Hey guys! Ok, here's chapter four! I know it took a while for it to be posted, but life's been crazy! Hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I own Jenny and the Whitley family, but don't own The Outsiders, despite how much I'd love to.

~Rosey


Chapter Four: A Miracle

"How is he, doc?" Soda asked worriedly as the vet emerged from Mickey Mouse's stable. Luckily for Mickey, the vet lived only a few houses down from the Whitley's, so she had managed to make it through the snow to the home of the sick horse and his owners. Jenny, Mr. Whitley, and Mrs. Whitley stood with him, all slightly shivering in the icy wind.

"He was just having a reaction to the fever," Dr. Bangs replied, putting her stethoscope back into her vet bag. Then a smile spread across her face. "In fact, it was a reaction to the fever breaking."

"What?" Jenny and Soda yelped at the exact same time, a look of sheer joy spreading across their faces.

"The fever broke," Dr. Bangs smiled. "He's still very weak and not totally out of the woods yet, but all those convolutions were just a reaction to the fever breaking."

"Soda, you saved Mickey Mouse," Jenny whispered in shock, a hand lightly placed over her mouth.

"It's a miracle..." Mrs. Whitley mumbled, her hand slipping into her husband's.

"I'll be over in a few days to check in on him again," Dr. Bangs smiled, heading to her car through the thick snow. "Feel free to call me if anything changes."

"Thank you so much," Mr. Whitley beamed, helping the vet into her car and making sure she made it out onto the road through the snow.

"Soda, you saved that horse just by showing up here," Jenny whispered in shock, staring at him. "This sounds stupid...but are you an...this makes me sound so dumb...But are you some kind of angel?"

Soda laughed, shaking his head. "Shoot, I'm just a greaser. Mickey just wanted to pull through for us. He has a thousand more fences to knock down."

"Well, I must say it did seem like a kind of miracle," Mr. Whitley shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. "But I won't question it. Dinner will be ready in an hour or so. Jenny, would you and Soda like to stay out there with Mickey until then?"

"Sure," Jenny nodded, facing Soda with a smile. "If you'd like to."

"Ok," Soda smiled, feeling a blush rise in his cheeks.

And so, Mr. and Mrs. Whitley turned to go inside and Jenny and Soda returned to the stable.

Mickey Mouse was standing up, however shakily, and nickered happily when he saw Jenny and Soda enter. He weakly trotted over to them and nuzzled them each gently, almost as if he was thanking them.

"I knew you'd pull through for me, buddy," Sodapop smiled, stroking his mane.

"Soda...I can't believe we bought Mickey away from you," Jenny mumbled, sitting down on a bench and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I feel so terrible."

"Hey, he was never really mine anyway," Soda smiled, taking a seat next to her.

"You're so unlike Evan..." Jenny whispered before she could stop herself, though, after she said it, she silently cursed herself.

"Evan?" Soda rose an eye brow.

"Nobody," Jenny shook her head, blushing.

"Jenny, you can tell me. My past relationships didn't exactly end like a story book, either," Soda mumbled, shoving his mitten-covered hands into his coat pockets.

"Well..." she began, taking a breath. "Evan had been my best friend for a long time, and he was an awesome friend. But then one day he asked me out. And I figured, if he was such a great friend, he'd make a good boyfriend. But he didn't. I mean, we had some really nice times...but each time I just felt like I was having fun with my friend, not my boyfriend. You're supposed to get butterflies around your boyfriend...I never did. Not only that, but he was...Well, he was extremely smart, and he never stopped talking about all this genius stuff I honestly didn't get when we should have been talking about...I don't know...whatever couples talk about that makes the girl giggle and the guy smile. Not only that, but he ALWAYS had to be in the center of attention. No matter what, where we went or what we were doing, he had to be in the spotlight. He always had to one-up anyone who could do anything cool. I don't know... I broke up with him. And haven't heard from him since. I lost a best friend," she shrugged, shoving her hands into her coat pockets. "Maybe it was a mistake to break up with him...I know I hurt him...But I wasn't happy. At first I was a little, but it didn't take too long for me to start dreading dates. And that's not how a relationship is supposed to be like."

Soda bit his lip, nodding. "I understand. The fact that's he's ignoring you now is the worst part. After my old girlfriend...Well I wrote her a letter and she returned it un-opened."

"What happened?" Jenny asked gently, seeing a pain on Soda's face she hated.

"Her name was Sandy. And she cheated on me with this other guy...And...um..." Soda looked at Jenny's face and he decided he didn't want to burden her with the truth. "Well basically she was in a situation where she needed help. So I offered to marry her and she just rejected me and moved to Florida to live with her grandparents. So I sent her a letter and she returned it unopened."

Jenny gasped, putting an arm around Soda's shoulders without thinking. "Soda I'm so sorry. My petty little relationship problem sounds so stupid now..."

"Tell ya what," Sodapop turned to her suddenly, a smile on his face. "Those people are gone now. It's just us."

"Yeah," Jenny smiled, taking a deep breath. "You're right."

"So...I think something is in order..."

"What?" Jenny got to her feet, raising an eyebrow. "What do you expect us to do after knowing each other for all of an afternoon?"

"A SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Soda laughed suddenly, racing out the door and into the snow, balling some of it into a snow ball and throwing it at Jenny as she emerged from the stable.

"You're terrible!" Jenny giggled, throwing snow at him in turn, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Thank you, I know," Soda beamed, making another snow ball and hitting Jenny in the leg with it.

What followed was one of the biggest snowball fights between two people in history...or at least in Oklahoman history. Neither was ever winning, they weren't throwing snow balls for competition. It was just for fun. Because they were just kids, and maybe, just maybe, had feelings for each other. By the time Mr. and Mrs. Whitley called for them to come inside, both teenagers were soaking wet and shivering, but laughing as if there were no problems in the world.

And as they went inside, hand in hand, a shooting star darted across the cold night sky.


OK, so this chapter was short and kinda cheesy, but I thought it was sweet and helped develop Soda and Jenny's relationship. If it was too cheesy for you, feel free to tell me and give me advice on how to fix it. But NO FLAMES! They will be used to roast yummy marshmallows I shall share with Sodapop. And what do you think of Jenny's back-story with Evan? It won't show up later in the fic, I don't think, but I thought it was important for developing her character.

Review?

~Rosey