After the talk I had with Steve, I did feel a little better. Enough that I was able to fall asleep… except at the table before I got the chance to go back to my room.

"… Rain?... Rain, wake up," I heard someone say as they shook me awake gently by my shoulder. My eyes adjusted and saw Darry with an expression of both confusion and worry. "Rain, why are you asleep at the table?"

I sat up and stretched a bit, "I woke up last night, couldn't fall back asleep, came here then fell asleep back right here, I guess… what time is it?"

He looked at the clock. "7:53 in the morning. But it's Saturday, so if you wanna sleep in, you can. If you do, I suggest in your bed instead of the table," he gave a light chuckle.

I chuckled, "I think I'll stay up, I got work later. Plus, you already got me up and awake."

"Oh, so it's my fault?" he asked in a fake hurt tone.

I stood up and went to my room to get dressed. "Maybe…" I called back.

I could hear him laugh form the other room. I went to my closet and got out a black pullover, blue jeans, button up shirt with the sleeves cut and black boots. I went to my bedside table and put on my leather cuff bracelet and gold locket, and looked at the blue string bracelet nervously. I shook it off and left it there, remembering what I had previously decided- not to wear it till I got his letter back that said if he wasn't or was mad at me. I combed out my hair and braided it, which I had been doing nearly every day considering it was an easy way to keep my hair out of my face since it was now really long, nearly to the edge of my back. In a braid, it was out of my face and out of my way.

I went back out and now saw Steve up and around from the last position where I saw him asleep on the couch. "I hope he doesn't mention why I couldn't sleep last night," I thought. I decided to just leave it and wait to see what happens, if any of them decided to bring it up. Even if he didn't tell Darry, he'd probably tell Sodapop, and for two reasons. One: he knew Sodapop and me were more of a brother/sister relationship than friends, and as far as I knew, brothers were protective of their sisters. Two: they were best friends, and best friends tell each other almost everything, at least we all mostly did, with the exception of a few things. Three: Soda would probably ask him why I was asleep in the kitchen.

I looked at the clock… 8:15am… we all had to be at work by 8:45 since everything started at nine in the morning, even though it's a Saturday.

I kinda felt bad for Ponyboy. He couldn't get a job yet cause he was only fourteen. Sure, he was turning fifteen, but still, it meant nothing. He had once told me that he wanted to get a job to help his brothers out, but there were two things prohibiting him. One: He wasn't old enough to get a job, like I said. Two: even if he was old enough, Darry wanted him to focus on his schoolwork. The kid was smart, we all had a pretty good thought that he would end up getting some sort of scholarship for college cause of his good grades, or if not for that, for his track record.

Sodapop came out from the back of the house, all dressed and ready for the day. Ponyboy went to the bathroom and a minute later I could hear the shower running. Steve headed toward the front door and Soda tapped my shoulder, "We should probably be heading out since me and Steve are droppin' you off at work today." I nodded and we walked out, Darry saying that he would wait to leave till Pony got out the shower.

Marilyn got to the bookstore exactly when I did. The two boys waved goodbye and drove in the direction of the DX. "Hear anything from Two-Bit yet about what happened at the dance?" she asked as she unlocked the door.

I followed her in, shook my head and sighed, "No response yet… what if he doesn't trust me anymore?"

"Rain, calm down. Just cause you have no response yet doesn't mean anything. Ya know, life's not easy over there, he probably just hasn't had time to write back yet, that's all."

"It always takes a week after I send a letter to get his response… I sent my last one a little over a week ago and I'm starting to get worried."

"Well what exactly are you worried about?"

I leaned on the store counter. "Two reasons, Marilyn. One: the whole thing with James. Two: he's in Vietnam. Out of all the places in the world, he had to get sent there! I mean, why there? Why him?"

"Rain, things happen and people are separated and put in certain situations for reasons we can't understand. We don't know why most of the time, but we just have to accept it and continue on with our lives."

"Well I hate it."

She laughed, "No one said you had to like it."

…end of the day…

I had been worried the rest of the day. I don't know why… well, that's a lie. I did know why I was worried, I just didn't know why it felt the need to stay in my head all day long.

I'm starting to think I'm losing my marbles.

I don't think it went unnoticed that I was acting different lately. Everyone had been asking if I was alright, more than usual lately, at least. I felt kinda bad about that. What if I was worrying them all too much? I mean, the fact that my boyfriend- who was friends with everyone else- was worrysome enough. I probably wasn't making it any easier with my worry.

And I wasn't sure of anything anymore. My grades in school had gone down a bit. I was more jumpy, even when I was on our side of town. I couldn't focus on things as much anymore, and when I could, it wasn't for a very long period of time. It was weird and I didn't like it. Thankfully, March had just started and that meant four months left of school till the last day in June. Actually, did that really make a difference, though?

Marilyn and I drove back to the house and, with the exception of Ponyboy, nobody was back yet. I decided to check the mail; whoever was home first would always do that. I looked through the envelopes in my hands and saw nearly everything addressed to Darry- except for one with my name on it. I ran inside to place the rest down then opened the envelope:

"Rain,

Calm down, I'm not mad at you. It wasn't your fault, it's that son of a bitch's fault. Trust me, if I could, I'd come back home right now and strangle the guy for what he did. I might just do that when I get back. But look, I'm not mad at you. I know it wasn't your fault, he was drunk- that doesn't make it any better for him, but you get my point. Anyway, you look really beautiful in that dress, Rain… hold on, knowing you, you're probably still worrying if I'm mad or not. Rain, I'm NOT mad (at you at least, James, that's another story). I promise you though, I'm not mad at you. Stop worrying, alright? Promise me you'll stop worrying that I'm mad. I actually think it's pretty impressive how you got rid of him, pretty tuff if you ask me. And besides, I'm pretty sure that those guys back home are gonna beat him to a pulp the first chance they get. But just so I'm clear, I'm not mad. Alright? I bet you're laughing right now at how many times I said that so you'd believe me. Anyway, whether you believe me or not, I love you and I miss you.

Two-Bit"

He was right, I sat there laughing at how correct he was. I quickly got a paper and pen:

"Two-Bit,

Ok, ok, I got it and you're right, by the end of the letter I was laughing. There're two ways that it makes you creepy though. One: you wrote this about a week ago so the fact you knew that would happen. Two: you can't even see me and you know what I'm doing. But anyway, I'm glad you ain't mad at me. Ever since I sent the last letter, I've been worried sick about what you would say about it. I mean, I'm worried anyway about you, but I was more worried that you'd be mad at me. I worry too much, don't I? I bet you're laughing now at what I'm saying. Anyway, you I have no idea how happy I am that you said that. I love you, and miss you too.

-Rain"

I quickly closed the envelope and ran to my room to get my jacket. Before I ran out the room , I ran to the bedside table and grabbed the blue bracelet I had gotten from Vietnam in the previous letter, then tied it around my wrist. When I finished tying it, I ran out the house. "Got your response?" Marilyn called and stopped me on the sidewalk. I turned for a quick second, smiled and nodded, then continued on to the post office.

Awwww how cute… anyway, this story is almost over… the chapters may get a little shorter, but hopefully not by much, so yeah, that's all I have to say for once…

To wattpad: peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^= -Rambosdaughter

To fanfiction. net: bye! Hope you liked the story! -sarahfusaro