"Shut your mouth you cheating bastard!"

"Like you're one to talk, you two-timing whore!"

My parents are at it again. I always went to my room whenever they fought like this. I was writing in my diary, I didn't feel like getting up and calling Kaylyn, and she was probably still with Sodapop. I sighed unhappily, placing my diary by my side and leaning back against my pillow.

A picture from Kaylyn's wedding rested on my bedside table. There were actually a few of them. A picture of me an' Kaylyn hugging and smiling while holding the flowers, a picture of Sodapop and Kaylyn kissing at the altar, and a picture of me and Ponyboy. I sighed again. Ponyboy was the only guy I ever wanted to be with, and I just dumped like it was nothing. I had to, my parents didn't approve of me seein' a greaser, and I couldn't take the beatings anymore. I couldn't look him in the eye after that. I knew it hurt him, but I couldn't say anything or do anything about it.

"I'm sorry Ponyboy." I wanted to be happy so badly, maybe I lost sight of what was truly important. Ponyboy Curtis. Sweet and smart Ponyboy Curtis. My thoughts were broken when my father slammed open the door, denting the wall in the progress. He stood in the doorway, obviously drunk, and glared at me.

"I'm leaving." He growled out, taking another swig from his beer bottle. "I'll be back for you." I usually didn't take anything he said to me seriously, but now felt different. The way he said it, the way he turned away from me, and the way he left our home in such a noisy way. I could hear the car roar out of the drive way, hell, I even watched it disappear into a cloud of dust.

"Oh man, oh man," I was in a full blown panic. He did this all the time, but why was I taking it so seriously now? Ugh. I groaned, pacing back and forth. I wanted to call Kaylyn so badly, but I couldn't. I can't call her; I have to figure it out by myself. Phone, phone, phone!

"Hello? Kaylyn!" I held the phone close to my ear. "Kaylyn, Kaylyn, Kaylyn." I waited for her to reply before completely freaking out again. "He's going to take me away, I can't live here anymore!" I freaked out every once in awhile, but Kaylyn understood, I could actually talk to her.

"Kim, relax, you know he's bluffing..." Kaylyn tried to soothe my raging mind.

"He means it this time! He won't let me get away. He's going to beat me until I go with him and...and..." I sniffed, and I could hear Kaylyn sigh from the other side of the line.

"Kim, calm down. You need to sleep. I know you're scared, but you have to relax a little. Call me tomorrow, okay?" She replied. She sounded so tired. Maybe it was because she had to work and take care of her 3 month old daughter. And yet she still had some time for me.

"O-okay. I'll see ya tomorrow. I'm going to the park to think." I murmured. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." I hung up the phone after she did, slipping on my shoes and grabbing my jacket and walking down the steps. My mother was passed out on the couch, a bottle of beer hanging from her hand. I shook my head in disgust and left without looking back.

The park was only a mile from my house, and when I jogged, I got there in no time. A bench was free, so I sat down on it and looked at the sky. The sun was just beggining to set. I felt my muscles relax and I sighed, leaning back against the bench and closing my eyes.

"You shouldn't be out alone, you know." I jumped. "C'mon, Kim, you know better than that. "

"P-Ponyboy." He sat beside me on the bench, his hands in his jacket as he looked at the sun.

"Remember when we used to watch this together?" He asked quietly. I glanced over at him, blushing and turning away as he turned to look at me. He was still good-looking, and he had only gotten better lookin' over the years. He looked more mature now, but at the same time, he looked young. We were both older now, though, we had both change. Only I hadn't changed emotionally.

"Yeah, it was real pretty. So, I heard something was going on between you an' that Soc girl, Cherry was it?" I had heard some rumors, mostly from Dally and Two-Bit, about him and her have small crushes on each other. That pissed me off to no end, trust me. But I didn't think anything of it until now. I mean, I didn't know her, and me and Pony aren't even together anymore!

"Naw, me an' her can't ever go out. She's a Soc and I'm a greaser." Ponyboy replied. So, he would date her if he was a Soc or she was a greaser? It made me feel worse. It made me feel like he had only gone out with me because I was a greaser. I sighed, standing up and stuffing my hands in my pockets. I wasn't going to listen to this anymore. I didn't need to hear about the girls that constantly hit on him.

"Wait...Kim, I wanted to ask you somethin'?" Ponyboy stopped me, pulling me back and making me face him. My heart beat thirty miles per minute as I waited for him to say something, anything. "Um, I-I..." He suddenly got all shy again, making me nervous. What did he wanna ask? I was clueless. I knew what I wanted him to ask.

"Just say it so we can go our seperate ways and never talk again." I huffed. I didn't want to say that, but I knew I would get hurt if I said anything else. I didn't want to be here anymore, I didn't want to be near Ponyboy. He would only get hurt more, and so would I.

"Kim, why did we break up?" Okay, maybe I was expecting that, but it didn't stop tears from falling down my cheeks. I wasn't supposed to break down like this! I was tough, I had to show him I was tough, that I didn't need him around to feel good about myself. But I knew that was all a lie. He had been everything, he was one of the only people who could make me happy, and I threw that away because I was scared for my own life. I was so selfish.

"I-I had to..." I continued to cry, not fighting it any longer. Pony's hands rested on my shoulder, and I leaned forward, my arms wrapping around his chest. I was overwhelmed by a pain, the pain of leaving behind Ponyboy with no excuse, and now he was here, comforting me, when I wasn't there to comfort him when we broke up. This left me so confused and unhappy, I cried into his chest harder. He never moved away, he let me cry into his chest, softly stroking the back of my head as I cried. It had been awhile since I had let out my feelings, I guess it had really been stressing me out.

"I can't...do this anymore..." I sobbed into his chest. He pushed me away, wiping a few tears. "I didn't want to break up with you..." I stifled another cry of pain, covering my mouth and taking a step back.

"Then why did you?" Pony asked, and for the first time this night, I saw pain in his eyes. I hated this, I hated not telling him the truth, maybe today, with my father leaving, was a sign that I didn't have to be unhappy all the time.

"Because my dad. He hated you...I-I don't know why, but when I refused he beat me. He beat me everyday until I told him I broke up with you. He was watching us when I told you it was over...he slapped me after that, telling me was a fool for ever going out with you, then he went to fight with my mom. I couldn't take the beatings anymore...he pulled a knife on me, he used a beer bottle..." I began to cry again, falling to the ground and covering my face in shame. Ponyboy kneeled in front of me.

"You could've told me that, Kim," He whispered. "Why didn't you?"

"I was scared. I just didn't know about anything...I'm sorry, Pony..." I knew he forgave me by the way he helped me stand up, by the way he kissed me under the moonlight. My father was gone now, he wouldn't come and get me, I trusted Kaylyn to keep me safe. Ponyboy and me, well, we might get back together. We both have to think of the consequences, first.