Ponyboy's POV
A couple weeks after Soda and Two-Bit left, I decided that it was the right time to ask Lily's family for their blessing to marry her. They were really important to her and I wanted to make sure that I got their blessing before proposing.
I got off of work and rushed over to her house. She wouldn't be home until seven o'clock, but I wanted to make sure she didn't find out. I knew both of her parents would be there, along with Anna and Henry.
When I knocked on the door, my palms were covered in sweat. I wiped them off on my jeans and took a deep breath as the door opened.
"Hello, Ponyboy", Mrs. Smith smiled. "Are you here for Lily? Because if you are, she's at work."
"I know, ma'am", I nodded, wiping my hands on my jeans again. "I actually came to talk to y'all."
"Come on in, then", she said as she ushered me through the doorway and closed the door behind us. Mr. Smith, Anna and Henry were all sitting on the couch watching T.V.
"Ponyboy has something he wants to talk to us about", she told everyone.
Anna and Henry got up to leave, but I quickly stopped them. "No, don't go. I wanna talk to y'all too."
They looked at each other, then me, before sitting back down. Mrs. Smith sat on the arm of the couch next to her husband.
"You can sit down, you know, Ponyboy", Mr. Smith laughed. "The chair won't bite."
I chuckled nervously and lowered myself down onto one of the chairs that faced the couch from the opposite wall.
It was obvious that Anna and Henry were anxious about the conversation. They probably thought that I had found out about something they had done and was going to throw them under the bus.
"So whaddya wanna talk about?" Mr. Smith asked.
"Umm…", I stuttered. This was way harder than I had expected.
"Dear, if you need to tell us somethin', just say it", Mrs. Smith encouraged with a soft, motherly smile.
I just stared at them all with wide eyes.
"You okay?" Henry asked me.
"Yeah", I answered, letting out a shaky breath. "I just wanted to know if…I wanted to ask if…um…uh…"
"For Christ's sake, man, just spit it out!" Anna exclaimed, which I found pretty funny.
"Anna Katherine Smith!" Mrs. Smith chastised. "Don't speak like that!"
"No, it's fine", I laughed. "I've had worse things yelled at me by the gang."
"Go ahead and continue what you were saying, dear", Mrs. Smith told me.
"Well, I love Lily more than anything. She's everything to me and I can't imagine my life without her."
They nodded to encourage me to continue.
I took a deep breath. "I want…I want to know if I could have your blessing to ask her to marry me."
"Really?" Mr. Smith asked.
"Yes, sir", I said nervously. "I promise to love and protect her for as long as I live and I will never hurt her."
Mr. Smith took Mrs. Smith's hand and gave her a smile, which she returned. The twins looked like their faces were going to break off if they smiled any more.
"Yes, Ponyboy", Mrs. Smith said, getting up from the couch, pulling me up from my seat, and wrapping me up in a hug. "We would be honored to have our daughter marry someone as wonderful as you. There's no one we would rather have join the family."
The rest of the family quickly joined in the hug, surprising me. It shocked me so much that it took me a moment to respond.
"Mia figlia si sposerà!" Mrs. Smith exclaimed. "Lei si sposa!"
I looked at Mr. Smith for translation and he just shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "She's the one that's fluent in Italian, not me."
"Oh, sorry, dear", Mrs. Smith laughed. "I didn't even realize that I did that."
"It's alright", I chuckled.
"I'm warning you now, Lily might do that. She might've caught onto my bad habit."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Smith", I assured her. "She already does. I'm used to it."
There were times that Lily got really frustrated and started spouting off in Italian or Spanish. It was actually really funny when I could understand it and I found it adorable. Once she got extremely frustrated while we studied for a math test and she cussed out the test in Italian, crumpled up the paper, threw it across the room, and muttered some things to herself (some in English, some in Spanish, and some in Italian) for a few minutes.
I stayed over there for a bit before making sure they all knew not to tell Lily anything and taking my leave.
As I walked home, I remembered when I told Soda that I had a crush on her. It was about a week after I had first met her and I got butterflies every time I saw her or talked to her or even thought about her.
He and I were in bed and I was supposed to be sleeping, but she was occupying my every thought.
"Soda", I whispered as I shook his arm. "Soda."
He groaned a little and stirred.
"Soda", I whispered a little louder.
"Mmm", he hummed sleepily.
"Can I talk t'you?"
He sighed and rubbed his eyes before opening them. He turned to me and leaned on his elbow. "Sure, Pony. Whaddya need?"
"Y'know that girl I've been walkin' home? Lily?"
"I guess so", he said. "You've talked about 'er."
"I…I think I like her", I muttered.
Soda's eyes widened and he sat up more. "You what?"
"I like her, Soda."
He grabbed me and hugged me tightly.
"Soda", I wheezed. "Can't…Breathe…"
"Sorry, Pony", he laughed quietly and let me go. "Are you sure? D'you really like her?"
"I dunno. I've never really liked a girl before."
"Well, let's talk it out then."
He sat up and turned on the small lamp on the bedside table before turning to me. "What do ya like about her?"
"She's real nice and smart. Almost anythin' you ask her, she can answer and she's sweet and funny. Glory, Sodapop, she's the most beautiful girl you've ever seen. She's got the prettiest brown eyes and her hair's that kind'a caramel-brown color that turns gold when the sun hits it just right. And her laugh is just…amazing. It's real contagious and can get loud, but it's just…her. She likes all the same things I do like books and movies and all that and we can spend hours just talkin' about them."
"Yeah, you've definitely got a crush on 'er, Pone. The way you just went on 'bout her…glory. You should just ask her out."
"I can't do that right now", I argued. "I've only known her a couple weeks. I'd look creepy and desperate if I asked her now."
Soda sighed. "You should prob'ly have her meet all us before you date 'er. We'd scare her off before you'd get a chance t'make a move."
An idea suddenly formed in my head.
"I got it!" I exclaimed and quickly lowered my voice when I realized how loud I had been.
"What?" he asked. "Whaddya got?"
"When I walked her home from school on the first day, I asked if she'd wanna see a movie sometime since we both like 'em. I could ask her if she wants to see one with me on some actual planned day and she can come over for dinner and meet y'all. Then I'll ask her."
"When d'you think you're gonna do it?"
"Her birthday's in a couple weeks. I could play it off like I'm takin' her out for her birthday. I'll have to get her somethin', though. What do girls like?"
Soda laughed. "Usually flowers, jewelry, chocolates; stuff like that."
"But if I give 'er the gift when I ask her out, it'll kinda be like a dating present, if that makes sense. I don't want it to be somethin' she'll throw away after a couple days or'll go stale."
"Jewelry?"
"Soda, you'n I both know we don't have that kinda money", I whispered so Darry wouldn't be able to hear from the other room.
"You don't gotta get her some huge diamond. There's this stone called cube of zercum or somethin' that looks like a diamond, but really ain't. It's less money too."
I thought about how much money I had saved up. It wasn't much since I hadn't gotten an allowance since Mom and Dad died, and even then, it wasn't much. I could probably scrap some up somehow. Two-Bit might give me a quarter or two and if I promised to do well in school and track, Darry might give me a few cents too.
I wasn't going to let Two-Bit or Dally steal the present for me. It needed to be something that I bought for her myself. I couldn't give her much, but I could give her my effort.
"That's a pretty damn good idea, Sodapop", I admitted after mulling it over for a minute or two.
"Good to know", he yawned. "Now go t'bed. G'night."
He lay back down on his side and was out within a minute.
The next day, I asked her about the movie and she told me that she would ask her parents. There was no response for over a week since she kept forgetting to ask them. I wasn't mad about it because, let's face it, I did the exactly same thing all the time.
About two weeks after I asked her, the phone rang as I was doing homework in my room. I assumed that it was just a junk call, so I ignored it until I heard Soda yell for me.
"Pony, your girlfriend's on the phone for you!" he screamed across the house.
I ran out of my room to the noise of almost the entire gang laughing and took the phone from Soda before ducking into the kitchen.
"Hi, Lily", I told her. "Sorry 'bout him."
"It's fine", she laughed a bit. "But I asked my parents and they said yes."
"That's great. So I'll pick you up tomorrow at four-thirty?"
"Sounds like a plan. See you tomorrow, Pony."
"See you tomorrow", I agreed before she hung up the phone. Since I was alone, I pumped my fist in the air triumphantly.
"Who the hell was that?" Dally asked when I walked back into the living room. He was lounging on the couch with a beer in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other.
"My friend from school", I said. "Her name's Lily."
"Why'd she call you? Makin' a plan for a one-night-stand?"
I blushed and shook my head. "No, we're going out tomorrow. She's comin' over, so y'all can't be hoods."
"Hey!" Two-Bit exclaimed. "I ain't a hood! Just a delinquent."
"Same difference", I sighed.
"Darry'll straighten 'em out, Pony", Soda assured me with a small laugh. He and Steve had only gotten off from work a few minutes earlier.
"What'll I do?" Darry asked as he walked into the house and through to the living room.
"Your kid brother's bringin' home a girl tomorrow", Two-Bit told him with a mischievous smirk.
"Pony, you know you need t'focus on school", Darry chastised as he took off his tool belt. "You don't got time for a girlfriend."
"Darry", I said sternly and looked hard into his blue-green eyes in an attempt to show him how serious I was. "I'm bringin' her over tomorrow and then we're goin' out to the movies. Please don't ruin this for me. I really like her."
He studied at me for a while with a creased brow before finally relenting. "Fine. What do I need to do?"
"Just keep everyone in check. That's it."
Darry nodded in agreement and went into the bathroom to take a shower.
The next day, as planned, I went over to Lily's house at 4:30, only to be immediately confronted by her father. I hadn't even gotten fully through the doorway when he started interrogating me.
"How old're you, son?" he asked.
"I'm fourteen, sir", I answered nervously. "I turned fourteen in July, but was put ahead a year in school, so I'm in Lily's grade."
"What're you and my daughter goin' to be doing tonight?"
"We're going to my house to have dinner with my family. Then we're goin' to see a movie."
Mr. Smith leaned in and looked me straight in the eye. I noticed that his were blue- a clear ocean-blue that were the opposite to his daughter's.
"Lily's my oldest child; my oldest daughter. If you do anything to hurt her, and I mean anything, I will personally make sure you can't ever walk again. Understood?"
I nodded with wide eyes and practically squeaked out my reply. "Of course, sir. I would never do anythin' to her. She's one'a my best friends." Hopefully, she'll be more soon, I thought to myself.
Luckily, that was when Lily decided to come down the stairs. "Hey, Pony. You ready t'go?"
"Yep. After you, my lady", I smiled and gestured to the door.
"Why, thank you, fine sir", she played along and curtsied slightly.
Mr. Smith gave her her curfew and we started our walk to my house.
As we walked, I looked at her as I did ever yday.
She was wearing a pretty purple dress, a black sweater, and black shoes. There was a ring on her finger with a small fleur de lis on it. Her hair was wavy and the light from the sun was tinting it gold.
"You look pretty tonight", I said without really thinking about it.
"Don't I always look pretty?"
"No, I…I just-", I stuttered as I blushed heavily.
"I'm just kidding, Pony. No need to worry", she assured me with a laugh. "And thank you. I have to say that you look quite handsome too."
"Thanks", I muttered and looked up to find that we were already at my house. There was so much yelling and screaming from inside that I was sure Lily was going to book it out of there.
"Well, we're here", I told her.
"Let's go", she smiled and grabbed my arm, making the best kind of knot form in my stomach. "You're not scared, are you?"
"'Course not. I'm a man", I joked, puffing out my chest for emphasis. "We're not scared of anythin'."
"If you say so", she laughed.
I held out my arm, which she took.
"Ladies first", I insisted as I opened the door. What I hadn't thought about was since our ams were linked, when she walked in, she kind of dragged me in behind her, causing me to get hit by the door as it closed. Lily was laughing at me when Soda came up to us.
"Well lookie here", he said with a smirk before pulling Lily to his side. "I got myself a twin!"
It had never crossed my mind, but when I saw them next to each other, Lily and Soda looked a bit alike. They both had about the same color hair and eyes, though both her hair and eyes were darker than his.
"I'm guessin' you're Soda."
"The one and only", he smiled, leaning down and kissing her hand for dramatic affect. I felt jealousy surge in my chest, though I was happy that they seemed to be getting along. "And I'm guessin' that you're Lily."
"You'd be correct", she told him with a small laugh before looking over at me.
"C'mon, Soda", I said as I hooked my arm back with hers. "Let's have 'er meet the others."
When we walked into the living room, Two-Bit and Steve were rolling around on the floor wrestling. Johnny and Dally were sitting on the couch and Darry was in his recliner with his face in the newspaper, seemingly not noticing the two people rolling around on the floor at his feet.
"Guys, this is Lily", I introduced when they all finally noticed that we were there (which took longer than it probably should have). "Lily, these're the guys."
"Hi, boys", she smiled. "It's nice to finally meet y'all."
I said each of their names as I pointed to them and everything seemed to be going well until Dally opened his mouth.
"Now, whadda we have here?" he drawled, walking over to us and putting an arm around Lily's shoulders. "A pretty little thing like you shouldn't be with a wimp like Pony here."
Jealousy burned in my chest again and I was about to growl at Dally to leave her alone, but she beat me to it.
Her eyes turned darker and you could almost see flames in them as she shoved Dally's arm off of her.
"No thank you", she snapped. "I'm not a thing; I'm a person. And I swear on all that's holy, if you call me a broad, I won't hesitate to hurt you."
We all just started at her in shock. She got scary when she was mad and there was something about the way that she talked that made you listen to her and take her seriously.
Two-Bit cracked his signature grin after a few moments and started to laugh, causing us all to do the same, though mostly because his laugh was so contagious.
"You got spunk, kid", Dally told her. "But if you wanna fight me…well, I wouldn't suggest that."
"I don't like to fight", she responded, "so I wouldn't fight you unless you pulled a stunt like that again."
"Well, who's ready to eat?" Soda asked.
Everyone stormed the kitchen except for Lily and I.
"First of all", I told her, "that was amazing. I've never seen anyone talk to Dally that way. Ever. Second, are you okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"You just seemed real uncomfortable."
"I'll be fine."
"You should probably sit between me and Soda during dinner. That way, we won't have to deal with somethin' like that again and you get along with us best anyway so far."
"Sure", she agreed as we walked to the table. When we sat down, everyone began to eat.
"So, Lily, tell us about your family", Darry encouraged from across the table.
"Well, I have my younger brother and sister. They're twins and ten years old. And my mom and dad."
"You sure you're from this side of town?" Soda asked through a mouthful of food.
Lily and Darry both told him to chew with his mouth closed, causing us all to laugh.
"But seriously", Soda started again once he had swallowed, "you sure you're from the greaser side of town?"
"Yeah. Why?" she asked.
"Your manners're good and you just seem so… non-greaser-like."
"Well, aren't you eloquent", she laughed. "I've just never found any appeal in drinking or smoking and that kinda stuff. Besides, I know what alcohol can do to a person."
We all turned to look at her in concern.
"Do your parents…you know…?" Soda asked.
"No", she quickly replied as she shook her head. "I've had friends who've had alcoholic parents. I'm lucky enough to have parents that love me. Those're rare to find in these parts."
All of us let out a sigh of relief.
"Who's ready for cake?" Two-Bit asked enthusiastically.
The cake was taken out and cut into slices by Darry before being handed out to everyone.
"This is so good. Who made it?" Lily asked.
"Darry", I told her.
She seemed to think about this for a moment before she burst out laughing.
"What is it, Lily?" I asked, starting to laugh myself because of how contagious hers was.
Between laughs, she was able to tell me how she was thinking of Darry in a "kiss the cook" apron. I started laughing even harder and told the gang what she had said, causing them to laugh too.
Once we had all calmed down, I looked out of the window and saw that it was almost sunset. I patted my pocket to make sure the box with the necklace was there and turned to Lily.
"You wanna go outside and watch the sunset with me before we go to the movies?"
"Of course", she smiled. "I love sunsets."
I took her hand instead of looping our arms together and led her to the back steps. The butterflies exploded in my stomach at the feeling of her hand in mine. Hers was a bit smaller than mine and it was cold, but they fit together like puzzle pieces.
I opened the door for her and let her go outside and sit down first.
"Why do you always open door and stuff like that for me?" she asked, then seemed to realize that she had said it. "I'm not complaining. Just wondering."
"Mom and Dad engrained it into our heads from an early age to be respectful to women", I told her, smiling a bit at the thought of them.
"Your parents were smart people. You got that from them. Soda and Darry too. Which one d'you look more like?"
"Surprisingly, neither, really", I said with a shrug. "Soda looks like Mom but with Dad's eyes and Darry looks like Dad but with his own eyes. I guess I'm just that special."
"It doesn't matter", she said. "You're handsome either way. Just in different ways than you brothers."
My face turned a fiery red and I could feel it burning. "You really think so?"
"Yeah", she nodded with a slight blush of her own. "You're lucky you got seem nice genetics. Mine don't look too good."
I had no idea what she was talking about. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever met. Her eyes were the prettiest I had ever seen and her hair was tinted a red-ish gold in the light of the setting sun. She smiled with her eyes and whenever she smiled or laughed this little dimple appeared below her eye.
"That ain't true", I insisted. "You're beautiful and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise."
"Really?" she asked as her eyes became shiny. "Do you really think so?"
"Of course. Whoever told you you weren't?"
"Can we talk about something else?" she asked. "The sun's starting to set."
She looked at the sky, and I did too for a bit, but for the first time I was more interested in looking at a person than the sunset.
She looked over at me and her eyes searched my face for a moment.
"Oh, I almost forgot", I said. "Happy birthday."
I took the box with the necklace in it out of my pocket.
"Pony, you didn't have get me anything. You don't need to spend any money on me."
"But I wanted to", I told her. "Besides, how many times do you turn fourteen?"
"Thank you", she said as I opened the box.
"Here", I instructed while taking out the necklace. "Lift up your hair and face the other way."
She did as I said and I put the necklace around her neck, which took a few moments considering I had never fastened a necklace before. When it was on, she dropped her hair and it flowed back down her back and ended at her waist.
"Really, Pony, thank you so much." She pulled me into a tight hug. I froze for a second in shock before cautiously wrapping my arms around her waist. Just like with our hands, we fit together like puzzle pieces. I was so nervous that I felt light-headed.
She pulled back and I looked at her for a moment, studying her face. I felt a tug in my stomach and without really realizing it, I leaned over and kissed her cheek.
I knew it was now or never, so I carefully took her hand.
"Lily", I started, my voice close to shaking, "I wanted to ask you a question."
"Shoot", she encouraged with a smile.
"I was wondering if maybe…I dunno…if you…", I stuttered.
"Pony", she giggled, "just spit it out already."
I took a deep breath before talking. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to be my gal."
She smiled widely. "I would love to be your girlfriend, Pony."
"Really?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes, of course", she smiled.
My face felt like it was going to break in half because of how big I was smiling, but I couldn't have cared less.
I really looked at her lips for the first time and noticed how soft and pink they looked. I put one of my hands on her waist and the other one on her cheek and moved in closer. She did as well and before I knew it, we were kissing. I had never done it before and didn't know what to do, so I just went with my instinct. We didn't move much and we weren't making out; we were just kissing, but the amount of fireworks going off in my head made it feel like more.
Soon one of her hands rested on my shoulder while the other cupped my cheek.
We kissed for a little bit before pulling away and resting our foreheads together.
"That was my first kiss", I admitted.
"Mine too", she said. "How'd you get so good if you've never done it before?"
"I dunno", I laughed. "Just natural talent, I suppose."
She smiled and lay her head on my shoulder. I slipped my hand into hers and closed my eyes for a while, just taking everything in.
When we came back inside, my arm was wrapped around her waist, prompting the gang to start cheering and wolf-whistling.
"Pony and Lily sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then come babies in a baby carriage", Two-Bit and Soda sang.
"C'mon, guys", I groaned. "I just got her t'be my girl. I don't wanna scare 'er away yet."
"Pony, turn towards me", she whispered. I did as she said.
She stood up on her toes and pressed her lips to mine again, causing me to freeze for a second, but then regain control of my body and kiss back. This made the gang go wild.
"Let's go", she said once we broke apart. I probably seemed like I was drunk because of how awe-struck I looked, but I was too happy to care.
Lily POV
One day in early April, I was doing my homework at work since it was a slow day.
When I opened up my English notebook, a slip of paper fell out. I picked it up to find a note.
All that was written on it was "Prom?" in Ponyboy's handwriting. There was a sketch of a flower beside it.
I looked closer and saw that it wasn't just any flower; it was a lily.
A smile crept onto my face as I tore a sliver of paper out of my notebook and wrote "Of course" on it with a heart next to it.
The next day at school during first period English, I placed the piece of paper in front of my boyfriend.
He gave me a confused expression, causing me to laugh.
"Just look at it", I told him. "It's not gonna bite."
He flipped it over and read it before turning back towards me and giving me a kiss.
"Did you really think I was gonna say no?" I asked with a laugh.
"You never know", he shrugged with a smirk. "You might've already made plans to go with Henry."
I made a face. "Oh hell no."
Pony laughed as he pulled me to his side and kissed my temple.
Hey, guys! Sorry that it's taken me a while to update, but school's kept me busy. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner in comparison to the one than this one was to the last one (if that makes any sense). There are going to be a lot of big things happening in the next few chapters, I think, so be prepared. I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavenclaw13
P.S:
"Mia figlia si sposerà! Lei si sposa!"- "My daughter's getting married! She's getting married!"