Thanks again to everyone who faved and reviewed! I seriously love you guys :] You don't know how much it means to a writer to have someone like what you've done. Although, I'm not sure how much I deserve it, considering I don't really do my best on ff, especially at the end of a chapter.

Okay, so… I know that I've promised you guys for awhile now that I would be starting to enter the book verse, well…I hope you noticed some of the similarities in the previous chapter and in this one. The events of the book wont pan out exactly the same in my fic, but what matters most will.

A/N: This chapter was really fun to write! I hope guys feel the same while reading. I tried to make it sound like it was from the POV of a sixteen-year-old, so hopefully that's how it comes off. I wrote this chapter hoping to bring a little fun and light-heartedness to the story, a break from all of the serious stuff that's been going on. It'll be needed; this story is JUST getting started, and the real drama will surface soon.

-Oh! And I would just like to point out that every pregnancy is different. I wrote Girlie's pregnancy based on personal experience. Not a lot of teenage girls show as much as someone who was, say, in their twenties. Also, she is very petite, small framed, and is one of those who is less likely to get very big, especially for her first pregnancy.

Once again, excuse any grammar and spelling mistakes, and please…enjoy and review! :]

Chapter 7~

By the time I had stopped running I was so nauseous that I had to sit on the edge of the sidewalk to keep myself from throwing-up. I held my head between my knees, wishing I was somewhere else…anywhere else. I really hated this. I hated how I was so afraid all of the time. Maybe telling my brothers was the best thing to do-everything would be out in the open, all of it, and we could find a way to deal and move on. Why can't I let myself do that?

I hated how complicated I could be sometimes. Maybe I really do read too much.

My lungs were still burning by the time Johnny and Dally spotted me, and my ears were ringing, so I couldn't say anything to them or hear what they had to say to me even if I wanted to. Not that I wanted to, so I guess that wasn't really a problem. Someone sat down beside me and put an arm around my shoulders. I didn't even need to guess who it was. I leaned into him, so glad that I had him, and so glad since everything's happened that this world was real, simply because he was in it.

And he was real, as real to me as air, and just as easily needed.

"You alright, Ponygirl?"

"Sure." I took a deep breath. My lungs didn't hurt anymore, but I had a steady ached pulsing down my side. "I'm okay, Johnny."

"I don't believe you."

"I'm fine, really."

I turned my head to stare him in the eyes, urging him to believe my lie. He usually backed down whenever I did that. Johnny's eyes never left mine, though. He simply shook his head. "That was some scene you made back there, and you've never been one to make scenes. You hate attention like that. What's goin' on, Girlie?"

"What's got into you, huh?" I never thought I would be grateful to hear Dally's angry voice, but Johnny was boring me down with those black-puppy dog eyes of his and I was very close to telling him what he wanted.

"Chasin' your crazy ass half-way down town ain't exactly something I enjoy. Did you even realize those two jocks were over there gettin' ready to jump on you?"

Two Soc's, both wearing Varsity Jackets, were leaning against a wall on the other side of the street. They looked anxious and pissed, upset about something. An unwanted wave of recognition hit me, sending pinpricks down my spine; for some reason they looked familiar, I just couldn't place where I've seen them before. To answer Dally's question, "No. I…I had no idea they were there."

Dallas stomped on his cigarette, and somehow he even made that look angry. He pointed his finger in my face. "You had better wise up, Girlie. I mean it. You can't just go runnin' off any damn time you want, especially when you're upset about somethin'. When you're distracted you get killed, or haven't you learned that yet?" He bent down to meet me at eyelevel. "Use your head, huh? Use it before someone hurts you bad enough and you can't use it." That finger he was holding in my face, found itself pushing in the tip of my nose. "One of these days someone is gonna get to ya , Girlie, if ya don't wise up. And when they do I'll kill 'em. Then I'm gonna beat you half-to-death for being so stupid."

He straitened himself back up, holding out his hand and pulling me up when I gave him mine. He didn't let go but jerked me closer to him, causing my flush to rub against his. Dallas had the most intense eyes I've ever seen; you can see everything and nothing in them.

How is it that he can lie so much but still mean everything that he says? Just don't look at his lips, I thought.

"Am I clear?"

"Yes."

"Johnnycakes, that goes for you, too. Got me?"

Johnny nodded. "I get ya, Dal. Don't worry about us, man."

Dallas huffed. "I don't worry about nothin'." But he went on to mumble something under his breath that sounded an awful like 'if I didn't you'd both be dead, dumbass kids'. He turned to look at me suddenly. "If you was so fine then why'd you high-tail it outta there like the devil was chasin' after ya?"

"Nothing." I was suddenly embarrassed. "Just Angel, ya know?"

"What about her?"

"It's Angela Shepard. I thought that explained it all." I shrugged.

Dally smirked. "So the youngest of the Shepard family, the biggest bitch in all of Tulsa, decided she wanted a piece of you?" Dallas was always smirking, it seemed. Smirking or scowling.

"Somethin' like that."

"Don't worry, baby," he said, throwing his arm around me, "you can take her." He nudged Johnny in the ribs. "It's somethin' I'd like to see."

"Why would you wanna see that?" Johnny asked.

"You kiddin'? Two of the best lookin' broads around gettin' it all out?" I couldn't see Dally's face, but that was okay because that means he couldn't see the blush on mine. I knew he was grinning. "Picture it, Johnnycakes…The two of them gettin' dirty, pressing up against each other, and all that wild, wild hair and ripped clothes."

I stepped out from under his arm. "Okay, that's enough of that."

Dally laughed. "Be sure to tell me whenever this thing goes down. I could make a fortune for that show!"

"Stop." The giggle that followed sure did make me sound threatening.

We ended up going to the park for an hour or two, and then we headed to the mall to check out some stores and drink a few cokes. The stores we went into were nothing special and of little interest to us for anything other than wasting time, considering we didn't have any money. Dally had managed to stuff a couple packs of Kools in his jacket before one of the store's managers realized what we were up to and kicked us out. Then we headed to the food court. I felt sorry for the waitress that had brought us our Cokes and fries. I knew how frustrating it was to deal with people all day, and Dally made her day a little bit worse by shooting spit wads at her. He could be such a jackass.

I glanced around, trying to find a clock. There had to be at least one somewhere. I finally found one as we were walking towards the exit. It was 7:34. We had been out since twelve this morning, but I didn't want to go home just yet, even though I was dead tired; I think my pregnancy is really laying a claim on my body. I never used to get tired, not like this, and all I wanted to do was sit down again. My feet were swollen, making my Chucks squeeze around them painfully. It was getting closer and closer to eight o'clock as we walked down the street, and the sky was getting dimmer with the loss of the sun. I wished we lived out in the country, away from all the big towns so I could see the sunset. Maybe that's where I'll go when I leave Tulsa. I stopped when we got close to the movie house; I liked looking at the posters.

"Hey, guys," I said, and they stopped to look at me. "Let's go see a movie."

"Weren't we gonna do that tomorrow?" Johnny asked.

"Oh, I guess I forgot." I didn't forget. I just really didn't want to go home. I'll never admit that I didn't feel comfortable there anymore. "But, it's already gettin' dark, and there's nothing else to do. Come on, we can watch something we've already seen if ya want. I'm just not ready to go home yet."

Dal was attempting to steal a poster with a beach babe on the front by forcing Johnny's switch behind the glass. I don't know why he didn't use his own, I guess he never got his back with the rest of his possessions. He wasn't making much progress. "I ain't payin' to see a movie I've already watched."

"The Nightly Double, then. Just go with me. You can leave whenever ya want, Dal. Buck's don't start gettin' rowdy 'til midnight, anyhow. It's not like you got anything else to do until then."

"I got plenty to do, believe me, none of it legal." He shrugged with one shoulder. "Sure, whatever. It ain't like I couldn't find a date there tonight or somethin'. Might run into Syl at Buck's and I want nothing more than to make the bitch jealous."

I looked at Dally's hand, noticing for the first time that he had on the class ring he rolled a drunken senior to get. Whenever he was going with some girl, she would be the one to wear it. I guess he broke up with Sylvia. Johnny must have noticed, too, cause he said, "I see you've got your crystals back, Dal."

Dally's face turned blank again. "That little broad was two-timin' me again while I was in jail, man." Big surprise there, I thought. Sylvia couldn't be faithful if you paid her. I let go of that thought, though, when I realized she was still Dally's girl when I slept with him all those months ago. I'm no better than she is...Now, that's a depressing thought. He kicked the wall hard, but quickly took control of himself again. "It's cool. Never really liked her, anyways."

"Have you ever liked any of 'em?" Johnny joked, knowing that was the only way to talk to him at the moment, boosting Dally's sex appeal to make Sylvia seem like just another notch on his belt. I felt sick to my stomach knowing that was exactly the way he probably considered me.

"There might have been a one-night-stand or two."

"Really?" Johnny sounded surprised. Dallas didn't like much of anybody.

"Nah." He looked at me then continued walking. "Just one."

Johnny laughed and I forced a chuckle; it was supposed to be funny, what Dally said. Not to me. I knew he was joking, and I was sure he was just teasing me. Either way, whether he was teasing or taking a real stab at me, it hurt.

Why did it hurt?

Dally took his seat beside me, again. He was ringing wet from the Coke the red-headed girl he was harassing threw in his face. "Serves you right."

"What the hell? I was just gonna have a little fun with the broad! Not like I was tryin' to rape her or somethin'."

"You don't just go around talkin' to girls that way, Dal. Especially girls like her." The girl we were talking about- the 'broad', as Dallas had said- was a cheerleader from my school. Her name was Sherri Valance, but people called her Cherry because of her red hair.

When we had made it to the drive-in, we snuck through a hole in one of the gates like we always do. We had money for tickets, but Dally liked to prove he didn't care whether or not there was a law, and took this as another opportunity to tell the world exactly what he thought of its rules. The place was crowded tonight, more cars here than anywhere else in town, probably because it was the one place Greasers and Socs both frequented when there was nothing to do. Since we didn't have a car we walked to where the movie seats sat on a slanted slab type thing (so people could see in the back, I guess). There were two girls already sitting there, nice Soc looking dames, and sense there was no one else sitting in the seat area, Dally just had to sit behind them. I knew one of the girls, Cherry, but her dark-haired friend was new to me.

It started out bad and had got worse.

Dally has this thing he does, where he just loves to make anyone around him uncomfortable. He teased Cherry and tried to flirt with her, even though she was a Soc. Who would've blamed him, though? She was gorgeous. Her friend, who I now know is Marcia, was cute. But that Cherry was a real looker, the kind of pretty that made me want to rip her perfect red hair out and make her eat it. I didn't need to be a guy to know that she was attractive. She finally got sick of Dally's mouth and told him to get away from her; Dally can have a real awful dirty mouth. Dally did go away, but came back soon after with two arms full of Coke. He handed each of us girls one. Cherry ended up throwing her Coke in his face then running away before Dallas could react. And that's where we are now.

"Yea, well…she was a bitch anyway. Ain't worth the time."

For some reason that pissed me off even more, I was already aggravated at him for flirting with her in the first place. It wasn't just that he was flirting with her. Oh, no. It was the way he would look at me every so often, winking or checking my reaction from every lewd comment. Why was he doing this to me now? He wasn't like this towards me before he went to jail. "They never are to you, are they?"

He just smirked, not looking at me, but I could see the hard slant of his eyes. He was so intense. "Never." I believed him. That made me even more upset, but before I could open my mouth and get my face busted for talking back to him, he looked to the other side of me and asked, "Where's Johnny?"

I broke off the stare I had looking at his face, ready to let go of my frustration with him by glancing to my left. Johnny's seat was still empty. "Went to get a Coke." Johnny got out of here as fast as he could when Dallas started hound-dogging Cherry, he was just too embarrassed to stick around. I love that innocence he still carries.

Dally leaned back and propped his feet up in Cherry's now empty chair. He flung his arm around me, but I didn't really mind because he's done that for as long as I can remember. What I did mind was the feeling of his eyes on my face and body. He was staring at me, but I kept my eyes trained on the screen ahead, afraid that if I looked at him I would find that smirk again.

It's ironic…The reason I was so secure with Dallas that night was because he was cold and nothing could thaw him out and that he would be that cold way no matter what happened between us.

Months of not caring and suddenly his coldness is killing me.

I felt his arm bend behind my head, and then his hand moved pieces of hair from around my shoulders and neck. When he spoke, he leaned his head forward, speaking into the skin stretching from my shoulder to my ear. "Come with me tonight…to Buck's." He kissed that skin he was so close to. "We can down a few if ya want, or smoke some, or…" Another kiss, then another, and another. "If ya want, we could…"

His other hand was trailing up my thigh, some new form of body language to complete the suggestion. This wasn't fair, not at all. This was not supposed to be happening, this couldn't be happening. "We can't."

"Oh, really?" His mouth moved higher and I turned my head to meet him, but still didn't kiss him back. Letting him kiss me is just as bad, my brain was screaming. How am I supposed to say 'no' when I knew that a part of me wants him so badly? My stomach was moving, the life he helped create urging me closer. I heard the huff of a man 'tsking' us as he sat in the seat two rows behind us and it caused me to jump away from Dally. "And, uh…why can't we, exactly?"

He leaned in again, but I placed my hand on his shoulder to keep him from coming any closer. The truth was a part of me did want to kiss Dallas and to be with him tonight, and so much more, much more than he was willing or able to give me. But another part, a larger part, wanted Johnny Cade to take Dally's place. When I turned my face away and didn't say anything he said, "I really don't see the big deal. It ain't like it'll be the first time. I kinda made sure of that."

"It was still just that one time, though." This was embarrassing, but I didn't care. He needed to understand that I wasn't ready to have sex yet, even if I wasn't a virgin anymore.

"The one time?" He chuckled, not really amused at all.

"Yea, the one time."

"I can't believe this." He snorted, running a hand over his face. "I really can't fucking believe this."

"What are you talkin' about?" I was confused. He couldn't have found many things unbelievable about me saying any of this, could he? I just didn't understand. I was missing something.

"Are you serious right now? You really don't remember?"

"What?" Now he was just dragging it on, and it was pissing me off.

"The one time, Ponygirl? Really?" Dallas was smirking at me again. I hated that smirk. "I know you were pretty out if it that night, but I didn't think you'd be so out of it that you can't remember all the shit that you did." His smirk grew when I backed off a little in disbelief, shifting away from him to give myself some space. I didn't know exactly what he was talking about, but I had a feeling. "Well, let me enlighten you then by reminding you that it wasn't just the once."

Dreams were running through my mind, dreams of me waking up drunk…. and smoke….and kisses…. and being pressed into a mattress. I thought they were just dreams, but I guess I thought wrong.

"I don't know what to say." Except that I have bigger news for you, my brain finished. "I don't remember that." Not really.

"Obviously."

"What, I mean...I mean,yea, what happened?" I finished lamely.

"You passed out after the first time so I went downstairs to pick up a few things. When I came back upstairs you were sitting up against the wall, asked me where I went when you realized I was there." Dally lit a cigarette at this point then started again. "I told you I met with my dealer and your eyes got wide, like a fucking kid at Christmas or something. You helped me break the weed up, I rolled the blunt, and then we smoked it." He was laughing, and I was jealous. I don't care about not remembering the sex, but I loved weed.

"Great."

"Yea, you were still pretty drunk when we started passin', almost passed out a few times. You started gettin' a little spunk back around your third hit, though."

"And then we had sex." It wasn't a question; I was starting to piece it all together now.

"That's right." He leaned into me again. "Look, just…come with me, okay? We can do it all again. My stash is all filled up."

"Don't you think it'll make things weird? I'm not your girlfriend, Dal, and I'm not some random chick. We see each other all the time. We're a part of the same gang. We have the same friends…we're friends."

"For the love of God, kid! It's just sex and a little weed."

"Not to me."

"Why? Why do you need to make this complicated?" He said, angry in a way that I've never been. He'll always be angry, he'll never just simply accept things.

"I can't just do that anytime you want, Dallas! I'm not like you. I can't have sex with you all the time and not wind up having feelings for you sooner or later. That's the last thing either of us would want to happen." It's not like I was arguing with him because I thought this night could lead into what Dally hoped it would; I'm pregnant and he can't figure that out. Not tonight, and sure as hell not like that. But, there was something inside of me that craved for him to understand, it was gnawing at me and I wished it would stop, because he could never understand. I don't know why, maybe it was because I'll be leaving in a month and just don't care if he knows this side of me. Maybe it was the simple fact that he was the father of my unborn child.

"That's bullshit. What is it?"

I shook my head. Why is he doing this to me? "No, it really isn't. I don't wanna dig myself into this big ditch with you, Dallas. I don't want to be with you and then have to share you with whoever you decide you want to screw for the night." I took a deep breath before telling him what I've never told anyone, my main concern and only thought other than my baby. "And…Johnny."

One name. All it took was one name for him to remove his arm from around me and back away like I was infected with some sort of social disease. He loved Johnny, too. I know he did, he had to. I took the chance to look at his face. He was pissed, more pissed than I had seen him in a long time. Not at me, though. I knew this type of anger. It twisted your brain and your lungs and your blood, and kept twisting until you were so inverted inside yourself that all you could see was what you've done, all you could feel was shame and regret. You're so twisted, though, that it makes you angry, so incredibly angry at yourself.

"All you had to say was no, Girlie."

True, I thought. I just couldn't help myself.

Dallas and I know Johnny better than anyone. Dallas knows Johnny loves me, too, and in a way, I just revealed that I loved Johnny back. He couldn't hurt him, not again, and I know he feels the same way about me. Somewhere. Dally isn't a bad guy when it comes to Johnny, but I guess, sometimes, he's just as reckless and unthinking as he always is. Dally stood up suddenly, not looking at me but beyond me.

"Johnny, man, listen…I've had enough of this shit. My ass is numb. I'll be back a little later."

"Yea, alright. See ya."

I looked up to see Johnny standing over me, as awkward and beautiful as ever. He didn't stand out much in the night with his tan skin and hair as black as the torn t-shirt he was wearing, but he shone so much brighter than the movie screen to me. He did because I loved him. I loved everything about him and what I didn't love, I could get over and accept, and I needed to be reminded of that to chase away this dark guilt hanging over my head from before Dally left. I hated myself so much for lying to Johnny, for not telling him the truth, but having him here again beside me will have to do until I can gather the courage to tell him everything.

It's not enough.

I was ready to start telling the truth. I would have to be, there isn't much time left to stall. Quite frankly, I'm sick of wasting time. I'm getting nowhere. I chose to love Johnny all those years ago, and now I'm going to do the only thing I can: let him know. Or…at least let him know that I want him, too.

I'm selfish, so selfish because I want him to take Dally's place. Selfish because I could just leave things as they are instead of making them worse when I take off.

Fifteen minutes had passed since Dally left us alone and we were starting to get into the movie. Well, Johnny was, I guess. He had his black eyes on the screen, the only motion coming from his hand as it reached into the bucket on his lap to bring popcorn up to his mouth.

I on the other hand was far too distracted. So much was playing through my head; so much has happened in such a short time that I don't think my brain could process it all. It was so much that it didn't feel real, it didn't feel like anything has actually happened. But I knew that was only because there hasn't been any consequences (other than the obvious one, of course) hit me yet. It was like succeeding with sneaking out of the house without waking your parents up; you think you've got it made and that everything turned out awesome for you, then the next morning you wake up and you're grounded because they knew about it the whole time. They knew all along. I guess my life was still in the part where you've snuck back inside the house, safe in your bed…asleep. The parents are still oblivious, as far as you are concerned.

Sooner or later, though, I'll wake up. And there Darry and Soda will be, waiting.

I was considering asking if Johnny wanted to go back to the concessions to get some more snack food when a deep voice boomed behind us, "You've had it now, Greasers!"

My stomach had dropped down to meet my intestines before I had time to pick it up, to actually register the loud laugh of the drunken idiot behind me. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. My jaw tightened so hard my teeth hurt when I looked over to see Johnny as pale as a ghost, I could almost hear them crack.

I glared at the owner of the voice as he sat behind us. "Good going, idiot." I made a point to look at Johnny as I said it. Two-Bit knew better than to sneak up on Johnny like that.

Two-Bit sat on the edge of his seat to get closer to us, putting his head between mine and Johnny's. He looked sincerely apologetic. "Ah, shit. I'm sorry, kid. Guess I forgot." Judging by the smell of alcohol coming off his breath and the way he slurred his words together, I'm surprised he even remembered who we were.

Johnny finally opened his eyes. "It's alright."

"No it isn't!" I seethed. "Two-Bit, you really need to start using your head." I hated how much I sounded like Darry and Dallas at that moment.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "I dig, baby. Just don't kill me." He laughed that ridiculous laugh of his causing Johnny to smile, so I had to forgive him. "Here," Two-Bit said, showing a bottle of cherry-vodka in Johnny's hands. "It'll settle your nerves. You look like you could use it."

"Yea, thanks to you."

"Have some chew, too," Two-Bit said, holding out a brown bag. "It'll grow hair on your chest, make ya a man."

When Johnny just shook his head, Two-Bit retracted his hand with a laugh and leaned back in his own seat. He had his boot-clad foot wedged between me and Johnny, which was almost as annoying as him talking over the voices of the actors.

I kept thinking about the boy sitting beside me. I haven't got to spend that much time with him lately because of work and now focusing on him is all I want to do. He's more interesting to me then the damn movie, anyway. I felt like some invisible clock was counting down above my head. I used to think that it was counting the days until I have to say goodbye, but now I'm not so sure. Now, it seems more…final. I don't know how to describe it, it just scares me. It's like the feeling I had before mom and dad died.

This was my last chance, I thought.

I looked away from him, not brave enough to see his face as I moved my hand that small distance to his. He stilled at the sudden contact but laced his fingers through mine as I urged him to. This was different than the other times we've held hands. You don't just hold hands with someone at the movies unless they were more than a friend; you wanted people to know this certain person was yours. This was a place where boyfriends and girlfriends held hands, not friends. I turned to gauge his reaction, only to find him starring at our interlocked fingers with wide uncertain eyes. He knew the score.

"What is this?" The never ceasing voice behind us asks stupidly. "Ya'll on a date or somethin'?"

I knew Two-Bit was kidding, but I didn't want to play around anymore. "Yes. What's it to you if it is?"

"Is it?" He asks quirking up an eyebrow, clearly not understanding the meaning of "yes".

Johnny was looking at me intently, his eyes nearly hiding behind his bangs. I don't think he wants to play around either. "Is it?" He mimics Two-Bit's question. I was startled he actually asked me that, but then realized I've just been sitting there staring at him and holding his hand, forgetting to answer Two-Bit.

I turned my head back to the screen. "It is."

I heard Two-Bit shift back in his seat once again. There was amusement in his voice. "Imagine that." He didn't say much after that, but he sure does snore awful loud when he's passed out drunk.

Not two minutes had gone by, but I was starting to feel nervous. Me and Johnny have just been sitting here not saying anything with our hands still holding each other's. I was thinking that maybe I had made a mistake when Johnny tugged on my hand to get my attention.

"Girlie…were you…were you serious?"

I didn't really know what to say anymore. I've never really made it this far in my mind. So I just nod. "Yea, ya know if that's what you want." I was giving him a chance to say no. To back out of what I know he wants to happen between us.

He was looking toward the screen but not seeing it. "Yea…" He said, squeezing my hand tighter. "That's what I want." Johnny released a shaky breath, but then he smiled a smile I have never seen before and the world exploded in thousands of tiny fireworks that tingled my body and made my mind simply glow.

It was as I turned my head away to hide my grin, wanting to save it for myself, that my perfect cliché was ruined. I brought my hand to my neck, feeling the guilt taint this moment the way I just realized the Coke that was poured on Dally stuck to my skin. I moved my hand from my neck then replaced it. I was sticky from the kisses he placed on my neck; my lips still tasted a little sweet from the sugar. I had gotten so close to him…

But then Johnny started rubbing his thumb over my knuckles, and everything became alright again.

Next chapter is, well…different ;p

PLEASE read and review! I would sincerely like your opinions on this about the characters and story and such :)