sorry, it took longer than expected to get this chapter posted, but here it is. Read and Review!

Warnings: language, mentions of bullying, hints of (and maybe someven minor) verbal abuse

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Sorry to disappoint you, but it's true.

It was seven PM and Sodapop Curtis tapped his foot on the porch outside of the Brown household as he rang the doorbell.

A man answered the door and if possible, he only made Soda more nervous. Tall and muscular, the guy looked like a pro wrestler in a nice suit. He had a buzz cut and his dark glinting eyes were narrowed at the boy holding a flower standing on his doorstep.

"Um... hello," Soda choked out. "Is, um, Aimee Brown home?"

Great, Soda, he chided himself, way to sound confident!

"Who wants to know?" The man growled.

"My name's Sodapop Curtis," the blonde mumbled, his face tinged pink.

The man stood there in disbelief. "Yeah, right! And my name's coffee! Get off my doorstep!" He got ready to shut the door when a pale, delicate hand grabbed hold of it before it could clang shut."

"Daddy, this is Soda. We have a date tonight. Remember, I told you after school today?"

"Right! I forgot. Well, have fun, Amelia."

"It's Aim-" the loud BANG! of the door slamming shut cut her off, but she didn't seem to bother. Turning back to Soda, she smiled at the now seething boy. "Don't worry, Sodapop, I'm used to it."

"Well, you shouldn't be," he snarled. The shorter girl placed a hand on his chest to restrain him from racing in there and giving Mr. Brown a piece of his mind.

"Calm down, Sodapop. Let's just go ahead."

He stayed stock still for another moment before relaxing and leading her to a truck. "Sorry, I don't have a car, so I'm borrowing my brother Darry's truck."

"It's perfect. Honestly, I prefer trucks and buses and cabs over Mustangs and Corvairs."

He looked at her in shock. "Why?"

"Well, Mustangs and Corvairs are so flashy and I like to blend into the background."

Soda seemed doubtful, but eventually, he just shrugged. "Well, okay."

He helped her into the passenger seat before rounding the car, climbing in, and staring the engine. Just before he drove off, he took a moment to study her.

Aimee was dressed in a blue and lavender tye dyed dress decorated with deep purple flowers and it reached her knees. Her pale skin was just slightly lighter than her sister's (probably because she didn't seem to go outside too much) and her dark hair reached just past her shoulders and was pulled over them with a cute curl at the end. When Soda had first met her, he'd thought how much Aimee had looked like Marcia, but he didn't peg them as twins because Aimee seemed to do everything she could to not look like her sister: not getting a tan, or wearing make up, wearing her hair longer, things like that. She wore white sandals and the only pieces of jewelry was a ring on her finger and a locket around her neck.

When she noticed him staring at her, she curled her hair around her finger and wouldn't meet his eyes as she mumbled, "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," Soda blushed when he was caught staring but quickly regained his composure. "Just admiring how pretty you look."

A light pink rose in her cheeks. "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

Soda didn't think so. He was dressed in an old suit of Steve's that he'd worn to a school dance last month. It wasn't exactly horrible but it was a little wrinkled and the dress shoes were slightly scuffed. The blonde had decided to not wear hair grease tonight and let his light hair fall loose. That was when he realized that he was still holding the pretty pink and white corsage that he'd bought for her.

"Oh, um, I got this for you," he said, handing her the object and watching as she smiled and pinned it to her dress.

"It's lovely," she laughed. "Thank you."

He began to drive, trying not to focus on how sweaty he was or how much his hands were shaking.

Come on, Soda, he thought. Keep it together! You've never been this nervous around a girl before!

"Hey, Soda?" Aimee said. "Did you talk to your brother?"

Soda felt guilt bubbling in his stomach. "Yeah, he told me everything. Said he didn't tell me because he didn't think it matter."

For a moment, they sat in silence as Soda flashed back to the conversation he'd had with his fifteen-going-on-sixteen brother.

*FLASHBACK*

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis, get your ass in here, now!" The blonde boy in the next room jumped at the shout and scurried into see his older brother, positively fuming. Soda never cursed; he never shouted; he never used Ponyboy's full name. Ever. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Pony wondered. What could be bad enough that Soda would get this worked up about it?

Soda sighed. "Come on. Let's sit down." The blonde seated himself on the worn coach and patted the spot next to him. Perplexed, the younger sat beside him and waited for Soda to say something.

"So, I was in the DX today, covering from Steve when a girl walks in. A girl from your school named Aimee Brown. While I get scan her items, we start talking and she mentioned a prank that her twin, Marcia, pulled on a kid recently." Ponyboy had no idea where this was going. "I told her that I was suprised that my brother didn't tell me about that and she asked me your name. I told her and she said that you were the one that got pranked. God, Pony, why didn't you tell me?"

Meanwhile, Ponyboy was tapping his foot anxiously. Soda, Darry, or any of the gang for that matter was supposed to find out! "It happens all the time, Sodapop. It doesn't matter."

"What? Of course, it does! How often does this happen?"

Pony hesitated. He didn't want anyone to find out, but he wasn't getting out of this one. And he knew it. "Few times a week."

Soda didn't say another word. He engulfed his baby brother in a hug and cried. One little prank: sure, he'd be upset but he'd get over it. But this wasn't just one little prank; this was bullying!

The screen door creaked open and heavy footsteps alerted them of Darry's presence. The grocery bags he was carrying crashed to the floor when he saw the display before him.

"Oh, God, what happened?" He hadn't seen Soda cry in two years.

As if on a cue, the rest of the gang except for Steve strolled in and stood in shock.

Dally broke the sudden silence. "Alright, who do we have to kill?"

*FLASHBACK OVER*

Sodapop was shaken out of the memory as he pulled into the restaurant, one of the best in town, and helped Aimee out of the car. Remembering what had happened made him more determined to say thank you after she had helped his brother.

After all this little 'date' was just to say thank you...

Wasn't it?