Trigger warning: Mentions of child abuse. It's not too bad, but if you're easily triggered by things like that, please don't read this chapter. I'll put a recap in the middle of the chapter, after everything happens, if you'd rather skip to that, and read the rest of the regular chapter after, which doesn't need trigger warnings.

PS NO I AM NOT GLAMORIZING ABUSE, NOR WOULD I EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT. PLEASE DON'T BE OFFENDED BY MY WRITING!!!

Lydia's POV:

"W-wow," Hope says, unsure of how else to respond. And I'm not surprised, either. I mean, I was just telling her about how I ditched her dad at his parents funeral for her birth father. It is probably a lot to take in for her, and it doesn't make me sound like the greatest person, either. Well, she asked me for a story and I'm just telling it.

"So you and Dallas never dated or anything... Were there any times that you can remember that you hung out alone? Like without the other guys around?" She asks me. I close my eyes for a moment, deep in thought, when suddenly I'm back in 1964.

*Flashback*

"Ponyboy, are you busy after school?" I ask him, sitting next to him at our usual lunch table. It still seems a little weird for me to still be a 7th grader while he's in 8th, but he skipped this grade, and school just started a few weeks ago, so I'm not really used to it yet. The school told him he was too smart for his own good and he'd just be bored here. It's the first year ever that we haven't been in all the same classes and I miss him like crazy.

"Yeah, I have a dentist appointment after school. Why?" He asks. I want to say it, I want to tell him everything. But I can't.

"Just wondering... You know I never have much to do," I say with a laugh.

"What's going on?" He asks me, seriously.

"Are you okay?" He questions.

"I'm fine," I tell him. And it was mostly true. I was fine, at the time. Just scared. Scared of being home, scared of my mother, scared of what she could do to me.

"Has your mom been home lately?" He asks me. God, he knows me so well. I shrug.

"A little bit. Only at night though. I'm usually asleep by the time she stumbles in. And before she can ever find me, she passes out on the couch," I lie. That's how it used to be. Now she's quit drinking, and is home all day, jobless and meaner than ever.

"You know you can come over if you need to later, though, Lydia, right? Even if we're not home, you can still hang out there. I hate the thought that your mom might do something to you just because I can't be with you for a few hours," He says sadly. I reach over and hug him, kissing him on the cheek.

"You know something, Ponyboy? I really love you sometimes," I say with a laugh. He smiles, his ears turning red. He and I aren't dating yet, but we've kind of always been something. Especially since the day he got that phone call and we kissed...

The rest of that day dragged by slower than ever. At the end of the day, I met Ponyboy at the front door of the school, like I do every afternoon so we could walk home together.

"Lyd, Darry's picking me up today so he can take me to the dentist, so I can't walk with you today. Sorry," He says, walking up to his older brother's truck. I shrug, watching him get in.

"Lydia, do you need a ride home?" Darry asks from inside the car.

"No thanks," I say politely. It's not like they haven't been to my house before, I just wouldn't want my mother seeing them, if she's home. I sprint to my house, which is only a few blocks away, not wanting to be jumped in this horrible town of ours. Socs lie all over town, just waiting to strike, so I'm always careful.

Putting my key in the door to the house, I carefully inch inside, not saying a word. I plan to just go in my room, and do my homework. And maybe lock my door.... Okay, I admit it. I'm terrified of my own mother and don't want to tell anyone because I'm worried Darry'll tell someone and have me sent away. It's not like he could afford to take me in full time, I crash on their couch sometimes when I need to, but this isn't the Curtis Hotel, and they don't even have enough money to support themselves! And anyways, I couldn't bare the thought of being without him, my big brother, or Ponyboy, my best friend, or Dally, the love of my life.

I sit down on my bed, knees under me, and take off my backpack. I unzip it to find more stupid math homework that I don't understand. But before I can even start it, I hear something. A door slamming. Crap, she's home.

"Lydia," A voice sing-songs. My mother, of course. Just as I was hoping it would Pony or Dally, come to save me from my homework, and my home, and be my knight in shining armor. I guess not...

"H-hey mom," I say, smiling at her. She seems in good spirits, maybe this won't be so bad.

"Can you do me a favor, honey?" She asks me with a smile.

"Uh sure. What is it?" I ask, a bit nervous as to what she's going to say. She better not have been banned from a liquor store and expecting me to buy her booze. That's probably why she quit...

"I need you to leave the house for a little while," She says, no emotion at all in her voice.

"Why?" I ask with a sigh. Just my mother's usual shenanigans...

"I met a guy. I really like him, and he's coming over tonight, but I told him I don't have any kids, so I need you to leave for a while. I'm not sure how far it'll go tonight, so you should probably spend the night at a friends," She says. Classy, is all I can think. I want to laugh, but instead I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes. This is a joke, right?

"Um... I don't really have a friend's to go to. Can't I just stay in my room? I won't come out," I tell her.

"Honey, I don't want to risk this yet. He could be your stepfather one day!" She exclaims.

"Maybe he'll be a better parent than you," I mumble.

"What did you just say?" She responds. I say nothing.

"What did you just say?" She yells. This time it's louder, more demanding.

"Nothing!" I yell back. And that's when I get slapped across the face. I stand there frozen, just letting my cheek sting for a minute, hoping she'll do something, anything. An apology, a gasp, give me a hug, something. But instead she just smiles wickedly at me.

"You know, I never wanted a kid," She says with a laugh. Tears stream down my face and I can't stop them from coming out now.

"Good, because you just lost yours. I'll go get my stuff," I say, walking into my room. I zip my backpack back up, slinging it over my shoulder, and throwing some clothes in a tote bag. Then, I walk out of my room. I stop in front of my mother.

"Thanks for nothing," I say.

"I gave you everything, Lydia. I'm 29 years old for heavens sake. I have up my life for you!" She screams. It's her own fault for being a 16 and pregnant mom....

"You never cared," I say, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Lydia Rose Jones, I want you out of my house. For good," She says, angrily. And I don't move, I just stand there, and suddenly there's a piercing, throbbing pain in my nose, and warm blood dripping down my face.

"D-did you just punch me?" I ask, hands, over my nose. She says nothing, only laughs harshly. Tears stream down my face quickly, mixing with the blood.

"Get out of my house," She says, pronouncing each individual syllable. So I do. I grab my things and run outside.

Recap for those that couldn't read part of this chapter:

Hope asked Lydia if she and Dallas had ever spent any time alone together. She flashed back to 1964, a specific day where Ponyboy couldn't hang out after school due to a dentist appointment. She went home, knowing that her mother has been home lately, but found that today, she wasn't when Lydia got there. But as soon as she started her homework, her mother came home and called her into the living room to ask her to leave the house for a night so she could have a guy come over and pretend that she doesn't have children. Lydia gets upset and starts crying, then mumbles something to herself, earning a slap in the face. She goes to pack her things and her mother punches her, then tells her to get out of her house, and Lydia listens.

Okay, back to the regular story. I promise, it's safe from here on. I'm very sorry to anyone who was triggered by that, please stay strong and remember that you can DM me any time that you need to talk. I love you and I care about you so so much.

Of course, to my luck, it's pouring rain, but I can barely tell, I'm crying so much. I run all the way to the Curtis's and knock on the door. There's no answer, but I know they always keep their door open, so I walk in, hoping they just didn't hear me.

"I-is anyone here?" I manage to choke out. No response, so I leave. I know that I'm welcome here, that I can stay if I want to, but for some reason I don't. I walk out the door and keep running, my two bags of all of my belongings slung over my shoulders, with my nose still dripping, and my eyes producing more tears than they've ever had.

Soon enough, I end up at Buck Merril's, where Dallas has been crashing lately. I knock on the door, not knowing who would answer, and hoping it wouldn't be Buck. Luckily, it wasn't, it was Dally.

"Lydia? What are you doing here," He asks. Does he not see my face? My bags?

Suddenly I drop to the ground, pulling my knees to my chest, leaning my head on it and sobbing. Carefully, as if he were handling a sleeping infant, Dallas takes the backpack off of my shoulders, and places it in the dry house, along with my tote bag.

He doesn't try to move me inside, or ask me what happened, or even offer to help me clean up or anything. He just sits down on the wet ground next to me, letting the rain soak him as he puts his arms around me. He rubs my back and shush's me, trying to get me to stop crying.

"It's okay, Lydia. Whatever happened, it doesn't matter. I'm here now," He whispers in my ear. I lay my head on his shoulder and he puts his right hand in my left, rubbing circles in it. I take long breaths, trying to calm myself down.

By the time I do, my eyes are red and puffy, my face is tearstained and Dally and I are both soaked from the rain.

"C'mon, why don't we go inside," He says, not letting my hand go as he helps me up and leads me to his room, taking my bags and we go upstairs. My teeth chatter as I sit down on his bed and he gives me a towel and a big, baggy shirt of his.

"Why don't you put this on and tell me what's going on," He suggests, turning around so I can change. I do as told, and then take a blanket off of his bed, wrapping it around myself. He puts his arms around me, still wet. But I don't care. They comfort, sooth me. I end up spilling everything to him about my mother. How she hit me, about the guy, and how she kicked me out.

Towards the end of my story I started crying. He reacted by kissing my cheek and telling me it was okay, that he would never let something like that happen to me again. That was the first time I ever told him I loved him.

A/N: Longest chapter I've ever written! 1.86k words, not including the authors note, warning or recap! I hope you like it, this chapter is one of my favorites, even though it kind of has all of the clichés... And oh look at that, it's 2:01 AM and I have to be up at 8 AM for camp tomorrow! Well, have a great day/night and leave me some reviews! I love you💕
-Katy.