Ch 11:

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

~Wicked (For Good)

Ponyboy's POV

I opened and closed my mouth wordlessly at the beautiful mystery girl in front of me. Her red hair was pulled back into a messy bun, her flawless skin was paler than usual, her emerald eyes were sparkling with tears, and most importantly, her hand was resting on her stomach. She looked so much like Cherry, except this girl in front of me wasn't the Cherry I used to know. The Cherry I knew was stubborn, bold and knew what was good for her. This girl was the exact opposite.

She was pregnant. With no doubt his baby. Why else would he look so horrified behind her shaking form? But I couldn't even focus on Dallas right now.

Why would she do such a thing with someone so unstable? I know he had been getting better, but what she didn't know was that his changing attitude was because he was shutting off all thoughts about Johnny. He was trying to make himself forget what had happened, when really it was all going to come back and hit him twice as hard.

"Cherry…" Two-Bit pointed to Dally, once without sarcasm or humor in his features. Soda's eyes kept shifting to me warily.

She turned around and faced a frozen Dallas in the doorway. His face bore no emotion now, even though everyone could read his thought patterns quite clearly. Who knew what he was going to do now. He was back to unpredictable Dally, thanks to her and this rollercoaster of hell that we like to call our lives. Part of me wanted to step in front of her, but I reminded myself that this girl wasn't Cherry. She was a stranger to me.

"Haven't we all been through enough?" He asked in a low voice that was filled to the brim with danger. She should have seen this as a caution sign, flaring with strobe lights, but she must have turned blind at the wrong moment.

"We talked about this Dally." Cherry whispered, her voice pleading and raspy with new tears.

"Abort it." He snapped sharply. It was more of a demand than anything else. Darry stood up when Dallas stepped fully into the house. I could smell the vodka from five feet away from him. We'd all gotten the drift that he had started drinking in the past week, but he hadn't been around much to prove our suspicions. Damn, this was not going to turn out well.

"It's not his fault." Cherry said defensively.

"He? So now it's a he?" Dally roared, taking a step closer. Now his face was pale with rage. Darry quickly moved in front of me and Soda, even though we weren't in the red zone. I heard him mutter 'I told you so' under his breath, probably referring to him not wanting us to talk to Dally after his pretty believable apology. For a few weeks only he was sentimental.

"It's a BABY Dallas, not just a mistake!" Cherry snapped back. Now she was getting all fired up too, with him disrespecting their baby and all. Dallas's son or daughter. Him as the dad and her as the mother. My eyes were getting hot and I was breathing funny.

"What's your father going to think? You're mom?" He was just getting started though; we all knew he was capable of so much more. "We'll have to have a shotgun wedding if anyone wants to think we are the slightest bit sensible. Do you think I want to get married? Do you think I want to be a father?"

"You promised Dally! You're never sensible anyway." Cherry's voice cracked, but she still yelled it with vigor. She was full on crying now. Dallas dropped his beer bottle, and it shattered over the newly cleaned floor. Darry, for once, did not interfere, but did wince as Dallas stepped forward. The rest of the gang was silent in shock and anticipation. Nothing like a little drama, I thought sarcastically.

"Did you think that I wanted this? That I wanted the responsibilities? That I want to be a father? That I'm just all of the sudden alright? That I can have just fucking moved on?"

A deathly silence fell over the room. I think we all realized that Dally wasn't just talking about Cherry and the baby now. The smell of his drunken state was making me dizzy, yet he was completely serious and sober acting. I guess we had all thought that he had just moved on. Not forgotten, but that he was getting over it. But now, he was standing here with this look in his eyes, and we all knew that he hadn't.

"I can't let myself be in charge of a kid. I have enough problems as it is! The Soc and Grease stuff hasn't just magically gone away you know! I've been jumped probably five times in the last two weeks. Nothing feels balanced anymore without Johnny. I'm not stable and I don't trust myself with you, let alone a baby." He stared in almost in disgust at Cherry, before turning right around in the same door he came in. He slammed the door behind him, making the whole house shake. I could have sworn I saw a tear glistening on his cheek.

Dally's POV

I wasn't mad at Cherry. Even though my thoughts were foggy and thwarted in the state of my drunkenness, I knew for sure that if wasn't her I was mad at. I was mad at myself. I was mad at my bad luck. I was mad at Darry for giving me those harsh uncaring glares. I was just generally mad.

Cherry didn't follow me out of the house. I would give it a few days or two before I straightened things out with her. I would stay with her. I would protect the baby, even though I hated it with everything I had. I didn't want it, but by the way Cherry was instantly defending it, I knew there was no way that she would ever get rid of it. Dammit, she was already so fond of it, I could tell by the way she cradled her still-flat stomach, and wouldn't let me get near her as if I would hurt it. I wouldn't leave her. I couldn't even if I tried.

I kicked a rock and watched with a slight sense of joy as it broke someone's cars windows. The piece of shit needed to be thrown out anyway.

I thought of Johnny. The thought of him didn't make my chest ache or my eyes water, and for the first time I just felt blank when I thought his name. I couldn't remember what he looked like. That stung a bit, but I shoved it away before I got too mad. I could make anything disappear in my mind when I'm drunk. It makes everything so much easier.

The man with my eyes. The mystery man who my mom has called my father. How could he be my dad when I've only seen him in pictures? I didn't want to be like him. I didn't want to leave my possible son or daughter. The thought made me shudder; I am only fucking 17 for pete's sake. That just ain't right, even though I know I am no gentlemen.

I walked down the road, my thoughts swirling like a glass of tequila. I thought of Cherry, and her green eyes that always seemed to be filled with tears when I was with her. I thought of the gang, and how they tried so hard to help me when I was past the point of caring. I thought of alcoholic mother and my non-existent father. Last of all, I thought of Johnny, just as the cars headlights drew closer and closer. I didn't move from my spot in the middle of the road. It was just a murky memory, but I remembered his face when I told him I was proud. I thought of Johnny.

Duh duh duuhhhh! I'm such a moment breaker Okay; well here is my incredibly slow and suckish update! I'm sorry for the delay and the shortness of this chapter, but there really wasn't anything else I could put in here that doesn't need to be saved for the other chapters. I want to thank yall so much for all of the reviews, I was reading them the other day and I nearly cried because they were so sweet. So thank you so much for all of those! A special thanks to those of you who have reviewed more than once, such as THG123, Missy Moo, and Constellapeia. I love yall (and everyone else of course). So here's my excuse for not updating sooner. I'm involved with a LOT in school (OAP, the dance team, drama club, AVID, Pre Ap Language Arts, Student Council, NJHS, ect) and I've had a lot of schoolwork and homework to balance although I'm only in eighth grade (yes, I'm 13). Annnd I have a lot of other stories I'm trying to keep up with too. So thanks for waiting patiently Check out my authors page if you can, I've updated it with a full summary, songs that remind me of this, and my favorite characters and pairings. I have this for like all of my favorite book/TV series. So check it out! I love yall to death! Please review. And happy almost Halloween!

~Lots of love,

Alaina