…June 30, 1970…..

"Marilyn, you look so beautiful," Sandy smiled and hugged her cousin.

Marilyn gave a weak smile and hugged back, then walked over to the long mirror. "I can't believe I'm getting married," she smiled nervously.

Evie hugged her shoulders from the side and chuckled, "Well believe it cause pretty soon, you're gonna be Mrs. Darry Curtis." We all laughed at her comment.

There was a knock on the door and we all turned. "Are you all decent?" Sodapop asked, walking in with his hand over his eyes. We all laughed again at his approach. He peeked through his fingers and when he saw we were all dressed, he took his hand off of his eyes. Candy walked over to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead and she wrapped her arms around his torso. "You lovely ladies all ready?" he smiled at us all. The rest of us nodded then looked to Marilyn. She shut her eyes for a second, took a deep breath, opened her eyes and nodded with a small smile on her face. He nodded and walked out, the rest of us walking out to go to the small lobby area of the community church.

We got out and all started to get ready. I walked over to Two-Bit, who smiled when he saw me. "You look good in a tux," I smiled and pecked his lips.

His hands reached my waist. "And you look beautiful in a dress," he smiled.

Someone behind us cleared their throat. We turned and it was Steve. "If you two don't mind too much, we kinda got a wedding to do," he said.

Two-Bit and I shared annoyed looks then got in line for the wedding to start. I leaned out to the side and saw Darry standing at the front waiting in his tux. He chose Danny as his best man, and Marilyn chose Sandy as her maid of honor, so they were in the beginning and good a better look to see what Darry was doing. After them, it was Sodapop and Candy, then Ponyboy and Cherry, Two-Bit and me, then Steve and Evie right in front of Marilyn. "Ready?" I heard Ponyboy call a bit, but not too loudly, to his oldest brother. I saw Darry nod and smile. Cherry turned and did the same for Marilyn, who did the same thing. The music started and we slowly made our way forward.

…end of ceremony…

We all clapped as we saw Darry cup Marilyn's chin and she wrapped her arms around his neck. I saw a flash from some camera as the two now were a married couple.

"I never thought I'd see the day when my big brother got married," Soda said as we all walked out the church.

"I said this when we met her, and I'll say it now… Superman found his Lois Lane," Steve shrugged and we all laughed.

"I remember when we first met her," I smiled, "Did any y'all notice that she was like a mother to us all as we got used to her?"

Everyone nodded. "She accepted me quicker than the rest of you," Cherry laughed, now that we could laugh about that.

She was right. When Cherry and Ponyboy started going out a little after Two-Bit and me got married, everyone else couldn't really bring themselves to accept her- except Marilyn. I remember Cherry was telling me she felt terrible about things that happened in the past between us all and other Socs, and she felt like everyone hated her cause of things that happened. Marilyn was there when she was telling me and she sat there with Cherry for an hour talking with her and comforting her. She was able to get it to Cherry that none of that was her fault and that it had nothing to do with her, and that she had no reason to feel bad, and that she would talk to everyone. I remember when she had that conversation with everyone else, and it had worked. From that point on, Cherry was fully accepted by the rest of us all.

We all went to a small reception at the apartment that the two had moved into, which was the building next to where Danny and Sandy lived with their bookstore. The people who else was there was Danny, Sandy, Sodapop, Candy, Ponyboy, Cherry, Steve, Evie, Two-Bit and me. Lucky for us, there was just enough room for all of us comfortably at one time.

"I think I understand any nerves you had last year, Rain," Marilyn chuckled a bit, "Don't get me wrong, I'm overjoyed that I married Darry, but weddings are just nerve-wracking. Ya know?"

I laughed and nodded, "Trust me, Marilyn, I get what you mean. But getting past those nerves, it's completely worth it in the end, and you wouldn't wanna change any of it."

"Which of us is next, you think?" Evie asked.

I smirked a bit and looked at Candy. "Well… Candy caught the bouquet."

Candy bit her lip trying to hide a smile and her cheeks got bright pink. "I don't know about that, but-"

"We're just goin' by history," I shrugged innocently, "I mean, I don't believe in none of that stuff, but I caught Sandy's and I got married next. Then Marilyn caught mine and she got married. Maybe you're next."

Candy shrugged again and glanced at Soda from across the room then back at us. "I don't know. I mean, do I love him? Yeah, with all my heart. Do I wanna marry him? Of course I do. But I wanna make sure both of us are ready before he ever proposes."

"Well, are you ready?" Cherry asked.

Candy shrugged. "I'll find out when I'm ready when he pops the question."

We all left the apartment a couple hours later. Candy and Evie both starting sharing an apartment and became roommates when Evie started classes at the University of Tulsa. By some chance of luck, me and Candy got accepted there like Evie had. And apparently, Cherry had started there the same year as Evie, but none of us knew cause they didn't really know Cherry yet at that time. We didn't find out till me and Candy started going there since I was friends with Cherry before I met them. And now, Cherry was packing to move in with them in their apartment at the edge of town.

Evie and Candy had hoped to have me move in like Cherry, but I got married. Evie would always tease me about not being able to move in with them. "Excuse me then for deciding to get married," I would always say, followed by laughing.

Two-Bit and I got back to the small house we had, which was a block away from the Curtis' leaning more to the center of town, at about eleven at night after the reception. We had moved in to the house about six months after getting married, by then we had enough to get small mortgage on the house, but his army career would be able to help pay for it since he was a soldier. "That was a nice wedding, don't ya think?" I asked as we changed to get to sleep.

I saw him nod. "It actually was, but ours was better," he smirked.

I laughed and sat down on the bed. "I knew you would say that."

"What? You don't agree with me?"

I smirked this time. "Did I say I didn't?"

He sat across from me and kissed me. We both leaned back against the headboard of the bed then lied down to go to sleep. "Oh yeah," he said after he turned off his bedside table lamp, "I have some really good news I had to tell you."

I turned to face him. "What is it?"

"Next year, I don't have to go back to Vietnam. The draft is over." I saw him smile at me.

I let out a gasp and covered my mouth with my hand in disbelief. "Are you serious?" I nearly yelled, smiled and leaned my other arm on my pillow. He nodded. I quickly pulled his face to me and pressed my lips against his. I smiled when I pulled back, "That's great. You don't have to go back anymore."

He nodded and pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Yeah it is, now I don't have to leave you." A smiled found its way to my face and we went to sleep.

Oh my gahd this is the first one shot of this story oh my gahd. If it's not like other one-shots, I apologize, it's cause I never wrote a one-short, so I'm just gonna call the chapter for this "short stories throughout their lives"

I'm still deciding if I'm gonna out this on wattpad. I'll probably mention it next time I update "Before the Love", then put it there.

Each short story for this will be different lengths, depending what point in their life they are at.

Anyway, I hope you like this story, peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=