"Congratulations, honey. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom. I couldn't have done it without you."

Soda stayed back, quietly watching Penny hug her mom, then her dad, as they all gathered outside the auditorium.

"This is your accomplishment, Penny. You did all the work."

"But I couldn't have done it without you either, Daddy."

Soda gave Penny a wide smile, as she came over to him, everything he'd been wanting to say coming out in just a few words. "You looked great up there, Penny."

Penny felt her tassel that now dangled on the left side of her face, signifying academic completion. "It felt great to be up there too. You want to know something else?"

Soda felt Penny's hand take his own, their fingers intertwining with one another. "What?"

"I may have done all the work to get into college and get my scholarship. I took all my classes and exams. But if it weren't for you, I may never have had the courage to come here and get started."

"I really like you, Katie. I don't want you to think that's changed or anything. But I need to take things between us very slowly when it comes to being physical."

Katie remained close to Steve, as he started to explain what was on his heart, her hand moving back to his thigh. "Okay. So what does that mean then?"

Steve touched Katie's shoulder, the soft material of her blouse beneath his fingers. "It means I want to kiss you, hold you, and be close. But I don't want to go any further yet. We need to have a boundary."

"A boundary? Is this because of your religion?"

"No. It's not that. I mean, that's something I could say because I kind of think what the Bible says about sex being for married couples is right. But that's not the reason I brought this up."

"Then, what is the reason?"

"It's just something that's really personal for me. I know how being physical, well, it draws out a lot of feelings. And I want to be ready for that."

"Okay. Does the idea of sex make you anxious?"

"Yeah. You could say that. And I just- I've been through a lot, so there are emotions attached to everything. I'm not a guy who can sleep with a woman and it not mean something. So I need that sort of step to be special and something we only share if we're sure about being together."

"You're only comfortable being intimate if we're in a committed relationship?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. I hope that's all right with you because I know we're both adults, and we can do what we want. But it's important to me to have this stage of just starting, you know? I'm not wanting any kind of rush, and I also didn't want to wait til we're in the middle of some heated moment to talk about it."

"Because it'd be really hard to stop then?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"That seems reasonable to me since we did just start dating. But you said we need a boundary, so where exactly does it fall? There's a lot between kissing and sex."

"That's true." Steve put his hands on Katie's waist, both moving to caress her back. "For now, I just want to kiss you." He drew closer, blue eyes falling into amber ones, as lips were about to meet. "And I want to do it til we're both out of breath."

"No matter how many times I see it, I'm always surprised how much your dad has warmed up to me."

Penny unlocked the door to her apartment, she and Soda both going inside. "Yeah. Once he could see the kind of person you are, his opinion became completely different."

Soda picked up the duffel bag he'd left beside the couch, rifling through it, even as it wasn't really his focus. "So, um, do you want me to sleep in here or..."

"When have I ever made you sleep on the couch, Sodapop?"

"Well, never. But I wasn't sure if it'd be different this time."

Penny's eyes caught Soda's, her hands on his chest, as she spoke. "Sweetie, it's not different. No, I'm not sure what I'm doing yet, but I still want you to come in and sleep next to me. Things may be changing, but I haven't stopped loving you."

Steve's eyes opened, his head then lifting up off the back of the couch, as he stretched. He looked down at his lap, where Katie's head was resting, letting his fingers comb through her hair, as she slept.

As gently as he could, Steve slid out from under Katie, tucking a pillow beneath her head before kissing her cheek. "Good night. I'll see you in the morning."

"Looks like we've got everything all loaded up."

Penny closed the trunk of her car, as Soda put one more box in his own backseat. "Yeah. It sure does. My dad should be here with the truck in a few minutes, so he can take the furniture."

Soda shut the door of his Chevy, then leaned against it, his elbow propped up on the top. "How about you? You feel like you're ready for the drive?"

Penny stood beside her car, looking at the apartment that she'd called home since beginning college. "Yes. I do, Sodapop. I feel like I'm ready for whatever comes next."

"You looked like you were having a nice sleep."

Katie sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes, as she saw Steve watching her. "I was. I didn't even plan on spending the night here, but I must've gotten too cozy to leave."

Steve switched the coffee maker on, hearing the sound of it beginning to brew. "Yeah. Looks like it. I honestly don't like being alone at night anyway, so it worked for me."

"So what are you doing today? Sodapop won't be back til later, right?"

"Yeah. I'm not expecting him until this afternoon. I'm planning to get some homework and studying done since we're about to have the last week of classes."

Katie made her way into the kitchen, seeing that the coffee pot was less than a quarter of the way full. "Yeah. That seems hard to believe too. I feel like the semester just started."

"Me too. But I think I'm ready to be finished for the summer. Then, I can work more for a while and focus on other stuff."

"Like me?"

"Yeah. I could definitely enjoy focusing on you. What are you planning for today?"

"I have some homework and studying to do too, but I'll hang out with you as long as you'll have me."

"Oh, yeah?" Steve felt himself smile, seeing Katie do the same. "I can sure get on board with that." He watched the coffee continue to brew, suddenly more self-conscious than he'd prefer to be. "I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable last night by sharing what I was thinking about."

"You didn't. If we're in a relationship, sex is something we should discuss. I will admit I was kind of surprised though."

"By what?"

"You saying you don't want us to do it yet. I'd expect most guys to be in some sort of hurry."

"Yeah. Maybe so." Steve watched the last of the coffee drip into the pot, the maker then switching off. "But I'm definitely not like most guys."

"Hey, Steve, I'm home!"

Steve heard Soda's voice from his bedroom, leaving his desk to greet his best friend. "Hey, man. Welcome back. You're here earlier than I thought you would be."

Soda dropped his duffel bag on the floor, as he hung up his car keys. "Yeah. Me and Penny got her stuff packed up fast enough, and she was ready to go. So we did. I think she's going to spend the day with her parents."

Steve sat down on the couch, patting the spot next to him. "So what were you wanting to tell me that you couldn't when you were with Penny?"

Soda sat down next to Steve, letting out a long breath, as he thought back to what Penny had said. "Penny has a job offer in Oklahoma City."

"Oh. Is she going to take it?"

"She doesn't know yet. She's got one here too. At Hillcrest. But she said being away from Tulsa might be what she wants."

"But what'll that mean for you two? Would you go with her?"

"No. I can't. Cause I have my job and so much here. I can't leave."

"Yeah, man. I understand."

"I think it's cause of Emily. It's hard for Penny to be near her. Maybe I was imagining it, but I could've swore she sounded disappointed about how much time I spend with her."

"Was she expecting that to change?"

"I don't know. Maybe. But I'm wonderin' if she thinks me bein' close to Emily might mean she has to be too if she lives here."

"That could be. You should probably ask her about that. Because it isn't true, right? You guys don't necessarily have to have the same kind of relationship with Emily. Penny can still have her own separate one, even if it's not as close."

"Yeah. I was thinkin' about all of this while I was there. But I wanted Penny to focus on bein' happy about graduation, not worryin' over what to do."

"So if she does decide to take the job in Oklahoma City, what will you guys do? I mean, as far as your relationship. Would you stay together?"

"I guess so. But it'd end up bein' like we're in a permanent long distance relationship. I always thought after she finished college, it wouldn't be like that anymore."

"I'm not trying to imply anything here, man. But are you sure you're both on the same page?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean does Penny still have the same feelings for you?"

"Are you askin' if she still loves me?"

Steve noted the soft tone of Soda's voice, guessing his best friend had already asked himself the same question. "Yeah, buddy. But I'm meaning more along the lines of does she still see a future for you guys? Your relationship can't go anywhere if you're always apart, and it stays like that."

"I know it can't. She said she still loves me. I ain't sure exactly what that means though cause I think she'll always love me. But maybe she doesn't see us gettin' married anymore. I didn't ask her if she does."

"I think you guys need to have a big talk, man. Even if Penny decides to take the job here."

"Yeah. We do, and I sure ain't lookin' forward to it." Soda laid his head back on the couch, looking up, as he felt Steve squeeze his shoulder. "But wherever things do go, I know we can't keep goin' on like this."

A/N Well, that's the last chapter of this one for a little bit. The next is started, but just a couple of pages in as of now. I'll post the last of Lighted Passages soon:)