I want to thank Keira for all the great ideas she gave me for this chapter and the one to follow! Thanks Girl!



"Darry can I go to the movies with Two-Bit?" Pony asked the next morning. "Or… am I grounded too?" He asked hesitantly because he thought Darry might have been to tired last night to remember everything Pony had told him.

Darry looked up from the Saturday morning paper and his brother looked at him with an innocent puppy face. Darry smiled slightly. "Ok, you can go but I want you in by eight for the rest of the week."

Pony nodded. He didn't dare argue. An early curfew was far better a punishment than not getting to go anywhere at all. "Thanks Dar!" He ran out the door before Darry could change his mind.

"Sodapop." Darry said turning to his other brother and setting the paper down on the table. "Huh?" Soda asked staring out the window.

"I gotta work today." Soda's ears perked up but he didn't say anything. "You know you're under house arrest so stay put, understand?" Darry stood and waited for an answer from the moping teen but didn't get one. "Soda?" He asked again.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, ok." Soda said not really paying attention.

Darry sighed and headed out. "I'll see you tonight." He yelled.

"Bye." Soda said.

Soda heard the door slam behind Darry and got up out of his seat, racing to the window in the front of the house. He peered out cautiously so he wouldn't be seen and watched Darry drive down the road. He waited until the truck was out of sight and then went over to the telephone and punched in Samantha's number, waiting impatiently and anxiously for an answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Samantha?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, this is she."

"It's Sodapop. How you doing?"

"Good." She said. "I had a great time at the club last night."

"Yeah, me too." Soda said.

He went on to tell her everything that had happened when he got home and she listened with concern. "So the reason I was calling." He said getting to his main point. "Is because both my brothers are out today and I thought maybe you'd like to come over. It's only been a few hours since I last saw you but I already miss you."

"I miss you too." She said. "When should I stop by?"

"As soon as possible!" Sodapop said. She laughed.

"All-right, I'll be over in about forty five minutes, ok?"

"Great," Soda said. "See you then. Bye." He hung up and rushed off to the shower.

"This is great!" He thought. He'd get to spend ALL day with her. Well… maybe not ALL day but a lot of it. If it was ten nine o'clock now and Darry got home at around five thirty that gave them about eight and a half hours! Pony and Two-Bit would probably get home in a few hours but they wouldn't ever rat on him and as long as Two-Bit didn't make any ridiculous comments around her it would be all-right.

After he was showered and shaved he couldn't find the right shirt to wear. Most of his clothes were dirty and the other shirts he had were faded or had holes in them. Pony's shirts were a tad to small for him so he went into Darry's room and picked something out. It was a bit big but it looked pretty good on him.

Just as he was finishing greasing his hair back perfectly there was a knock on the front door. Soda checked himself over in the mirror again quickly and ran to answer it and let Samantha in. He was really nervous about her seeing the house but she was complementary.

"You keep this place pretty clean for three boys." She said.

"Thanks." Sodapop said smiling, shutting the front door. "You want something to drink?" He asked walking into the kitchen.

"Um, maybe just some water." She said.

"Coming up." Sodapop opened the freezer and got out some ice.

He poured her some water and then got out the chocolate cake. "Want some?"

"No thanks. I'm not much of a chocolate lover." She said.

Sodapop's eyes widened. She had to be kidding! Soda couldn't bare to imagine being without it. "You don't like chocolate?" He said in almost complete shock.

She laughed at his response. "Not much."

He shrugged, cut himself a piece, and lifted his fork up to his mouth for a bite but he was so busy watching her that he didn't pay attention to the bite of cake on his fork and it fell off and smeared onto his shirt. Or should I say Darry's shirt… "Oh, no!" He said hoping it would come out. "I'm making a mess of myself." How embarrassing.

Samantha just grinned and came over. "I'll fix it." She said unbuttoning his shirt and helping him slip it off. "There." She said admiring his abs. "That's much better."

He was about to attempt at another bite of chocolate cake but an arm wrapped around his shoulder and in moments he was lip locked with her. He put the plate of cake down carefully while returning the kiss which soon became incredibly deep. Eventually they pulled back and looked at each other. He held her close and looked at her in the eyes. "You are so gorgeous." He said running his hand through her hair. She smiled and pulled forward again to kiss him.

Soda led her into the living room afterwards and they sat down to cuddle. She laid her head down on his chest and his heart beat sped up like it used to when Sandy was with him. Soda reached over and wrapped her tightly in his arms. She was so warm and soft. So beautiful. He didn't wanna let go. He wanted to lay there with her all day and not let go. He hadn't felt so peaceful for months.

"Samantha…" Soda started to say. "Shhhh." She said gently pressing her finger to his lips. "Don't talk, baby. Just lay here with me." Soda smiled watching her sleep and kissed the top of her forehead. He then rested his head on one of the couch pillows and closed his eyes. They were so comfortable that they snuggled up tightly and accidentally fell asleep.