#Ponyboy thinks Darrel doesn’t come home that much bc he can’t stand to look at him and hates all the bills pony is bringing in

[r0cky-road]

I'd love to hear the story of the first signs that pony had FND + when he got diagnosed and the gangs initial reactions!!

The first signs for Ponyboy were the the stuttering and the loss of memory. He would forget the names of his parents or even small recent things that had happened that same day. At first the gang found it funny how he stuttered more often but it soon seemed to be more than what they first thought. Ponyboy soon started to get migraines and would stumble over his feet around the house. Darry and soda were on edge about it all but didn’t really say anything because Ponyboy hated to be perceived as weak. He didn’t go to the doctor until he collapsed at school and Darry had to come get him. 

Everyone’s reactions to the diagnosis.(also, the diagnosis would not be correct since FND was labeled as conversion disorder or even hysteria in some circumstances) 

Darry and soda responded with worry, worry for their little brother, for the backlash he would face, for the cost. Darry begged his boss to let him take extra hours even though he already worked too much. Soda tried to take off hours so he would always keep an eye on his baby brother. Darry tried to talk gently and keep his worries down but they only went higher. He because this overbearing brother who always had to know how pony was doing. He writes on his hand for what times pony has to take his meds and pain killers and has soda make sure he doesn’t take too many. Soda tries to be overly involved with pony, trying to take his mind off of everything. 

Steve feels fear. He scared of what this all could mean for pony, for his present and future life. That’s basically his kid brother. He knows how much pony loves track and the doctor said he’d probably never be able to do it again. Steve takes up any hours he can at the DX, even takes up a second job on weekends to try and make a little extra. He follows pony around at school and fights off anyone that tries anything.

TwoBit looks towards the bottle. He makes louder jokes and puts himself out there. He has this mindset that if he can be loud and annoying enough everyone will be too focused on him to remember what’s happening with Ponyboy. He also makes some jokes about pony’s cane and later his wheelchair. He gives him nicknames like “wheels” or “race car”

Johnny: he finds comfort in someone who has a similar problem as himself but then feels guilty for it. He gives advice to pony on how to do cool tricks in his wheelchair and how to properly take care of it. He also helped soda decorate pony’s cane with stickers

Dally: “ok?? And? Don’t think you’re getting anything special from me.” He then proceeds to ask Darry and Johnny how everything works and has them explain the words to him. He tries to accommodate from pony sometimes but also tries to treat him the same as before. Relentless teasing. It’s all fun and games until pony gets yellow, his service dog, and she hates him. 

Big thanks to @stew-skys-husband for helping me with this!!! *awesome and super totally tubular backflip to show my gratitude*