*Authors Note – I'm finally publishing my second story! I have been stuck on the ending for this story so I'm hoping that by starting to publish it, it will encourage me to make up my mind and stick with how I want it to end.
As always I'd love any feedback on the story, writing style and characters that I created and own.
This story contains more mature content than the last one so please be aware of that going into it.
Sam's POV
"Pony if you make me late so help me god!" Soda yelled down the hall from the living room as I sat on the couch smirking.
"Would you calm down, I'm coming right now you won't be late, Princess!" Pony said with a grin as he appeared in the living room.
"What did you say to me smartass?" Soda said as he grabbed Pony in a headlock.
"Soda, get off me! Stop, we'll be late!" Pony laughed as he attempted to push Soda off him as Soda knuckled Pony on the head. I chuckled at the pair of them as Two-Bit stood in the kitchen doorway eating cake and shaking his head at them.
"Go to work, you're throwing off mine and Sam's groove." Two-Bit said as Soda released Pony and pushed him towards the door.
"Two-Bit you didn't have any groove to begin with." Soda joked as he headed out the front door and down the porch steps.
I got up and followed Pony out onto the porch and he turned to smile at me as I stood in the doorway.
"I'll see you tonight?" Pony confirmed and I smiled.
"I'll be here when you get back." Pony frowned at that.
"Please don't say that, the last time you said that my life went to shit. Please say something else before I leave." I grabbed Pony's face in my hands and gave him a quick kiss before replying.
"Fine, I won't be here when you get back." I teased and Pony wrapped me in a tight hug.
"Not good enough, try something better."
"I'll count down the seconds until I get to see you again." I said dramatically and giggled.
"Much better." Pony replied as he kissed me.
"LET'S GO PONE!" Soda shouted as he revved the engine on his newly purchased car and I frowned.
"Tell him to hurry and work on that car, I worry for your safety in that thing, both of yours safety."
"I'll tell him. See ya" Pony jumped from the porch and ran to throw himself into the passenger seat. As Soda tore down the street both their hands popped out the window in a wave and I waved back.
"What a piece of crap." Two-Bit stated from behind me and I turned to him.
"Tell me about it, surely it's bad for business to be driving around town in that when he and Steve run a garage?" Two-Bit shrugged and turned back inside and I followed him into the kitchen.
"So after you clean up breakfast what did you want to do today?" Two-Bit asked and narrowly dodged the tea towel I threw at his head.
"After we clean up breakfast how about we head over to the bowling alley? Maybe we can finally get to play that game you promised me?"
Two-Bit nodded as he gathered the dirty dishes and began filling the sink, "Sure, sounds good to me."
After cleaning the house Two-Bit and I headed off for the bowling alley, "I know you said Soda drives a piece of crap, Two-Bit, but I really don't think your car is much better."
Two-Bit look offended, "Hey old Betty is going just fine thank you very much!" At that moment we went over a pothole and the glovebox popped open, spilling condoms out onto the floor.
"Two-Bit!" I laughed as I held up a handful and looked at him.
"What? A guy always has to be prepared, Sam. You never know who you're going to run into." I started tossing the packages back into the glovebox and Two-Bit smirked at me, "Maybe you should pocket a couple of them, you know, just in case."
I smacked Two-Bit on the arm, "Don't be crude!"
"Don't be a prude." Two-Bit laughed in response as he attempted to dodge my hit, "Seriously though, Sam…um…ah shit…this is kind of awkward but…it wouldn't hurt to take a couple you know?" My mouth dropped open in shock and embarrassment.
"Two-Bit, please tell me you aren't trying to give me a sex talk."
"I'm not, geez!" Two-Bit shifted uncomfortably, "I just want to make sure you're thinking clearly and being careful when the time comes, that's all. You're my sister whether by blood or not so I'm going to look out for you whether it's awkward or not."
"That really means a lot Two-Bit but you don't have to worry about that, nothing is happening in that way."
"You can take as long as you need, Sam. You went through a traumatic event so if it takes a bit longer for you to be comfortable with physical things then that's okay, it's nothing to be ashamed of. And while Pony may be my best friend I'll pound him if he puts the pressure on you."
"Thanks but there's no need for that, I'm not the one with the problem. I may not be ready for sex yet but that doesn't mean I don't want to do…other things." I looked over at Two-Bit and noticed the grimace on his face, "I'm sorry Two-Bit, you don't want or need to hear this."
"No, no, it's okay, I can manage." But the grimace was still on his face and I laughed.
"Forget it, it's fine. But thank you for being there for me, you really are my best friend you know that right?" Two-Bit smiled as I leant over and kissed his cheek.
"The bestest best friend?" he asked and I laughed.
"The bestest best friend in the whole world."
XXXX
Pony's POV
I jumped out of Soda's car and gave a quick wave as I hurried in to work, maybe I shouldn't have taken so long saying goodbye to Sam. As I was on my way in the front door I smashed into a man hurrying out.
"Sorry." I said as I straightened up but he didn't take any notice of me and hurried on his way. I just shrugged and headed inside.
"Trying to take out the customers now, Pone?" joked Jerry as he worked on clearing the dirty dishes from a booth.
"Yeah I guess, I don't think he even realised I ran into him."
"I think he was on something, he came in and eyed the waitresses, asked me if any other girls worked here and then left when I tried getting more information out of him."
"That sounds suspicious to me." I frowned and turned back to look out the front window but he was gone, "Maybe you should mention something to Pete so he knows to keep an eye out."
"Shoot like he'll care." Jerry said as he shouldered the tray of dirty dishes and I followed him out the back.
"What's on the agenda for this weekend?" I asked Jerry as I clocked on and tied my apron.
"Well since you asked we have an entire weekend of fun filled activities available in our fine town! If you head over to the Nightly Double you can enjoy not two, not three but four movies for your viewing pleasure. If you fancy a good time then head to the bowling alley or the skate park, watch out for those pesky Socs though! Or maybe a drink is what you're looking for? If so then head over to the fine establishment of Buck Merril where you can quench your thirst, enjoy a game of pool or try winning some dough on the poker tables."
"Thanks for the run-down, we ought to sign you up for the radio." said Aaron as Jerry and I laughed.
"Seriously though, what are we doing this weekend? Summer's almost over I need to enjoy the last of my freedom."
"It's Tulsa, Ponyboy, there's limited options on freedom and excitement." Jerry stated and Aaron nodded his head in agreement.
"That's true, nothing interesting ever happens in this town." Aaron agreed and I turned back to the grill.
Nothing interesting? I felt like the past few years had been far too interesting for my liking, I didn't need anything grand and exciting but a bit of fun wouldn't go astray.
"So want to head to Buck's and we can start from there?" I asked.
"Sure I guess."
"Nothing else to do." They both agreed.
After work I confirmed our plans to meet Aaron and Jerry at Buck's on Saturday night and headed out ready to make the short walk to the DX. I stopped short when I saw Darry sitting in his truck in the carpark and rushed over.
"What's wrong? What's happened?" I asked hurriedly as I approached Darry through his open window.
"Hey to you too." He said in surprise at my question.
"Darry come on what's going on? Why are you here?"
"Does there need to be a reason for me to pick my baby brother up from work?" he asked curiously and I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"I can count on one hand the amount of times you've picked me up from work." I said as I lent on his window, "Come to think of it I can probably count on one hand the amount of times you've finished work this early. So just come clean, what's going on?"
"Nothing!" Darry sounded exasperated, "Would you just get in the car, or would you prefer to walk home?"
"Okay, okay I'm getting in." I said as I made my way around the front of the truck and climbed in, "But you can hardly blame me for asking right?" I clicked my seatbelt into place as Darry rolled his eyes at me and headed out.
"So how was work?" I asked as we drove.
"Dean tried to take a huge load of roofing up at once, overbalanced and ended up dropping it through the section of roofing we'd already done. The client was not at all impressed and since I'm now site manager it's my ass getting chewed out." I winced.
"That sucks, Dar. Guess there's downsides to being in charge too huh?" I asked and Darry smirked.
"There sure is. What about you, how was your day?" Darry asked and I shrugged.
"Same old, Jerry and I and made plans to meet up on Saturday night, trying to enjoy the last of summer while I can." Darry nodded and after a few minutes of silence I noticed something.
"Dar, are we driving anywhere in particular? Because this is not the way home." Darry sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Okay so maybe I did have an ulterior motive for picking you up today."
"I knew it!" I laughed, "You are so obvious. So go on, what's this all about?"
"How serious are you and Sam getting?" Darry asked outright and I was taken aback.
"We're taking it slow, after everything she went through I'm really not going to rush her into anything she's not ready for, and we're happy with how things are now."
"For now you are, but eventually you're going to want to go further physically. Look, this isn't a sex talk or anything, we've covered that before but I want to make sure that when the time does come, and it will come Pony, stop sniggering that was a bad choice of words, I want to make sure that you're 100% sure it's what you both want and that you're both ready."
I composed myself, "I care about Sam. A lot. A real lot actually so I'll be content with whatever she wants to do. Do I think about taking things further? Of course I do I'm seventeen, it'd be strange if I didn't. But I really am happy with the way things are now. I don't want to mess anything up by putting my needs first."
"Pone," Darry began gently, "Don't take this the wrong way but with everything you just said I heard a lot of 'I' statements. Have the two of you talked about this stuff together?"
That stopped me short. I replayed everything I'd just said in my head and realised Darry was right, I'd thought I had Sam's best interests at heart but was I just doing what I thought she needed? Was I choosing for her what I thought was best without actually having the discussion with her?
"I guess I never really stopped to think she might want anything more. Maybe I was trying to protect her by thinking I knew what was best."
"It's not a bad thing to have her best interests at heart. But if you talk and decide you do want to…experiment further I want you to be prepared."
Darry stopped the car and I noticed we were in front of the local drugstore. I turned to him a little disbelievingly.
"You actually want me to go in and buy condoms? Doesn't that seem a bit like encouragement?" I teased.
Darry ran his hands over his face, "This is by no means encouragement, Pone. But I would sleep a lot better at night if I knew you had them just in case. It's easy to get caught up in the moment and I don't want anything happening if you don't have anything at hand."
"Okay." I said as I climbed out of the truck, "Um, I'll be back." I stated awkwardly as I headed into the store.
Had I left work and stepped into a parallel universe? In no way did I think this day would end with Darry driving me to buy condoms yet here I was. When I climbed back into the truck Darry cleared his throat but neither of us said anything or looked at the other as he headed for home.
"Thanks, Darry. I know that wasn't easy but it really was cool of you to do for me. I'm glad to know that you'll always be there to have my back." I smiled at him and he looked at me and smiled back.
"You're welcome. I'll always have your back. Unless you get Sam pregnant then I may kill you." I laughed with Darry as we pulled into the drive, "Come on, let's go in and see what we can create for dinner, maybe we can outdo Soda for once in the creativity department."
XXXX
Sam's POV
After dinner Pony and I were curled up on my bed talking while Darry, Soda and Two-Bit were in the living room.
"Sooo, I have something I need to talk to you about." Pony started and I sat up with a frown.
"Uh oh, that sounds serious."
"Kind of, look this is a bit awkward so I'll just come out and say it. Do you want to have sex?"
"What?!" I laughed in disbelief, "Why would you…what made you…what?!" I tried to form a coherent thought as Pony leant up on one elbow facing me.
"After work Darry picked me up and we talked. He wanted to make sure that when the time came we would be ready so he took me to buy condoms-"
"He what?!" I asked in shock but Pony held up a hand.
"Let me finish. I told him that we were taking things slow but then he made me realise that I was only doing what I thought was best for you. I hadn't actually talked to you about what you wanted. I know you may not be ready for anything and that's fine with me, really it is, but I don't want to take the decision away from you by just assuming, I want to know what your thoughts are on the topic so we can reach a decision together."
My heart about melted at Pony's little speech and I lay my hand on his cheek, "Pony I've never thought for one second that you were making the decision for us. I'll admit that I'm not ready to have sex, that's a huge step and I'm not there yet but that doesn't mean…" I stopped and dropped my hand to my lap as my cheeks reddened, this was embarrassing to talk about.
"Doesn't mean what?" Pony prompted as he reached out and held my hand, "talk to me, I won't laugh at anything you say."
I took a deep breath and looked at Pony, "It doesn't mean I'm not ready to maybe do other things. We've really only kissed and there's a lot of other things we could do without jumping straight into sex."
Pony smiled and grabbed my face, pulling me close and placing a tender kiss on my lips, "I think that's a great idea. We can get more comfortable with each other and experience new things together before taking that final step." He leant forward to kiss me again but I pushed him back slightly.
"So Darry really took you to buy condoms?" Pony chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.
"Yep." I climbed off the bed and opened my top drawer grabbing what I wanted and joining Pony on the bed again.
"Something must have been in the air today because Two-Bit gave me these." I opened my fist and revealed three packages. Pony's eyes widened.
"Two-Bit gave you those?"
"Well he was talking about me being ready and prepared-"
"Two-Bit gave you a sex talk?!" Pony interrupted loudly and I slammed my hand over his mouth.
"No! It was nothing like that! They spilled from his glovebox and he said I should take a couple to make sure we were prepared." Pony looked dubiously at the items in my hand.
"Don't take this the wrong way but I don't think I could have sex with Two-Bit's condoms, it'd feel like he was right there." I fell back laughing as he continued to look uncomfortable.
"Well I don't think I could have sex with the condoms your brother made you buy!" I responded and Pony laughed with me.
"Maybe that was their plan all along; make us so uncomfortable that we never even entertain the idea."
"Maybe. How about when we decide the time is right, we can buy our own together." I asked and Pony smiled.
"I like that idea." We lay back down and he wrapped an arm around me as I lay my head on his chest.
"I'm glad we had this talk though, at least now we're both on the same page."
Pony tightened his arm around me and kissed my forehead, "Me too, babe."