It had been a month now since Sodapop had broken into the hospital with Steve. It had been a month now since he had even laid eyes on Cindy. Her name was never mentioned and there was never any news from Cherry about her. It seemed, mostly to Soda, that she had disappeared off the face of the planet and that frightened him.

He needed her.

He wanted her.

She was his.

As the crisp December air, hit against his face, Sodapop couldn't help but allow his thoughts to travel back to a month or so earlier, when he had seen Cindy and Cherry heading towards the DX station to talk to him and Steve. It had seemed like, even then, that nothing could ever go wrong. Life, at that moment in time, was perfection and he hadn't wanted it to change.

It had.

Sighing despite of himself, he ignored the questioning look from Steve as he pushed open the door to the garage and began to pull off his jacket. There had been a silent agreement between them that neither would tell the others about the ring Sodapop had purchased, and if Cindy never woke up then there'd never be a need to talk about it again.

Finding that this train of thought was more depressing then the other, Sodapop headed toward the car he had begun to fix the day before. Sliding beneath it, he began to fiddle with the greasy items, not bothering to acknowledge what he was doing. It was just something to take his mind off the pain.

Listening to Steve begin his work on the car next to him, Sodapop hesitated a moment in his work, debating on talking to his friend. Finding it was best to go ahead and do so, Sodapop returned to his work, clearing his throat slightly.

"You seen Cherry?" he asked, casually.

Steve merely grunted, giving an obvious response of "no".

"Pony ain't either," Sodapop continued, feeling as if he was conversing with himself. It was better than nothing, though. "You goin' with me to the drag race this weekend? Gotta earn some money for Christmas presents, ya know?"

"Ain't gonna miss it. It's always somethin' to watch them Socs get their asses kicked," Steve replied, grunting some as he pulled off a rather heavy object from the car.

Soda laughed good-naturedly, picturing the responses they would get if they beat the Socs just before the holidays. It was always refreshing to know they were better than the over-dressed monkeys.

"What you gonna be drivin?"

Sodapop shrugged, although his friend couldn't see it. "No idea…" he began, before hearing the sound of the door open. Glancing towards Steve (or his feet rather), Soda allowed a look of confusion to appear on his face before he slid out from beneath his car. As he turned to face the customer that had entered the store, a look of surprise passed over his face.

Cherry's best friend, Marcia, stood looking between the two of them, a small, shy smile appearing on her lips as she shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. "Hi…" she said quietly, trying to gather up the rest of her courage that had somehow disappeared outside the DX door.

"What can we do for you?" Steve questioned, the cold and indifferent exterior appearing automatically at the sight of the Soc.

"I came to give you this," she replied, her anger to the response she received covering up whatever uncertainty she had previously had. Noticing the note that was resting in her hand, Sodapop reached for it, not bothering to acknowledge the surprise that appeared on the Soc's face in response to his quick reaction.

Turning away from the other two, Sodapop read over the note, his heart racing as he continued to read. He was hardly aware of his surroundings, not even when Steve nearly through the Soc out of the garage, explaining they weren't open for new customers at the moment.

As the sound of Marcia's car driving away slowly disappeared, Steve appeared by his best friend, reading over his shoulder. A look of curiosity appeared in his eyes as he glanced toward Sodapop, almost in a questioning manner.

"You going to?" he questioned after a few minutes.

Sodapop shrugged, having thought over the proposition for a few moments. "I don't know…" he replied, stuffing the note into his pocket, not wanting to lose track of it. "I guess we'll have to see what happens," he replied with a grin as he turned back to the car.

Nodding slightly in response, Steve too returned to work, however this time his mind wasn't there. He was wondering just how detrimental it would be to Sodapop if he followed the instructions on that note.