DISCLAIMER: We do not own the Outsiders nor are we profiting financially from this work in any way.

A/N: Once again, many thanks to our wonderful beta, ShotgunOpera, who rocks hard core.

Sarah placed her white sundress on the hook behind her door, trying to decide which shoes to wear. Her best friend, Debbie, was laying on her stomach on the bed, flipping through a Seventeen magazine, her nail polish bag next to her. "What color nail polish do you want?" she asked as Sarah pulled out her mother's old red open-toed heels and placed them near her door.

"Red," she told her friend, grabbing her red scarf off her makeshift vanity. She cringed when she heard one of the boys yell a curse word out in the living room. "I will never understand why you wanted to come over here so badly," Sarah told her friend, rolling her eyes at the commotion coming from down the hall. "It's so much more peaceful at your house."

"Peaceful is boring," Debbie said, sitting up and smoothing her skirt over her lap. "Besides, your brother, Sodapop, is a doll."

"Gross, Debbie; he's my kid brother," Sarah told her, walking toward her bed and sitting down on the edge. "You wouldn't think he's so cute if you had to wash his underwear and smelly sweat socks." She sighed when Debbie got a dreamy look on her face. "Snap out if it!"

"Your problem is that you just don't appreciate good looking boys anymore," Debbie told her, flipping the page on her magazine. "It's like you're around them so much at home that you're immune to them."

"Sure, Debbie, I don't appreciate good looking boys," Sarah said, holding her left hand out to her friend. Debbie took one look at the ring on her finger and screeched. "Jesus, Debbie!"

"He gave you his ring!" Debbie squealed, holding her hand to examine the ring more closely.

"Of course he gave me his ring," Sarah told her friend, looking at her like she was nuts. "I'm his girl, who else would wear his ring?"

"I think it's sweet," Debbie said, taking out a bottle of cherry red nail polish for her nails. Sarah scowled a moment later when she heard her door open and looked up to find Sodapop standing in her doorway.

"Ever hear of knocking, Sodapop?" she asked, giving her brother a dirty look. "What if I wasn't decent?"

"You're never decent," Soda told his sister, sticking his tongue out at her. "Besides, it ain't like you've got anything I ain't seen before." He looked past her to see her friend stretched out on her bed and gave her one of his signature movie star grins.

"What do you want, Sodapop?" Sarah snapped at her brother.

"Huh?" Soda asked, giving her a strange look. "Oh yeah, Mr. Wonderful's on the phone."

"His name's Roger," she said, pushing past her brother, Debbie close on her heels. Sarah walked into the living where the phone was and grabbed it away from Two-Bit before he had too much opportunity to say anything to embarrass her. She took it into the kitchen so she could have a little privacy, the phone cord following behind her. She heard his protests from the other room and rolled her eyes. Was a little privacy really too much to ask for? "Hey, Roger," Sarah greeted, a smile on her face as she twirled the phone cord around her finger.

"Hey babe," Roger said, sitting down on the edge of his bed, wondering what his girlfriend was up to in a house full of greasers.

"Sorry about Two-Bit," she said, frowning when Darry walked into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

Roger shook his head. It didn't take a rocket scientist to pick up on the fact that she was irritated by her brothers' friends.

"I know we're going to the dinner dance tonight at the club, but I was kind of hoping we could get together for a little while before that. Maybe go get a couple of sodas and go for a drive?"

Sarah sighed; she'd have loved to get out of her house for a while, especially with her boyfriend, but she wasn't the type of girl to dump her friends for a boy. No matter how cute he was. She frowned. "I can't; I promised Debbie I'd hang out with her today," she told him, watching Darry pour a glass of lemonade and pretend that he wasn't eavesdropping on her conversation.

Before she had a chance to respond, Debbie had hit her in the arm and was giving her a look that clearly told her she thought her friend was crazy. Sarah covered the mouthpiece with her hand to keep Roger from hearing them.

"You go spend some time with Roger, I'm heading home," she told her, rolling her eyes when Sarah started to protest. "Seriously Sarah, are you that dense? You don't blow off spending time with a guy like Roger to hang out with your friends."

"But you've been complaining that we never get to spend time together anymore," Sarah said, giving Debbie a confused look. "He'll understand …"

"God, you really are dense, aren't you?" Debbie asked, shaking her head as she put her purse on her shoulder. "We spent time together. Now we're done. Now it's time for you to go hang out with your boyfriend for a while."

Darry raised an eyebrow over their exchange. He didn't like the idea of his sister's whole life revolving around her boyfriend, no matter who he was. And he really didn't like that her friends were telling her that it should.

Sarah was about to protest further when she heard Roger's voice over the phone line again and was forced to take her hand off the mouthpiece to answer him.

"Baby, you still there?" Roger asked as he lay down on his bed, wondering what the heck was going on that she was putting him on hold over.

Sarah removed her hand from the receiver. "I'm still here." She shot Debbie a look as she headed out of the kitchen toward the front door. "And it looks like I'm free this afternoon after all."

"Great," he said, grinning. "I'll see you in about twenty minutes."

Sarah smiled as they said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Dallas glanced at her. "You know, I saw your boyfriend at the drive-in with some brunette the other night."

Sarah frowned; leave it to Dallas Winston say something stupid to bring her down from her good mood. "Don't go trying to start trouble in my relationship just because you and Sylvia are on the rocks again."

"Seeing your boyfriend steppin' out on you ain't got nothin' to do with me and Sylvia," Dallas argued. "You think I wanted to see that shit?"

Sarah scowled. "Roger wouldn't do that to me," she told him, trying not to let anyone see that she was having doubts.

If she were truly being honest with herself, she would have had to admit that Dallas probably wasn't lying. He might have been a jerk, but she didn't really think he'd make something like that up just to bug her. Darry would kick his ass and they all knew it. That left her to wonder: was she not giving him enough attention? Was she not letting him go far enough and making him feel like he had to go looking for it somewhere else? Her stomach churned at the thought. She'd been letting him go further than she was really comfortable going just to try to keep him happy, but she knew he was still mad that she wouldn't go all the way with him.

Dallas glanced at Sarah when she didn't lash out him and knew he'd struck a nerve.

"I love Roger and I know Roger loves me," she told him, stubbornly refusing to let him see that his accusations had had any effect on her.

"Just not enough to keep him from steppin' out on you," Dallas told her again.

"Shut up, Dallas," Sarah snapped, unable to stop herself from playing with the cross on her neck.

"Knock it off, Dallas," Darry told his friend, seeing that his claims had gotten to Sarah. He didn't like seeing her reacting that way to what Dallas had said; it made it look like she might know there was some truth behind his accusations.

"You'd rather I keep it to myself?" Dallas asked, glancing over at Darry with a dirty look on his face. Darry didn't get a chance to answer before Sarah started up again.

"Yes! It's not like you really care; you just like seeing me upset!" She glared at him one last time before turning on her heel and heading back to her room.

Darry waited until she was out of earshot before answering Dallas.

"She's not going to listen to anything you have to say, Dal," Darry told him. "She knows you can't stand the fact that she's going out with Roger."

"I can't believe you're letting her go out with Sheldon, Dar," Sodapop said, walking into the living room. "The guy's a sleaze and you know it."

"It ain't up to me - or any of you - to tell Sarah who she should be dating," he told his brother, sending a warning look to all of the boys. "She's been going with Roger for better than a year and that's a big deal to a girl. And as long as she knows y'all don't like him, she ain't gonna believe a word y'all say."

There were plenty of grumbled responses, but they all knew he was right. Sarah was never going to believe a word they said against her boyfriend, whether it was true or not. Short of catching him in the act herself, nothing would ever convince her he wasn't a great guy.

"Where are you going?" Sodapop asked his sister when she reappeared twenty minutes later wearing her white sundress.

"Out," Sarah told him, grabbing her purse. Her nails were finally done, no thanks to Debbie. Her friend was completely useless. She heard a car horn outside and started for the door.

Sodapop rolled his eyes. He hated that his sister thought that a guy honking his horn for her was acceptable.

"He should at least come to the door, Sarah," he told her, looking up from his cards. "Sandy's dad don't let her out unless I do."

"Yeah, well, Sandy don't have a whole house full of boys sitting around her living room waiting to be all nasty to you," Sarah said, sticking her tongue out at her younger brother. Her older brother walked into the room, having heard their exchange from the kitchen.

"Darry, tell her I'm right."

"Soda's right, Sarah," Darry told his sister, rolling his eyes at the shocked look that crossed her face. "Roger should know by now that he needs to come up to the door to get you. Mom and Dad never let you go running out to the car when he honked his horn; I don't know what makes him think I'm going to let you."

Sarah resisted the urge to stomp her foot and sat on the arm of the recliner, crossing her arms across her chest. She scowled when the horn went off again. "Darry," she said, giving him a pointed look.

The horn sounded once again and Dallas chuckled. "He ain't too bright, is he?" Dallas asked, placing his feet up on the coffee table.

"Shut up, Dallas Winston! This is all your fault, you know," Sarah told him, shoving his feet off the table. "And keep your filthy boots off my nice clean coffee table!"

"Like hell it is," he told her, smirking as he put his feet back up on the table. "Ain't my fault Mr. Wonderful thinks he can blow his horn and get you to come a runnin'."

"His name is Roger," Sarah snarled. "Asshole," she muttered under her breath. Dallas snorted in response; he liked it when he could get her worked up enough to make her swear.

"Sarah Margaret, do you want to spend the rest of the day in your bedroom?" Darry asked, not having missed her swearing. "I'm not going to warn you about your mouth again."

"No, Darry," she answered, smiling when she heard heavy footsteps on the porch steps. "Ha," she said, sticking her tongue out at Dallas. "Can I at least be the one to answer the door?" she asked her older brother, a pleading look on her face as she stood up.

"I'll get it," Darry sighed, heading for the front door. He missed the days when she thought boys had cooties. He wondered for a moment whether their father had felt the same way.

Sarah stomped her foot and Dallas started laughing at her.

"How old are you, anyway, four?" he asked, rolling his eyes at her when she stuck her tongue out at him again. "Yeah, way to prove my point for me, doll."

She ignored him and made her way over to the front door, hoping to save her boyfriend from being lectured by her older brother. She'd thought that Darry liked Roger, but seeing as how he agreed with Soda, she was beginning to have her doubts.

"Hey, Roger," she said, her face lighting up when he smiled at her. "I'm ready, let's go."

"Hey babe," he said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. "You look nice."

Sarah resisted the urge to scowl when she heard a growl of protest from one of the boys. "Thanks. We should go," she told him; letting her fingers link with his when he took her hand.

They walked back outside together, passing Steve on their way. She wasn't sure she liked the look he was giving them but decided to put it out of her mind and enjoy her time with her boyfriend.

XXX

Sarah placed her soda on the top of Roger's dash once he parked his red Corvair down by the river bottom. It was the place where Roger and his friends hosted their infamous beer blasts at night but during the day it was a nice oasis. "This is nice," Sarah said, smiling as she looked out the window one last time before looking back at her boyfriend. "Peaceful."

"Yeah," Roger said, smiling over at her when he cut the engine. He took a moment to look her over, feeling the crotch of his khakis tighten a bit as he appreciated the way her curves were displayed in her white sundress. "Quiet. Private." He reached over for her and was more than a little irritated when she didn't pick up on his advances.

"We went to go see Gram this week," she told him, playing with the cross around her neck as she stared out the windshield. "Sodapop and Ponyboy went with us."

"Yeah?" Roger asked, feigning interest.

"Yeah, she called me Sarah again," she sniffed, and Roger tried not to cringe. God he hated it when she cried. "She didn't even recognize Ponyboy or Sodapop."

He hoped she wasn't planning to drone on and on about her grandmother all afternoon. He'd much rather spend the afternoon in the back seat of his car with her doing much more entertaining things than talking about some nutso old lady who couldn't even remember her own grandchildren. He was more concerned that he was going to go nutso if he didn't get any action soon.

"I promised her I'd spend some time alone with her next week," Sarah told him, oblivious to the fact that he wasn't paying a bit of attention to her.

"That's nice of you," Roger told her, missing the fact that she wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect.

"Maybe I'll ask Two-Bit to take me," she said, seeming to be talking more to herself than to him. "Gram knows him."

"That'd be a good idea," he said, patting the seat next to him to encourage her to slide over next to him.

Sarah bit her lip, hesitating before sliding over next to him and cuddling into his side. She closed her eyes, letting her cheek rest against him and breathing in the smell of his cologne. Once upon a time it was a scent that comforted her but for some reason it didn't have the same effect on her anymore. She tried to bury the realization that it was because she knew there was more than a little truth to the allegations Dallas had made about seeing him with other girls. "She keeps asking me where Sarah Margaret is and why she isn't coming to visit her anymore. I don't know what to say to her … I don't want her to think I'm a bad granddaughter because she's think I'm never there."

He started running his finger along the soft skin of her upper arm in an effort to distract her. He was really getting tired of hearing about her grandmother. Especially when all he wanted to hear were the noises she made when he was touching her.

He grinned when felt the goose bumps rise on her arms and she leaned her head against his shoulder, sliding an arm around his waist.

"I don't want her to hate me because she thinks I'm not coming to visit her anymore."

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you," he told her, pressing his lips to her temple. "It's good of you to keep going down there when she probably wouldn't even notice if you didn't show up at all." He reached for her face, turning it toward him so he could try to kiss her properly. He groaned when she hesitated to let him kiss her; he knew he'd screwed up and said the wrong thing.

Sarah winced at his last comment. She knew Roger wasn't one for that type of serious conversation and she hurried to change the subject. "Yeah, I guess you're right. So anyway, I was thinking about wearing my new blue dress tonight," she said, looking up at him. Roger was grateful for the change of subject but still wasn't satisfied. He hadn't driven her down to the river bottom to talk about her grandmother or a stupid dress; that was for damn sure. He looked down at her, really looking at her. She was pretty; there was no question about that, but lord she was a pain in the ass to date. She looked up at him and his attention was pulled back to her. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," he said, shifting his position so he could kiss her. He'd had enough conversation and was ready to start playing ball. "You look real nice in blue, baby."

Sarah smiled in response to his compliment, even though she wasn't entirely sure it was sincere. She'd learned a long time ago that with Roger she'd have to take what she could get. "I hope it looks okay. I spent weeks making it."

"I'm sure you'll look great," he told her before silencing her with a kiss. He was relieved when she went along with him, thinking that maybe the afternoon wouldn't be a total bust and maybe – just maybe – he wouldn't have to go pay a visit to one of his other girls to get taken care of.

Sarah had managed to somehow get a look at Roger's watch and was shocked to see how late it had gotten. She really needed to get home if she was going to have any prayer of being ready in time for dinner. She tried to pull away from him but it proved to be more difficult than usual. She twisted in his arms, turning her face away from him.

"Roger … stop," she told him, trying to put her hands between them to push him away. "You need to get me home so I can get ready or else we won't have a prayer of making it to dinner on time."

He was just starting to get warmed up and was going to try moving things along when she first tried to pull away from him. He groaned but pulled away from her when he heard what she was saying, still unable to keep the disgruntled look from his face. He'd barely gotten past first base but he knew that if she was worried about getting home and getting ready for their date he wasn't going to get any further than that anyway.

"All right," he said, straightening up in his seat. Kissing hadn't been much more than a tease; his khakis were now almost unbearably tight in the crotch. She stayed on the seat beside him for the duration of the ride back to her house and gave him a quick kiss before hopping out of the car and heading back inside to get ready for their real date. He watched as she walked up the walk to her run down house and checked his watch. He grinned; two hours gave him more than enough time to pay a visit to someone who wouldn't have any problem making his khakis more comfortable.