A/N: So I take it you guys liked the last chapter? :) hehe, you guys make my day everytime I see a new review! Hopefully I don't disappoint with this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton does! I only own Valerie!

"Two banana splits, please," I told the man at the ice cream parlor.

"Sure thing, darlin'," he replied.

I took a seat at the counter and waited for Ponyboy to get done talking to Curly outside. I had no clue what they were talking about, but they didn't seem to be angry with each other anymore. I turned back around when he walked back in so he wouldn't see that I had been watching him. He sat next to me and gave me a smile.

"So what was that about?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"Well obviously it was about something."

"It was about nothing, Val."

It made me mad that he wouldn't tell me what they were talking about, but I guess it was just some guy stuff.

"Here ya go," the man who worked there said as he brought us the ice cream.

Just as I a took a bite, someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to see Sylvia standing there, looking slutty as usual.

"Sylvia!" I smiled.

"Hey," she laughed, "How ya doin', kid? Haven't seen you in a while."

"I'm great. School sucks, but other than that I'm good."

"You fifteen now or what?"

"Yep," I beamed.

Sylvia and I have always been close, even though we're four years apart. I look at her like a role model and Two-Bit often tells me that she's not one to look up to. But I can't help it, I just think she's so cool. And I think her and Dally are good for each other, even if they do break up every other week.

"So you here by yourself?"

"Oh, no, I'm here with Ponyboy," I told her, gesturing to him.

"Ohhh you're that Curtis kid, right?" she questioned.

"Uh huh," he answered.

"Sweetie come here," she said to me. I told Ponyboy that I'd be right back and went to the bathroom with Sylvia.

"What's up?" I asked.

"What's up? Why are you with that boy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Honey, he's not your type."

"I know...but he's so sweet, Sylvia," I informed her.

"So he's your boyfriend?"

"Well...no...I mean kind of...not exactly," I tried to explain it to her, "You know, I'm not really sure. We've only been on one date, but I feel like that doesn't even matter."

"Well then you ain't gotta worry about him. You went on one date and that's it...unless this is a date, but still two dates ain't nothin' to get worked up about. He's just a guy and you can still have fun."

"Really?" I asked.

"Of course! Look at me and Dal, we get with different people every other night and we're still in love." I wanted to object against that because Dally didn't love anyone, but why ruin it for her?

"You know what? You're totally right! We're not official or anything, so who says I can't flirt a little?"

"Now you're gettin' it," she smiled. But I didn't really get it; I only said those things to make Sylvia happy and think that I was tough.

I walked back out of the bathroom with Sylvia and I got a pang of something I couldn't identify when I saw Ponyboy talking to some girl. She had light brown hair and was lightly touching his arm...Whore...

"Oh my god, Valerie...see what I mean. He obviously doesn't care about you so why should you care about him?" Sylvia spoke up, watching the same thing I was.

"Yeah..." I sighed. I walked over and stood in front of the two.

"'Scuse me," I said to the girl.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"If you could move, that'd be great."

"Who the hell is this?" she asked Ponyboy.

"She's...uh...she's my..."

"Your what?...Oh my god, is she your girlfriend?" the girl gasped.

"Well..-"

"Wow. I cannot believe you would ask me out while you have a girlfriend!" she pulled back her hand and slapped him across the face, the sound coming off of his cheek.

I looked at Pony to question if what she said was true, but he was busy calling after her,

"I didn't ask you out!" He sighed and sat back in his seat, but I still stood there in front of him, just staring. I looked over at Sylvia and she was making the "gotta go" signal that we had created. She tapped her finger on her wrist as if she were wearing a watch and stuck her arms out to the side of as if asking "Huh?"

"I'm leaving," I told Ponyboy, grabbing my purse and coat and walking towards the doors.

"Wait, Valerie!" he called.

"No, I thought...I thought you cared about me, but it's obvious that you don't if you're just gonna go around asking other girls out!" I yelled.

"I do care about you. I don't even know who she was and I didn't ask her out. I don't know why she said that."

"Oh yeah, that's a great excuse. I thought you were at least smarter than that," I snapped.

"Valerie, stop!" he shouted.

I didn't listen to him though, I just kept walking until someone pulled me around. I stood almost face to face with Ponyboy and he had a weird look on his face...like he didn't want me to go.

"Let me go," I ordered.

"No, I can't."

"Just let me go and get back to whoever that stupid girl was."

"That's exactly who she was, some stupid girl that I don't even know."

"Then why'd you ask her out?" I asked.

"I didn't...Really I mean it. I don't know why she said that, but I wouldn't ask her out when I already have you."

"Who said you have me?" I smirked.

"I did," he replied, pulling something out of his pocket, "Here. Valerie will you be my girl?"

"Yes, I'll be your girl," I smiled and took the ring he was offering me and slipped it onto my finger. All the thoughts I had before then vanished and new wonderful feelings took their place.

"Good, now if some other girl asks me who you are I can say...hmm well now that's my girl," he laughed.

"Gosh, let's hope there aren't too many girls asking who I am."

Narrator's POV

"So what happened?" Angela asked as the girl walked towards her.

"Well I asked him about her and he didn't say anything so I slapped him and walked away. I think she got pretty pissed at him though," the girl said triumphantly.

Angela looked to the side of her to see Ponyboy and Valerie smiling at each other, while Pony held one arm around her waist. She felt a wave of jealousy come over her and knew it would take more than a misunderstanding to separate them. But what Angela didn't get was how they could be so inseperable when they'd only gone on one date.

"Okay...I guess that didn't work. We'll have to think of something else."

"We? You said this was a one time thing!" the girl exclaimed.

"Fine, get outta here."

"Pay me first," the girl demanded.

"Bitch," Angela muttered, handing the girl five dollars.

(Two Weeks Later) Back to Valerie's POV

"What's that?" Two-Bit asked me when I walked into the kitchen to grab a beer later that night. He thought I'd been upstairs doing whatever it is he thinks I do, but really I was talking to Ponyboy up there. He'd flip if he knew he was up there with me.

"Oh..." I said, looking down at my hand where Pony's ring was, "It's Pony's ring."

"Since when are you his girl?"

"Since like a couple of weeks ago," I answered, trying to back up.

"And you didn't say anything?"

"Nope, but I gotta go! Big test and stuff like that to study for!" I ran back upstairs and quickly closed my door.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," Pony replied, looking around my room some more.

I stood next to him to look at the pictures of my dad before he ran off. The pictures made us look like such a happy family, when that obviously wasn't the case. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, but I wiped them away before they could fall. Ponyboy wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my cheek because I think he noticed that I was getting upset.

"I'm okay," I told him.

"I know you are, but I just wanted to hug you."

I turned around to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I stood on my tippy toes a little to meet his lips and smiled when I did. We stood together, kissing, for about a minute before we heard someone walking up the stairs.

"Hey, Val?" Two-Bit called.

"Oh shit...um," I thought frantically, "The bed! Get under it."

He did as I told him and I quickly walked over to the bed and sat on it, acting as if I'd been reading a magazine instead of making out with Pony.

"Can I talk to you?" Two-Bit questioned, opening my door.

"Um, sure," I answered.

"Cool," he closed my door and walked over to sit on my bed with me.

"What did you wanna talk about?" I asked.

"Look...I know you and Ponyboy are getting real close and all...and I just wanna make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"Oh my god, Two-Bit..get out," I laughed.

"No, I'm bein' serious. You really like him right?"

"Yes," I groaned. I hoped he didn't ask anything else too embarrassing because anything I said would be heard by Pony.

"Like you're pretty serious?"

"We've only been dating for like two weeks...but yeah, we're pretty serious I guess."

"You guys haven't...ya know."

"No!" I yelled, standing up, "One, I'm still a virgin and two, you know Pony's not like that."

"Yeah, but...I just worry about ya," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm fine, I promise. Besides you know if he tried anything like that with me, I'd kick his ass."

"That's my girl," he chuckled.

"Yeah, now could you please get out?"

"Sure, sure. You make sure to tell him to watch out for me, ya hear?"

"Uh huh, you got it."

Two-Bit walked out and shut my door, leaving me to let out a sigh of relief as I sat back on the bed. Ponyboy slid out from underneath and stood in front of me with a smile on his face.

"What?" I inquired.

"Nothin'," he said, pulling me up off the bed.

"Tell me."

"Didn't know you thought we were serious is all."

"Are we not?" I asked, resting my hands on his chest.

"Well I wasn't sure, but I guess if you say we are then we are."

"You don't think we are," I sighed.

"Of course I do," he chuckled, running his thumb over my cheek and keeping his hand on my left cheek, "I just didn't wanna say anything and look stupid."

"You always look stupid." He raised his eyebrows and I let out a small laugh, "Well when you're around me you are."

"That's just what you do to me."

I rolled my eyes and got a surprise as he kissed me. Usually we didn't kiss that much in one day, but who knows? Maybe that day was special or something. I really got a surprise when he just barely moved his hands under my shirt. He kept them right at the bottom, but still, it was different. I smiled into the kiss and played with his hair. He stopped kissing my lips to kiss my neck. I giggled and he looked at me, almost like he was debating something in his head. I guess he decided whatever he was thinking about and kissed me again.

A/N: Soooo I hope you guys understood what happened at the ice cream shop with the girl? If you didn't just PM me :) and what do you think about valerie looking up to Sylvia? and Valerie is Pony's *official* girlfriend now, so are you guys cool with that? (from the reviews it seems like you won't mind, but ya never know!) Sorry it's short! But please review and tell me anything you'd like to see happen or what your thoughts are on this chapter :)