AN: I have absolutely no knowledge of anything car-related (especially not in the 60s) so bear with me here. I did my best to make Steve cannon but this is a story where Ponyboy is completely unrelated, so is that really possible? Also, I really like Steve, and I feel like he gets a lot of unwarranted hate, so I decided to try to make him likable. Sorry. Thanks to my editor! (I don't know if she's ok with me saying her name but I had to mention her, so here you go.)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders. Yay for SE Hinton!

Steve POV

I was walking to the Curtis house after work. I've been going over there a lot lately. Since their parents died, Darry has been going crazy. He's the oldest now, he has to take care of Soda and himself, he's working two jobs, and Soda just told him that he's not going back to school this year. I'll admit that he had some good points. We had both been working at the DX full-time over the summer. It wasn't the best money but no one can deny that it helps them. And Soda loves it. But I was definitely gonna miss goofing off with him at school and, despite what he says, he is really smart. I suppose he just had no more motivation without his parents.

Anyway, I was headed to their house to help Darry work out something with his truck. He's supposed to be there pretty soon. He's a smart guy, but pretty vague when it comes to cars. I mean, he understands them for the most part but he has a really hard time explaining their problems. From what I gathered, there might be something wrong with the transmission, but I could have just completely misunderstood him. It's not likely that he would have even been able to drive to work today if that was the case, though. I don't know, I'm just prepared for pretty much anything. I left my car with Soda so that he wouldn't have to walk home in the dark. The rest of the guys are coming over later tonight too, and we're planning on going to the Dingo for dinner and finding something fun to do. Darry finally had the night off from the warehouse so he finally agreed to hang out with the gang again. I would never tell him this, but I really miss hanging out with him. I mean, he is kinda scary and all, but there is no way he would ever actually hurt one of us. I miss teasing him about everything. It seems like forever since we've had a night out with the whole gang.

The low rumble of an engine drowns out my inner thoughts. Like an idiot, I'm not paying any attention to my surroundings. In Tulsa, that's a pretty dumb thing to do. I mean, with all the gangs roaming around and Socs ready for a fight at any given moment… and I had kinda forgotten the golden rule. My knife currently sat in the pocket of my work jacket. At the DX. Shit. I guess I'm gonna have to call Soda when I get to the house. I'm sure he'd bring it home with him. But that doesn't exactly help my current situation.

The five people crammed in the small cab slid out of the silver Corvair. They were all about my size. I could fight any of them on their own, or maybe even two at a time. But they're Socs. They sorta travel in packs and fight in packs, too. There is no chance of me beating them with no weapons, outnumbered.

"Yo grease. I think you're lost. The outhouse is that way." The Soc on the far left pointed up the road. The others laughed. I personally didn't see what was so funny about it. It wasn't the most thought-out insult. And I told him so.

"Is that really the best you can do? Wow, man. I'm sorry. It must be hard to be so dumb. I believe the elementary school is back that way. Maybe there you could learn how to come up with something even vaguely witty," I bit back. I'll admit it wasn't my best work but I really didn't have the time to come up with something better. Besides, these guys were too stupid to understand anything any more complicated. "Then again, maybe not."

The guys wasted no more time with badly thought-out taunts. They jumped straight into the 'fun'. I was immediately shoved against the wall behind me. Punches started coming at my face and sides. I tried to fight back but there was no way I could aim a punch with so many being thrown at my own face. I desperately wished that Darry would drive by. I had no clue how far he was from the house, or if he was already there. I knew that I was about two blocks from the Curtis house, but Darry's location was completely unknown to me. I knew I couldn't fight this on my own but I hadn't the slightest idea of what to do. I'd already been knocked to the ground by the Socs. I only knew where Soda was right now (work, so helpful). I would have rolled my eyes if I had any feeling in my face. Two-Bit was supposed to be hanging out with Kathy until about 5 tonight. No help there. Dally was working with Buck for another 3 hours. Great. Johnny was probably hovering with him or chilling at the lot. Perfect. I'm completely alone, surrounded by Socs and I'm already down. What the hell do I do now?

I try to open my eyes and look around for some sort of weapon. A pipe or pop bottle or something. Just as I get my eyes open, one of the guys is jogging away from the group. He's caught my attention now. All the Socs and I have been swearing at each other for the whole fight. None of us says anything as he comes back with his fist closed around something. I am trying to figure out what it is from where I sat when there's a sudden shout to my left. It seems I'm the only one that heard the noise. I wasn't sure what was said. There was no way for me to see who it was because there is a Soc standing directly to my left. Not to mention, one of my eyes is slightly swollen and has blood running into it. Finally, I realized what the Soc is carrying. This day keeps getting better and better. Now they have a knife. Wonderful.

I have no time to react before the guy is thrown to the ground. I sit for almost a whole minute trying to understand what just happened. I watch, dazed, as a boy of about 12 or 13 gets to feel the full wrath of five angry Socs. Gradually, I notice that the boy is yelling at me, shouting to grab the knife. What knife? I see that the knife is suddenly lying straight in front of me. Oh, that knife. I grasp it tightly in my hand and hold it up. I'm ready to cut one of these damn Socs the first chance I get.

"Get back!" I holler, in my best imitation of Darry's voice and Dally's confidence. The Socs can see it now. I have the upper hand. They slowly start backing away, none of them looking away from the weapon I now hold in my hands. Before I know it, they were in their car and speeding away.

I sit heavily against the wall and watch as the kid lurches over onto his back. He's breathing hard and clutching his side. As he tries to sit up, I throw a hand out to him. He takes it and I pull him into a sitting position.

"I'm Steve," I say. Who is this kid that just risked his life for me? "That was some stunt you pulled there kid. Why the hell would you jump into a fight like that for a guy you don't know? You stupid or something?" I have no clue why, but I'm really mad at this kid. He could have died, then what would I have done? Dealt with that on my conscience for the rest of my life? No, what he did was completely unwarranted and completely stupid. Even if he did save my life.

The kid's response had me confused. He's talking about murder? The last murder in this town was, like, 30 years ago. Didn't he know that?

"Kid, people get jumped here every day. Not one of them has ever been murdered…" I wonder what this kid had seen to make his mind immediately go to murder when he sees a knife. Sure, knives are dangerous, but it's pretty uncommon for someone to use one to kill. At least in Tulsa, that is. Cut sure, but kill? Never.

What the hell? Now he's asking if I knew the guys! Where the hell has this kid been all his life? Living under a rock? There's no way you could grow up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and talk the way this kid is right now. "Know 'em? Hell, who says Socs have to know you to jump you? Honestly kid. Have you ever even been to Tulsa?" He doesn't respond. Maybe he isn't from Tulsa. Maybe that's why he's talking and acting like this. I'm suddenly reminded of the first time I met Dally. I suppose he was like this too when he first came here. I don't remember what else I said but now we're talking about New York. The kid looked vaguely confused about something, but I have no clue what. I can't help glancing around looking for any sign of the Socs or Darry coming down the street. The boy's face suddenly changes to one of fear.

"Steve," He says. "There's someone coming." I watch as he tilts his chin toward the road and follow his eyes to see a familiar red truck driving our way. Darry.

"Darry! You're about ten minutes late!" I smiled good-naturedly. I had decided that this kid was nice enough. Even if he was stupid. Maybe he could hang out with us tonight. I was trying to be kinder and more open. When Soda had first invited Dally to hang out with us at work, I had been really standoffish. Now he was one of my best friends so… maybe this kid wouldn't be terrible? I mean, I already know that he's quite selfless. And Soda had been mocking me for a while about being super unapproachable. I was just about to ask if he wanted to go to Darry's house with us to take care of his wounds or if he wanted to meet us at the Dingo later when he uttered out a frightened, "Gotta go. Bye, Steve!" He was around the corner before I was done yelling for his name.

"Steve, are you alright? Who the hell was that?" Darry sounded worried. I was still watching the place that the boy had disappeared to. Great, the one time I try to be nice to someone, and he runs away before I even know his name! Darry took a rag from his truck and started dabbing at my forehead. I wince and push him away.

"Let's go," I say and hop in his truck. He sighs and jumps in on his side.

"Here," he says, handing me the rag. I push it against my nose and curse. It feels broken. Damn Socs. I fear what would have happened if that boy hadn't shown up. "So. What happened? Did you see that boy getting jumped? Did you just step in to help?"

"No. I was the one getting jumped and he took a guy down with a knife for me. If he hadn't been there, you would have been dealing with a lot worse than a broken nose and a bleeding forehead. Can you, uh, set it when we get to your house? Please?" I was trying to follow Sodapop's direction and be kinder.

"Wow, did they hit you in the head that hard? Since when does Steve Randle say 'please'?" Darry laughed at his own joke while I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Soda says I need to become more approachable. Talk to him about it, not me! Anyway, that kid took the guy down before he could do anything too bad to me. I was honestly kinda impressed with his tackle. It was cool. He only took down one guy, he kept the knife from stabbing him or anyone else, and he avoided falling on top of me. I doubt even you would have been that careful." I responded with a proud smirk. Wait, why was I proud of this random kid? I don't even know his name for heaven's sake! It's not like he was my brother or nothing! Jeez, maybe they had hit me in the head that hard?

Darry and I are completely silent on the way to his house. As we drive, I can hear a loud clanking coming from the truck. Well, at least I already know what the problem with his truck is. To me, it sounds like he needs to replace the U joint. I tell him to stop at the auto parts store on the way to his house. We stop, I buy the replacement part, and we're back on our way. I buy two just in case, because I know that there are two on his truck and I don't know if both need to be replaced or just one. When we get to the house, Darry and I start the work on his truck. It should only take about two hours to get it done, maybe less with two people. About an hour in, Dally shows up with Johnny in tow. They sit and chat with us while we work. Darry and I work quickly and it only takes another half hour before the job is finished. Only one of the U joints needed to be replaced so Darry now has a spare, just in case.

When we headed inside for a Pepsi and Darry to check my wounds for the third time, I desperately wished I still had a job to do. The truck had kept my mind off that boy for a while, but now he was all I could think about. I had changed from feeling frustrated to just plain curious. I really wanted to know his name. And for some reason, I kept picturing him at the Dingo with us. Just eating and shooting the bull. Why? He wasn't that special. We would have a perfectly good time without him there. I told myself it was just because I wanted to thank him. Yeah. That's all. He had saved my life after all! It wasn't because I wanted to help him around Tulsa. It wasn't because I wanted to be his friend. No. If I saw him, I would thank him. That's all.

AN: Ok so I'm kinda sad with the ending of this chapter but oh well. Again, I am not a car expert, nor was I born in the 60s. I am well aware that this is probably crazy inaccurate and for that, I apologize.