"Morning," Soda greeted his best friend as he walked into his old bedroom, "Man, I don't come in here much anymore. It's weird."

Steve chuckled, "I bet it is."

"It's empty," Soda commented looking at the walls that used to hold posters. There was a dresser that used to hold magazines, dirty clothes, and his shoes. The closet had a few leftover hangers, random boxes, and a few items of his parents that were stored away.

"Well you did move everything you owned, even though you were only going 3 steps away," Steve added, "You probably could have kept a lot of things in here."

Soda laughed, "I guess I wasn't thinking too straight that day. I felt like I was literally moving out."

"The good news is the bed is pretty comfy since it's not used much anymore," Steve grinned, "I may just use your bed from now on over the couch."

Soda rolled his eyes, "Uh, I hate to tell you this, but you could have always done that!"

Steve shrugged, "I don't know. It could have felt weird since it was an empty room."

"I'll put some of my things back in here so you're comforted," Soda laughed.

"Deal," Steve grinned, "So what's up?"

"Darry had to go into work, so he told me to get you up and to, um...pu-put some stuff on your back," Soda said scratching at the back of his neck.

"Okay?" Steve replied confused by Soda's sudden shakiness.

"Well, I'll just go get it out of the bathroom so you don't have to walk too much," Soda said walking out of the room. Steve slowly sat himself up. His back felt really tensed up that morning. It kept him from wanting to attempt any stretching. He rolled himself back on the bed onto his stomach. He stared at the wall facing away from the door. Soda took a deep breath to settle his nerves before reentering the room. "How's it feeling?"

"Really, really tight," Steve sighed. He waited for Soda to respond, but he stayed quiet. Steve slightly turned his head to look up at Soda. He was standing still, seeming unsure what to do next. "What's up?"

Soda shook his head as he sat on the bed, "Nothing." Steve noticed his shaky hands as he looked through the first aid kit.

"You don't want to look, do you?" Steve asked.

Soda gulped and stopped rummaging through the kit, "I can't."

"We can wait until Darry gets home if you want."

"No, no," Soda quickly said, "You need this, and Darry will be gone most of the day. I'll do it."

"If you're sure."

Soda nervously chuckled, "I'm not." As Soda prepared himself, he began slowly removing the bandages from Steve's back. He felt sick to his stomach as he revealed more and more of Steve's back. It was red, it was purple, it had dry blood scattered around, it was scabbing, it was leaking pus, and it was bruised. Soda began to feel a deep pain in his own back as he imagined what Steve had gone through. No wonder Steve couldn't walk straight. "Oh Steve," Soda whispered.

"Just hurry up Soda and you can be done," Steve said, not wanting to even imagine how his back looked. He didn't want to hear what Soda had to say about it. Steve began feeling really bad that he was putting his best friend through this.

Soda took the ointment and began rubbing all over Steve's back. He bit his lip as Steve winced and cursed under his breath. "Steve?" Soda asked as he began putting new bandages on.

"Yeah?" Steve grunted as the pain slowly began to subside.

"I think you should see a doctor. These do look pretty bad," Soda commented.

"I'll have Darry look later. Maybe I'll try washing them in a shower," Steve suggested.

Soda mumbled as he closed the first aid, "That's going to hurt."

"Yeah, yeah, now help me up so I can go to the bathroom." Soda helped Steve sit up and to his feet. He helped him walk down the hall to the bathroom. Standing at the doorway, Soda watched Steve stand above the toilet and place a hand on the wall to steady himself. He glanced over at Soda, "Are you going to watch?"

Soda looked down to the floor, "I just wasn't sure if you needed help."

"I can stand for a minute to pee."

"Okay," Soda grabbed the door to close it, "I'll just wait out here."

As Steve limped out of the bathroom, he looked at his best friend, "Soda, I think I just want to go back to bed. That already took a toll on me."

"Oh okay," Soda said kind of surprised, but also happy Steve might not be spending the whole day walking to the window to look for Terrence to show up. Steve was looking pale though, so Soda got him back to the bed. He looked down at his best friend with concern. He could tell Steve wasn't feeling the greatest. "Okay, well Darry had me drive him to work so I could do some shopping, so I'll run to the store while you sleep. Pony will be here."

"Okay. Tell him not to worry about me, I just want to sleep."

"Alright buddy, I won't be too long."

Soda went up and down the aisles while going through Darry's list. He threw in a little extra chocolate syrup, chips, and other treats. It usually happened that way when Darry sent Soda shopping. Darry use to get annoyed, but he just expected it now. Soda called it "shopping correctly, because they didn't have parents to tell them otherwise."

As Soda got to the end of an aisle, he froze. He looked towards the checkout line and saw Terrence standing there. Soda debated on walking another direction, or even ditching the cart and just leaving the store. He felt mixed emotions. As angry as he was at Terrence, he couldn't find himself to just walk over and start something. In fact, Soda was too scared to do that. Terrence was willing to beat Steve to the point of being unable to walk. What could he do to Soda? Figuring Terrence was getting ready to leave the store, Soda turned and walked back down the same aisle. Anxiety began creeping up his spine. He felt as though Terrence saw him as he was turning away. He made it to the end and began turning the cart to go down another aisle when a figure walked in front of him. Soda jumped as he grasped the cart handle.

"Oh, excuse me," a woman said.

Soda let out a breath, not realizing how worried he had been at the thought of Terrence being near. His heart was racing, fast. "S-sorry, ma'am," Soda let out.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Soda smiled, "Sorry." He pushed his cart along and finished his shopping. When he returned to the checkout, Terrence was nowhere to be seen. Still feeling on edge, Soda got his bags and hurried out to Darry's truck. He grabbed for the driver's door when a hand slammed against it.

"Hello Sodapop," Terrence snarled. Soda found himself with his mouth hanging open. He couldn't speak. He wasn't sure if he was even breathing. "I'm assuming Steve found his way over to your place?"

Soda swallowed hard, unsure what to say. He wished Darry was with him to handle this. "No," Soda said trying to sound firm, "He told me not to contact him for the weekend. Did he leave?"

"Yes, he did leave. I assumed he came to you."

Soda shook his head, "Nope."

"He hasn't come to you at all, huh?" Terrence asked. Soda could smell a mixture of alcohol and cigarettes on his breath. He knew Terrence probably wasn't buying his answer, but he wasn't going to admit anything and risk Steve being taken away.

"No, sir," Soda repeated, "Maybe he ran away."

"Ran away from what?"

Soda was surprised at the remark. Terrence still didn't think him or Darry knew anything about what was going on. "It just seems there's been some home trouble is all. Like what you told Darry, right?"

Terrence looked up and down at Soda, "Your brother working today?"

"Yes, sir."

"Tell him I'll be by later," Terrence turned and walked off. Taking that as a possible threat, Soda jumped in the truck and got home quick. As he pulled into the driveway, he took a few breaths to calm down. Terrence had asked about Darry, so maybe he really wasn't going to come until Darry was here. Either way, Soda knew he'd have to appear calm as he walked into the house. He didn't want to freak Steve out and make him camp out at the window all day again.

In the house, Soda saw Ponyboy reading a book. "Hey Pony," he greeted, "Is Steve still upstairs?"

Ponyboy nodded, "I peeked in a little bit ago. He was awake. He asked me to bring him up any magazines we had laying around."

"Alright, I'll empty these and go check on him."

After Soda emptied the groceries, he went upstairs. Steve was flipping through one of the magazines Pony had brought up to him. "Hey, man, I'm back."

"Cool," Steve replied.

"Do you want to come downstairs?" Soda asked. Steve didn't seem as pale anymore.

Steve thought for a moment, "I really want to take a shower, but I don't know how long I'd last in there."

"Want to borrow my swimming trunks?" Soda suggested, "I can help you out then."

Steve rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed at the childish idea that he would probably have to do, "I guess I have no choice."

Soda walked into his and Pony's room, grabbed his trunks, and brought them to Steve. "Do you need help putting them on?"

Steve sat himself up on the bed, "If I needed your help putting trunks on, then I wouldn't even bother wearing them in the shower."

"Good point," Soda grinned, "I'll be in the hall."

After Steve got his clothes off and the trunks on, Soda walked him to the bathroom. Steve shook Soda's hand off of him, trying his best to walk without any help. Soda knew he was annoyed with the help, and he knew Steve would try anything to look like he didn't need the help. In the bathroom, Soda did his best to get the bandages off without actually looking. Catching some glimpses though, Soda cringed at the marks and bruises. The pus did not look any better, and that made Soda really concerned.

Soda turned the shower on and Steve stepped in. Soda tried blocking out the painful, hissing sound that escaped Steve's mouth.

"Damnit," Steve said, "That hurts."

"I told you it would," Soda said as he leaned against the wall, "Let me know if you start feeling weak."

"I'm okay right now," Steve replied with heavy breaths, "Just letting the water run on my back. Just stay in here with me, please."

"Of course, buddy. I'm not going anywhere," Soda looked at the mirror at his reflection starting to disappear from the steam, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Hey guys," Darry greeted as he walked into the house. The three boys were sitting on the couch as they greeted him back. Soda followed Darry straight into the kitchen. "I know you may have been busy with Steve, but did you find time to go to the store?" Before Soda could answer, Darry opened the pantry and saw the variety of chips now taking over the shelves, "Yes you did."

Soda laughed, "I did get everything on your list at least."

Darry shook his head, "There is a reason I am willing to risk going to a busy grocery store on a Saturday, so I can do the shopping."

Soda grinned, "But you're grateful I did it for you anyway. You're welcome."

Darry chuckled, "How was the rest of the day?"

"Well," Soda sighed, "Terrence was there."

Darry looked over at Soda, "At the store? What did he want?"

"He assumed Steve was here, but I obviously said he wasn't," Soda got closer to Darry as he lowered his voice, "He told me to tell you he's coming later."