I do not own The Outsiders and The Runaways own the song Saturday Night Special.

You can dress me in ribbons

You can tie me in knots

You get out the camera

Provocative shots

You do what you want to

Let's see what you've got

And if I don't like it

I'll just tell you to stop

She's a Saturday night special (Saturday night)

A two caliber bore

She's a Saturday night special (Saturday night)

You caught me dreamin' before

She's a Saturday night special (Saturday night)

I'm young and easily bored

She's a Saturday night special (Saturday night)

And you know I'm kinda special

And you know that you'll be back for more

The Runaways

Saturday came around way too fast for Tara: not only were there more parties to go to throughout the week but she had two essays to write as well as a math test to study for. For girls like Sylvia and Dru, this wouldn't have been stressful but Tara was not used to not being organized, like the good girl she once was. Old habits die hard, thought Tara as she handed in her work and got more in exchange for her trouble. She sighed as she looked over the assignment the teachers decided to hand out over the weekend. Still, she had Saturday to look forward to and she couldn't wait to see what she and Tim would do.

On Saturday, Tim rolled out of bed and headed down stairs to hunt for some food before his step-dad woke up. As he trudged into the kitchen, he managed to step on one of Angela's kid toys, cursing as he did so. Those things sting like hell, he thought as he checked the fridge. Then Tim suddenly remembered his date with Tara.

Shit.

It was only ten o'clock thankfully and he sighed with relief. Unlike some of the guys in his gang, including his kid brother, he never went out of his way to piss his girl off. Arriving late to a date wouldn't prove anything and it would just ensure he wouldn't be getting laid that night, girls were prissy things that you had to keep happy if you wanted to be happy. With a sigh, he forgot about his hunt for food and headed upstairs to track down a clean pair of jeans.

Tara was waiting outside the Dingo with her heart leaping every time she heard a car turn the corner. She had gone for the casual look today as she didn't want to seem as she was trying too hard. Eleven o'clock had just arrived and Tim still hadn't shown up. Hurt, anger, and embarrassment was starting to brew and just as Tara was about to go home and sulk, Tim's Chevy turned the corner. A smile played on Tara's face as she walked over to meet him.

Tim watched her swagger over and noticed she was dressed in black pedal pushers and a red sweater, probably due to not wanting to look like she was trying too hard he thought. He chuckled at how predictable girls were sometimes. He'd planned something quite romantic for today to make up for being late and plus, it was fun to see Tara trying to act like she wasn't jumping for joy inside any time he so much as opened the door for her. Still, playtime with this chick was approaching the end so he decided getting takeaway from Jay's, a walk in the park, and then showing her off down the Ribbon would be enough.

Tara couldn't believe how romantic Tim could be; everyone was wrong about him—he really did have a softer center. Tara had told Dru and Sylvia about it last night but Dru shook her head while Sylvia had just snorted. Still, what did they know? They were probably just jealous that Tara was the one to melt Tim's icy heart while their dates kept giving them the runaround.

The walk in the park was something like just out of a movie and Tim had sweetly lent her his jacket when the wind had gotten chilly. They leaned against an old oak tree and carved their initials into the bark. Tara didn't notice that there were other old oak trees bearing the initials T.S. with other pairs of letters.

They said goodbye at two as Tim had suggested picking her up at seven to go down to Ribbon. Tara didn't really want to go but throughout the day, Tim had been so sweet that she didn't want to spoil it for him. It was actually a blessing in disguise as it gave her enough time to get started on her homework and get ready for her date.

Despite himself, Tim had enjoyed his day with Tara. She was completely enamored with him and he liked the way she almost always talked out of the side of her mouth, covered her mouth when she giggled, and the way her hair flowed in the breeze.

And then there was how great she looked in those tight trousers.

The Ribbon was packed filled with guys yelling at another bunch of greasers across the street about who got in fight with whom and who was in or out of the cooler. Tim parked his car and walked towards some casual acquaintances sitting on the hood of a Chevy Impala, dragging Tara with him.

"When's Curly getting out of reformatory, Tim?" asked one greaser with jet black hair.

"Not for a while yet," said Tim. "Got in trouble for fighting some warden or something, that little no good—"Tim went on to cuss out his brother good naturedly. He and the other boys enjoyed a good laugh.

Tara noticed that when Tim talked about his siblings, whether it was his equally no good brother who couldn't stay out of trouble or his sassy young sister with a penchant for mischief, his eyes finally lit up with an emotion that wasn't anger. Now Tara understood when Sylvia would complain that Dallas never looked or even talked about her with the same spark in his eye that seemed to be reserved for his gang's pet, Johnny. Sylvia then admitted that when Dallas was in the cooler, she had tried to go after Johnny just to see what the fuss was about but one of Dally's friends chased her away. "Still didn't see it," shrugged Sylvia. "That boy's like a little puppy or something. I mean, I guess Dal just wants to protect him. But why doesn't he ever want to protect me?"

"Probably because you can take care of yourself?" suggested Tara at the time but Sylvia huffed.

"Well, just once I'd like to not have to do anything and have him come to the rescue. I get tired putting up a fight all the time, you know? Dal never treats me half as nice as he does his gang."

Tara didn't know the gang Dallas ran around with very much but she understood what Sylvia meant. Technically, they weren't a gang; just pals that stuck up for one another. Tim ran a real gang where all the hoods looked alike and followed the same invisible protocol. Dallas would never last in Tim's gang with all the rules and regulations which made Tara wonder why the two were friends in the first place. Tara was busy contemplating this when a hand was waved across her face, whooshing her back to reality.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked, trying to focus but all the boys just laughed at her.

"Your girl's not too good for conversation, is she?" jeered a blonde boy.

"Yeah but she's good for other things," said Tim and that set the boys off laughing again. Tara's face felt hot with embarrassment but when Tim's arm snaked around her waist, she calmed down. It was just a joke, she told herself but to her utter disappointment, the boys continued cracking more jabs at her while Tim said nothing and just laughed along.

She tried to convince herself that was just how boys were with their friends and this was just one of the things to be expected in a relationship but still, Tara wildly wondered why Tim didn't say anything like, "That's enough now" or "Leave Tara alone". He certainly had the power to. And he certainly saw how uncomfortable she was. Where was the sweet boy from earlier that day?

Action at the Ribbon was slow as Buck was throwing another bash at his place. Tim convinced Tara to go even though she was becoming a little bored of that place, to be honest. On the way there, they passed a grocery store with a motorcycle parked out front. Tara felt an odd sense of déjà vu come over her and smiled faintly as she remembered her motorcycle boy from a year ago. "John" or whatever his name was certainly wouldn't have let his buddies make fun of her and then have the nerve to try to slip his hand up her shirt later like nothing happened.

A lean but muscular young man walked out of the grocery store with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He jumped onto his bike and sped off into the streets and at a red light, he found himself next to a tuff looking Chevy with a hard looking greaser driving and a pretty blonde girl sitting in the passenger seat. The girl reminded him of a sweet blonde kid he met about a year ago.

He briefly wondered what that girl was up to now and if she was enjoying being a kid like he told her to.

You want to respect me

How long will that last

You want to protect me

I don't need it you jerk

I'm lookin' for action

I'm hungry and hot

You want to know why

That's easy why not

As always thanks to my beta dizzyizzy123 and please review because I love to know what you think and any suggestions are welcomed.