Work Text:
Sodapop rambles at night. It's not always important, or interesting, and it doesn't always make sense, but it's gotten to the point where it's almost a habit. Something he has to do before he's able to fall asleep at night. He waits until Ponyboy's asleep (or, at least, until he thinks Ponyboy is asleep. He never is.) to go off about his day. Ponyboy will always curl up with his eyes closed and breathe his even, shallow breaths, but he's never asleep. Usually Soda's topics don't interest him, but he keeps his focus when Soda starts rambling about Steve. There's so much emotion in his voice when he talks about him, and Ponyboy can hear the light tremble in his words before he ends with, "yeah, I like Steve" before chuckling softly and closing his eyes. Afterword, out of curiosity mostly, Ponyboy watches Sodapop when he's around Steve. He never mentions anything to anyone, though. He never talks about Soda's late-night rants or the lingering glances Soda gives Steve when he's not looking. Ponyboy figures that some things just aren't meant to be mentioned.