Disclaimer: S. E. Hinton owns 'The Outsiders'.
Sara was bringing in the clothes off of the clothes line while Soda was asleep on the couch. Darry got one look at her and could tell she hadn't slept much that night, if at all.
"The police are on their way." Her voice sounded distant as she dropped the clothes on the loveseat and began folding. Darry didn't respond and she continued, "They called about ten minutes ago, said they'd be here in about an hour."
He looked around the house and could tell that she had done some cleaning up. She picked up the piles of clothes and neatly set one in Soda's dresser before returning. "There's pancakes on the counter, you outta get in the shower. I'll wake Soda."
Darry nodded slowly and headed into the bathroom. If he counted his blessings, Sara would definitely be one of them.
XXX
Sara spent her day at the supermarket, since she had the most hours on the weekend. Steve was waiting outside when she checked herself out and locked up. She looked at his eyes quickly and noticed how tired he looked, for a split second she thought it was because of him taking Soda's shift but then she realized it wasn't just tiredness, it was pure worry.
"Hey." It was a weak greeting but she smiled at him anyway. She hated the look in his eyes right then, this didn't feel like their life and it hurt her even more to know that it was.
"You heard from Dal?"
He shook his head, "You going to the Curtis'?"
She thought about it quickly before shaking her head, "Can you drop me off at Buck's?"
Now he just looked pissed off. "What the hell for?"
"I just wanna talk to Dal." Sara felt the need to clarify herself, "It's Saturday, chances are he's gonna be there."
Steve's shoulders dropped as the tenseness fell from his body, "Alright." He sounded just as defeated as Two-Bit had just last night. She wanted to hug him but she figured he'd just push her away and tell her to stop being so damn emotional.
XXX
Dallas jumped when Sara slammed the door shut.
She had an accusing look in her eyes. "Dallas," She was warning him not to beat around the bush.
"What the fuck are you doing here? I'm busy."
She examined him laying in the bed at Buck's with only his jeans on and rolled her eyes. "Where'd you get that shiner?" His cheek was dark purple and she knew damn well that it wasn't like that the last time she saw him.
He shrugged, "We all knew the first people they were gonna haul in when they found that dead Soc was Shepard and I."
Sara thought about asking him if Tim was okay but changed her mind quickly, that wasn't why she was here. The excuse seemed reasonable so she let it go, "Where are they, Dallas?"
Dallas was doing pretty good at playing the innocent, "You got as much of an idea of where they are as I do, princess."
She squinted her eyes, "I already heard them talking downstairs, Dal. Pony and Johnny came here last night." Dallas just gave her a blank stare. "Came here to see you."
He shook his head and lit up a cigarette, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, doll-face."
She knew Dallas wouldn't give them up for shit but it made her feel a little better knowing that Dallas knew where they were, he'd keep them safe. "I know you hid them somewhere." Her eyes became a little more sincere as she stepped closer to the bed, "Keep them safe, Dallas."
He nodded approvingly, that was the reassurance she needed. She turned for the door and Dallas' voice came calling after her, "Texas."
She spun back around to look at him better. She cocked an eyebrow.
"Texas, babe. They're in Texas."
She knew he was lying, but if that was the story he was telling Darry and Soda to keep their minds at ease, she'd go with it.
XXX
If the boys didn't already know that Sara ate pickles when she was nervous, they would think she was pregnant.
She had the whole jar in her hand and had been eating them like they were chips for the past hour. The cops had come by shortly after she left for work. They knew it was Johnny and Pony that killed the Soc but they also believed that Soda and Darry had no idea where they were.
Steve pulled her into the kitchen not to soon after she arrived in the house.
"Did you talk to Dal?"
She nodded but said nothing. He urged on as he lifted an eyebrow, "Well?"
Sara tried hard not to meet his eyes, "Texas. He said they're in Texas."
Steve let out a relieved sigh and she knew that she had lied well enough, he believed her.
"Texas." He nodded as if he were convincing himself that it were true.
Darry distracted him as his voice showed up beside them. "Where'd all the beer go?"
Sara doubted he needed any but when she sent Steve a worried look, he caught on quickly. "Two-Bit and I drank a few bottles."
Two-Bit went along as he sat on the couch in the living room. "We'll buy you some more if you want."
Darry looked at each of them with a parent-type look. He knew they were pulling something over on him but he couldn't quite tell what it was. He let it slide as he shut the fridge and settled for a glass of water instead.
Soda was lying in bed with Ponyboy's pillow close to his chest. Sara walked in with a cup of hot chocolate. Mrs. Curtis had taught her the recipe a while back but she still knew it wasn't the same.
He smiled at the swirl of whip cream towering the cup and sat up in the bed. She knew it'd been a while since he last cried but his cheeks were still puffy.
He hadn't said anything about last night and she figured he was too drunk to even remember.
Sara handed the cup over and cuddled into him. He wrapped his arm around her out of habit.
The room was quiet besides the sound of Soda's sips every now and then.
He looked down at her to make sure she wasn't sleeping before he spoke, "I ain't crazy 'ya know."
Sara sat up straighter so she had a better look at his face. "What do you mean?"
"I meant to kiss you last night." He shrugged, "I guess it was kinda bad timing, but that's on me for not doing it sooner." He kept his eyes straight ahead but took a moment to glance at her out of the corner of his eye.
Sara was distracting herself with wrapping the blanket around her legs and he grabbed her hand to make her stop. He'd learned by now that every girl had that one thing about themselves that they absolutely hated. For Sara, it was her legs. He'd figured this out the first summer they went swimming. She didn't wait a minute after getting out of the water before tightly wrapping a towel around her legs.
"They look like tree stumps." They really didn't. Sure she was short, but she wasn't unproportional. And despite the fact that he never saw her without food, she certainly wasn't fat.
"Don't change the subject." He flashed her a sincere smile before pointing out, "They don't though."
She shrugged in defeat, "Whatever."
She was playing with the blanket again and he leaned over to kiss her. It wasn't as urgent as the kiss yesterday, it was gentle. When he pulled away he made sure her eyes were closed. Dallas had told him one time that Sylvia never closed her eyes when he kissed her, and he didn't want a girl like that.
A blush crept up her cheeks and a memory of the 4 year old Sara suddenly flashed through his head. He smiled at the thought, twelve years sure was a long time. "I ain't drunk this time." He pointed out.
Sara laughed hesitantly and he began to feel bad for putting her in that position last night.
"I'm sorry about last night." He stopped again. "I shouldn't of done that."
She met his eyes then, "What? Get drunk? Or try and get me in bed while you were drunk and I was feeling bad for you?"
Soda could see in her eyes that she was only kidding but he blushed anyway.
She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him again. "Don't tell anyone. Not yet." She warned.
He nodded and gently pushed her down onto the bed. Sure he always liked Sara, but he couldn't help but feel like he was only doing this because the thought of Ponyboy was still nagging at him in the back of his head.
Thank you guys so much for the reviews on the last chapter! I started a new story called 'Fire & Ice' and would really appreciate it if you all checked it out :) Leave me some more amazing reviews please! Thank you all for being my inspiration :)