No guys, she's just sick. She has too much experience to get pregnant. Haha. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

I had the letter shoved into my jacket as I walked down the street with Dally. He'd been silent for awhile. I played nervously with the ring on my neck.

"What were you going to tell me?" I finally spoke up, staring up at him inquisitively. He was smoking a cigarette.

"You have to swear you won't tell anyone, 'cause if you do…"
"I won't." I assured, halting as we reached the street corner. He continued forward. I gave a brief glance backwards, deciding Monica shouldn't care that I disobeyed her since she isn't my mother, and followed Dally. He knew I wasn't supposed to go outside of my street. He was always the one to deliberately disobey the rules, even if the rules weren't his to follow.

"Its Johnny man," his face contorted as a thought struck him. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to shake off whatever was bothering him. He regained his cold stare. "Him and Pony, they went out and killed a soc."

My instinct was to gape for a long moment, but I caught myself.

"Why?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"They ganged up on 'em, you know what they're like. Probably was them that took your stuff that night."

"But they have plenty of money…"

"They do it for kicks," he replied, throwing his cigarette down and crushing it with disgust. I could tell by the way he exerted far too much pressure on a feeble cigarette and the way he stood all rigid that the situation angered him more than anything else. I was afraid any moment he would break and go across town to burn half of the socs' homes.

"I told 'em where to go, gave 'em some money." He leaned his hand on a street light pole, scratching his head with the other. I didn't know what to say.

"I don't want Johnny to go to jail, you don't know…"

"I get it."

A wave of nostalgia overcame the both of us when he looked over at me. It really hadn't been so long ago that we were chatting at the gas station.

He was going in for a kiss –which wasn't the most common occurrence- when he stopped. He'd noticed something white sticking out of my coat. With his forehead still leaning against mine, he snatched it out of my pocket and began reading it. I knew every word that his eyes were scanning.

"Dear Annabelle,

I know it's been awhile, but I haven't been able to track you down. Your trail kept running cold. I started looking in Tulsa where the trail left off and found out what'd you'd done with yourself. I'm not proud of you Ana, but I can't say I expected much better. I was a horrible mother. I stood aside and let your father torment me and ruin our family. I realize now I should've taken you and run years ago, but Ana, I don't think you'll ever understand just how powerful love is. I couldn't have left him on his own. I loved your father more than anything. Now's he's gone and gotten himself killed. I miss him so much Ana, but he wasn't the man I fell in love with and I'm free now. I want you to come back to me. We'll find a way to get you into college. Ana, please don't give up on your dream. If you do, I'll live the rest of my days knowing that my daughter is living in filth because of me. Give me a chance, give yourself a chance. Please Ana, I'm begging you. I couldn't approach you myself because I know you. You'd feel forced to come back and you'd hate me for it. I'm not going to force you Ana, but the longer you're there doing the things you're doing, the less you are my daughter.

Your mother,

Elise"

I already knew the answer to the question posed in this letter. It was ironic how she thought I'd never know love – it was the very thing keeping me here now, before I was simply too angry to go back home. I was loved by Monica, but mostly, I was in love with someone. Someone I shouldn't be in love with, someone who would never be suited for the soft, playful girl I had been back home.

He gave me the letter back and fell away from me.

"You going to leave?"

"No," I replied, closing the space between us.

He looked up, startled.

"Why not?" he asked, suddenly angry.

Initially, it hurt me. I tried not to show this, but it was certain that he had caught the pain I was hiding when his face softened slightly.

"I don't want you to leave Ana, but you should be thinking about yourself. You need to look out for yourself." He had always emphasized this, which I didn't understand, but knew that if I were in his shoes I would.

"I don't care Dally, that dream died before I even came here."

"You'd rather live here?" he looked disgusted and unsure at the same time.

I chuckled and touched his face, tracing a scar on his cheek. Fear was clear, though he tried to conceal it, in his cold eyes. He was more afraid of loving someone than anything else, I then realized. He didn't care about breaking laws or getting in trouble…why was something so simple so hard for him to do?

"Why were you passing through here in the first place? When you got jumped I mean." He questioned as we headed back.

"I didn't really know…but I think its cause my grandparents used to live in Windrixville. I don't think it's far from here."

When I turned five my grandparents died. I was unable to attend the funeral because I was ill with the chicken pox, and I never got to visit their graves. My mom had told me that they sat right beside each other, under the only willow tree in the graveyard, and that the spot had been reserved for him since they married at seventeen.

I wondered for a short moment what it would be like to marry Dally. He would never go for it, I knew that, but if he would…if he would just be a little more willing. I shook the thoughts away. It would never happen. My fate at the moment wasn't predetermined. I had no clue what the future held, but I was sure I'd never marry Dally.