Two-Bit registered a few days later and he and Soda would be leaving in March. We were all planning to spend as much time with them as possible before they left. Unfortunately, I could never spend as much time with them as I wanted to because of my busy schedule.

A week after we learned that he had been drafted, Soda came up with an idea, which he told to Pony, Ashlynn, and I when she and I went over to the DX between jobs on a Saturday. "We should go riding, just the four of us."

"When were you thinking?" Pony asked him. He had been completely torn up since we got the news and I had been trying to help him as much as I could. I was a mess too. All of the guys were like my big brothers, but out of all of them, I was closest to Soda.

"This comin' Saturday maybe", Soda shrugged. "We can go out to the ranch where Mickey Mouse used to be and get some horses to ride. The guy that owns the ranch likes me, so we might even get the good horses."

I smiled a little and nodded. "That sounds nice. I'll ask my parents."

Ashlynn leaned on Soda and wrapped her arms around his middle. "And I'll ask my mom."

My parents agreed when I asked them the next day, as did Ms. Young when Ashlynn asked her. Soda informed the man that ran the ranch that we were coming.

That Saturday, Ashlynn and I took the day off and went to the Curtis' house, where Pony let us in before going and getting ready with his older brother. The two of us sat on the couch and watched T.V, where the news was informing us on the terrors of the war.

After a few minutes, I was absolutely done with hearing about it and got up to change the channel. I turned the knob a few times before finding a channel that was playing "I Dream of Jeannie" and sitting back on the couch.

There were some thumps and banging noises coming from Pony and Soda's room which went on for a while.

"Y'all alright in there?" Ashlynn called to them.

"Never been better, Ash!" Soda's voice yelled back.

"Think they'll come out soon?" I asked her, keeping my eyes on the screen and watching Barbara Eden blink and nod her head.

"I hope so", she answered. "They're the ones that are teachin' us how to ride."

I nodded. Neither of us had ever ridden horses before and I wasn't too anxious to fall off of one.

Just then, the boys came out, dressed in worn jeans, jackets, and boots.

It was strange seeing my boyfriend in cowboy boots. I had never really thought about it, but when I did, I figured that he knew how to ride a horse. Lots of people in Tulsa did.

"You two look like regular cowboys", I laughed.

"Why, thank you kindly, ma'am", Pony said, playing up his accent and tipping an invisible hat.

"Let's get goin'!" Soda exclaimed, running out of the house and to Darry's truck. He was going to be at Ruth's place all day, so we had the truck to ourselves.

"I'm drivin', Sodapop", Pony said.

"And why can't I?" Soda asked and placed his hands on his hips sassily.

"Because", Pony said, copying his brother's stance, "whenever you drive it's like we're in a damn drag race."

Soda looked up at his brother and seemed to realize that Ponyboy was taller than him. "Wait. When the hell did you get taller than me?"

"A couple months ago, at least", Pony laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't notice faster."

"Jesus, you're as tall as Darry", Soda said. "Guess we can't call you 'Little-Colt' anymore."

"You got that right, kid brother", Pony laughed and rustled Soda's perfectly greased hair before running to the truck and jumping into the driver's seat.

"Why'd we start datin' them again?" Ashlynn teased.

"Because they're cute."

"Oh, yeah."

The ride to the ranch was interesting, just as any extended period of time spent with anyone in the Curtis gang was, and about an hour later, we were finally there. It was a little ranch surrounded by grassy land. It was in the beginnings of the country, where there were still houses fairly close together, but not right next to each other like they were at home.

When we got out of the truck, a man that looked to be in his forties came out of the ranch house and greeted Sodapop. They shook hands before turning to us.

"Mr. Preston, this's my girlfriend, Ashlynn", Soda told the man as he put an arm around her.

"Nice t'meet you", Mr. Preston said and shook Ashlynn's hand.

"And you remember Ponyboy."

"My god, have you gotten big!" Mr. Preston exclaimed with a laugh. "Last time I saw you, you were this lanky 'lil thing with long legs and a missin' tooth."

Pony blushed a bit, but laughed and shook his hand. "This is my girlfriend, Lily", he said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Nice to meet you too", Mr. Preston told me and shook my hand.

He led us to the barn and said that we could use any horse we wanted, just so long as we didn't lose it or hurt it.

"You can trust me, sir. I'm a professional", Soda smiled. Mr. Preston did the same and left us to our devices.

"Alright, then", Soda said and clapped his hands together. "How're we gonna do this?"

"Me and Lily've never ridden before", Ashlynn told him.

"We'll ride with y'all then."

Sodapop and Ponyboy took a minute to discuss which horses we would be taking before they went into the horses' stalls and led two of them out.

Pony came up to me, leading a pretty chestnut-colored horse behind him.

"This's Oakley", he introduced and affectionately rubbed the horse's muzzle.

I tentatively put out my hand and rubbed Oakley's muzzle as well, emitting a laugh from my boyfriend.

"He ain't gonna hurt you, darlin'", he laughed and put his hand on mine, making me pet the horse with him. "See? He's gentle as a kitten."

"He's way bigger than a kitten, I can tell you that for damn sure", I muttered, causing Pony to laugh again.

"Y'all ready?" Soda asked us as he finished helping Ashlynn onto their horse.

"Gettin' there", Pony responded and proceeded to toss me over his shoulder.

"What the hell're you doin'?" I asked him.

"Gettin' you up on this horse", he answered. I felt my butt on something and assumed it was the horse's back.

"Just push yourself up by pushing on my shoulders."

I did as Pony said and sat up, my hands tightly gripping his shoulders in hopes that I wouldn't fall. He chuckled and bent and pushed my leg over so I was sitting astride the horse instead of side-saddle.

"You on?" he asked and put a hand on my thigh above my knee.

"I think so."

He deftly swung himself onto the horse behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I lay my head back onto his chest.

"Somethin' wrong?"

"No, it just feels weird. Like I'm gonna fall off whenever it moves."

"I won't let you", Pony assured me. "As long as my arms are around you and you're holdin' the reins, you'll be fine."

"Okay", I nodded, grabbing the reins so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Darlin', you're fine", he whispered into my ear.

"Let's go!" Soda exclaimed. Ashlynn was in front of him like I was with Pony. "Yeehaw!" And with that, Soda kicked the horse in the side to get it to move and shot off. I could hear Ashlynn screeching as they rode.

"Ponyboy, I swear to God that if you make the horse go that fast, I'll kill you", I threatened.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, darlin'. I wouldn't dream of it." He kicked the horse lightly and it started to trot.

When it started to move, I aggressively gripped the reins and hugged my legs and feet around the horse's middle. Pony started to lightly laugh and kissed my head as he wrapped one arm securely around my waist and used the other to grip the reins along with me.

After a few minutes, Soda and Ashlynn rode back over to us. Her face was red, her hair was everywhere and her blue-grey eyes were wide.

"So", Pony started with a small laugh, "how was it?"

"Great!" Soda exclaimed at the same time Ashlynn muttered "Jesus Christ".

"Look what you went and did, Soda", I teased. "You traumatized your poor girlfriend for life."

"Sorry, sweetheart", he chuckled and slightly squeezed his arm around her middle.

"Just…don't do that again, Sodapop", she breathed. A smile tugged at her lips and the look of panic started to fade from her eyes.

We rode those horses until dinnertime and by then I had one hell of a bruise developing on my butt from all the bouncing around.

"I'm done", I groaned, throwing myself across the back seats of the truck. "I give."

"Oh, stop bein' such a drama queen and move your ass over", Ashlynn faux griped and shoved me over into a single seat.

I groaned again, but scooted over and buckled my seatbelt. "I think I'm gonna take a nap. You bother me, you die. Capiche?"

"Yup. G'night", Soda smirked.

My eyes closed and by the time we were off of the ranch's property, I was asleep.

Ponyboy's POV

Lily fell asleep only a few minutes after we left the ranch, and I took that opportunity to talk about something that I didn't want her to know about.

"Soda", I said to get his attention from the driver's seat next to me.

"Yeah?"

"D'you know where Mom's ring is?"

"What?" he and Ashlynn both asked.

"Mom's ring", I repeated. "Her engagement ring."

After Mom and Dad died, their rings were split between the three of us brothers. Darry got Dad's wedding ring, Soda got Mom's, and I got her engagement ring, though since they had died none of us had even looked at them. When I was younger, I would constantly play with it while it was on her hand, twisting it around her finger and whatnot. She always told me that when I met the right girl, she would give it to me to propose with. I wanted to make good on that.

"Why?" he asked.

"I wanna propose to Lily before you go."

"Pony, don't let this whole thing change any of your plans. Don't do it just 'cause I'm leavin'."

"I've been wantin' to propose for a long time. This just…speeds thing up."

"Ponyboy, you listen to me and you listen to me good; you're gonna propose to her properly. Don't go and do this impromptu proposal just because I'm leavin'. Do it when you'd planned to do it and make sure it's perfect. I don't matter in this. You're the one proposing to 'er. Not me."

I nodded slightly and he took a hand off of the steering wheel to clap me on the shoulder.

"Wait, wait, wait", Ashlynn said from the backseat. I looked back to look at he and saw my girlfriend's head resting on her shoulder as she slept. I smiled at how peaceful she looked.

"You're gonna propose?" Ashlynn asked.

"Yep."

She smirked a bit and turned her head a bit to look at her best friend. "Good. It took you long enough."

I laughed and rolled my eyes teasingly at her. Truthfully, I had known that Lily was the one since we first started dating. Even when I saw her for the first time on the first day of high school I had been drawn to her and had had a crush on her by the time I dropped her off at her house.

Of course since we had both lived in Tulsa for our entire lives, I must have seen her in passing during middle school and she was probably in some of my classes over the years, but I had never actually met her. If someone had mentioned her name to me I wouldn't have known who she was. But on that first day of school everything changed.

Two-Bit, Johnny and I had walked to school that morning because Two-Bit's car had broken down yet again and Steve couldn't be bothered to come. I was all kinds of nervous but Johnny and Two-Bit's reassurances that I would be alright had calmed me down slightly by the time we had gotten to school.

I rushed to my first period English class to find the room virtually empty, so I chose a random seat in the back of the room where it was unlikely that I would be noticed. Since it was an honors class, there were all Socs other than me so I shrank down in my seat and tried not to make myself a target.

After a few minutes the class was almost full and the one of the only seats left was the one next to me (go figure). I kept my head down and didn't speak to or look at anyone.

Then someone came over to my table. I could see a splotch of light blue out of the corner of my eye which was tucked under the person as they sat down in the seat next to mine. That was when I knew it was a girl tucking her dress under herself.

I silently exhaled and looked up, expecting to see a Soc girl glaring at me. Instead, there was a girl with the prettiest smile I had ever seen and it was directed straight at me. I thought she was a Soc for a moment before looking down and seeing that she was wearing Converse like I was, though hers looked newer. Her hair was caramel brown and part of it was put into a small braid that went into a larger one. Her eyes were brown and when I saw them my breath caught in my throat. Sure, I had seen brown eyes before. My own brother and my best friend both had them. But hers were something else. They weren't almost black like Johnny's or reckless like Soda's. They were the color of chocolate and looked soft and kind and warm.

"Hi", I stuttered with a small smile, my anxiety suddenly spiking up and my heart pounding. "I'm new here."

Why would you say that? I asked myself. You idiot.

The girl just cocked her head a little. "Did you just move here?" she asked.

God, even her voice is beautiful, I thought.

"No", I laughed shakily. "I skipped eighth grade."

Her eyes widened and I was scared of what would come next.

"So did I!" she said happily.

I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I tried making a joke. "Well, great minds think alike, I suppose, and apparently we both have great minds."

I internally cringed when I heard myself speak, but she laughed.

"I'm Lily Smith", she introduced herself.

"Mine's Ponyboy Curtis", I told her and immediately regretted it. I hadn't even introduced myself the same way she had. I was almost thankful when the teacher walked in and interrupted our conversation.

While we worked on the paper our teacher, Mr. Syme, had passed out to us, Lily turned to me. "Is Ponyboy your real name?"

I smiled unamusedly. God knows how many times I've heard that one. "Yep. I've got a brother named Sodapop too. It says so on his birth certificate. Our dad was real original." Even mentioning Dad caused a sharp pain in my chest.

"I like it", she smiled. "It's very unique. I've never heard a name like it."

I smiled gratefully back at her before we both went back to our papers.

"After you finish your papers, you can have free time", Mr. Syme announced a few minutes later. By then, both of us were already done.

"How old are you, Ponyboy?" she asked.

"Fourteen", I answered. "My birthday was about a week ago. You?"

"Thirteen", she said. "My birthday's in a month."

"You can call me Pony, you know", I told her. "Everyone else does."

"Okay, Pony", she said, seeming to test it out.

"You're not a Soc…are you?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "Nope. Greaser."

"Huh…you don't seem like a greaser."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" she asked with a small smile.

"A compliment", I quickly assured her.

"So, what's your family like?" I asked her after a few moments of silence.

"Well, I've got my mom and dad. They're real nice. Then I've got my little brother and sister. They're a handful."

"How old are they?"

"Ten. They're twins."

"Annoying?"

"Like you wouldn't believe", she laughed lightly. "And you?"

"I've got my two older brothers", I said, choosing my words carefully and trying to avoid talk of Mom and Dad at all costs. "Soda's almost seventeen and he's real nice and funny."

"Does he go to this school?"

"Um…no", I stuttered. "He dropped out. He works at the DX."

"I'm sorry to hear that. What about the other one?"

"Darry's twenty and he's alright, but kinda strict. He gave up college to take care of me and Soda. Well, Soda works all day too to get more money."

"Why? What about your parents?" she asked.

I flinched a little. "They- they died…about eight months ago. Auto-wreck."

Lily put a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have asked. God I'm stupid-", she started to ramble.

"It's okay", I cut her off. "Like you said, you didn't know."

We were silent for a couple of minutes, just kind of staring at each other and not knowing where to go from there.

"What's your schedule?" she finally asked.

"Let me check", I said, reaching into my backpack and pulling it out before handing it to her. She took it and looked back and forth from it to her schedule. I watched her eyes move constantly and was only pulled out of my reverie when she looked back up at me with a smile on her face.

"We've got all the same classes. Probably 'cause we both skipped a year."

"At least we'll know somebody in our classes then", I said as she gave my schedule back to me.

"Yeah", she agreed.

We went around school together that day, never leaving each other's side. Lunch was the only time we weren't together and I sat with Two-Bit and Johnny. During that time, I told them that I would be walking home with someone else and that I would meet them at the DX after school. I would have had them walk home with Lily and I, but I didn't want to scare her off.

When school ended, the two of us left the building just before Two-Bit and Johnny did. I walked fast and hoped they wouldn't notice me, but I rapidly heard a sharp wolf-whistle and Two-Bit screaming "Get some, Pony!"

"Who was that?" Lily asked, turning around slightly.

I blushed heavily and continued walking. "Just a friend of mine."

"Why don't we go talk to him?"

"He'll just slow us down and I wanna get you home before all the Socs start goin' crazy."

She nodded in agreement and matched my pace. When we had both stood up after first period, I had noticed that she was shorter than me, the top of her head only coming up to my eyes. It felt nice to be taller for once. I was pretty short, especially for a high-schooler, and compared to the rest of the gang I was practically a toddler.

The two of us walked in silence for a bit before I decided to say something. "What do you like to do?"

"Well, what do you like to do?" she teased.

"I asked first."

"Fine", she relented with an exaggerated pout. "I'll go first. I love to read and write. It makes me so happy."

I had never met another greaser that liked to read and write. "What's your favorite book?"

"Little Women. I've read it probably about five times. What about you?"

"Gone with the Wind's my favorite. What else do you like to do?"

"I dance", she answered. "I love it."

"You dance?" I asked as I tried to use Two-Bit's trick of cocking an eyebrow, though I wasn't surprised at all. Even the way she walked was elegant.

"Yeah. Been doin' it since I was two. I mainly do ballet and tap, but I'm getting into ballroom a bit."

"And you're how old?" I asked in disbelief.

"Fourteen next month. Why?"

"You've been dancing for twelve years?"

"Yeah. I met my best friend there, actually. When you love something like I love dance, you never wanna stop, if that makes sense."

I stared at her the entire time she was talking. Glory, was she ever pretty, and she got even prettier when she talked about something she loved. Her eyes brightened up.

"Would you like something?" she asked with a small laugh, breaking me out of a daze for the second time that day.

"When you talk about somethin' you're passionate about, you can see it in your eyes. They light up", I said before I could think about it and quickly tried to cover it up. "You'll have to give me dance lessons one day. I'm not the best dancer."

"It's actually the only sport I'm good at", she giggled. "I'm really clumsy and get scared when balls get thrown at me." Her giggle was adorable and made me laugh too.

"I only do track. I'm pretty good", I admitted.

"I can run too. I'm pretty good at sprints."

"You wanna race?" I asked. The coach of my old track team in middle school had me randomly race boys on my team all the time since I was the fastest on the team.

"Ponyboy Curtis, are you challenging me?"

"You bet I am", I smirked.

"Yeah", she agreed. "Let's do it."

When she dropped her backpack onto the ground I suddenly realized one drawback I didn't usually have when I raced against people: she was wearing a dress.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "You're in a dress, y'know."

"I'm perfectly aware of my apparel", she teased. "It's nothin' I haven't done before. Now, if I were wearing heels, that would be another story. Luckily I'm wearing my Converse today."

I nodded and also dropped my backpack on the ground before crouching into a running stance. "Aren't you gonna get down?" I asked her.

"I'm better if I start off standing, and as you pointed out, I am in a dress." Her lips were pulling up into a smirk as she talked.

"If you say so", I shrugged. "To the lamppost?"

"Sounds good. On your mark, get set, go!"

We both sprinted towards the lamppost and before I knew it, I was running on her heels. When she got to the lamppost, she immediately hunched over a bit and tried to catch her breath. I got there a few moments later and also almost keeled over.

"Wow, you are fast", I told her in-between wheezes.

"Why, thank you", she said and finally straightened up, smoothing out her dress. "You weren't too bad yourself." The short hairs that lined her face were everywhere and the rest was overcome by fly-aways. My hair was probably a mess too, though. "Let's grab our bags and keep walking."

"So what else do you like?" I asked when we started on our travel again.

"I love music."

"Really? What kind?"

"I like Elvis."

"Me too. What's your favorite by him?"

"Probably 'Can't Help Falling in Love' and 'Jailhouse Rock'."

"My favorite's 'Love Me Tender'."

"I like that one too", she smiled. "It's sweet."

"Anything else you like to do?"

"I like watching the sky. The moon, the stars, sunsets, things like that."

"Me too. I sit on my back steps and watch the sunset whenever I can."

"I see it better from my driveway. You know somethin', Pony?"

"What?" I asked.

"You aren't a typical greaser and definitely not a typical greaser boy."

"Thank you?" I said, more as a question than a statement.

"It's a compliment", she laughed. "You're unique and you don't try to be super tough like the other boys."

"You sayin' I ain't tough?" I joked.

"No, you're probably very tough. You're tuff too, though, I'll tell you that right now."

"Thanks, Lily", I said before looping my arm through hers. I hoped she would just see it as a friendly thing, even though I was aching to have at least a little physical contact with her right then.

"No problem", she smiled. She didn't pull her arm away as we continued to walk and speak, which was a good sign.

Soon, we got to her house and I regretfully had to unlink our arms.

"Maybe we could see a movie sometime, seein' as we both like 'em so much", I suggested before realizing what it might have sounded like. "As friends of course."

"That sounds fun. Are we walking again tomorrow?"

"We wouldn't want any of us gettin' jumped, now would we?" I teased.

"No", she agreed and cocked an eyebrow. "Seven-fifteen sharp, y'hear?"

"Yes, ma'am", I saluted.

"See you tomorrow, Pony", she told me with a smile.

"See you tomorrow, Lily", I said and ran off to the DX. My heart was pounding as I ran and it wasn't just from the exercise. God, she's amazing, I thought. She was pretty, smart, and funny. I already knew that I was harboring a crush on her and I had only met her that day. I had never actually liked a girl before and didn't really know what to do.

I burst into the DX trying (and miserably failing) to keep the smile off my face.

"What's got you so happy?" Soda asked from behind the counter. "Someone give you a cancer stick?"

"No", I laughed, rolling my eyes and pulling out a cigarette of my own.

"Was it that broad you were walkin' home with?" Two-Bit laughed as he leaned against the counter, a beer in hand.

"You were walkin' home with a girl?" Soda exclaimed.

"I walked her home so she wouldn't get jumped", I said as an excuse.

"What's her name?" Johnny asked.

"Lily", I answered with a slight smile between puffs of my cigarette.

"She a greasy gal?" Two-Bit asked.

"Well, she's a greaser, but she don't act like one. She's real nice and smart."

"Oh, please do tell", Soda said, leaning across the counter and batting his eyelashes at me.

"Oh, quit it, would ya?" I laughed.

"What's she look like?" he asked.

"She's pretty. Light brown hair and brown eyes. A little shorter than me."

"She got big boobs?" Two-Bit asked.

I blushed and smacked his arm. "Hell, I dunno. I wasn't lookin' there."

"Well, if she ain't blonde and don't got big boobs, she's all yours, buddy."

"You're a pig", I told him.

"It's my specialty", he said with a cocky smirk.

As I looked at my girlfriend sleeping on the way home from the ranch that memory hit me hard.

She deserved the world. She deserved everything. And yet she had chosen me. I was prepared to give her anything and everything she ever wanted or needed. And if that meant that I would have to wait to propose to her so it would be absolutely perfect, then so be it.

"Ashlynn, can you look at her ring and see if it's the right size?" I asked her.

She nodded and took Lily's left hand, twisting and pulling at the ring to see if it was too big or small. When I had gotten the ring for her, I had guessed at the size and luckily, it had seemed right.

Soon, Ashlynn slipped the ring back onto her best friend's finger and released her hand before looking back at me. "It's the right size."

"Good", I nodded.

Lily had told me multiple times that people had asked if she was engaged since she wore the ring on her left ring finger. I always joked with her that it was practice and soon that practice would make good, I hoped. I knew she would accept, but there was always that nagging in my head that said "What if?". That was what scared me most.

My plan of about a year had been to propose to her before high school ended so we could get married right after college. If we both got into our dream colleges, we would be a long way apart with her in Rhode Island and me in New Jersey and I was dreading that separation. We had both sent in applications to those schools along with more local ones at the beginning of the school year and would be getting our answers near the time that Soda and Two-Bit would be leaving.

"Oh, and by the way, Pony", Soda said with a smile, "the ring's in Mom and Dad's room in Mom's jewelry box on the dresser."

Yay! A semi-regular space of time between updates! This was a cute chapter to write and it's fun to get Pony's perspective on things. Don't worry about the engagement aspect. I've got a plan and I can't wait to write it. I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavenclaw13