***************************Soda's pov*********************************
I was surprised. For months we were all perfectly fine. It seemed like we completely forgot about what happened to Two-Bit and we just moved on.

Nothing bad happened, no Soc business. But it was October when that changed.

I went out to get the mail, and it looked like we had a couple electric bills, something for Darry, and something for me. I threw the rest of the letters on the table and took out mine. "Mail's here." I said quickly then plopped a seat down on the couch. I ripped open the envelope, and read slowly.

As I read it, I got sadder and sadder. My stomach did a bunch of flip-flops and I clutched my head in my hand that wasn't holding the paper. I didn't want to read it any more but I couldn't get my eyes off the paper. I sank further and further into the couch cushion and tears were blocked in my eyes.

I was drafted.

The Iraq War has been going on for awhile, and I had my military training a couple years ago just in case I did have to go in. I highly doubted I would have to, but I did do pretty good in training. Technically I was an official military leader.

A tear ran down my cheek when I put down the paper and finished reading it. I had to go in about two weeks from now. "Soda, are you okay?" Darry came into the room. I guess he heard me sniffling.

"No."

"What's wrong?"

I stared blankly ahead for a minute, then gave him the paper.

"Here."

I looked at him as he was reading it. His eyes were widening, and I saw them getting wet. He began to shake. He swallowed the lump in his throat then put the paper down. We just stared at each other, then he said "Soda…" and ran over to me. I got up and hugged him. We stood there hugging and crying. "I can't believe this. I can't do this. I'm so scared, Dar." I said. "You'll be fine." He replied. "Following in Gramps' footsteps." He smiled. My grandfather was a veteran in the Vietnam War.

Ponyboy walked in and saw us crying. "What's going on?" He asked.

We pulled away and just stared at him. Then I opened my arms and said "Pony…" I started crying harder.

"Why are we hugging? Why are we crying?" Ponyboy asked.

I pulled away, sniffled, and wiped a couple tears away. I grabbed the paper and handed it to him.

Pony's reaction was worse. As soon as he took a five-second look at it he began to bawl. He buried his face in my chest as I wrapped my arms around him again. I let him cry as I was holding back tears. I looked at Darry and his head was down, his hands in his pockets. A couple tears he shed hit the ground.

I'm gonna miss him so much.

Darry called Two-Bit and Steve to tell them the news, and they came over right away. We all hung out, but I felt so bad for Pony. He was still sniffling, even when I stopped.

The next week went by slow, and I liked that. I didn't wanna leave my best friends, my older brother, and my baby brother at ALL. To me, this is worse than when Sandy left me. I nearly died then, but this was much, much worse.

The day came. I had my bags with me, and I was standing in front of the door with Darry, Ponyboy, Two-Bit, and Steve. Ponyboy was crying and Darry's arm was around him. Two-Bit's head was down next to Pony, his hand on Pony's shoulder. Steve was standing there next to Darry with his hands in his pockets, teary-eyed.

I sniffled. "G-goodbye." I said. "Don't say that." Pony demanded. I laughed a little bit. "Okay. I love you so much and am gonna miss you, Ponyboy." I hugged him and kissed his forehead as a reassurance. "Darry. God, I'm gonna miss ya." I hugged Darry and hesitated to pull away. "Steve, take care of the station." I smiled. "I'll miss you." I hugged him really long, too. "Two-Bit…" I said, then laughed a little. "Gonna miss ya." I smiled and hugged him. I took one last look at my family, then opened the door and stepped out. Walking along the walkway, I was crying again. I heart Ponyboy and he was crying very hard.

*******************************Two-Bit's pov*****************************

The next couple of months were long and hard. We've all been having a hard time with Sodapop gone. I tried cheering everyone up but it didn't work well since I was upset too.

One day going to the Curtis' house, they seemed better. They were taking it very well I thought. Ponyboy was doing some dishes while Darry was doing laundry. They were talking and laughing in the process.

"Hey guys." I came into the house.

"Two-Bit!" Ponyboy smiled. I smiled back. I love it when that poor troubled kid lights up.

"Heeeyyyy Pone!" I said "I see you guys are coping well." I said to Darry.

"Yeah It's not like he's gone forever."

"Plus he's comin back for Christmas!" Ponyboy said, excited. I got pretty excited too after he said that. It was already December 18th.

Darry laughed. "Yes, he's coming back for Christmas."

Ponyboy grinned real big then went back to the dishes.

I loved Christmas with the rest of the greasers. All seven of us always hung around laughing and pulling pranks on each other, giving a couple gifts now and then and just being stupid all around. I began to wonder what it would be like with five…

**************************Sodapop's pov*********************************

"I'm so excited to go back home for Christmas…my brother Ponyboy probably misses me so much!" I exclaimed to my bunkmate, Ralph. He's an African American with brown eyes and a lean body. He has pretty good muscle. He's really sweet and a great friend. "I'm gonna go back to my family too." Ralph said. "You're in Tulsa, right?" he asked me. "Yeah." I said with a smile. "You're in Miami?" "Yup." He replied. "We gotta get on the field now, don't we?" he asked. "Oh, right." I frowned. I hated fighting so much. I was real good, but the gunshots always reminded me of Dally.