Disclaimer: S. E. Hinton owns 'The Outsiders'.


Two-Bit was driving them to the camp seining as he was the only one who didn't have a job to go to once they got out of school. It took Sara a while to convince her boss to give her the day off after her unexpected departure last week. Michael said that they didn't need to drive him, they could say goodbye at the house and he'd bum a ride but Sara wasn't having any of it.

Two-Bit gave her a worried look out of the corner of his eye, his attempts at jokes had just been brushed off with a shrug, although they usually would of had her bent over in a fit of laughter.

"How 'ya doing sweetheart?"

"Fine, Two-Bit."

He nodded and let the conversation end. He caught Michael's eyes in the rear-view mirror but Michael just looked down, Two-Bit could tell he was trying real hard to keep it together for Sara.

It was a long drive to the camp but they were only minutes away now. Two-Bit parked the car and nudged Sara with his shoulder as she continued to stare out the window, not realizing that they had reached their destination.

She climbed out of the car obediently and hugged Michael so hard he fell backward into the passenger door. Two-Bit felt out of place as he hitched his thumbs in his jeans and examined the dirt underneath his feet.

Michael wasn't balling but there were a few silent tears falling down his cheeks. Sara gave him a small smile and straightened out her top. She wiped at his cheeks, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna cry." Sara had much too much pride to break down in-front of the two boys, and besides, she wasn't the one being sent off into a death field.

Michael smirked at her and cleared his throat, an attempt at getting himself together. "Don't forget to write, sis."

She nodded, "Every week, I promise."

He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her in for another hug, whispering something into her ear before pulling away. "I love you baby sis." He smiled and his eyes welled up again.

"I love you more." She attempted to lighten the mood.

Michael smiled as he remembered the routine, "I love you most."

Two-Bit handed him his duffel and gave him a sad look, he didn't know the guy much but he knew that he was important to Sara and he knew that one day this could be him being dropped off at a training camp to prepare to be sent off to war. And where the gang stood in society, they felt pity for anyone who got the draft.

"Good luck out there, man."

Michael nodded and stepped a little closer to Two-Bit, "Watch out for her for me, alright?"

Two-Bit was gonna point out that he'd been doing it for the past twelve years but decided against it, "She's in good hands."

"Thanks man, for everything." Two-Bit could tell that that was him showing that he was grateful for those twelve years, and if he never got to say it later on, he wanted to make sure it was said now.

Two-Bit nodded and waited for him to reach the gate before he walked back to Sara, who was feverishly biting her nail as she leaned on the hood of the car. He didn't say anything about the black streaks that were now on her cheeks as he gently wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her back to the car, opening the door for her after she stood in-front of it as if she didn't know how.

She wasn't breaking down, but she was crying, and that was more then he'd seen in a while.

XXX

It was harder than him just being away in New York, because while he was in New York she always knew where to go if she needed him. It was always guaranteed that he would be there, but now that he was going away to Vietnam, there was no guarantee that she would ever see him again. She started regretting never going to visit him or making more of an effort with phone calls and such. She remembered Mrs. Curtis' words in the back of her head, "You're gonna lose people in life, sweetheart. And no matter how much time you spent with them or how much you loved them, even if you told them so, it will never seem like it was enough." Sara never felt herself missing Rebecca Curtis so much then she did right then, because she knew her own mother wouldn't be waiting with open arms once she got home.

XXX

There was a feeling in the bottom of her heart that told her that her father wouldn't pick up, but she dialed the number anyway. She'd done this a total of nine times over the past twelve years, when she felt herself in a situation that she always pictured a father helping with. She waited 'til the seventh ring and hung up the phone. She remembered the gang talking about how if a girl didn't pick up after the seventh ring, they weren't going to. She figured the same rule applied to everyone else.

She was lucky Jimmy wasn't home as she picked up the couple plates sitting on the kitchen counter and threw them at the opposite wall.

Sara knew there was a vase directly behind her but when she turned around to grab it, it was already picked up and in Soda's sturdy hands. He gave her a small smile, "Feel better?" He set the vase on the table gently. It didn't take them too long to figure out that Sara would throw anything in sight if she was upset. They'd seen this occurrence all of 3 times, not including this one.

Sara pulled down her skirt and he noticed her eyes looked slightly less panicky once she noticed his presence. "When did you get here?" Her voice was steady as she reached for the broom, being especially careful in her bare feet.

He shrugged, "About when you picked up the first plate."

Sara nodded and Soda stepped closer to her, grabbing the broom out of her hand. "I got it." He lifted his foot gently to show her that his sneakers were still on and she obliged, walking over to the coffee pot instead. "You want some coffee?"

He wasn't really one for coffee but he could tell that she was looking for something to occupy herself with, "Sure."

A smirk crossed her face and he gave her a confused look as he dumped the shards of glass into the garbage can, "What?"

"I know you hate coffee." Her voice was matter-of-factly and he grinned, that was more the Sara he was used to. Her temper was just as Steve's, there full on and gone like it was never there within a matter of seconds.

She walked the short distance to the fridge and mixed him a glass of chocolate milk. He took it with a smile as she sat down across from him.

"So I heard you're gonna be the star of the prom?"

Sara smiled and stole a sip of his milk as she waited for her coffee to finish. "Where'd you hear that from?"

He shrugged, "I saw the tie at the DX and Two-Bit spilled that you were Stevie's date."

Sara eyed him closely but didn't catch a look of jealousy. She replayed in her head what he had said and rolled her eyes, "He had the tie at the DX?"

Soda smirked and nodded slightly, "Don't worry, I put it in his car for you."

She grinned, "At least one of you has some common sense."

"You get your dress yet?"

She nodded slowly, "You can't see it, if that's what your asking."

Soda frowned and whined like a little kid, causing her smile to reappear. "Well can you at least tell me what color it is?"

"What color is Steve's tie?"

Soda squished his eyebrows together as he thought the question through, "Right." He paused before flashing her one of his signature grins, "'Ya know I might of stayed in school if I knew that you'd be taking one of us to prom."

Sara smiled, "Oh Soda, you know you could've asked me either way."

He realized that then, he didn't have to be a student of Will Roger's to be Sara's date to prom. Well, too late now.

XXX

School and work were doing pretty good at keeping her mind off of Michael. Although she hadn't mentioned to anyone the horrifying nightmare she had had the night before. Prom was tomorrow, so she figured Steve would be picking her up from work to discuss times and such.

The red T-bird caused a massive amount of confusion in her head. "Dallas?"

He was leaning on the front of the car smoking a cigarette. "Nice to see you too, doll-face." He flashed her a smirk and she smiled back, she didn't mind Dallas too much, despite some people's opinions of him. They both shared a mutual hate of New York.

"What are 'ya doing here?"

He shrugged and walked around to his side of the car, leaving Sara to get in by herself. Once they were inside he rolled down the windows to feel the crisp Tulsa air.

She didn't take her eyes off of him as she waited for a longer explanation.

"Randle got caught up with something, asked me to pick you up."

She narrowed her eyes, it usually wasn't a good sign when one of the boys got 'caught up with something'. "Caught up with what?"

Dallas phrased his words carefully. "Pony was heading home from a movie after school today, got jumped by a couple of fucking Socs."

Sara's eyes went wide, "Ponyboy? Is he okay?"

Dallas nodded, "He's fine, Soda says he's pretty shaken up but Steve and Two-Bit are taking care of that."

"What are they doing?"

He shrugged, unconcerned, "Going after whatever Soc they see is my guess."

Sara pulled a face, "If Steve gets locked up-"

Dallas cut her short with a smirk as he revved the engine, "Oh trust me sweetheart, Soda already made that pretty damn clear to him. And even with Randle's thick skull I think he got the point."

The rest of the car ride was silent, but she was okay with that, she never minded the quiet around Dallas.

They came to the turn where he had to decide if he was heading toward her house or toward the Curtis' house. "Where to?"

She shrugged lightly, "Pony's." It was the first he heard her call it Pony's instead of Soda's.


Well the drama's coming soon guys :P I just wanted to let you all know that not all events in the actual book will happen in this story, or at least not in the same order. I had to change the time of events a little to make it fit to my story. Pony, Johnny, and Dallas will be at the drive-inn's the next day instead of directly following Ponyboy being jumped. Sandy also isn't present in this story and Two-Bit will not be at the drive-inn's with the boys tomorrow. Anyways, thank you guys so much for the reviews, could you leave me a few more pretty please?