Title: Red Hot Moon
Author: TWBasketCase
Rating: T for language, violence, and sexuality
Chapter Summary: Soda meets up with someone in the park, and lets his emotions get the better of him.

A/N: This chapter will be a little racy - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Chapter 15

"Hey Soda?" Steve asked. He slurred his speech to the point where 'Soda' began to sound like 'yoda'.

"What is it, Stevie?" Soda asked, as he tried his hardest to keep Steve balanced. A night at Buck's left the dark haired boy rather tipsy, and Soda was left with the task of getting him home okay.

"I don't know if I feel any better," He mumbled. "You know, I just feel like I'm gonna fall down right about now…" His knees gave out from under him, and it sent both boys to the ground.

"You know, we're only about a block away from your house there, buddy. I just need ya to walk another couple of minutes, ya hear?" Soda grunted and lifted his friend back to his feet. "Now ya just have to remember how to walk again…"

"You know, I was thinkin'…" Steve started. "Maybe I can just get a job with Darry this summer? I bet they need people…"

Soda readjusted Steve's arm around his neck. "Yeah, you'd be a clean up boy."

Steve quickly tried to straighten himself, but almost fell again. "I can be clean!"

"Let's hope so," Soda muttered as he pushed the front gate open to the Randle house. "Your old man isn't gonna be up still, is he?"

Steve's glazed over eyes studied the front door of his house. "It's Saturday, right?"

"Yep," Soda nodded.

"He'll be passed out. It's not like the old bastard has anythin' better to do on the weekends than get pissed," Steve retorted bitterly. He pulled himself from Soda's grasp and stumbled towards the door. Before he pushed his way in, he turned to Soda. "Thanks for bringin' me by, buddy."

"No sweat," Soda smiled. "Just remember if you're old man gets a little rough on ya, you can come stay at my house, savvy?"

Steve nodded and pushed open the door. "For sure; see you around, buddy."

Soda nodded and quickly jumped down the porch steps. They had gone to Buck's right after leaving the DX earlier in the day, and had ended up spending the entire evening there. Steve had hit the bar just as soon as they had walked in the door, but Soda - not being much of a drinker - decided to lay low and play a few games of pool to hustle some money off some drunken cowboys. If there was one thing that Buck's place was always full of, it was drunken cowboys.

Buck Merril's was basically the party place of North Tulsa. He had a constant supply of booze (which was no secret that it was bootlegged) a couple of pool tables, and an unbelievable sound system. Buck had told Soda on many occasions that he planned to have his own bar someday, and the day that he did he wanted Soda working for him. He tended to usually brush off what Buck said most of the time considering he was usually drunk when he said it, but Soda wouldn't object the guy if he ended up doing what he said he was going to do. In fact, the idea sounded pretty good to him now that he was seemingly out of a job.

He walked across the street towards the park; Steve's house sat on the east side of it, while Soda's was on the northwest. The park had been usually vacant since the incident between Pony, Johnny, and the socs the year before, but Soda still went there. It was the same park he hung out in the day he found out his parents died, the same park Johnny killed someone in, and the same park where Dally was killed. Most people, like Steve, wouldn't go there because of bad luck and other things, but Soda couldn't help it. Bad or not, the park provided him so many memories and he had a hard time distancing himself away from it; he usually even went there when he needed a quiet place to himself.

It wasn't much in terms of something to look at it; all it had was a small baseball field with two dugouts, a small play set, a few benches, a picnic table, and some trees. The grass was pretty long; the city only went to cut it every couple of weeks. That being said, it was pretty dirty too.

As he approached the diamond area, he was able to make out a form seated at the picnic table. A familiar dark haired girl sat with her shoulders slumped and her feet kicking in the dirt, sending a cloud of dust around her legs and into the air. He took a deep breath and decided to approach her.

"Ya know, it's not safe bein' in this park after dark," He commented softly, but it didn't stop her from jumping at the sound of his voice.

Christine gave him a small smile. "What's it matter? It seems that there's no where safe around Tulsa."

"Yeah, I guess so," He approached her slowly and sat next to her. "But it's probably like that in every city."

"No," She shook her head. "Not where I come from…and not where I've been. Oklahoma City may be bigger than Tulsa, but it sure don't have nearly as much war goin' on."

"I wouldn't know," he admitted. "I've never really been many other places." He raked a hand through his blonde hair and sighed. "If ya miss home so bad, why don't you go back?"

She shrugged. "No where to go, really. The only family I have is here, and I don't have no job or anythin' like that."

"My brother is the same way," Soda smiled. "Darry, my older one. I can bet that if he didn't have to take care of Pony an' me, he woulda gotten outta here a long time ago."

"You're pretty lucky to have him," Christine whispered. "I wonder if I'd do the same thing for my brother if that happened to us." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stared off across the grass.

"You probably would," Soda replied. "Family's the most important thing, especially when stuff gets real bad." He paused. "How's the kid doin' anyways?"

She shrugged miserably. "I wouldn't know; he doesn't come home much anymore. Since David died, Petey's been all hell bent on fightin' and what not. He won't really talk about it."

"And what about you?" Soda asked; he could tell by her tired eyes that she wasn't holding up too well either.

"What about me?" She spat. "I'm alive, aren't I?"

"But he was your friend too," Soda pointed out. "It's pretty easy to keep things bottled up so that you can focus on everyone else, but it ain't all that good for your head."

She rolled her eyes. "You say that like you speak from experience."

"Maybe," He smiled. "But the point is that it's alright for you to, you know, feel things."

She finally turned to face him and shot him a genuine smile; her brown eyes were wet, and she shook her head. "I know that, but…it's just…"

"What?" He urged.

"Why do you even care? I've done nothing but cause you and your friends trouble, why do you even care what I think, Soda?" She wiped at her eyes. "Just save yourself the trouble and walk away."

He swallowed and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not really my style. Besides, you haven't done anything to me; I don't blame you." And it was true; he didn't. All the times that he had gotten the opportunity to speak to Christine, she had been nothing but nice and friendly towards him. He wasn't the kind of person to let people sit and wallow in their misery. Sodapop Curtis cheered people up; hell, he liked to cheer people up. It was just part of his personality.

Especially when it was a girl who'd been getting more and more on his soft side.

"I don't really have anyone to talk to about it," Christine admitted. "Robbie's all holed up, Petey won't talk, and Ray…"

Soda hated him. "Is an ass?"

She shot him a glare. "Ray's lost a lot of friends; his best friend died months back. Everyone's who's been close to him is dead."

"You're not," Soda pointed out.

"I…" She closed her mouth again and sighed. "You don't understand."

"That's all you been saying to me about everythin' though," He leaned back on the picnic table and sighed. "You say you've got no one to talk to, but I'm here, and you still ain't sayin' anything."

A few tears fell from her eyes, and she turned her face away from him again. "I - I just don't know what the hell to say anymore. Everyone I trust is pushing me away, my friend…died…and you, well I don't even…"

"It doesn't matter how well you know me," He replied. "I'd like to consider you my friend - if that's okay."

She nodded and wiped her face. "Yeah, it's okay."

"So talk to me," He urged gently. "You'll feel better if you do. Between my two brothers I'm like Ann Landers!"

She laughed and sat straighter. "Well you sure don't look like her."

He smirked and shook his hair from his face. "I would like to think I'm just a little better lookin'."

She let out a small chuckle and shook her head. "Just a little bit."

"Now we're talkin'!" He laughed.

She sighed. "Okay. The truth is I'm just real worried about all this fightin' that y'all got planned. David died because of violence, and I just don't see why y'all gotta resort to more violence to prove a point."

Soda fidgeted in his seat. "The truth is, doll, that your friend didn't die just 'cause of plain old violence. He died because he was a greaser. Us and the socs have been fightin' for a long time now, and there's been a lot of blood spilled."

She frowned. "So why do you spill more? What's the point in puttin' another life at stake?"

He swallowed. "It's for respect, and it's the only way to get it. We gotta one up them; show 'em that we're better than they are."

"But y'all are pretty much the same," She interrupted. "The only difference is your social class. Don't get me wrong I hate that they got everything handed to 'em on a silver platter too…but I don't think I would be able to handle another friend dyin' because of some pointless turf war."

"Glory, you sound so much like my little brother used to," Soda frowned. "After our buddy died, he was a bit iffy on the fightin' too."

"I can understand why," She whispered. "There hasn't been a single day this past week that I could pull the image of him out of my head. I'm startin' to think it'll never go away."

"It probably won't," Soda admitted. He had the same kind of problem. "But you don't have anythin' to be ashamed of because of that. There's sometimes that I catch myself thinkin' like that too - about my parents and my friends."

"How do you deal with it though?" She asked, once again letting the tears fall. "I think I'm ready to go crazy because of it!"

He bit his lip. "Everybody deals diff'rently. I know guys that just get real angry and other guys that just drink their problems away. Some people just need to distract themselves and not think about it at all. I like to talk though."

She nodded. "But what if someone doesn't want to? What if they just self destruct and never heal?"

Instantly Soda remembered Dally; he blinked back the memory, and tried to keep his advice a little more positive. "Then just be there the best ya can. They'll come around in time; some people just need to have some space."

"Ray, he…" She gave him a sad look. "I know ya don't like him and all, but I'm really worried about him. He's been hangin' around this Shepard guy, and he really hasn't said much to me at all."

Soda nodded. "Tim ain't all that bad, as long as you're on his good side. Your boyfriend…he probably just needs to cool down."

"But," She frowned and shook her head. "This probably sounds really dumb, but I need him. I need him to be there for me just once and awhile…but he's never there."

"Well," Soda scratched the back of his head and tried to think of the right thing to say. "He's probably just pissed. I know it's not good enough, but I'm here…you know…if you ever need someone."

"It's good enough," She gave him a small smile. "You do make me feel happy again."

His heart rate sped up at that. "Good…I'm glad. You deserve that."

"I'm serious," She said, and stared him in the eye. "For so long now things have just been shit, especially since I moved here. I know I've probably been some trouble to you, but…"

"It's okay," He cut her off; he knew exactly where she was going, and he wasn't so sure that it was a good thing. Things had been tough on him lately with losing his job, the murder, and everything else…and now he had a pretty girl in a dark park all alone, and she was practically leaning on his shoulder with all of her problems. Normally Soda always tried to come across as a gentleman, but there was always that weakness that he had when it came to practicality - girls. So far, Christine was doing a good job of wrapping him around her finger.

"No, it's not okay," She whispered. "I feel like I owe you so much because of the way you've treated me. Glory, it's a wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

Soda swallowed. "Yeah, well, let's just say it's for a good reason."

"She hurt you?" She asked quietly.

"How can ya tell?" He muttered.

She bit her lip. "It's pretty easy to tell how I guy like you thinks."

Soda cocked an eyebrow that would've made Two-Bit proud. "How so?"

"You wear your heart on your sleeve," She mumbled. "When something bothers you, it shows. For all this talk you give about healin', you sure don't take your own advice, do ya?"

He snorted. "Who takes their own advice, anyways?"

"Well she must've been pretty stupid to let a guy like you go, Sodapop." Her face flushed a little, but she smiled nonetheless. "Sometimes I swear you're like a godsend."

"Well if it's any consolation," He replied, looking her in the eye. "Your guy's pretty stupid too. I don't think he knows what he's got in front of his face."

She took a shaky breath. "I'm kinda used to not bein' his top priority…just his property. He's done some pretty nasty things; we fight and he's gotten on with other girls, but I guess it's my…"

"Don't finish that sentence," Soda urged softly. "Please don't because it's not true…"

Her eyes shone at him under the moonlight. "It kinda helps when ya tell yourself those things."

"I used to too," Soda replied. "But it doesn't fix anythin'."

Another tear slid down her cheek. "I don't think it's a fixable mess anyways. Things just keep gettin' worse and worse, but I just have to hold on to all the good things and it helps."

He reached his hand up hesitantly and brushed the back of it against her cheek to wipe the tear away. "You're not trapped. You can fix it whenever you want."

She stared him hard in the eye, and didn't say a word. Her expression was so pained, and Soda got the feeling that she was about to bust down crying again at any given moment. So much of her thoughts and feelings reminded him of things that he had gone through in the past two years, and he hated the fact that someone else had to feel those things he felt too. It was still something that he was trying to get over himself - Dally, Sandy, his mom and dad, Johnny…all the feelings of hopelessness, abandonment, loss, grief, betrayal, heartbreak - talking to Christine brought it all back. He didn't want her to feel that horrible - he didn't want anyone to - but she was just so kind and fragile, it really hurt him to see her that way.

She turned her body so that she was fully facing him and dipped her head slightly. "I don't know how to fix it."

"Either that, or you don't want to," Soda mumbled.

Her eyes shot up at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Maybe he had been too harsh. "You just have to do things for yourself for a change and stop putting everyone else first - especially him."

She stood quickly and stared at him with her fists clenched. "How does that fix anythin'? That doesn't change the way I feel, nor does it make the situation less problematic!"

He stood so that he was face to face with her. "It would! I know how you feel and…"

"I don't think you do," She mumbled. "If you did, you wouldn't be makin' me feel like this!"

"Like what?" He asked exasperatedly.

Her shoulders slumped and she stared at him. "Like…I want…forget it." She turned on her heel and began to walk away from him. He knew she was close to crying again, and that time he was about ready to explode. He ran to catch up to her, and he grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. They stood only inches apart.

"What do you want?" He whispered.

She parted her lips to speak, but no words came out. The look in her eyes screamed volumes to him. "I want you to…"

But he didn't let her finish; all logic flew out the window, and he closed the distance between them and brushed his lips against hers. It took a few moments, but she eventually responded to him, and pushed herself closer to his body. He could still feel the wet streaks from her tears against her cheeks, and all the hurt they had poured out of each other that evening erupted when they touched each other. Her movements were fast and hungry, almost as if it had been forever since she was able to express herself that way. His hands snaked their way to the back of her neck and into her hair.

A few moments later, Soda pulled back and stared into her dark brown eyes. "I-I…uh, oh shit…I'm sorry."

She licked her lips. "No you're not."

"Look, I really don't want to make things worse…" He raked a hand through his hair and backed away from her so that he stood at the picnic table again. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking…"

She placed a hand on her mini-skirt clad hip, and jutted it out to the side. "I-I…you felt…good."

He furrowed his eyebrows as she approached him; her demeanor had changed completely and she seemed a lot more confident. As much as he knew he was going to get in big shit for whatever happened, he couldn't for the life of him stop himself. Her long legs were clearly visible under the moonlight, and her hips shook as she walked towards him. Temptation and lust were burning in her eyes, and he knew he was done for.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked her quietly.

She didn't say anything; her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and she pushed him back onto the picnic table. Instantly he felt her tongue begging entrance into his mouth, so he complied and started a dueling war between them. His hands made their way down to her hips and he pulled her towards him, causing them to climb up on top of the wooden table top.

She reached her hands down to the hem of his shirt and lifted it up enough that she could get her fingers under it to gently caress his abdomen and chest. The feeling of her nails against his bare flesh made him moan into her lips; it'd been quite awhile since he'd been touched that way, and with all the recent stresses, he craved the touch. He turned and maneuvered himself so that he could lower her down to the table surface. She never broke the connection of their mouths however, and began to suck on his lower lip. His eyes rolled back in his head at the pleasure of the contact, and he nearly yelped when she finally did break it.

"I need you, Soda," She whispered in a sultry voice. He could feel her breath against his skin and it almost made him melt. Her lips found their way down his jaw line and to his neck. There was no going back for him at that point, the girl would have her way and he wasn't going to stop her; he probably wouldn't have been able to bring himself to do so even if he wanted to.

His hands found their way down to the hem of her skirt, and he pushed it up over her waist. "Then have me."

TBC

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you have problems with this chap, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, thank you for reading and please review!