It had been a few months since the craziness that went down in Tulsa. A Soc was murdered, two greasers ran away, there was a murder trial and two greasers ended up dead. Those were Two-Bit Mathews' friends. Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade were gone. Even after some time had passed, it was hurting the gang each day. The gang was trying to move on, but there were some struggles to get back to normal. It was a big process to get back to a new 'gang normal.' Everyone definitely depended on Two-Bit for their comic relief. It was weird for Two-Bit. Crazy nights out on the town used to include him, Steve, Soda, and Dally. Now it was just him, Steve and Soda. If anything was going on at the Curtis household though, then it was just Steve and Two-Bit. Them two hadn't hung out alone in a long time though.

Darry Curtis also got custody of his younger brothers, Sodapop and Ponyboy. Soda had just recently turned seventeen. It was a weird birthday. They had celebrated Ponyboy's birthday without their parents, but it still hit Soda hard that it was his first birthday without them. To add to it, Johnny and Dally weren't there to cause shenanigans either. Steve tried his hardest to make it fun that day for his best friend. Him and Two-Bit made the house a disaster that day, baking supplies everywhere and balloons and streamers and anything else Two-Bit could swipe at the store. They could tell Darry was biting his tongue the entire time for Soda's sake. He clearly wanted to knock Steve and Two-Bit's heads together for making such a mess. Now Dally's birthday was coming up soon. No one was mentioning it, but the gang knew everyone was thinking about it. Were they going to celebrate it, or was it never going to get mentioned?

The tension between the Socs and greasers was getting tighter too. They each blamed one another for everything that took place in Tulsa. No one really seemed to be getting over the deaths that took place. Some were scared to get involved though, as they didn't want a similar incident happening again. Others were just full of hate. As angry as the gang could get about it, they tried to stay out of it. They knew the Socs were out for blood. Even Tim Shepard's gang was heated, as Tim was Dally's best friend. Darry was firm with his brothers, and even Two-Bit and Steve, that they couldn't get mixed up in anything with them. It wasn't just gang rivalry anymore. Some would be willing to take a life.


Two-Bit Mathews walked by the DX one day. He was bored, and decided to grab a Pepsi. He was also hoping he'd get to go out and do something later. It was a Saturday night. He walked into the DX and saw Sodapop Curtis behind the counter.

"Hey Soda," Two-Bit said.

"Hey Two-Bit," Soda smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm bored, so I came to say hi. What are you doing tonight? Want to go out and do something?"

"Sorry, not tonight. Darry feels bad, because we haven't really celebrated the whole custody thing after all this time, so he wants to spend the night with just me and Ponyboy," Soda explained, "I personally think that's his excuse to get a break from you and Steve."

"Hey now, we ain't that bad," Two-Bit winked.

"You two have always been the craziest of the gang."

"You are right up there with us buddy."

"Right, and adding you two makes the house crazy," Soda laughed, "Still, I know we should do something together."

Two-Bit nodded, "You guys do deserve it. Well I guess that leaves me Steve. Maybe I can convince him to actually spend some time with me."

"Hey, he's actually been better about hanging out with you and Pony. He doesn't get as irritated as easily. I think Dally and Johnny really got to him. He just won't admit it though."

"Yeah I know. It's actually becoming a challenge to bug any of y'all," Two-Bit smirked.

"Well if you want something to do tonight, go ask him."

"Alright, y'all have fun tonight."

"Thanks, we will."

Two-Bit took Soda's advice and walked out to the garage of the DX. "Hey Steve!"

"Hey Two-Bit," Steve said, covered in sweat and grease, "What's up?"

"Not much. Want to go do something tonight?" Two-Bit asked, "We can go racing or something."

Steve looked up at Two-Bit surprised, "Yeah sure. I just need to go home and shower first."

"Cool. Want to pick me up?"

"Yeah I can. I'll be there around seven."

"It's a date," Two-Bit smiled, "Grease your hair real good for me."

Steve shook his head, unable to hide his smile, "Sure sure. Crazy ass."


Seven o'clock arrived and Steve had pulled up to Two-Bit's house. They drove over to the drag race track. Two-Bit wasn't sure the last time he had been there. Steve hadn't gone a lot lately. Soda wasn't usually in the mood to, and Steve was trying to be there for his best friend after the issue with Sandy and Pony's running away. Two-Bit didn't usually race when he was there. It was more of Steve's scene, but Two-Bit didn't mind. He just wanted to be out for the night. He could try and hop in the car with Steve or hang out with other greasers that were there.

Two-Bit also knew Steve wasn't going a lot, because Socs were randomly showing up to their hangouts and causing problems. It wasn't the old way, when Socs would show up drunk and ruin the races for everyone. They were looking to hurt greasers. Two-Bit knew that was pissing Steve off, but under Darry's warning, he was trying to stay out of it.

"That was fun!" Steve shouted excitedly as he finished a race, "You want to ride with me on the next one?"

"Hell yeah I do!" Two-Bit said, setting his beer down, "I mean, as long as you don't crash."

"Have I ever crashed drag racing?"

"Um, shall I bring up when you were thirteen?"

"Nope," Steve smirked, "I wasn't caught by the fuzz, so it didn't happen."

"If that's a rule, then I've never stolen anything."

Steve shook his head as he laughed, "We got some time, let's go smoke first."

Two-Bit and Steve stepped to the side while pulling out their cigarettes. They both lit up and took a deep inhale. Two-Bit's smoking had grown a lot the past couple months. He wanted to slow it down, but it was hard. Darry made Pony quit cold turkey. Pony was an angry, depressed mess for awhile, but now he was doing better. Two-Bit was proud of him. He was too young to be addicted to that stuff anyway.

"We haven't spent time together, just us two, in a long time," Two-Bit said.

"Yeah I know," Steve said as he flicked some ashes.

"We've been with Darry, Soda and Pony at their house almost everyday since everything happened."

"The kid needed some support," Steve said, "Soda needed help with Sandy. We're just trying to be there for them all."

"Yeah we are. How are you doing?"

Steve looked over at Two-Bit, "What do you mean?"

"Well like you said, we've been helping them out so much, but how are you doing with everything?"

"I'm fine. I didn't go through the traumatic shit they went through."

Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow, "Are you kidding me?"

"Pony was the one who watched Johnny die. Soda dealt with his chick cheating on him and leaving town. Darry dealt with his brother running away. They could hardly be there for each other when they all dealt with their own shit, so that's why we've been there."

"You saw Dally get shot down just like the rest of us," Two-Bit commented, "Hell you were practically in front of all us yelling at the fuzz to stop. You may not have went through everything they went through, but you and me went through enough. I mean, we were both scared when Johnny and Ponyboy were gone. We were worried sick."

"Just enough Two-Bit, alright?" Steve snapped, "It happened, it's done."

Two-Bit sighed. He should have known better. Steve won't talk about anything. Not that Two-Bit was talking much either. He didn't really know who to talk to. "Alright. I'm sorry Steve."

Steve tossed his cigarette to the side, "No, I'm sorry. I know what you mean."

"I'm just making sure you're okay is all."

"I'm fine, really. Ready to go drive?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Steve and Two-Bit were at the track until close to midnight. Two-Bit ended up drinking quite a lot after that conversation with Steve. That was another habit that had gotten worse. He had always been a drinker, but things took an ugly turn. He didn't see the harm in it as much as the smoking, which made it more dangerous. If Steve was at the Curtis house, he knew how to throw them back hard too. He was responsible enough not to do it anywhere else though. That was Two-Bit's problem. He didn't care either way.

"Ready to go home?" Steve asked as people started parting ways.

"Mmmhmmm," Two-Bit slurred.

The two greasers got in the car and Steve started it, "Thanks for having me come out Two-Bit. It was a lot of fun."

"Mmhmmm," Two-Bit nodded, his eyes half-closed.

Steve chuckled, "You're trashed."

"Thank you," Two-Bit said, leaning his head against the window, "I know I drove good."

"You didn't drive at all."

"No, it's okay. You tried your best."

"Hopefully your mom is asleep," Steve shook his head, beginning to drive down the road.

The ride was quiet in the beginning. Steve assumed Two-Bit had passed out when he suddenly spoke up. "Stop for a second."

"Huh?" Steve asked, beginning to slow down, "Damnit Two-Bit, are you about to puke in my car?"

"No, no, just stop," Two-Bit insisted, suddenly sounding pretty alert.

Steve brought the car to a complete stop, "What is it?"

"Them," Two-Bit nodded towards the house they were at. Steve looked up and saw it was the Cade house. His heart just sank.

"What are we doing here Two-Bit?" Steve asked quietly.

"Do you know what they've been up to since everything?"

"No. Quite frankly, I don't care."

"Exactly. They haven't been doing anything. They ain't grieving. They ain't hurting. Johnny would've never been in the lot that night when Pony got hit if his parents didn't always kick him out."

"Well then Pony may have ran away on his own," Steve said, running a hand through his hair. He didn't like thinking about this stuff. "And then not even Dally would know where he is, or maybe the Socs would have killed Pony if they did catch up to him. It's...nothing would have turned out right either way Two-Bit."

"Something could have fixed it. We all weren't doomed to losing anybody that night."

"There's a lot of what if's to it Two-Bit," Steve shook his head, "Come on, let's go. You can sleep at my house tonight. Your mom don't need to see you like this."

Two-Bit was in a bad mood then. He was right, and he didn't like that no one wanted to talk about it. He knew it was because it came down to Darry. If he hadn't hit Pony, none of it would have happened. Johnny wouldn't have ran away with Pony, no one would have died. Two-Bit didn't like that scenario though, because he didn't like blaming Darry like that. They arrived to the Randle household and went up to Steve's room.

"Let's just get your drunk ass to sleep," Steve commented.

"I ain't that drunk," Two-Bit scoffed, laying on the floor.

"Your adrenaline is making you feel better now, but give it time, you'll still be drunk in the morning," Steve said.

"Thanks for hanging out with me tonight Steve," Two-Bit said as he pulled a blanket over him, "We ought to do that more often."

"Yeah we should," Steve let out a long yawn as he settled into his pillow.

It was quiet for a minute, before Two-Bit asked another question, "Steve? What do you think we should do for Dally's birthday?"

It was silent.

"Steve?" Two-Bit turned slightly and looked up. Steve was already asleep.

Two-Bit, being as drunk as he was, couldn't seem to fall asleep. His thoughts were keeping him up. He was beginning to feel angry towards the Cade house. It wasn't fair. To them, they didn't even lose a son. They were happy to not have to deal with Johnny anymore. They weren't feeling helpless at all. They weren't in the amount of pain the gang was in. Two-Bit never stopped thinking about the day Mrs. Cade tried visiting Johnny at the hospital. Johnny begged the nurse to make her go away. Two-Bit had to put her in her place in the hall. It had pissed him off so much. Or the numerous times Two-Bit caught Johnny getting beat by a broom outside. He could have thrown a punch at her any one of those times, but he only focused on helping Johnny. He should have though. He should have taken the broom and hit her with it. She needed a taste of her own medicine.

"Screw this," Two-Bit muttered. He stood up and took a quick look at Steve, who didn't move a muscle. He wandered downstairs and walked out of the house. Two-Bit had no idea what time it was as he walked down the neighborhood. He didn't care. He wasn't getting any sleep anyway. He stopped in front of the Cade house, just staring at it.

"Damn you guys," Two-Bit mumbled, "How could you? Johnny never did anything."

Two-Bit wiped at his eyes. He glanced down and saw an empty bottle in the street. Picking it up, Two-Bit brought his arm back and gave it a good throw at the house. He watched it smash against the door. The sound was satisfying to him.

"Screw you guys!"

Two-Bit was in shock when the front door flew open. He didn't expect anyone to actually be up. He wasn't worried though.

"What the hell is going on?" Mr. Cade snarled.

"Oh just go back inside," Two-Bit said, "Go live your pathetic life."

Mr. Cade came down his porch steps and walked towards the street. Two-Bit didn't flinch. He wasn't scared of him. In fact, he welcomed a fight so he could give him a good knock to the head.

"What did you say to me boy?"

Two-Bit walked up as well until he was face to face with Mr. Cade, "I said to go screw yourself."

Mr. Cade grabbed Two-Bit by his arm with a tight grip. Before Two-Bit could take a swing, Mr. Cade kneed him in the stomach, causing him to collapse.

"Damn," Two-Bit muttered.

"Looks like you need to be taught some manners boy," Mr. Cade growled, dragging Two-Bit towards the house.