Quick thing- the brown leather jacket that is mentioned by "Rain", looks like the one that Matt Dillon uses and gives to Ponyboy in the movie. I chose that one not cause of that, but cause I actually own the same exact jacket that Matt Dillon uses that my dad bought about thirty years ago in the early 80s and my dad said it was the same exact one and it's actually really warm… you'll see why I pointed that out once you read on :)

"Merry Christmas everybody!" Steve yelled as he walked through the front door, Evie following in behind him with his hand around hers and they both were smiling. He usually wasn't so cheery, on account of his lovely father- note the sarcasm- but every year on Christmas, he was happy.

Candy, Marilyn and Two-Bit all followed in as well. We all greeted each other then went to our boyfriend or girlfriend. Everybody their gifts underneath the small Christmas tree in the living room. I had wrapped the blade for Two-Bit in a folded up Mickey Mouse t-shirt. I know he had about a hundred of hose already, but I knew he would like it, plus is would hide the blade.

"Rain… guess what I helped Darry do for Ponyboy," Marilyn whispered and pulled me over to the other room. "I tried to keep it a secret but if I don't tell anyone, I'm gonna explode."

I chuckled at her excitement and nodded, "What'd you help him do for Pony?"

"Ok, ok… so Suzie called me and said she was able to convince her family to come back from Tennessee early cause she wanted to be with us all for part of the day, and she convinced them cause of her brother going away soon. Anyway, I talked with her parents and they agreed to let he come over soon!"

I smiled and opened my mouth to say something but stopped when Ponyboy walked into the room.

I went back into the living room and sat down on the couch, Two-Bit came next to me and held something over my head. I looked up and it was mistletoe. I rolled my eyes and laughed, "You're so corny." He smiled and nodded, "I wouldn't be me if I wasn't." I laughed again. He leaned down and I met him halfway. "No PDA in the living room!" Candy teased… I guess the kiss lasted longer than it felt. I pulled away and knew my cheeks were pink with embarrassment, but in this case, it was totally worth it.

But the fact that it was Candy who said that, she's been spending too much time with Sodapop.

The phone rang and I thought it was Suzie until Darry called me over to the phone. "Hello?" I asked and took the phone.

"Merry Christmas, Rain!" I heard in Cherry and Marcia's voice.

I laughed and smiled, knowing they couldn't see me. "Merry Christmas, you two!"

"We haven't really seen you in a while, we should get together soon before break is over," Marcia said.

"Ok! We will get together soon, I promise! I gotta go Again, Merry Christmas you two!"

"Merry Christmas!" they said and I hung up. I went back over to Two-Bit on the couch, trying not to block anyone's view of It's A Wonderful Life as I walked back. "Who was that?" he asked. "Cherry and Marcia," I answered. He gave a look of confusion but shook it off, making me laugh.

Marilyn, Evie, Candy and Suzie never met Cherry and Marcia. Not as far as I knew, at least. Ever since I started hanging out with the four, I hadn't really seen much of the other two. Probably since I now had other Greasers to hang out with, plus Candy was in my homeroom. I felt bad that I hadn't been with the other two, though, especially since they helped me play Soc-for-a-day. But we still had reputations and such considering the two depictions of the two thought different social classes, that were forbidden to be with each other; one called Greaser, one called Soc.

A few minutes later, the phone rang again. Marilyn picked it up for Darry. While she was on the phone, most likely with Suzie, Darry called me into the other room. "Rain, guess what I did for Marilyn?" he said, smiling like a little kid.

I couldn't help but laugh at his excitement, I hadn't seen him this happy in a long time. "What were you able to do for her?"

"I invited her cousin Sandy and her fiancé over. She was telling me last week how she missed them so I got in contact with them and they're coming over later on!"

He still had that childlike smile on his face and I laughed again. Like I said, I hadn't seen him like this since before Mr. and Mrs. Curtis died. Ever since he started going out with Marilyn, he was happier. He was almost always smiling like this and it warmed my heart to see the two together and as happy as they were.

Marilyn came running into the room, smiling. "Suzie's on her way over right now!" she smiled.

I quickly went back to the other room, back in my spot next to Two-Bit. He gave a questioning look and whispered everything the two had told me. Someone knocked on the door and Darry and Marilyn came running to get the door before anyone else could. They opened the door and Suzie quickly came inside since it was cold and snowing. We al quietly said hello, since Ponyboy was in the other room and we didn't want him to see her quite yet.

"Pony? Come in here would you?" Sodapop called to his younger brother. He held a Polaroid in his hand and Candy had the lacquer for the picture sat on the table.

Suzie stood behind Steve, Darry, Marilyn and Evie. Ponyboy came into the room with a curious look. The four stepped aside, revealing a smiling Suzie. Ponyboy's face lit up as bright as the lights on the small Christmas tree. The next thing we all knew, Suzie's arms were wrapped around Ponyboy's neck as she jumped into his arms, which were tightly wrapped around her torso. There was a bright flash and I knew it was Sodapop and his camera. He took the picture, peeled off the tape, then handed it to Candy so she could paint the lacquer on so the picture wouldn't fade. The youngest of us all turned to face him with glares, while he stood there with a wide grin, proud of his actions.

Throughout the rest of the day, we all took pictures with a 35 millimeter SLR instead. That way,when we got them developed, we could have more than one printed out, plus the negatives. Darry and Marilyn, Steve and Evie, Sodapop and Candy, Ponyboy and Suzie, and Two-Bit and me. Then all the girls in one picture, then all the guys, then one of all of us together in one group photo. We would all take them to get developed on the twenty-seventh, so they would be ready by January second.

…a few hours later…

We all agreed to open the gifts at night, kind of a "save the best for last" type of thing. We had already finished eating and now we were watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. It had only come out in 1965 and for about a year, but I had a strong feeling it would live on for centuries to come.

There was another knock on the door. Darry quickly got up and went to answer it before Marilyn could get there. Two figures came inside; a woman with blonde hair that ended at her shoulder and bright blue eyes, the other was a man with greased-back jet black hair and a cleft chin. Marilyn came back into the room, "Darry, who was-" She stopped halfway when she saw the two visitors. Again, Sodapop was ready with his Polaroid and Candy with the lacquer. Marilyn ran over to the two, who I guessed was her cousin and her fiancé and Soda snapped the picture and repeated the process to preserving the photo.

Marilyn hugged the blonde girl, then the guy with the cleft chin. Then she turned to us, "Everyone, this is my cousin Sandra Olsson and her fiancé, Danny Zuko."

"Please, just call me Sandy," the blonde smiled and said with a slight Australian accent.

Marilyn introduced us all one by one, addressing Darry last as her boyfriend. "Marilyn, you never told me how handsome he was," Sandy leaned to her cousin and said in a quiet tone, but making sure it was loud enough for everyone to hear. Darry's cheeks showed a slight change color to a bright pink- probably the first and only time it would ever happen- and he smiled and looked down.

A little while later, we decided to open the gifts at 10:15pm. Not everybody got something for everyone, mostly cause none of us could really afford it. But we all knew that if we could, we would.

I went to the tree and got the package with the shirt and the blade, and sat back down on the couch with Two-Bit. He held a small package in his hand. I handed mine to him and he did the same with the one in his hand. "Open yours first," I smiled. He happily obliged to my wish and he began to reveal the shirt with a very familiar design. His face lit up as he saw the folded up Mickey Mouse shirt and I busted out laughing. "Unfold the shirt," I managed to get out in between laughs. He did what I said and the blade tumbled onto his lap. He laid the shirt down and picked up the blade, "What's this?"

I smiled, "A new switchblade… the fuzz never gave you back your old one that was your show off and you never got a new one. Look," I pointed to the small engravement that read Keith 'Two-Bit' Mathews on the handle. He flicked the switch and the blade popped out. "Do you like it?" I asked hopefully.

"This must've cost you a fortune."

I shook my head. "Not really, but you'll never find out how much," I grinned.

He looked up at me smiling, "Thank you, Rain." He quickly kissed me, closed the blade and slid it into his pocket. "Before you open yours, take it with you outside," he said. "But it's so cold out," I said. He quickly got up, ran to my room and came back with my old brown leather jacket. I caved in with a teasing sigh and followed him outside. "Why'd we have to come out here in the cold to open my gift?" I asked.

He pointed to the porch light, "The light is better out here."

I looked at the moon and stars that showed and it was still slightly snowing. "It's so beautiful out here… where's Soda with his camera when you need it?" I laughed.

He laughed. "Come on, open it," he smiled.

I ripped the paper away slowly and there was a little black square box. I gave a confused look, "What is this?"

"Open the box."

I did as he said and opened the little black box, revealing a gold heart on a chain. "It's beautiful," I said quietly and looked up at him smiling.

He smiled back, "It's a locket… look at the picture inside."

I opened the heart and there were two pictures in it, both from my birthday: one that was taken of us actually looking at the camera, the other was taken after the first and Two-Bit had snuck in a kiss. "This must've cost you a fortune."

He shrugged. "I've been saving up for it since those pictures were taken," he laughed. "You said you didn't want me to go, this way- in a way- I'll always be with you."

I looked up at him and smiled. The next thing I knew, my arms were around his neck, his hands cupped my chin and our lips were pressed against each other. It was close to making out, just no tongues and nothing gross. Everything seemed perfect…

Until I saw a flash from the corner of my eye.

I pulled back and looked toward the house and there everybody stood behind Soda, who held the SLR in his hands.

I looked at Two-Bit, "Did you plan this?"

Before he could answer, Soda spoke up, "We did this on our own… Merry Christmas you two!" He grinned his usual grin that resembled that of a little kid. Two-Bit and I looked at each other and busted out laughing, and pretty soon everyone was trying to calm down from laughing.

Aw how cute =^-^= admit it, it was cute… I at least think it was cute- if you thought this chapter was cute, you'll love the next one what happens at midnight on New Years :)

You guys should check out my new fan fiction, "Cherry Flavored Soda"… it was a request from BrokenAskeus through direct message or whatever the heck that thing is called, but I just started it today, but yeah, you should check it out :)