All My Dreams Fulfilled Chapter 9, an outsiders fanfic

School ended soon after the wedding, along with me teaching the girls. They were sad that I wouldn't be seeing them until fall and even then, I wasn't sure that I would get offered the job, much less accept. I felt the same, but I reassured them that I would see them at some point the next year. During the recital, I watched like a proud mother hen from the stage wings as they did their dances.

As the summer carried on, Evie's stomach only grew. When the baby was about 5 and a half months, it started kicking. One day we were at work at the bookstore when it happened.

Evie leaned on the counter and put her hand to her stomach. She seemed a bit winded.

"Evie, what's wrong? Do you need to go to the hospital? Do I need to call an ambulance? Is the baby-"

"Everything's fine", she cut me off with a laugh. "The baby's just kicking."

"Really?" I asked. "May I…?"

"Go ahead."

I gently put my hand to her stomach and felt the baby kick my hand, making me smile. "Glory, I haven't felt that since my mom was pregnant with Anna and Henry."

"Well, I'm pretty damn sure there's only one baby in there", Evie said, looking down at her stomach. "And this baby just loves to move."

"It's Steve Randle's kid", I laughed. "What did you expect?"

"You've got a point there."

"How's the house-search going?"

Since Evie announced that she was pregnant, she and Steve had started looking for a house of their own. They wanted to find one before the baby came.

"We found one that we really like", she told me. "We're lookin' into buying it."

"That's great! You think you'll get it?"

"We're hoping so. Keepin' our fingers crossed."

"Have you gone shopping for the baby yet?"

"A little. We got a crib, but we still need to get most of the other stuff."

"Least you've started", I encouraged.

"That's true, I guess."

"What about names? Have you thought about any names?"

"I'm convinced that it's a boy, but Steve says it's a girl so we can never really find a place to start with names."

"What makes you say that it's a boy?"

"Motherly instincts, I guess", she shrugged.

"Let's brainstorm now. Just the two of us."

"Sure."

I thought for a moment, drumming my fingers against the counter. "Kevin?"

"No."

"Richard?"

"Too Socy."

"Thomas?"

"Not really a fan of that one."

"Mark?"

"Not a fan of that one either."

We went on like this for a while before I finally said one she was partial to. "Scott?"

Evie opened her mouth to say something against it since that was all she had been doing, but stopped short and closed it as her brow furrowed in thought.

"I'm not opposed to that", she said incredulously as though she almost didn't believe that there was a name she actually liked.

"It took you long enough", I teased.

"Oh, shut up", she laughed and lightly hit my shoulder.

"This kid's gonna have so many aunts and uncles", I said.

"You got that right, Aunt Lily", she told me.

"I'll never understand how you walk in those things", I said, nodding towards her heels.

"I've been doin' it since I was thirteen and I'm sure as hell not stopping now."

"But how are you not in pain all the time?"

"I am, but you get used to it", she shrugged. "Don't you do dance?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, doesn't it hurt when you got up on your toes?"

"Yeah…", I trailed off, not really seeing where she was going.

"It's like that. You just get used to it."

"But you don't stay on pointe all the time. You get off of it and just stand there and it doesn't hurt. You can't stand still in those heels and it not hurt."

"Okay, we're gonna try something", she told me and started taking off her heels.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"You're gonna put on my shoes and walk around and we're gonna see if you live."

"Oh that sounds nice", I said sarcastically as I went along with it and took off my sandals. "How do you even know we're the same size?"

"I guess we'll find out", Evie smirked and passed me her heels. Without them on, she was noticeably shorter than me.

I sighed and put on the heels, leaning against the counter as I did. I felt like I used to when I was a little kid and tried on my mom's heels, though Evie and I were miraculously the same shoe size.

Shakily, I stood up straight and towered over Evie.

"I feel so tall", I laughed. "This isn't normal."

"You're fine", she told me. "Now go do a couple laps."

"You want me to run in these things?"

"No, I mean walk a couple laps, you idiot", she teased. I stuck out my tongue at her before starting to walk around.

It was really weird. The highest heels I ever really wore were 3 inches and even they caused my feet to hurt after a while. I felt like I was on stilts as I walked between shelves of books, but oddly enough, I didn't topple over. Granted, I was a little wobbly, but I could walk pretty successfully. I could only assume that it was because ballet taught me proper posture.

"See, you're fine", Evie told me when I came back to the counter.

"Yeah, but I'll leave these to you", I laughed while taking them off.

"Suit yourself", Evie shrugged.

XxXxXxXxXx

For Ponyboy's birthday, we were all going to the lake without parental supervision and then we would all be staying over at the Curtis' for the night. It was bound to be interesting.

That morning, I walked to the Curtis house with a canvas bag slung over my shoulder. The bag was filled with all of my beach things: sunglasses, sunscreen, a large hat, a book, some extra elastics and bobby pins, my hairbrush, and a towel. My pajamas were in there too, but I would be leaving them at the Curtis' house while we were out. I had my bathing suit on under my clothes, which I planned on keeping on for as long as possible.

I was wearing a sweatshirt, shorts, and sandals with my hair twisted into a a bun on top of my head and no jewelry. Since it was only 8 in the morning when I walked to the Curtis', it was a little cold; the perfect excuse to still be wearing a sweatshirt. I didn't have makeup on my scars since we were going in the water, so the sweatshirt was the only thing covering my bare arms and midriff. I was anxious to wear my bathing suit since it showed all of my scars. It was a pretty bathing suit; a teal bikini, which my mom and I had to go out and get not long before we would be going to the lake since I hadn't been swimming in a long time and needed a new one.

None of the girls except Ashlynn had ever seen the scars and as much as I wished I could keep it that way, that had to see them eventually.

When I knocked on the door, someone said "Come in", so I did, finding only Darry and Soda.

"Where is everyone?"

"Two-Bit, Rachel, Steve, and Evie are probably either sleeping or on their way. The birthday boy's still sleeping. You can wake him up", Darry smiled. "I'm sure he won't object to you being the one to do it."

After setting my bag by the door, I made my way into Pony and Soda's room, finding my boyfriend fast asleep and sprawled out in a very awkward-looking position. I smiled to myself as I went over and sat next to him on the bed, leaning over and kissing his forehead.

"Ponyboy", I whispered, putting my hand on his arm and squeezing it gently. "Honey, wake up."

His eyes squeezed together and he shifted a little. "Soda, gimme five more minutes", he murmured.

I laughed a little. "Honey, it's Lily, not Soda. It's time to wake up."

At the mention of my name, his eyes slowly opened.

"Happy birthday, love", I said and kissed his cheek. "It's time to get up. We're going to the lake today, remember?"

He nodded groggily and sat up.

"I'll be in the kitchen", I told him and put my pajamas for that night at the foot of his bed before walking out of the room.

"So?" Soda asked as I took a seat at the kitchen table.

"He's up."

"You got him up that quick? And that quiet?"

"Yup."

"We usually jump on him", he laughed. "And sometimes even that doesn't work."

"I have magical powers", I teased.

"Well, look who the cat dragged in", Darry chuckled. Soda and I looked over to see Pony walk into the kitchen clad in an undershirt and boxers. He kissed me on the head and sat down.

"It's too early to be awake", he muttered.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I second that notion. Have some coffee. It'll perk you up."

He made a face. "Coffee's gross."

"I'm not a huge fan of it either, but I have to drink it during the school year."

"Why do you drink it if you don't like it?"

"It keeps me up", I responded simply.

"I've never had coffee and I never will", Soda claimed

. "You're hyper enough for all of us, Little Buddy", Darry told him, "but never say never. Dad used to say that he and mom never drank coffee 'til we came around."

"Good morning, Curtis house!" Two-Bit hollered as he busted through the front door, Rachel trailing behind him. "Where's the birthday boy?"

"Speaking of people that don't need coffee…", Pony muttered next to me.

I snorted, accidentally alerting Two-Bit of Ponyboy's presence.

"There he is!" he exclaimed and proceeded to put Pony in a headlock and give him a noogie.

Pony punched Two-Bit's arm, making him let go.

"Ouch!" Two-Bit yelped as he brought his arm to his body. "Damn, Pony, you can really pack a punch."

"Why, thank you", Pony smirked.

Darry put some eggs in front of Pony and I, his hard boiled and mine scrambled. "Eat up Pone. When everyone gets here, we're leavin'."

My boyfriend practically inhaled his eggs before kissing me on the cheek and jogging into his room to get ready. I ate slower, actually wanting to be able to taste the food. Soon, everyone else came over. Two-Bit and Steve were wearing their swim trunks already and I assumed that, like me, the girls were wearing their bathing suits under their clothes. The Curtis brothers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get ready.

"Ponyboy, get outta that damn bathroom or I'll kick in the door", Darry ordered.

"I'm shaving!" Pony yelled back. "So unless you want me to accidentally cut my face off, I would suggest you don't kick in the door!"

It took another 20 minutes for them to be ready, but the second they were, we all rushed out of the house and into the different cars. Pony and I were going in Darry's truck with him and Ruth. We climbed into the back seats and as soon as we were all strapped in, Darry started to drive. It was a two-hour drive to the lake and we wanted to get as much time in as possible. We had brought a couple coolers with food and drinks.

A few minutes into the car ride, Pony yawned, causing me to do the same. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"You can take a nap", he told me. "I'll probably take one too."

I nodded tiredly and snuggled closer to him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed my head before resting his head on top of mine. I was asleep in less than two minutes.

XxXxXxXxXx

"Darlin', we're here", I heard Pony whisper, waking me up.

I groaned a little and buried my face into his shoulder.

"I know you wanna sleep, but we gotta get out of the car", he laughed slightly.

"But I like it here", I muttered.

"In my shoulder?"

"Mm-hmm."

A moment later, he kissed me, which certainly woke me up.

"There we go", he laughed and took off my seatbelt. "Let's go."

I grabbed my bag and we got out of the truck and stretched before going over to everyone else, who were all setting up an area for our group.

"Glad to see you're finally conscious" Ruth laughed. There was a smirk on my face, even if I rolled my eyes.

A few minutes later, everything was in its designated place. Darry clapped his hands together in satisfaction and looked the girls and I.

"Y'all can change into your bathing suits now, y'know."

"We already have them on", Rachel said and pulled her strap out from beneath her shirt before snapping it back into place.

"Even better", Darry said.

The girls started unbuttoning their shorts and taking off their shirts. This was the moment I had been dreading; the moment that I had to take off my sweatshirt and just be in my bathing suit.

To delay the inevitable, I slowly took off my sandals and unbuttoned my shorts, taking them off, folding them meticulously and putting them in my bag.

"You comin'?" Evie asked me. They were all heading down to the lakefront and she had paused and turned back to me.

"Yeah", I told her. "I'll be down in a minute."

She stared at me for a second, so I gave her a reassuring smile, which seemed to do the trick. As she walked, Steve was right next to her, continuously telling her to be careful and watch her step. If he was this overprotective while she was pregnant, I couldn't wait to see what he would do when the baby was actually here. He was even trying to give up smoking, occasionally doing it, but only outside and away from Evie.

I turned to see Pony standing next to me. He still had his clothes on, as though waiting for me.

"Aren't you going to come in?"

"Of course. You can go in. I'll be there soon."

"I'm fine with waiting for you."

"You really don't have to."

He searched my eyes for a moment. "Princess, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me what's really wrong", he pushed, taking my hand.

I tried to think of a lie, but quickly realized that it would never get past him. "I-I", I stuttered before a memory crept into my mind.

Angela was sitting on my hips. My top was cut off and she had a blade.

Tears started to come to my eyes as the memories rolled in. Her words rang and echoed in my mind. "No one's ever gonna love you with all this. You'll be even uglier than before, if that's possible."

Pony led me behind the truck for privacy and pulled up my chin with his finger so that my brown eyes met his green ones. "Darlin', look at me. What's wrong?"

"It-it's just my scars. They're awful and they make me disgusting and repulsive and-and how can love me? I'm so ugly. Just like she said-"

"Just like who said?" he asked.

"A-Angela."

"When was that? Has she been bothering you again?"

"No. She-she said that when she was doing it." Tears were dribbling down my cheeks.

"First of all, you're not disgusting or repulsive or ugly or whatever other awful things you can think of. And what do you mean 'how can I love you'? How could I not love you? You're gorgeous and beautiful and amazing and incredible and smart and kind and sweet and so many other things. I could be here for days. Angela Shepard is just an awful person that has nothing better to do than put people down. She'll never even come close to being as amazing as you are. You are spectacular. She is disgusting. She is repulsive. You are so much more than she'll ever be. I have never loved someone as much as I love you and nothing can change that.

"And so what if you have scars? Scars are just discolored marks left on your skin from injuries. Everyone here has a scar of some sort, I can tell you that with no doubt in my mind. Yeah, they're part of you, but they don't make you you. And besides, I love you and those scars are part of you, so by default, I love them too." He wiped the tears from my cheek.

I just stared at him for a bit before finally saying something. "How did I get so damn lucky?"

"That's what I ask myself everyday", he responded and wrapped me in his arms.

"I love you, honey", I told him. "And I always will."

"I love you too, darlin'", he repeated and kissed my head. "And I always will."

We stayed like that for a few minutes, just holding each other until I broke the silence. "Let's go in."

He pulled away from me slightly to look at my face. "Are you sure? You don't have to. I'm not going to make you if you're not ready."

"No, I'm ready", I assured him. "Just gimme a minute."

I flipped my head upside down and put my hair into a tight high-ponytail before slipping my sweatshirt off. I rolled it up haphazardly and looked up at Ponyboy. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly hanging open as he stared at me, his eyes looking me up and down.

"Love, close your mouth. That's how you catch flies", I teased.

His mouth just opened and closed like a fish. "You just-you look-wow."

"You think so?" I asked, a blush starting to spread across my cheeks.

"Yeah", he nodded.

"Thanks, honey", I said as I walked back to my bag and shoved my sweatshirt in it.

"My pleasure, darlin'", he told me, his voice a bit muffled. I turned around to see why, only to see his T-shirt off his body and scrunched up in his hand as he started to put on sunscreen.

It was my turn to stare. My eyes widened and I swallowed heavily. I hadn't seen him with his shirt off in a while since I didn't stay over at him house much and even when I did, I didn't really look there. But at that moment, there was no ignoring it: he was extremely handsome. He always was to me, but his abdomen was instantly added to the list. He had a six-pack, a slight v-line that went down into his swimming trunks, and biceps. It wasn't like he was huge like Darry. He was pretty lean, but playing football and track had definitely payed off.

He smiled and cleared his throat, breaking me out of my reverie. My face went completely red and I rummaged through my bag, finally pulling out the sunscreen and starting to put it on. Soon, I heard the click of Pony's sunscreen bottle closing and felt his arms wrap around my waist from behind.

"You want me to get your back?"

"Yes please", I said, putting some sunscreen into his open hand and bringing my hair to the front as I continued to apply it to my legs. When he rubbed it into the ribs in my back, I jerked.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just ticklish there."

'Well, I'll have to remember that for future reference", he laughed.

(Ponyboy's POV)

Everyone was going down to the lake in their bathing suits and my girlfriend had only taken off her shoes and shorts. I knew something wasn't right.

Evie asked if she was coming and seemed hesitant at Lily's answer but she gave Evie a convincing (albeit fake) smile and the latter backed off.

I walked over to her and waited for her to notice me. I knew that there was a problem and when I asked her about it, she'd just try to shake me off. I was not going to let that happen. I kept my clothes on so she would tell me whatever was wrong before I went anywhere.

"Aren't you going to come in?" I asked once she noticed me.

"Of course. You can go in. I'll be there soon." Exactly as I thought.

"I'm fine with waiting for you", I persisted.

"You really don't have to", she told me.

I looked into her eyes for a bit, trying to find a hint of whatever was bothering her. "Princess, what's wrong?"

"Nothing", she answered, but I knew she was lying.

"Tell me what's really wrong", I insisted as I took her hand.

She was trying to think of a way to get out of this, but finally she relented. "I-I", she stuttered before thinking of something. Her face turned even paler than it usually was and tears came to her eyes.

Sensing that this was going to be a private conversation, I took her behind the truck. We would only be hiding from the gang since no one else was at the lake that day, miraculously. "Darlin', look at me", I told her and tilted her head up in look me in the eye. "What's wrong?"

She started to ramble. "It-it's just my scars. They're awful and they make me disgusting and repulsive and-and how can love me? I'm so ugly. Just like she said-"

I cut her off. "Just like who said?" I wanted to know whoever was saying this stuff to her. They were going to get beaten into the ground.

"A-Angela", she stuttered.

"When was that? Has she been bothering you again?" I asked hurriedly. She didn't deserve to be harassed by Angela. She didn't deserve any of that.

"No. She-she said it when she was doing it", she answered, starting to cry. I knew what she meant and I almost wanted to cry with her. When we first started dating, she was already self-conscious, but after Angela jumped her, her self-confidence just plummeted. It got a little better after the rumble we had with the Shepard gang, but she continuously brought herself down. She still refused to let anyone see her scars, even after two years at that point. It made absolutely no sense to me, how the most amazing and beautiful person I had met in my entire life could be so self-deprecating.

"And so what if you have scars?" I continued. "Scars are just discolored marks left on your skin from injuries. Everyone here has a scar of some sort, I can tell you that with no doubt in my mind. Yeah, they're part of you, but they don't make you you. And besides, I love you and those scars are part of you, so by default, I love them too."

She just looked at me for a while, finally saying, "How did I get so damn lucky?"

"That's what I ask myself everyday", I told her honestly and pulled her close to me.

"I love you, honey. And I always will", she said. I could feel her warm breath through my T-shirt.

"I love you too, darlin'. And I always will."

We stood there in silence for a while before she told me that she was ready to go in.

"Are you sure?", I asked. "You don't have to. I'm not going to make you if you're not ready."

"No, I'm ready. Just gimme a minute." She folded herself in half and somehow managed to put her hair into a ponytail before taking off her sweatshirt. She did some kind of criss-cross-grab thing that I could only assume was a girl thing since all the other girls had done it when they had taken off their shirts a few minutes before.

As she rolled her sweatshirt into a ball, I went completely slack-jawed. I had never actually seen her midriff other than when I stitched her up that awful night and what she looked like wasn't necessarily my biggest concern when that was happening. But right then, when she was just in her bathing suit, I was completely occupied with looking at her. I had never really looked at a girl's body, but I couldn't imagine it could have been any more perfect than hers. She always said she weighed too much, but her stomach was flat and her hip bones jutted out just a little. Her hips were round and led seamlessly to the curve of her waist. My eyes only stayed a moment at her chest, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, but from what I saw, she had…those. Of course, that's kind of obvious, but my point still stands. Her collarbones stuck out a little too. The sun turned her hair golden and red and her eyes amber. There were quite a few freckles on her shoulders that I had never seen before. The absolute last thing I noticed was the scar. It wasn't as bad as it had been when she first got it and it certainly wasn't as bad as she seemed to think it was. It was just a long, white line that trailed from her right hip to left underarm, cutting across her stomach. The one thing that kept running through my mind was "How is she so perfect?".

"Love, close your mouth. That's how you catch flies", she giggled slightly, breaking me out of my trance.

I tried to tell her how incredibly gorgeous she looked, but the words just wouldn't come out. "You just-you look-wow."

"You think so?" she asked, starting to blush.

"Yeah", I said, my voice still not working properly.

"Thanks, honey", she told me.

"My pleasure, darlin'", I said back as I took off my shirt and grabbed the sunscreen out of the bag. While I put on the sunscreen, she was silent. I finally looked up at her when I was almost done, only to see her now staring at me, her brown eyes wide.

I smiled and cleared my throat to get her attention, causing her face to go firetruck-red as she occupied herself with her bag and putting on sunscreen.

(Back to Lily's POV)

Pony and I walked down to the lake hand-in-hand. The boys were tackling and dunking each other into the water as the girls stood up to their hips and waists, just watching in amusement.

"Hey!" Soda shouted. "Y'all finally decided to join us?"

"Yes, we did, for your information", I said back, teasing him.

I scanned everyone's faces to see if they were staring at my scar, only to see them just smiling and watching us walk down.

"You see?" Pony asked. "You're fine."

"Yeah. I'm fine", I repeated, partly to myself for reassurance. When we stepped into the water for the first time, a smile involuntarily came over my face. I had always loved the water and swimming and the cool water washing over my feet felt nice.

"You gonna come in or you just gonna stand there?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, shut up", I laughed. "I'm savoring the moment."

Pony chuckled next to me. "It is nice, though."

"Yeah. It is."

"C'mon", he encouraged as he started to walk into the water, tugging me slightly forward by my hand.

I was completely fine in the water, though I stopped short when it hit my upper thighs.

"Something wrong?" Pony asked.

"Just kinda cold", I laughed.

He rolled his eyes playfully and picked me up bridal style, causing me to squeal. "What're you doing?"

"I'm carryin' you in so you don't have to walk", he explained while walking over to the girls with me in his arms.

"You hitched a ride?" Ashlynn laughed.

"You bet she did, the little hitchhiker", Pony joked as he set me down my feet.

"Hey! I'm not little!" I exclaimed and flexed my biceps for emphasis. They weren't as big as any of the boys' biceps, but they were still there.

"Forgive me, darlin'. I'm usually looking at your pretty face and not your huge muscles", he teased and pulled me into his side.

"You're forgiven", I smiled, standing on tip-toe to give him a kiss.

"Y'all are cute", Ruth told us with a smile.

"Thanks", we both said.

"You excited for senior year?" Evie asked. It would be weird being considered the oldest kids in school, especially since Pony and I were younger than everyone in our grade. Cherry, Lizzie, and Melissa had graduated along with Evie and Steve, so we wouldn't be seeing them around at school like we did sometimes either.

"Kinda", I shrugged. "We're already startin' to apply to some colleges."

"Which ones are you thinkin' about?"

"My top one's Brown", I said.

"And mine's Princeton", Pony responded.

"Brown and Princeton?", Ruth questioned, shocked. "Those are some of the best schools in the country!"

"We can hope", I told her.

"Why do you have to leave me?" Ashlynn whined jokingly. "I'm gonna be all alone!"

"Ash, I don't think you realize that the chances of me getting into Brown are pretty unlikely. And even if I get in by some miracle, I'll be writing you guys back home all the time."

"Same here", Pony said.

Suddenly, Pony and I were dunked under the water. I came up sputtering, my hair sticking to my face. "Who the hell was that?!"

The girls (who were all laughing) pointed to Two-Bit, who just smiled goofily. "Guilty as charged."

"You're gonna get it!" I yelled and tacked him into the water. Usually my body weight against his wouldn't have knocked him back, but since I caught him by surprise, I knocked him over into the water.

I came back up to the surface before he did. There was some water in my nose and mouth, but I was satisfied that I had caught him off guard.

He stood back up after a moment, laughing as he spit water out of his mouth. "Damn, you're like a linebacker, tacklin' me like that!"

"Thanks. I'm thinkin' about trying out for the football team with Pony next year. How d'you reckon I'll do?" I teased.

"The other team wouldn't know what hit 'em", he laughed. "You're too little 'n speedy for them to notice you!"

We swam and played around until lunchtime when all us surfaced to eat. Pony stayed in the water for a couple more minutes after the rest of us went up. He finally got out when the food was almost completely unpacked. I saw him come out of the water and almost didn't know what to do with myself. I vaguely remembered reading something about Sodapop looking like a "Greek god" when I read over Pony's theme for English back in freshman year and as handsome as Soda was, I had to argue that Ponyboy was the one that really looked like a Greek god. There was water dripping down his toned chest and stomach and only more was added when he ran a hand through his hair. He was tan from being outside so much during sports seasons. In the sunshine, his hair turned redder and his eyes were a bright green.

"I get it, Lil, you like his body, but you're drooling", Ashlynn said. I snapped out of my haze and rummaged through the cooler, pulling out some Pepsis and setting them on the table.

"Was I that obvious?" I whispered.

"The boys saw you with your jaw on the ground, that's for damn sure. I had to give 'em a look to get them to stop, but they'll say something soon. Probably when Pony gets up here."

"Jesus Christ", I muttered. "I'm so in for it."

"You bet your ass you are", she laughed quietly and nudged me with her elbow as my boyfriend walked up to the table and dried himself off with a towel.

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis, you'll never guess what your gal was just doin'!" Soda laughed loudly and wrapped an arm around his younger brother's shoulder. I could tell Two-Bit and Steve were dying to make a jab at me and Darry was trying to hide a smirk, as well as the girls.

"Please enlighten me", Pony said, giving me a confused expression. I simply hid my face in my hands as I turned bright red for the second time that day. And for the same reason.

"So we're settin' up lunch and we look up across the table and see Lily completely checkin' you out while you came up! Just lookin' at you with her mouth hanging open and almost drooling!" Soda exclaimed. Him and the other boys started to cackle. I everted my eyes to the ground so I didn't have to look anyone in the face.

"So? She's allowed to do that. Frankly, I find it kind of cute", Pony said. "In fact…"

I heard footsteps coming towards me and looked up to see my boyfriend standing next to me with a sweet grin.

"Hey", I said quietly, trying to look anywhere but his green eyes.

"Hey", he said back, lifting up my chin so I had to look at his face. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist, bent down to my height, and kissed me. I blushed a bit, but held his face and kissed him back. Nothing could have ruined that moment. Not even the gang whistling, yelling, and laughing at us.

After a bit, we pulled away, out of breath but happy. Two-Bit, Steve, and Soda were wolf-whistling while Rachel, Evie, and Ashlynn were lightly smacking their boyfriends' arms and telling them to shut up.

"You've got special girlfriend privileges", Pony whispered teasingly. "You can go ahead and check me out if you want."

I laughed a bit. "Okay."

He smirked and kissed my forehead before we all sat down and passed around sandwiches for a late lunch.

"Damn", Soda said to Pony. "How'd you grow up so fast? I remember when you started walking and now you're seventeen."

"Time flies", he shrugged before taking a sip of his Pepsi.

"Don't I know it", Darry sighed with a laugh. "It's not we ever expected Steve bein' married and having a baby on the way by graduation."

"Neither did I", Steve laughed. "At least, not this soon."

"Wonder who's gonna get hitched next", Two-Bit chuckled.

"Well, Rachel caught the bouquet at Steve and Evie's wedding", Ashlynn pointed out. "So maybe it's y'all."

"I ain't even outta college yet, ya weirdo", Rachel laughed and flicked Ashlynn on the head.

"Hey! It's just a thought", Ashlynn exclaimed and put up her hands in surrender. "If we're followin' tradition here, you're getting married next."

"If we're followin' tradition, then Darry should've gotten married first since he's oldest", Evie piped up.

"I dunno what social services would do if I got married before both'a these two nut-cases are outta the house, but I reckon it wouldn't be pretty", Darry said as he nodded at Soda and Pony.

We all nodded in response and continued to eat our late-lunch/early-dinner before the cake came out.

"Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, dear Ponyboy.

Happy birthday to you", we sang. He blew out the candles and I kissed him on the cheek as Darry cut up the cake.

Hey guys! Sorry it took a bit to get this up; lots of editing went down while writing. Hopefully, I'll be getting a few more chapters up before school starts. Fingers crossed. I don't like that summer is almost over. It's so much nicer to sleep all day than go to school. I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavenclaw13