…June 22, 1971…

"Hello?" I said, answering the ringing phone.

"Rain? It's- it's Candy," the voice on the other end said, but sounding not as happy as Candy always was.

"Candy? Are you alright? You sound like you're crying."

"That's cause I am crying!... look, can I uh, can I come over to talk to you about something?"

I nodded, "Yeah of course." Then she hung up.

Candy got to the house about five minutes later. To be honest, she looked terrible. Her hair was sloppy, she had pajama pants and a t-shirt on and her eyes were puffy. She usually wore a little makeup, not too much but just a little bit, but right now she had none on.

When I opened the door, she threw herself at me and cried into my shoulder. I hugged her back in attempt at comfort, "Candy, what's wrong?" My voice was quiet.

She let go and looked back at me. "Soda got drafted," she choked out.

I covered my mouth with my hand and I frowned. I pulled her inside, closed the door and hugged her again. "Candy, I'm so sorry."

"Rain, who was-" I heard Two-Bit start coming from the other room. He stopped midway and gave a confused look, "What happened?"

I looked at Candy then back at him. "Soda got drafted to go to Vietnam."

We brought Candy to the kitchen and sat down at the small kitchen table we had. In the past whenever Candy had come to me upset, I would always make hot chocolate. IF it was hot outside, then I would put it in the fridge for a little while. She told me that when she was little and upset, or even when she got older and was upset about something, she would go talk with her grandmother- who she was very close with- and she would make hot chocolate and talk with her until she calmed down. When her grandmother died when Candy was eighteen, I took over that position, considering Candy was my best friend, and I hated seeing her upset.

"Has he told Ponyboy or Darry yet?" Two-Bit asked her.

I took the mugs from the fridge, since it was warm outside, placed them on the table and sat down with them. She took one and shook her head. "No… he said he didn't wanna worry them too much with what's going on, not yet anyway. With Darry and Marilyn, them just finding out she's pregnant last month. Ponyboy away at college…" she trailed off.

"Candy, you need to tell him that he needs to tell them. I mean, they're his brothers! He needs to tell them… when'd he get the letter?" I asked.

"Five days ago."

"And when does he leave?"

"In three weeks."

"Candy, he has to tell them," Two-Bit said, "Trust us on this one." The phone rang from the other room. "I got it." He got up from his seat and went to answer the phone.

"Rain, I don't know what to do… I mean, I… I can't do this. I can't be here, with him over there."

"Candy," I started, "I need you to listen to me… I know exactly how you're feeling right now. When Two-Bit told me he was drafted a few years back, I felt like my whole world fell apart, ok? But remember how you, Suzie, Marilyn and Evie told me to talk to him about it? And it helped?" She nodded. "You need to talk to Sodapop like I did."

Before she could say anything, Two-Bit stood behind my chair and leaned down to me. "That was Soda… he was wondering if we knew where Candy was and he wants to talk to me 'bout something real important, he said. I'll be back soon," he whispered, kissed the side of my forehead and left.

I spent about two and a half hours talking with Candy once he left. During the first thirty minutes, I had called Marilyn, Evie, Cherry and Sandy to come over as well. Evie and Marilyn had more experience in comforting in this situation, trying to calm down a friend who had a boyfriend who got one of those terrible letters. So I figured they would be a help; yet they both said I would be better at helping her with this, considering I had gone through it.

Two-Bit got back not long after we all finished talking with Candy. I had let Candy take a shower once she calmed down and then she could change into some of my clothes. While she was in the shower, he started to tell me what him and Soda talked aout.

"Poor guy is scared to death," he sighed, sitting down next to me on the couch.

I let out a sigh of my own, "Well, that's expected right? Remember how scared and worried we were?"

He nodded. "It took me a while just to tell you."

"And remember how it helped us when we talked about it that night?"

He nodded again. "I told Soda he has to do that with Candy, and to tell his brothers. He said he told Steve 'bout it, but just them two and us… he has to tell Darry and Ponyboy, they're his brothers."

"Well… Marilyn, Evie and Cherry know cause me and Candy called them before."

The phone kept ringing for the rest of the day. We were going in and out of the house the rest of the day too. Candy was with me most of the day, Soda was with Two-Bit most of the day. Throughout the whole day, we did get things done. Soda called Pony at the University of Oklahoma to tell him- who, thankfully, was coming home for summer break in a week. He also told Darry, but in person, but he saw Darry try to conceal how he felt about it, obviously for his sake.

We all finally got back to where we all lived at about ten that night. We had offered for Candy to stay the night with us, but Evie and Cherry said they could take care of her or anything that happened if she got upset again about the whole draft. I was kinda hesitant to agree at first, but then I realized it might be better for them since they actually live all together.

"Today was tiring," Two-Bit said sitting down on the couch again.

I nodded and sat next to him, "Tell me about it." I leaned my head on his shoulder.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and let out a small sigh. "With everything that happened today… I need your thoughts on something."

I felt my body tense a little bit at what he said, tried to hide it and nodded. "Of course, what's goin' on?"

He looked down and sighed. "I uh… I think I'm gonna go back to Vietnam…"

I frowned and looked up at him. "What? But-"

"When I went," he cut me off, "I didn't know anyone. Sure, Suzie's brother was there, but I didn't really know him like I know Soda. Andy Curly Shepard was in my unit for a while, but I tried to avoid him at all costs. But that's part of the reason I think I should go back with Soda, I don't want him to go through what I had to, in that sense, at least. Cause since we're both from the same town and area, there's a good chance that we'll be in the same unit… you saw him today and how scared he was, I've never seen him so scared and upset, except when Mr. and Mrs. Curtis died or when Ponyboy and Johnny ran away. That's it."

My heart did break when I saw Soda today, and I knew all of it what he just said was true. "You're right," I nodded and sighed.

"I'm sorry," he kissed my forehead.

"You're absolutely right about this, and I support you… we've done this before, what's another time, right?" I asked lightly, giving a small smile. He chuckled and I did the same. "But, you have to make me a promise," I said.

"What's that?"

"You'll come back to me, just like how you came back to me last time. Uninjured, no different… except for the uniform and hair."

He chuckled and nodded. "I promise."

I knew it was something he couldn't actually promise, but I just wanted that mindset that he could. He had done it once, he could do it again, and Soda would do the same for Candy, Ponyboy and Darry. And even his little niece or nephew with Darry and Marilyn. They'd be ok, they had to be. They survived everything else that had happened in the couple years, what's this one more thing?

Oh my gahd, I made that too sad didn't I? I'm sorry! But this is just based off of the bonus chapters! No one kill me!

Ok, I decided I'm going to upload this to wattpad as well.

Also, if you're reading this story, you're probably currently reading Before the Love, so you probably saw what I have to say about other stories, if not, go to chapter 6 ( I think) of that one to see, so yeah, bye! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=