A/n: Hello! This is Kiks again with yet another story. Obviously this one will not be a long one – that's for sure – but it will consist of several chapters before it is over. I'm thinking three, maybe four. Anyway, those of you who have read any of my other stories know that I am good for updating ALWAYS. I will never not update, so don't think that I'll give up on this because I've gotten myself into a "rut" or something. No, that's not going to happen. Especially now that it's the summer and I have more than enough time to write all that I want and can.

In this story, every chapter will be from either Steve or Soda's POV. It starts out with Steve's and the next chapter will be Soda. Got it? Good.

Disclaimer: I don't own S.E. Hinton's characters, settings, names, or anything else that she has rights to. I do own the jerk who shows up in this story and the plot. I think that just about covers it all, yeah?

Enjoy!

---

Chapter One

(Steve's POV)

If I hadn't know Two-Bit for the better part of my life, I would've thought he was stoned off his ass. I mean, I ain't never seen anyone drive so slow out of the school parking lot before. He took his sweet time while Pony and I waited for him to get going, growing more impatient with each honk aimed our way. He leaned passively over and turned up the volume on the radio, bobbed his head from side to side, and tapped his fingers on that roughed-up steering wheel of his.

"Hey, Two-Bit," I turned down the radio, disgusted with his choice of song, "pick up the speed a bit, will ya? You're gonna make me late for work, and you know damn well what's gonna happen if I do. I can't risk it again."

The dweeb in the backseat had to stay after to talk to his Chemistry teacher and Two-Bit wouldn't leave without him. I wasn't in the worst of moods, but I'll be damned if he causes me to lose my job. Boss-man was already barking up my tree about Kools and where I've been getting them, knowing full well that I've been buying them from Soda for ages now.

"All right, all right. Keep your pants on. You ain't goin' to be late, 'kay?" He pushed on the gas and sped up.

"Okay..." I said, calming down now that we were moving.

"Hey, Two-Bit?" Ponyboy leaned forward against the seat, over on Two-Bit's side, clearly avoiding me.

"Yeah?"

The kid glanced at me and nearly faltered. "Um... Can you take me home after we drop off Steve? I've got a five page report due tomorrow in English, and I ain't started on it yet. Darry's gonna skin me if I don't get some of it done before he gets home."

"Sure thing, kid." I was willing to bet that Two-Bit had plans of going over there anyway. He didn't have anything much else to do without us around, so he could always be found at either of our houses. It was nice to have him hanging around, especially these days. There were fewer things to do, now that Dally and Johnny were gone. Fewer and more rough.

We pulled into the parking lot and before he'd put the car in park I was halfway to the door.

"Bye, Steve," Two-Bit called as I walked away.

"Yeah, see ya."

"Bye," Pony called timidly. I snickered in spite of myself.

I pushed the door open and noticed Soda re-stocking the milk section of the freezer, singing an Elvis Presley song to himself.

"...Crying all the time...You ain't nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time... You ain't never –"

Man, you should've seen him. He was playing the air guitar in between loads, swiveling his hips. That kid had no shame, especially when a customer could walk in on him at any moment. I thought it was great. He looked like a lunatic though.

"Practicing up to be the next Elvis are you?" I asked as I went behind the counter to drop off my backpack and change into my jumper.

He spun around, not knowing that I was there, and smirked. "Better me than you."

"Oh ho..." I laughed. "You wish."

"No." He attempted to correct me. "I know." He grinned and kicked the empty box out of his way.

"Yeah, right."

I closed the door to the office slightly while I stepped into my jumper, in case a customer came in. I found the roll book and marked down that I had come in on time and went back out into the store.

"Slow business?" I asked as I picked out a pack of cigarettes and slipped some money into the cash register. The place was empty. There was usually always someone in.

"Eh, not too bad. Could be better. I've practically had the place to myself... and Kip. But he's been sticking to outside mostly." He hopped back behind the counter and made himself comfortable while I headed to the freezer to get myself a cool drink before going out to the garage.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"'Cause I... conveniently... forgot my coat at home." He grinned slyly. "I ain't itching to pump gas in this weather, and he don't mind as long as he's got a coat, so..." It wasn't too bad outside, for being the end of fall, but you definitely wouldn't want to work out there unless you had a coat.

"Cool... I don't...never mind. I need to go."

I wasn't done talking to him, but right as I started up again, a man came in and went immediately to the counter, so I decided now was as good as anytime to break off the conversation. I was pushing it, not going out back yet as it was.

Soda nodded, understanding and fixed his attention on the hick-looking man. "Hey, what can I get for you?"

"Pack of Camels." The guy fished into this pocket for his wallet, looking bored out of his mind.

"All right," Soda said and turned around to unlock the case, but found the key ring gone. "Erm... hold up..." He looked around a little for the keys.

"Oh, wait, Soda," I called, and turned back around. "I got it. Hold on." I forgot I had them with me. I must've forgotten to put it back.

I got there fast and unlocked it for him. I wasn't supposed to be getting into the cigarette cabinet, as Boss-man constantly reminds us, but Soda never stopped me. And I knew I had nothing to worry about. I could trust Sodapop.

I turned back to where Soda had opened the register and felt the bottom of my stomach fall clean past my feet. The end of a heater was barely visible under Soda's ribcage, the owners hands holding it quite steady. I couldn't move. That damned gun was going to blow a hole through him and I couldn't fucking move.

"Now..." the man started, "we can make this real simple if you'd like." He moved the heater back and forth, slowly, between us now. "All I want is the money, and then I'll be out of here."

He cocked the gun.

"O-Okay," Soda stuttered and slowly put the key in the cash register, hands shaking as he went along. I watched out the of corner of my eye as he carefully placed his foot on the silent alarm and began to pull out the bills as fast as he could. That was my buddy for you. He was smart in these kind of situations. If it was me being ordered around, I probably would've completely forgotten about the alarm. Hell, I had already forgotten about it – I ain't never cared enough about it before.

As he finished stuffing the last of the money into his fists, one of his hands popped open, being too full, and he dropped some of the money on the floor, fumbling with the other half in his hands. "Oh shit." He dropped to his knees and started to gather it up. He was buying time anyway that he could. I'd help him if I could figure out something to do, but with a gun now being pointed in my direction and I wasn't up to doing anything stupid. I just hope he wasn't going to kill us with his antics.

"Damn it!" The man grumbled and shoved the gun back in his coat, but then immediately took it back out, changing his mind, and pointed it back at me. "What the hell is he doing down there?"

"Picking up the money..."

"No, he's not. What's he doing?" He shook the gun in his fury.

"I told you. Picking up the money. That's what you came here for, isn't it?"

"Damn it!" He looked over the counter, then outside, to see if anyone was noticing – saw that no one was, and looked back down the floor where Soda sat, scooping up money. He pointed his gun to the red light blinking on the floor under the counter. "What's that?"

"Nothing," I answered, watching Soda shake with more fear than he had at any other point. That was the stupidest answer I could've given...damn.

In the distance, a siren could be heard, and it got louder every second. The man's face when red with rage and he jumped over the counter, knocking me out of the way, picked up Soda by the collar and shoved him into the office.

"Damn you!" he yelled, "God damn it!" He grabbed me and made to shove me out of the way as he closed the door, but I stood my ground.

This fucker couldn't ever relate to the rage now causing me to tremble. It had been a hell of a year for loss and I'll be damned to hell if deaths five and six were coming.

I grabbed him by the shirt and tried to knock him to the ground, despite the fact that he was still holding the gun. We all three ended up in the office, Soda flat on his ass in the corner, the hick baring down on me while I held him off with the switch from my back pocket. He was too big for me to budge him much. He grabbed my wrists, ripped the knife from me, and shoved me down on top of Soda. Soda groaned under my weight and I winced as his knees knocked into my stomach. Picking myself up again, I heard a soft click and knew the door had been locked.

It required a key both inside and out. The key was out.

He rounded back on us, the gun swinging dangerously in his hand. "Sit down and shut the hell up. You got that?"

Soda gave me a warning look and I slowly obliged. I wasn't going to jeopardize anyone else, and I sure as hell wasn't going to chance myself.

---

A/n: All right, thanks for reading! Please review, because you know... those are so nice to get. Lol. I mean, shoot, if you took the time to read this, you can all take fifteen seconds to review. It ain't going to hurt you any, right? Oh, and flames are also welcome... they only make me more motivated to write and continue to piss the hater off :D