Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. They belong to S.E Hinton.

Chapter 3: Be Careful, Soda

Morning came and it wasn't a surprise that Soda was the first one up. Well, it was a surprise to Darry. Usually Sodapop was the last one to get out of bed. That was normally when Darry ranted and raved threatening the kid so much, Soda would drag himself out of bed just to shut his big brother up. Soda wasn't fond of mornings, but this time it was different. This time there was something to look forward to.

As Soda stood in the shower letting the hot water soak his skin, he thought anxiously about Steve's confession. He tilted his head back allowing the droplets from the shower head to trickle down his chest. He closed his eyes and thought about his best friend. What would it be like if Steve was here with him now? Soda held back a chuckle. It was too soon to get that friendly for Soda. This was all new and uncharted territory for the both of them. They hadn't even talked about...well, about sex yet.

Soda grabbed the bar of soap and lathered himself up. He suddenly heard the bathroom door open and Darry's voice filled the small room, "What the hell's gotten into you?"

Soda grinned talking through the shower curtain, "I'm just takin' a shower, big brother. Nothin' unusual."

"The hell it isn't! You never get up this early!" Darry laughed while opening the medicine cabinet over the sink.

"Never is a long time," Soda replied still smiling. "Dad always said it was never too late to start somethin' new."

Still laughing Darry squeezed some paste onto his toothbrush, "Sodapop Curtis, if you keep this new somethin' up, I'll do the laundry for a year."

Soda poked his head out from the curtain, "Uh oh, the last time you did the laundry, our clothes turned pink."

Looking like a mad dog from the foamy toothpaste in his mouth, Darry began to growl at Soda. Soda cracked up and continued to finish his shower.

Soda cooked breakfast quickly and despite the hurried pace the food turned out surprisingly good. Pony came in after Soda had put some of the breakfast on the table. As usual the boy looked half asleep. Ponyboy probably went to bed late. He had a thing for reading a book with a flashlight so he wouldn't disturb Soda. Lack of sleep showed on Ponyboy in the worse way. He'd get little bags under his eyes.

Darry watched Pony for a moment, "You stayed up late, didn't you?"

Pony nibbled at a cold piece of toast, "Yeah, sort of."

"I can see it," Darry said. "Were you readin' one of them books in the dark?"

"Do I have those bags again?" Pony asked dropping the toast and rubbing his eyes.

Darry smiled, "Yeah. You get those bags just like Mom used to get when she was real tired."

"I wasn't readin," Pony finally answered. "I was thinkin."

"About?" Darry asked.

"Johnny."

Darry sighed, "Oh."

"I'd like to go see him today," Pony said while staring at the half eaten toast. He picked it up and unconsciously turned it over and over slowly in his hands.

"Go and see him after school," Darry replied.

"Yeah, I think I will."

Suddenly, Soda plopped Pony's breakfast down on the table as if the plate was on fire. CLUNK!

Pony jumped a bit.

Darry shook his head and pointed at Soda, "And this one's been up before even you and I!"

Pony's eyebrows shot up, "Really? You feelin' okay, Soda?"

Soda turned around to look at his brother's, "I'm feelin' fine. Why are you two so suspicious?"

"Miracles are usually questioned," Darry said before taking a sip of coffee.

Pony smiled and began to shove scrambled eggs into his mouth. He suddenly stopped realizing the appearance of the food upon his plate. The food had no weird color. It looked...appetizing. Soda was a fair cook, but he was a jokester at times. He liked to use food coloring or strange spices to make cooking interesting. This meal was, dare Pony admit, normal looking. It tasted great, too. Pony looked at Soda as the young man quickly stacked pans and silverware in the sink to wash them. Soda seemed pretty happy about going to work. Pony couldn't figure why. Oh well, didn't matter. Breakfast was excellent and Ponyboy secretly hoped the dinner would be just as appealing.

The morning had already been out of the ordinary. Two-Bit and Steve normally came by. For Two-Bit it was to raid the fridge and work through another hang over. Steve typically came by to pick up Soda for work and to sometimes steal a piece of cake or two. Today Darry took Pony to school and then dropped off Sodapop at work. What Darry didn't know was that Pony took a detour toward the football field and decided to go and visit Johnny and Dally in the hospital instead of going to class.

Soda got to work and saw Steve working feverishly on the old Ford in the garage. As the familiar sound of Darry's car drove off, Steve turned around. He smiled big at Soda and waved. The wrench he was holding slipped through his greasy fingers and banged recklessly into the Ford's motor.

"Shit!" Steve cursed.

Soda started to laugh, "Watch what you're doin' there, boy!"

Steve glared at Soda playfully, "I'd rather be doin' you!"

Soda stopped dead in his tracks, "What are you...one of those sex maniacs?"

"Guilty," Steve smiled.

"Crazy is more like it," Soda corrected.

"For you," Steve emphasized.

Soda laughed and tossed a dirty rag in Steve's direction. Steve caught it and threw it back. Sodapop ducked and then grabbed an empty oil can.

"Oh," Steve stood back away from the Ford. "You wanna play rough, huh?"

Soda laughed, "Do you like it rough, Randle?" Soda pitched the can at Steve. Steve ducked and picked up the nearest thing he could find. He quickly threw a gas cap at Sodapop.

As Soda picked up a roll of duct tape to throw at Steve, the horn from a customer's car sounded. Round one ended, Soda put the tape down and began to run out to the car waiting for service. Steve called out quickly, "I've got this."

Soda stood there watching his buddy. He chuckled noticing that Steve was unusually chipper. He whistled and had a bounce in his walk. He held his head up high and took extra care cleaning the customer's windshield. It was like something out of a DX commercial. This gas attendant was just too happy. Even the owner of the car looked concerned. He was an older man of about sixty. He eyed Steve with his head slightly tilted. Soda held back fitful giggles.

The driver tipped Steve good. His cheerful attitude either impressed the customer or scared him. Either way, Steve happily shoved the dollar bill in his jeans. Most of the time the cheapskates around here would toss a quarter or two if he and Soda were lucky. Steve walked back into the garage ready to resume his war with Soda, "Ready?"

Soda just stood there with a soft smile, "We've gotta get to work."

Steve returned the shy grin, "We are workin."

Soda's beautiful eyes rolled, "How so?"

"We're workin' on our relationship."

"Relationship?" Soda repeated in slight surprise. "I didn't even know we was datin!"

Steve started to laugh, touched by Soda's honesty, "I'd like to think we are."

Soda studied Steve for a moment, "I also can't recall you askin' me to date you."

This time Steve rolled his eyes, "Oh, for heaven's sake. Sodapop Patrick Curtis, would you go steady with me?"

He didn't mean to react the way he did, but Soda's brows went up as high as they could. It was a shock to hear those words from Steve's lips. Steve vowed to never be committed to only one person. But that wasn't why Soda was so surprised. He was amazed that Steve Randle would be so comfortable saying those kinds of words to Soda so soon.

Steve tilted his head, "Can I get an answer here?"

Soda didn't reply. He merely stood there uncertain of what to say and how to say it.

Steve shifted his weight to the other leg. He slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out the dollar bill the old man had given him only minutes before, "I'll give you a dollar?"

Soda began to laugh.

Steve waved the dollar bill, "With me you get bonuses."

Sodapop began to crack up harder. He walked over to Steve and grabbed the bill out of the boy's hand. Still chuckling he wrapped his arms around Steve's neck and kissed him affectionately on the lips. It was a small, lighthearted exchange and they both began to laugh. Soda shoved the dollar bill back into Steve's pocket. Steve looked down and then right into Soda's eyes, "That was for you."

"You don't have to pay me to go steady with you," Soda replied.

Steve gave a sigh of relief, "Oh, that's good. I was worried there for a minute."

Soda frowned, "Why?"

"I thought you were gonna say somethin' like I couldn't afford you!"

Soda thought about it, "Well, I do take food stamps."

"Well, we're just gonna have to look into me gettin' a few of those, ain't we?"

"Yeah," Soda replied and leaned in toward Steve slowly with mischief in his eyes. Their lips met softly and slowly. It felt so new and strange to Soda to be kissing his best friend. He loved kissing. It always made him feel weak in the knees and light in the head. When Steve wrapped his arms around Soda's waist tight and pulled their bodies together passionately, Soda noticed he'd moan full of happiness and security. Kissing a guy was fun. Allowing a guy to have control was better. Soda enjoyed choosing the submissive role. It was nice.

When the kiss ended they both stared into each other's eyes. Steve smiled slightly and kissed Soda on the nose. Soda closed his eyes and took pleasure in the sensation Steve had over him. It was intoxicating.

"Soda?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought 'bout gettin' married?"

Soda's eyes shot open, "Huh? What are you talkin' about?"

"Are you ever gonna to marry someone?" Steve asked.

Soda looked down at the ground, "Well, I wanted to marry Sandy, remember?"

"I'm glad you didn't," Steve replied.

"So am I," Soda agreed. "She wouldn't have paid me like you do!"

Steve smiled, "So, if I asked you, would you consider it?"

Soda stopped smiling and lovingly looked at Steve. He placed his hand upon Steve's cheek and whispered, "Like I said, you're movin' too fast and you're dangerous."

"Please Soda," Steve said. "Lie to me. I just want to hear it."

Sodapop only stared at Steve. This was too much too soon. Soda hadn't been in a relationship in a while and the last one was traumatic enough. His ex-girlfriend, Sandy, got knocked up by some other guy. Soda was ready to marry her even though she had lied about the baby's true father. She took off after he tried to get her to marry him. After that, Soda hated the word marriage. It reminded him of her. It reminded him of what could have been. He wanted so much to become a father. He really felt a connection with the unborn child. It didn't matter that the baby wasn't his. It didn't matter that she lied. All Sodapop wanted was to give that baby a father who'd love him and raise him like his father did. Soda just wanted that chance. It crushed Soda when Sandy left. She didn't even say goodbye. Well, she sent him a letter. Soda guessed that was better than nothing. That life experience had been enough, but now Steve Randle was standing before him wanting him to commit to a proposal of marriage that's totally unacceptable in society. What could he say?

Soda began to speak when suddenly another car pulled up. Soda turned to see the car. He looked back at Steve, gave him a quick kiss and pulled away, "I've got this."

Steve watched Soda go. He felt like screaming. He shoved his hands in both pockets and sighed, "That's not all you've got. You've got my heart. Be careful with it." When Soda got through with the car he came back in and gave Steve one of his famous smiles. Steve felt he could melt right then and there.

Well that's chapter 3 hopes u liked it. Please r/r . the reviews really help me get motivated and I need some ideas so if u can please e-mail me with some ideas or if u want leave them with ur review. Well See ya Later! And remember GO OUTSIDERS! Greaser Hugs to everyone including my friend Ponyboy!