I'm sooooo sorry this has taken so long. I've been traveling with my family A LOT and I hadn't had enough time to think out this story too much. I'm starting school again in less than two weeks so I don't know how frequent my updates will be, but I'll do my best. If I can get enough computer time, maybe I'll be able to hurry and get out a few chapters before then. It's all chance at this point. I can't promise anything.

soda'sgirl wdonabella: But what would be the fun in that? Don't worry, everything will work out for the best. Smiles and nods like a crazy person Thanks for your support. It means a lot to me.

Dess:Haha. I remember that in the Princess Diaries. Those movies are like my guilty pleasure. I love them. Thanks for the review.

Angeloves1:Thank you! As always, I love hearing from you.

Emma:Thank you so much! That was sooooo sweet!

Wopo12:I know. How stupid of Soda. Haha. Thanks for your review! Smiles

UrnotSethCohen:I know! Soda is such a jerk. Why can't he see its all his fault? tears up sniffle Thanks for the review. Sniffle

SodaNDallysgrl410:Haha. That review was hilarious. "Soda must die!" Thanks for that. I was laughing my head off.

Rugrats101:Awww. I didn't want to make you cry. I'm sorry. Thanks for the review though. Tries to cheer you up

Karlei Shaynner:Thank you. I'm glad you like it.

Sodapop's#1gurl:I know. Theres all kinds of drama floating around. Thanks for your support.

Rae:Thank you. I'm glad you like it.

Lady rose 05:I know! What a jerk! I hope he gets nicer too but we'll just have to wait and see! Thanks for the review.

RachieBabe:I know. I need to make them a bit longer. I'm gonna try to work on that a bit. Thanks for your support. I love hearing from you guys.

Kaligirl05:I know. How cold of him. I'm sorry I made you cry too! I've really got to work on that. I make too many people cry. Lol. Thank you for reviewing my story.

An anonymous review said...

" omg i LOVE this story! Soda almost made me cry :(
you need to update soon!
i hate Sandy! But Melissa is so awesome!" Thank you for your kind words stranger. I have no idea who you are but I appreciate your support.

Miss showjumper:Thank you. I hope you didn't cry while I took FOREVER. I'm very sorry. I'll try to make it up to you guys.

Sassy6972482:I know. There are so many bad things going on. They'll get sorted out eventually. Don't worry. Thanks for your support.

Valeria:Thanks for your reviews and I know I took a really long time. I'm really sorry and I'm going to try to make up for it.

Katy0977:Haha. Thank you. I appreciate your review very much. smiles

Ashley:Well, he's as sweet as Dally can be. Haha. I love his character. Hes so...mysterious? I don't know, I just like him. Thanks for the review.

Flaming-Angel-1:I'm working on the whole making people cry thing. I'm sorry you cried. Hopefully I'll do something good someday to make it up to you. Haha. Thanks for the support. It was very kind of you.

TheDiscoxDead:I know. Shes horrible. Thanks for the review.

Babigrl:I'll update soon...as a matter of fact, I'm updating now! Haha. Sorry for the wait and thank you for the review.

brooklyn xoxangel001xox:Oh no, its not the end. There's a lot more to come. Don't worry. Thanks for the review. It was very nice.

Thank you guys sooooo much for the reviews. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update, but I'll try to make it up to you all now. Thanks to the majority of you who were patient.

I love you guys!

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As I slept that night, I tossed and turned as nightmares flooded my dreams.

My birthday...

"I've got to go...You're okay with that aren't you, Joey?"

Darry and Soda talking in the kitchen...

"I met a girl afterwards anyway"

Sandy...

"I see the way you look at him"

Soda's birthday...

"Maybe you should go home, Joey"

I shot straight up as the last memory scared me awake. I threw my hands over my head as I let out a few defeated sobs.

I was used to Soda hurting me...but not like this. This time he did it on purpose.

I lifted my head to look around my dimly lit room. The first signs of sunlight were beginning to show as I rolled out of bed and into the living room.

I absently admired the new look as I ran my fingers through Cody's fur. I smiled down at him. Cody was one person I could count on to never hurt me.

I'd never be burnt by his harsh words. He'd never walk out on me or find someone better. I would always take great care of Cody.

My thoughts we're brought down when I went back to thinking about Soda.

I wish I could blame it all on Sandy, but it was my fault. I shouldn't have said those things to her. I shouldn't have been so stupid all of these years. I shouldn't have even showed up at Soda's party. And most of all, I shouldn't have fallen in love with my best friend.

I wouldn't be able to say that anymore. Soda was my best friend, but not now. I crumbled my body into a tiny ball on the couch as I wrapped my arm around myself. I couldn't believe how fast I had gone from crying to not being able to cry.

I suppose that proved to me that I really do make it worse when I think about it. Good. I deserve this.

A few hours later I heard Melissa walk down the hallway. I turned my head to look at her. She was smiling at me, but her smile faded so quickly, I wasn't sure if it was ever there.

"What's wrong, honey?" Concern. I didn't care so someone had to.

"Everything." It scared me how flat and dry my voice was. I sounded like I wasn't listening to what I was saying. Like I was bored of the world and unwilling to show any emotion towards it. It wasn't that I didn't want to show my feelings; it was just the fact that I had none. No, they were ripped out of me and thrown away.

"What happened?" She sat down and looked at me with sympathy. Of course she could tell something was wrong. I must've looked like a ghost. Pale and empty.

I explained everything to her. Just as emotionless as I felt. I could tell that she didn't know what to think. Maybe if I would have looked angry or hurt as I said it, she would know how to feel. I didn't care. I was only telling her because she asked it of me. Nothing more.

I expected Melissa to tell me 'hard luck' or 'he's suck a jerk'. I didn't expect her to hug me.

"I'm so sorry, Joey." She sounded like she was crying. I hugged her and rubbed her back to calm her down a bit. Shouldn't this be the other way around?

First I was emotionless and now I had confusion. At least it was something.

Melissa and I had brownies and painted some more that afternoon as we talked. We avoided the subjects love, friends, and Soda.

We spent these ours talking about Cody, shopping, paint, colors, decorations, and anything we could think of that stayed away from the topic of Soda. It wasn't hard to tell what we were both thinking, never talking about, but we managed to at least act cheery the entire morning and afternoon.

At eight o'clock that night, I went for a walk. I just needed to get out. Acting cheery and being cheery were two entirely different things. I wanted to find Dally.

Despite his rough ways, he was the only person who never failed to cheer me up. I didn't know how I was supposed to find him. The only time I ever really saw Dally was when he was at the Curtis house and I couldn't go there.

Not only because I didn't want to face Soda...but because I didn't know if he would let me inside. Even with my jacket on, I felt cold. Colder than I had ever felt. And even with Melissa at home, I felt alone. Soda hated me so it was only a matter of time before everyone else did. Hell, they had probably heard everything by now and already hated me.

Dally would understand. He hated Sandy. Dally seemed to be the only one who saw through her, but he wasn't saying anything to the guys, at least not while I was around.

I found my way to Buck's only to find he wasn't there. I sighed as I sat on the steps and waited. I couldn't leave until I saw him. I leaned my head on the railing and eventually fell asleep.

"Joey, shit, Joey!" I was shook awake as Two-Bit yelled at me.

I rubbed my eyes and looked around. It was only Two-Bit.

"What are you doing?" I sat up and rubbed my head that probably had a permanent indention where I had fallen asleep on the railing.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" His eyes were wide and he was looking at me like I was a crazy person.

"What time is it?" It took me that long to notice that it was dark.

"It's three o'clock in the morning, Joey! Melissa's flipping out!"

A picture of Mom flashed through my head.

"Flipping out? Is she throwing things?" I could hear my voice shake as I searched his face for an answer. He looked a little taken back.

"What? No, she's worried, not nuts!" He laughed at me in an attempt to lighten the mood, but I was already lost. I leant my head back up against the railing as tears slipped down my face.

"Joey..." He sat beside me and threw his arm around my shoulders. I leant into him as he lifted me to my feet.

"We have to get you back. Everyone's looking for you and Melissa looked like she was going to cry." He began leading me into the direction of our street.

"Even Soda?" I couldn't hide the hope from my voice.

Two-Bit looked at me knowingly and sadly shook his head. I avoided his eyes as I looked at me feet. Of course Soda wasn't looking for me. He didn't care.

"Joey...I talked to Soda...and Dallas-" I had to cut him off.

"What have you told Soda?" My voice was loud and demanding.

He sighed. Something I wasn't used to Two-Bit doing.

"Nothing, Joey. I was just listening. I knew you liked Soda...Just not that much. Dally told me a lot about what's been going on and Soda told me what happened between you guys-" I cut him off again.

"Don't worry about it." I was mumbling at this point.

"No, Joey. Look, I know its rough, but that's no reason to make your cousin worry. Especially a pretty one like that but-" I didn't mean to cut him off this time, but I couldn't hold in my laughter.

"What's so funny?" He sounded indignant, but I knew he was joking.

"I forgot about your blonde fetish." I broke into another fit of laughter.

"Oh please, a girl that good looking? I'd like her if she had green hair!" Now we were both laughing.

"Shes twice your age!"

It felt good to be laughing again. I knew it wouldn't last long, but I enjoyed it none the less.

After the laugher finally died down, I finally got up the courage to ask Two-Bit what I needed to know.

"So what has Soda been telling you?" I tried to make it sound casual, but he saw right through that. There was a long pause.

"Soda tells me that you're different, which you don't seem to be, and that you no longer...see eye to eye." He was choosing his words carefully, but I could tell he was biting back some of the anger that had come when the words were originally spoken. I knew that Soda had told him this rather differently.

"He hates me." Now I know my voice sounded crushed.

"No...He doesn't hate you. He's just angry and confused. Being confused just makes you angrier."

"Tell me about it..." I muttered.

I had been so drawn up in the conversation, I didn't notice that we were at my house.

"Thanks for bringing me back. I didn't mean to fall asleep out there. I was just waiting for Dally-"

"Don't worry about it." He stole my words with a smirk as he turned around and headed towards the Curtis house.

I drew in a deep breath and prepared for the worse as I pushed open the door.

"Joey!" I couldn't see anything as I was smothered in a hug.

After Melissa finally let me go I began explaining what happened.

I was surprised how well she was taking it. She wasn't mad at all. She did tell me to make sure she knew next time I was going to be out that late, but she seemed to understand that it was something I had to do.

It was four o'clock when I finally made it to bed. I was in no better shape than I was when I had fallen asleep yesterday, but I felt a little better about my condition this time.

I supposed this was how it was going to be for a long time. Little by little, I would forget about Sodapop Curtis and get on with my life. This would be the last time I would have to get over him because it was finally over with us. No being friends, and no hope of something more.

Because of where I lived and who my friends were, Soda would never be out of my life, but he was finally working his way out of my heart.

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I'm sorry if this seemed boring, but I was totally drawling a blank! I'm not sure what to do next...well...I have a very small idea. One that will only take a few paragraphs, but that's it.

Any ideas? Let me know.

As you can tell, I didn't really know where to go with this chapter either so I really would LOVE to know what you guys think about it. Don't be shy! Review!

Thank you guys for being so patient and don't hesitate you run any ideas past me like what they should do next or any little ideas you may have...I could really use the tips.

Right now, I'm going to bed (its 8am) and hopefully, I'll put out another chapter by this time tomorrow (It'll help if someone gives me some ideas!)

Thanks for reading. "(Your Name Here) is awesome!"

Love you guys!