Lydia's POV:

"That must have been so, so hard for both of you," Hope says. I nod.

"It was. Mrs. Curtis was like a mother to me," I tell her. She doesn't say anything, just gives me a chance to think. What was my first memory without her?

"We got through it, though. I know all of us miss her, though. And Mr. Curtis. Every single day," I say. Hope nods.

"So what happened after that?" She asks.

"Well, things were hard. Everyone was tense for a while, they were all breaking. But after a while they had the funerals and we somehow... accepted that the greatest parents that there were were gone. It's really just a blur for me, honey," I tell her.

*Flashback*

The funeral, all I can remember was walking in holding Ponyboy's hand. We walked together, confidently to the coffins. We both wished our goodbyes, trying to hold our tears in, as hard as it was.

But then we saw Dallas. He was staring at Mrs. Curtis's body, scarped, bloody and scarred, yet as pretty and clean as they could possibly make her. Her hair was nicely brushed and she was wearing a party dress. Dally had stood in front of her coffin, and taken her hand in his, whispering something I couldn't hear. I always knew they had some kind of special connection, but I didn't expect tears to be running down his face. That was when Pony lost it. He had always seen Dally as a big, strong guy, but he was crying. He didn't care about his rep, he cared about Mrs. Curtis. And she had been lost.

Mrs. Curtis always had a way to keep him out of trouble. He could stay in the kitchen with her for hours, watching her make dinner and just talking with her. She was Ponyboy's mother, Soda and Darry's too, obviosuly, and maybe Dally wasn't as close as a brother to them, but Mrs. Curtis was his mother too.

She always had a way to make him laugh, make him smile, she could do that with everyone. But the difference here? Nobody could do that to him.

We were all so young at the time. Pony and I were just 13, Soda, Steve and Johnny were 15, Dally was 16 and Darry was only 19 at the time. It was such a shock to all of us....

I remember running to Dallas's side, trying to comfort him. I put an arm around him, and just stood next to him. I don't remember what he had said to her, or even if I heard what he had said, but it was obviously something important. She was something important. Dallas could have one talk with her and stay out of law trouble for weeks.

But of course as soon as the funeral was over, he got himself arrested. Probably public disturbance for drinking, or maybe something else that I wasn't aware of, but I do remember finding out that he was back there, and my heart breaking.

He'd had a mile long prison record, he'd had it forever and for some reason, he was proud of it. But I always noticed a difference in him. After every time he was hauled into the station, he came back a little bit colder, tougher, and there was nothing that I could do except sit there and watch it happen.

I don't remember what happened at that funeral after I saw Dally cry. I must have tried to block it out while I was still young, but I guess I just couldn't forget about that. I don't remember much that happened after that, for a few weeks anyways. I know that the gang and I went to school as usual, faking our smiles, pretending that everything was okay. But you know what? It wasn't for any of us. It wasn't for me, or the Curtis Brothers, Johnny, or Two-Bit and Steve, and especially not for Dallas. It was like we were all missing a piece of us, a piece of the gang. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were special to all of us, and we never truly got over their losses...

A/N: This chapter was way too short and I had nothing left to say. I almost didn't want to post it but whatever. What did you think of it? A longer update will be coming soon! -Katy💕