Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders.

A/N: Enjoy the next chapter! Any guesses to what's going to happen next...? I love y'all! Thanks for the reviews! Leave your thoughts at the end of this chapter! Have a wonderful day!

Chapter Seven

I should have seen what was going to happen. I know that now. But I just didn't think that Tom was a threat. He was always saying things that he didn't mean. All bark and no bite, if you know what I mean. I didn't tell Soda what happened. I didn't think I needed to. I can't believe how dumb I was. I didn't use my head and I felt the consequences that night. The car ride from school was pretty quiet. Soda apologized again for getting upset that morning. I told him it was fine. Then I told him about Ponyboy and asked if Johnny was doing okay.

"He just lost a sister." Soda said quietly. "He couldn't protect her from their parents." I looked at Soda. His jaw was clenched with anger and his eyes were hard. He didn't think it was fair that Johnny had to protect his sister from the people who were supposed to protect them from the rest of the world. I felt my heart drop.

"They killed her?" I asked. Soda laughed derisively.

"They might as well have." He said. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel but he didn't say anything else. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Soda slowly let out a deep breath and shook his head.

"They drove her to suicide!" He nearly yelled. "She thought that she wasn't good enough to live anymore. In her note, she wrote that she couldn't take the pain day after day and that she didn't want to get in their way anymore. She didn't want to get in their way!" Soda hit the steering wheel with his fist. "It's just not fair, Sandy! Johnny's been through enough. I don't see why he has to deal with this too! Days like this, I wonder if there is a God watching over any of us. If there is, I don't know what game he's playing! If there is, why doesn't he care?" I slid over to sit close to him and put my left hand on his knee.

"Soda." I said. And I paused. I agreed with him. God didn't seem to care about greasers, if he was even real. I used to believe that he was, when Linda was with me. But the past ten years had filled my mind with doubt. The only thing I had left of Linda was her bible. I read it sometimes, when I wanted to remember her. Maybe that wasn't the right reason to open it but it's the only reason I had. I squeezed Soda's leg. I wished I could think of something to say to comfort him. I remembered something that Linda had highlighted in her bible. "For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried." I said.

"Where'd you get that?" Soda asked. I shrugged.

"I read it in Linda's bible." I said. "I don't remember where."

"What's it mean?" He asked. I opened my mouth but I stopped. What did it mean? Did it mean that we were suffering because this was all just a big test to see who could stand the most pain? What about the Socs? They certainly didn't seem to have any of the troubles we did. I shook my head.

"I think it means that God lets stuff like this happen so we can get stronger, I guess. I don't really know." I said.

"Do you believe that?" Soda asked.

"I don't know."

We didn't talk for the rest of the ride back to his house. I left my hand on his leg. He was thinking about what I said. So was I and by the time we pulled up to the house, I was tired of thinking again. Soda pulled the keys out of the ignition but he didn't move. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He smiled and looked over at me. My stomach jumped.

"I hope Darry left some of that chocolate cake for us." He said before he grabbed my hand in his. "We could all use some right now." I nodded and we climbed out of the truck. I was careful to walk on the left side of him, so when he held my hand, it wouldn't hurt. I rubbed my right arm quickly and hoped he didn't notice. He really didn't need anything else to worry about anyway. It would get better eventually. When I put my hand back down by my side, he grabbed it and grinned from ear to ear. "Everything is going to be fine." He said.

"Of course it is." I said as the front door swung open.

"Look at the two lovebirds. It's enough to make me sick." A harsh voice said. "You still dating that trash, Sodapop?"

Dallas Winston.

Dally sure was a character. I can't really describe him. He was one of the only boys I knew who didn't grease his hair; he just let it flow back and kick out in tufts in the front. His ears were pointed, kinda like a lynx, Pony would say. And his eyes were dangerous. He was from New York. I heard that he got thrown in jail for the first time when he was ten years old. Maybe that's why his eyes and his voice were so angry.

Soda let go of my hand and ran up the steps to greet Dallas. They walked into the house together, talking about a rumble between Tim Shepard's gang and the Socs. The screen door slammed in my face. I took in a deep breath and decided to sit by myself on the steps for a few minutes. I hated hearing the boys talk about their fights. I hated fighting. I heard a train whistle sound not too far away and I closed my eyes. I felt a pain right below my heart. At that moment, more than ever, I wanted to leave Tulsa. I wanted to jump on one of those train cars and leave it all behind me. I wanted to find a place where life wouldn't be so hard. The train whistle faded and the screen door squeaked open and slammed behind me. Soda sat down on my right and the feelings faded away too, almost.

"What are you thinking about out here?" He said.

"Nothing important." I said and I smiled at him. "I guess I just didn't feel up to hearing more of your war stories." Soda laughed.

"I know, I'm tired of it sometimes too." He said. "But Dallas." He paused. "Dallas lives for the rumbles. It's the only way he can get back at everyone who's ever done him wrong."

"I know."

"Come on," Soda said. "Don't worry about it, about any of it. Everything is going to be fine. I promise." He crossed his heart with his finger. "Just think about how happy we're going to be in a year and a half, when we get married. We'll have a white picket fence somewhere in the country with a ton of dogs and a horse named Mickey Mouse. It's going to be perfect. Just think about that." He reached for my hand and pulled it toward him.

"Ow!" I screamed before I could stop myself. Soda looked at my arm for a minute.

"Is this still bothering you from this morning?" He asked. I nodded.

"I think it's broken."

"Glory hallelujah!" He said. "Why didn't you tell me that your arm still hurt? Look at it, it's starting to swell. When you didn't say anything, I assumed it was fine. I thought you would have told me if it was still bothering you. I mean, it's not that hard, it goes like this, 'Soda, remember how I fell on my arm this morning? Of course you do. Well, I think it's broken.' It's not that hard! Glory! Get back in the car!" He grabbed my left arm and helped me stand up. "Why didn't you just tell me?" We marched back to the truck. He closed the door after me. He was still shaking his head. "And now it's probably worse than it was. Don't you ever use your head?"

The words hit me hard. I had heard them before, but never from Soda. He was always the one who told me not to worry about those other people who put me down. I felt tears rush to my eyes and I couldn't help feeling stupid. He was just worried, I knew that, but the words still stung.

"I didn't mean it like that, Sandy." He said softly, when he saw the tears. "Glory, that sounded awful didn't it. I can't believe I just said that to you. I was just frustrated that you were just going to sit there and not do anything about an arm that's probably broken. I just don't want you to get hurt. I love you, Sandy and I'm sorry." I blinked back my tears.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell Dad. We don't have the money to-" I said. "That's why I didn't say anything. And you have so much to worry about. I didn't want to add to that." Soda laughed.

"That's it?" He said. "Don't worry about me! I'll be fine. I promise. You're more important to me than any of it. I'll always be there to help you, okay? And don't worry about your dad, either. Let's just get you to the hospital." He smiled and put one arm around my waist. I put my head on his shoulder and that's when I knew that Sodapop Curtis would always be there for me. And he was, almost.

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A/N: Review it for Johnny! :) I had to say it just once. Lova ya!