Author's note: This is a sequel to Fate. If you haven't read it, check it out! The complete story was published in a little over a week. I try to update at least once a day! If you have read Fate and liked it, I hope you enjoy this new story! Who knows where it will go! I do it chapter by chapter!

Chapter One: A New Beginning

Georgie POV

My first day at the University of Tulsa was coming up fast. It was two days away. I was nervous, but excited. I had four classes, and had three of them with Ponyboy.

"Hey, weirdo."

"Hey, lamebrain."

"Hey, just because I ain't as smart as you, doesn't mean my brain is lame."

"My apologies. Didn't mean to hurt your tiny brain's feelings."

"...Smartass..."

I smirked. He smiled and kissed me.

"It's our last Saturday before school. What do you wanna do?"

"There's a new movie playing. I wanted to go see it."

He groaned.

"A movie? Really?"

"That's why I'm going with Ponyboy. You just complain during movies and get up twenty times. You distract too much."

"Okay. Well, how about I take you somewhere to eat after your movie?"

"Sounds good, Soda. Anything to keep you from cooking."

"Hey, my food ain't that bad."

"Yeah. It kinda is..."

He pouted. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on. I wanna go for a walk."

We walked around for about an hour. Just talking. Ever since I told them all about me, it was easier to carry on a conversation.

"So, you failed the fifth grade."

"I couldn't concentrate. That's when it all started."

"I learn something new about you everyday."

"Yeah, well eventually I'll run out of things to tell you and them what will you do?"

"Find someone else and learn all about them?"

I punched him on the arm.

"I'm just kidding! Don't go hurting me!"

We walked back to the house and that's when me and Ponyboy decided to go on to the movies. We saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. When it was over, we walked out of the movie house and stopped on the sidewalk.

"Did you like it, Georgie?"

"I loved it!"

He laughed a little.

"I did, too."

"Butch and Etta remind me of you and me."

We started walking home.

"Do you ever think that?"

"Think what?"

"That if we'd have met first we'd be involved?"

I thought about it for a minute.

"No. I met Soda first, but I talked to you more when we first met. With Soda it was just hey and goodbye. Me and you actually had a conversation. Why? Do you?"

"I don't know. I mean, you're pretty, but I always just thought of you as a best friend. It's just crazy how close we are."

"I admit, our relationship is different. But, I think that's a good thing."

"Why don't you have that kind of relationship with Darry?"

"Same reason you don't. He's a lot older. I mean, he's twenty-five. I'm nineteen and you're eighteen.

"I just kinda feel bad. You've never gone to him for anything. You've always gone to everyone else in the gang."

"Can I tell you something?"

"Shoot."

"Who did I go to when Sandy died?"

He thought about for a minute.

"I don't know. Who did you go to when Sandy died? I thought you'd come to me, but you never did. And I know you didn't go to Sodapop because he went to you."

"I went to Darry."

"You did?"

"I cried in his arms for three nights straight after Soda would go to bed. I needed an older brother. Dally wasn't there, so I needed Darry. I would've never been able to help Soda through it if I hadn't had someone help me through it."

"I never knew that..."

"It wasn't a secret. I guess I just never thought about telling anyone until now."

We were quiet for the rest of the walk home except for a little bit of small talk. When we got to our gate, he stopped me.

"I don't think it would've happened between us either. We almost have too much in common. Even Dally said so."

"We're soulmates without the romance."

He crinkled his nose.

"That doesn't sound very tuff."

I laughed and hugged him. He kissed me on the cheek.

"You're tuff. Trust me."

We walked into the house. It was empty.

"Nap time?"

"Nap time."

We went to Pony's room and went to sleep. He put his arm protectively around me.

"What're you two doing?"

"I'm stealing your woman!"

"You can have her. She's annoying, you'll give her back."

I hadn't opened my eyes yet.

"You're right. You can have her back."

"I don't want her now!"

"Then, what do we do with her?"

"Just throw her out."

"Hey!"

I sat up and glared at both of them. Soda laughed.

"Come on and get ready. We're going out to eat. Remember?"

"Can I go?"

"No, Pone. You got to go to the movies with your best friend, now I'm going out to eat with my girlfriend."

"Whatever. Darry's a better cook, anyways."

"Doesn't matter. Darry's working late. You're cooking."

"Aw man!"

I laughed and went to get dressed. I decided on my skinny jeans, nice converse, and a nicer top. And I did wear my hair down. I walked out into the living room where Soda was waiting for me.

"Am I ever gonna see you in a dress?"

He was teasing me. He knew I'd never wear a dress.

"Yeah, at your funeral."

"But, I'll be dead!"

I smirked.

"Exactly. Don't make me be the one to murder you."

He laughed.

"Come on, let's go."

He took me to one of the nicest restaurants in Tulsa. We were waiting to be seated.

"Now, you're kinda making me wish I had worn a dress..."

He put his hand on my back and whispered in my ear.

"Hey, I was kidding back there. The way you dress makes you different. It's one of the things I love about you."

He kissed my hair. He made me feel better. We were seated and we ordered.

"I have something to tell you."

"Okay. What is it?"

"You know that car Mr. Rivers has been having me and Steve fix up?"

"Yeah?"

"We finished it today. He says it's mine, now."

"That's great, Soda! You have a car now!"

"Did you ever get a license?"

"Yeah. About a week after I moved here. Dad always had the car, though."

"Well, now we can both use it."

"Wait, if you got a car, why did we take the bus here?"

"Because you love walking. Especially at night."

I smiled. He knew me so well.

"You're amazing, Sodapop Curtis. You know that?"

"So I've been told."

We ate and talked. We took the bus halfway home and then started walking the rest of the way.

"I can't believe we start school on Monday."

"I know. It's crazy. It doesn't seem like it's been more than three years since you moved here. In some ways it feels like yesterday, and in other ways it feels like you were always here."

"I know. It's crazy."

We stopped at the lot and sat down to look at the stars. I was thinking too much like I always did.

"Don't they make you feel so small? Those little specks watch us our whole lives and probably scream at us when we do something wrong. Trying to get our attention to protect us the best they can."

Soda didn't answer, so I looked at him. He was just staring at me.

"What?"

"I can see why you're going into creative writing. How do you come up with stuff like that?"

"I don't know. I guess I just think about random stuff all the time. If I think about something long enough, my imagination goes crazy."

"How much do you think about the stars?"

"Well, they're easy to think about because they're out every night. It's not like with everything."

"I love how you look at things so differently. I would've looked at the stars and just saw stars. You saw something completely different."

He leaned down and kissed me. It got pretty heated, but we calmed down and went to the house.

Before you wonder, no. Me and Soda haven't slept together. I mean, we sleep together every night, but you know what I mean. That was sacred to me. After everything I'd been through, I wasn't ready. I still hadn't talked to my mom after the last time I saw her.

Monday rolled around. Mine and Pony's first class wasn't until 10:00and Soda's was at 10:30. He offered to take us to school. When we got there, Ponyboy got out. I stayed in for a second.

"You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty excited."

Good for him. I felt like I was about to throw up.

"The school knows about your panic attacks. You know what to do if you get one."

"Yeah. Find one of my teachers and they'll call Darry. I know, but I'll be fine."

He kissed me and drove off.

"Ready, Georgie?"

"Ready."

Soda POV

I dropped them off knowing she was scared. She was excited, but change was hard for her. She had a random panic attack the week before when we were just talking about school. I knew once she got settled she'd be fine, but it still worried me.

My first day went by pretty fast. Steve was with me, so it wasn't so bad. I liked all my classes, and had them all with Steve. Keeping the secret from the gang was hard.

"How long you gonna keep from them that we're getting business degrees?"

"Until we get those degrees. I don't wanna tell them in case I fail."

Steve sighed.

"Soda, I know you think you're dumb but you're not. Just remember, you're doing this for you and Georgie to have a good life. Let that be what gets you going."

I went home after my last class because I didn't have to work that day. Georgie and Pony got home about an hour after I did. They were laughing and smiling.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

"Great. I really liked my music class."

"Aren't you there for creative writing?"

I smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. But my other three classes are English 1, Creative Non-fiction, and Journalism. All of which I don't care for."

Ponyboy laughed.

"She's ready to start the poetry and fiction classes. She has to take the others first, though. She's jealous that I have a poetry class. Shouldn't have had a minor in anything other than writing."

He smiled at her.

"It's okay. I like my music class."

She turned to me.

"How was your day?"

I was hoping she wouldn't ask too much about it since she didn't know about mechanics.

"It went good. Didn't do too much on the first day."

"Yeah."

She sat next to me.

"It's so much different than High School."

"It is."

"I like it, though. It's a new beginning."

I leaned over and kissed her.

"The beginning of the rest of our lives."