"So they're new in town?" Two-Bit asked sitting next to me on the couch and wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

I nodded, "According to Cherry and Marcia."

"Randy said the same thing," Ponyboy said, "He said the guy who actually owns the car is name Griffin."

"What about the other three who were with him. He know their names?" Steve asked.

Ponyboy just shrugged a bit and shook his head.

"Well at least we know something about 'em… they'll probably drop by the DX at some point. Steve and me could try to get their names," Soda said. Steve gave him a weird look and Soda glared a bit to get his point through.

"Even if none of us can get the other guys names, we at least know who the ring leader is," Darry said, "All of you, do your best to steer clear of 'em. Don't walk alone, especially at night. You all know the drill. Understood?" We all nodded at his instructions.

…the next morning…

I changed out of what I wore to bed into jeans, black converse, long sleeve white shirt, and a button up shirt with the sleeves cut off. I tied my hair back then went to the kitchen. I glanced into the living room and was kinda confused when I saw Angela Shepard sitting on the couch. She looked up at me as she put on her shoes, "Mornin' Rain."

I nodded back, "Morning… what are you doin' here?"

"I slept here last night. My brother was being a pain in the behind and I didn't feel like dealing with him." She finished putting on her shoes, stood up and waved good bye as she walked out the house. I shook it off then went into the kitchen. None of the Curtis' were awake yet, so I had to make breakfast since I was the first one up. I went to get the pans when I heard the front door creak open. "Anyone up yet?" Steve called out. "I am," I called back. He came to the kitchen, "Where's the other three?"

"Still asleep."

He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's nearly 8:30, why're you up so early?"

I shrugged. "Couldn't really sleep too well last night. My wrist was bothering me."

"What does pain in your wrist have to do with falling asleep?"

I rolled my eyes. "It was hurting a lot so it kept me awake, what part of that sentence did you not understand?"

He opened his mouth to say something till I nearly jumped outta my skin when someone wrapped their arms around me from behind. I turned around and saw Two-Bit standing there with a smile. I sighed in relief that it was just him, chuckled then fully turned around to face him. I quickly kissed him, pulled back and slapped his arm playfully, "You jerk! You know not to scare me like that!" I tried not to laugh but I did.

He chuckled, "Mornin' to you too."

"You're welcome for distracting her so you could get in here," Steve leaned against the wall and looked at Two-Bit.

He leaned and pinched Steve on the cheek. "Thank you Steve." Steve gave an annoyed look and backed up so his cheek would be released.

I shook my head and laughed. "You guys are ridiculous. Remind me how I've put up with you all for nearly ten years now?"

A second later, we heard the water from the shower start to run. "Well, that's either Darry, Soda, or Ponyboy," Steve said.

Two-Bit pretended to be shocked. "No kiddin', really? Geez, I thought it was Lyndon B. Johnson," he teased.

I couldn't help but bust out into laughter at what he said. Not just cause we were dating, but I really did think it was funny. Steve kinda just glared at the two of us and I calmed down. "Ok, so what bit you in the butt that you can't take a joke?" I asked him.

He just blew it off and went to Soda and Pony's room. "He's about as happy as a cat stuck out in the rain," Two-Bit said quietly. I sighed a bit and nodded, "Tell me about it… ya got work today?" He nodded, "Wouldn't be up this early if I didn't."

Ponyboy came in yawning. "Morning, sleepyhead," I said looking his direction. "Morning," he yawned. I looked at the clock and it was a little after nine. Soda must've been the one in the shower cause Steve came back out saying that he wasn't in their room, but the shower water was running and Pony was out in the kitchen. "Usually Darry is the only one awake, or at least the first one. But today, he' s the only one not awake," I said kinda confused.

Soda came out from the bathroom in his jeans, t shirt and DX shirt. "Yeah and he's the only one who won't be awake today," he said.

We all gave confused expressions. "What do you mean?" Ponyboy asked nervously.

"Calm down, Pony. He just don't feel too good, that's all."

I honestly didn't blame him for getting nervous like he did at first. It was the first time since Darry was in charge that he didn't feel good. Sure, Pony was sick that time when he got back, but he didn't take care of two younger brothers. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked that he hadn't gotten sick before from everything. After the whole thing with their parents about ten months before, I'm shocked stress hadn't gotten to him sooner and got him sick. I'm not saying I wish it had, I'm just saying that it's a good thing it didn't happen yet.

Soda patted Pony on the back. "Don't be so sour about it," he chuckled. "We'll take my car to work," Steve said to Soda then looked to Two-Bit, "Want a ride?" He shook his head, "I don't trust being in a car with you behind the wheel when you're mad." I held in my laughter and the two brothers did the same. Steve glared at him while he gave a teasing smile. "You're so annoying sometimes," Steve grumbled. "You love us all anyways, though," I grinned. He shook his head and walked out, Soda following close behind him, smiling and waved goodbye.

When the two walked out the three of us busted out laughing. "Its' bad how much we tease him sometimes," Ponyboy said after we calmed down. "Yeah and it's bad how he calls you a tag-along and how he acts like a jerk, but he still does it," I shrugged, leaned against the wall and crossed my arms across my chest. "She's got a point," Two-Bit chuckled, quickly kissed me and left to go to the body shop.

"So, what should we do today, Pony?" I asked.

He shrugged a little. "I got this assignment for English class that I don't get. Maybe you could help me?"

"Only if I can understand it. Realize though, that I barely passed that class last year so I don't know if I'm the best person to be helping ya." He got out his book and sat on the couch. I sat next to him and he handed the paper with the instructions to me. "Oh, I remember this last year! I actually got an alright grade on it," I smiled.

"What do you mean by an alright grade?" he teased.

I slapped his shoulder. "Shut your trap… and it was a B so ha-ha." I smiled, proud of one the only good grades I ever got in English.

He laughed and put his hands up in defense. "I sit corrected."

…two hours later…

"That took longer than I remember," I said and fell back on the couch. He gave a tired sigh and nodded, "Yeah… well thanks for helping me, Rain." I nodded and opened my mouth to say something until a saw a ripped up paper on the coffee table. "What's that?" I nodded toward it. Ponyboy stood up and looked at it, "It was from Sandy to Sodapop."

I thought for a moment. I didn't really know Sandy too well. Sodapop always talked about her and his face lit up when he did, more than it was already. Now granted, he was always smiling and happy and such, it's just how he was. If he wasn't happy or smiling, something was really wrong. His smile was contagious and you couldn't help but smile yourself when he did. But when he was with her or talked about her, he had a different smile. A kind that you would see married couples have that they were so happy they were together or a couple where the two people were absolutely in love with each other.

"I haven't seen her around lately, how's she doin'?" I asked.

"Oh, uh… she moved to Florida," he started, "She got pregnant, but, the baby wasn't Soda's. Her parents sent her to live with her grandmother."

My jaw dropped. "How could she cheat on him, like that?! You know how happy he was dating her! The way he looked at her, talked about her! How he smiled when he thought about her or talked about her and-"

"Like you and Two-Bit," he interrupted.

I looked at him, shocked by his observation "What do you mean?"

"I've seen how you two are when you're together, Rain. Your faces light up like how Soda's would when he was with Sandy. You even get pink in your cheek sometimes when he makes you smile." I stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say about his observation. "He talks about you a lot, even when you're not around. His face lights up when you walk into the room, even before you two started going out, he would talk about cutting it with Kathy sometimes."

"How do you know all this about relationships and such?"

He merely shrugged. "You learn a lot from books and movies.

I thought about everything Ponyboy said. Were we really like that? I was never good with relationships, any type of feeling like that scared me. Maybe cause my parents had taken away whatever confidence I had left of it, seeing how they were. Maybe seeing and hearing Johnny's parents, too. Maybe I was desensitized to love. I'd had boyfriends before. Not many, I didn't usually get crushes too much since all my friends were guys. And since all my friends were guys, I had different feelings toward guys, more as just friends like I had been nearly all my life. I never really thought about guys really like most girls did, if that even makes sense. I just grew up differently than other girls. I don't know, maybe that was it? I'm leaning more to the desensitized thing cause that was probably was it.

"Maybe you're right," I admitted.

"Is that good or bad?"

"For now… good, I think."