Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or the song 'Is She Really Going Out with Him?' by Joe Jackson.


Monday, April 25th, 1966

Steve tapped his pencil on the table and continued to glance at the door, wondering if Anna was going to continue to avoid him or if she would actually show up for math today.

She hadn't shown up at his place for tutoring the day before. He hadn't really expected her to, not after what had happened on Saturday, yet he had still found himself sitting outside on the porch steps waiting for her. He'd thought that if she showed up and didn't feel good about being there, seeing him waiting for her like he almost always did might make her feel a bit better.

Not only had Anna not turned up, but sitting outside waiting for her had made him feel pretty shitty.

He stopped his tapping, suddenly realising he had unconsciously picked up Anna's habit that had always annoyed him, and sighed. The whole situation was tiring him out.

The whole liking his girlfriend's cousin thing was getting to him but he felt even worse about it now that it also meant he liked his best buddy's girl. He had avoided Soda as much as he could, which wasn't a whole lot, but he had managed to a bit. He'd only seen him for an hour or two on Sunday, not going to Soda's place till early afternoon and leaving a while later with the excuse of having to meet Anna.

Only Anna had never turned up.

He hadn't had to see Soda Saturday night, either, what with being out with Evie. As much as things weren't great with Evie, and as much as he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Anna the whole night, being around Evie had been better than being around Soda. Feeling guilty around his girlfriend about liking Anna wasn't bothering him nearly as much as it was when he was around Soda.

Finally, just as the start of class bell rang, Anna came in. His heart began beating faster as soon as he saw her, but he ignored it. He might have realised he liked Anna and really wanted to be with her, but he still wasn't used to what it made him feel.

He openly watched her as she walked to her seat next to him, wondering if she would even acknowledge him. He had been disappointed when she hadn't turned up yesterday. He had wanted to talk to her, to tell her that she had taken what he had been trying to say completely the wrong way.

Only, now that she was sitting next to him, not acknowledging him, he realised that if she knew he hadn't been saying that she wasn't good enough for Soda, she would want to know what he had been saying, and he couldn't tell her that.

He wanted her to know that he didn't think badly of her like she thought he did, not even a little, but he couldn't tell her the truth.

He had to talk to her, though, try and make things right between them. If he couldn't be with her, he still wanted to be around her, be friends with her.

"Morning," he said, still staring.

She ignored him.

He frowned. "How was your weekend?"

She ignored him again and he felt like an idiot for talking such shit. How was your weekend? He put his complete uselessness down to his newfound need to be with her; she was making him nervous and she didn't even know it.

And it's gonna stay that way.

Setting a glare in his eyes, he continued to stare at her. "You gonna speak to me at all?"

She shook her head.

"You'll have to eventually."

She looked at him and he could see a flicker of hurt hidden beneath her anger. "Only to tell you to shut the hell up and leave me alone," she said. "Don't go expectin' any kind of great conversation from me."

"Mr. Randle, Miss Harris," Mr. Chase called. "Do either of you care to tell the class what is so very interesting in your corner there?"

Steve shook his head, Anna doing the same as Mr. Chase went back to the roll call Steve hadn't even heard him start.

He wondered if he should try again. Maybe if he just apologised and told Anna he hadn't meant what she had thought he had meant then things would be okay again. He could just tell her that it was weird for him, her and Soda becoming so close. That was what he had originally thought the problem was, just like it had been weird for her when he and Evie got back together. Surely she would understand that.

He glanced at her, a scowl on her pretty face as she wrote down whatever Mr. Chase was saying, and he resisted the urge to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, having to be content with watching her push it away angrily.

"Fuck," he said softly, picking up his pencil and quickly trying to catch up to what had been written on the chalkboard.

He was being such a fool and could only be glad that most of it was in his head and not actually happening. He could just imagine the scornful look on Anna's face were she to know exactly what he was thinking about her. His thoughts over the last day and a half had gone from mostly physical ones of wanting to throw her atop the table they were currently sitting at and take her - rest of the class be damned - to affectionate ones of wanting to tell her things he didn't tell anyone else, and simply wanting to touch her in any way possible.

"Anna," he said softly the second Mr. Chase stopped talking and told them to continue with yesterday's worksheets.

Again, she ignored him, only showing that she had even heard him by the deepening frown on her face.

"C'mon, Anna," he said, beginning to get a little fed up.

She sighed and turned slightly; unfortunately, she turned to the left, away from him.

"For fuck sake," he muttered, "will you at least look at me?"

She turned. "Please, please leave me alone."

Steve stared at her and she stared right back, trying to look tough. He could still see the hurt, though.

"I didn't mean it," he said.

She turned back to her worksheet. "It doesn't matter."

"'Course it matters. I upset you."

She snorted. "Like you care."

"I do."

The two words sounded a lot heavier than he had intended and he wasn't the only one to notice. Anna tensed and glanced at him, eyes wide, and he refused to look away but also refused to say anymore. He just hoped his eyes didn't give away as much as hers usually did.

Finally, she looked down and bit her lip. He was about to open his mouth to say something, anything, when she began speaking again.

"Please, just leave me alone," she said again, resting her elbow on the table and her forehead on her palm as she worked.

Steve nodded. "Fine."

XXXXX

The two words rung in Anna's ears for the rest of class and even once it ended.

I do? I do? She shook her head as she walked out of the math class, ignoring the scowl Steve was sending her, and wondered just how true those words were.

He had made her cry! How could he care about her if he was willing to make her cry? But then again, he said he didn't mean what he had said so maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe Kathy was right and she had just taken what he had said completely the wrong way …

"How'd it go?" Kathy asked, grabbing Anna's arm and dragging her down the hall as soon as she saw her.

Anna shrugged. "About as good as you could expect."

"Did he give you a hard time?"

She frowned. Steve hadn't really given her a hard time, but he hadn't just left her alone like she would have preferred, either. Though, what she really would have preferred was to not have seen him and to have skipped math. Unfortunately, the not so great results she had received back last week on the math quiz they had taken just before Steve's birthday had meant there would be no skipping math any time soon.

"He wasn't too bad," she told Kathy. "I'm just glad he didn't mention that I cried in front of him."

She still couldn't believe that had happened; that he had made her cry. They were supposed to be friends and, despite what she had told Danny the week before, close. Steve was the person she had turned to after her dad had hit her and he'd been the person she had wanted to go to when she'd found out about Ruth being pregnant. They were supposed to be close and to care about each other.

Again Steve's words rang in her ears. He had basically been telling her that he did care about her. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear from him but it was the most she had even gotten out of him.

"'Course he didn't," Kathy said. "He didn't mean what he said, I'm sure of it."

Anna just shrugged as they headed out the back doors and toward Kathy's car.

Whether he had meant it or not didn't change the fact that he obviously didn't like her being with Sodapop or that he had made her cry, intentionally or not. She couldn't remember crying in front of him before. None of the nasty things he had said to her during their years of not getting along had been nasty enough to make her cry … not even what he had said about her mom a few months back.

But now, a few meaningful words that she may very well have taken the wrong way had brought her to tears and she felt like an idiot. She had been so stupid, letting him get to her like that. She had spent the last few weeks liking him and wanting to be with him and hurting because of it but managing to keep herself together about it. Now she was wishing that if she'd had to cry about him, why couldn't it have been some other time … some other time when she was alone and nowhere near him?

"Uh-oh."

Anna looked up at Kathy as they reached her car to find Kathy staring at a car parked on the side of the road next to the parking lot. Turning to look at the car, Anna frowned when Tim nodded to her and beckoned her over.

"Well, that's just great," she muttered, hopping down from the hood.

"At least you don't have a huge crush on him anymore," Kathy said.

Anna grinned. "Be back in a minute."

She made her way over to Tim who was leaning against his car, legs crossed at the ankle and talking to Henry Phillips. She wondered what kind of lecture he was about to give her and hoped it would be quick. With a quick smile in her direction, Henry took off as she reached them and Tim pulled out his cigarettes, offering her one.

"What's goin' on?" she asked, taking the smoke and letting him light it for her.

"Danny got locked up."

Her stomach dropped. "What for?"

"He was drunk and picking fights near the Dingo on Saturday night. Normally he would've been out by now but he accidentally punched one of the cops in the face when they came to pick him up."

"Shit." She took a deep drag of the smoke, letting the heat of it in her throat calm her.

"He shouldn't be in for more than a few days," Tim said, standing up straight. "Just thought you should know."

Anna nodded. "Is that it?"

"What else would there be?"

She shrugged. "No lecture on how bad I treated Danny when he already felt like shit?"

Tim shook his head. "Figured you already knew and didn't need one."

Rolling her eyes, she finished her smoke and watched Tim get in his car and drive off.

"What'd he want?" Kathy asked from behind her.

Anna tossed her finished cigarette in the gutter. "Did you know Danny got locked up on Saturday night?"

"No, what happened?"

Anna told her the story as they made their way back to Kathy's car. She didn't know what to do about her brother. She knew she had to apologise, but wouldn't be able to do so for a couple of days and even then she could only hope he accepted it.

She glanced up as they sat on the hood of the car again, feeling someone staring at her, and found Steve's blue eyes on her. She looked away immediately, not wanting to be sucked into his gaze right then.

XXXXX

Steve slammed the hood of the old Ford pick-up he and Soda had been working on and grabbed the rag out of his back pocket. Wiping his hands, he glanced at the cars in the garage, pleased he and Soda had managed to finish them off fairly quickly.

The station had been so overloaded with cars needing to be fixed that day that Billy had asked one of the full-time guys to stay a little later and help Steve finish up, knowing the only one willing to do it was Sodapop. They had worked tirelessly for an hour and a half, getting the work done in good time for Soda to get a little extra cash and still make it home early enough after a long day.

"That's about it," Soda said happily as he handed Steve a Coke from the front store.

Steve grinned back and took a long swig of the drink. With his need to avoid Soda at the moment, he hadn't been too pleased that his buddy had had to stay late, even though he knew Soda needed all the extra money he could get his hands on. But, even though it had just been the two of them for most of the night, Steve had managed to keep his mind on the cars, not on his buddy's girl.

"Sure is," he agreed and led the way into the front store.

He wondered if Soda had seen Anna and knew, not only what had happened at the Dingo, but also of her feelings for him. Deciding he wanted to know more than he didn't want to talk about her, he brought her into conversation.

"You see Anna last night?" he asked.

Soda shook his head and took a drink. "Na, haven't seen her since Saturday when she was here."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "So, when are you seein' her again?"

"Dunno, maybe tomorrow night."

"She really likes you." He didn't know why he said it when it bothered him so much. He figured he just wanted Soda to be happy, even if it was with Anna.

Soda looked confused. "Who? Anna?"

"Yeah."

"What makes ya say that?"

"You mean other than the fact that she's dating ya?" Steve asked, annoyed.

Soda nodded and Steve sighed. He supposed there was no harm in telling Sodapop the whole story, if anything Soda could tell Anna that he hadn't meant anything bad and then maybe she would talk to him again.

"I overheard her talking about you at the Dingo on Saturday," he said.

"Oh yeah? What'd she say?"

Steve felt like ice had been poured into his stomach as he remembered. "Just that she really likes you and can't stop thinkin' about you."

Soda frowned as Steve paused, having to force the next words out of his mouth.

"That she has feelings for you."

Soda was silent and Steve looked at the floor, hoping his friend wouldn't be able to tell just how much of a problem this was for him.

"She said she has feelings for me?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah."

They were both silent and Steve couldn't help but remember how he had felt when he had heard her say it. It had kinda hurt then; there had been a strange pain in his chest but he hadn't understood it. Now every time he thought about it he physically hurt and he knew exactly why.

"Did she say my name?"

"Huh?" Steve's brow furrowed in confusion.

Soda stepped closer to him. "Did she say my name?"

"I dunno, probably," Steve said.

"But did you hear her? Did you actually hear her say my name when she was talkin' about having feelings for someone?"

Steve thought about it. He could remember almost every word said during that confrontation but could only remember hearing her say Soda's name once. But that had been when she was telling him that he apparently thought she wasn't good enough for Soda, not when she was talking about her feelings for him.

"No," he finally said. "She said your name, but not then."

"So, you never actually heard her say she has feelings for me?"

"I guess not," Steve said frowning. "But she ain't ever denied it, either."

"Tell me what happened."

Steve sighed and told Soda what had been said between him and Anna, keeping out all the feelings that had unexpectedly come to him at the time.

"Sounds like a bit of a mix up," Soda said when he had told him the story, almost word for word.

"Exactly," Steve said. "I never meant that she wasn't good enough for ya."

Soda shook his head. "I know that," he said, "but that's not what I meant."

Steve waited silently but impatiently for Soda to continue.

"Anna doesn't have feelings for me," he said. "She wasn't talking about me, and, technically, we haven't been dating."

"What're you talkin' about?"

Soda ran a hand through his hair before shrugging on his jean jacket. "We've just been hanging out, as friends," he said. "There ain't anythin' at all going on between me and Anna."

Steve was both confused and relieved and knew it showed on his face when Soda gave him that knowing look again.

"Ya ready to admit that you were bothered by me hangin' out with her?" Soda asked with a cheeky grin.

Steve shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"Ha. Ready to admit that you were completely jealous when you thought she was dating me?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah," he breathed, happy to get it off his conscience.

Soda put his hand on Steve arm. "Me and Anna are friends," he said, "and I ain't about to go telling her secrets. But there is someone she likes and has feelings for."

He paused as Steve stared at him, holding his breath and willing him to say it.

"I'm sure you can figure out the rest," Soda finished and turned, walking out the door.


A/N: Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading.

For those who pay attention, yes this is the same chapter title as what chapter twenty-seven originally was. We'll blame the fact that I apparently can't read a list for that one ;)

Anyway, please review.