A/N: Hey y'all! Here's a chap I promised! This story is like 5 chaps long, so there's only two more to go! Don't flame me for makin' this chap a bit pointless, but it introduces the next! Read and review please! It makes me feel all good an' bubbly inside!

Disclaimer: I don't own the hotness of any of the Outsiders. Those belong to S.E. Hinton. I don't own the hotness of Rob Lowe, or Matt Dillon, although I wish I did. I have evil plans tomanipulate one's mind.

Stroke, Stroke, Stroke

"Hey Dal."

Dally's shoulder was heavily bandaged and he was fishing for something under his bed sheets. He finally pulled out a cigarette and a match. He struck the match on his silver necklace and lit the cigarette.

"Hey guys."

What was left of the gang sat down in chairs around Dally and there was silence for a moment. Then Dally asked, "What's goin' on with Steve, man? Is he gonna make it?"

"Oh, hell yeah. The nurse said he'll be just fine. You guys will be able to leave tomorrow morning."

"I've been shot with a bullet a thousand times! Why can't I just leave now?" Dally said before taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"'Cause we need all the help we can get before goin' to the Socs, so you're gonna need to rest up."

Dally sighed and stared absently at the wall ahead of him. Without shifting his gaze, he practically whispered, "What's happenin' with Sodapop?"

There was silence for another moment. Pony looked at Dally as if he was going to start crying and he said, "We don't know . . ."

"They've changed him, man! They've gone AWOL!" Dally suddenly yelled. Rage was flaming in his eyes.

"We know, Dal! We know, but there's nothing we can do! We can't help him now!" Darry retorted.

"We're going to get them Socs good. We're going to do it for Soda and we're going to do it well! We're going to get him back!"

Dally suddenly closed his eyes and his breathing came out harsher. The gang left the room. They always knew not to talk to Dally when he was infuriated like that. They walked to Steve's room instead. They opened the door slowly and went in.

"Hey Steve . . ." Johnny said quietly.

Steve's chest was bandaged even more than Dally's shoulder, as well as his head, and his eyes were closed when the gang came in to see him. Without opening his eyes, he said, "Hey guys" in a weak voice.

"You feelin' alright, buddy?" Two-Bit asked.

"I could be better." Steve gulped, like he was going to regret saying what he wanted to, but then he said, "W-what happened to Soda?"

"After he . . . well, after he stabbed you, the police came. The Socs took off running," Darry said quietly, avoiding Steve's closed eyes.

Steve sighed and opened his eyes. He looked around the room and then sighed again. "What are we going to do? They've got him like a kid with a lolly. We need to get him back, guys. I need my best friend back!" He practically screamed the last sentence.

"Steve, calm it down, otherwise the nurse'll think we're harassing you. We can't do anything right now. I asked the doctor about amnesia and he told me that we could only wait for him to regain his memory," said Darry.

"But I heard that if you act normal, then the person would get their damn memory back faster! The way the Socs are treatin' him like he's their friend, he'll forget all about us and we'll have to hunt him down forever, Darry!"

Steve was breathing faster than usual, but he kept his calm. He closed his eyes and something about him made Pony think of Dally when he was boiling mad.

"Look Steve, when you get out of here tomorrow morning, I swear on my life that we'll try and do something to bring Soda back. I swear it," said Darry.

"We all swear," Pony said, speaking for everyone. Everyone nodded in response, but Steve had his eyes closed and couldn't see it.

"Good, because when I get my hands on Sodapop Curtis, I'm not going to leave him until he remembers who the hell I am."

…:Randy's Residence (The Next Day):…

Soda was the first one to wake up to the sunlight poking at his eyes. 'How long was I asleep?' he thought to himself. He sat up and looked around, his head pounding. Part of the hangover hadn't left him and he felt its effect as he slowly got up.

As he walked to the kitchen, he noticed his shirt was spattered with blood. It stained everything from his collar to his pants. Soda thought he was going to vomit, but he held it in as he opened the large refrigerator to reveal an all-you-can-eat buffet. He took out several eggs and began cracking them open into a pan on the stove. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.

"Hey Sodapop," Bob said as he came into the room. He was smiling lazily and his eyes were drooping slightly.

"Hey Bob," Soda replied back sourly. He cracked another egg and threw the shells away. Bob didn't seem to notice Soda's attitude.

"That was a hell of a day yesterday. Great job on stabbing that greaser. If we're lucky, he'll be dead," Bob went on ranting. He was walking out of the room, obviously crazy. He just kept talking and Soda was able to hear him still ranting, even though he was walking up the stairs.

Soda set the temperature of the stove on high and sighed. He looked around for a plate and just as he was about to reach out for one, a jolt was sent to his brain. He immediately put his hands on the side of his head without screaming and dropped to the floor on his knees. His head was aching horrible and nothing was stopping it.

Flashback

"Hey Sodapop, wanna go for a movie? I hear they're playin' a great one, too."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world – hold on, let me get my shoes on."

Steve waited for Soda and the two of them went walking down the street, laughing and joking around. Soda took Steve's hat and ran around the entire neighborhood with Steve at his heels. Steve finally managed to tackle him and the park. He put Soda in a headlock.

"Scream uncle and I'll let go!" he said as he struggled to keep Soda in his grip.

"Over my dead body!" Soda screamed back at him.

"Uncle!"

"Never!"

"UNCLE!"

"Alright, alright . . . uncle! Here's your damn hat back, man," said Soda. He rubbed his neck as he sat on the grass. He looked out into the distance and spotted a football.

"Hey, how about we skip the movie?"

Steve stared in the same direction Soda was and spotted the football as well. "Sounds good to me," he said.

End Flashback

The next thing Soda knew, he felt like he was going to vomit. He quickly ran outside of the house as his knees buckled. He fell to the floor on his knees and doubled-over, letting it all out. When he was finished, he stood back up, but stumbled backwards. His mind suddenly turned off and he felt completely paralyzed. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor . . . unconscious.

…:Curtis's Residence:…

Johnny's POV

Dally and Steve were released from the hospital and we all stayed at Ponyboy's house to discuss what we were going to do about Soda over a game of poker. I sat down reluctantly because I wasn't in the mood to have someone gloat at me for winning, but I wanted to get into the discussion.

"I say that we wait until they try to jump us and then take Soda by force," said Dally. He blew a perfect smoke ring and put two cigarettes in the middle of the table.

"You just said the key word. Wait. We can't wait, Dally. Who knows what the Socs might be doing to S – I'll get it."

In the middle of Steve's sentence, the doorbell had rung and he got up from the table to answer it, allowing everyone but me to get an ace from their shoe. Steve would wonder how there would be five aces in the game.

The guys continued the game, but I watched Steve at the door. I couldn't see who was standing in the doorway, but I heard Steve talking. Then he started screaming and I could hear him much clearer.

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU OR ANYTHING YOU DO!"

The door suddenly slammed shut and Steve came into the room, his face completely flushed. He sat down at the poker table and lifted his cards without saying a word. I looked into his eyes and saw that they were mixed with anger and hurt.

"What the hell was that all about?" Dally asked Steve.

"It's nothin'," he grumbled. He put ten cigarettes down to bet like they were nothing.

"Whoa, ten cigarettes? Somethin' is really wrong with you. You wouldn't bet ten cigarettes like that unless you're sure you're gonna win," said Darry.

We all looked at Steve, waiting for an explanation. He never met either of our eyes, but soon, he sighed and set his cards down. He kept his head down as he said, "That was Evie."

"Oh . . ." everyone said quietly. We all exchanged glances and knew what he was going to say. "She broke up with you, right?" Dally asked.

Steve nodded his head slowly, still not meeting any of us in the eye.

"Just like that? She broke up with you? What kind of slut does she think she is?" Pony asked.

"Watch your mouth, Ponyboy. But I have to agree with you. She can't just come over and say somethin' like that. What did she tell you?" asked Darry.

"She said I haven't been spendin' a lot of time with her. She said that I was ignoring her and that I wasn't treating her right . . ." Steve snorted after a while and said, "I never liked that bitch anyway."

That was the end of that discussion. Steve picked up his cards again and we started playing normally, but I couldn't help looking at Steve. He didn't look normal. I could see something different about him in his eyes. I exchanged a glance with Ponyboy and I knew he saw the same thing. Steve hadn't really gotten over Evie. Steve had really loved her.

There was another knock on the door. Steve got up halfway to answer it, but then thought it over and sat down. "I got it," said Darry. He walked to the door and opened it. What we saw shocked us all.

OceanLily12's Note: gives war cry HUZZAH! Who the hell do you think was at the door? I'll give you a hint - there's two people. Please review you guys! Flame me for all I care, altho I'll cry and probably hate you for the rest of my life if u do., I just hada McDonald's vanilla milkshake and I think y'all kno what that does to a person. HYPERACTIVITY! REVIEW!