Sorry for the really short chapter, but i just wanted to add this to show how their relationship is beginning to bloom. I do not own The Outsiders

Eventually, Dallas came back with Kendra, held sideways at his waist. She was laughing and giggling as he walked. I looked up at her.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

"Two-Bit poured a beer on that Jennifer gal." Soda said as he and Steve were in an arm wrestling match. Dally cracked a grin at me, putting Kendra down on my lap. I was sitting in the middle of the floor with my legs crossed.

"Good one, Two-Bit." and he looked down at Kendra, "Next time, don't steal my belt, I kinda need it." he said, then put my belt in my lap too. I grinned.

"Kenny, you took his belt? How'd you get it?" I asked, then got a slap on the head by Dally. "What? I wanna know!" I whined. Kendra raved on about how she got his belt and how he chased her half way down the street to get it back. I was laughing the whole time. Apparently she had gotten her story-telling gene from me. After it was all over, everyone went into the kitchen to set up dinner. Darry pulled me out to the living room.

"You know, you were kind of harsh to that chick..." he said. I guess he was right. I shouldn't have poured a perfectly good beer on her. "Maybe you should apologize to her..."

"What?"

"Listen, she can't help it that she was raised spoiled."

"But she stepped out of line insulting Ponyboy like that!"

"I know but I remember a certain guy who was spoiled before he joined a gang." he tole me.

"Dally?"

"No."

"Steve?"

"Try one more time."

"Johnny!"

"Sheesh, you're dense."

"There's no one else!"

"One more guy. And he's in this room." I looked around. It can't be Darry... but...

"Me?"

"Bingo."

"I was not!" I protested.

"I remember you were the first kid to make fun of Pony's name. But after spending time with him, you grew to love him like a brother. You want to protect him from people like you were... I guess that other person is Jennifer."

–x-X-x–

I was walking down the street, looking for any hint of Jennifer. I went to the park and decided to look for her there. I didn't see her though. Maybe she was home. The snow was deep; it had been falling for a while now, but right now it had stopped. Now, I looked like it was going to snow any minute now. I really didn't like it. Snow that is, cold and wet but if I'm with friends I was fine with it. Like the snow war between me, Soda, Darry, and Dally. I sat down against the trunk of a tree and leaned against it. I think I dozed off, cause I was being woken up with a snow ball colliding with my temple. I woke with a start and looked to see who had hit me. Jennifer was standing there, glaring hard at me and holding a few snowballs. I fingered the snow, making a few myself secretly. She threw another, but I scrambled out of the way and headed for her. She threw another at me that hit me square in my face. I skidded to a stop and wiped my face clean. She had one more. And she used it; it hit my shoulder. I took it off and threw it at her. She lost balance, so I took the opportunity to tackle her to the ground. She looked up at me; I was sitting on her but I was also making sure not to hurt her.

"Do you hate me?" she asked. I wiped the snow from her face, so she wouldn't catch a cold.

"Hate is a strong word." I said, wiping snow off of my shoulder. "Maybe I hate your personality. Not actually you in general." I paused, "Why did you say that about Ponyboy?"

"I don't know."

"And what about Darry's house?"

"I don't know either."

"And my rat?"

"I hate rats."

"But Henry is a friend, not furry foe." She chuckled.

"I'm sorry. I just don't know how to act around new people. I'm not that social."

"Me neither, but I found a group of six other guys who like me for me. That's what you need. It cured me of my bad attitude... It'll work with you too." I got off of her, allowing her to sit up. I got to my feet and stood next to her. She was staring up at me. Suddenly, she mumbled,

"You're really sweet, Two-Bit." I looked down in surprise.

"Hm? No I ain't." I answered.

"Yeah you are. You're way too sweet..." I reached down.

"Believe me, I'm not." I said as I hauled her to her feet.

"I think you are."

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