Disclaimer: No, I don't own the characters that you recognize. I do own the ones that you don't recognize, however. Yay me.
Random: Thanks for the awesome reviews on the first chapter! That really made me feel like getting a second chapter up, and I hope you like this one too. I'm thinking I'll make one more chapter after this. Thanks guys!
Where Are They Now?
Steve Randle 37 - As the gang started fizzling out (mainly due to Ponyboy's detachment, and the deaths of Johnny and Dally), Steve started hanging around with Tim Shepard more and more. Eventually, Steve became one of their gang. That was Steve's problem; when his original gang started breaking up, he realized he didn't know how to stand on his own two feet. Shepard's gang took him in, and for a year or so, things were okay for Steve. However, when Shepard was sent to prison for murder, that gang also broke up.
Steve still had a strong friendship with Sodapop Curtis, even though they had seen very little of each other over the past year. However, Soda ended up offering to share an apartment with Steve. Steve gladly accepted, but was still unsure about what to do with himself. He was still working at the DX, fixing cars, but he knew he couldn't do that all his life. While Soda worked for his degree, Steve tried to analyze his life and find his priorities. He was tempted to find another gang, but after some hard thinking, he realized that that was not what he needed. He didn't want to end up like Tim Shepard. Instead, he started looking for a job as a mechanic - a better paying job than the one at the DX.
He soon found a garage that had a mechanic that was willing to let Steve become an 'apprentice' for him. After working there for a year, Steve was able to open his own garage - Randle Rolling Co. The shop was in small town called Groundlen. Steve started renting a tiny apartment there, still keeping in touch with Sodapop, and even Ponyboy and Darry, who lived only an hour or so away.
At thirty-three, Steve met a woman named Claire Vaughnly. They quickly fell in love and, after only knowing each other for five months, got married. Their first child was born two months premature, and died a day after birth. devastated, they waited a year before trying again. Their second try resulted in a healthy baby girl, which Steve demanded be named Claire in honor of her mother.
Two years after little Claire was born, her mother was in a terrible car crash. Claire Sr. became paralyzed from the waist down, and confined to a wheelchair for life. Steve's love for her did not die, however, and they remain in Groundlen, still a family despite the horrible car accident.
Two-Bit 38 - After giving up in high school when he still hadn't graduated at age nineteen, Two-Bit left Tulsa with a girl he had met in school. Shasta Landing and Two-Bit drove all the way across the country to California, where Shasta proceeded to dump Two-Bit, having only used him for the car - she didn't own one herself, nor did she have a license yet (despite being eighteen).
Not knowing what to do and being away from anyone he knew, Two-Bit ended up joining a tough street gang in a trashy LA suburb. Living in regret and remorse, Two-Bit became less witty and more silent. He started going by Keith, realizing he no longer lived up to his nickname. A year passed, and tragedy struck. In the middle of a bad rumble, Two-Bit nearly killed a member of the rival gang. He was caught and prosecuted, receiving five years in prison.
After those five torturous years ended, Two-Bit was hardened, but hadn't given up hope for his life. He found a way back to Tulsa, finding that none of the gang still lived there. Determined not to let a pessimistic attitude defeat him, Two-Bit decided to try and find work in Tulsa. He got distracted by the once-lovely Cherry Valance, who still lived in town. Once the two had met up and aroused old memories of how life used to be, they started spending more and more time together. Two-Bit had started working at the DX, barely making enough money to get by. Cherry worked in a hair salon downtown, which paid well enough, but wasn't what she wanted to do with her life. With help and encouragement, Cherry and Two-Bit slowly started a relationship.
After a year, they married - much to their own surprise. Cherry brought life back into Two-Bit, and Two-Bit restored hope back into Cherry. As Cherry started to build her career, Two-Bit started looking for better work. He found it in Groundlen, Oklahoma at Randle Rolling Co. While in LA, Two-Bit had learned a thing or two about cars. He persuaded Cherry to move to Groundlen, and quickly became head mechanic of Steve's garage.
Cherry and Two-Bit never got around to having children, as Cherry filed for divorce a few years into their marriage.
Two-Bit started letting himself get down, ending up with a severe alcohol addiction. He met another girl, a trashy girl named Carla Kinsman, and they ended up having a child, a little boy that they named Julian. However, Carla died during birth. Realizing that it was now solely up to him to raise Julian, Two-Bit enrolled himself into a rehab for a month, leaving a very young Julian in the care of Steve and his wife. After straitening up, Two-Bit became an ideal father. He also became living proof that if you stick out the bad things, something good will come - because Julian is the best thing that Two-Bit ever had.
Cherry Valance 37 - Cherry became very drawn away after Bob's death. She tried many times through the rest of high school to talk to Ponyboy about what happened, but each time he blew her off. She soon gave up - not just on Ponyboy, but on life in general. Her parents expected her to go on and make a place for herself in the world; she didn't feel like putting in the effort. Her grades started slipping, and she lost interest in all of her favorite things; cheerleading, friends, her classes. Soon, she was desperate for a way out.
Her parents decided to send her away to an exclusive beauty school in New York City. She studied there, though without any interest. Either way, she threw herself into her schooling and learned what she need. When that education was done, she returned to Tulsa, finding work in a downtown salon that paid well. Her parents had by now given up on her, and rarely tried to get together with her. They had moved to California, for an "early retirement" as they put it.
After a few years of pointless living, something happened that made Cherry remember who she used to be. She met up with Two-Bit Mathews, the lighthearted jokester of Ponyboy's old gang. He didn't look the same, and she soon found out why. Five years in prison had taken the sparkle out of his eyes, along with the good humor of his personality. She found herself relating to him; in a way, she had also been imprisoned the last couple of years. She had imprisoned herself behind her regrets and depression. Both Cherry and Two-Bit let down their guard, and they fell in love.
After marrying and moving to Groundlen, Cherry became restless once again. She didn't know why, but she wasn't happy. She filed for divorce three years into her marriage, then moved to Arizona. She didn't keep in touch with anyone from Oklahoma, and started going by her natural name, Sherri. She ended up marrying a Mr. Alan Graves, a divorced man with four children. She treated them as her own, and was a big help in raising them - their mother wasn't in the picture, for the most part.
Cherry had been searching for her place for a long time, and she was very happy to have finally found it.