Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, The Outsiders. Full credit goes to S.E. Hinton. I am just borrowing her characters.


"Soda!" I giggled helplessly, "stop it!"

I was sitting in the living room of the Curtis house, watching in laughter as my boyfriend and his younger brother rolled around the floor, doing some sort of dance fight. It would have been frightening if they weren't both laughing and threatening each other ridiculously. Soda has an infectious laugh, and once he started, I couldn't help but join in.

"Don't worry, Katie," Ponyboy grunted, "I won't mess up your boyfriend's pretty face too badly." I could hear someone snickering in the kitchen. Two Bit walked out, a beer in one hand, and a slice of cake in the other.

"Yeah, right, Pony," he said, "didn't Michelle almost give you a broken nose last week?" I could see Pony blushing, but he continued his quest to defeat Sodapop.

Michelle and Ponyboy had been friends since grade school. They were thicker than thieves. Last week, Ponyboy had come home, followed by a visibly distraught Michelle. He kept saying he was fine over and over again, and no one knew why for a minute. Then, he turned and there was a large amount of blood running from his nose. He later told us that the two of them had been playing baseball, and while he was trying to teach her how to throw the ball properly, she accidentally sent the ball flying into his face. Everyone still teased him relentlessly about it.

It finally seemed that the fight ended. To me the winner was unclear; I never would understand how they judged a winner. Soda came over to me and wrapped his arm around me.

"See, I always win babe," he said, kissing the top of my head. I could hear Ponyboy grumbling something about him being a cheat.

"My hero," I teased. I lifted my hand to push a strand of hair that, during his brotherly tussle, had come loose.

"Hey, guys, stop with the looks of love. You make me wanna puke." I scowled. Leave it to Steve to ruin the perfect moment. Just to spite him, I gave Soda a kiss.

Then I threw a pillow at him.

"Woah, take it easy! You're gonna take my eye out," Steve said, holding his arms up in surrender. I laughed, and bounded over to him, punching him lightly on the arm.

"And don't you ever forget it," I warned. He smiled and ruffled my hair, causing me to let out a huff of irritation. We had always gotten on fairly well, Steve and me. There were certainly instances where we both annoyed the hell out of each other, but our fights were nothing more than spats that ended up being resolved with a lot of laughter.

"Hey, Katie, it's getting pretty late. You staying, or do you want me to walk you home?" I glanced at the clock. Eleven thirty. My mom would already be in bed, and she didn't like it when I came home late.

"I'll stay. Just let me call my mom first." He nodded, and went to sit on the couch. I picked up the phone and dialed. My mother answered groggily.

"Hello?" I could hear the sleep in her voice. As a nurse whose schedule can be fairly hectic, her sleeping patterns varied day to day.

"Hi, mom. I just wanted to call and tell you I'm staying at Soda's tonight." Sleepovers were definitely not encouraged, but my mother's trust in me was something I valued. She knew that wandering around town late at night could cause trouble. I did my best to not take my freedoms for granted.

"Alright," she said, obviously tired, "I love you, honey."

"I love you too, mom." I said, replacing the phone and making my way towards the couch. I settled in next to Soda, resting my head on his shoulder and stifling a yawn.

"Tired?" He asked. I nodded drowsily. He stood up and draped an arm around my waist, leading me past the kitchen and down the hall.

"Be careful you two. Don't want no more mouths to feed, do we Darry?" My cheeks burned red, but I knew better than to respond. Teasing was a common occurrence in the Curtis household, and I knew that sometimes it was more important to bite my tongue than to give the boys the reaction they were looking for.

"What do you care? You don't pay the bills." I snorted. Darry did his best to stay out of the teasing, too.

We reached Soda's room, and I was glad to find that Ponyboy was in his own room for the night. I settled onto the bed, crawling underneath the sheets.

"Night, baby," he said. He sounded as tired as I was.

"Do you work tomorrow?" I asked. My eyelids fluttered drowsily.

"Mmm." I kissed him again, and settled down for a peaceful sleep.


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Until next time-

Bee.