When does Ponyboy realize Darry really does care for him?

When Ponyboy initially runs away from home, he believes that Darry doesn't care about him and only views Ponyboy as another mouth to feed. At the end of chapter 6, Pony is sitting in the hospital's waiting room and sees Darry leaning in the doorway with his hands in his pocket. Ponyboy then looks closely at his older brother and notices that Darry is crying. Suddenly, Ponyboy realizes that Darry really does care about him....

When Ponyboy initially runs away from home, he believes that Darry doesn't care about him and only views Ponyboy as another mouth to feed. At the end of chapter 6, Pony is sitting in the hospital's waiting room and sees Darry leaning in the doorway with his hands in his pocket. Ponyboy then looks closely at his older brother and notices that Darry is crying. Suddenly, Ponyboy realizes that Darry really does care about him. Ponyboy mentions that all those times Darry had yelled at him, he was actually trying to tell Pony that he was concerned about his well-being. As Ponyboy is passionately hugging Darry, he realizes for the first time that Darry had a silent fear of losing another person he loved. Essentially, Ponyboy misinterpreted his brother's affection and finally realizes that Darry loves him when they see each other for the first time after the abandoned church fire.