"You can't catch me, Na-na-hoo-hoo!" A four-year-old Alana ran through the front yard sprinkler in her underwear. Two Bit chased her.

"I'm gonna get you!" He shouted, racing through the water behind her. "Augh! That's cold!"

Alana rolled on the grass, laughing. "You're goofy, Two Bit." She said.

"Ahh, but you love me anyway." He said, dropping down beside her. She crawled up into his lap.

"Yep."

"You're my favorite sister." He told her, tickling her ribs.

"I'm your only sister!"

"Even if I had ten sisters, you'd still be my number one."

My number one…number one…number one…

Two Bit opened his eyes. That was the third time he'd had that dream. It was actually a memory, but he had it while he was sleeping, which made it a dream. It was nice. He'd forgotten that little joke he and his sister had once had, about her being his favorite sister. He wondered if she remembered.

He saw that someone had brought him some lunch. It looked disgusting, but he had yet to talk Soda into sneaking him some real food, so he'd have to make do.

"Hey!" Alana bounced into the room, Steve on her heels. Two Bit still wasn't sure how he felt about the whole thing. It was weird, seeing his buddy and his baby sister kissing and stuff, but Alana seemed happy and apparently, Steve had stayed by her side the whole time Two Bit was out of it.

"Hi." Two Bit grinned and tried to shift his weight. Stupid cast.

"Feelin' all right?" She asked, sitting on his bed. Steve sat down in a chair beside her.

"Peachy keen, jelly bean." He answered, grinning again, then taking a bite of some green Jello. "Hey, Stevie."

"Hi, Two Bit." Steve spared a small smile. Things were still a little edgy with them.

"Were you sleeping?" Alana asked, smoothing his blankets.

"Nah…"

"Good, because well…now, don't get me wrong, Two Bit-."

"Ah, crap." Two Bit sighed. "Here it comes. All aboard for the guilt train."

"Shut up. I'm glad you're awake and all, but cripes! Talk about a heart attack! I nearly fell out a window!"

"Uh, you were nowhere near a window. This Jello sucks. Someone get me a burger. Make that two burgers."

"I don't think so, Coma Boy! No burgers for you!"

"What? Who's in charge around here? I'm older than both of you! What happened to respecting your elders, huh?"

"Guess what?" Alana ignored him.

"What?" Two Bit asked begrudgingly.

"I just saw Dr. Lawson in the hall and he told me that you can come home tomorrow!"

"Thank Christ." Two Bit sighed. He hated this freakin' room, with the dead flowers and Soda's slowly deflating balloon. He was ready to sleep in his own bed again. "How is it that you got to know before me?"

She smiled smugly. "I'm special."

"Yeah, Special Ed."

"Hey, boy-o, I'm not the one who repeated junior year three times."

Two Bit shook his head. "That was harsh, Alana." He said, but he smiled anyway.

"Sorry." She shrugged. "Hey, we gotta go, okay?"

"But you just got here!"

Alana felt bad. "I know, but we just stopped on our way to the Nightly Double."

"Oh, I get it." Two Bit was unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Your dates more important than your brother."

Alana rolled her eyes and Steve felt himself tense.

"Don't be like that, man." He said. "Alana never left your side the whole time you were out. You're awake now and she wants to go out. What's the big deal?" Steve wanted to add more, but forced himself not to.

Two bit opened his mouth to reply, but Alana cut him off with a look. "Fine." He said finally.

"Good." Alana kissed his forehead. "We'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"And no burgers!" She told him as they walked out the door.

"Right."

Steve and Alana had only been gone for about ten minutes when Grace showed up. 'Ah, well,' Two Bit thought. 'At least someone cares about me.'

"Why do you have to do that?" Alana demanded as they pulled into the Nightly Double.

"Do what?" Steve asked, searching for an empty parking space.

"Antagonize him like that."

"Alana," Steve pulled into a spot and grabbed the little speaker. "What are you talking about?"

"Two Bit!" She practically shouted. "Why do you have to antagonize him?"

"I don't antagonize him!" Steve defended himself. "I don't even know what antagonize means!"

Alana sighed and sat back in her seat.

"Oh, come one, Alana! This is the first date we've had since Two Bit's accident! Let's just…enjoy the movie, okay? Ponyboy said it was really scary." Steve put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. "Please?"

Alana nodded. How could she resist that? "Okay." She said.

Ponyboy had been right; the movie was scary. It was called Rosemary's Baby and it was all about this woman whose carrying the baby of Satan. Alana knew she wouldn't sleep for weeks after she watched it. It even shook Steve up a little bit.

"Oh God, that's freaky!" He kept saying.

"Okay, that was thescariest movie I ever saw." Alana declared as they drove away from the Nightly Double. "There's no way I'm going to sleep tonight."

"Well…" A thought had begun to take form in Steve's mind. Two Bit wasn't home and neither was Mrs. Matthews. Maybe…no, Alana wouldn't go for that? Would she?

Hey, you never know unless you try.

"Maybe I should stay for awhile." He told her. "So you're not, you know, scared or anything."

Alana bit her lip. Letting him in the house when no one else was home was a big no-no, but that's what made it fun. "All right."

Steve couldn't believe his luck. She actually said yes! Well, to letting him come in, but it was a start!

"Come on in." Alana said as she opened the door. "It's kinda messy. Sorry."

"No sweat." Steve shrugged. "You should see my house."

"You want a pop or something?" She asked.

Steve shook his head. "No, I'm cool."

"Okay." Alana felt nervous. She'd never been alone in her house with a guy before. Well, besides her brother, but he didn't count.

She sat down on the lumpy couch and Steve sat down beside her. He was sitting closer than normal and it was then Alana realized what was going on.

"Steve…" She started. "I'm scared to, you know…"

Steve chewed the inside of his cheek. He knew what she meant. He also knew that she'd never. "I like you a lot, Alana." He told her. "You don't gotta be scared. I promise I won't hurt you or anything."

She hesitated, then nodded. "Okay."

"Here?" He asked.

"No, let's go to my room." She told him, secretly hoping that she'd picked up all of her dirty underwear and stuff.

Steve followed her back to her bedroom. He realized in all the time that he'd known Alana that he'd never been in her room. It was small, with light blue flowered wallpaper and white furniture. He sat down on her bed and slipped off his shoes.

Alana felt her stomach flutter as she watched Steve undress down to his boxer shorts. Should she do that too? She pulled her t-shirt over her head, wishing that her boobs were bigger.

Steve lay back on her bed, trying not to stare at Alana as she slipped her jeans off. Her stomach was flat and white. "Here." He patted the spot beside him on her bed. She lay down next to him and he kissed her.

This kiss felt different than their others, Alana thought. It was more passionate, maybe? She could feel Steve's hand working its way up her stomach andunder her bra…

Afterward, they lay silently next to one another. It had been painful and awkward for Alana, but sweet nonetheless.

"Are you okay?" Steve whispered. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No." She whispered back. She turned to him and snuggled up closer. She felt very tired all of a sudden. "You didn't hurt me at all."

Steve laced his hand with hers. He could feel her falling asleep beside him. "I love you." He said softly.

Alana's eyes flew open. "What?"

Steve looked surprised. He thought she was asleep! "I-I said, I love you."

"You love me?" She asked. No one had ever said that to her before. Well, besides her family. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure." Steve said cautiously. Was this the part where she kicked him out? He didn't know. He'd never told a girl that he loved her before.

"Well…well, I love you too, Steve Randle."

"Really?"

Alana smiled and kissed him. "Really, really. Now hush up so I can go to sleep."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Steve!" Alana whispered. "Steve! Wake up! It's 6:00! My mom'll be home in twenty minutes! You have to go!"

"Mhmm." Steve groaned and flipped over. "Huh?"

Alana rolled her eyes. "Get dressed! My mom's on her way home!"

Suddenly it registered and Steve jumped up. "Crap!" He grabbed his boxers from off the floor and yanked them on. "Where's my shirt?"

"Here." Sometime n the night, Alana had pulled on a nightgown. She also passed him his jeans, socks, and shoes. "Where are you going to go?"

"Probably to the Curtis's." He answered. "If I go home, my old man…" He trailed off. He didn't have to finish, Alana knew what Mr. Randle would do.

They walked out into the living room. Steve kissed her again. "I had fun last night." He said.

She blushed. "Yeah, me too."

"Good. So, you'll come by the Curtis's in a few hours, right? And we'll go to hospital from there?"

"Yeah."

Steve kissed her one last time. "I love you." He couldn't get over it. He loved her! And she felt the same way!

"I love you, too."

See?

Steve drove to the Curtis house. It was still dark. Well, no wonder, it the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning. Of course it was dark. They were still asleep.

Steve walked in, trying not to make much noise. There was a blanket and a pillow on the couch for whoever might come by in the middle of the night, needing a place to sleep. Steve stripped back down to his boxers and went back to sleep.

"What time did you get here?" Steve awoke a few hours later to Ponyboy's voice. "And what happened to your back?"

"About six. And what's wrong with my back?"

"There's red scratches on it." Pony said naively. "Looks like a cat attacked you or somethin'."

"Or somethin'." Steve repressed a smile. Poor Pony; he'd learn soon enough.

"Wait a minute…" Ponyboy had finally caught on. "You mean Alana…and you?"

Steve shrugged. "No one was home." He said, wondering into the kitchen where Darry and Sodapop were eating their breakfast.

"Man, what happened to you back?" Soda asked. "It looks painful."

"I don't think he was experiencing any pain." Pony said, coming in behind Steve. "Could you put your shirt on, please? Your love marks are ruining my appetite."

Darry barked out a laugh. "Love marks, huh? Well, you better not let Two Bit see that. He might fall back into his coma."

"Funny." Steve poured himself a cup of coffee. "Speaking of Two Bit, he's released today. I told Alana that we'd help her get him home." He glanced at the clock. "She should be here soon. And not a word about last night, you dig?"

The three brothers nodded.

"My lips are sealed." Soda added.

"They better stay that way." Steve warned.

"Anybody home?" Alana's voice called out.

"In the kitchen!" Darry shouted.

"Hey!" She said, bouncing into the kitchen, Beth on her heels. Steve thought she looked cute in her ripped jeans and one of Two Bit's Mickey Mouse shirts.

"Someone's chipper this morning." Sodapop remarked innocently. Steve kicked him under the table.

Alana just smiled. "Why shouldn't I be? My brother's coming home today. He's only been in the hospital for two weeks. So, let's go already!"

"Um, Alana, can't we eat first?" Soda asked, taking a bite of his chocolate cake.

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Alana, he's not going anywhere. Let the poor guys eat, for Adam's sake."

"Who's Adam?" Ponyboy teased. "Your new boyfriend?"

Beth nodded. "Yep. Jealous?"

Ponyboy laughed. "No, not really."

Alana rolled her eyes. "Okay, we can finish this little love fest on the way to St. Joe's."

Steve slung his arm over her shoulder. "Impatient much?" He teased, and she smiled in spite of herself. His peppermint smell brought back memories from the night before and Alana felt her face grow hot.

"I'm not impatient. I'm just…excited." She answered as Steve nuzzled his face in her neck.

"You smell good." He said. "Like raspberries or something."

She flipped her hair. "That's my new shampoo. It's called Sun-Kissed Raspberry."

"Hmm." Soda shook his head. "Should be called Accident in the Perfume Factory."

"Hardy-har, you're funny." Alana rolled her eyes. "Y'all done yet?"

"As done as we're gonna get with you naggin' us." Darry teased. "Let's go."

"Yay!" Alana started jumping up and down like a little kid. Soda grabbed her hands and they started jumping up and down together.

Steve shook his head. "You guys have mental problems."

Alana stopped jumping. "I know, but its fun! You should try it!"

"I think I'll pass this time." Steve said. "So, who's riding with me?"

"I am!" Soda and Alana both said.

"Okay, then you two can ride in the truck with me." Darry told Beth and Pony.

"Walking with crutches is hard." Two Bit announced a few hours later, as he practiced limping around the Curtis living room. "You gotta kinda swing."

"Let me try." Soda said. Two Bit handed him the crutches. "Whee! This is fu-whoa!" Everyone laughed as Soda fell face first onto the floor.

"Fun, huh?" Two Bit asked. "Yep, lot's of fun. How long do I gotta use this thing?"

"Six weeks." Alana answered.

"Well, that's gonna suck." Two Bit remarked. "Hey, at least I'll get special treatment!"

Leave it to Two Bit to see the bright side of a broken leg.