The next morning Soda had to skip his work shift to drive Natalie to the hospital. He didn't mind. Dallas showed up too, and Natalie weirdly didn't complain.

"Thank you so much for your help, it was a pleasure meeting you and your family," Natalie genuinely said to Soda as all of them stepped out of the car.

"What about me?"

"Thank you, Dallas, for kidnapping me," she gently patted his shoulder.

Soda grinned. "Dallas, could you get the suitcase inside?"

"Sure," he rolled his eyes without saying anything else.

"Hey Nat," Soda put his hands in his pockets and came closer. "We'll see each other again someday?"

"Surely, Soda," she smiled at him, "I must go now, I'll see you around."

She walked into the hospital while Dallas held the door for her. When she disappeared, Dallas slowly tilted his head, hinting to Soda to go and follow her.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" a nurse asked them while they were walking down the corridor.

"We're just going to see the same person as Natalie." Dallas brushed it off, trying to follow Natalie.

"And who are you seeing?" she suspiciously asked.

"James," Dallas remembered his name. "He was admitted here yesterday, he was in a terrible fight, poor thing."

"We are his cousins" Soda tried his best to lie whilst Dallas was holding his laughter.

"Okay, go on."

They both rushed to the door to listen. Luckily, the door wasn't fully closed, and they could peek inside.

"Hello, James," Natalie said as she sat on the bed, "They got you pretty well, I see."

"Natalie, thank God you're safe," the guy tried to sit down but failed, "These nasty Greasers didn't get you?"

"No."

"But I saw one of them get you in his car."

"Yeah, I just asked him to drive me to a hotel." Natalie sarcastically answered.

"If I could lift my hand to hit you right now, I would," he threatened her. Dallas looked at Soda, who started to clench his fists, they knew something wasn't right all along.

"James shut up."

"I maybe can't go after you to save you, but without me, you can't do shit, you can't succeed without me." he started to shout.

"You don't have to tell me all of it."

"If these Greasers touched you or stole anything, I'll send them to jail one by one for whatever sentence I want."

That was too much for both of them to hear. This time Dallas was seriously about to enter the room and start a quarrel, but Soda prevented it by closing the door as loudly as possible.

"Let's get out of here before we kill him," Soda said as he pushed Dallas away, "Tell me about that necklace you stole, maybe it's not too late to give it back."

"Too late," Dallas said, looking back, making sure that no one heard them.

"What do you mean?"

"I paid my rent this early morning." Dallas sighed.

"Are you serious?" Soda was about to hit him.

"Let's get out of here before we get caught."

A few days have passed without any news. The gang was at Curtis's house, Two-Bit was watching TV, Darrel was making dinner, Sodapop lay on the couch since it was finally his day off.

Steve came in after his work at the DX, holding an envelope in his hand.

"Sodapop, I have something for ya."

"Huh?" Soda tilted his head, "Don't tell me it's from our boss again."

Darry raised his eyebrow.

"It's from Natalie" Steve stretched the E.

Soda suddenly sat up straight. Dallas, smoking, saw that Soda was nervous.

"Ponyboy told me that you shared a bed," Dallas said to Soda, smiling evilly. "How was it?"

"How was what?" Soda rolled his eyes.

"The night, the sleeping, you know."

If he had been honest, he would've said that he could give anything to relive it once again.

"It was a cozy night, I guess."

"Awn, look at Soda man," Two-bit chuckled. "He's getting all red, ain't he."

"Shut it, Two-Bit."

"Yeah, how was the night," asked Steve. "Soda be messing with Soc's girls."

"That ain't new, but she's not a Soc."

"Whatever, man," said Steve. "What if I say she left you a little present."

"Now you are messing with me."

"Oh, look, he's worried," Two-bit continued.

"What kind of a present?" Dallas asked, intrigued.

"Here," Steve handed Soda the envelope. "She was at the DX this afternoon and wanted me to give it to you."

"Did she say anything else?" Soda asked, taking it from him.

"She said she'll be gone for two weeks. And also, that you shouldn't give it back."

Soda looked at it very nervously and then ripped it open.

"Read the note out loud," Steve laughed, "Or is it too private?"

"Alright, stop being so annoying," Soda replied, beginning to read.

"Dear Soda,

I'm sorry that I have made you skip your job on Saturday morning, therefore I'm sending you this kind present. Please do not try to return it by any means.

P.S. Tell Dallas I said hi."

Soda's mouth dropped.

"What?" Darrel came from the kitchen, worried.

"It's a check. There's like... half of my monthly salary in here," Soda said as he looked at it.

"We have to return that," Darrel said.

"She said do not return it. Twice." Dallas interrupted, "Plus, how are you going to find her out of town?"

"Maybe you can show me the way, Dallas," Darrel angrily replied.

It was the beginning of their arguments about Nat.

"Hey, stop it." Ponyboy tried to calm them down.

"Damn, are all of the Soc's girls like this?" Two-Bit laughed, "We're going after the wrong ones."

"Nah, she ain't a Soc," Dallas argued. "But none of you ever listen."

"So, tell us, Soda, how did you spend the night?" Steve jokingly asked.

"That's it, I'm leaving," Darrel said as he took his coat from the couch.

"Where to?" Soda asked.

"I'm going to see Amy," Darrel replied, referring to his girlfriend.

"I'm leaving too, let's go, Johnny," Ponyboy said, not wanting to listen to the details about Soda's night.

When they left, Dallas continued.

"You spent the night with her?" Dallas raised his eyebrow. Soda saw that he had tensed and didn't like what he was hearing at all.

"Yeah, but we just slept."

"You slept with a bank!" Two-Bit laughed, "That's an achievement!"

"Why didn't she send anything for me." Dallas joked with Two-Bit.

The following weeks have been the longest for Soda.

"Steve, how was she dressed?"

"Huh?" Steve asked him, as they said outside the gas station.

"Natalie."

"Natalie, who?"

"Come on," Sodapop playfully tapped his shoulder, "The rich one."

"Ah," Steve thought for a second, "Well, she was wearing something cute."

"What do you mean something cute?"

"I don't know how to describe that type of clothes; she had a dress on or something."

Soda sighed. How could he remember if he clearly didn't even care the way Soda did?

Evie came around with two girls behind her back. They surely came for Soda.

"Steve!" she yelled, running into his arms.

"Hey baby," she sat on his lap, "What are you up to?"

"We're going to the movies tonight, as you know, but we were wondering if Soda wanted to come too."

"Soda?" Steve asked him, smoking his cigarette.

He looked at him, then at Evie and her two friends standing and waiting for her: why not?

None of these girls interested him no more. He wanted the forbidden, he wanted the one that wasn't made for him. Maybe it was a sign that she was out of town, maybe he should've forgotten about her, they only met once, anyway.

Going to the movies that night was as usual, the greasers never walked by the principal door, only by climbing a fence. Soda hasn't ever questioned himself about his lifestyle, but because he wondered a lot about Natalie, he unconsciously hated himself for every dirty move that he made.

Soda's POV

"It's so cold." Evie's friend Kathy shivered, sitting next to me. Everyone knew this kind of trick, it was really nothing new, she just wanted my jacket and my attention.

I was about to take mine off and pass it to her until I saw who was coming; Cherry Valance, the red-haired girl Ponyboy talked to me about, and behind her was Natalie. She was truly beautiful, she wasn't wearing anything special, just a mid-long turquoise dress. She looked neat just like Cherry did, but Natalie was radiant and elegant, the way she walked through the rows of the chairs in the drive-in movie theater.

She suddenly looked at the people. I felt so weird, I began to feel the fire burning inside of me and my heart racing - one second later, her eyes finally met mine. Her eyes warmed up, and I felt that she was about to smile, but her eyes turned cold the moment she saw Kathy next to me, I knew it.

"Wow," Kathy muttered, "She's really beautiful."

I shouldn't say yes, I couldn't say no.

I felt awful for sitting there with two girls between me and her being there with a Soc's girl. She must've been single, she must've been here with a friend, and now what does she think about me?

"Do you want a Pepsi?" I asked Kathy, trying to forget about Natalie.

"A Pepsi? But I just said I'm cold."

"Yeah, get her a Pepsi, man." Dallas laughed as he sat next to her, "She ain't gonna freeze with me."

"What are you doing here?" I asked Ponyboy, who wasn't supposed to be here while we were taking girls out.

"We had nothing else to do." he shrugged.

"You're not supposed to be here." Steve rolled his eyes, annoyed as usual.

"Whatever, man." Dallas looked around until he saw a familiar head, "Damn Pony, there's Cherry Valance!"

"Come on, don't." my brother tried to stop him.

"Oh, I see, I see." Dallas grinned, looking at me, "Do you see what I see, Sodapop?"

"Dallas." I looked at him with disapproval.

"What? Shouldn't you at least go and thank her?"

By that time, everyone was looking at me. Kathy didn't like it when she heard 'her'; Ponyboy was very intrigued, and Steve didn't give a damn but still wanted to know what I was about to do next.

"Let's buy something to eat, Dallas," I said, hinting to go inside to talk to him.

"You know I can't just talk to her like that." I said to Dallas as we were heading to the main building, "She's sitting with a Soc."

"So? Who cares? I always talk to them." Dallas brushed it off, "You're just stressed."

I sighed. Was he right?

I was about to stand up and talk to Natalie, seated not too far away from us. She was chatting with Cherry when I saw a strange figure who walked through the seats. It was a man, probably my age or older. He looked unfamiliar and had long, greased blond hair, which made me think that he was one of ours. He was wearing all black, his leather jacket was shining while he walked like a star, hands in his pockets, sunglasses covering his eyes. He moved one of the chairs next to Natalie as I tensed - he was about to land next to her.

"Have you seen that guy before?" Soda asked Dallas, not taking his eyes off him.

"Nope."

The blonde guy started talking to Natalie. She recognized him and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Probably her brother or something."

"She doesn't have brothers," I said, remembering her words.

He intimidated me. He was smiling at her, and even Cherry started to laugh with him. Suddenly Natalie and the guy stood up and exited the cinema space.

"Oh Cherry, my redhead, it's been a long, long time," Dallas exclaimed as he was about to come to sit next to her.

"Don't even try to come closer." she started to heat up.

"Pony, would you want to join her?" I proposed, knowing that they were kind of friends. I told him to approach me. He leaned, and I whispered: "Ask her about Natalie."

Ponyboy nodded and went to sit beside her.

"We can't just wait here," Dallas whispered to Soda, intrigued, "Let's go after them."

"Fine." I gave up. I wanted to know.

We told the group that we went to get some drinks. To be fair, I told Kathy that I would give her my jacket as soon as I would be back so she wouldn't bother me anymore. She was fine with it.

As we exited, Dallas went straight to the parking lot, and I followed.

We hid behind a car.

We watched the blonde guy taking out a black envelope from his pocket and giving it to her. What's with all of these envelopes?

"You've been invited?" she exclaimed in shock. She came closer to him and took the envelope in her hands.

"Yes, haven't you too?"

"I don't know." she shrugged her shoulders, "James is in the hospital, I will go ask him if he received anything."

"Why is he in the hospital? What happened?"

"He was in a street fight." she brushed it off, returning the envelope, "I can't stand him."

"Me neither." the guy put the envelope back in his jacket. "But you gotta play your part."

Play her part?

"Call me when you get home, alright?" he caressed her shoulder. I tensed.

"Bye." She waved as he left.

"Go, it's now or never." Dallas whispered to me, "I'll go get some more information."

I took a few deep breaths and casually walked behind her until she noticed me. I saw the surprised look on her face.

"Soda, what are you doing here?"

Yes, what was I doing here?

"I forgot to check if I locked my car," phew, "You never know with all of them Soc's around."

"I'm not fully acknowledged on your terms," she laughed a little bit, "But it's nice to see you again."

"Natalie," I stopped walking, looking into her blue eyes, "I wanted to thank you for the check, you really didn't have to do that."

"I didn't want to get you in trouble," she smiled warmly, "I know that you work hard."

She continued walking.

"So, you have a date tonight."

My heart sank.

"No, it's not a date," I felt guilty, "It's a group thing. We often go out to the movies together."

"I see," she nodded, "She was looking at you with hungry eyes."

It made me feel uncomfortable. The girl that I wanted to know better told me about some random one.

"It's cold tonight." she shivered.

Did she want my jacket?

Was that some kind of reaction to the fact that I didn't say anything? Did she sense competition?

"Here, Nat." without questioning to who I'd give it (because the answer was obvious), I put my jacket on her shoulders.

"Thank you, Soda." she approached and walked side by side, our arms touching. "I know that I should probably go back to my friend, but I want to drink something."

"Come," I felt lucky, "Ponyboy and Dallas will keep her good company, they know each other."

"Alright, I'll drive."

I ditched a bullet. I didn't have that damn car.