A/N: New chapter! I'm not very good at writing from Soda's POV, but this might be the only one from his, unless you want more. Ps this chapter may result in tears.

Soda's POV:
"Hey, Soda, how do you ask out a girl?" My best friend asks from next to me. I stare at him. I never open the store, I like to sleep in. But, today, the other guy that works here called in sick, so I had to be in by 7:30, instead of my normal 3 o'clock.

But back to Steve. I just stare at him and blink.

"What did you just ask me?"

He repeats himself, "How do you ask a girl out?" I sigh. He's had more girlfriends than I can even count, and he's been with Evie for two years. I've only been with one girl, Sandy but we broke up a few months ago. I have my eyes on another girl, but she'd never date me. She's too perfect for me. I'm just me, there's nothing special about Sodapop Patrick Curtis.

I have two brothers, one older and one younger, who I love more than anything. Their worth at least 300 times what I am. But that girl? She's worth about 3,000 of me.

"Aren't you still with Evie?" I wonder aloud. He nods.

"Yeah, be we can always break up," he says. Evie's always been a little... slutty for my taste, but she's a real good girl once you get to know her.

"Who is this new girl and why is she so special?" I question. He shrugs.

"Just... just a girl. And she's so special because she's pretty and stuff," He tells me. I can't help but laugh at that. This girl is special because she's pretty? I could give you a million reasons why Emily is special that have nothing to do with her looks. Steve may be my buddy, but he's always been pretty shallow.

"But tell me what she's like. Other than looks, what do you see in her?" I ask Steve. Usually I wouldn't pry, but he asked, and now I'm just a little bit curious. Steve doesn't really go for just any girl.

The day goes by slower than ever, anyways, so we need something to talk about! We only get 3 customers, up until 3:30, when Pony and TwoBit get out of school. So does Emily, but she doesn't talk much around the others.

"Hey guys!" I say cheerfully. Pony runs up to me, ready to start chattering away about his day, but Emily and Two-Bit just stand in the back and wave.

"Hey, uh, I'll be right back. I'm just going to... fix a car," Steve says nervously. That was weird, we don't even have any cars to work on right now.

"What are y'all doing here?" I ask them.

"We just came in to get some drinks, then we're headed to your place. When do you get off?" Two-Bit asks.

"Late," is my response, but then my boss walk into the room.

"Hi, Mr. Johnson," I greet him.

"Soda," he says, immediately getting to what he came in for.

"That was your brother, Darrell. He says there's an emergency at home and he needs you and Steve now. You can both go ahead, your shifts will be taken over by someone else for today," He says, and Steve runs out.

"Thank you, sir," We both say and walk out with our friends.

"What do you think the emergency is?" Pony asks. I have no clue, but I don't want to worry Ponyboy, so I don't say anything. We drive home in silence, with Two and Emily in the front and me squished between my friend and little brother in the back. Finally we get home and Darry's sitting in his oversized arm chair staring at an envelope with a horrified look on his face. Today is his day off.

"Dar, what's wrong?" I ask him. He hands me the envelope, which I open. There's a letter in it... My draft notice. As soon as I finish reading it I drop it, unable to say anything. Steve and Pony are frozen, they've obviously never seen me like this. Immediately, though, Emily is by my side.

"Soda, what is it?" She asks, her voice quiet and calm. It soothes me, but I'm still in shock, and don't say anything. She bends down to get it, and as soon as she starts reading it, she breaks down in sobs. Right next to me, she breaks down in sobs, and Two-Bit and I are right by her side trying to comfort her. I'm out of my daze, but all I can do is hug her, so I don't start crying, myself. Ponyboy and Steve look at each other with mutual confused looks.

"I... I promise I'll come back, Emily. For you and Pony and Darry, Steve and Two-Bit," I whisper, my eyes filling with tears as she sobs into my shoulder. My arms are around her back and her brother is rubbing her back. It doesn't even seem like my brothers and Steve are even there. Like it's just Em and I, having our last moment together before I have to leave tomorrow.

"What is it?" Ponyboy asks, totally clueless.

"Whats wrong, Soda?" I sigh. I don't want to have to be the one to tell my baby brother. Two-Bit is the one who speaks up first.

"Well, Pony, it's... It's this special letter that certain guys get around Soda's age where he has to leave home for a while to help our country out," He explains in the best way possible. Pony gives us a look like he understands, but he doesn't seem even remotely phased by it, so obviously he doesn't.

Steve, on the other hand screams, "Dammit!" Then he Mutters some other cuss words under his breath, and punches the wall. So everyone has their different reactions.

"I... I think we should get going, Two," Emily whispers through tears. He nods and helps her up.

"See you tomorrow, guys," Two-Bit says, in his usual cheerful, happy-go-lucky voice, "Bright and early!" But there's something missing: his usual happy smile isn't there anymore. Looking at his face made me realize: I was leaving tomorrow and Emily doesn't know how I feel about her. I need to tell her that I love her, that I'm in love with her, before it's too late.

Emily's POV:
School went by slowly, and it wasn't a bad day until we got to the Curtis house. First, we went to the DX to see Soda, but then his boss told him to get home because there was an emergency. And the emergency? Soda was being drafted to Vietnam. I can't even imagine life without him. What if he died there? What would I do? I'd probably die, too. As soon as I opened that stupid letter, I couldn't think straight. I tried not to, but right in the middle of their house, I started sobbing. I couldn't do this. I couldn't do anything without him. I sat on the floor and put my head in my hands. Immediately Soda and Two-Bit were next to me. Soda hugged me while my big brother rubbed my back.

"I promise I'll come back, Emily. For you..." Is the last thing I remember hearing from him, because I couldn't take being in his presence anymore, and I asked Two-Bit if we could leave. Of course he said yes, and we went home.

I decided I was just done with everything. I changed into pajamas, shorts and a tank top, and turned on the TV. Something my brother and I have in common is Mickey Mouse. We both love that show more than anything, and could watch it for hours and hours... Which I did. But everything seemed to be in a daze. After a while of doing whatever, Two-Bit came in the room to watch with me, and I guess I fell asleep on the couch and I found him carrying me into my room. Now I was awake, couldn't fall asleep, and didn't want to get up. Soon enough I realized I was crying. Maybe it was because I was worried about Soda, or because I didn't want him to leave, or just because he's leavening, I don't know. But I cried until I fell asleep, and woke up with red eyes and a headache, and didn't want to move. I vaguely wondered why that was, I couldn't remember anything from last night. "Emmi, c'mon. Wake up, sis," Two-Bit whispers, coming into my room at 5 AM.

"Why are you up so early?" I moan. And then I remember. Soda. Vietnam. Coming home for me. Mickey Mouse. Crying. The realization that he's leaving at 6:30 this morning and might never come back. The memories of last night come back to me and all of the tears that I thought had been used up were coming out again.

"Shhh, Emmi. It's ok," Two-Bit whispers, trying to calm me down. Sooner or later I do.

"Are you feeling ok?" He asks me. Feeling like a baby, I shake my head no. It's not a total like, at least. He feels my forehead.

"Well, you're not warm, but if you want to come home after Soda leaves, that's fine. I understand," He tells me. I hug him, and he leaves my room so I can get dressed. Something about today makes me feel like I'm 5 years old, just a small kid. After getting dressed, and fighting with Two-Bit about eating, we left. He wanted me to have breakfast, but on a day like today, I couldn't be expected to hold anything down. Just the thought of my only friend leaving me makes me nauseous.

When we park in the Curtis' driveway, we notice that Steve's already there. Darry's sitting in his arm chair, in the same position as yesterday like he hasn't moved, but I can tell he has. Pony's sitting on the couch, crying and Soda's trying to calm him down while Steve stands awkwardly in the background, and I decide to approach him, although he has never liked me.

"How are you holding up?" I ask him sincerely. Soda is his best friend, too. He just shrugs and asks about me, in which I don't respond.

And soon, it's time for the love of my life to leave the country and fight for the country where there was a huge chance that he would never come back. He says goodbye to his brothers, Steve and Two-Bit, and then gets to me. "Emily," He whispers, going in for a hug. I try to make this a happy moment, and not cry.

"S-Soda... I have something to tell you," I whisper, finally ready to share my feelings. Looking into his eyes, I know what I have to do, even if he doesn't like it. I kiss him.

"Finally," Is his response after a moment.

"I love you, Sodapop Curtis," I say, confidently.

"Wait for me, Emily. Please. I'm coming back for you, and one day we'll get married," He says, and walks off. I don't know weather to be happy or sad. Soda just practically proposed to me, and now he's leaving to go off to war.

"Good luck, Soda. Be strong for us," I whisper, so I'm the only one that can hear, but it doesn't matter. Nobody else needs to hear. I've waited for that kiss, and for him to say that for my entire life, and now that he has said it, I can't help but feel a tad guilty that this didn't happen before.

"Are you ok?" Steve asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, fine," I say, lying through my teeth, but what's really on my mind is why does he care. Of course I'm not ok, but I'm trying to be strong, which is especially hard since my brother, the happiest person I've even met, is pretty close to tears himself. He walks over and puts a protective arm around my shoulder.

"We better get home, baby sis," Two-Bit says, and we walk back to the car, where I fall asleep in hopes to forget about what just happened for a while.

A/N: I forgot to update all of last week. 😂😂 But this chapter was extremely hard to write because not only am I really bad at Soda POV, but it's really long, and a hard subject. I know a lot of fanfics have Soda being drafted, and I've read SO MANY of them, but when you actually write them yourself it's just depressing. But I like a challenge. I'd love it if you'd leave some comments of how you like it, so far, though!