"Wait. What? Katie spent the night over here?"

Steve had to laugh at the expression on Soda's face, as his best friend was in the middle of unpacking the stuff he'd taken on the trip to Norman. "Yeah, she did. But it's not anything like what you're thinking."

Soda folded up the now-empty duffel bag, seeing Steve's ease with the current subject, as he stashed it in the closet. "Oh. Okay. But ya'll are good then?"

"Yep. We kissed a lot, but that's it, you know? She slept on the couch. I did tell her that I'm not comfortable with the idea of us having sex yet. I didn't get into exactly why though."

"So she's all right with that?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's simple enough even without knowing the rest. We did just start dating, and what I told her about sex having a lot of emotions attached to it is true. I really do want us to be sure about being together first too."

"Were you thinking about telling her what happened to you?"

"Sort of. It crossed my mind anyway. But it's still too soon. I'm honestly not wanting to put that kind of burden on our relationship."

"Not to get too deep or anything here, Stevie. But isn't it already there?"

"Isn't what where?"

"The abuse. Doesn't it already affect your relationship even when Katie doesn't know about it yet?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so. As much as I don't want that to be true, it is."

"You want to know how I see it?"

"I already know you think I need to tell her before we get serious."

"I don't mean that. I mean I don't think it's a burden."

"You don't? What else could it be, man? I was abused damn near thirteen years ago, and it's followed me all the way to now. That sounds like the very definition of a burden to me."

"Yeah, of course. But I've been listenin' to you for a lot of years now, Stevie. So I see more than that. The pain and all the effects it's had, that's the worst thing in the world. But I look at you with your empathy and compassion and the way you are with me, the way you're takin' such care with Katie, and the kind of career you're after. The abuse ain't who you are, but you've taken that stuff and made it into something else that does say so much about the guy I'm proud to still call my best buddy today. What you went through is ugly, but because of it, I can't even help but see a whole lot of beauty."

"Yeah, Soda was getting all kinds of wise and philosophical on me. It was really something to hear."

Nicholas listened to Steve, as father and son sat in the kitchen, a completed Scrabble game still between them. "Sounds like it was. So do I get to meet Katie yet? If you're putting this much thought into the relationship, and you and Sodapop are having conversations like that one about it, I know something must be there."

Steve fidgeted with one of the letter tiles on the board, his fingers sliding it from one space to another. "I'm going to bring her over tomorrow. She and I are having lunch with Soda and Penny first, then we'll come here."

"I'll let Audrey know. She's been looking forward to meeting Katie too."

Steve slid the letter tile back to its original spot, the 's' now making the word 'transparent' whole once again. "Dad, are me and Soda too dependent on each other?"

"No, Son. That's not what I see at all. Too dependent would mean you're both taking more than either of you has to give. What's making you ask me about this?"

"Just something Katie said. A couple of things, actually."

"Did she say she thinks you're too dependent on each other?"

"Not exactly. Just that we seem really dependent. I don't think she was trying to be critical. She's said good things too because she's already been able to see how close we are. The night she met Soda, he was sort of having a flashback when we came in the apartment, so Katie saw an emotional moment. Then, she overheard my side of the conversation when he called from Penny's place in Norman. But the thing is, I know she doesn't get it. I can tell her all I want that me and Soda are like brothers, but that hardly gives her the context."

"The context as in what?"

"Why our friendship is the way it is. I think it was just surprising to her, and that's fine. I'm not sure how much sense this is about to make after I asked you what you thought, but I know we aren't too dependent. I just wanted somebody else's perspective, who really knows both of us. I didn't ask you about it because it bothers me. It honestly doesn't."

"Because you have the whole context, and so do I?"

"Yeah. I mean, you know everything. Katie doesn't."

"What doesn't she know yet?"

"That I was abused. But not even just that part. I haven't told her anything past Mom dying. She does know about Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, but not Johnny and Dallas or Soda getting shot. I definitely haven't told her I attempted suicide. I feel like I've built this little bubble, and everyone in it knows about certain stuff. They know things about me. Katie doesn't yet though, so I think that gives her a different sort of view."

"I'm sure it does, Son. And you've gotten very used to people close to you being aware of what you've experienced in your life. Not even just aware, but part of how you cope, and some of us, like me and Sodapop, share in some of what you've been through."

"Yeah, and I want to be close to Katie now too, but I don't know if I can do that when it's like this." Steve put his finger on another one of the Scrabble tiles, moving the letter 'a' back and forth. "I'm not sure how it can work if she's looking at everything from the outside."

"So you and Sodapop have been dating for a long time, right?"

Penny sat with Katie on a white-and-red checked picnic blanket, an empty food basket next to them. "Yes, we have. Since I was a senior in high school."

Katie watched Soda and Steve, who were in the grass several feet away, a Frisbee flying back and forth between them. "Have they always been like this?"

"Like what?"

"So close."

"Yes. After my first date with Sodapop, I felt like I knew Steve and both of his brothers."

"I don't even feel like I'm on a date right now."

Penny chuckled, as she saw Soda's eyes move toward her at the same time he caught the Frisbee, the man she had never stopped loving sending her a smile. "I do. Even if it does have a bit of distance."

Katie caught Steve's gaze and took the chance to blow him a kiss, the gesture enough to distract him before the Frisbee bumped into his head.

Penny heard Soda's laughter, the sound taking her back to a time that should've been simpler. "I honestly feel like a teenager on a date, instead of a twenty-something."

Katie giggled when Steve blew a kiss back in her direction, then picked the Frisbee up off the ground, sending it way above Soda's head. "Well, that's a little bit better. I sort of got a kiss."

"You two are going over to Steve's dad's house after this, right?"

"Yes. I'm looking forward to meeting him and Steve's stepmom too. He's also wanting me to meet the preacher from his church. Do you know him?"

"Yes. Very well. I've known Samuel most of the time I've been with Sodapop. You'll like him a lot. He's one of the best people I've ever met."

"Because he's a preacher? Are you religious too? Steve and I have had some discussions about that lately."

"I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'religious,' but I do believe in God and in prayer. As for Samuel, his being a preacher isn't the only reason I said he's one of the best people I've met. I said it because he's welcoming and understanding and very easy to talk to about pretty much anything."

"And he's Steve's stepmom's brother, right?"

"Right. But Steve and Sodapop were both close to him a while before that. So was Steve's dad, Nicholas. It's basically how he ended up meeting Audrey."

"Yes. Steve had told me they met at church years ago. But at the time, I didn't realize it meant he was also involved in religion."

"Yeah, he was there at the service when they met and when Nicholas asked her out. I've heard the story a few times now."

Katie's gaze drifted over to Steve and Soda, seeing the Frisbee going through the air, its spin carrying it along. "I don't know what it is. I feel like I've heard a lot about Steve, and none of it is anything I'd call very unusual, but something tells me he's a man with a lot of history."