Sunset

Authors Note: Oh man, I haven't read the Outsiders since I was in grade school. But lately I've been reading the fanfiction and I decided I wanted to contribute. Let me know what you guys think!

It was near dark in the lot when Ponyboy saw her walk up beside him. He hadn't expected her to stop by, although maybe he should have.

Sylvia was Dally's on again off again girlfriend after all. It was really only right that she showed.

Johnny and Dallas didn't get nice funerals like some soc would have gotten. They were shoved in holes, and that was the end of it. As far as the state was concerned the funeral was over, but the Greasers didn't really follow the rules.

At the moment Ponyboy was at what was to be considered the funeral for both of the boys. It wasn't much, just a bunch of guys standing in the lot for hours smoking cancer sticks, but the feeling was there. Even Tim Shepherds gang had shown up for awhile as though to pay respects, but that was hours ago. At the moment Ponyboy was one of the last guys in the lot. Ponyboy and Sylvia.

The gang had been spread out, Two-bit and Soda were still standing close to the fire that had been lit, and Ponyboy was fairly sure that Darry wouldn't leave without him or Soda, although he had no idea where his brother was standing.

"I'm not surprised it happened like this." Sylvia said as she pulled out a cancer stick and lit it. She took a long drag.

Pony could tell that no one else had noticed her presence. He wasn't sure how they would've reacted if they had. Ponyboy wasn't sure how to react.

Ponyboy didn't respond to her statement, instead he looked over at her as though trying to figure out what the girl had meant.

"It was always obvious that Dally couldn't make it without him. Knew when I heard that they'd both live or they'd both die." Sylvia expanded. Ponyboy didn't know if she was angry or sad. Maybe both.

"You saw this coming?" Ponyboy asked surprised. He hadn't seen it coming. Maybe he knew Dally cared about Johnny, but he didn't think he'd go die without him.

"Always. If Johnny died, he'd die. If Johnny ran, he'd run. If Dally went away, then he'd come back and Johnny'd be sittin' here just like he left him." Sylvia took another long drag that made Ponyboy decide that he needed to light a cancer stick of his own.

"Did he really care that much?" It was a strange question for Ponyboy to ask and he knew it when he heard it come out of his mouth. Dally had hit a wall and then went running for his death. He cared.

"Didn't love no one else. Don't think he could," she answered. She hadn't thought his question was too strange apparently.

"He cared about you." Ponyboy said. He wasn't sure why. He didn't really know how Dally had felt about the girl beside him, except maybe a little betrayed that she'd cheated.

She laughed. "He didn't leave me 'cause I cheated while he was in the cooler."

"You didn't cheat on him?" Ponyboy had to ask because he was pretty sure that was a blatant lie. Everyone knew that she'd cheated on him. Everyone knew Dally didn't stand for that.

"I did. That just wasn't why he ended things." She seemed to have her eyes set on the fire, although her eyes looked glazed over.

"Why'd he end it?" Pony asked as he took a long drag. He didn't really know what else would have happened.

"'Cause I hanging all over Johnny," Ponyboy didn't bother to interrupt her to say he thought that was the same as cheating. "And he wasn't sure if Johnny liked it."

Ponyboy stared at her. She wasn't doing a great job of explaining things.

"If Johnny didn't like it he wouldn't 'a cared. He was scared that he did. He didn't want Johnny ta like me. The other guys didn't matter." She still had her eyes set on the fire.

"He dumped you for messing around with someone else in the gang?" Ponyboy was still at a loss. As far as he knew things never really happened with Johnny and Sylvia. Johnny was too shy and Steve had called the girl off. Pony was pretty sure that if anything had happened Dally would've made Johnny pay for it.

"Nah. He ran me off for trying to get with Johnny. Had nothin' to do with me, he just didn't want no one around Johnny. Johnny was his." Ponyboy wondered if she was aware of all the implications she was making.

"What do ya mean 'his'?" Ponyboy asked.

"Mean what I said. He didn't want Johnny to want me. Didn't matter none. Johnny wouldn't do anything. He was Dally's without even knowing it." Sylvia seemed to finally look away from the fire before she took another drag.

"You think Dally loved him?" Ponyboy asked to clear things up.

"I think even when I had his ring, Johnny still had his heart." Sylvia said looking at Ponyboy's face for the first time.

Ponyboy didn't know how to respond. He'd realized that Dally cared about Johnny, hell, he'd loved him. He realized that he'd gotten shot on purpose. But a part of him had wondered if Dally had just taken time to cool down if he'd have still done it. The look in Sylvia's eyes told him that, yes, Dally would have still gotten himself killed. The look in her eyes said that Dally hadn't just love Johnny, but he'd been in love with him. Ponyboy was having trouble wrapping is mind around the possibility. Dallas Winston had never seemed gay. For an instant Ponyboy wondered if gay or straight had anything to do with it. Maybe she was right when she said he just couldn't love anyone else.

"He didn't want to live without him. He knew he couldn't do it. He didn't have anyone or anything else to live for." Ponyboy knew that was true. The gang wouldn't have been enough.

"Johnny wanted him to see a sunset." Ponyboy's not sure why he shared that with her, but she smiled when he did.

"Every time he saw Johnny he was seeing a fuckin' sunset." She stomped out her almost finished cancer stick before she turned around and left the lot.

She didn't see it, but Ponyboy nodded his head in agreement.

He stomped out his stick and walked over to find his brothers. He figured it was time to go home.