Soda had the next day off work, but it was anything than relaxing. As he sat on the living room couch blankly staring at the television, he considered going to the DX to see Steve. Maybe he was tuning up his car after last night, and Soda could spend the day in the garage with him. On the other hand, Soda didn't think it'd be a good idea to be around Steve. His mind was racing after yesterday's events. His thoughts and his dream. He couldn't even get himself to go to sleep last night as he wanted to avoid another dream, and another arousing moment. And then Steve questioning Soda's recent actions. It seemed he may be catching on, and Soda wasn't sure if he could tell Steve everything yet.

"Hey Soda, Johnny and I are going around town. Maybe grab a bite at the Tastee Freeze," Pony said walking down the stairs with Johnny behind him, "You want to come?"

Soda sighed, "No thanks, I think I'm just going to sit around today. Maybe I'll go out on a walk a little later."

"You sure?" Pony asked, surprised his older brother wanted to actually just lay back and do nothing.

Soda nodded, "Just be back by dinner."

Pony looked at Johnny with a confused look, and then back at Soda, "It's the morning? I don't think we're going to be walking for seven hours."

Soda shrugged, "You know what I mean."

Pony and Johnny left the greaser alone as they walked outside the front door. "What is up with him?" Johnny asked, "He has seemed so out of it."

"I think it's still Sandy," Pony said lighting a cigarette.

"I don't know if it is Pony."

"Why not?"

"He was starting to get over her, slowly, but he was. We could all see that. Now it's like he's completely crashed again. Maybe even worse than before," Johnny said.

Pony thought for a moment as they walked down towards the street, "Yeah I guess you're right. He has seemed really depressed, but I can't think of any other reason why. Last night he was really distant. He came downstairs for dinner, and his face had the blankest expression on it. Steve was even there, and he wasn't having any usual shenanigans at the table. He was quiet and couldn't hold a conversation. It was like he was thinking about something else the whole time."

"There is something going on," Johnny said, "Maybe you should talk to him."

"Maybe I'll try tomorrow. I don't want to upset him if he's not ready to talk. I am worried though."

After Soda ate a small lunch, he decided he'd take the chance to walk down to the DX. He couldn't stand being alone in the house anymore, alone with his thoughts. It made him too antsy. He was really missing Steve too. As much as he was beginning to accept his true feelings, he convinced himself he could keep himself level-headed enough to go say hi for a bit.

As he arrived at the DX, Soda wandered into the garage and found Steve leaning against the wall eating some chips with a bottle of Pepsi next to him. He could feel his heart begin to pump harder, but he took a deep breath and forced his mind to go elsewhere.

"Hey," Soda greeted his best friend.

"Hey man," Steve replied, "What are you doing here? Spending your day off at work?"

"Just got bored at home. Doesn't look like you're too busy," Soda commented.

"I'm done already. Unless someone brings a car in, I'm just going to relax and do a little work in the store," Steve said taking a seat in a chair.

Soda nodded, "What do you think you'll be doing after work tonight?"

"More racing," Steve answered.

"Didn't get enough last night?" Soda smirked.

"Never," Steve grinned. Soda took a long blink to not let that grin get to him. Soda lowered himself and sat on a nearby stool. The blood seemed to be leaving his head and he felt a little lightheaded. He glanced over and caught himself going right to Steve's lower half. Soda quickly looked away. 'Not now,' Soda thought to himself, 'Not here, not now. I need to stay in control. You've got to keep control.' Soda slowly stood back up, trying not to make anything obvious and hoping Steve wouldn't notice. Stupidly, Soda glanced down at Steve's lap again. How badly Soda wanted to sit on that lap and...'No!' Soda mentally yelled at himself, 'Stop now before you do something stupid!'

"I think I'm going to get some more food," Steve said standing up.

"Okay," Soda said quietly.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

Soda refused to look at Steve, "Yeah, yeah. I'm just fine."

"I don't think so," Steve crossed his arms, "You were weird last night at dinner. You acted funny at the drag race. Now you come here to hang out, but aren't acting like yourself. You need to talk to me man. You need to tell me what's going on."

"I told you..."

"No, I don't think this is just about Evie or Sandy. I think it's more than that, or it's something else entirely." Soda's foot began tapping against the garage floor. He hadn't anticipated the scenario where Steve confronted him. "Soda please. If you can't even tell me, then I'm worried you're mad at me or something."

"No of course not," Soda said.

"Then spill it!"

"I..." Soda's mouth hung open as he continued to look at the floor. He was caught. He knew he was, and he knew Steve wasn't going to let it go like he did last night. "I have some...feelings to sort out."

"What are you talking about? What feelings?" Steve asked.

"Just feelings," Soda shook his head and brought his hand to his forehead, "Oh man."

"Soda, look at me for God's sake."

Soda squeezed his eyes shut. He knew he was only asking for Steve to notice things as his behavior got weirder and weirder. Trying to act like himself was becoming work. He had to admit to himself he couldn't do it the rest of his life. He looked up at Steve, but tried to get his mind to wander somewhere else again as he spoke. "Just these feelings I've been having."

"About what?"

Taking a deep breath, Soda let out, "Okay, I need to be honest with you. I should be able to tell you. I-I don't know why it's so hard to. It's like I'm assuming how you're going to react, but I shouldn't be."

"I want you to be honest with me. I'm your best friend. What's going on?"

"Well...you've...you've been so much more than a friend to me this last few months. Ever since what happened with Sandy, you've been amazing to me. You've helped me so much. Even on the days that I thought I'd never get to the end of, or the nights I sat in bed wondering how I was going to keep going, or anytime my heart hurt so bad I wanted to just leave town forever...even through all of that, you kept me going. You managed to get me on my feet and in a better place with everything. You never left my side no matter how many times you heard me talk about Sandy and say I wasn't going to move on from her. You just never gave up on me," Soda explained.

"Of course Soda. I'd do anything..."

"Hold on," Soda put a finger up, "Just...I won't be able to say what I have to say if you stop me." Steve didn't respond. He kept his mouth shut as he waited for Soda to go on. "Because of how much love and care you've shown for me, I've developed something."

Soda watched as Steve's eyebrows went down, "Develop something?"

"Feelings."

"Develop feelings? What does that even mean?"

Soda could hear Steve's voice drop as he spoke. He could hear Steve becoming on edge as he waited to hear the meaning behind his best friend's words. "Feelings...on you," Soda said quietly.

Steve swallowed hard, "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know man," Soda turned away and looked up towards the ceiling, "I've developed these weird feelings for you. Like I want to be around you all the time. I miss you a little too much when we're apart, but I'm also a little too excited when we're together. I'm watching you all the time or thinking about you all the time. It's these...same damn feelings I had with Sandy." Soda had no idea what look was on Steve's face. It couldn't be good though. He was too silent. Soda was fearful that he may have screwed something up. Screwed something up bad. Unable to take the unknown anymore, Soda turned and looked at Steve. His expression was mostly blank. Soda wasn't sure what to say. All he could manage to let out was, "Don't be mad at me please."

Steve shook his head, "I'm...not mad."

"You didn't really say that like you weren't really mad."

"Well Soda I don't know how to exactly take all that right now." Steve's tone wasn't very understanding. It wasn't giving Soda the hope that he didn't mess up.

"Are...you mad at me?" Soda asked, feeling his heart sink.

"I think you're confused. I think you want Sandy back so bad that you just think you have these feelings for me."

Soda felt his head begin to shake back and forth, "No, no, I thought that too, but..."

"Soda just shut it," Steve put a hand up, "I think you're confused and don't know what you're talking about." Soda couldn't believe what Steve was saying. This didn't just come out of nowhere. He had been thinking about this for a long time. Steve had no idea all the fighting Soda had been doing with himself. He knew he wasn't confused. Not anymore. "Why don't you just take a couple days to yourself?"

Those words brought tears to Soda's eyes, "What?"

"Take some time to yourself. I think you need to sort yourself out and realize what you really said."

"No," Soda shook his head, "Steve, you don't understand."

"You don't understand..."

"No! Look at me!" Soda pointed to himself, "I'm crying over you saying we shouldn't be around each other for a couple days. I wouldn't normally do this! Something is different about me! I..."

Before Soda could go on, Steve turned away and stormed out of the garage.