Lydia's POV:

"So what happened next?" Hope asks.

"Well, Dally ended up going with a girl in his grade. She was older, probably 14 or 15, and beautiful. I went with Ponyboy. His mom bought me a dress, we picked it out together. White polka dotted with a hoop skirt. I loved that thing and wore it to every event after the dance that I could. I still have it somewhere, I think," I tell her.

I loved that dress so much. But not because it was beautiful, because it made me feel beautiful. Which was hard when your lifelong crush had the most gorgeous girl on his arm. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was skinny and had a perfect smile and she was just everything I wanted to be. But Dally didn't really care about her, he cared about me. And he pretty much told me every time I looked at him. He would tell me how great I looked in my dress, how nice my hair looked, that my makeup, done by Mrs. Curtis, was pretty. I would smile and thank him, but on the inside I was screaming.

For most of my youth, I had Ponyboy and Dally fighting over me. The first time I wore that dress was a day where I picked Ponyboy, but still got Dally's attention, and I loved it. He stayed with the girl he brought with, Jilly, I think her name was, with his arm around her the entire time. She was fuming even more with every compliment Dallas gave me.

Ponyboy and I stayed together most of the night, and we had the most wonderful time.

"That sounds like fun. Did you ever go to any other dances?" She asks me. I shake my head.

"Nope. Prom was too expensive, so most of the gang didn't go the year they had it, other than Uncle Darry, but that was when your grandmother was still alive," I explain.

"I never got to meet her," Hope remarks.

"Nope, you didn't," I say, shaking my head.

"She died when Pony and I were 13 years old. I remember when it happened, clear as day."

*Flashback*

I was at the Curtis's today, Pony and I were doing homework and Mrs. Curtis had invited me to have dinner with them later.

I looked down at my math book, raising a eyebrow, confused.

"Do you know how to do it?" Ponyboy had asked me. He had finished all of the problems with ease, but I was still stuck.

"Um... Maybe. I think you would start by taking the 876 and dividing it by-" But I was cut off by the phone ringing.

"I have to go get that. Why don't you try to find the answer to that one in the meantime. I'll check it in a minute," He says. I nod, and try to finish my worksheet, but it was just too damn hard. What would I ever actually need to use this stuff for anyways?

"Pomyboy, I can't do it!" I yell.

"Shut up for a second, Lyd. It's the hospital!" He screams back. The hospital? Was everything okay? Why were they calling here?

"Y-yeah, this is Ponyboy. They're what? No, this must be some kind of... No? Are you sure? T-thanks for letting us know. B-bye," He stutters. I walk over to him.

"Is everything okay?" I ask. I don't even need to respond, I can see it on his face. From the look of pain on his face, to the frown he has on to tears forming in his eyes, I can tell that nothing right now is okay. I don't pry him for information, just hug him. I rub his back, and let him cry into my shoulder until I'm soaked.

"It's gonna be okay, Pony. We'll get through it," I whisper in his ear. I remember the face he gave me after I said that. He let go of me and wiped the tears off of his face, then went to go sit on the couch. I stood in front of him.

"T-this time I don't think it will be, Lyd," He says, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"W-what do you mean? Did Soda get jumped on the way to work or something?" I ask him. He shakes his head.

"No, it's worse." I raise my eyebrow. What could be worse than your brother getting jumped and ending up in the hospital?

"Did Darry fall off of his ladder?" I ask. Recently, 19 year old Darry had gotten a full time job roofing houses. Maybe he fell off of a ladder and broke his back or something.

"My parent's are dead, Lydia. They got in a car crash and now I'm never gonna see them again!" He cries, putting his head in his hands. Those words echoed in my mind for what felt like hours, but was really only a minute, or maybe even just a few seconds. I don't know what do do, after I've processed what he said. Usually when he's upset he likes to be alone.

"I... I think I should get going, Pony. You probably want to be alone anyways," I tell him. He looks up at me, and I look at him, at his red, tear stained face and suddenly feel guilty.

"No, stay with me. Please?" He whispers. I don't say anything else, just go sit next to him on the couch, putting an arm around him. He hugs me back, leaning his head on his shoulder.

I remember trying so hard not to cry in front of him. I could do it at home, or with the other guys, but not with Ponyboy. He's always hated seeing me cry, was too sensitive, and I knew it would break him even more.

I cried, but silently. I didn't sob, I didn't wipe my tears. I tried not to let him notice, but he did. He wiped them away, one by one.

"We'll all get through this together, Ponyboy," I whisper. "I'm not going anywhere." That was when he kissed me for the first time. It was on the cheek first, but then I turned my head, surprised. We were both red faced and teary eyed, depressed and upset, but something inside of me said to look him in the eye. And when I did, he leaned in and we shared our first kiss.

A/N: Really sad, but also really cute, right? Let me know what you thought because I really liked this chapter. And I actually have some ideas now, so I'm going to try to update regularly from now on! I've already started the next chapter. That's all I have to say, so see you in the next one, Greasers!