It seemed like the world stopped when Johnny saw the light leave his now best friend's eyes. He dropped onto his knees and sobbed like he never had before. The hippie had run off, probably to boast to his friends. Was this what Pony had become?

Johnny finally pulled himself away from Steve's corpse, shivers wracking his body. He walked along the street, hearing ambulances and police cars, come to take the body that was Steve away. The shivers increased as Johnny sat in the lot. Normally, when something even this big was bugging him, he'd go to Pony, or Dally. He pulled himself from the old Chevy cushion. He sighed and began to walk toward the Curtis house.

"Dallas?"

"Yeah, babe?" Sky sighed and looked at her hands. "I think we should talk."

"About?"

"The baby." Dally nodded and crawled onto the bed with his fiancee. "What?" Sky leaned her head on his shoulder. "Do you think that I should go through with it? Or do you think we're too young?"

"You mean like, keep it or put it up for adoption?"

"No, I meant aborting it." Dally looked at Sky. "What do you think?"

"I don't know... I think, because we're engaged now, we should talk about it." Dally nodded and sighed softly. "I think I can grow up enough to take care of you two, if that's what you're worried about."

"That's not it. I'm just worried... We're only nineteen... Do you really think we're emotionally ready for this?" Dally sighed again. He looked at his hands then smiled. "Y'know, my dad and mom had me when they was 18... Barely outa high school. They treated me like shit. I promised myself I'd never treat this baby, or any baby I have the way they treated me... You wanna know what I really think, Sky?"

"Yeah. Of course I do." She took Dally's hand gently. Dally smiled and looked at her. "I think I'm ready, emotionally and physically to take care of a baby..." Sky smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, Sky. I really think so. What about you?" Sky nodded. "Yeah, I think, with your help, I can do it." Dally smiled. "So we're keepin' him?"

"How do you know it's a him, Dallas?" Dally blushed and shrugged. "I dunno... I guess I'm just hopin'."

"Whatcha wanna name him, if we have a boy?" Dally shrugged. He smiled weakly and looked at his hands. "I kinda do like one name." Sky cocked her head. "What?"

"Naw, it's silly." Sky smacked her lover playfully. "Come on, I wanna hear it." Dally smiled. "I was thinkin'... Bridger. Or maybe Texas."

"Dallas and Texas?" Dally blushed. "I told you it was dumb." Sky grinned. "No, it's not dumb, Dally. They're cute names. I like Daniel, personally. How about for girls?" Dally chuckled. "Well... I dunno, that's harder." they went back and forth, talking about names,comparing and contrasting combinations of names. They were happy, no matter how much each of them had to change to make it that way.

Pony was stretched out on the bed he and Soda used to share, his eyes on a crack in the ceiling. He could hear the steady thump of Darry's headboard against the wall, but was ignoring it. He'd heard of a city wide massacre from his gang of hippies, but refused to take part. To be honest, he was more scared then he'd ever been. A sharp knock pulled him out of this thoughts. "Yeah?" Johnny stuck his black head in the door. "Hi, Ponyboy. Can we talk?"

"Where's Steve?" Johnny dropped his head. "Steve got shot today." Pony sat up quickly. "What?" He shouted. Johnny began to shake uncontrollably. "We was just walkin' and a fuckin' hippie came up, and he- And he just shot Steve! He's dead, Ponyboy!" Pony felt his knees go weak and the floor rushed up to meet him. He laid there for a moment, in a state of shock. Johnny walked over and knelt by him. He wasn't crying, he didn't even look sad. He looked pissed. "Johnny, oh, Johnny..." Pony said quietly, sitting up. He tried to hug his friend but Johnny pushed him away roughly, spasms running through his small body. His eyes were wild. "Your kind. You and your fuckin' hippies! They killed the only person I knew wouldn't change! You killed the only person I knew wouldnt' change!" He drew back his fist and socked Pony in the shoulder. Pony cried out and slid back from shock. "Johnny, calm down! Please, Johnny, calm down! I didn't kill him! I didn't even go out there!"

"You and your fuckin' gang! You and those damned hippies! You may as well have been squeezin' that fuckin' trigger, Ponyboy!" Tears flowed freely from both boy's eyes. Johnny's voice was changing octaves and his hands were clenching and unclenching. His body spasmed and shook as he struggled to calm down. "Johnny, please. We need to go and tell Darry." Pony tried to take Johnny's wrist but the older boy lashed out, catching Pony and the cheek. "Why are you doin' this? I'm your friend, Johnnycake!"

"My friend! What happened to what we said before? We said nothin' was gonna change! Never! We said it! You promised me, Ponyboy! Everythin's changin'!"

"What's changed?" Pony asked softly, trying to calm his best friend down. "You for one! You and those fuckin' hippies! The damn drugs, the protests, and the fighting! Hippies are just as bad as gangs, Ponyboy! You changed! You and me never talk anymore, we don't even see each other much and when we do, you're either fuckin' stoned or on some rant about how bad it is over in Vietnam! Goddamn it, Ponyboy!" Johnny was sobbing by now. Pony glanced up and saw Darry and Two-Bit standing in the doorway, gaping at the sobbing boy. "And fuckin' Sodapop, goin' off to war! That changed everythin', Ponyboy and don't you dare say it didn't! You know damn well he's prob'ly gonna die, and you know that'll make things even worse! And those two!" He pointed an accusatory finger toward Darry and Two-Bit. "They turned queer. They don't never have time for you or me, or even Sodapop, it's all lovey-dovey between them two now! They used to care about us, and now it's just them! And fuck, even Dally. He's got himself a serious girl and they're gonna have a damned baby! They're gettin' married! Dally's gonna be married! So him and that chick, they're just in their own clouds and bells world and not givin' two shits about us anymore! And now with Steve! He was the only one that didn't change on me, Ponyboy! Me and Steve, we was all that was left! We was it! And now he's fuckin' dead! I ain't got no one! Not a single person no more! And you ask what changed? Look around, Ponyboy. It's 1968 and things have changed more than you'd ever know!" The black haired boy stood and pushed his way through Darry and Two-Bit, slamming the door on his way out.