Steve's POV:

I dry heave into the toilet but this time I can't tell if it's from the alcohol I had yesterday or because of the stomach cancer. I'm going to have an operation in four days to remove the cancerous tumour in my stomach and my doctors said I shouldn't drink beforehand. I groan, I tried to give up alcohol and become a healthier person. Apparently, my tolerance has gone down quite a bit because of it. Now, I'm regretting drinking at all yesterday.

"Get up early, suffer in silence by yourself in the hope that you won't wake anyone up with the sounds of your suffering. Yeah, I've done that more times in my life than I can count. Here." Soda says, reaching a hand out to me and stepping on my foot. He pulls me to my feet with ease using his leverage. "What has you hunched over the toilet at seven o'clock in the morning?" He asks.

"Bad decisions involving too much alcohol." I say.

Soda laugh, "Well then I guess you haven't changed a bit."

I manage a smile, "I guess not. I've been trying to cut back lately. Apparently that shit is bad for your health. The way I see it, I'm dying anyway so why try and change my habits now? Why not do what you enjoy in your last week of life?"

"Because you're not dying, stupid. You have cancer. There's a difference. You can get better." He says, slapping me on the back of the head.

I wince, "Ow. Way to mind the hangover."

"Sorry. Come with me, that is a problem I can fix." Soda says.

I rub my eyes and follow Soda to the kitchen.

"Sit." He commands. I lay my head on the counter and listen as Soda opens the fridge. I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I know, Soda is shaking me awake and there is a a plate with a piece of buttered toast and a pile of scrambled eggs sitting in front of me.

"What's all this?" I ask with a yawn.

"Food." He says and I laugh. Soda hasn't changed either.

"I can't-" I start but Soda cuts me off with a look.

"Yes you can." He says. "And here's some water." Soda adds, sliding a glass across the counter.

...

I put the fork down and wince. I'm going to regret eating all of that later. I have to admit, I was really hungry.

"Are you okay?" Soda asks, sipping his chocolate milk.

"Yeah, I'm stuffed though." I say, picking up my plate and my glass and putting them in the sink. I'm in the middle of washing the plate when I suddenly grow very nautious. I shift positions and try and ignore it but it doesn't go away. I normally don't have any symptoms but I'm finding it harder and harder for me to eat anything these days.

"Steve, you don't have to do the dishes. I got it for today." Soda says. "I was the one who cooked it and made a mess."

"No, I'm fine, I can wash the dishes. Hasn't the rule always been that if you cook the meal you don't have to clean up afterwards?" I ask.

"You don't have to bulllshit me. We've been friends for years, I can tell when you're lying. Go take a nap. It's good to see you again though." Soda says, smiling gently but, in a way, he looks kind of sad.

"Thanks. Really, I mean it." I say. I feel so useless but it's like my mind can only focus on one thing at a time and that one thing is giving my body what it wants. I shuffle down the hallway and lay back down in the bed I woke up in.

...

Ponyboy's POV:

"TOUCHDOWN!" Two-Bit screams, slamming the football on the ground before doing a lap around the lot, whooping and hollering his fool head off.

"C'mon guys! I had money on your team!" Steve yells from his lawn chair on the sideline. "Y'all suck." He says, spitting on the ground.

"I would like to see your sorry ass get out here and do better!" Soda says. Steve just finished his last round of chemo and is taking it easy. His operation went well but the chemical therapies have been hard on him these last few weeks.

"You know what, I will!" He says, standing up defiantly.

"Steve, I don't think-" Soda says with worry clear in his eyes.

"Shut up and hold this." Steve commands, handing Soda the baseball cap he was wearing that hides his almost bald head. That was another thing that Steve hated. His hair started falling out in clumps and, as everyone knows, a Greaser's head of hair is their most prized possession. I stopped greasing my hair in support of him and I even considered shaving it off. We all were going to do that but Steve insisted that we all enjoy our hair while we still can, before we lose it all when we're old. Those were Steve's words, not mine. "Get out of here, Soda. I'm subbing in."

Soda laughs and jogs over to the sideline. He cracks open a can of beer and settles into Steve's chair. With his new prosthetic leg, Soda can run slowly now. I turn to Two-Bit.

"They are such sore losers." I say and Two-Bit laughs. I watch Steve and Darry form their plan of attack and I turn to Two-Bit and we form ours.

We line up on our opposite lines and Steve starts the game, passing the ball through his legs to Darry. Steve takes off one way and I chase after him while Two-Bit tries to take down Darry. "Darry, go long!" Steve yells and I turn around just in time to see the ball flying through the air. I jump at the same time as Steve. My fingertips brush against the ball but I'm not quite tall enough to reach it. Damn Darry and his football skills. Almost as if we were in slow motion, I watch as the ball hits the ground and then a few seconds later I hit the ground too. Except I land on top of Steve.

"Oof!" I hear from under me. Oh no. I roll off of Steve who is wheezing on the ground, "Steve? Are you okay? Talk to me bud." I say, trying to examine Steve for any obvious injuries. During my two second assessment, I didn't notice anything wrong with him externally but what I also didn't notice is Steve's hand slowly creeping towards the ball. In a flash, Steve grabs the ball in one hand and grabs my leg with the other before he pulls my leg out from under me. I hit the ground and Steve jumps to his feet and takes off running towards the end zone.

"SUCKER!" He screams and I burst out laughing. "AND THAT'S A TOUCHDOWN FOR TEAM DARRY AND STEVE!"

Steve throws the ball behind him and starts dancing. "You're an asshole!" I yell.

"Yes Steve! We won, we won!" Darry yells while doing backflips.

"Guys I hate to be the smart one here but you guys didn't win because that is not a legal move." Two-Bit says, rubbing his face as if he couldn't believe how stupid Darry and Steve were.

"Two-Bit, we totally won. Did you see how awesome that was?" Darry asks.

"Darry have you gone mad? Have you lost all sense of reason? The old you would've never cheated at football! You totally didn't win!" I say as I get up off the ground and brush my pants off.

"Soda, what do you think?" Steve says.

Soda scratches his chin, pretending to think hard. "The winners of this football game are... drumroll please... Steve and Darry!" He yells, jumping to his feet, spraying beer everywhere.

"THEY'VE GONE MAD, THEY'VE ALL GONE MAD!" Two-Bit yells, sinking to the ground dramatically.

I double over in laughter. It feels so good to laugh and have everyone together like this. It's almost like old times.

...

Laura, Charlotte, and Ellie show up to the empty lot twenty minutes later. Goodness knows what they've been up to this whole time. "Ellie!" I yell. When she comes over, I dip her before leaning in to kiss her softly.

She giggles, "Well hello to you too. Who is this person and what have you done with my sad, angsty boyfriend?"

"Oh stop." I say, standing back up and letting her go.

"You know I'm just kidding." She says, nudging me playfully.

"Oh gross. The last thing my delicate stomach needs is a first row seat to my sister's romantic life." Steve says, fake gagging.

"Knock it off Steve." Ellie says, shoving him away.

Steve laughs and wanders off towards the small fire we built. Darry, Two-Bit, Steve, Soda, and I pulled an old couch, a log, and an old lawn chair over for all of us to sit on. You never know what junk people are going to dump here.

"If everyone could take a seat, I have an announcement to make. Well a few announcements." Darry says, bouncing Charlotte in his arms to try and get her to go to sleep.

I sit down on the log and Ellie sits next to me and puts her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and pull her even closer. Finally, when everyone is sitting, Darry clears his throat.

"As everyone knows, Charlotte was born when Pony was in foster care. Laura and I met long before that and had hoped to be married before Charlotte was born. But, I told her that it would mean the world to me if I could have all of my brothers at my wedding and Laura, being the amazing woman she is, understood." Darry says, pausing to kiss Laura on the forehead. That explains Darry's happy-go-lucky, carefree, and very un-Darrylike behavior earlier.

"So, now that everyone is here, I would like to announce that Darry and I are getting married in two months, in June." Laura finishes with a smile and everyone else starts clapping and cheering.

"It's obvious that you an Darry are perfect for each other. Welcome to the family Laura, you're the best sister-in-law anyone could ask for." Soda says, leaning over to give her a hug.

"I second that!" I say. "To Darry, Laura, and Charlotte!" I say, raising my glass in a toast.

"To Darry, Laura, and Charlotte!" Everyone else repeats, taking a sip of their drinks.

"And, since we postponed Charlotte's baptism too, Laura and I would like to announce that Ponyboy and Ellie are going to be her official godparents." Darry says, smiling at us. "Ellie, even if you don't want to stay with Ponyboy for the rest of your life, you are technically already family as we recently found out, so you showed up just in time. As you can see, we have quite a shortage of females around here."

Ellie laughs, "Thank you so much. And don't worry about Ponyboy and I, I think we're perfect just how we are."

Soda clears his throat and I take that opportunity to kiss Ellie quickly. "I love you." I say.

"I love you too." She whispers back.

I tune back into what Soda is saying. "Speaking of females in the family, I'm moving down to Florida and starting my own mechanic shop down there because Sandy and I have been talking and we want to give our relationship another shot." He says, looking around nervously at everyone's reactions.

"Well shit man, congratulations." Steve says, clinking his beer against Soda's. "I'll drink to that!" He says, making Soda laugh. I don't think the smile on his face could get any bigger.

"To Soda for overcoming the odds and to his new future!" I say.

"To Soda!" Everyone echos, clinking their glasses together.

"Guys, I just want to thank you first being there for me during my struggle with cancer. I've done things I regret and sometimes I've just outright been a pain in the ass but everyone here tonight found a way to forgive me and not only that, you also found a way to move past it and help me through one of the hardest times in my life. Without you all, I wouldn't be sitting here today and I can't thank you enough. I also can't wait for all of the adventures we're going to have together because today, I got the official word that I am cancer free. I was waiting for the right moment to tell everyone." Steve says, wiping tears off of his cheeks. Ellie starts crying too and goes over to him, hugging him tightly.

"To Steve and all of his future adventures." I say, raising my glass.

"To Steve!" Everyone cheers, taking big swigs of their beverages.

"Pony, why are you crying?" Ellie asks, sitting back down next to me.

I reach up and wipe my face. "I'm just really happy." I tell her and she grabs my hand in a gesture of silent agreement. I turn to face the whole group.

"I have some news too. I've decided that I want to go back to school and study to become either a grief counselor or a physical therapist at a hospital. I don't want to be afraid of hospitals anymore. I know that hospitals couldn't help my mom or dad or Curly but they did save you, Soda, and how is that a bad thing?" I announce.

Everyone is shocked until Darry breaks the silence. "I think that's amazing. I love you, little buddy. You know what? I love everyone here. Here's to new beginnings!" Darry says, raising his glass in a final toast. With the sound of clinking glasses ringing in my ears, I realize that this is the first time in a long time that I have ever felt this loved, this at peace, or this proud of a group of people.

Hey everyone! This is officially the final chapter of this story and I just want to thank all of you amazing people for reading this story and commenting because reading your lovely messages makes getting out of bed just a little easier and makes my day brighter. Never forgot how powerful you and your words are. I really do appreciate all of your feedback and advice throughout this journey and to end this message, I want to thank S.E. Hinton for creating such an amazing book with such amazing characters. I love The Outsiders and it will always have a special place in my heart as will all of the wonderful things it taught me. Again, thanks for reading and I hope to write another story soon.

Lots of love,

Anonymous367