Darry's POV:

After Elizabeth left, we didn't talk for a while. I had no idea how to get ahold of her, no idea where she went, anything. A few times I went out looking for her: at some of her old friends houses, at our favorite places. I even asked some people about her, but no one had seen her. It was like she'd disappeared. Then one day I decided to pick up the phone and call Dally, remembering how close she was with him and Beka.

"Yeah, she's here," he'd said.

"Well, can I talk to her?" I asked him. He said no, that she was busy and she didn't want to talk to me anyways. He said he was sorry and we made a few minutes of small talk, like how Elizabeth got there, which turned out to be by plane. I learned that she was starting classes again at NYU soon.

He asked me about Pony and Soda and Johnny and I told them that they were all fine, he said he and Beka were doing fine too.

He asked me if I knew Elizabeth was pregnant. I told him I did, and his next question was "Is it yours?" I didn't know exactly how to respond to that. Who else's would it be? After a while, I got annoyed and told him to put Elizabeth on the phone. I didn't think it was fair of her to leave while carrying my baby. Her beautiful voice rang in the background, yelling at me.

"If you want to talk to me, you can come to New York and do it face to face!" And of course, I would have loved to. I wanted her back. I wanted to tell her much how I love her and misses her and hold her in my arms and take care of her through the pregnancy. I just didn't have the money to do so.

I asked Dally if he would ask her to consider coming home. He said she wouldn't without even asking her, and repeated what Elizabeth had yelled to me earlier. I thanked him and said goodbye, crestfallen.

I thought about Elizabeth. How angry and upset she'd looked when she'd walked out, how I'd hurt her so much that she moved halfway across the country... And how much I wanted to go and get her. I didn't have enough money for that. I had two kids to raise.

In the meantime, I tried to put her out of my mind. I focused on working and taking care of my brothers, but that only made me thinking the baby on their way. It made me wonder if it would be a boy, like my brothers, or a girl, like Elizabeth. I called Dally every now and then. He and Beka would answer, but not Elizabeth. I always asked if they knew the sex of the baby, but they wouldn't even tell me that. They never handed the phone to my ex-girlfriend either, even through all of my begging and pleading.

Quicker and quicker the September due date came upon us, and I became more stressed out and edgy. I couldn't focus. I wasn't eating or sleeping, and Soda commented a lot on the bags under my eyes. I didn't even have the energy to help Pony. I'd still make sure he was getting his homework done, but I wouldn't check it all over, and wouldn't care enough to get mad when he did it wrong.

Absentmindedly, I took a few girls out. We got drinks, went to dinner, but it was nothing special. We never had any chemistry like Elizabeth and I did.

One day in early September, my boss called me into his office.

"Curtis, you're looking terrible these days," he said. I just barely cracked a smile, knowing it was true.

"Something's on your mind, I can tell. Something you need to get done. You haven't been focusing lately. Maybe you just need some rest, I'm not sure, but I think it's time you had a vacation," he said. I was stunned, not having had one, well, at all.

"T-thank you, sir. That would be wonderful," I said. At first, I didn't know what to do with it. Then he told me the whole week would be paid, and something clicked in my head.

"Thank you sir, again. I need to go to New York, so this'll be the perfect chance," I said.

"New York, eh? Well, don't party too hard. And get home, kid, your family's waiting," he said. I smiled at him, thanked him again and left. As soon as I got home, I called Dally. I told him I finally had the time and money to do it, and I was coming to see Elizabeth. It had been nine long, painful months, but I was finally ready.

"You better hurry up if that's the case, man. She's ready to pop any day now," he said to me. As soon as I got off of the phone with him, I called the airline.

A few days later, my brothers and I were on a plane to New York.

The whole ride there, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to say to her.

"How are you?" No, too casual.

"I'm sorry." No, not at the beginning at least.

"I missed you." No, what if she didn't miss me?

The three of them: Dally, Beka and Elizabeth picked Pony, Soda and I up at the airport. Even if I had planned something to say to her when I saw had, it wouldn't have happened. Even 9 months pregnant, she took my breath away and made me tongue tied.

"H-hi," I said to her. She smiled at me, brushed a strand of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. She'd let it grow out since the last time I'd seen her, and it looked amazing.

"You look great," I told her. She laughed, gesturing to her swollen belly.

"How's the pregnancy been going?" I asked.

"Can't wait until it's over," she responded. I nodded.

"I missed you, Darry," she said.

"I missed you too," I told her. I realized that she didn't tell me that I looked good too.

•••
Finally, we got to the day that I had come for. Elizabeth had barely talked to me, I spent most of my time with Dally while Beka went to classes, and Elizabeth laid in bed, being so pregnant that she had trouble walking. By now, she was two days past her given due date.

Elizabeth's labor seemed to go on for forever and a day, with lots of screaming, and squeezing my hand, but when our daughter came out, it was the greatest moment of both of our lives. Behind me, I heard Ponyboy and Soda yelling about how they're uncles, and Beka aweing, telling Dally that she wanted one, and him laughing, but I barely remember it now.

"She's beautiful," I whispered as soon as I held her in my arms. The doctors gave her to me first.

"She has your eyes, Liz," I whispered, looking down. Her eyes, soft, warm and kind, filled with nothing but happiness and love in the tiny slits of brownish blue. I handed the baby to Elizabeth saying, "We should name her Taylor."

"She has your nose, Dar," She told me, making me smile. She looked down at the baby for a moment before speaking her thoughts, saying, "I used to have a doll names Taylor when I was younger. I always used to say that if I ever had a real baby, I would name her Taylor too."

"Well, now we can," I told her. She nodded, not looking up at me.

"Taylor... Taylor Julia Curtis?" She asked. I nodded, loving it. Loving the Curtis at the end. Because Taylor was our daughter, not just hers.

"You like it?" She asked.

"I do," I responded.

"Great... Hi Taylor, baby. Welcome to the world," Elizabeth said, tickling her nose, moving her arms like a doll.

"So Liz," I started, clearing my throat.

"I know... Joint custody from New York to Oklahoma is going to be a bitch," she said. I nodded sheepishly, a little nervous to say what was about to come out of my mouth.

"So... What what would you say about getting back together, then?" I asked then corrected myself with, "Well, at least try to?" She handed Taylor to Beka, and looked into my eyes, patting the empty part of her bed for me.

"I'd say you have a damn good chance of that," she said. I stared into her eyes. They were filled with the same sense of hope and love that Taylor had in her eyes. The same kind of hope in her eyes on the day where I asked her out.

"Would you consider moving back to Tulsa... With me?" I asked her. She looked around the room for a second before responding, "Yeah." My eyes widened.

"R-really?" I asked. She nodded.

"My mom's gonna wanna see the baby. And anyways, I missed you... A lot. And a girl's gotta have a daddy, I know that better than anyone," she said. And that was when I kissed her.

"I guess I still love you, Dar," she said. At first, that sentence sounded uncertain to me, but after rerunning it in my mind, I knew that there were few things she was this certain about. She still loved me. And she still does.

"I love you, Elizabeth. I always have and I promise I always will," I told her.

Taylor is now four years old, and I haven't broken that promise yet.

A/N: So I was rereading Mean Socs, and I guess I was really disappointed in the ending. I've always thought this was how it should have ended, so here we go. The alternate ending, the real ending. Let me know what you think, which ending you like best!

And be sure to check out my newer fanfictions:
Not What It Seems (Outsiders)
My Worst Summer (Ponyboy)
Memories (River Phoenix)
-Katy💕