AN: Hey this is my First Outsiders fic! Just to clear up some stuff, this is set before the events in the book/movie and Soda and Melody are 16. So it's my story, then a bit of random stuff and then the events that are in the book/movie will follow later on, so that will be set later so for example in the story/movie Ponyboy is 14 will in this he will be 15, ok? Ok enjoy my story!... And please review; I need help with this one :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Outsiders; I only own Melody and the plot so far. I will write another AN when the story changes to the story. Every other character (except Andrew Greene and maybe a few others.) belongs to SE Hinton.

"Mel Come on, get out of bed!" yelled Ponyboy from the kitchen. He got no reply and Darry was getting frustrated.

"Melody get out of bed!" he shouted. He looked at his watch. Hopefully he wasn't going to be late for work.

"Don't you need to go to work Darry?" Melody yelled. Darry sighed.

"She's right, I gotta go. I'll be back later tonight." he said goodbye to the gang and left.

Everyone had gathered in the Curtis' house just like most mornings. Ponyboy, Sodapop and Johnny were sitting at the kitchen table, Two-Bit sat on the countertop and Steve was raiding the icebox as usual. They were all waiting for Soda's twin sister, Melody to get out of bed.

"Mel, come on girl, Get you're ass out of bed!" yelled Steve. Still no reply.

"Well I tried." he said, giving up.

"Someone's gotta go get her up." said Soda. Two-Bit jumped off the bench.

"I'll do it!" he said, walking into Melody's room. Everyone smiled. They knew Two-Bit was the one of the only people who could get her out of bed. They had been best friends since…well forever. So everyone was talking amongst themselves when suddenly they heard a loud thump.

"TWO-BIT MATTHEWS YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"

They then saw Two-Bit running for his life into the kitchen, only to have Melody jump on his back and tackle him to the floor. Everyone was laughing so hard that Soda fell off his chair and landed with a thud on the ground.

"Say Uncle!" demanded Melody.

"Never!" said Two-Bit. She twisted his arm tighter around his back.

"Say it!"

"Alright, Alright Uncle…UNCLE!" he shouted. Melody laughed but stopped when Two-Bit shoved her off him. Everyone was trying to recover from their laughter. Soda tried getting back on the chair but failed and fell back to the ground.

"Man…wha…what…did…you…do?" asked Johnny in between laughs.

"That Moron turned my mattress over didn't he!" said Melody, rubbing her back.

"Hey we all tried getting you up before." said Steve, putting his hands up in mock defense.

"Yeah, Well…" said Melody, sitting on Soda's lap. he wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a hug.

"Hey Steve pass us some of that cake." said Ponyboy.

"Comin' right up!" said Steve sticking his head back into the icebox. He emerged with a plate.

"Steve we better head off man." said Soda. He got up and kissed Melody on the cheek.

"See you round lunchtime." he said.

"See Ya's later. Hey Pony, you and Johnny want a lift?" asked Steve with a mouth full of chocolate cake.

"Yeah Sure." said Pony.

"See ya later." yelled Melody.

"Hey can I hang here for a while?" asked Two-Bit.

"Sure, I don't start my shift till lunchtime." said Melody. Two-Bit grabbed himself a beer and another slice of cake and sat in front of the TV watching Mickey Mouse.

"Is that really what you plan to do all day?" asked Melody. "Sitting in front of my TV all day watching cartoons with beer and cake?" Two-Bit looked at her with an innocent face.

"What else might you suggest?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know…get a job!?" suggested Melody. "You know earn some money. Cash is good. You should try it sometime." Two-Bit pretended to think about it.

"Nah, you know me babe, I ain't one for working. It would ruin my rep. And why buy, when I could just lift everything?" he said, sipping his beer. Melody walked over and slapped him in the back of the head.

"Moron." she muttered. Two-Bit laughed.

"Yeah but I'm your moron!" he yelled

"Whatever." she mumbled.

"You know you love me!" he shouted before getting back to his cartoons.

Melody just shook her head and went to do the dishes. She pulled her long brown hair into a ponytail and turned on the taps. Two-Bit was right. She did love him, more than anything. Two-Bit was one of those guys that you love to have around.

It was true, he was a complete jackass but he was her best friend, had been for as long as they both could remember. Two-bit had a natural talent for turning a serious situation funny. He also was a legend at lifting things without being noticed. He once walked out with half a shop because the guy at the register was watching a football game. His prized possession was a black-handled switchblade that he swiped a while ago.

He was 2 years older that her so he was like her annoying older brother who always had your best interests at heart. All the guys were like family. Even if that does sound too cheesy for a gang of tough-as-nails greasers, but it was true. When their parents died, the Curtis kids didn't think they would cope. But everyone was there and they helped build everything back up. They were lucky that everyone got on so well.

Melody's older brother Darrel, or Darry as he was most often called, was given legal guardianship of Soda, Melody and Ponyboy when their parents died. Darry worked too much and didn't have enough fun in his life. He had given up his dreams of college and his own life to resign to work and run a household at the age of 20. The gang often called him "Superman" or "Muscles" on account of his physique. Steve once made the mistake of calling him 'all Brawn and no Brains.' Darry almost shattered his jaw after that.

The Youngest Curtis, Ponyboy, was the dreamer. That kid had a real future ahead of him. Melody and Ponyboy got on so well because of a number of reasons. Pony was one of the smartest kids around; he was even put up a year in school. He loved to read and go to the movies a lot. He was a very artistic person.

Sodapop was a real good-looking guy. Often referred to having 'Movie-Star looks'. Soda had dropped out of school after the accident to help with the family's money situation. He worked at the DX gas station full time. Unlike most of the gang, or any greaser for that matter, Soda never drank because honestly he didn't need it. Ponyboy said that he naturally gets high on life.

Soda and Melody were typical twins. They were the best of friends and always did things together. Technically Soda was eleven and a half minutes older than Melody and he never let her forget it.

Steve Randle was Soda's best friend and worked down at the DX with him. The two of them and Melody get called the three musketeers. Not many of the gang ever really had a good home life but Steve's old man kicked him out at least once a week, telling him never to come back. Which was fine by Steve, just gave him the excuse to hang around the Curtis' house more.

Johnny Cade was the gangs pet and Ponyboy's best friend. Johnny looked like a little lost puppy that had been kicked one too many times. He was the silent 16 year old who was always getting beat up by his parents. Johnny hardly ever talked to anyone about it except Ponyboy, Melody and Dally. Apart from Ponyboy, Melody was probably Johnny's closest friend. They often spent time together. Melody was like the older sister that Johnny never had but always wanted.

Dallas Winston was a true greaser who moved to Tulsa from New York. Dally never liked doing anything the legal way and was famous down at the police station. He had a record at least a mile long and Melody often joked that he had his own storage cabinet. Apart from Two-Bit, Dally was Melody's closest friend. Even though he was one of the toughest hood's around, he would do anything for his friends. Especially Melody.

Sure they weren't the most clean cut kids around. They were from the wrong side of town. They weren't rich or have much of anything for that matter. But they did have each other. They were a gang and gangs gotta stick together.

Melody quickly snapped out of it before she got too worked up over it all. Her mind had a habit of running away on her sometimes. Two-Bit came into the room and picked up some of the suds and played with them like a little kid. Melody took a look at him.

"You know you've got something on you're face." she said.

"Where?" asked Two-Bit, as he wiped his face desperately with his hands. Melody laughed and grabbed some suds and splattered them all over his face.

"Right there!" she laughed. That was war. Two-Bit grabbed a handful of soapy water and splashed it all over Melody. That continued back and forth for a good fifteen minutes before they heard something in the living room.

"Anyone home?" asked a familiar voice. Melody dropped the spatula she was washing into the water.

"Dally?" she whispered. She raced into the living room to see Dallas Winston standing there in the doorway grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Oh My God Dally!" she cried, running into his open arms. He picked her up and spun her around into a hug.

"Hey kiddo, lookin' good!" he said, looking her up and down teasingly.

"When did you get outta the cooler?" Melody asked.

"This mornin'. It's amazing what good behavior can do." he laughed sarcastically.

"You, Good Behavior. Whatever." Melody joked. Dally pulled one of his signature grins.

"Geez kiddo I thought you, of all people, would be happy to see Me." he joked, looking sad and turned towards the door. Melody playfully slapped him.

"Shut up. It really is good to have you back. Missed seeing your ugly mug around here." smiled Melody. Just then Two-Bit finally stopped playing in the suds and came in.

"Hey, hey Dally ol' pal. Good to see you." he said, patting him on the pack. Dally looked at the soap on Two-Bit's Mickey Mouse t-shirt.

"I don't wanna know man." he laughed as he went over and sat on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table. Two-Bit and Melody smiled at each other before he went back to Mickey and she went back to the dishes.

"So what's been happening here while I was away?" asked Dal. Melody finished up with dishes and came and sat down on the couch. She flicked Dally with the dishrag to get his feet off the table.

"Not much really. Same-old, same-old." shrugged Melody. She threw the rag at Two-Bit.

"Admit it Curtis, i'm the life of the party around here." smirked Dal.

"Sure, because we our lives can't function without the presence the great Dallas Winston." said Melody sarcastically.

"Damn straight!" agreed Dal. Melody rolled her eyes as the phone rang. Two-Bit managed to pry his eyes away from the TV screen to get up and answer it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Yeah, hold up. Mel its Soda." said Two-bit handing her the phone.

"Hey …you serious…well yeah I guess…how much...ok see ya."

"What's up?" asked Dal.

"They need me to come into work early." sighed Melody. She put the phone back and went to her room to get ready.

Mel came back about five minutes later dressed in her work clothes.

"I better get going." she said. "You guys can hang out here or whatever you want but i'm serious don't break anything." she warned.

"I'll walk with you if you want." offered Dal. Melody smiled and nodded.

"I'll come by round lunchtime." said Two-Bit.

"Ok." said Mel. She waved goodbye to Two-Bit before she and Dal left the house.