Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, or "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield.

CHAPTER SIX
Tuesday, January 3rd, 1967

I feel so dirty when they start talkin' cute,
Wanna tell her that I love her,
But the point is probably moot.

"So, what's the plan, buddy?"

Steve looked at Two-Bit. "Plan for what?"

"For gettin' Anna back of course! I mean, I hate to say it, Stevie, but if she's dating some other guy then we really oughtta start thinkin' about some kind of plan."

"Is that what you do when you and Kathy break up?" Steve asked, smirking.

Two-Bit shook his head. "I don't need no plan when it comes to gettin' that girl back. All I hafta do it flash her a smile and she's climbin' into my bed."

"Sure she is."

"I think Anna might be a little different, though. I mean, they might be best friends, and they're both stubborn as hell …" Two-Bit paused, grimacing. "But, Kathy ain't ever been cheated on by me."

"Yeah, well …"

That did complicate things. Even if Anna did care about him - even just a tiny bit - she was still pretty pissed at him. He deserved every bad thing he got when it came to her, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He hated that they didn't talk, hated that they'd argued again on Friday night, and hated that she was dating Henry Phillips.

Henry fucking Phillips. Steve had always liked the guy until seeing him flirt with Anna that first time. Now he wanted to beat the shit out of him but wasn't quite stupid enough to do so. Jumping Phillips wouldn't do a damn thing but piss off Anna - and probably a few of Shepard's boys - and he didn't need that. What he did need was … a plan.

He looked at Two-Bit, who was opening his second candy bar. "What kinda plan have ya got in mind?"

Two-Bit grinned. "Nothin' yet, but we'll think of something. Hey, you thought about startin' shit with Phillips for messin' around with your girl?"

"Anna ain't my girl," he reluctantly admitted. "And yeah I've thought about it. It ain't gonna do me any good, though, is it?"

"It'd ease some of that tension, though."

Steve smirked. "And just get Anna pissed at me. Again."

Two-Bit nodded, but said nothing. Steve didn't mind; when he thought about it, he wasn't sure a plan to get Anna back would really work, anyway. Nothing about his relationship with her had been planned; things had always - eventually - just fallen into place. He couldn't help but feel like taking things as they came was the best way to go.

Of course, that might turn out to be the worst decision he could make about it, but he'd just have to wait and see.

The only upside - and it was a very small upside - was that thinking about Anna and her goddamn date managed to keep his mind off of Millie and that entire … thing. Because that entire thing was fucked up and he didn't know what to do or think about it. For the moment - while he had other things on his mind - he was happy to pretend like there was nothing to do or think about it.

But, Anna … Christ, she was on his mind constantly, and he hated that she was dating Phillips. And she definitely was dating him - it hadn't been a one off. Two-Bit had told him that they'd been seen together at Bobby Miller's New Years party, and Steve had seen it for himself after stumbling across them outside his and Anna's study hall classroom not two hours ago. Flirting, touching … thankfully not kissing.

He'd tried to ignore them both, but couldn't keep the scowl off his face. Seeing them together just made him wonder exactly how far Anna had gone with the bastard. Not shoving Phillips into the nearest row of lockers had been an effort.

"So we ain't gonna start shit with Phillips?" Two-Bit asked.

"Na, man." Steve paused, not sure what else to say. He knew Two-Bit was only trying to help, but he hated having everyone know how much he wanted Anna back - even if everyone was only Sodapop and Two-Bit. He didn't need them knowing how much Anna dating Phillips got to him; what he needed was to stop being so soft about it all. He needed to play it cool, just like he always had. "We'll just leave it alone. Anna's free to do what she wants."

Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "You're kiddin' me, right? You're just gonna give up on her?"

"I ain't givin' up, I'm just not startin' shit with Phillips and gettin' myself into more shit with Anna." He paused again, hating the taste of his next words. "Anna ain't my girl and she can date whoever she wants."

"And you're just gonna let her?"

He shrugged. "What else can I do? I can't force her to be with me. All I can do is … well, I dunno yet."

"I know." Two-Bit pulled out his smokes, lit two, and handed one to Steve. "You can tell her you want her back."

Steve frowned. What kind of idiot did Two-Bit think he was?

"No, really," Two-Bit continued. "You push the idea of the two of you gettin' back together onto her and I don't think she'll be able to stop thinkin' about it."

In one way, it didn't sound like a bad idea. He supposed it could work, but he still wasn't sure of Anna's feelings for him. So she cared and he liked to think that meant she wasn't over him … but that didn't mean shit. Putting that idea into her head might work, but there was no guarantee she wouldn't just laugh in his face.

Not only that, but, shit, why the hell would he put himself out there like that? He'd done it once before with Anna - twice if he counted the shit he'd said when he'd apologised for cheating - and he'd been turned down just as many times. He wasn't so keen on that happening again. Especially knowing he deserved the rejection after all the shit he'd caused her.

Taking a drag of his smoke, he decided to stick to his original plan that he could hardly call a plan. He'd wait and see what happened. If he ended up telling her what he wanted, then so be it. He and Anna had never done anything by the books, and he wasn't about to start.

XXXXX

Despite what he'd said to Two-Bit, Steve was having a hard time sticking to his words. Leaving Henry Phillips alone was turning out much harder than he'd thought. He'd wanted to start something with the guy for weeks now, and after seeing him with Anna before study hall, he wasn't sure he could hold back. He knew it would annoy Anna, but shit, he sure hated this guy.

Sitting at one of the benches in auto shop, he watched Phillips clean the exhaust pipe he was working on, and wondered what to do. Picking a fight with the guy was his first choice because there wasn't much more he wanted than to get in one decent punch. However, starting a fight in class was the kind of stupid thing Curly Shepard did - or, more recently, Two-Bit - not Steve. He needed something better than that - something that wouldn't get him a detention or two, but would get under Phillips' skin.

As soon as their auto shop teacher was out or earshot, Steve got out of his seat and headed toward where Henry was standing. He started in on him right away.

"So, big date over break, huh?" He couldn't even make himself sound casual about it.

Henry turned to faced him, small grin on his face. "Sure was."

"Yeah, I heard you guys had a great time."

"You did, huh?"

Steve nodded. "Oh yeah, Anna stopped by to tell me all about it."

"That right?"

"Yeah, although … it wasn't very late when she turned up at my place. I guess you must've got her home pretty early. Or maybe she came straight to me after you dropped her off."

Henry grinned, still polishing the exhaust. "She came just to tell you about our date, huh? Must've really enjoyed herself to be doin' that."

His casual attitude was really starting to piss Steve off. Especially when he was being anything but subtle. Clenching his fists, he glanced at their teacher, who was still on the other side of the room.

"Or maybe she was just tryin' to get to me," he said. "You know, trying to make her ex-boyfriend jealous."

Henry snorted. "Yeah, sure."

They were silent, and Steve fought to keep his mouth shut. He didn't want to piss off Anna, but he had to know.

"Did ya score?"

"Did I …" Henry eyed him carefully. "Shoot, Randle, it almost sounds like Anna managed to make you jealous whether she was trying to or not."

Steve sneered. "Fuck you."

"Maybe Anna already has," Henry said. "You'll never know, 'cause I ain't tellin' you shit."

Fucking asshole.

"You don't have to tell me a damn thing," Steve said. "I remember it well enough for myself."

Henry placed the exhaust on the bench, and glared at Steve. "You better watch what you fucking say."

He was right and Steve knew it. The last thing he wanted was to say shit about Anna that he'd regret right away, but a part of him was desperate for Phillips to know all the details of what he'd had with Anna. He wanted Phillips to know that she'd slept with Steve their first night together. He wanted to tell him how well he remembered what touching her, kissing her, fucking her felt like. He really wanted to let Phillips in on that one thing Anna had done to him the night of Two-Bit's birthday.

But he wouldn't. Shit, he couldn't. He sure wanted to piss Phillips off, but not like that. Spilling something that personal would just hurt Anna, and that wasn't what he wanted. Phillips didn't need to know about that stuff. No one did.

No one needed to know just how completely fucking jealous he was, either.

"You fucked up," Phillips said, voice much calmer. "You don't get to worry about what Anna's doin' anymore."

"Fuck you, asshole; you don't know shit!"

Steve made to walk around the bench between them, but was stopped when their auto shop teacher seemed to finally realise something was going on.

"Enough." Mr. Brown looked between the two teenage boys for a moment, before asking, "Are either of you going to tell me what the hell this is about?"

Steve said nothing, and he knew Phillips wouldn't say shit.

"Fine," Mr. Brown said. "Detention, both of you. Tomorrow afternoon. Randle, get back to your own bench.

With one last glare at Phillips, Steve headed back to his seat.

XXXXX

Doing up the buttons on her coat, Anna rushed across the school parking lot to meet Kathy. It was freezing out, and she wished it was still winter break so she could be at home where it was warm, rather than staying later at school.

"Thanks for waiting," she said, standing in front of Kathy.

"It's no problem. I had some stuff to look up in the library anyway," Kathy said, her breath visible as she spoke. "Did you get everything sorted with Miss Taylor?"

Anna nodded. Miss Taylor was her new math teacher and much more helpful than Mr. Chase had ever been. Though she was doing better in math since Steve had tutored her, she still had trouble with some things. Miss Taylor, who was now right up there with Miss Western as Anna's favourite teacher, had said she was happy to help out after school anytime. Anna was glad she'd only had to take her up on it a few times.

"Hey, before we go, there's something you should know," Kathy said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I dunno the whole story because Steve stopped talking as soon as I walked into our history class, but apparently he and Henry got into it in class today."

Anna's eyebrows rose. "What? What the hell about?"

"Take a wild guess."

"You don't mean …" Her heart thudded, and she didn't know what to think or how to finish her sentence.

"I mean you," Kathy said. "Like I said, I don't know all the details, but from what I heard, Steve was trying to start something."

Well now that didn't surprise her. That there had been something started did surprise her, but not that it was Steve who started it. She didn't get why he did it, but after his reaction to finding out about her date with Henry, she wasn't surprised he was trying to cause problems.

Her face flushed as she thought about what had happened and she hated herself for feeling so bad. Steve had deserved that slap, she didn't doubt that, but at the same time … well, at the same time she couldn't help but remember that tiny conversation she'd had with Two-Bit one afternoon.

"His dad did it," Two-Bit had said, sitting opposite her in a booth at the Dingo while Kathy was in the bathroom.

Anna played dumb, not wanting to admit she'd been staring at Steve and his black eye as he'd walked inside with Evie. "Whose dad did what?"

"Steve's black eye. His old man don't just yell at him no more."

It hadn't been mentioned again, but Anna knew Two-Bit hadn't been lying. They might have recently fought, but she knew he wouldn't lie - not about that. And that was why she felt so bad for slapping him. Yes, it had been deserved after everything he'd said and done - and not just that night - but at the same time, being slapped by her really wasn't something he deserved.

She sighed. Her own feelings on the matter didn't even make sense to herself, all she knew was that apologising to him like she had that night had been the right thing to do. And the words that had followed - his knowledge that he had deserved it for a while …

Pushing those thoughts away, she looked at Kathy. "Why would he do that?"

"I dunno."

She frowned. "I just had English with Henry; why wouldn't he say anything?"

"Um, because he's a guy. He doesn't want his girlfriend knowin' that her ex-boyfriend is picking on him."

"Henry's not my boyfriend."

Kathy smirked. "Not yet."

She ignored that, returning to what was really bugging her. "Why would Steve do that, though? Henry's not my boyfriend, but Steve shouldn't be saying anything to him."

"Maybe he's jealous."

Anna shook her head, but could clearly see the look Steve had given her when she first mentioned her date. She didn't know what it was, but wasn't sure she wanted to, either.

"He could be," Kathy continued. "I know it's been months, but this is the first time you've shown any interest in another guy since him. Maybe he doesn't like that."

Anna was glad her best friend decided against mentioning that mess with Ricky. She still wasn't convinced that Steve was jealous, but he sure was acting it.

"He can't be jealous," she said. "He made his decision about me a long time ago. Not when he cheated - which I'm almost at the place where I can almost understand that it was a misunderstanding - but when he got back together with Evie and stayed with her for more than two months."

Kathy said nothing and Anna was glad. The surprise of Steve starting something with Henry had had her talking about him much more than she liked to do. Tapping her fingers on the hood of Kathy's car, she glanced around the parking lot. Steve was sitting on the hood of his car with Ponyboy. If she had to guess, she'd say they were waiting for Two-Bit, who she knew for a fact had detention.

"Go and ask him."

Anna looked back at Kathy. "You're kiddin', right?"

Kathy shrugged. "You wanna know what his problem is? Ask him. He'll probably deny everything, but you might as well ask."

Sure, except that asking meant being near him and talking to him. She'd done that twice since September, and still didn't feel any better about it. Trying not to give it much more thought than that, she nodded.

"You're right." She glanced at Steve again. "Will you wait for me?"

"Of course."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded again, and headed in the direction of Steve's car. She didn't know what she'd say or what he'd say or if this was even a good idea. It didn't feel like a good idea, but she couldn't stop herself. It wasn't like it used to be, when she needed to be near him, but she still couldn't make herself turn around and just forget about it. Forget about him.

His gaze met hers as she reached him and Ponyboy, and he didn't say or do anything. Instead, he blew a few smoke rings and flicked the ash off of his cigarette. She scowled.

"What's your problem?" she asked.

"Ain't got a problem."

Her scowl quickly became a frown. "Well, that's a damn lie and you know it."

"Ah, I think I'll leave y'all to it," Ponyboy said. He jumped down from the car and headed toward George Silvers.

Steve still said nothing, even with Ponyboy gone, and Anna had the sudden urge to shake him. She'd put up with his unwillingness to talk in the past, but now it was just frustrating.

"What did you say to him?"

"Who? Pony?"

"Stop playing dumb," she snapped. "You must've said something to get a rise outta Henry."

Steve shrugged. "So what if I did?"

"Are you kidding me? You realise that by doin' that you're actin' just like Ricky did when - when we were together," she said, struggling with the last few words.

"I ain't actin' anything like him," Steve said, glaring at her.

Kathy's idea was out of her lips before she could stop it. "You're acting like a jealous fool."

Steve smirked, and threw his smoke away. Climbing down from his car, he stood right in front of her.

"Maybe I am a jealous fool."

She nodded. "You're also hilarious. Been spendin' a lot of time with Two-Bit lately, huh?"

"Na, it's just called honesty." And with the way he was staring at her, standing so close to her, talking to her … she almost believed him.

"You - you're not serious."

"Shit, Anna. Of course I am," he said. "And you shouldn't be so damn surprised; you know things ain't over between us - never have been."

She shook her head, dumbfounded. "No. No, things were over between us the moment you went running to Evie."

"Evie was a mistake."

"One that lasted for over two months?"

He shrugged. "One I'd do anything to fix."

There was tightening in her stomach, and she took a step back. She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. Finally, with a sick feeling in her stomach, she turned and left.

'Cause she's watching him with those eyes,
And she's lovin' him with that body,
I just know it.

A/N: Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading, and everyone who has reviewed.