Work Text:
The clattering of the bell above the front door snapped Steve back into reality. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been zoned out for. There hadn't been much business today, and he'd finished all the busy work he could find. The garage was tidied up and organized just the way he liked it. He stocked out the shelves filled empty spaces and even swept and mopped the floors. Behind the counter was a bit of a disaster, unsurprisingly, considering the staff consisted entirely of young guys who weren't the most cleanly. There were no less than ten scraps of paper with girls' phone numbers shoved in various crevices that he threw away. Soda couldn't even keep up with them all.
A customer at least gave him a few minutes of something to do. Seeing the brunette in front of him his lips curled up in a small grin. "Hey babe," He hadn't expected Evie to drop by. Was school already out? More time had gone by than he realized. He'd skipped out of school early to come in today.
Steve's sentiments were not reciprocated. Evie stood arms firmly crossed over her chest, brows knitted together in a scowl. "What's wrong?" He asked quickly going from puzzled to concerned.
A scoff was his only response, "What's wrong?" she huffed at such an incredulous question. That he had the absolute nerve not to be a mind reader and know what ailed her. Instead, she was met with confusion as Steve racked his brain unable to come up with a single issue, "Steve, are you kidding me?" The level of exasperation in her words was unmatched.
"Evie, I ain't a psychic," he tried to reason with her. Steve was a shoot-it-straight kind of guy. He didn't have time for games or subtle hints. "Just tell me what's the matter, I'm at work." Not that there was much going on, but that wasn't the point. Patience was not a virtue Steve possessed.
"That's just it. You're always at work." She threw her hands up and Steve cocked a brow. He had a feeling his employment status wasn't exactly the cause of her frustration. "I missed lunch waitin' for you outside the cafeteria just to get stood up. After school, we were supposed to go to The Dingo to make up for you canceling our date the other day. Looks like I'm gettin' stood up for that too."
"Baby, I'm sorry," The apology was out of his mouth before she even finished. It hadn't even crossed his mind to let her know he was cutting out early to pick up Soda's shift. "We can still go later after I close up if you want. Or tomorrow." He offered. A simple solution in his mind, which was apparently unacceptable.
"This is the third time this week you've canceled on me and it's only Wednesday." She snapped. That didn't seem right there was no way he'd bailed on her that much in such a short time. But as he recounted the week she was unfortunately right.
"It was an emergency," he offered up lamely.
Evie rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah? Some emergency." She waved her hand around the empty store surrounding them.
"Evie don't be like that," He pleaded, "Soda needed his shift covered. He's got a lot going on."
"It's always Soda or work or anyone else before me," the hurt was clear in her tone. She was tired of playing second fiddle. "You've been glued to Soda's side."
Steve was taken aback, "Pony and Johnny are missing. He's been a little upset," That was an understatement. The middle Curtis had absolutely been beside himself, sick with worry.
"They ain't missin', they're on the run for murder." She spat the words out, venom rolling off her tongue.
Now Steve was getting mad. There was approximately one strand of patience in his body at any given time, this conversation had completely frayed it. They could both be mad for no reason if that's what she wanted. "We don't know what happened," That was the first and probably the only time he'd ever defend Ponyboy. "Not to mention your friend two-timing him and getting knocked up by Lord knows who. Something I'm sure you knew nothing about."
"Oh, let's be real they picked up on them soc girls and fought dirty when their boyfriends showed up. Left that boy to bleed to death in the park." At least those were the rumors and what she'd pieced together. Didn't seem like there could be much variation. The Sheldon boy was dead and now Pony and Johnny were gone. Innocent people don't run. "Sandy probably got tired of begging for Soda's attention since he gives it all to you. I can't say I blame her."
It had come as a surprise to Evie when her friend confided in her about her predicament. That was something that she expected from Sylvia, she and Dally couldn't stay monogamous if they were the last two on earth. Sandy and Soda had seemed like such a great couple; Evie couldn't even think of a time they'd so much as bickered about something trivial. There wasn't much detail Sandy offered up other than she was pregnant and it wasn't Soda's. Briefly Evie wondered if that was just an excuse. That it was all too much for a sixteen-year-old girl to handle and letting him believe the baby wasn't his so she could leave was more of a kindness than admitting she wasn't ready to be saddled with a husband and a baby. Evie had nothing but time to let her mind wander and come up with wild scenarios lately. If she didn't know Steve any better, she might be worried he was fooling around with someone else, but he was the most loyal person she'd ever met.
Steve, on the other hand, had never been Sandy's biggest fan. There was just something about her he didn't trust, though he could never pinpoint exactly what it was. Until now that is. He'd always just kept his mouth shut because she made his best buddy happy, "Can't blame her?" He was disgusted at the thought of anyone even trying to defend that broad, and his face showed it. "What you got someone on deck? A mild inconvenience and you're ready to dive into someone else's arms?"
It was hard to tell who was more astounded. Steve knew Evie could say some pretty dumb shit, but this really took the cake. Even if her goal had been to get under his skin. Evie was just shocked he was so quick to throw accusations. He didn't have any reason to be mad right now, let alone try and make her into the bad guy. "Unbelievable!" She exclaimed slamming her hands down on the counter. "All week you've been screwin' me over, now you wanna sit there and call me a cheater?"
"You're the one who brought it up!" He fired back. Of course, he had taken her words a bit out of context, but he hadn't expected her to get so defensive. It made him feel uneasy, maybe she was hiding something. He was not exactly the easiest person to deal with. If there was one thing Steve was good at, it was putting his foot in his mouth. He had yet to master taking a step back and reevaluating a situation. Instead, he had become proficient at digging himself into a hole, unaware of when to shut up.
"You're a real piece of work, Steve Randle," It was her turn to be disgusted. "I'd never step out on you, and you know it. Maybe if you treated your girlfriend like a priority we wouldn't be in this situation right now!"
"The world doesn't revolve around you Evie, you aren't the center of the universe. Maybe if you realized that there's more to life than you, then you wouldn't be mad for no reason." As the words tumbled from his mouth, he knew they were a mistake. But that part of his brain that filters things before he says them is broken. It might actually be nonexistent. They came out harsher than he had intended. Not that there was a nice way they could have been said. Life was bigger than hanging out at school or a few simple dates. Trying to find a missing fourteen-year-old kid was more important than going to the Dingo. Unfortunately, that might be the smallest of the issues in the Curtis household soon.
Slowly Evie blinked as she tried to process Steve's harsh words. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't just dumbfounded; she was blinking away tears. Steve could be one mean son of a bitch when provoked, but she never expected him to be cruel to her so easily.
"Evie," Regret was instantaneous, not that it mattered. She turned on her heel, wordlessly, heading for the door. There was nothing left to say. "Evie wait," Steve hopped over the counter swiftly to catch up to her.
"No," She shrugged away from him as he reached out for her. "I'm done Steve, stop."
He slipped between her and the door placing his hands on her shoulders. "Just wait- "
"No! I said I'm done." Evie cut him off before he could rattle off another excuse or half-assed apology. "I'm done with this conversation. I'm done being second best. And I'm done begging you to love me."
As quick as Steve was with a comeback, there wasn't a single thing he could say to smooth things over right now. Trying to find the right words not to make a bad situation worse was impossible. However, his silence spoke louder than anything he could have come up with.
"See, you can't even say it when it matters most," Her voice was steadier than she expected, though laced in defeat. "Is a simple I love you and I'm sorry that hard?"
"Evie I'm sorry," He tried to soften both his grip on her and demeanor, not that it made a difference. "And you know I love you, c'mon." He added quickly, but it was too late. They'd been together since seventh grade, how could she not know how deeply he cared for her?
"It doesn't count when I have to beg for it," Once again she shrugged away from him, and he let her, dropping his arms to his sides. "This is exhausting. Being your girlfriend is exhausting."
"Baby don't say that" It was Steve's turn to beg, that is if Evie would hear him out. "Look I'm sorry, okay? This week has been stressful with everything going on, but it'll die down eventually. And I'll make it up to you, promise."
Evie just shook her head; he still didn't get it. A couple cars pulled into the parking lot now. A car door shut and any second someone would be walking inside for help. Perfect timing. The place had been a ghost town all day, they couldn't have shown up in five more minutes. Luck was never on his side that way. "Just give me a minute," he said looking out the door and back to Evie again.
"I don't have any more minutes to give," she said once more walking toward the door ready to seize her chance to leave.
Steve cursed under his breath watching Evie grip the door handle, his new customer seven steps away from the entrance now. "I'll call you later then, we can finish talkin'," he could spend the rest of his shift figuring out how to make things right. Once all was said and done Soda owed him big time.
"Don't bother," She didn't even turn around to face him. "You can call Sodapop because I can't do this anymore."
"Evie," he called out, but it was pointless; she had slipped out the door as a man in a tattered flannel walked in asking for a pack of Marlboros. For a moment, Steve contemplated telling him to take whatever the hell he wanted as the teen had more pressing matters to attend to. He'd run after Evie, apologizing until he was blue in the face if that's what it took. He would drop to his knees begging and pleading if that's what she wanted him to do.
But there was no use. This wasn't some fairytale. He couldn't run out on his job and expect to keep it while simultaneously smoothing things over to keep the girl and supporting his best friend in his darkest hour. There wasn't an outcome where he didn't lose in this impossible situation. So, he did the only thing he could do now: he obliged the cowboy's request and slapped a pack of reds down on the counter in front of him.