A/N: Check out my joint story—new chapter. :D

Disclaimer: Hinton owns; I borrow.

"Ah!" Jamie squealed suddenly. "Why aren't you still with him? He could've had anyone—you said it yourself, but no, he picked you. And he's good-looking, and he's sweet, and he's a gentleman, and—"

I put a hand up to stop her. "First of all, Jamie, this was years and years ago and I, uh, might have exaggerated about all the girls swoonin' over him…"

Jamie chuckled. "What? Why?"

"Well, Soda was handsome, probably one of the most handsome men I've seen, but not everyone swooned over him. Sometimes, it just felt like that was the case."

"That why you're not with him anymore, Sandy? Because you were jealous or somethin'?"

I contemplated it for a moment. "I don't know if you'd understand."

Jamie was silent. "Well, what happened after the rodeo? You guys continued to go out, right?"

I sipped on my coffee. "Mhmm."

"Well, what happened?" She finished off her coffee and pushed the mug away from her.

"We continued to go out. He got his license so we didn't have to walk everywhere or double with Steve for his car."

Jamie's smile dropped. "That's it? I thought Bobby said this was a story of love and deceit."

"Well…"

Four months into our relationship, there was a bad car crash and both people in the car died upon impact. It was the last day of January and it had been raining. I don't think Sodapop even knew how it happened. I don't think he really wanted to know, either.

"What does Sodapop have to do with that? Did he know the people in the car?"

"It was his parents who were in the car…" Jamie's eyes went round.

There was a knock at the door. I was sitting on the couch, watching TV and sulking because Sodapop had stood me up. Evie wasn't all too pleased either; Steve had done the same thing. We had stopped by the DX earlier in the day to see what the deal was, but they were nowhere to be found. Usually, we could at least find them under the hood of a car, losing track of time.

"What do you want?" my mother snapped from the doorway. She wasn't exactly pleased with him at the moment. "She's in there sulkin' 'cause you don't have the brains to show up or even call."

"Please, can I just talk to her?" was the reply. Sodapop. I got up and walked to the door, standing behind my mother. "Sandy?" he ventured, looking me in the eyes. Glory, was he ever a mess.

I looked at my mother. "Let me talk to him, Mama."

She looked at him, narrowed her eyes and let me pass. "Ya'll stay on the porch. Your Daddy will be home soon, Sandy, and you know he doesn't like it when you miss Sunday dinners."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered and walked outside and sat down on the steps.

Soda followed reluctantly, sitting down on the steps next to me. I shivered involuntarily and he took off his jacket, placing it around me. "Sandy?" he whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I'm real sorry about this afternoon, standing you up 'n' all." He placed his head in his hands and sniffed. "I would've called, but Darry's been on the phone a lot and I dunno, I couldn't bring myself to move."

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Did something happen to his little brother? Everyone knew how much that kid meant to Soda and everyone knew he ran around with Johnny Cade who ran around with Dallas Winston. Anything involving Dallas Winston was trouble, no matter what Soda's mom said about him not being as bad as everyone thought.

"Sandy… Did you hear about the crash yesterday?"

What's that got to do with anything? I thought. "Yeah, my dad mentioned something about it when I got home from Evie's last night."

"My parent's were in it."

I suddenly felt horrible for being mad at him before. "Are they okay?"

He shook his head. "They're dead," he choked out and looked at me, tears welling up in his eyes. "What am I going to do without my parents, Sandy?"

My own eyes started to well up. "Oh, Soda…" I managed to whisper and hugged him. He broke down, his sobs vibrating against me. "You're gonna be okay…" I tried to soothe. "It'll be okay." I'm not sure I even believed myself.

He broke away and wiped his tears, looking at me. "Aw Sandy, I'm sorry," he said suddenly, taking his thumbs and wiping at the tears on my cheeks. "I didn't mean to make you cry too."

I wiped at my eyes. "No, it's not your fault. I just… I feel bad." He pulled me into a hug, running his fingers through my hair the way that sent chills up my spine. "I was so mad, but I shouldn't've been," I sobbed.

He let out a quivering breath. "I wish I knew what was going to happen, Sandy. I've never not had my parents. They're talking about putting me 'n' Pony in a boys home. I can't be separated from my brothers; I just can't lose 'em. Not now."

My dad pulled into the driveway and Soda pulled away, quickly wiping at his eyes. "I, uh, should get the truck back. Darry doesn't know I took it."

"What do you mean," I started to ask, but paused as my dad walked past us, giving us questioning looks. He liked Soda, but he didn't think we needed to always be hugging. If he only knew about the make-out sessions when Soda managed to borrow a car.

I lowered my voice to a whisper. "What do you mean, Darry doesn't know?"

"He's taking a nap. Pony and Johnny said they wouldn't say anything." He scratched the back of his neck, looking away. "I needed to see you. My house just ain't what it used to be."

"How's Pony doin'?" I asked. Poor kid was only thirteen.

Soda shrugged, still looking at his feet, and sniffed. "Last night we fell asleep together in my room, right?" I nodded, understanding. "But I guess Darry woke up sometime later and moved Pony into his room and then went into his own room, because we woke up to Pony screaming bloody murder halfway through the night." He paused, sniffing, and ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "He can't even remember what he dreamed."

My dad stuck his head out the door. "Dinner's ready, Sandy. Are you planning on staying, Sodapop?" His voice was softer than usual.

Soda shook his head and stood up, rubbing his face. He turned and forced a smile onto his face as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, sir, not tonight," he managed to say. "I, uh, I got to get back to my brothers."

My dad stepped all the way outside and turned to me. "Sandy, go help your mother," he said.

I let my hand brush against Soda's and squeezed it as I passed, walking inside. I didn't help my mother though; I stayed by the door and eavesdropped, occasionally peeking out. Turns out my mom had done the same thing until my dad walked in and informed him of what was going on.

My dad tried to give Soda a few dollars, but he politely refused and said his goodbyes.

Tears started to well up in my eyes and I sank against the wall as my dad walked back in. He looked down at me, opening his mouth to say something, but stopped when he heard my little sister start to bawl. He went over and picked her up out of her playpen before coming back over to me and pulling me up.

"Shh…" he soothed both us as he rubbed my arm comfortingly. "I know, Sandy, I know."

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