Its been awhile. Song: Marina & the Diamonds, You're Better Than That

she's the apple of everybody's eye;
with an angel voice, devil in disguise

CHAPTER FOUR

She had been told to meet Steve at the DX, she showed a bit early so she stood at the counter waiting for Steve to finish up work in the garage.

Soda was telling her about his new girl - Sandy - and it was cute the way his eyes lit up and how into it he got. New love was always a wonderful thing, it was a shame when it fizzled out.

The bell of the door rang overhead of a pretty brunette girl. She was tall and had striking features. She had cheekbones Robin would kill for. Robin vaguely could place or walking down the halls at school a couple times, but couldn't come up with the name. Soda seemed to know her - his eyes wide, she thought maybe it was Sandy, but it couldn't be, Sandy was a blonde, and Soda looked more frightened than excited.

"Evie." Soda greeted curtly.

The girl, Evie's, lips curled into a smirk. "Soda. Steve workin'?"

Soda nodded. "He's in the garage. He's real busy, though."

"Who's this?" Evie was now turned to Robin, who forced a smile. "She your new girl, Soda?"

Soda laughed but caught himself. "No, just a friend."

Evie gave him a weird look and strutted off towards the garage. Soda breathed out heavy. It was obvious he was relieved that she was gone.

Robin sipped her Coke and gave Soda a face that could mirror Evie's. "Who's that?"

"Evie, Steve's girl." Soda watched her longer than he needed to, maybe looking for some sort of reaction. But Robin already knew that Steve and she were just something simple, not serious. Robin had asked him if he and someone waiting on him and he had told her he did. Evie must have been that girl.

"She's very pretty," Robin smiled. "But I guess that means my plans are soiled."

"I'll see ya around, Soda."

"Yeah. See ya, Robin."

She revved up the engine and headed back home, to Buck's. She hoped he wasn't having another party, but it was likely he was, even though it was Wednesday night. She didn't even understand how Buck even had tenants.

There was music blasting but the place wasn't crowded, just a close knit group of Buck's friends, Robin could deal with that. Excluding James, Robin took a liking to all of them. They all caused trouble but had good hearts.

She went straight to the kitchen without a greeting. She was hoping to get a drink of milk, but when she poured it into the glass, it was obvious it was expired. Buck wasn't one to keep up with the groceries, chunky milk was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Goddamnit."

She would bet all her life savings the beer in the fridge wasn't expired, though.

Robin rolled her eyes, sometimes she wished her brother was more responsible. She dumped the milk down the sink and started fill a new glass with water.

"What's buggin' you, sweetheart?"

She didn't need to turn around to know it was Dallas but she turned around anyway.

He had the usual cocky grin on his face but he was a wreck, blood everywhere, ripped clothes, and his nose was looking a little more crooked than we she had seen him that morning.

"What happened to you? You look terrible." She scrunched up her face and Dallas chuckled.

"Me and Tim had a little misunderstanding."

"Little?" Robin eyed his busted knuckles, they needed stitching. "You look like a disaster."

He glared. "Thanks."

"Let's get you cleaned up."

Dallas didn't like to be taken care of by other people, he didn't like charity. He might live at Bucks rent free, but they had a trade. He would do well in the rodeos and Buck would put a roof over his head. In Dallas's mind all things had to be paid back, as a sign of respect. Robin understood that, even something as simple and disinfecting his cuts and stitching busted knuckles made Dallas uncomfortable. Robin always did it for him, though. In return, she would find a pack of cigarettes on her night table or maybe he would punch out some asshole who dared to harass her. It was a trade, a sign of respect.

"Fuck, why does that shit always sting so much?"

Robin laughed. She was knelt on the floor while Dallas sat above her on the toilet seat. He never muttered a word as she poked him with a needle, he sat through it without even wincing. But he always cursed as she cleaned his cuts. She guessed he was used to being punched and struck with blades, the stinging sensation was foreign to him. He really didn't like it either.

"It wouldn't sting so much if there wasn't about a bucket of dirt in all your wounds."

She began to stitch up Dallas's knuckles and he calmed down enough to talk.

"I thought you were supposed to be out tonight. That's what Buck said. 'Thought I was going to get away with this for once."

She raised a brow. "You'll never get away with anything when I'm around. But yeah, I was, but Steve had other plans."

Dallas grinned wickedly but didn't comment on the matter.

"Randle, yeah, I saw him at The Dingo."

Robin nodded and she pulled the needle through his skin. "He's one of your buddies?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Robin fell silent. Dallas was as bad as Don Briggs, maybe worse. If a boy was friends with Dallas, to her that was an instant red flag and meant the boy was trouble. She didn't need more trouble in her life, she had Buck, who was twenty-five and acting like he was seventeen, she had Dallas who every week she was stitching up something belong to him, and she had Don who had the insistent need to not leave her alone, even when she asked him plenty to do just that.

But Steve didn't seem toxic, or at least not as toxic as the other men in her life. Their first time hanging out they had gotten completely blitzed and made out but Robin believed that was just her letting loose and them having fun; it wasn't a sign of a toxic friendship. She needed something light and fun and with his girl Evie hanging around it would be nothing more than that. Just fun, as she waited for the stable man of her dreams who would get her the hell out of dodge. Unrealistic, but Robin was an optimistic person.

"You're free to go wreak havoc wherever you please."

Robin pushed herself off her knees and Dallas headed out of the bathroom, with a smirk. There was no thank you, she would have found it weird if there was, and she preferred him being his rude self anyway. It was authentic.

Robin descended the stairs shortly after him, Dallas had already joined into a poker game on the other side of the room at that point; he didn't waste time. She grabbed herself a beer and headed off to her own room to study.

Kathy called her to talk about Keith - they were officially going steady now, opposed to just fooling around. Robin congratulated her but she was unsure about this one, Keith was funny as hell but he could take his jokes too far and he got drunk every night. Kathy was happy though and that's all that mattered, she wasn't perfect either, everyone just always think their best friend deserves better even when they don't.

What she didn't expect was Steve to call her. They were hardly friends and it had been her choice to leave, he hadn't asked her. But he did call.

"Sorry 'bout today," his rough voice said into the receiver. "I didn't know Evie was going to show up, she's been ignorin' me off and on lately."

Robin laughed. "It was no big deal. I don't get rejected easy."

"I like that about you."

"Good," she said. "How'd it go with Evie?"

"I think it was alright. Always hard to tell with that girl."

"She's lucky she has someone like you that puts up with all her bullshit. Most would have just given up, I mean she did do a number on your ride."

"Girls around here are all hot heads, just like the boys," Steve chuckled softly. "You just gotta pick whose problems are worth putting up with."

For a moment, Robin thought of Don. Steve's dedication to Evie, even with all her trouble, made her feel a tinge of guilt. She had given up on Don so easily. But it seemed like the right thing to do.

"Yeah but sometimes you do come first. Remember that, will you, Steve?"