This is the final draft of Come and Gone chapter 1! YAY! I can't wait to hear what people think of the new version. It's not too different, but it's a little more '60s oriented with more slang (when Ponyboy says that Steve was trying to 'ball' Lana, he means that he was trying to seduce her, which is what I said in the earlier version. I thought it felt more true to the time setting so I changed it) and smaller words so everyone sounds more like a teenage delinquent. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own TheOutsiders. S.E. Hinton does.

"Wake up."

"No."

"Wake up!"

"No!" and then he threw a pillow at me.

"Goddamnit Soda can't a girl get any sleep around here?"

"Why? Were you workin' on your beauty sleep? 'Cause you sure do need it!"

"Dammit Soda! You're such an ass!"

"Whoa, watch it girl. Talkin' like that won't get you a boyfriend!"

"Piss off Soda!"

"Hey, what's all this yelling about?"

"Pony! Save me! Soda's beating me with a pillow!" I said in my most dramatic tone possible. It was the same every morning, with only slight variations. Sometimes Soda would pour water on me or shake me, but all in all it was the same.

I walked into the small bathroom and turned the hot water for the shower on, after I used the bathroom and undressed, I stepped in. The water was scalding, but it felt good on my freezing skin. It was always cold in my room, no matter what I did to try and change that, it was. I guess it was just one of those little weird things in life that you have to accept. I washed my hair and body, and grabbed a towel before I stepped out. I was sixteen, and living with three guys can make a girl paranoid like that, even though none of the guys ever tried anything.

I looked at myself in the mirror and just stared. People call me conceited sometimes because I do that, and maybe I am, but I'm just trying to make sure it's still me. That I'm still Lana Reynolds. I'm still the equivalent to Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy's sister. Our lives had been spinning out of control lately and it was all I could do to hang on. I'm not a weak person, and the gang knows that, but I am still a girl. And we can only take so much.

I carefully wrapped the towel around me so that nothing was showing. I ducked my head out the door, looked both ways to make sure no one was coming, and ran for it. I made it to my room and grabbed my clothes that I had picked out last night, quickly put them on, and walked into the kitchen where I smelled eggs. I sat down and waited patiently for my breakfast to be served to me. I didn't control the boys, they babied me. I was the only girl in the house and they treated me as if I was a delicate porcelain doll. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had done the same thing all my life. I had never known any else. My parents died when I was a few months old, and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were my Godparents, so they took care of me. When they died, Darry became my foster parent. It was convenient because a social worker had to stop by to check on Pony and Soda anyway, so it saved money on gas.

"Lana, will you help me?" Ponyboy had just walked into the kitchen with a very confused look on his face and his math book in his hand.

"Come here Pony, I'll help you," I was a grade above Pony and a math genius. I helped Pony with his math and he helped me with English. It was a good trade off.

"Breakfast for m'lady," Darry put my plate on the table with a deep bow, "and here's yours," he said putting Pony's plate on the table indifferently before he walked away.

"Hey, why does Lana get all the special treatment?" Pony asked exasperated.

"Because I'm a lady," I said and started shoveling eggs into my mouth. I've always been a big eater, but it doesn't show.

Pony had a review packet he was working on for class Monday, and he couldn't remember a thing when it came to math. It was really simple stuff for me, and it didn't take me long to explain what was confusing him. He finally got to where he understood and put it away for a while. I proceeded to eat my breakfast.

"Good God Lana, have you eaten this week?" Soda asked when I was halfway done with my obnoxiously large second helping. I simply glared because my mouth was too full for a retort.

"I'm done," I stated after I chugged my third glass of milk.

"Where 'ya goin' Lana?" Darry, he's so oblivious. I simply stated that I had to go to the bathroom and left. I had everything, except my toothbrush, in a pink box decorated by yours truly. I put on my mascara, foundation, and blush and walked into my room to put on my socks and shoes. I didn't wear too much make-up, especially eyeliner. I didn't want to wind up looking like Angela Shepard.

"Atlana! Get out here! We're gonna be late!" Darry was using his infamous "father" voice.

"Coming!" I yelled irritated. We were meeting the gang to just walk around, Pony was probably going to sneak off to the movies like he usually did, but I was debating whether or not to go see Robbie. We had been hanging out for a while now and he still hasn't asked me out and I wasn't going to wait much longer.

I walked into the living room to find Soda and Steve wrestling. It was typical but I was already annoyed.

"Guys!" I screamed and everyone stopped and looked at me, "Seriously? Steve let go of him," he had Soda in a headlock, but quickly let him go upon my command, "you're gonna break something, again."

"Gosh Lana, why are you yelling?" Soda asked concerned but scared at the same time. I could be very frightening when I wanted to be. When you live on our part of town, you have to learn fast.

"Yea, what's wrong with ya?" Steve asked while he poked me in the stomach.

"Steve!" I yelled glaring. That really hurt.

"Geez, what's wrong with…oh," Darry said finally realizing along with everyone else what was wrong with me. I hung out with guys so much that I was almost treated like one. Almost. But they often forgot about basic female bodily functions.

"I like 'em feisty. They're better that way," Steve said while he leered at me. He's such a man-whore. Usually I would have just smarted-off to him, but today I decided to play along.

"Is that so?" I asked sexily while doing the age-old chest lift, "Come here," I requested, beckoning with my finger. When he didn't immediately come I slowly and sexily walked the few feet towards him. I gave him the sexy eyes before whispering directly in his ear "Piss", and then screaming, "OFF!" He instantly recoiled and fell to the ground. Darry cleared his throat and then I realized they were all staring at me. I put a look of mischief and triumph on my face before speaking, "We're gonna be late." I had these guys wrapped around my fingers, but I only exercised my power when I absolutely had to. They would come running to help me anyway, so it usually wasn't a big deal.

"Um…yea. Two-Bit and Dally are waiting," Soda muttered while he walked towards the door. Pony and Darry agreed and shuffled to the door while Steve glared at me and followed. I closed the door and turned out the light as I exited.

The walk to the park was uneventful. We saw a couple of Soc's but the ignored us because we were five and they were two.

"What took y'all so long?" Dally asked when we arrived.

"Steve tried to ball Lana but she didn't go for it," Steve started glaring at Pony because of his answer and Pony instantly backed down.

"Good job Lana. You might just be a greaser after all," Dally said joking. Everyone knew I was as much of a greaser as any of them. They just didn't let me show it as often as I would have liked.

"Well, Pony's answer isn't exactly true but I won't get into the gory details just now. Where's Johnny?" I asked. Johnny was always with the gang. Always.

"He said he'd be a little late so he's gonna meet us at the Dingo," Two-Bit answered.

" Is he going by himself?" I asked astonished. No one, especially Johnny, and me ever walked anywhere alone.

"Nah, I'm gonna wait for him," Two-Bit replied. He started talking animatedly with Darry, Soda, and Pony so I walked over to Dally to talk to him. I used to be intimidated be the tall, brooding, god with movie-star good looks, but now he was just another one of the gang, he was just a little bit colder.

"You haven't said much," It was a statement not a question, but it's always hard to start a conversation with Dally.

"That's not a question," he said as if reading my mind, " If you want to know something ask a question," Dally's voice was ice-cold but I could see the faint glimmers of mischief in his eyes.

"Okay then, well that answer lets me know that Tim didn't hurt you that bad in last night's fight." He let out a breath that had a little laughter in it.

"Nah , I'm okay. Tim barely laid a hand on me."

"Well that's good. It would be horrible for us to loose such a good fighter."

"Yea, the Soc's might win a rumble if I wasn't there."

"They're leavin' us. We better go," I said turning to leave.

"Lana!" I turned around quickly to see Stacy, my best friend.

"Stacy!" I screamed and ran to hug her. "What are you doin' here?" I asked excitedly.

"I'm meeting Jazz at the park. What about you?" Jazz was short for Jasper, but everyone called him Jazz, partly because of his name, partly because he was such a good musician. They had been seeing each other for a while, but Stacy was hoping they would start going steady.

"I'm hangin' with the guys today," I answered.

"Oh, well, I gotta go. Jazz is waiting on me," she said, smiling dreamily.

"Well, bye then," I said before we hugged goodbye.

"Lana hurry up. Ya gonna get left," Soda yelled as he walked away from me with Darry. I turned to follow and I noticed that Dally was following right behind me. I knew how he was with girls, but I didn't mind much because he and I both knew what my brothers would do if they tried anything. Besides, he doesn't like me; he just likes to look at me. He even admitted it.

. . .

The rain cut our walk short. Johnny and Two-Bit caught up to us at the Dingo just like Two-Bit said. While we were there it started drizzling so we decided to leave before it got bad. The walk was quick and wet. Pony and I talked about school and sunrises and things like that. He was the only person who I could talk to about things like that. I talked with Pony, cried with Soda. I was right in the between Soda and Pony in age. I have lived with the Curtis's since I was three months old. My parents and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were best friends growing up and had promised each other that they could name each other's first born. That's how Darry has a normal name and I got stuck with Atlana. I didn't mind much because it was unique and made me fit in with the boys. Darry's the only one with a normal name in our family, if you didn't count Steve (which I usually don't, especially if he's being annoying). Living there can be stressful, but it works out pretty well because I share the best qualities of all the guys. I have my mother's leadership qualities, which made me similar to Darry, and my father's carefree attitude, which made me similar to Soda. Pony was like me because of his sensitivity. I was older so you could say that living with me for so long had rubbed off on him, but because I was the only girl it was often forgotten that I was older than anyone. They treated me like a princess and I was okay with that, but growing up with three boys makes you tough. I was as good a fighter as any of the guys, I ate just as much, sometimes more, but no matter what I did it always seemed as if I had a big sign around my neck that said: I'M A GIRL! MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER THAT! I think it was the boobs. Yea, it's defiantly the boobs.

Once everyone was finally inside I excused myself to go change. Being a girl in a house full of boys and being wet did not mix well. I chose my black t-shirt and a new pair of jeans. My Chuck Taylors were soaked so I just kept my socks on; I could always snuggle up to Soda if I got cold. He always seemed to be warmer that the room when ever I was cold. When I walked back into the living room, everyone was involved in an intense conversation. I had to clear my throat three times before I got their attention.

"Okay, anyone gonna tell me what y'aller talking about?" I asked exasperated.

"Go on Steve, ask her!" Two-Bit was nudging Steve. Oh God, if he's gonna ask me out, I've got two words for him: hell no.

"No man, you ask her. I'm already on her shit list," Steve looked at me with a mixture of hate and I'm-scared-out-of-my-mind-right-now plastered on his face.

"Fine. Lana we have a question. Which do girls like best, kissing their neck, or just plain ol' kissin'?" Two-Bit asked seriously. I blinked a few times while the whole room waited for my answer.

"Well," I began uncomfortably, " it kinda depends on the gir-," Suddenly, Pony jumped up and screamed 'I TOLD YOU SO!' "-girl," I finished my previous sentence, "but generally kissing our neck is a favorite. We're not really sure why, but our neck is just a sensitive place that we like to have kissed," as I finished that statement I was aware that Dally wasn't sitting in our living room, but right behind me.

He moved some of my hair out of the way as he whispered, "So if I do this…" he trailed off and started kissing my neck. At first it was just a light pressure, which was enough to send butterflies to my stomach, but it quickly turned into him all but sucking my neck.

"O-oh God," I mumbled. My knees were turning into Jell-O, the butterflies started kicking my insides. I closed my eyes, which were until then as big as saucers, and felt my head roll to the side to allow better access. I suddenly felt hair in my hand. Apparently it had curled up into his head. I realized that I wasn't even aware of my actions as my hand closed around a clump of his hair. It seemed to last forever and I honestly didn't want it to stop. I opened my eyes and saw that everyone was staring at me in shock and disbelief, everyone except Darry. He looked like he was about to kill Dally.

"D-Dally, st-st-stop," I stuttered. It took me another moment to clear my head enough to separate his lips from me. I turned and stared into his eyes in shock, my hand still entangled in his hair, and he stared right back, a smug look on his face. Then I slapped him with the same hand that was just wrapped in his silky, golden locks. "Son of a bitch," I stated angrily while Dally gripped his face in surprise and what appeared to me real pain. I turned and walked out to my room. I threw myself on my bed and just laid there. I had always felt a connection with Dally, but it was only indefinably bigger than my feelings towards Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny which was only slightly smaller than the brotherly love I felt towards Darry, Soda, and Pony, so Dally was somewhere in between. Dally and I were both different, accepted into the group but an over-all outcast. He was from New York and I was a girl. The two scenarios were totally different but they gave us a similar feeling, like at any moment we were expected to break away. He was accepted better than I was because he was a boy anyways. I was the true outsider. I had never considered loving Dally, or even considerably liking him for that matter. I had made a promise to Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, Darry, Soda, and then finally to Pony that I wouldn't date anyone from our group, and the other guys had a completely understood that if they tried anything, my brothers would kill them. Dally had stepped way over the line, I could only imagine what was happening to him. I hoped they didn't kill him. The last thing we need is the police snooping around here. But, the feeling of his lips against my neck, my hair entangled in those beautiful flaxen locks. His perfect, pink, round lips. The intensity of his eyes as they stared back at me. I could look into those eyes forever. Get lost in those eyes. No, stop it. This is Dally. Dallas Winston. Dallas Winston. I repeated his name over and over, each time with a different infliction. Love, sorrow, lust, disgust. It was different every time.

When I had finally calmed down enough, I walked back into the living room, only to discover that everyone was still there and in the same spot they had been in when I left. I sat as far away from Dally as possible, which just so happened to be on the floor with Pony and Johnny. I curled up beside Pony on his right with my head on his shoulder. He put in hand in my hair and stroked it, in a loving, brotherly way. It was something that always calmed me down. Johnny was sitting beside Pony on his left; I liked Johnny, always have always will. He was sort of like a lost puppy that you just had to take home with you, everyone felt that way but I think the mothering side of me made the feeling stronger. I constantly felt the need to hug Johnny, as if it would make it all go away, but at this point I needed the comfort of a brother.

Everyone continued their conversations as if nothing had had happened. Dally only gave me a few leering glances which I quickly shot down with a glare. I was happy to see what would soon become a bruise around his left eye. Soda glanced over at me from across the room and then suddenly a weird look crossed his face.

"You have a hicky on your neck," he quickly said and continued to stare at me.

"You're shitting me," was all that I could say, "You mother f-"

"Lana, language," Darry said sternly, silencing me. I was already too angry to give a retort, or even finish what I was about to say. I tried to get up so that I could hit him again, but Pony and Johnny held me back. They finally let go and I stomped off to examine my neck, and sure enough, there was a hicky. "Shit," I was gonna KILL Dally!

So what did you think! Tell me PLEASE! Reviews make me happy which makes me want to write and the more I write the more (and longer) chapters I put up. Which makes everyone HAPPY! So let me know. CON STRUCTIVE CTITICISM is APPRECIATED! FLAMES are NOT!