BACK AND FORTH (𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘺)

nine

"You're lucky the boss man ain't here yet, or you'd be in big trouble." Soda said as Steve rushed inside the DX. "Where were you anyhow?"

"Your brother was late showing up to my car. I didn't wanna leave him at school for him to walk home by himself." He sighed.

  "Was he okay?" Soda asked, obviously worried.

  "Yeah, his teacher asked him to stay after for a little bit."

  "Oh. Well thanks for staying and waiting for him. We don't need him getting beat up by the Socs or anything. The social services are still all over me and Darry."

Steve bit his lip. "Soda, I promise that I'll always do whatever I can to protect him. If I'm with him, he ain't gonna get hurt." He laughed and put his hat on. "God I sound like some kinda sissy. I've been hanging around the kid too much."

  "Pony ain't girly," Soda snapped. "He just feels things differently."

  "And he's incredibly smart." Steve nodded. "Makes him sound more emotional."

  Soda frowned, confused. "Yeah..well thanks. You know for what you said about protecting him. He's a good fighter, but it's tough for anybody to hold off a group of four or five, especially if some of them got a blade."

  "Come on, let's get to work."

-

The work day had ended and Steve had just pulled into the Curtis driveway to drop off Soda. "You coming in?" Sodapop asked.

  "Nah, not tonight. I'm just gonna get home." He hesitated a bit before speaking again. "Hey, can tell Pony that I said good night?"

  "Uh, sure I guess. See ya later Stevie." Soda hopped out of the truck and waved.

  Steve waved back and sighed. He hoped that Pony would be able to sneak out. How long was he supposed to wait on him? He couldn't stay parked in the same spot for forever, that would definitely get the cops called. He shook his head and pulled out of the driveway, and backed down the street until he was just out of sight from their house. "Okay Pony.." he mumbled. "I'm waiting."

  He figured that he would give Ponyboy one hour, and if he didn't show up by then, then he would just have to go home. He kicked his feet up on the dash and turned the radio on, trying to kill time. He kept a sharp look out, until finally he could see the silhouette of a boy swiftly walking towards him.

Steve got out of the car quickly and walked the rest of the way to greet him. "Hey Pone. I wasn't sure if you were gonna make it."

  "It was a struggle. Soda took forever to finally fall asleep, and Darry was a little bit suspicious as to why I was going to bed so early. But I don't think he'll think much of it."

"Well I'm glad that you were able to sneak out. I've felt sorta awkward since last night..I just wanna make you more comfortable around me."

Pony tapped his hands on the front of his pants. "Then lets go. I brought money, so if you can drive I'll pay. I wanna go get some ice creams and then go to the park."

"I can pay." Steve said as they both got into the car.

"But you ain't going to. I want you to at least get one sort of birthday present."

The older greaser sighed, but nodded. "Okay Ponyboy. To the sonic we go!" He teased and bumped Pony's shoulder. Ponyboy laughed lightly and looked out the window as they began driving. Steve could just barely make out the slightest blush on his pale cheeks, which caused him to laugh. "Your ears red too, Ponyboy?"

Pony shook his head quickly and hid his face. "No." He said sternly, refusing to look up again.

"Awe Pone," He said as they pulled into the sonic. "I was just teasing ya."

"Yeah yeah." Pony grumbled and pulled out a five dollar bill. "I'll take a vanilla shake and you can have whatever you want."

Steve slowly took the money, and even when it was in his hand, he had a hard time allowing himself to use it. He didn't like taking stuff that other people gave him. "Thank you.." He said quietly and cleared his throat. "Really uh, it means a lot that you still wanna do something for my birthday even though I insisted you didn't have to."

Pony let a small smile appear on his lips. "Everyone deserves one day dedicated to only them."

"Everyone but me."

"Why do you say stuff like that?"

Steve held up a finger so that he could lean his head out the car window and order. Once he finished he looked back at Pony. He stared for a few minutes, before sighing. "I dunno Ponyboy. I just don't." The wait for their milkshakes was filled with idle banter about their days. Their wasn't too much to talk about, but the two always managed to keep a conversation going. Once they finally got their ice cream, Steve looked over at Pony. "I'll answer all your questions. Tonight." He surprised himself by saying. No turning back now. "Anything you wanna know, I'll answer."

Pony grinned the biggest smile that was filled with eagerness, hope, and enthusiasm.

And Steve felt his heart flutter.

For -TheFandomLife- to cheer you up!!