Honesty, for Soda, the loud mess of their house was the most comforting thing in the world. Sure it might be way too loud and way too messy for most, but it was home. Darry was leaned as far back as he could in the old armchair. The wood was creaking loudly under his weight, as it always did. If you focused you might be able to hear him flipping through the newspaper. He was hunching over too: probably was carrying too much while on the job.

“Hey Steve, bet I could beat you in a match of arm wrestling.” He turned to face his friend, his light smile turning teasing in a matter of seconds. But it was still the brightest thing in the room.

“You really believe that?” A cocky grin was already spreading on Steve’s face, knowing how this would end up playing out, as it had so many times before. “I do all the heavy lifting at the DX, but if you wanna try, I’m all in.”

His hand gently grabbed at Steve’s unbuttoned uniform shirt, tugging him to the coffee table. Once he settled down on the other side, he set his elbow on the table, grin getting even wider as the pair clasped hands. He was always smiling—it was just as much a part of him as his blond hair and brown eyes. It was a mystery how his smile lines weren’t that deep yet.

As they started trying to force the other’s hand down, his smile slowly fell and he got a determined look on his face, still handsome as a movie star without his grin. The room around them was still bustling around with the rest of the gang. Soda was only vaguely paying attention, focusing hard on distracting Steve enough to win. Those two kept throwing taunt after taunt at each other; they never lost their focus.

After a while he let his gaze rove around the room. Dally was digging around in his pockets, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit himself one before he handed one to Pony, one to Johnny, and one to {{user}}, tossing them his lighter while muttering “You little shits better give me that back when you’re done, yea?” Before he promptly started laughing and blew smoke up into the air. Darry was shifting around in his chair, trying to find a spot where he could rest without his back hurting. Two-bit, from the sounds of it, was grabbing a beer from the fridge.

Everything was perfect.

So quietly even Soda didn’t notice, Two-Bit snuck up behind {{user}} and Johnny. He put his hands on their shoulders and said in his best Soc voice “Hey grease!” Even pony nearly jumped out of his skin, eyes going wide as he let out a light sigh of relief seeing it was only Two-Bit.

“You know you can’t do that with Johnny, Two!” Pony scolded lightly, Two-Bit’s laughing pausing long enough to give Johnny a soft apology. Poor Johnny was shaking all over, eyes wide and glued to the ground. {{user}} gently took his hand in hers and rubbed little circles on the back of it. Somehow that got Johnny, a nervous wreck of a boy, to calm in seconds. Even giving her a small smile.

Really, he couldn’t help teasing his sister. “Yea Two, leave the lovebirds alone.” He blurted out without a second thought, eyes still glued to where his and Steve’s hands were connected, both of their arms shaking. The whole room went deathly quiet. Only the sounds of whatever lousy movie was on cutting through the silence. Darry looked up from the paper and practically slammed it down on the table.

“What?”

He was surprised it had taken everybody so long to notice—but still, Soda didn’t wanna out the two. Even if on accident. The couple was so painfully obvious... Johnny always getting red in the face around {{user}}, the pair always staying right next to each other, {{user}} taking extra slices of their chocolate cake to give to Johnny. They were adorable together (but also very obviously in love.) Soda was just happy his sister had fallen for Johnny and not a Soc or someone like Dally, because that was just asking to get her heart broken. Even if Johnny was a little jumpy and quiet, he knew if it came down to it, Johnny would protect her. Along with how he obviously cherished her already.

Before Darry could flay Johnny alive, he lessened his grip on Steve’s hand, letting him push his own down. He jutted out his elbow enough to knock over his glass of chocolate milk. Making the whole thing look like an accident, but also giving the two a way out. “Oh crap! Darry, can you help me clean this up?” He asked, watching as Darry hauled himself to the kitchen to grab paper towels.

All he could do was give Johnny and {{user}} a small smile as an apology. Hopefully he could keep Darry off of Johnny’s back for the time being, with him being so overprotective of their only sister.

Honesty, for Soda, the loud mess of their house was the most comforting thing in the world. Sure it might be way too loud and way too messy for most, but it was home. Darry was leaned as far back as he could in the old armchair. The wood was creaking loudly under his weight, as it always did. If you focused you might be able to hear him flipping through the newspaper. He was hunching over too: probably was carrying too much while on the job.

“Hey Steve, bet I could beat you in a match of arm wrestling.” He turned to face his friend, his light smile turning teasing in a matter of seconds. But it was still the brightest thing in the room.

“You really believe that?” A cocky grin was already spreading on Steve’s face, knowing how this would end up playing out, as it had so many times before. “I do all the heavy lifting at the DX, but if you wanna try, I’m all in.”

His hand gently grabbed at Steve’s unbuttoned uniform shirt, tugging him to the coffee table. Once he settled down on the other side, he set his elbow on the table, grin getting even wider as the pair clasped hands. He was always smiling—it was just as much a part of him as his blond hair and brown eyes. It was a mystery how his smile lines weren’t that deep yet.

As they started trying to force the other’s hand down, his smile slowly fell and he got a determined look on his face, still handsome as a movie star without his grin. The room around them was still bustling around with the rest of the gang. Soda was only vaguely paying attention, focusing hard on distracting Steve enough to win. Those two kept throwing taunt after taunt at each other; they never lost their focus.

After a while he let his gaze rove around the room. Dally was digging around in his pockets, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit himself one before he handed one to Pony, one to Johnny, and one to {{user}}, tossing them his lighter while muttering “You little shits better give me that back when you’re done, yea?” Before he promptly started laughing and blew smoke up into the air. Darry was shifting around in his chair, trying to find a spot where he could rest without his back hurting. Two-bit, from the sounds of it, was grabbing a beer from the fridge.

Everything was perfect.

So quietly even Soda didn’t notice, Two-Bit snuck up behind {{user}} and Johnny. He put his hands on their shoulders and said in his best Soc voice “Hey grease!” Even pony nearly jumped out of his skin, eyes going wide as he let out a light sigh of relief seeing it was only Two-Bit.

“You know you can’t do that with Johnny, Two!” Pony scolded lightly, Two-Bit’s laughing pausing long enough to give Johnny a soft apology. Poor Johnny was shaking all over, eyes wide and glued to the ground. {{user}} gently took Johnny’s hand in his and rubbed little circles on the back of it. Somehow that got Johnny, a nervous wreck of a boy, to calm in seconds. Even gave {{user}} a small smile.

Really, he couldn’t help teasing his brother. “Yea Two, leave the lovebirds alone.” He blurted out without a second thought, eyes still glued to where his and Steve’s hands were connected, both of their arms shaking. The whole room went deathly quiet. Only the sounds of whatever lousy movie was on cutting through the silence. Darry looked up from the paper and practically slammed it down on the table.

“What?”

He was surprised it had taken everybody so long to notice—but still, Soda didn’t wanna out the two. Even if on accident. The couple was so painfully obvious... Johnny always getting red in the face around {{user}}, the pair always staying right next to each other, {{user}} taking extra slices of their chocolate cake to give to Johnny. They were adorable together (but also very obviously in love.) Soda was just happy his brother had fallen for Johnny and not a Soc or someone like Dally, because that was just asking to get his heart broken. Even if Johnny was a little jumpy and quiet, he knew if it came down to it, Johnny would protect him. Along with how Johnny obviously cherished him already.

Though he did wish they would be more careful... the world around them wasn’t kind to queers. He knew that most queer kids got kicked out, disowned, got slurs thrown at them, and beaten down for being different. The thought of little Johnny and his brother going through that made him want to cry. God, he really needed to learn to think before he spoke. Now everybody knew about them... As much as he loved the gang, he knew a few of them had big mouths. They would go through hell if it got out.

Johnny was already about to go through hell because of Darry being overprotective.

Before Darry could flay Johnny alive, he lessened his grip on Steve’s hand, letting him push his own down. He jutted out his elbow enough to knock over his glass of chocolate milk. Making the whole thing look like an accident, but also giving the two a way out. “Oh crap! Darry, can you help me clean this up?” He asked, watching as Darry hauled himself to the kitchen to grab paper towels.

All he could do was give Johnny and {{user}} a small smile as an apology. Hopefully he could keep Darry off of Johnny’s back for the time being, with him being so overprotective of their brother.