Samantha's POV:  

A/N: Hello! I'm back! So it's been exactly a month since the last update. Not too bad, eh? The last few times it was a lot longer and I'm sorry about that. So, I know that I already published this chapter but I really just wanted to get it out to you guys before I had to leave for the day so I didn't have time to edit or even write a quick authors note. Anyways, enjoy!

It's about 11 pm  when I hear a car rumble up the street. I set aside the paperback I was absorbed in on the side table in the living room and patter soundlessly towards the front door, peering through the curtains over the window. I watch as the blue mustang pulls into view and stops at the end of the driveway.

Cherry throws the door open, yells something incoherent, and promptly slams the car door. rapidly she strides away from the car, her wild hair streaming out behind her and blowing stands into her face from the wind. She swipes them away impatiently with a huff. Seeing me in the doorway through the window, she allows me to open it to refrain from smooshing me into the wall, but that's where her politeness stops.

"Move, Sam," she hisses, shoving past me.

Eyes wide, I turn slightly to watch as she disappears up the stairs, grumbling to herself something about greasers and fights. I wonder if something happened with Ponyboy... she left with him. Pushing the thought from my mind I turn back to the open door. I wasn't paying attention before but now as I listen closer, I can hear my older brother Greg slurring from the car. Oddly, even though he's the last one in the vehicle, he doesn't pull into the driveway. He takes a swig from a bottle, of what I'm not sure, and revs the engine.

My parents would not approve of my brother drinking and driving if they were here, and they would most likely follow him until they could stop him to make sure he wasn't getting into trouble. Since Cherry doesn't seem to want anything to do with Greg at the moment, I swiftly follow suit, swiping my jacket off of the coat rack on my way out.

Greg revs the engine of the mustang once more and then speeds down the road.  I sigh, sprinting after him. Sprinting in my flats hurts, but do I really have another choice?

I keep good pace behind Greg for a good five minutes, as he isn't driving very fast, and I'm not exactly a slow runner, even in flats. I could be on the track team if I tried, but I'm too shy. It's just not for me.

Slowly though, I fall behind as Greg turns several corners in a row and disappears out of sight. I continue on for a few moments, trying to remember which way to turn, but it's impossible. He's nowhere to be seen. I am about to turn around and go home, when I hear a yelp from up ahead, followed by slurred swearing, and another yelp. Both voices sound familiar.

Found you, Greg.

Tossing some of my auburn hair over my shoulder, I roll my eyes, and take off once more. My feet pound against the pavement, and although I feel the skin on my feet beginning to blister, I keep going. For one, I have to find Greg. And two, whoever it is he's beating up will need help. And I recognise that voice too...

As I reach my destination, a small and overgrown empty lot, I skid to a halt behind a dumpster. I watch as Greg throws another punch, most likely breaking the nose of the unlucky guy that Greg found walking about. Judging by the clothes on the boy, he's a greaser. Why would a Greaser be so stupid to come into our area at night? They know that guys like Greg exist and will come after them. I shake my head.  

Wait, hold on... Slowly I take in my surroundings. He's not in our territory, we are in his. Shit. How did I not realize that I followed Greg into the greaser's part of town?? This is not good! I turn to leave, not really caring about anything else at this point, distracted by my racing thoughts about my own possibility of being jumped, when the greaser boy yelps again, louder this time. I whirl around, hearing a thud as his body hits the ground and I cringe. Greg slurs once more, wipes his hands, and turns to leave. I'm about to go after Greg and give him a piece of my mind for drinking and driving, looking for a fight, going into greaser territory, etc, but then I see the boys body on the ground in a beam of light from a streetlight.

I gasp.

Two-bit.

Somewhat of a squeal escapes my throat in a strangled cry and I lurch forwards towards him. All I can tell right now is that he's covered in blood and not moving.    

Please, please, please, don't let Greg have killed him!

I stumble through the overgrown grass and weeds to the bloody boy in the dirt, who is seemingly unconscious, as he doesn't move as I approach. I stand over him by his feet and quirk my head to the side. For a moment, panic sets in and I wonder if he really is dead. There is blood everywhere... I just witnessed a murder.

Suddenly, I see the rise and fall of his chest shallowly under his Mickey Mouse shirt and I breathe a sigh of relief. Two-bit's eyes start to flutter open, staring at the starry night sky. "Two-bit," I mumble, "are you-"

Suddenly he sits bolt upright, swearing wildly, and he instinctively reaches into his pocket and pulls out a shiny, black handled switchblade. With a shrill scream I shamble, starting to trip over my own feet. This all happens so fast that I don't realize as Two-bit scrambles to his feet and grabs ahold of my wrist before I fall. I'm left hovering inches above the ground, staring into Two-bit's slightly alarmed looking eyes. My panic starts to subside.

I open my mouth to speak, and when all that comes out is a squeak, he pulls me into his chest. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Samantha, I didn't recognise you in the dark. I thought you were that good for nothing Soc coming back for more. I mean, not that all Soc's are good for nothing, obviously because you're a Soc too, but you're just different and..." Two-bit sighs as he stops rambling. He removes one hand from my back to drag it through his tossled, dirt and blood filled hair.

If I hadn't been so startled, I probably would have chuckled at seeing the always so calm and collected Two-bit Matthews so frazzled, but right now my heart is racing too much to find anything very funny, so instead I just mumble into the fabric of his shirt. "It's okay..."

We stay like this for a moment until my heart rate and thoughts slow down enough to form coherent sentences. I pull out of the embrace to look Two-bit in the eyes, and he offers me a sheepish smile.

"I really am sorry, Sam, believe it. I feel darn awful for scarin' ya like that." Two-bit mumbles, placing a hand on my shoulder.

This time I do chuckle a little bit. "Like I said, it's alright."

He sighs.

I glance over his body. His face and hair are mainly covered with blood, and some of the cuts are still oozing some fresh. The outsides of his arms, knuckles, and shoulders are the same way. I cringe. "I came over because I was worried about you. I thought I had just witnessed a murder."

"Oh hell, that Soc wouldn't have the guts to kill me," Two-bit chuckles.

"Well, you'd be surprised what Greg can do when he's drunk." I receive a funny look from Two-bit after mentioning Greg's name. "He's my brother," I clarify.

"Oh..." Two-bit is silent for a moment. "Well don't you worry you're pretty little face about me Sam, I can handle myself alright."

"Alright," I confirm in a soft voice. I smile up at Two-bit, who returns the gesture.

Wait, did Two-bit just call me pretty.

Subconsciously my face starts to heat up. Golly, Sam, you better be thankful that it's dark out.

For a long moment there is silence as we just stand there, awkwardly smiling at each other.

"Well, I uh, I'd better head home then, shouldn't I?" Two-bit murmurs.

His voice breaks me from my trance and I glance down at my shoes before looking back up at Two-bit. "Uh, yeah...yeah, you probably should."

He laughs a little bit. "Well, goodnight then, Sam."

"I'll walk home with you, if you want. Make sure Greg doesn't come after you again?" I'm not sure if that's really why I ask, or if it's the fact that I don't want to be alone, or that I just want to spend a little bit more time with Two-bit.

Well, whatever the reason, he doesn't seem to care. He chuckles. "Yeah, sure. I'm sure my mom would happily give you a ride home, especially after you helped me."

"Deal," I smile. Two smiles back.

I take a few steps forward, however, Two-bit takes one painful looking limp. I sigh softly and then chuckle.

"What?" Two questions, raising one eyebrow.

I shake my head with a laugh. "Maybe you can't take care of yourself. Come here, you big lug. I'll help ya."

Draping one arm around my shoulders, I put my right arm around his back and allow him to lean on me. I may be small, but I'm certainly not weak, so helping Two-bit walk isn't really that much of a challenge. He doesn't complain as we walk, just directs me where to go and tries to make conversation, making funny little jokes here and there, which I genuinely laugh at.

I inwardly sigh. Gosh, do I like him.

When we reach his place, I help him carefully up the steps, and he knocks loudly on the door. After a moment of waiting, a woman answers the door. She gasps and quickly calls back into the house, to which a younger girl promptly appears.

"Mom," Two-bit starts, "will you please drive Sam home? She's a...friend... of mine and she helped me out tonight when I was jumped by a Soc. I want to make sure that she gets home safely."

Wait, did he just hesitate. What was he going to say?

"Oh, honey! Tell me everything, what happened? Are you hurt? Wait, I can see that. Can I-"

I can see where he gets his nervous ranting from.

"Mom!"

She stops mid sentence and stares incredulously at her son. "I'm fine mom, really, just a little battered up. Now, can you please drive Samantha home?" Two-bit begs. Man, I've never heard his voice sound this way.

She sighs loudly. "Yes, of course I will, Keith. Sorry, I'm just worried, hun."

"I know, Mom," he groans.

I chuckle quietly at Two.

Quickly, grabbing her keys from somewhere beside her, she turns to the girl beside her. "Will you please clean your brother up? I'll be back soon."

The girl nods, taking Two-bit from me.

He turns at the last second and nods to me. "Thanks for your help. Night, Samantha."

I smile and nod in return. "No problem. Night, Two-bit."

Then the door closes.

*

When I arrive back home, I see that Greg's mustang is back in the driveway, but my parents still aren't home. I sigh in relief.

As I close the car door, I thank Two-bit's mom for the drive home, and she thanks me as well. Her car pulls away from the curb, putters down the street, and disappears out of my field of view.

Quickly and quietly, I ease the front door open, but there is nobody downstairs from what I can see. I smile to myself. Closing the door, I jog up the stairs, and patter into my room, quiet as a mouse. I lean back against the door, letting the events of the night, as well as how tired I am, sink in. Yawning, I decide to go straight to bed.

Draping my jacket over the back of my desk chair, I slip out of my shoes, and quickly change into some comfy pajamas. Pulling back the blankets, I crawl into bed, intending to fall asleep right away.

However, fate has other plans. And I'm so glad that it does.

Right as I am about to slip away, the phone rings beside my head. Rolling my eyes, I pick up the receiver, and put it to my ear.

"Hello?" I yawn.

"Hey."

"Who is this?" I wonder aloud.

"It's Two-bit. I'm sorry, Sam, did I wake you up?" I can hear the concern in his voice and I chuckle.

"Oh, hey, Two. No, of course not. I was just about to go to sleep, What's up?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Well, I won't keep you long then. Straight to the point it is," he chuckles. "I was...well honestly I was wondering if you want to go on a date sometime? Like to the Dingo for dinner next week?"

A smile spreads rapidly across my face and it honestly takes me everything I have not to squeal into the phone. "Yes! I mean, yeah. Yeah, sure. That would be awesome. I'd love to, Two-bit."

"Great," I can practically hear the chuckle of relief in his voice.

"Yeah. Was that all?" I chuckle.

"Oh! Um...yeah..."

I laugh. "Well, I'm looking forward to it. Goodnight, Two-bit."

He audibly sighs. But it sounds happy so I smile more. "Goodnight, Sam."

After he hangs up, I drop the receiver back onto the phone and squeal giddily. I can't wait to tell Elena about this!

I yawn once more before sinking further into my blankets. As cliché as this sounds, I smile until I fall asleep.

A/N: Soooooo, did you like it? I'm gunna be honest with you, this is probably one of my favourite chapters in this book. I just really like the way it turned out! Do you guys agree? Let me know your opinions guys, I'd love to hear them. Anyways, so school is starting again soon, so since last time when school started my update schedule kind of fell apart, I'm going to make you guys a promise. I will update once a month, and that it a promise. Hopefully I will find the time to update more than that but once a month is a promise. I'm sorry for the lack of updates in previous months, but I am hoping to fix that now. Also, I have entered this story once again in the Wattys, thank you all for the support of this story and I hope that you keep it up. I love you guys! Anyways, until next time, Bookies! -Ella :)