"I thought you'd never get here, Steve. I've probably been waiting at least an hour."

Steve stepped through the door of Katie's apartment, offering her a kiss on the cheek and an explanation. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I got caught up talking to Soda."

Katie led Steve to the kitchen, where she'd just put a potato and cheese casserole in the oven. "About what? Did he have another one of those episodes?"

"Episodes? Oh! No, it wasn't that. Just some personal things he has going on."

"Personal? Like with him and Penny?"

"Well, um, maybe. But Soda and I, we don't usually share what we talk about with anybody else."

"But I'm your girlfriend now. You can tell me anything."

"Not when it's private though. I can't break the trust I have with somebody else in my life. But anyway, we got to talking, and I wasn't paying much attention to what time it was."

"You and Sodapop must talk a lot. It sounds like you do."

"Yeah. You should've seen us a while back. We once pitched a tent in his backyard and stayed out there all night. Mostly just to talk. We used to camp out as kids, so it was like a re-creating sort of thing."

"You did that as adults?"

"Technically, yeah. We were eighteen."

"That's pretty old to be having sleepovers. For boys anyway."

"We slept over at each other's houses a lot around that time. It'd either be because we just wanted to hang out or because we needed each other for the night."

"Needed each other?"

"Yeah. To talk and stuff."

"About?"

"Whatever was on our minds that we needed to get out in the open or anything we just wanted one another to hear."

"Oh. Because, like you said, you've both been through a lot?"

"Right. And some of it, we sort of share. If you think sleepovers are something, you should've seen us when we took a trip together."

"What kind of trip?"

"Just a road trip. One spring, we drove to Kansas. We split the driving right in half and stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights."

"And did what?"

"Just hung out, saw a few sights, swam in the pool, even though the water was freezing. Me and Soda don't really need a lot to do. We're good just having each other's company."

Katie leaned closer to Steve, resting her head on his chest. "I sure like having your company. Are you enjoying mine?"

Steve let his arms wind around Katie, his body drinking in the romantic affection that he'd been without for quite a while, as he felt her hands touching his bare skin. "Yes. I am. I'm enjoying it a lot."

"Want to go to my bedroom?"

"Katie, I meant what I said before about going slow physically. I-"

"I know. I'm not asking for us to have sex yet. I'm just asking if you want to get out of the kitchen and go where we can get a little bit cozy."

"Should I just do it, Dar? Should I tell her she can see other people if she wants? I don't want us to keep hangin' on like this when we're not gettin' anywhere beyond what we've always had."

Darry sat on the front porch swing with Soda, the two brothers spending part of the evening together. "From what you've said so far, it doesn't sound like that's what Penny wants. But the only way to find out if it could be an option is to talk to her about it. You can't make any decisions about your relationship by yourself, little buddy. It just doesn't work that way."

Soda laid his head on Darry's shoulder, his big brother still one of the handful of people in the world who could always make him feel safe. "I know. It's so weird. You're over here married. Steve's startin' a relationship that could be the one to last. I was always the lady's man. But, pretty soon, I won't have anything like that with a woman in my life."

"I think you're jumping ahead here, Sodapop. You don't know what could happen with you and Penny. There's nothing impossible or impractical about seeing how things go once she takes the job. Don't make a choice that you might want to change if you realize long-distance isn't a bad option."

"It ain't only that though, Darry. Penny and me have different pictures of life, and no matter where we live, I don't think we'll ever be able to find a way to make them match."

"Thanks for dinner, Katie. I'll see you tomorrow."

Katie's expression changed from one of ease to puzzlement, as she saw Steve begin getting ready to go. "But wait. You're leaving already? I thought we were having a nice time."

Steve pulled on his shoes and jacket, then gave Katie a hug and kiss goodbye. "We have had a nice time, but I need to get home too. You know, to get ready for bed and all. It's almost 9:00."

"I'll miss you, Steve."

"I'll miss you too, but we've got tomorrow and all week."

"And after classes are done for the semester, we can spend all our free time together."

"Yeah. We'll see each other even more then."

"Do you want to have lunch with me tomorrow?"

"I already told Soda we'd meet for lunch."

"Why? You live together. Don't you share plenty of meals?"

"Because we want to. And, yeah, we do, but that doesn't mean we can't also have lunch. Katie, is there a problem? You seem put-off by it whenever I mention I'm doing something with Soda or my dad. I know I see them both a lot, but it doesn't mean I don't like you."

"No. There's no problem. I love how close you are to them, and I know it's important. I guess I'm just having such a great time getting to know you, so there's this part of me that can't help wanting you all to myself."

Steve entered the apartment, surprised to find the TV and all the lights already off. He made his way to his bedroom, changing into shorts and a T-shirt before going down the hall to Soda's room. He lightly touched the door that was partially open, peeking inside to see his best friend tucked under the covers in the dark.

"I'm awake, Stevie. You can come in."

Steve went in the room, perching on the edge of the bed. "Hey, man. For a second there, I thought you were asleep already."

Soda felt Steve's hand touching his shoulder over the blanket, eyes adjusted to the dark, as he looked at his friend. "Nah. Just lying here. How was it at Katie's?"

"Pretty good. I think she might be a little bit paranoid I'm not going to have enough time for her or something."

"Aw, I don't think she needs to worry about that." Soda saw Steve start to reach for the lamp switch. "Please don't turn on the-"

Steve got a good look at Soda's face, as the light illuminated his best friend's splotchy cheeks and swollen eyes. "Man, you don't have to hide the fact that you've been crying from me. And don't you dare give me that line about being a grown man. It makes no difference if we're five or forty-five, we can cry in front of each other."

Soda felt the emotions tugging on him once more, though no new tears formed in his eyes. "I know. I just wanted to be done with it for the night. That's all."

Steve reached for the blanket that covered Soda, pulling it down, so he could rub his best friend's back without interference. "So what happened? Are you upset because of Penny?"

"Yeah. I'm sad about her leavin'. And just about where I think things are going for us. Darry says I'm gettin' ahead of myself, but I ain't so sure he's right. Do you think I am?"

"I can't answer that, buddy. I think only you can know what you're doing here as far as your relationship with Penny goes."

"Darry told me that cause I was talkin' about whether I should tell her she can see other people."

"That probably is getting ahead of yourself. She's still here, so savor the time you have, man. I know it feels over, but I don't think it is quite yet. You two haven't stopped loving each other, and nothing is wrong between you. Maybe it's not completely right either, but you still have a friendship I know you want to keep."

"I feel like I'm grieving, Stevie."

"Because you are. Penny's the first woman you loved after Sandy. She's the mother of your child, and she's been in your life since your first date that was what? Five and a half years ago now?"

"Yeah. It's been a long time."

"You've shared a lot, buddy. And you were hoping to share more. So you're grieving what might have been. What you've wanted for so long. I remember how you've talked about the way you love Penny being different, so it's painful to think about that not leading where you expected."

"I know I was meant to have her in my life, that we were meant to be here for each other. Even meant to bring Emily into the world. But I'm not sure about anything else."

Steve leaned closer to Soda, resting his head on his friend's shoulder. "You don't have to be, buddy. Just take each day as it comes, and I promise you'll see every bit of the purpose."