Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders or the song Paradise.

A/N: The next chapter is the last. :(

Life goes on. It gets so heavy. The wheel breaks the butterfly. Every tear, a waterfall. In the night, the stormy night. She closed her eyes. In the night, the stormy night. Away she'd fly. And dreamed of para- para- paradise.

The eve of Christmas Eve. The diner had slowed down dramatically. Mrs. Adderson took a leave of absence for a few weeks until they got everything sorted out with Marilyn. The word these days is that she lives with them. I haven't figured out the truth behind any rumors and didn't want to. We were living separate lives again, just like it should be.

Dally's excited about Christmas. There's going to be some sort of party at the jail house. Lord only knows what that in-tells, but he's really looking forward to it. Soda is bed bound for a few weeks but is still not able to sit still with all the excitement of Christmas. We all are looking forward to it this year. It feels good right now this time of year.

The bell rang and a wind of snow blew into the diner. "Dan." He pulled his cap off and shook the loose flakes off. I watched as he took a seat in front of the counter. "Got a minute?"

I leaned across the counter. "Sure, Tim."

He rubbed his face up and down, thinking about it for a minute. Say it, I begged. "What are you doin' later?"

"Why?" I asked sarcastically. "You askin' me out?"

"I need you to help me talk to Jac...about Jake."

We went to Jac's a few hours later. Tim carried Jake in his hands and let me knock. Tim never did say what changed his mind and I didn't ask. I'd like to think it had something to do with me but you can never tell what goes through Tim Shepard's head.

Jake had gotten bigger and with age, he was a splitting image of his father. Tim's face twisted with each change. I knew Tim was hurting deep down. He'd raised Jake since he was born. Jake was all he had left from Angela and I knew Tim saw Jake as a son. Tim wasn't Jake's dad though. His dad was behind this door, waiting to see the son he never knew he had.

"You ready?" I asked as footsteps came closer.

Tim readjusted Jake on his hip, not speaking. It was hard for him. Harder than most things for him.

"Hey guys..." Jac opened the door, examining the child in Tim's arms. His jaw dropped and then locked. His face turned white and he swallowed. "Um, you, come in?"

Tim walked by him, not wasting a second and sitting on the sofa. He bounced Jake on his knee, causing him to giggle.

Jac looked like he was going to hurl. He slowly sat down in front of us, still eyeing the baby. His face dropped another color and he was looking whiter than a sheet. He swallowed. "Is that yours, Tim?"

"No," Tim said bitterly. I kicked his foot, warning him. "It's, uh, Angela's."

Jac began to sweat a little as Jake smiled at him, showing off his new teeth that were coming in. I hadn't noticed until now that they were both in the same room, how much Jake looked like Jac instead of Angela. I always thought he favored her a little but next to Jac, he didn't look like Angela at all.

Jac ran a hand through his dark hair and breathed out deeply. "He's..."

"Yours," Tim said. "Name's Jake."

Jac turned a little in his seat, trying not to look at his kid but finding his way back anyway. "Hi."

"You wanna hold him?" I asked, kneeing Tim's knee for him to pass the baby. "He's really friendly."

Jac squirmed but nodded. Tim picked Jake up and stuck him out, timidly. He didn't smile the rest of the time we were there. Instead, he watched Jac like a hawk, trying to find some reason not to pick up and leave already.

"Jake likes him," I whispered to him. "It was really great, what you did. Ang would...she'd like it."

Tim crossed his legs and eyed Jac on the floor playing with Jake. He was a natural with him and soon, the color came back to his face. "So I'm a pop?"

"Dad," Tim corrected him with a snap. "We don't say pop unless you're talking about soda."

Jac ignored the snap and picked Jake up off the floor and held him in his arms. "I-I-I..."

Tim took Jake back and got a death grip on him. "You what?"

"Tim," I hissed.

Jac cleared his throat. "Thank you...thank you." Tim nodded, and marched out the door without another word.

She sat at the end of his bed, playing with the corner of the quilt. He was wrapped in a blanket just watching her. He didn't mind doing this. In fact, he could do it all day if he had the chance.

Suddenly she stopped and looked up at him. She smirked at his face. "Look like you're deep in thought over there."

"Maybe I am," he added with a wink.

Jennie sighed, looking around his room. It was a typical boys room. Pony's bed was on the other side with a large shelf of books and a range of movie posters. Soda's side was messier with posters of cars and dirty plates of food on the floor. "How do you feel?"

Soda shrugged and snaked on an old candy bar he found in his dresser. Jennie gagged. "Pretty boss...how do you feel?"

Jennie looked at him behind her shoulder. "You owe me a date, remember?"

"Do I?" Soda asked, raising his eyebrows.

Jennie nodded, crawling across the bed, getting closer to him. "Remember? You promised me a date where nothin' went wrong. I have yet to receive that."

Soda grinned, wrapping his hand around her hip. "How about dinner, my room, on my bed, tomorrow night."

"Who's cooking?"

"Chief Darry."

"Sounds good to me."

Soda looked at her and dropped his smile for a minute. "Hey, thanks by the way."

Jennie got up and started to pick things off the floor that were testing her nerves. "For what?"

Soda swallowed and watched her bend over. "Not many girls would stick around with a coma patient," he chuckled. "Especially if they looked like I do right now."

Jennie stopped and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Don't go actin' like you don't see it," Soda said. "You see the burns on me. You're bound to know they won't go away or you're just too stupid to think that they won't and I'll go to lookin' like the way I used to...you can't say I don't look like shit, Jen."

Jennie stared at him for a minute. It was true, Soda's face wasn't the same anymore, burns taking him over. He saw that when he looked at himself. Soda always knew he was good looking and now he knew he wasn't the same and probably would never be.

Jennie walked over to him and stood in front of him, seeing his features the same way she always had."Stupid is somethin' I ain't. You must be though if you think I care what you look like. Just because you have a couple of burns and cuts don't mean nothing, So. You're still the beautiful one. Don't think you're not."

Jennie spun around and bent over to get the rest of the things on the floor. "Jennie?"

She looked over as Soda called her name, the big goofy smile was plastered on his face like always. He pulled her in by the waist for a hug and leaned up to press his lips against hers. She began kissing him back and he responded by pulling her back on the bed and on top of him. He guided her body toward his.

She felt his tongue run across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to let their tongues touch inside each other's mouth. She entangled her fingers in his hair and he ran his fingers through hers, pulling her closer.

He stopped himself before he went too far. If he didn't stop now, he wouldn't ever be able to. He didn't want to do this yet. He needed to stop before it was too late. He pulled away slowly, their noses still touching as she caught her breath.

"What was that for?" She breathed out heavily.

He put his hands on the small of her back, making her hips flex forward towards him. "I didn't want to stop."

She pulled him closer to where his stomach touched hers. She stroked his cheek. "I didn't want you to." She looked into his eyes. "There's something about you Sodapop, you know that? I-I think..."

She paused, staring at him and him staring back. He moved his head towards her, slightly touching her lips with his own. "There's something about you too. I think I...I think I might love you, Jennie."

She breathed out slowly, her insides twisting with the adrenaline he was pushing into her. Her body was on his. She looked at him, his bandages, his torn leg, then up to his face. "I think I might love you too, Soda."

He smiled, twisting a strand of her hair around his finger. "Even though I look like a mummy?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

Jennie pulled down, kissing his lips again. "Even if you look like a mummy."

She was leaning over the sink, scrubbing the caked on food off the dishes that had been sitting in her sink for weeks. She didn't realize how long it had been since she'd been home until now. It didn't seem like any time had passed at all what with the holidays coming.

Darry was over, sitting at the table, watching her silently. He'd been thinking a lot lately with everything going on with Soda and Dally. Christmas was right here now and that made him think even more. So much has happened to them and right now, things seemed to be better than ever. He was debating taking this chance.

"Kat," he called. "You never told me what you wanted for Christmas."

She turned around and stared at him. "Oh. It's just been...well...you never told me what you wanted either, ya know."

Darry chuckled, playing with the salt shaker she had on the table. It was a pink pig. The pepper shaker matched. Kathy liked pink - and pigs. "A cherry convertible and a new football."

Kathy went back to the dishes. "I can spring for a football. The car, you're on your own."

Darry got up and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and swayed her back and forth. He leaned his lower half into her, her feeling his hip bone. He bent down to whisper in her ear, "Thank you...for being here."

Kathy tangled her fingers up in his and squeezed his hand. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You haven't been home in a while," Darry stated. "Seems like you've been at my house for weeks."

Kathy dried off a dish and nodded. "That's because I have been at your house for weeks."

Darry tightened his hands around her stomach and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Will you make me some pie?"

"What kind?"

"Apple, duh!"

Kathy shook her head and let the water out of the sink. "I'm not making you crap. It's almost Christmas and I'm off duty until January."

"Speaking of Christmas." Darry reached into his pocket, landing his hand on a little black box. He pulled it out and handed it to her. "I don't think it's completely against the rules to open gifts early."

Kathy's eyes widened at the sight. "God, you didn't...I wasn't kidding about not getting you anything. I'm sorry, I just didn't have time with being with you and at the hospital with your brother. I just forgot but I would have if-"

"You're rambling," Darry laughed, pushing the box towards her. "Just shut up and open it."

Kathy slowly flipped the little box open, staring at what it contained. It wasn't something Darry had to go out and buy. It was something he couldn't really wrap. What was inside was just used to symbolize something else. Kathy stared at it, her mouth open.

Darry snickered slightly at her facial expression. "You like it?"

"The key to your house?"

"Your key. Your house."

There was a knock at the door a few minutes ago. Darry answered it and yelled at me to come down. I wasn't that shocked at what I saw sitting on my couch. She asked if we could talk.

She wasn't wearing make-up. I couldn't stop looking at her face the entire time she sat there, looking at anything but me. I don't think I've seen Marilyn without a drop of black goop on her face. It wasn't the only odd thing about her complexion though.

"Are you staying with Randy now?" I decided to break the tension somehow.

She nodded slightly and stared at the pictures that were on the wall above the coffee table. "For right now. Just until after Christmas maybe. Or when things cool down...you know."

Sadly, I did.

"I saw you at the funeral," she said quietly, turning her eyes to the floor.

I couldn't tell if it was my turn to talk or not. "Uh, um, yeah. It was...beautiful." People told me that about my parents. I didn't know if it was a universal thing you were supposed to say or not so I went with it.

"Mom did it," she said. "I picked out the flowers. Michael hated flowers but he liked blue so I made them blue."

"They were perfect."

It grew quiet. We both were staring at odd places and watched the snow slowly start to fall outside and the blinking lights on the Christmas tree. I didn't know what to say to her. I didn't know why she came all this way. I had a guess. Already I knew she wasn't acting the same like she should. Already I knew what was happening to her because it happened to me. Death does that.

She folded her hands on her lap and took a deep breath. "I'm...I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything, Danni."

"Mar..."

She coughed, clearing her throat. "We're from two different worlds, you know?" She looked at me now. "Everyone thinks they're different anyway. They aren't so much different when you really experience how the other side lives...and feels."

"I know," I said. "We're not bad people. Neither is your side."

She laughed at that, shaking her head. "It's not looking like that so much right now though, right?" She looked at me again. "What we did was wrong. What we did to you was wrong too though."

"Two years is a long time ago," I told her. "We've grown up a lot since then. I think we know now what happened and how we all feel about it now. We understand and know now. We can't take back what we did. We just have to live through it."

She nodded in agreement. "I just came here to tell you that. I've been thinking about you a lot. You and your family." She sighed. "You and Dally too."

"What about?"

She looked at her fingers, not wanting to look at me when she said it. "You got a good life. I'm...I guess I'm jealous. You don't see many guys like your brother stepping up and doin' raising his siblings and all you guys still being as close as you are."

Marilyn always had money and I was jealous of her and her family. On the outside, they were perfect. Everyone on that side was perfect and I always wanted to be a part of them. They aren't any different than the rest of the world.

"Dally's a good guy," she said, slightly locking her jaw like it hurt her to say that. "You're lucky to have him. He seems to really love you. I know he didn't kill Sam either. Even the courts agree. I don't know what I thought really."

I couldn't stop staring at her. I never thought those words would come out her mouth. "Randy's a good guy too. You're lucky to have him. He's good to you. He really loves you."

She laughed. "We broke up."

I raised my eyebrows. "Wh-"

"Right after the fire, really," she explained. "He couldn't look at me afterwards. I don't blame him. He hasn't talked to me much since then. He hasn't said a word since I moved in. We just...you two were a better couple. You're better for each other. I always wondered why he broke up with you when Sam told him to. Randy always stood by Sam but I never thought he'd go through with that since he loved you so much. Sam just wanted you out of the picture for security and I guess Randy couldn't say no."

I swallowed and turned my eyes away. "Yeah. I'm, um, sorry about that...you two breaking up."

"Don't apologize," she said. "Sam...you already know about me and him." She sighed loudly. "I guess I never got over him. Maybe that's why I took his death so hard. I was just with Randy for say and Sam would never go with me so I went with it. I never liked Randy like you did. You two had something. We didn't have crap."

I believed it.

She cleared her throat. "Sam's dead now though."

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I never told you...Sam was my friend too. I should have been there with you guys when he died. I'm sorry I didn't...I'm sorry I didn't say anything. Sam didn't deserve to die."

Marilyn nodded, small tears coming out of her eyes. She wiped them away quickly. "We pushed you away. It wasn't all your fault. He didn't deserve to die though. I thought we were right about how." She laughed loosely. "You said it too. Sam was murdered because of what we did...God we were so wrong."

"Accidents happen. We can't blame ourselves for them or the actions of other people or what choices we make."

She agreed. "It had nothing to do with Sam's death." She shook her head, looking to the side. "It was just us, over thinking it and in the process, we drug it back up again. The nightmare of it all."

"I'm thinking of talking to Randy," I blurted out. "Set some things straight so we can...move on."

She faced me this time. "Yeah...that's a good idea."

I put my hand on her hand, watching her face. Her tears were still there, her face was broken. "You ok?"

"Are we ok?" she asked while she stopped some more tears. "I know we'll probably never be close friends again. I just...I came here to...you said you didn't hate me….at the hospital. That true?"

I nodded, gripping her shoulder. "I never hated you."

She got up and hugged herself, trying to get warm. She turned around and spoke, "I am sorry. Maybe one day we can get close again. I need new friends...a new beginning really. In the mean time, talk to Randy. Tell him I'm sorry too. He'll listen to you when you say it. He listens to you. Always has."

"I will."

Marilyn James left. She was never Marilyn again. This day changed everything for her. The Marilyn James that made the earth shake when she rounded a corner, was no more. She was her own person finally. A person without her stronger other half. She was on her own and becoming strong. Marilyn was a person now and she was moving on.

Our past was dead with Sam. Just as dead as Sam was.

When she was just a girl she expected the world. But it flew away from her reach. So she ran away in her sleep. Dreamed of para- para- paradise. Para- para- paradise. Para- para- paradise. Every time she closed her eyes. Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. As I said before, the next chapter is the last. Please review if you would be so kind. :)