Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders

Chapter 7: Steady

We entered the restaurant, and it looked almost identical to the Dingo in Tulsa; floors that should've been clean, but weren't, and people that weren't supposed to be causing trouble, but were.

Steve and I sat in a booth across from each other and we were handed menus within seconds.

I picked up mine, my eyes scanning over the food. "What are you thinkin'?"

Steve's eyes were on his menu too, lips slightly pursed in his decision making. "Mm...burger."

"That's gonna be attractive." I smirked, reliving all those moments where Steve had ever stuffed his face in front of me.

Spoiler alert, it wasn't attractive.

"What was that?"

I shook my head, trying to look innocent. "Nothin'."

Steve started to smirk, but he didn't say anything, just looked down at his menu until the waitress came around.

"Hi. How y'all doin'?"

"We're good," Steve said.

"What can I get for you two?"

"A burger and a chocolate shake."

"And for you, miss?"

"I -"

"She'll have the same," Steve answered for me, smirking my way.

My mouth fell open. "I can order for myself."

Steve's dark, thick eyebrows rose, gesturing to the waitress. "Go ahead."

I looked at her, hesitating as I realized my stupidity and said quietly, "I'll have a burger and a chocolate shake, please."

She nodded surely, taking our menus. "You got it."

Steve laughed quite loudly, shaking his head at me, and I was shaking my head too, but out of disapproval. "I cannot bel -"

"You always order the same thing, Jill."

I sighed, smiling just a tiny bit. "Yeah." I looked up at him, already knowing every part of his handsome face. "I guess this was kind of dumb."

"Why?" Steve asked, confused and slightly offended.

"I just mean that people go on dates to get to know each other, right?" I shrugged, letting out a big breath. "We already know everything about each other."

Steve shook his head. "No, we don't."

I gave him a look. "We grew up together, Steve."

"Yeah, but I didn't actually like you."

I gasped lightly, trying to keep the smile away as he smirked beautifully. "That's reassuring."

Steve shrugged, tapping his fingers against the counter. "You were an annoying kid."

I smiled. "That's what happens when you're the only girl in a huge group of boys."

"Men."

It was mine turn to laugh. "Oh, yeah, sure."

"Well, it's not like you and Stacy are -"

"What?" I interrupted. "Stacy is the most grown-up sixteen-year-old I know."

"She's pretty loose."

"Steve!"

"What?" he said, eyes wide. "It's true."

I couldn't exactly argue with that. "Well -"

"She's the one that introduced you to Peter, isn't she?"

I sighed, shifting my body in my seat. "Yeah."

"She's got bad judgement."

I chuckled lightly, shaking my head. "I like her, but I can see why Darry and Soda are so concerned about how much time I spend with her."

The milkshakes were put down in front of us, each of us grabbing them at the same time.

I sipped the amazingly delicious chocolate shake through the straw, sighing once my lips detached from the drink. "God, that is good." I moaned lightly, closing my eyes for a split second. "Chocolate shakes are - what?" I looked at Steve, brows furrowed.

His cheeks were slightly red, but not like a blush, more like he was holding his breath. "Nothin'."

I smiled, holding the straw between my fingers. "Okay..."

"Can I..." Steve started to ask, not finishing his sentence before he moved over to my side of the booth and sat down next to me.

"Steve, what -"

"I'm gonna kiss you."

I just smirked, looking into his wonderful eyes. "Go right ahead."

He smirked too, putting his arm on the back of the booth behind me and leaning forward, pressing his rough lips against my own. He kissed me slow, exactly like how I had seen so many other people make out at the drive-in.

"Do you two want these now -" Steve and I parted as the waitress held our burgers on plates beside us. "Or should I take another walk around the diner?"

"Oh." I covered my mouth and looked away as I giggled.

"We'll have him now," Steve said, a throaty laugh making way through his speech. He set down my burger in front of me. "Alright. Let's eat."

I looked down at the burger, and then back at him. "I'm not making out with you after we eat these, Steve."

He shrugged, picking up his burger. "Fair enough." And then he took the biggest bite that I had ever seen.

We ate and we talked and it was nice. Steve told me things that I didn't know - personal stuff about his life that I had only heard snippets from when I was walking past him and Soda in the living room. I told him things that I usually talked about with Stacy, and Steve seemed interested - or he was convincingly interested if he wasn't.

After the diner, we drove around for a bit, taking a risky-looking road up to a look-out spot. The sun was going down and it was beautiful.

We stepped out of Steve's car, both of us leaning against his hood and watching the sun lower in the sky, the blue leaving, the oranges and pinks coming in.

"I've never done this before."

I smiled a little, crossing my arms and not looking at him, just at the sun. "You're almost nineteen, Steve, and you've never watched the sunset."

"Watching the sunset is for pansies."

"Hey." I laughed, nudging him, and then I sighed. "I guess that makes us pansies."

There was a long, comfortable silence.

"Jill?"

"Yeah?" I said, still not looking at him.

"You think we can do this?"

That was when I looked at him. "What?"

Steve was looking down at me and he sighed heavily. "You think we could actually be together? You know - go steady?"

I smirked, uncrossing my arms and turning my body to face him. "That was fast."

Steve only gave me a look. "It's not like we just met."

My smirk turned to a smile and I stepped closer. "I'd love to go steady with you."

Steve didn't smile. "And what the hell are we gonna tell Soda?"

I shrugged. "We don't have to tell him anything until we're ready."

"Then we're not tellin' anyone anything."

I nodded, stepping close enough that our bodies were touching. "Deal."

He looked down at me. "Kiss on it?"

I laughed lightly, sliding my arms around his neck and kissing him.

A couple days later, it was Sunday morning and it was a really slow Sunday morning, which was very nice. Every morning during the week was crazy and on-the-go, so it was nice to have a slow Sunday morning where we could just relax - well, up until Darry had to work. For now, he was making pancakes.

I sat down at the table. "Morning."

"Mornin'," Darry greeted in his deep voice.

"Who's in the shower?"

"Soda."

"Did Pony go out already or is he still sleeping?"

"Sleeping." Steve came from down the hall, sitting down beside me.

A second later, pancakes were set down in front of Steve.

"Hey," I called at Darry. "I was here first."

Darry opened his mouth to answer, but Steve beat him to it. "Actually, I was here first," Steve said, sending a smirk my way. "I was just in the can."

I pouted a little, looking at the pancakes that were currently having syrup pored all over them, and I sighed. "They look so good."

Darry laughed. "I'm makin' more, just hold it, alright?"

I kept staring at Steve's plate, my stomach growling. I looked up at Steve. "Can you just give me one?"

He laughed, cutting off part of his pancake and putting his fork through the soft piece. "Here." The syrup dripped off of it as Steve held it out to me.

I ate the piece off the fork. "Mm," I hummed leaning back in my seat and looking at Darry. "Darry, you make the best pancakes in the entire world."

Darry's brows were furrowed at me as he set down my own pancakes in front of me. "You two alright?" He glanced at Steve, but his eyes returned to me.

"Why?" I asked quickly, nervousness taking over me.

He chuckled a little. "It's just that you two are being nice to each other."

I looked at Steve, who was just looking at me. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

Steve shrugged it off, going back to his pancakes. "I just felt bad for the kid. She was drooling all over my -"

I punched him in the arm, cutting of his sentence.

"Mornin'!" Soda said cheerily, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a full pancake from my plate.

I groaned. "Soda."

"Sorry, sis," he said, mouth full. He started buttoning his DX shirt, sitting down next to Steve. "Hey, so we goin' out tonight or are you bummin' around with Shepard again."

Steve was on his last pancake already. "Nah, I'm done with Shepard."

"Alright," Soda said, sounding victorious as he slapped Steve's shoulders. "Hey, Camille said she wants to do somethin' tonight, but her cousins in town, so I said that I'd have a friend to keep her company." Soda smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

I choked on my orange juice, setting the cup down and coughing.

"You okay, Jilly?" Soda asked.

Darry patted my back. "Jill?"

I nodded, giving them both a thumbs up before speaking. "Yeah, I - I'm good."

Steve was looking at me and he was looking at me weirdly. He then turned to Soda and said, "How about a boys night instead, Soda?"

Soda shrugged, smiling again. "Sounds good to me, man."

I put my head down to hide my smile at.

Maybe Steve wasn't so bad.

"Then what happened?"

I sat down across from Stacy. "He asked me to go steady with him."

"Jesus." Stacy's eyes widened. "That was fast."

I laughed. "I've known the guy since before I could walk, Stace."

She nodded, adjusting her seating so her back was against the wall, feet up on the booth. "True." She sighed, placing her hand on the table and tapping her manicured nails against the linoleum. "What about your brothers? They must've been surprised."

I just gave her an innocent smile. "Actually, Pony's the only one who knows."

Stacy's eyes rolled. "Oh, sweet jesus."

I chuckled, shrugging my shoulders and shaking my head. "I'm sorry, I just -"

Stacy pointed at me. "Darry's gonna kick his dumbass and then Soda's gonna clock him in his stupid face."

"Oh, come on, Darry would never do that," I said quickly. "And Soda...I'm sure he'll be cool with it."

"Then why the secrets?" Stacy smirked, knowing she got me.

I shook my head at her. "You're the worst." I looked out the window. "Thanks for the help, Stace."

She laughed. "I speak the truth, Jill."

"Is that Calvin Mars?" I asked, watching the blonde head of hair walk into the diner.

Stacy giggled, standing up and greeting him by smashing her lips against his. I watched as their hands ran over each other, making me feel like I should be looking away, but they stopped before I did.

"Hey, Jill," Calvin greeted nicely.

I smiled politely. "Hey, Calvin."

Stacy pulled him down next to her into the booth across from me. "Cal and I were gonna just eat and then head to the movies. You wanna come?"

I held back the hurt and anger.

Why was Stacy always ditching me for the next guy that gave her five minutes of attention? She was so pretty with her long and glossy blonde hair and bright blue eyes and thin face. She just needed a guy who was gonna treat her right and not pretend to like her just to get into her insanely tight pants or very short skirt - either one works for Stacy's situation.

I shook my head. "No, you guys can should go on without me." I sighed lightly, pushing my hair from my face. "Uh, I think I'm actually gonna just go home."

"You sure?" Stacy asked, seeming on the fence.

I gave her a push to Calvin's side and smiled, starting to stand. "Yeah, you guys could use some alone time." I waved a little, walking outside as I put my jacket back on.

The October air was making me sad. I hated the cold.

"Jilly!"

My eyes snapped to someone running across the street, almost getting hit by a car on the way, and I gasped as he came closer. "God, Two, you're gonna get yourself killed."

He put his arm around me, walking with that certain bounce in his step. "How's my favourite girl?"

I laughed. "What do you want?"

"I just - how about some free advice, Jilly?"

I nodded slowly. "Okay..."

"So if Kathy says I need to grow up, what does that mean?"

I started to laugh, putting my arm around Two-bit because I was also starting to feel bad. "Awe, Two-bit, I thought Kathy loved that part of you."

Two shrugged, seeming a little more serious. "I don't know. She was talkin' about gettin' married and stuff and I made a joke and she got really mad at me."

I looked up at him. "You're perfect the way you are, Two. You've just gotta show her that you see a future with her." He looked down at me solemnly. "You just need to show her that you want to marry her eventually." I paused and stopped walking. "You...do want to marry her, right?"

Two-bit hesitated and then started to nod. "Yeah, I think so."

I smiled, hitting his arm. "See? There you go."

He smiled widely. "Kathy's my chick and I love her." He walked toward me, arm coming around me again. "Were you in love with Peter, Jill?"

"No," I said surely, thinking back on our entire relationship. "I thought I liked him, but it was not..." I sighed. "It just wasn't a good relationship."

"You'll find someone someday."

I licked my lips, Steve immediately popping into my mind. "Uh-huh."

"Alright, Jilly Bean," he said, jumping ahead of me and starting to jog away. "Catch ya later!"

I waved. "Bye, Two-bit!" I watched him go before stuffing my hands in my pockets and started walking back toward my house.

I got there within the hour and I was full ready for dinner.

I walked inside, the house pretty quiet. "Dare?"

"Yeah?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Soda and Steve went out and Pony's out somewhere with, uh, Shepard."

I walked into the kitchen to find him sitting at the table, papers splayed in front of him. "Curly?" I asked, leaning against kitchen doorframe.

Darry nodded, gathering the papers together. "Yeah, that kid." He sighed heavily, rubbing his face. "Sorry I didn't start din -"

"Don't worry about it, Darry," I told him, walking past him to the fridge, patting his hard shoulder on the way. "I'll do it."

"Then I'll do the dishes."

"It's fine, Darry," I told him. "I can do the dishes."

"No, I -"

I hit the back of his head. "Stop insisting!"

His head turned slowly, glaring at me. "Excuse me?"

I smiled. "I dare you to open a beer and watch some TV."

Darry started shaking his head. "No, I -"

"Darry," I said seriously, mostly to the huge bags under his eyes. "Just open and beer, watch some TV, go to bed early. I can do dinner and make sure the laundry's done and all that."

He sighed, rubbing his face again. "This is not how I wanted things to work out."

"Well, it's our life, so..." I grabbed a beer from the fridge and handed it out to him. "We're not perfect, alright? We can't do the right thing every time."

Darry stood and took the beer, looking down at it. "You remind me so much of mom."

I sucked in a big breath, my eyes tearing up almost instantly.

Darry never talked about our parents and it had been so long since I heard him even say the word "mom".

I smiled lightly, trying to keep my breath steady. "Really?"

I still remember her soft brown hair and her soft hazel eyes. She had a comforting touch and her voice was smooth and silky and always convinced me to do whatever she wanted. She had so much love inside of her than she tried to give anyone who would take it. My mother was the most amazing woman on the face of the earth and I missed her very much.

"Yes," Darry said, twisting the beer in his hand.

I stepped forward, hugging him tightly. "Thanks, Darry."

He hugged me back and I think we both realized that we often forgot that we were siblings. These days, I saw Darry as my guardian, not my brother. I saw him as more of a dad, not my brother, and I missed when Darry and Soda would get together and pick on Pony and I. I missed when Darry took the fall for stupid things the rest of us did.

I guess some things never changed.

"Somedays..." I started hesitantly, still hugging him. "I can't even look at Soda because he reminds me too much of dad."

Darry's chest vibrated and his laugh came from above my head. "Yeah."

Dad and Soda couldn't have been more alike. It was the laugh and the humour and the optimism. It was the non-stop smiling and the love. It was too many similarities - looks and personality wise.

I missed them. I missed my mom and dad.

"I miss them."

Darry's hand stroked my hair, just like dad had used to do. "Me too, kid."