Ponyboy's POV

Tim Sheppard walked inside the library. Would any greaser have ever pictured Big Bad Tim Sheppard visiting the library? Absolutely not. Well, when I started working here, I realized he did visit the library. Often. He'd pick a book and read. Every now and then he'd check something out. A lot of the time, though, he'd sit and read and then be on his way. I wondered how I never noticed him in all the years I came here to read. I guess I was deep into whatever book I had, I didn't notice anything going on around me. Honestly, I felt dumb not realizing he must read a lot. He may be tough, rough, and mean, but he was smart. Very smart. It all made sense. I remember the first day I checked a book out for him. I told him I wouldn't tell anyone he came here, with a shaky voice. Then he looked at me like I was an idiot. He didn't care if anyone knew. He had a lot of knowledge to throw at people. Why did he care what anyone thought?

"Hey, kid," Tim greeted me at the desk.

"Hey, Tim. How's it going?"

"Fine. How are things at home?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I didn't want to talk about it. I knew he was asking about me and Darry handling Soda being gone anyway. Not about Steve. "They're okay. How about you?"

Tim shrugged. "Curly's locked up again."

I rolled my eyes. Curly used to go to the juvenile detention center a lot. It was always for dumb things too. Not the crazy stuff that Dallas or Steve would do. Curly was the type to do things that got him in time-out type trouble, but they were truly pathetic to brag about. It drove Tim up the wall. I always figured Curly did it just to mess with the police. Just to drive them nuts. Apparently Curly tested out his luck. He was still seventeen and could still be going to the detention center. The fuzz had enough of him, though. Now his stupid, little antics landed him in jail. I didn't feel bad for him.

"Do I even want to know?" I asked.

"He went into a gas station, opened up a bag of chips, and started eating them. They asked for him to pay for them, and he refused. He only ate like half the bag before putting it back on the shelf and waltzing out like it was nothing. He's such a dumbass."

I smirked. "He needs to learn from Two-Bit how to properly steal."

Tim glanced down. "He needs Dally to smack him around and knock some sense into him."

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. Just to make sure no tears made their way to the surface. "So, what are you looking for today?"

"I'm just going to browse a bit. I'll let you know if I need anything."

"Sounds good."

As Tim walked away, I turned around and started shuffling through the books that needed to be re-shelved. I went as quickly as I could, attempting to erase the Dallas comment.

Dally.

God, if only he were here to knock sense into Steve.

Two-Bit's POV

No wonder my friends call me crazy. Here I am driving all over Tulsa in search of my friend. Shit, Darry and Ponyboy weren't sure what else to do. Darry wanted us to just wait and give Steve time. Well, to hell with that. His time can be with us. I didn't give a shit if he locked himself in a bedroom for weeks. At least he'd be with us, ready to help him once he came out.

I drove one way and then the other way. Then another way I hadn't gone yet. Then a couple other long streets of Tulsa. Nothing was popping up. I don't think I was trying that hard to look for his car, though. Deep down, I knew Steve wasn't within city limits. He was long gone from Tulsa. Well, I guess I didn't know how gone from Tulsa he was. Maybe I could leave Tulsa. I could go all different directions for a day and see if I find Steve's car. Maybe.

I ended up driving back to the Curtis house. It was only Darry home by then, which was perfect to me. I know Ponyboy is seventeen, certainly old enough to be a part of these types of conversations now, but I still can't help but picture him as a little kid. Sometimes it was easier for me to talk to only Darry. Pony was meant to have a more innocent, pure life than the rest of us. Not that everyone dying around him was helping that.

"Hey," I greeted as I walked inside. Darry was sitting on the couch, not even his armchair. He was staring at whatever was on TV, but he sure looked bored out of his mind.

"Hey, Two-Bit. Were you out searching?"

I let out a small laugh. "You know me."

"You did try to go to Texas to find Ponyboy and Johnny."

"Well, this time's a little trickier since I have no idea where Steve went."

"Dally lied to you about where Pony and Johnny were anyway. You still would have gone the wrong way."

I shrugged. He was right about that. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to relax by sitting here, on a day off, but I can't."

"You feel like cleaning, don't you?"

Darry sighed, looking around. "Not much to ever clean anymore."

I looked down sheepishly, grabbing the newspaper from the coffee table and tossing it to the ground. "I could make it a mess in here if that would make you feel better."

Darry smirked. "I don't know if I'm that desperate." Darry got up, walked over, and turned the TV off. "It's Steve too."

I looked back up. "That's keeping you from relaxing?"

"Yeah."

I shuffled in my steps. God, is this how Soda always felt? Being unable to sit still and always needing to do something? I had my moments of wanting to do something, but I could also be lazy too. "Darry?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't...not do anything about this. I..."

"Two-Bit, it's hard for me too. I hate sitting here, not knowing where Steve is. I want to drag him back too. But us forcing him back isn't going to help. He'll just leave again."

"I-I know." I dug my shoe into the ground. Fuck. "Do you...honestly think he'll come back? Do you really believe that?" God, please let him tell me he believes that. Let Darry be confident. Let Darry be right.

Our fearless gang leader walked to the window and peered outside. "I hope so, Two-Bit. I know Steve can be stubborn. Very stubborn. So, I expect it to take a few days, maybe weeks, but I have a feeling he'll come back. He will. He has to."

Ponyboy's POV

"This is it."

I looked up, Tim breaking me out of my reading. I placed my book down and grabbed the two he was checking out. Both were about motorcycles. He had been checking out motorcycle books for the past few weeks.

"Are you planning on buying a motorcycle?" I asked.

Tim nodded. "I did last week. I was going to have Randle help me fix it up, but after what happened to your brother, I figure I might have to try and do it myself. Just until some time passes. I can at least do some basic stuff, and then he can help me with the more complicated things."

Before I took out the check-out cards in the books, I groaned under my breath. Wow. Steve was messing things up for Tim too. Just like he was messing things up for all of us. He really has no idea what he caused. And there he is, wherever the fuck that is, living his new life. Not caring about any of us. Not giving a shit. Fuck him.

"Might be a lot of time passing before Steve helps you," I commented.

Tim shrugged. "I know. I understand. It took me awhile to get back out into the world after Dally-"

"No," I interrupted. "I mean, Steve is gone."

Tim's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Steve got all of this stuff and left."

"Left to where?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." I took Tim's library card and got the check-out cards ready.. "He couldn't handle things I guess." I scoffed. "As if Darry and I can handle this. As if things are just fine for us. Don't see us packing up and leaving town. Deserting everybody and everything."

"He didn't say at all where he was going?"

I shook my head.

"Are you all gonna try to go find him?"

"We don't know where to start. Darry said we can't help him if he doesn't want help anyway, so we should just leave him alone and wait until he comes back."

Tim shook his head, looking awfully concerned. "He's in trouble."

I tapped the desk impatiently. I didn't want to care, but Tim's tone and expression was saying I should. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, look what happened to Dally after he hit his breaking point."