his face.

"I-I don't want you t-to go to jail." sobbed the teen.

"I won't, baby." Soda cooed to his brother. "We can still be together. We can still love each other. No one needs to find out and lock me up. Darry's being a jive stud."

"I was afraid you were going to have a fair one. I don't want you to get hurt." Pony sniffed. Soda pulled his lover into his arms.

"I won't ,baby."

Darry stood in the door of the house, watching his kid brothers. He shook his head and went back to finish his dinner of green pancakes and blue eggs.