Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders.

A/N: Enjoy the next chapter! All the drama begins now! Thank y'all for being patient with me! I love you guys! Don't forget to review! Have a wonderful day!

Chapter Eight

I watched Soda pull his wallet out of his back pocket. He looked at the receipt the nurse gave him and solemnly counted out the bills. I put my hand on his arm.

"Are you sure you can afford this?" I asked. Soda turned to face me and right then I knew that he couldn't, not really. He had two brothers depending on him to make ends meet. He didn't have extra money to throw around for my sake. I pulled my hand back and rubbed my arm that was now in a sling. At least my arm hadn't been broken. I would never have let Soda pay for a cast. I looked into his golden eyes and he smiled.

"Of course I can." He said. "Don't worry about it. It's our fault anyway; you never would've tripped if our stairs weren't broken. It's the least I can do for you-I'd do more too, if I could-I want to take care of you, so don't worry about the money, okay?" I smiled softly. Soda always knew what to say to calm me down, almost. I still felt a little uneasy. How was I going to explain the sling to Dad? I knew he would ask questions and he knew that I didn't have the money to pay for it. He didn't like that I spent so much money with Soda already, I didn't know how he would take the news that I was starting to look to Soda to pay for things. "Don't worry." Soda said, again. I nodded and watched as he handed his money to the nurse and signed a few papers.

"Wear your sling every day for the next three weeks, doctor's orders." The nurse said before we turned away from her desk. Something about her voice reminded me of Linda. I looked down at her name-tag quickly. Amanda Jacobs. My heart sank and I chided myself for being so stupid. I always got my hopes up for nothing. I knew it would never be my sister. Linda was gone and I was just going to have to accept that.

Soda grabbed my hand as we left the hospital.

"Let's go home." He said. "Is it okay if we stop by my place first? I want to check on Johnnycake and Pony before I have to pick Darry up from work." Sodapop had Darry's truck every Friday since he got off work a few hours earlier than him. So every Friday at five forty-seven, he headed down to the yard to pick up his brother, who got off at six. Soda said he liked having a few minutes alone to think every week. It helped him relax. He sang Elvis songs off-key and mixed up all the words. I'd never met anyone who liked Elvis as much as Soda did.

"That's fine." I said. "I ain't in any rush to get home anyway." Soda nodded. We walked halfway to the car in silence when Soda suddenly let go of my hand and started singing Heartbreak Hotel with his best Elvis impersonation, swinging hips and all. He had his hand up to his mouth like he was holding a microphone. I looked around us. Several people stopped walking to watch us. Others sped by with their eyes on us the whole time. I felt my face go red. One woman had a look of disgust plastered on her face. I could feel her anger and her judgement. She wore a nice dress suit. It was a brilliant pink and it matched her nails, shoes and purse perfectly. She was clutching her purse close to her chest with one hand and with the other, she was fussing with the blond beehive piled on top of her head. As she passed us, she moved both of her hands to her purse and stared at us, like she thought that one of us would just reach out and rip the purse from her. I felt the anger grow inside me and I wanted to scream at her, at everyone who was watching us. Then, my eyes turned back to Soda.

He had his eyes wide open and he was smiling broadly as he sang. He was even waving at some of the people who passed us. When he couldn't remember the words, he just laughed and added in "doo-ba" and "la-loo." He didn't care what the people around us thought. I looked around again and saw a few people who I hadn't seen before. They were standing on the pavement and they were clapping in time with Soda's voice. I even caught one or two of them singing. Soda smiled even wider and grabbed my hand.

"I'm feeling so lonely, I could die." He sang and the song ended. Soda laughed when a group of people clapped for his performance. He gave them a deep bow and laughed again. I began to smile. We started walking to the car again and I watched Soda walk beside me. He was the most amazing person I had ever known. He saw the world in a different way. Life was beautiful to him and he took every opportunity to laugh and have fun. He didn't care what other people thought of him, he always did just what he wanted and let people think what they would. He was still smiling. He turned to me and caught me staring. He grabbed my hand again.

"See, Sandy." He said. "Sometimes you just got to relax and let go. Forget about what other people think of you. If I can sing Elvis on the street in front of a bunch of strangers, you can talk to your dad about the sling. He might get mad, like a few people you saw. But maybe he'll take it better than you think. I know he cares about you and he doesn't want you to get hurt. And I'm here for you, no matter what he says." I knew exactly how Dad would take it. He would see what Soda did as charity. And Dad hated charity. He always said that he would never take what he didn't deserve from anybody. He didn't understand that friends did things for each other and he didn't understand that Soda and I took care of each other. I could feel a knot growing in my stomach. Soda squeezed my hand and my thoughts turned back to him. I laughed. Only Sodapop would sing in public to prove a point to me. I laughed again.

"Thanks, Soda. I love you."

"I love you too."

We sang Elvis songs all the way to his house.

...

Ponyboy was sprawled out on the floor when we walked into the front room.

"Glory, kid!" Soda said. "Are you okay?" Ponyboy slowly sat up. His eyes looked red, like he'd been crying. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and nodded.

"I'm fine, Soda." He said. "I'm just worried about Johnny, is all. I don't know how he can stand it, I know I couldn't. Oh, Soda, I'm so confused. I'm so sad about Emily and I'm so angry at her parents! And I just want to stop them from hurting Johnny and the rest of his siblings! Soda, it's just not fair! I don't know what to do anymore! I don't know how to help him. He says he's fine, but I don't know if I believe him. He's got to feel something." Tears started to slide down his face. "I'm sorry for being such a bawl-baby about this, but Johnny's my best friend and I'm just scared to death that we're gonna lose him too, like we lost Em." Soda sat down by his brother on the floor and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't you worry about anything." He said. "Everything is going to turn out fine. I promise. I'm worried about Johnnycake too. I'm angry at his folks for being so stupid and careless! But we're not going to lose him! He's got all of us and he knows that we'll be here to help him, no matter what happens. He knows that we wouldn't know what to do without him. Don't cry, Pony. Everything is going to be okay." I watched them together and I felt like a stranger. I realized that I wouldn't ever have moments like that with my sister. I didn't have someone who would tell me that everything was going to be okay and make a bunch of empty promises to make everything feel better. I watched Soda comfort his little brother for a few more moments before I turned away and headed for the door, to sit on the front steps until Soda was ready to take me home. I had only taken one step when I heard a voice behind me.

"Wait, Sandy." Pony said. "Don't leave. I'll be okay now." He stood up quickly and accidentally knocked Soda over. Soda got up and stood next to Ponyboy.

"I really should be getting you home, Sandy." He said. Then he gave Pony one more hug. "You sure you're gonna be all right, kid?" He asked. Ponyboy nodded.

"Yeah. I'll just cut me a big slice of that chocolate cake and I'll be just fine." He said. Soda and I laughed and headed out the door. We piled into the truck again. Soda sighed as he shifted it in gear.

"I'm getting tired of getting in and out of this thing so much." He said. I felt a pang of guilt. It was my fault we had used the car so much but when I looked over at him, he was smiling.

...

Dad's car was already parked outside the house when I got home. I waved goodbye to Sodapop and watched him drive off before I opened the front gate and headed inside. I could feel the knot growing in my stomach again. I rubbed my right arm and prayed that Dad would be in a good mood. The walk up to the door was the longest of my life. Every step I took didn't seem to get me anywhere. After what seemed like a lifetime, I reached out and turned the doorknob.

Dad sat on the couch in front of the TV. It was blaring his favorite show, Bonanza. His eyes were glued to the screen and had a beer in his left hand. I closed the door softly and hoped that I could just slip up the stairs to my room without bothering him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked. I turned to face him and he stood up quickly. "Why are you wearing a sling?" He shouted. "What happened? Who paid for it?" I looked in his eyes.

"I tripped on the Curtis' steps this morning. It's not broken, I just twisted my elbow and sprained my wrist." I said.

"Who paid for it?" He repeated. I stared down at my shoes.

"Sodapop." As soon as I said it, I knew what was coming. I could feel his rage. His eyes were hard and he took in a deep breath before he yelled.

"I knew it!" Dad roared. "You just had to take his money! You spend too much time with that boy. You're just like your sister. She stayed out all the time with her boyfriend too. Can't you see that all he wants from you is to get you in his bed? You're gonna end up on the streets too! You'll be just like Linda, isn't that what you've always wanted? You'll be stuck with a baby and no way to provide for it! Do you think your 'Sodapop' is going to stick around when he finds out about it? Of course he won't! You'll be all alone and you won't get any help from me! Just get out of here!" When Dad had finished yelling, he sat down heavily on the couch. He put a hand over his eyes. I could hear him start to sob. I had never seen Dad cry before, not even after Linda left. It scared me more than his yelling did and I ran out of the house quickly.

I needed to find Soda. But I found Ponyboy first.