Disclaimer: I own nothing.

CHAPTER EIGHT
Sunday, January 8th, 1967

Overthrow the effigy,
The vast majority,
We're burning down the bargain of control.

It was freezing out, but Steve had quickly decided he'd rather do his homework outside in the cold than inside near his old man. His dad seemed to be in an okay mood, but there was no way of knowing how long that would last. He figured it was easier to be outside and ready to go if his dad decide to kick him out for no reason.

Of course, planning to sit outside and do homework was one thing. Actually doing the homework was a whole other thing. He couldn't even blame it on the cold, not when he couldn't stop thinking about Anna and Two-Bit.

Anna, Christ. Well, at least he knew she felt something for him. He supposed she might have just been affected by his closeness, but he doubted it. He'd seen the look in her eyes - the shock, the hurt, the affection. His closeness had definitely affected her, but not just in the way that made her unable to stop him from getting closer. There was no longer any doubt in his mind that she still had feelings for him.

There was also no doubt that she was still hurt and angry when it came to him and everything he had done. He couldn't blame her - he deserved it - but it would make things hard. But the way she seemed to dissolve at his touch would help him. It would help him a whole fucking lot.

He sighed, frustrated as hell, but happy with what he'd pulled off on Friday night. He'd been so damn close to kissing her, and it hadn't even been something he'd considered until the moment arrived. After finding out neither Phillips or Danny would be at Buck's, he'd been hoping to catch a moment alone with Anna, but he'd never even hoped for what he'd gotten.

He'd never even imagined that she'd let him that close to her. He could still feel her skin on his fingertips and he wanted more. So much more. She'd let him touch her, stand so fucking close to her, and he knew she would have let him kiss her had Two-Bit and Soda not turned up.

Two-Bit. Speak of the fucking Devil.

"Hey, buddy," Two-Bit said, standing on the porch in front of him.

Steve moved his books for Two-Bit to sit next to him on the old, outdoor couch. "Hey, man."

Two-Bit sat, but stayed silent. After a few moments, he pulled out his smokes, lit two, and handed one to Steve. Steve took it, checking out Two-Bit's bruises and feeling awful for adding to them. He didn't know where Two-Bit had been the day before, but Steve hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since hitting him Friday; he hadn't visited him and Soda at work, he hadn't turned up at the Curtis house, and he hadn't been anywhere along the Ribbon when Steve and Soda had gone out the night before.

"Listen, Stevie, about the other night -"

"It's cool."

"It ain't cool, man. I shouldn't have said that shit about Anna. Not just 'cause she's your girl, but I mean, she's supposed to be my buddy, too, you know?"

Steve nodded. Despite how badly he'd wanted to kiss Anna, it hadn't been the interruption that had made him hit Two-Bit - he could deal with that. The problem had been Two-Bit's words. Steve might have said shit about her and Phillips, and her and Ricky, but he wasn't about to let anyone else do it. Especially not one of his buddies.

"Forget it, man," he said. "Anna ain't my girl. Anyway, I shouldn't've hit you for it."

"Aw, shoot. I deserved that." Two-Bit paused, taking a drag of his smoke. "You know Kathy dumped me again?"

"I heard somethin' about that."

"Can't blame her. I've been acting like a real shit lately, and everything that happened Friday night only proves that."

Steve frowned. "The River Kings still shouldn't have jumped you like they did."

"I've been riling them up an awful lot," Two-Bit said. "Can't seem to help myself with the shit I say most of the time. Haven't been able to keep my trap shut for a while now."

Since Dally and Johnny died. Steve stared out at the falling snow and said nothing. He supposed talking about it might help, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He'd made Anna do it after her grandpa had died, but making Two-Bit, his buddy, talk about Johnny and Dallas, was different. And hard. Hell, he wasn't sure he wanted to talk about them himself, let alone make Two-Bit do it.

"So, I was thinkin'," Two-Bit said, grinning like his usual self. "I oughtta make up for what I said."

Steve smirked. "I think we called even when I punched you."

"Maybe. But, c'mon; let me help you fuck with Phillips." Two-Bit turned to face him, getting excited. "I got a great idea to piss him off. And he'll know it's you - hell, everyone'll know it's you, but no one, not even Anna, will be able to prove it."

He thought about it. Getting at Phillips sure sounded good. Last time hadn't seemed to make things any worse with Anna than what they had been. He was just about to ask Two-Bit what his idea was when Tim Shepard's car pulled up in front of them.

Steve waited, half expecting Phillips to climb out and beat the shit out of him. Instead, Tim and Danny climbed out, and he wasn't sure that was much better. Last time Danny had turned up at his house, it had been to beat the shit out of him.

Not that Steve could blame Danny. He might want Anna back, and he might be willing to do anything to get her, but it had been a while since he'd messed up and he was able to take responsibility for what he'd done. Danny looking as though he wanted to beat the shit out of him again was understandable. Hell, it had been understandable last time, too, and that was why Steve's fighting back had been half-assed.

He narrowed his eyes; they weren't on good terms, and probably never would be. The guy might have had his back in the rumble a few months ago, but Steve knew he still hated his guts. And he could still hear his words far too clearly for his liking.

"I just spent the last hour watching my sister fucking cry over you, you son of a bitch," Danny had spat. "Come near her again, and you won't be able to fuck around on or with anyone again."

It wasn't Danny's threat that had stuck with him, but his words about Anna crying. The most he'd seen her cry was a few sobs and tears, lasting no more than a minute. Knowing that Danny hadn't been exaggerating, Steve had wallowed, feeling bad for himself, but even worse for Anna.

A part of him thought it was the memory of those words that made him finally leave her alone after Dally and Johnny had died. That and the look in her eyes that night.

"Heya, fellas," Two-Bit said, cheerfully.

Tim smirked. "I heard you got into it with a few of Hamilton's boys on Friday."

"Fucker's got me good."

"And here I thought they were only after me and my boys."

Two-Bit grinned. "Probably was until I started pissing them off every other day."

"Two of them got Curly last night, too."

"I thought he was still in juvie?" Steve asked.

Tim nodded. "Sure is. They probably wouldn't've got him so damn good if he wasn't."

"He gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine; cracked a rib or two, and he swears he can't see outta one eye, but he's a tough kid when he's not acting like an idiot." Tim paused, lighting up a smoke. "Hamilton was trying to send a message, not kill him."

Steve met Two-Bit's gaze. "What kinda message?"

"The kind where he's gonna do whatever he can to get me to start somethin' with him. I ain't willin' to get into it with him before I have to, but it's gonna come to a rumble eventually and I gotta know if you and the Curtis boys are in."

"What's all this about?" Two-Bit asked.

"We've got beef from a while back," Danny said. "We might've pissed off Rex Hamilton more than we should've."

"Ain't hard," Two-Bit muttered. "But how'd ya do that?"

Danny and Tim were both silent as they glanced at each other, and Steve had to assume that whatever it was, it was big. Finally, Tim nodded slightly.

"Y'all know about the shootin' at the Dingo last year?" Danny asked. He continued when Steve and Two-Bit nodded. "Well, that bullet Vinnie Mort shot might've originally been meant for Hamilton, and that - along with the gun - might've been supplied by us."

"And Hamilton definitely knows about it," Tim said.

That was definitely big.

Two-Bit shrugged. "I'm in. It might be your fight, but these guys have been pissing me off for weeks now."

Tim and Danny nodded their thanks, and looked at Steve. Getting involved in this probably wasn't their smartest move, but after the way the River Kings had been hassling Two-Bit, he wasn't about to say no. Plus, he was hanging out for a fight that didn't end with him getting kicked out of home.

He nodded. "I'm in."

XXXXX

Anna sat at her kitchen table with Kathy, tapping her pencil along with the song on the radio, while attempting to do her homework. It wasn't going well. In fact, not much had gone well all weekend.

Goddamn Steve Randle. The same thoughts seemed to be running through her head lately. If only she could hate him. If only he didn't have such an intense affect on her. If only she hadn't almost let him kiss her. And, once again, the things he had said; he was giving her a damn headache with all these words he was sprouting.

So he wanted her back. At least that's what he claimed. She shook her head. There had been nothing but truth to his words and she knew it. Steve wasn't an open book where his thoughts and feelings were concerned - he was the complete opposite, in fact - and he wouldn't say something like that if it wasn't true. Especially when he knew there was a chance of being turned down.

A really, really high chance. Because, hell, he'd cheated on her with her own cousin.

"Anna." Kathy yanked her pencil out from her fingers.

She frowned. "What?"

"You've been staring out the window and tapping for the last five minutes," Kathy said. "What's goin' on?"

Normally when what was going on was Steve - which was more often than she liked to admit - she'd lie. She didn't like talking about him. Thinking about him was bad enough. She was a good liar, and could usually fake her way out of these situations, but this time was different. Things with Steve were different.

"It's just … it's Steve."

Kathy sighed. "What'd he do?"

Anna didn't even know how to answer that. "Nothing really, except …"

"Except what?"

"He's being - shoot, I don't even know what he's being, but he's confusing the hell outta me."

Kathy shook her head. "Glory, Anna. I have no idea what you're talkin' about."

Anna looked at her. "He said he wants me back."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Well, not in those exact words, but he said he's gonna get me back."

She could practically hear the shock and anger rising in Kathy. Sitting back, she waited for the outburst she knew would come. Kathy hardly ever mentioned Steve, and Anna knew it was for her sake, but she was pretty sure Kathy was just waiting for the day it was okay for her to badmouth him without it bothering Anna. She could hear the resentment in Kathy's voice the few times she did mention him.

"What? I s'pose he thinks he can just say those words and you'll go running, right?"

"No." Anna picked her pencil back up. "He knows I'm not."

Kathy watched her for a moment, and Anna could feel the scrutiny of the stare.

"But you want to." It wasn't even a question.

"Of course not," Anna said, and her voice was steady despite the twisting in her stomach.

She hated herself for it - something that was becoming a common occurrence - but a part of her did. A part of her literally wanted to go running back into Steve's arms and pretend like the last six months had never happened. She missed him. As hurt as she was, and as much as she definitely hadn't forgiven him, she still missed him. So damn much.

And since his words, his closeness, his touch, on Friday, the feelings she'd thought she'd pushed down as far as they could go, had shot straight back up. She'd known she wasn't over Steve, that she still had some feelings for him, but everything he'd done to her the last week had made it that much more obvious.

It was hard to move on when he wasn't letting her. She sure wished she could hate him.

Kathy shifted in her seat. "Anna, I know I ain't the best person to give advice about relationships, and that this is pretty damn hypocritical coming from me, but think about what he did to you. He slept with Evie."

"I know exactly what he did to me," Anna snapped. Taking a breath, she continued, calmer. "I know, okay? It's just hard. I tried to pretend he didn't exist, but now … it's really hard."

"I know."

Of course Kathy knew - she went through it every couple of months with Two-Bit. Anna figured that was exactly how Kathy saw through her lies. She might claim to be over Steve, but there was a reason Kathy didn't bring him up very often.

"What about Henry?" Kathy asked.

Anna frowned, guilt running through her. She hadn't kissed Steve, but she would have. There was nothing official about her and Henry, but she sure felt terrible for what she had almost done. Even the technicality that Henry wasn't her boyfriend didn't help matters, because she knew that he wanted to be her boyfriend.

If Sodapop and Two-Bit hadn't turned up when they had then she didn't know what could have happened. She and Soda hadn't talked in months, and Two-Bit had been a complete jerk with what he had said, but she sure was grateful they'd interrupted. And she refused to think about the fact that Steve had punched his already beat-up buddy in her defence.

She shook her head. "You know what? There is no 'what about Henry'. He's the guy I'm dating because I want to be dating him. That's it. In fact, he's picking me up later."

Kathy raised an eyebrow. "You sure he's who you want?"

Anna nodded. There might have been a part of her that wanted Steve, but that wasn't going to happen. Not after what he'd done, and not when it still hurt too much to be near him.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm sure."

XXXXX

Anna leaned against Henry as they left the Dingo. It was quieter than usual for a Sunday night, but she wasn't complaining. Not quite at the stage where she was willing to be alone with Henry at his house, she was happy to hang out at the near-empty Dingo.

"And you're sure Curly's gonna be okay?" she asked.

"Positive. The kid's tough; he can handle himself."

She nodded. "Good."

She couldn't help but remember the ride home he'd given her the night Steve had slept with Evie. The last person she'd expected to understand her mood and take her home without any questions had been fifteen-year-old Curly Shepard, but he'd been pretty decent and she appreciated it.

It was just horrible to hear he'd been jumped in reform school. She didn't know what the deal was with the River Kings and all the problems they were causing, but she was pretty sure she didn't want to know, either. Not knowing about the kind of trouble Danny got himself into was much better than knowing and worrying even more than she already did. So long as he didn't come home with wounds that couldn't be fixed at home, then she could deal with it.

"When does he get out of juvie?" she asked.

"You know, I really don't know. His injuries ain't bad enough to be let out early, but I don't think they're keeping him any longer for fighting - sunnuva bitch." Henry stopped mid-step, dropping his arm from Anna's shoulder.

"What's wrong - oh."

Anna stared at Henry's car. She didn't know much of anything about cars. When she'd been with Steve and they'd double dated with Soda and Sandy, she and Sandy had had to sit through talk of carburettors, transmissions, and spark plugs, not understanding a word of it. They'd had to listen to stories of cars that had come into the DX, cars they'd seen in the street, and cars Steve had stolen hubcaps from.

She didn't know much about cars, but she did know that there had been hubcaps on Henry's car when they'd gone inside the Dingo.

XXXXX

Anna was pissed off. Steve could tell just by the way she was glaring at him, and he couldn't stop the smirk. She was pissed at him, and he was sure she thought she had every right to be, but he wasn't going to complain. Every now and then he could get farther with her when she was pissed off than when she wasn't.

"Give them back," she said, the moment she reached his front porch.

He eyed her for a moment before glancing at Two-Bit. "You know what she's talkin' about?"

"Not a clue."

He looked back at Anna, shrugging. "Can't help ya if I don't know what's goin' on."

Anna crossed her arms over her chest, scoffing. Gosh, she looked pretty. After the way he'd been interrupted on Friday night, going all day Saturday and most of Sunday without seeing her sucked.

"You know exactly what's goin' on," she said. "You took Henry's hubs!"

"I did? Why would I do something like that?"

She gaped at him, and he raised an eyebrow. Despite all the shit between them, it felt good to rile her up again. Getting her flustered about something other than what a shithead he'd been sure was fun.

"You …" She seemed to be at a loss for words. "Steve! I know you took them."

"And how d'you know that?"

"We went into the Dingo for a Coke - that's it. Ain't no one else in this town who could've taken them as quickly and sneakily as you did."

His smirk grew at her words. Anna blushed, biting her lower lip like she wanted to take the words back and never let them out. He swallowed, feeling like nothing had changed, because all he wanted was to suck that plump lip into his mouth. He stared at it a moment, before giving her a meaningful look. She went even redder and looked away.

Two-Bit chuckled. "And here I thought you were datin' Henry. I ain't so sure he'd be happy to hear ya sayin' such nice things about another guy. Especially Stevie here."

"After the way you spoke about me the other night, you can shut your goddamn trap, Two-Bit," she snapped. Two-Bit had the decency to look ashamed as Anna turned back to Steve. "He wants them back."

"And he sent you to do his dirty work for him?" Steve asked. "Glory, Anna, that's low."

"He didn't send me to do anything. I offered."

"Had to see me, huh? I know we got interrupted the other night, but you don't need some excuse about hubcaps to come see me." He gave her a once over. "You're welcome anytime."

She ignored that. "Are you gonna give them back or not?"

"Ain't got them."

"I don't believe you."

He kept his gaze on her, all jokes over. "You should," he said. "I ain't been anything but honest with you."

Anna frowned. She seemed to stumble over her words for a moment before finally spitting something out. "Fine. If you don't have them then there's no need for me to be here."

She left. Steve let out a sigh, and grabbed his comb out of his pocket. Running it through his hair, he glanced at Two-Bit.

"Think I should've given them back?"

"Na. Let her believe you for a while. You can tell her once you've got her back and she won't be so pissed." Two-Bit grinned. "Anyway, it ain't liked you lied; the hubs are at my place, not here."

Silence is the enemy,
Against your urgency,
So rally up the demons of your soul.

A/N: I'm a few hours late for my promised Good Fic Day update. Sorry 'bout that. New Years ran a little longer than expected, lol. Hope you all had a good one.

Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Feel free to point out any mistakes. My final edit before posting was a little rushed, but I wanted to get this out tonight.