That same night, Soda took Ponyboy home with him as he and Darrel were desperate to discipline him as much as possible. Darrel thanked Soda for getting back before midnight, but he knew Soda wasn't just doing it for him, he was doing it for himself - Soda had to work in the morning.

"Pony," Soda called him that night. They were both ready to rest.

"Yes?" he murmured, lying half asleep on his side of the bed.

"What did Cherry tell you?" Soda tossed around, waiting for his brother to give him a full report on what Cherry had told him. He needed to know.

"Some stuff about her life," Ponyboy whispered, falling asleep.

"No, I meant about Natalie." Soda shook his head. Pony couldn't see it.

"Can I tell you tomorrow?" his younger brother murmured in his sleep.

"I need to know now," Soda insisted.

"Well, Cherry didn't say anything," Ponyboy began his story, "but Dallas got to talk to him, his name's Louis."

"The blonde one?"

"Yeah. Louis is Natalie's co-worker; they're old friends and that's all he told me." Ponyboy said with his eyes closed.

"Dallas knows all this?" Soda wasn't keen on Dallas knowing as much information as he did. Why? Soda hadn't found out himself. He knew something was wrong with him, but decided to save it for later.

"Louis is a fun guy." Pony added. "Dally likes him."

"How so?" Soda raised an eyebrow.

"He gets to spend time with him, just like you did with Natalie," Ponyboy said, not knowing it was comforting his brother. Soda thought briefly about Natalie, but decided to leave it for the night.

"Right, I'll let you sleep," Soda whispered, laying down. He didn't want his brother to think anything of them yet.

He waited for his brother to fall asleep and left the room. He was surprised to see Dallas sitting in the armchair by the phone, waiting for someone. Soda entered the living room, trying not to make any noise. He was tired too.

"Thank God you're not asleep," Dallas said, looking for something in his jeans jacket.

"Shhh," Darrel shushed them from the kitchen, "Pony's asleep."

"What do you want?" Soda asked Dally, shivering a little. His eyes almost closed by themselves.

Dallas finally found the piece of paper he had been looking for. It was a long list of phone numbers written by hand.

"Get me some paper and a pen," Dallas instructed.

"What for?"

"Just go."

Soda quickly went back to Pony's room and took a random notebook he saw.

"Thank you." Dallas thanked him and brought the handle of the phone closer to his ear, "Ay, Darrel, I'm about to make a call."

"Right, be quick." Darry agreed.

Soda came closer and analysed the phone numbers. Nothing special, just a bunch of them. He put a pencil on top of them, which he found lying on the carpet. The usual mess.

Dallas, holding the phone with his shoulder, picked up another piece of paper, a smaller one, with just one number. He quickly saw that it was one of the numbers on the long list.

"You see this, Soda." Dallas said, "That's Louis' number."

"Why is it written on two different pieces of paper?"

"One is from Louis, he gave me his number, and the other is a list I borrowed from Natalie."

Soda's eyes suddenly widened, "You stole it from her?!"

"Sort of." Dallas shrugged, "Do you think the first one is her home number?"

"Even if it is, you're not going to call her parents at midnight." Soda rolled his eyes, "Be reasonable, they're not hood."

"I ain't gon call 'em, you think I'm stupid or somethin'?" Dallas snapped at him, but tried to lower his voice, "Louis told me to call him."

"Tell me about him," Soda asked as he sat on the couch and rubbed his eyes.

"He made me an offer," Dallas explained, playing with the pencil. "He asked me if I needed a job."

"Hum." Soda sat back, "A job?"

"Yeah." Dallas replied, "I need to know what he's offering."

"Why would you trust a guy you met two hours ago?" Soda asked, "Is he a hood or some kind of Soc?"

"I don't even know." Dallas sighed, "Did Natalie tell you anything about him?"

"Hardly anything."

"They don't talk much huh." Dallas pointed out, "I want to know what they're hiding. They won't play games here in Tulsa."

Dallas dialled the number. He wasn't sure if Louis would even answer, he didn't live here, what kind of number was it?

Soda sighed loudly. It was too late at night for him to think about such things. Now that Soda was in his twenties, he understood Darrel better, he knew he had to grow up to be more responsible, but it took all his energy. How could Dallas not yawn?

"He ain't answering," Dallas concluded, but then the phone rang.

"Hello?" Dallas tried to act cool.

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Dallas."

"Ah. What is it?"

"I wanted to see if we could meet tomorrow for the job offer," Dallas grinned at Sodapop.

"Yeah, I can't tomorrow. I'm already booked."

"Oh, what's up?"

"An event, nothing special."

"Where are you staying here in Tulsa? Could I come and have a chat with you?"

"I'll give you my address," Dallas wrote as quickly as he could in the notebook Soda had brought him.

When Dallas was finally done with the conversation, he exclaimed, "Man, we gotta go after them."

"Who?" Soda was already half asleep, hugging a pillow he had found on the couch.

"Louis and Natalie. You know the black envelope they had, that's the event."

"Dallas." Soda sighed, "I've got work tomorrow. You know damn well I..."

Soda stopped talking. It was his chance to find out more about Natalie.

"Fine, I'll come. What time?"

"I'll pick you up." Dallas said as he got up, "Say good night to Darry."

Dallas left Curtis's house with a heavy heart. He wasn't sure about anything in his life anymore, but in his twenties he started to understand that he couldn't go on without a stable job and that this guy Louis was an angel, a chance for Dally. It was a sign.

He thought of Natalie. Once, twice, again and again. He tried to remember every time he saw her - what she was wearing, how she looked, the expression on her face. And her expression was fierce, confident. So was Louis'.

Dallas drove to the place Louis had dictated, just to see what it looked like. To his surprise, it wasn't anything fancy - it was a hotel. Old building, noisy people and a few bars here and there. An unflattering view.

Dallas went to see Tim Shepard that same night. He knew he was the one to go to if he needed to find out about someone.

"No photo, no answer." he clearly said, "I ain't got time for it."

"He's blond."

"You've already told me twice."

"And the girl? Natalie, blonde too. Lives on the West Side."

"Dallas, it's 1 am I ain't got no time." he cut him off, "Bring me a photo and I'll tell you if I know something."

The next morning Soda wasn't feeling well. As he tried to clean the counter with a damp cloth, he thought about seeing Natalie again after the kiss. His night went well though, he thought about her all the time.

And even in the evening he couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Hey," Dallas greeted Steve and Soda as he entered the DX, "Ready to go?"

"Go where?" Steve asked. He'd been annoyed with Soda lately. Since he was his best friend, he confessed in the morning to Soda that his girlfriend was vexed by their behavior at the movies. Basically, Soda ditched Kathy and it wasn't the plan. Soda had to explain that Kathy wasn't his type.

"I have something to do. Can you cover for me?"

"Just get out."

Soda quickly threw the cloth on the floor and ran off to catch Dallas. He had a brand new car, jet black.

"I borrowed it." Dallas winked. Fuck.

"Dallas-" Soda rolled his eyes. Borrowed meant stolen to Dallas.

"Just get inside" he threw his cig on the ground and stepped on it with his shoe.

They drove to the main road where the hotel was. Dallas parked the car a few bars away, just to be on the safe side.

"Are we going to sit here forever?"

"No, he'll show up eventually," Dallas said, peering through the windows.

Louis arrived 15 minutes later. He was wearing a black suit, but even though it looked like the most basic of outfits, he still attracted all the attention on the street. He walked the way no one walked, with confidence, his hair pulled back in a small ponytail. Nothing else. Oh, and the shoes. Black leather, shiny shoes.

A car was waiting for him.

Dallas followed the car until it arrived at a stunning two-storey restaurant by the forest. It wasn't full yet, Dallas tried to count the people who were already seated through the huge window.

They parked the car in the woods. It would have been too risky otherwise.

"Looks more complicated than I thought." Dallas put his hands on his hips, trying to figure out what to do next.

Suddenly, a reckless thought of a teenage Soda came back to him: "Hey, what if we climb that tree?"

It was a huge oak tree that really made the restaurant stand out. It was covered in leaves that could have made them invisible.

"Soda, you're getting good at this!" Dallas smiled wickedly as he counted the proportions in his head.

"We've got to be quick," Soda said, remembering that Natalie could have arrived at any second.

"Impossible," Dallas said as Louis got out of the car and spoke briefly to the driver. Then he finally looked around, analysing the place, and started towards the woods.

"Watch out!" Soda whispered, grabbing Dally's hair and pulling him to lower his head behind the bushes.

"I can't see a thing," Dallas muttered, pushing Soda aside to make more room.

Another car arrived, this time Natalie's. She was wearing a long, dark dress with some kind of little sparkles on it that even Dallas and Soda could see from a long way off. She lifted the dress gently so she could walk, and everything else about her seemed the same, the same straightened blonde hair, the same cold but powerful look she gave strangers (except Soda).

Soda's warm expression faded as he saw another familiar figure appear - James, the guy they had fought at the DX. He looked terribly good. Unfairly.

He was dressed less elegantly - a white shirt and beige trousers - but he seemed to be the one in charge, just as Natalie said - he was her boss.

He accompanied Natalie and offered her his arm, but she politely declined. They both went to greet Louis who was waiting for them near the entrance, chatting to the staff.

"Let's go," Dallas said as he pushed Soda out of the bushes, "quick!"

They both ran to the tree as the staff went inside with the guests. Dallas tried to climb the tree without help, but he wasn't very good at it, so Soda quickly helped him by offering to step on his hands while he was kneeling. When he was up, he helped Soda. They climbed as high as they could.

"Fuck." Dallas said as he held on to a branch, "We've got to hang on."

Dallas' POV

It was a long ass dinner. The action didn't start for another 30 minutes.

How lucky were we? Very.

The table was right next to the huge window and I saw everything. Soda couldn't, because he didn't want to hold on to a brunch with his hands and feet to get a better view like me.

Natalie sat next to Louis. Interesting position. James was in front of her and another man, an older one. Then a lot of other unknown people came to talk to them, it was clear that it had something to do with them, it looked like they were discussing offers. Natalie didn't get to say much, and neither did Louis. It was more James; he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Sometimes they moved around the restaurant and I couldn't see much. But when James, Louis and Natalie were finally alone at their table, it looked as if James was complaining to them, as Louis dramatically covered his ears with his hands. Natalie got up sternly and left.

"OK, Soda, it's time." I motioned for him to get back on the floor, "Natalie's probably on her way to the bathroom."

Soda tried to stay calm as he jumped, but I decided to do it as quickly as possible and found myself hitting the ground.

"Dallas!" Soda rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm fine." That fucking hurt.

We ran to the back of the building, bingo - another window. It was very tiny, as the toilet was on the ground floor. It opened.

"Lie down!" Soda playfully shoved me to the floor.

"Fuck you!" I cursed as I landed on my stomach.

We weren't exactly in front of the window, otherwise we'd easily be caught snooping in a lady's loo.

We heard the door squeak and the sound of heels hitting the floor. It was Natalie.

"You know this is complete bullshit!" she said aloud.

Apparently someone else did too.

"Nat."

It was Louis.

"I know he's the worst, but you have to hang on if you want it to happen."

I motioned for Soda to come closer and have a look.

"But he won't cover me for my parents when we travel. He doesn't trust you. He doesn't want us to work together."

Natalie said as she spoke to Louis.

"Of course he will cover you," he said trying to reassure her, "we have the best contract with him. We will bring him his money."

"Yes, but he has turned down all offers for us. He is crazy."

"That's just because he wants to aim high." Louis elaborated, "Look, you've wanted this all your life. Your parents are against it, yes. They don't know anything, and you're going to keep it that way for as long as you can. And then you'll show them how responsible and independent you are, and that you'll earn your own money. You'll have a great future and you'll start a family and so on and so on.

Louis brushed off the last part of his speech.

"Fine," Natalie crossed her arms. "But I don't want to go back there. He pissed me off too much."

"Take your time," Louis said as he walked away without adding anything.

Natalie finally turned the other way without looking at the window. She stared at the floor with a dull expression on her face.

"Let's scare her," I whispered to Soda.

When I looked at him, I saw the way he was watching her. He had big eyes. I knew how Soda was with girls, but it was the first time I had seen him like that. Something had definitely happened last night.

"No," Soda hissed, "we're not supposed to be here."

I didn't care what he said. I banged on the window as hard as I could and called out to her.

"Shit!" she exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?"