The Outsiders - Preferences, Ships, etc.

One Shot - Sodapop Curtis

How You Meet.

Moving to Tulsa was probably the best idea you'd ever had. You could get away from everything and you could start again. You drove into town and parked your car up by your new house. It wasn't much, you didn't have a lot of money to have much, but it was yours, and that's all that mattered to you. Your house, your rules, your life. Your brother lived in Tulsa. Had done since he left home when he was nineteen, that was a few years ago. He called you every month to keep you updated and to keep himself updated about your life. He always said how he liked Tulsa a lot more than he liked it back home, and he'd tell you all about the town's drama between the Socs and the Greasers. You gathered life never got too boring there. If you had to be put into one category or another, you'd probably get along real nice with the Greasers. They seemed like good people - didn't go out of their way to cause trouble, well, all except for Dallas - you had heard a lot about him.

You had been in town for two weeks, and you had certainly seen a lot of the drama your brother had told you about. And you had definitely had your run-ins with Dallas Winston. You mostly stayed in your house, unpacking and getting everything to your liking, while using your spare time to cook and play music. Before your parents stopped giving a damn, you had piano lessons. They bought you a small piano for you to practise on, and when you finally left home, you took it with you.

One day when you were playing, you heard screaming and shouting outside. You rushed out onto your porch to see what was happening, and surely enough, it was the Socs' versus one young Greaser.
"Hey! Get the hell off him! What do you think you're playin' at?" You yelled. Surprisingly, they backed off, only to try hitting on you - until they caught sight of a very angry Dallas Winston running in their direction.
Dallas took care of the Socs while you helped the kid to stand up. You took note of the cuts and bruises the Socs' had left behind.
"What's your name, Kid?" you asked.
"Ponyboy." he said, "Ponyboy Curtis."
"Interesting name." you smiled, placing your hands gently on his face to look at his cuts. Back home, you volunteered at the hospital twice a week, so you had some basic first aid.
You heard the Socs' leave, and Dallas come back over to where you and Ponyboy stood, and moments later, two other guys came running towards you.
"Ponyboy!" the younger one of the two called, "What the hell happened?" he asked, grabbing his shoulders carefully, trying to get a look at him.
"Socs' jumped him." you said.
Ponyboy was crying.
"Y'know, my house is right there 'cross the street, I've got a first aid kit, I can patch him up." you offered.
The older of the two hesitated, "That'd be nice." he said.

"I'm Sodapop by the way, Ponyboy's older brother." one of them said, holding out his hand for you to shake, once you were all in your kitchen.
"(Y/N)." you smiled.
"(Y/N)," he repeated, "that's a lovely name." he smiled.
"Alright, Soda, we don't need none of that just yet, let her fix him up." the older brother said, "I'm Darrel."
"Well, it's nice to meet you guys." you said, "I've been in town a couple weeks, haven't had the chance to meet many people - 'cept for Dallas."
"Ey, it's Dally or nothin', got that, Doll?" he interrupted.
You smiled, "Sorry, 'cept for Dally."

You cleaned up Ponyboy's face and offered the boys a beer. The five of you got chatting and hung out for a few hours in your living room. It got to late afternoon, and they all decided they had 'bothered' you long enough, and that they should be getting back home.
"Thanks again, (Y/N), for stopping the Socs', and helpin' out Ponyboy." Darrel said.
"It's no problem at all, really. I don't like seein' people get picked on for nothin'." you replied.

Ponyboy thanked you once more, before following Darrel and Dallas out of your house, onto the porch. Soda was hovering by your door, hesitantly. "Hey, uh, (Y/N)?" he began.
You looked up at him, "Yeah?"
"I was wonderin' if you'd like someone to show you 'round town sometime...I'd be happy to."
You smiled, "Sure, Soda. That'd be real nice."