Okay, so here we are again. This one is kind of short, and I apologize in advance. Not much happens here, either. Just some making out.
Pony: Is it between me and Curly?
Dally: Why? Do you want it to be?
Pony: [turns red]
Me: Shut up, Dal! You aren't even in the story yet!
Dally: [ignores me] Aww! Ponyboy Michael Curtis finds his first love! How cute! Congrats, kid. Maybe you can end up having each other's babies, huh? [laughs more]
Me: Go away Dallas, which ever your city you're in. Go hit a bar, rob a place, or jump an innocent child. Whatever floats your boat. Just beat it.
Dally: [shrugs and walks away, still laughing]
Golly, that Dallas Winston sure can get stubborn sometimes. Oh well, I can always kill him off…jk! :] Anyways, here you go.
-Subway
SODA'S POV
When I woke up, we were in Springfield, and Decatur was only a short ways away. It also had to have been around five at night. I remember telling Tim that Dally was heading to Decatur, but I didn't really remember going into the car, or even driving, for that matter. All I really remembered from last night was Steve getting really drunk and yelling at me. And then Tim, comforting me, and making me feel better than I ever have in a long while.
I turned around cautiously to see Steve, and he was just lying there, asleep. We were getting near the city and he had to wake up eventually. For the rest of the drive, I thought about what I was going to say to him, and eventually came up with the solution that I wasn't going to say anything to him at all. I figured: he created the problem, now he had to whip up the solution.
It started to rain just as we got into the city. It rained really hard, and the rain was freezing cold, too, and I was surprised it wasn't turning into snow. Since the convertible's roof was broken, we couldn't pull it up to shield ourselves. I guess that was good because none of us had bathed for however many days now, and mine and my brother's clothes were still dirty. It was around 8 PM, so we decided to find some sort of shelter. A roof or football field wouldn't work this time. We ended up discovering a forest, so we parked the car in an empty lot (and took the keys with us so nobody would steal the car) and walked through the forest until we found a decent place to camp out for the night.
Steve, of course was awake. I tried to ignore him, but Pony and Curly tried to chase a raccoon and Darry and Tim both rushed to stop them. That left Steve and I alone together.
"Hey, Soda," he greeted me, his hands in his pockets. I looked at him, and he looked awfully attractive. The days away from plumbing gave him a short, stubble beard along his jaw line. His hair had all the grease out of it and it was now waves of soggy, black curls on his head. The rain made a loud tapping noise every time a drop hit his broad shoulders. The gray shirt he was wearing was soaking wet, and it was pressed up against his chest so you could see every muscle on him. And he still had that calm smile plastered onto his face that he seemed to never be able to take off. His eyes, however, looked apologetic. I knew what was coming.
"Hey, Steve," I replied, trying hard to be casual, as if the conversation we were inevitably about to have wasn't at all important to me. It was.
"Listen," he said, standing next to me, but not looking at me. "I acted completely ridiculous last night, and I didn't mean any of it, not one word." I wasn't looking at his face, but I could tell by his voice that he really meant what he was saying. "I love you. I hope you're not mad at me."
He what? My heart leapt into my throat. I've never heard those three words from anybody in my whole life, besides Pony. I paused as I watched a small, furry raccoon run past, followed by Curly and Pony. I smiled with my mouth closed. "I'm not mad, Steve, I promise." I lied. Of course I was mad, but I guess that I couldn't show it. He…just told me that he loved me!
"Oh, good," he smiled, relived. He looked surprised that I wasn't upset. And by this, I came to the hesitant conclusion that he was sincere about his apology. He was such a good talker, even better than me sometimes. I'm a smooth, intimidating, classy, and clever speaker, no matter what the topic, and I know that I could say at least something to him about how I feel, but I didn't. I just let him continue. "I promise: no more fighting." He paused, and then asked innocently, "Hug? Please?"
I shrugged, smiling my fakest smile, and he wrapped his arms around me, and I hugged him back. We pulled away from each other and then I looked him in his bright green eyes and he looked into mine and I said to him softly, "How about a kiss, too?"
Steve must have agreed, because we were leaning in to kiss each other. I closed my eyes after he did, and then our lips met. We sucked on each other's lips for a little bit, and I brought my hands up to his head and grabbed fistfuls of his curly, black hair. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and I accepted it lustily. We played an arousing game of tonsil hockey and, as usual, Steve smiled in the middle of it and then game was cut off, but then it continued as he regained his cool. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him, and our bodies were pressed up against each other's. With my eyes closed, I pictured myself kissing Tim. I wondered what it would feel like, with his tongue in my mouth. My heart leapt at the thought that, at some point, Tim's lips were on the same mouth as I had mine on now. I felt somewhat honored that Shepard and I both had our tongues in the same place. The thought made Steve taste way better.
But then my heart sunk in my chest. Steve just told me that he loved me, and now I was thinking about Tim? I felt like I'd just betrayed Steve, and that was something I could never do.
I heard muddy footsteps nearing us. I opened my eyes back up and then pulled my lips away from Steve's, but we were still holding onto each other.
"Well. I see you guys made up," Two-Bit said wittily. I glared at him, and, not intimidated, he laughed out loud, along with Tim. Hearing Tim laugh at the situation was like a million pounds lifted off of my shoulders. I guess that he wasn't mad.
Steve let go of me, and then bit his lip, unsuccessfully holding back a smile. "What makes you think that?"
Darry looked irritated. He said quickly, "Let's go," and then turned around, and we continued walking.
PONY'S POV
We kept walking until we hit a lake. There was a small, wooden sign stuck in the ground that read "Lake Tokorozawa." There were trees making a canopy so we couldn't get wet, although we were already wet and cold. Most of the guys (Darry, Two-Bit, and Curly) fell asleep within the first couple of hours. It was silent except we could hear a few flocks of geese honking on their way south. Legs crossed and fiddling with the grass, I found myself talking to Sodapop.
"How are you and Steve?" I asked him, suddenly remembering how feisty they'd been with each other in Tulsa. "Things are okay between you two now?"
"Yeah," Soda sighed, smiling dreamily, and twirling a blade of grass between his thumb and pointer finger. "We're real good."
"And how good is 'real good'?" I asked, extremely curious about the smile on his face. I really was glad to hear that their relationship was repaired. I liked Soda and Steve together. Soda deserved a guy like Steve. Steve was always acting older than his age; and this was mainly because of his dad. And that's why I think Sodapop is good for him. Soda is playful, cheery, and, of course, handsome, so you'd think that he and Steve would be like oil and water, but there was something about Steve that must have driven Soda crazy. If Steve had a problem, Soda would be right there to help him. Soda was just a card perfect for Steve, and I loved it.
Soda blushed and smiled. He then said softly, "Real good as in…he told me he loved me."
"Aw, Sodapop…that's awesome!"
He sighed – it sounded like a mixture of a contented sigh and a triumphant one – and then laid back, crossing his feet and folding his arms behind his head. I looked at him and he had a huge smile spread out across his face. He hadn't been this happy since Sandy. "I guess it is."
I lay back in the same fashion that he did. I marveled the sky poking through the treetops. It seemed that the more rural our location, the more brilliant the stars looked. And the moon looked brighter than I've ever seen it. The rain made the smell of the pine trees much more prominent, and there was a slight breeze that you could feel only if you really concentrated on it. It was very pretty.
Soda yawned. "Uh, Pony, can I tell you something?"
"Sure, Soda."
He swallowed audibly. "I…think I like Tim."
My heart sunk. No. No, Soda, you should not have told me that. I'd be better off not hearing that in my whole life. I told myself I didn't hear it, but I looked into my brother's eyes and I saw he was waiting for a reaction out of me. I couldn't think of one to give him, so I said nothing.
Soda just started talking, letting everything flow, which was weird, since I was usually the one to do the talking while he listened. "When Steve yelled at me last night, and I got mad and ran away, you saw that, right?" I nodded, and Soda continued. "Well, when I was behind that wall there, I cried, I'll admit it. It felt like Steve took my heart right out of my chest and stepped on it. And I was just sitting there, crying, and then Tim shows up and sits next to me. I didn't know what his problem was, but the next thing I know, I'm in his arms and he's telling me all the things he likes about me. Like…he was trying to make me feel better. And I didn't get it at all, because whenever I hear about Tim, it's always about him getting hurt or him hurting someone or him doing something illegal. And then for the first conversation I've ever had with the guy, he's trying to make me feel good. I didn't get it, Pony, and I still don't. But it worked, Pony. I stopped crying and I fell asleep in his arms, right there. And I dreamt about him. And I woke up the next morning thinking about him. And then I kissed Steve and I pictured that I was kissing Tim. I don't…I don't know why it's happening. And I love Steve so much, but he just doesn't give me the same feeling that I get around Tim."
I gulped. No, this can't happen. As little as I knew Tim Shepard, I knew one thing about what he was doing: that whatever emotion he was trying to portray in front of Soda was totally fake. And Tim was going use him to make Steve jealous, I could tell. I would have told Soda right there, 'Tim is just playing you as a fool, don't believe a word he says' but as soon as I opened my mouth, Tim's whisper voice was heard from down the hill. "Hey, Sodapop! We found a dead fish over here, come and look at it!" Tim's voice wasn't hard, like it usually was. It was calm. And the way Soda's eyes glowed when he heard it made my words back up in my throat.
"There's my calling," Soda smiled at me. "Catch some Z's, Ponyboy. Tomorrow, we'll be in Decatur." He ruffed up my hair, and he knows I hate that, but I know that he only does it when he's in a good mood. He went down the hill, nearing a tiptoe when he passed the sleeping Two-Bit, Curly and Darry. Tim smiled when Soda got there. That's right: Tim Shepard smiled. Seeing this, two options popped into my mind. First, it was that Tim was going to break my brother's heart. And second was that Tim really did like Soda a lot.
I wasn't sure which one I was scared of more.
There you go. What do you think: is Tim really using Soda to make Steve jealous, or does he actually like Soda? Hmm...
I love Tim's character. I just had to bring him back.
spicygurl: Are any of my review replies getting to you? Because I have a funny feeling that they aren't. I've replied to each and every one of your reviews, and if you're not getting them, go ahead and tell me. I can probably fix it. My buddies call my Superman for a reason! Well...maybe not for THAT reason...
TheNightimeSky: You're a good reviewer...makes me happy. Just one thing: never ever ever call me a coward, that's something the really bothers me. I'm not mad or anything, but...scratch that - I AM kinda mad. Thanks for reviewing, but no more calling Mr. Wolf a coward, okay? Thank you.
-Subway