Hey guys. Another chapter for y'all. I'm hoping to have chapter 4 up soon, maybe tomorrow. I hope you enjoy. R&R.

I don't own The Outsiders.

Chapter 3: Soda

Bridget had been gone for about a week and I hadn't heard from her yet. You would have thought she'd be calling everyday, saying she missed Tulsa and all but she hadn't. Maybe she really was enjoying her new life.

We all missed her. It was apparent to everyone. Pony didn't have anyone to talk about books and movies with. He tried to with me, but I'm not exactly into those things so I get easily distracted. It probably would've been okay if Johnny was here since they could talk, but he wasn't and hadn't been for two years.

Darry didn't have any girls around. He had always liked having Bee around. She added a feminine touch to everything. He went around trying to make everything as it was before, but the house was getting a little messy and unorganized. Bridget helped us in that department.

Dallas was back with Sylvia for, like, the hundredth time since he and Bee broke up, but you could tell he missed Bridget. She was always there for him, even after the incident they had over Tim. He was one of her closest friends and she meant everything to him. She was kind of like another Johnny for him, only he never slept with Johnnycakes. Ha ha.

Two-Bit was trying to act normal, like everything was the way it always has been, cracking jokes and fooling around. He went out and got drunk almost every night, but he was the worst I had ever seen him. He was missing his sister like crazy. I wished he knew the real reason she was gone and not the phony one her mom made her tell everyone. I wished I could tell him.

I was doing all right. Trying to get by without her. I was trying to act like everything was normal, but I couldn't. She was my best friend. How did you expect me to act? She was no longer right down the street when I needed to talk to her or when I needed her just to have a good time, like when we danced around her bedroom singing along with the radio. It was tough without her.

But nothing was as bad as it was for Tim. He loved her and now he was heartbroken. He was over our house a lot. It was as if the more time he spent with us, the longer he could hold on to Bridget. It was kinda sad. I had never seen Tim like this before. He was usually so in control and never showed emotion. Now, the only look we saw on his face was a depressed one. He was really not taking it well. He was always asking if we had heard from her, and we always had to tell him the same thing: No. Then, he was always asking if there was some other reason besides what she told us for her leaving. Two-Bit said there wasn't, but I knew better. Tim deserved to know. It was his kid Bee was carrying. But I couldn't tell him.

How did I ever become the one to have to keep this secret? I was her best friend, that was how.

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The door slammed shut and I stuck my head out from the kitchen to see who it was. "Hey Tim," I said.

"Curtis." He came in and sat down at the kitchen table. "Any news?"

"Nope…sorry." He sighed and put his head in his hands. "You alright, Tim?"

"I just miss her, man."

I sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. We all do."

"No, I really miss her. After she graduated, I was gonna ask her to marry me." I was shocked and didn't know what to say. Tim was actually thinking about settling down, becoming a husband, starting a family. If only Bridget could've heard this…She probably would've broken down.

"I'm sorry, Tim. Really I am."

"Yeah, so am I." He stood up and walked out the door. Poor Tim. He'd get over it. He had to.

I was really anxious for Bridget to call. I wanted to know how things were going over there. Had she made any friends or started school? Was she getting to know her dad or getting along with his family? There were just so many questions that needed to be answered. Of course she was going to want to know how things were going here. How was I supposed to tell her that Tim was completely depressed and missed her like crazy? She wasn't going to take that too lightly.

I sighed and went into the living room, sitting down on the couch. The door opened again. "Hey Stevie," I said.

"Buck's throwin' a party tonight, you wanna go?"

"Why aren't you goin' with Evie?"

"I'm through with her. Can't stand her nagging anymore. So, you up for it?"

"Sure, I got nothing else to do," I said, knowing that they'd be back together by the end of the week.

"'Kay, I'll see ya back here in an hour."

"Alright."

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As soon as Tim heard Buck was having a party, he got himself down there as fast as he could. He walked in and sat down in the kitchen, immediately getting a beer. He kept getting another and another. The music was blasting and people were having a good time around him, but he just stayed on that chair and drank away his sorrows.

He knew he shouldn't be doing this. Imagine what would happen to his reputation if someone saw him mourning over the loss of his girl. It wasn't like she was dead; she had just dumped him, broke his heart, moved on with her life. He had to get over her. He knew it was going to happen sooner or later, and it had been later than he had expected, but that didn't help. She wasn't coming back and he had to get that through his head. He gulped down another beer and got another one.

He had seen Curtis and Randle come in a few minutes ago, and Winston had been here with Sylvia when Tim had arrived. When he saw Sylvia, Tim remembered how angry Bridget had gotten at the fact that he had slept with her. They weren't even going together yet, but it had gotten to her. He should've known then and there that she had feelings for him that were more than just friendly.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. "Hey Shepard, missing that girl of yours, huh? Oh, wait; she dumped your sorry ass. She got sick of ya and got rid of you. She couldn't stand the sight of ya so much she even moved away so she wouldn't have to see ya anymore. She had better things to do with her life than waste it with you." Tim just ignored the guy next to him who was jeering at him. He knew what he said was right. Bridget could do so much better than a life with him and apparently she figured that out, too. "Now she's probably out wherever she is fuckin' some other guy. Probably a soc, too. She's screwed just about every greaser here that counted, might as well move onto the richies. Then again, maybe she left you because she cheated on you and got pregnant, just like Curtis's girl, which should prove to you just how big a slut she actually is." That was it; Tim had heard enough. He got up from his chair and landed a right hook to the guy's jaw. He just kept swinging and punching, connecting his fist with the guy's stomach and face and anywhere else that counted. Once the guy was down, Tim climbed on top of him and just kept hitting, letting out all his fury and misery on this guy who happened to get on his bad side at the wrong time.

"Tim, stop. C'mon, you're gonna kill the guy." He felt two pairs of arms pulling him off of the bastard lying on the ground, who was probably close to unconsciousness. Tim struggled to get back to him. "Shepard, c'mon. Let's go for a walk."

Once outside, he looked to see who was holding him. Soda was on one side and Dallas on the other. "I'm fine." Neither let go. "I said I'm fine!" Dallas looked at Soda and he shrugged. They dropped Tim's arms.

"What the hell happened in there?" Dallas asked. Tim started pacing and running his hands through his hair. "Shepard…"

"He fuckin' insulted Bridget! I wasn't gonna just sit by and listen to his bullshit! I had to do something about it! She's my girl and no one can say that shit about her!"

"Tim, man, she's not your girl anymore. She left," Dal said more gently.

It took Tim a second to answer. "I know, but you shoulda heard the fuckin' stuff he was sayin'. He said that she was just like that broad you dated for sometime," he said to Soda. "He said that she probably got knocked up after cheating on me and that's why she left." Only half true, Soda thought.

"It's not true, Tim. You know she'd never do that." Soda wished Tim only knew the half of it. Poor guy.

"Yeah, I know, but he was calling her a slut and making her seem cheap. I couldn't take it. I just snapped."

"We saw that," Dal said.

"C'mon, let's get you home," Soda said. Now that things were calmed down a bit, he could see that Tim had been drinking. He looked like he was stumbling a bit. He threw Tim's arm around his shoulders and helped him walk a bit. Soda looked over at Dallas. He sighed and came to help Soda; putting Tim's other arm around his shoulders and walking Tim to his house.

They reached the Shepard's house and went in, walking Tim to his room, leaving a puzzled Curly and worried Angel behind in the living room. Soda and Dal lay Tim on his bed, removed his shoes, and then went back downstairs. "What's wrong with him?" Angela asked.

"He's drunk."

"Oh," Angela said as she came to the realization.

"What happened?" Curly asked, wanting a more detailed explanation.

"We found him at Buck's drunk. We had to pull him off a guy who insulted Bridget. He nearly beat the guy unconscious," Soda said.

Curly sighed. "What're we gonna do?"

"I don't think there's anything we can do. He's depressed, he misses Bridget. I don't think anyone can help that except Bee and she's not coming back."

"We gotta do something. We can't just let him ruin all that he's worked up to since Bridget came along. I don't want him going back to jail," Angela said.

"I'm sorry, Ang, but we really can't do anything. We can't force him not to fight or drink. It's who he is."

"He's Tim Shepard for Christ's sakes!" Dallas added.

Angela sat down on the couch angrily. "I don't care! I don't want my fuckin' brother in the cooler again!" she said, close to tears.

Curly walked Soda and Dally to the door. "Will she be alright?" Soda asked.

"She'll be fine. Don't worry 'bout it. It's just Tim's never been out this long before. We were kinda getting' used to it, ya know. Guess that's out now."

Soda smiled apologetically. "See you later." They walked out and headed to the Curtis's.

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"Don't you have to go back to Buck's?" I asked Dal.

"For what?"

"Sylvia."

"Nah, I'm sure she'll find some jackass to bring her home." I looked at him confused.

"Ain't ya gonna be mad? She'll probably end up cheatin' on you."

He waved it off. "I got other things to worry about. Sylvia's not really at the top of my list right now."

"I know what you mean." Now it was Dal's turn to look confused. "Bridget's kinda on my mind right now."

"Yeah, mine too. Then Tim's up on that list. He's really outta it without her."

"Yeah."

"We gotta keep an eye on him. At least try to keep him outta the cooler."

"We will," I said. I didn't even want to think about explaining that to Bee if she called. She wouldn't be happy.

We walked into my house and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV. Mickey Mouse was on again. Why was it that this show was always on? In a way, this show was kind of comforting though. The gang always watches it whenever we're together. It gave me a sense of security, I guess you could say. Whenever you got a problem, Mickey is always there on TV. You knew it wasn't going to change. C'mon, it's Mickey Mouse. How can anyone change the black and white mouse? Wow, I was starting to sound like Two-bit.

"How do ya think she is?" Dally asked me after a while.

"I don't know. Hopefully things are goin' okay." Since she hasn't called yet, I thought.

"She's gonna call or write, isn't she? Just to let us know she's okay."

He sounded kind of vulnerable, didn't he? "Yeah, I hope so. She can't keep us worrying about her forever." I paused and looked over at him. He was staring blankly at the television. "You really miss her, don't you?"

He looked over at me. "Yeah, don't you?"

"Of course, but it seems like you really miss her. I don't think I've ever seen you look so…so….so vulnerable. It ain't like you."

He sighed. "I guess you're right. She's more than just a friend to me, ya know. She was my girl for some time and I did love her, no matter what she said. Even if it ain't as much as Tim does, I still love her. Even without loving her, you can't really just be friends with a broad like Bridget after sleeping with her. It's just impossible. It meant so much more with her. I don't know why, so don't ask, but it just did. Sex wasn't just something we did to pass the time, or for me to just get a good lay. It actually meant something, which doesn't happen to me often at all. She was different." He went on to mumble a few more things, more to himself than to me.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Dal loved Bridget. She really had no idea. She just figured that if he was cheating on her, he couldn't have such strong feelings. Boy, did she judge him wrong there. It must've killed him for her to tell him she didn't love him. No wonder he beat up Tim.

I didn't know what to say, so I just kept quiet and stared at the TV. We stayed that way until Darry told me I should get some sleep since I had work in the morning. I went to bed thinking about Bridget, Tim, Dallas, and the baby that Bee was carrying. It was all so unreal.