A/N: Surprise! Happy Good Fic Day!

This story is a continuation of what has become a saga. This story is the sequel to One Headlight. We hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: We do not own The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, nor do we own the song "The Queen of Lower Chelsea" by The Gaslight Anthem.

Did you grow up lonesome and one of a kind?
Were your records all you had to pass the time?

Winter 1968

The ball wobbled on the edge, barely hanging on until the last minute when it fell into the gutter without hitting a single pin. Scowling, Ellie returned to their table and glanced over at the score sheet.

"You almost had it," Pony said, filling in a huge, fat zero.

"Too bad almost doesn't count," she said.

Pony walked over and picked up his bowling ball. He considered the pins for a moment before he took his shot. When he finally threw the ball, it knocked down all but one pin. He turned around and grinned.

"That's how the pros do it," he said.

"You missed one," she said dryly.

"Watch this."

Ellie watched with disinterest, knowing full well that he would knock it over. He'd gotten all the rest it seemed. Her stomach growled, and she wondered how much longer it would take for their food to get ready. Looking over her shoulder at the food counter, she saw Wade working by himself and looking rather busy at it. It wasn't her idea to come bowling, she didn't really want to be around Wade after New Year's, but Pony had insisted. To her surprise she gave in pretty easily.

Her view was blocked, and she looked up to find Curly Shepard grinning down at her.

"Long time, no see," he said, grabbing a chair and flipping it around so he leaned into the back of it. "Whatcha up to?"

"Not much," Ellie said. "You by yourself?"

"Meeting Tim here."

Surprisingly, she only felt a little dread.

"Hey, Curly," Pony said, sitting down as well.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Curtis," Curly said. "You know a kid, Bryon Douglas?"

"Yeah, I know who that is," Pony said.

There was a gleam of excitement in Curly's eyes, the same one Tim would get right before someone would end up with a black eye.

"Why?"

"That shit cut Angel's hair off. Most of it anyway," Curly said.

"Didn't they used to date?" Ellie asked.

"Who even knows with that girl?" Curly said.

Pony let out a whistle and swiped his Pepsi from the table. Holding it thoughtfully, he said, "I wouldn't mess with your sister with a ten foot pole. I'm more scared of her than I am of you and Tim together."

It was hard right then not to start laughing at the thought. Ellie knew that Angel threw herself at every guy she thought was cute, even that one time at Ponyboy.

"You touch my sister, Curtis, and I'll make you scared," Curly said.

"You are so full of it, Curly," Ellie said. "With the types of guys your sister dates, Pony's a saint and you know it."

"Don't mean I want him dating my sister," Curly said. "Man, I'm starving. You guys bowling?"

Tim walked up to the table before they could answer, smacking the back of Curly's head. Ellie squeezed the straw between her fingers and tried not to mind when Tim sat down beside Curly. He didn't smile, but he wasn't necessarily frowning.

"They're in a fucking bowling alley, what else would they be doing?" Tim said. "And you were supposed to be waiting outside, dipshit."

"It ain't even dark yet, man," Curly said, rubbing his head. "We'll find him later."

Tim looked around, seeing who was there and she felt the need to say something.

"You guys want to bowl a game?" Ellie asked.

Tim looked at her, a wry smile on his lips and a raised eyebrow. It was a dumb question because she knew he wouldn't be caught dead bowling.

"I'll pass," he said.

Instead he leaned back in his chair and lit up a cigarette. She studied him as Curly bantered on, and she wondered how he was doing since the gangs fell apart. She didn't exactly talk to him that often. She didn't exactly want to.

"So, Bryon cut Angel's hair? Why was she out with him?"

It was a question she wish Pony wouldn't have asked with Tim sitting right there. Everybody knew about the guy Tim forced Angel to marry, but Ellie had never asked about particulars. In a way, it scared her to death to think that Tim would go to such lengths to make things right in his eyes. It was common knowledge that Angel and her husband didn't exactly like each other.

Tim looked less than amused at the question, and he shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Nobody does shit like that to my sister and gets away with it."

"Yeah," Curly added with a smirk. "'Cause we gotta listen to her bitch."

Tim tried to hide his smile with his cigarette, but Ellie caught it just the same.

"Don't hurt him too bad," Ellie said. "It's just hair."

"It's the principle of the matter," Tim said, leaving no room for argument. He hardly looked at her when he said it.

Over the PA system, Ellie heard her name, and she glanced back to see Wade standing at the counter with a tray in his hand.

"Oh, food," Curly said. "Mind sharing?"

Rolling her eyes with a good natured laugh, she waved him off.

XXX

Wade called her name, even though Pony had been the one that ordered the food. He wanted her to stop up and talk to him for a few seconds, especially since the two boys had joined their table. Wade could see the ease at which she talked to them. The way she laughed, the way she just simply knew them. It was dumb to be jealous, but he was.

The thing was, she wasn't the one heading in his direction when he called her name. Instead, it was Curly, one of the two boys who had sat down with her. Wade didn't really know them, but he did know they were the ones with the crazy sister.

The boy with the curly, greased hair and a slouch that would send his grandmother to her grave stopped at the counter and reached for the tray. Wade pulled it back.

"Hey, man, it's for me," he said.

"Your name's 'Ellie'?"

"Yeah, man."

"It's not for you," Wade said.

"You a waiter? You going to take it over there?" Curly looked over to the right where two people were now standing and waiting to order. "Just give it to me."

"It's for Ellie," Wade insisted, looking over Curly's shoulder only to see her still talking about something with Pony and the other boy he knew she used to date.

The kid in front of him cocked an eyebrow and said, "Are you her boyfriend?"

"What? No."

"Wish you were?" he asked with a smirk.

Wade pulled the tray back even further. They obviously weren't dating; she'd made sure to avoid the subject since New Year's. Curly's smirk turned into a full grin.

"See how she's sitting with Tim over there? They used to date."

Wade ignored his comment and held tight to the tray.

"Look, kid, just give me the food. You ain't got a shot with her."

Reluctantly, Wade released the tray to him, and he started to walk away. He wasn't more than two steps away when Wade said his name.

"Does that mean she dates guys like you?" He meant for it to sting, to rub it in this kid's face that Ellie wasn't dating him either. It didn't seem to do anything.

"She just doesn't date Socy guys like you," Curly said.

He walked away, and Wade was once again faced with that word that had so little meaning to him.

XXX

Curly had eaten his way through her basket of fries but left her cheeseburger alone so she wasn't starving anymore.

Pony was up taking his turn while Tim and Curly talked about where they were going to look for Bryon. At the parties, Curly had seemed so much like Tim, but when they were side by side, Ellie realized there was only room for one of him. Curly had grown taller and leaner in the past year, and although he looked more and more like Tim every day, he still had nothing on him. Tim's intricacies didn't imprint on Curly very well.

"What was that about earlier?"

Through a mouth full of fries, he asked, "What?"

"Up there with Wade. You were up there forever," she said.

"Nothing. He wouldn't give me the food because he called for you."

The sing-song way in which he said that made her bite her tongue. Kissing Wade was a mistake, another to add to her already long list. All it made him do was ask her questions about it and wondering what to do next. She tried to convince him as best she could that they were just friends, but he was persistent.

A stupid smile spread across his lips, his eyebrows went up as he gawked at her.

"Ahh, you like him, huh?"

"No," she said, but she knew her face was flushed.

Curly's face changed, the grin dropped and he looked at her like he was mildly disgusted.

"Come on, a Socy kid like that? Really?"

"Didn't I just tell you no?" she asked. She yanked back what was left of the fries. "And quit eating my food."

"Hey, you told me I could have some. I can't help it that loverboy up there's got you all lovesick," Curly said.

"Shut up. I told you it was nothing."

"You try tellin' him that?"

"Jesus, Curly, you sound fucking desperate," Tim said.

It was amazing how quickly Curly shut up with Tim said that, and she gave him a little thankful smile without looking at him.

Wade came up to their table, carrying an arm load of Pepsi bottles. He set them down on the table and pushed them in front of everyone. He pulled up a chair for himself and sat close to her. Curly snickered.

"Hey," he said, looking right at her.

She smiled at him and then heard Curly making kissing noises. She tried to ignore him, but it was hard to do. Even kicking him under the table didn't do a thing but make him more obnoxious.

"Would you grow the fuck up?" Tim muttered before he stood up. He grabbed Curly by the collar and pulled him out of the chair. "We gotta get going."

"Yeah," Curly said. "We gotta go beat the pulp outta some kid."

Wade frowned as he drank his Pepsi but didn't look at him.

Before they left, Curly draped his arms over both Ellie and Wade. "Now, kids, don't do nothing I wouldn't do."

Wade shifted uncomfortably before Tim grabbed Curly's arm and all but dragged him out of the bowling alley.

"Are they really going to go beat somebody up?" Wade finally asked after they left.

"Yeah, I think so," Pony said.

"Why?"

"Don't ask."

"Their sister is the crazy one, right?"

Ellie smiled and nodded.

"I think their whole family is crazy."

"Maybe a little," she agreed.

XXX

With Pony dropped off, Ellie was on her own with Wade for the first time that night. He drove back to her house as slowly as she figured he could.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said slowly, unsure of where the conversation would go.

"Those boys back there, Curly and Tim? You're friends with them, huh?"

"Kind of. I guess. I mean, I know them."

"Tim's the guy you dated before, right?"

Ellie closed her eyes because she already knew where this was going. He would ask her about Tim and then circle back around to their New Year's kiss and she would do her best to apologize to him for it.

"Why are you asking me this?"

"I just want to know where I stand. We kissed so I'm assuming you must like me a little and I sure as heck like you, but if there's another boy – "

"Stop, please, while you're ahead," she said, putting her hand up. He had no idea. "If by another boy you mean Tim, then just get it out of your head. Tim and I broke up a long time ago."

He put the car in park in front of her house, but wouldn't look at her.

"You guys were all talking like you were friends, Curly even said something about you and Tim," he said.

"Curly said that?" Ellie rolled her eyes. Curly was probably causing trouble because he saw that it would get under Wade's skin. "Look, Tim and me? There's no way. I wouldn't date him ever again."

"How come?"

This kid and his questions would be the death of her … or him.

"It was a bad break up."

"Why?"

"Are you three or something? Why do you ask so many questions?"

"Sorry," he said, looking away again.

"Look, Wade, I broke up with Tim because he hurt me pretty bad. I'm not going back to something like that." He was about to ask why, and she put her hand up, cutting him off. "I swear to God that if you ask me what he did, I'll never talk to you again."

He went pale.

"You need to know when to leave it alone. It's over, I've moved on and I can talk to him again. We're not friends, but we can be civilized." She added, "I got him back anyway."

For once, he actually kept his mouth shut. Instead, he was looking at his hands. She knew he was still obsessing over the kiss from a couple of months earlier. She was about to bring it up, to once again apologize for doing it when he looked at her again.

"I wouldn't hurt you."

It was the simplest statement. He said it with such sincerity that she was moved more than she would ever admit to anyone. Tim and Dally had always been persistent with her, knowing they could wear her down to do anything they wanted, but with Wade the persistence was different, it wouldn't end with a night spent at Buck's. Everything about him was different.

"I'm not saying you would," she said, the strength in her voice gone. "I just … can't."

"Then why'd you do it?"

She found herself answering him honestly. "Because you were there when I was lonely. You're supposed to kiss someone on New Year's."

"No, you're supposed to kiss someone at midnight on New Year's. It was a long time after," he said.

She couldn't argue that. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not," he said, the words defiant. "One date."

"What?"

He turned in his seat, facing her head on. "Just go on one real date with me. You can pick the place and when. But just go out with me once and then decide."

"Wade …" She trailed off and looked away from him. She was looking for a way out but all she saw was her empty mailbox. A year and some months later, and there was still no word from Dally. She'd sent him dozens of letters, and she'd received nothing in return. Looking at her empty hands, she said, "Okay."

"Really?"

Looking at him, she nodded. She was afraid to speak, terrified she would cry if she tried.

And if you find a good man,
Don't take him home.