No one on the East Side has ever declined a college offer, Ponyboy reckons. He turns over the acceptance letter — heavy with all the paper, the excitement — then looks again at the letter he's already halfway written out. This letter that he had been working on for a few days now, that he knew he had to do: declining the scholarship, the acceptance, the all important free ride that Darry would hate if he ever knew about this.

He didn't, though. The letter had come before Darry could come home from work, had gotten tucked into his book, taken to the bonfire. The only person who's seen it is Dallas, who's in the kitchen, watching television. Darry's working late at the construction company, Soda's at the Viper's, so the bed is all to themselves tonight. The window is cracked open, letting in a breeze, and distantly, Ponyboy can hear people at the bonfire, hollering into the night.

They could go, hang out there if they wanted. He's got most of his homework done, Dallas doesn't have anywhere else to be. Except, they aren't. They're both in the house for the night, comfortable, waiting on pizza to get there. Once it does, they're going to sit in front of the tv and eat, joke about what's on there.

It's going to be fun and normal. They might wrestle later or just retreat to their own room with a couple of beers, winding down the night together.

Just first, he has to get this done. This letter that Darry would hate him writing, that he'd fight him on every step of the way. Ponyboy can practically hear Darry's disbelief and anger if he knew as he writes, trying to find the best way to explain himself in a way that wasn't insulting. A big school like that, being turned down by a poor kid in Oklahoma probably wasn't something they heard of before.

Balancing it out, was hard. Having to explain it to the school felt better, easier than the idea of explaining it to Darry. The school could get something vague, something not that intimate.

Trying to explain to Darry would've been harder, looking at him in his face, at the demand there.

But there's no way he could tell Darry that the moment Dallas started talking, he knew those words were for him and him only. It was a lot to take in, it was a lot of pain there, and it wasn't for anyone else except those who existed in it.

Ponyboy simply knew that he didn't want to go to a place that would willingly do that to a pup. Didn't want to face the people who thought Dallas wasn't worth standing up for, wasn't worth loving. A big, fancy school wasn't worth it, never would be.

Even if he didn't have a free ride like this at his fingertips again, even if they begged, he thinks it's the right decision as he hears Dallas move about the living room. Dallas was his mate, always would be, and he'd never go to New York City if he could help it.

He writes out the last few lines, hearing a whistle from the outside. Ponyboy glances out, seeing those two pups from a few days before. The two brothers are holding hands, the older brother taking his time to check on his younger brother.

For not the first time, Ace crosses his mind. The description of his sandy hair, the fact that they'd never see each other again, him at ten years old waiting for Dallas to come back.

His hand rubs at the medallion, wondering about Ace. About the one person who had truly been pack to Dallas. Wonders if he's dead or alive, and he hopes that he is. That maybe one day they can see each other.

His eyes drop back down to the letter. Ponyboy adds two more lines, hearing a car park outside. There's a sound of someone going up the steps, the door is knocked on.

Ponyboy folds up the letter, puts it in the envelope as Dallas opens the door, pays for the pizza. The stamp goes on as Dallas says, "Kid! Dinner!"

"Coming!" Ponyboy glances back out. The car rolls away and distantly, he can see the pups holding hands, going towards the bonfire.

Then he turns the light off, going to the living room where Dallas is waiting. He's got the pizza open, a soda open for Ponyboy and beers for him. "Come on, shows gonna start."

Ponyboy takes a seat beside him, kissing his cheek as he takes a slice of pizza, content.

The stars are out in a way that feels a bit too bright. Nights like this are always bittersweet for him, because they make him think of sitting at the wheel of a car, waiting for his cousin to signal him. The stars had been so clear that night, so sharp.

He leans over the guard rail, beer in his hand. There's a party going on a block away, and he can hear other people in the city. He could be working now, he could be out with them.

Just... the stars remind him of the time. In a few weeks, the ten years will be up, and he can't wait. His cousin will come back, finally, and they can make up for the lost time. They can finally take their places where they belonged now.

There's a quiet clink when he pulls back from the guard rail. The St. Christopher glints on his necklace, and he carefully pulls it away, rubbing his thumb on the saint's face.

"Ace?"

He turns around to see his little sister at the window. "Yeah?"

"You coming in?" She glances out the window. "It's getting cold."

"Yeah, yeah," Ace grins at her. "I'm coming."

She looks like she wants to ask what he's thinking about. But she just shakes her head, anticipating he won't share. Ace watches her and then looks back at the sky.

He can't wait to look at the stars again with Dallas.

thank you all so, so much for reading this fic! i really appreciate everyone who has read this, who has commented, who has given kudos, who has read it over and over again. i really appreciate every single one of you. thanks to friends who supported me in various ways (and the one who encouraged me to see west side story so i could run home and yell to monstrology, and thus ace was born). in particular, i really want to thank monstrology for being there every step of the way, running a fine toothed comb over this and dealing with me whenever i was like "oh NO i think i messed up my timeline ".