In this chapter: Something devastating happens with Kate, and she needs all the support she can get.

This chapter can be considered a one-shot, or a continuation from the previous chapter.

TW: pregnancy issues, mentions of miscarriage, etc.

I was glad we hadn't told any of the guys, it just would've made it even harder.

I laid in Darry's bed, in the fetal position, trying and failing to stop crying. How can it hurt so much to lose something that I never even had?

Luckily, I had been alone in the house when it happened, unlike when Dally had been there when I found out I was pregnant in the first place. I panicked and didn't know what to do, and after the whole ordeal, I took a shower and ended up in Darry's bed. I was thankful that I didn't have to work that day; there's no way I was about to move.

After some time, I heard the door slam open. "Kate? You here?" Soda's loud, boisterous voice yelled into the silent house.

I didn't want to answer him. I just wanted to stay curled up and let the world pass by.

Unfortunately, Soda was nosey. I heard him walk around the house until he approached Darry's door, then when he opened it a bit further than I had left it, I saw his eyes get big. "Kate? You okay?"

"I'm fine," I choked out, lying through my teeth.

Being the most emotional intelligent of the gang, he must've known something was really wrong, but instead of panicking, he gave me a look, walked into the room, and closed the door behind him. "I can see you ain't fine."

I didn't deny it, and I remained frozen in silence as Soda approached the bed and sat on the edge of it. He put his hand on my knee, and the warmth and comfort from it just about broke me. "What's goin' on Kate?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I muttered out.

Soda looked down at me, and I had a feeling he was reading my mind like he always did with everyone else. It was his superpower. "Does it have something to do with how Dally's been acting?"

He knows.

Even since that day Dally found my throwing up in the bathroom, he had been acting like my personal guard dog. He wouldn't let the guys tease me as much, and forget roughhousing with me. Darry had made Dally promise not to say anything to the guys, and I knew he'd keep his word.

"Yeah," I said. "He's the only other one that knows other than Darry."

Soda let out a long breath, but he didn't say anything right away. I was wondering if we were going to sit in silence forever, but he finally spoke in a quiet, careful tone. "I'm not a stranger to these kinda things, you know. Remember Sandy?"

I did remember Sandy. I remembered how awful she was to Soda, how she cheated on him– one of the sweetest people on Earth– and how she got pregnant from those extra curricular activities. Soda would've married her despite all of that, and despite all of us telling him he could do better. Yeah, I remembered Sandy alright. Good riddance.

Instead of saying all of that, I just nodded.

Soda gave me a sad grin, then looked out Darry's window. "I know you ain't gonna want to hear this, but everything happens for a reason. You dig?"

I appreciated Soda's words, but I couldn't understand how losing a baby could possibly be for a reason. I still didn't even know why I was so upset about it in the first place. We weren't planning on getting pregnant, so it should be a relief, shouldn't it? Why am I so upset?

"I'm not going to pretend it doesn't hurt," Soda continued, drawing my attention back to him. "And I'm not going to say it's okay, but you'll be okay. You'll get through this because you have me, and Darry, and the rest of the guys to help you through it, even if they don't know any of the details."

It's not okay, but I'll be okay.

That struck a chord with me.

"Thanks Soda," I said after a beat. He looked down at me with a sad smile, and I just had to tell him. He deserved to hear it. "You would've made a great uncle."

Something danced in his eyes, but it seemed like he pushed it aside in order to be there for me. "And I still might someday. But for now, I'm happy to just be here and help you and Darry through this."

Tears started falling down my cheeks again, but it wasn't only from sadness. I sat up and immediately hugged Soda, who returned the embrace intensely. "I'm so sorry, Kate. I could tell you and Darry were real happy about something for the past week or two. You two will make great parents some day."

I sniffled into his shirt. "You know, I thought he'd be mad when I told him… thought he'd break up with me." It sounded stupid after I knew the truth, but I remembered how terrified I was about Darry leaving me.

"Why would you think that?" Soda asked curiously, not loosening his grip at all.

"He's already got so much to deal with, I didn't think he'd want to add anything on top of that," I explained. "Least of all a baby. He's already in charge of you and Pony. I didn't want anything to happen to you guys because of me."

I felt my emotions start to get jumbled as the words left my mouth. Soda started rocking me slightly, and I pictured him doing the same thing with Pony after a nightmare. "He loves you, Kate. He wouldn't ever do that to someone, especially not you. We would've figured it out. We always do."

"Kate?" I suddenly heard Darry's voice yell from the living room.

The sound of my boyfriend being nearby made me stiffen, and I started crying harder in Soda's shirt. How am I going to tell him?

"Shhh, it'll be okay Kate. I promise you'll be okay," Soda soothed, putting a hand on the back of my head. Then I felt his head turn. "In here, Darry."

I heard Darry's footsteps approaching quickly, telling me that he knew something was wrong just from the few words Soda said. Moments later, Darry's worried voice sounded by the door. "Soda? Kate?" His footsteps got nearer, and I felt him sit next to me on the bed and rub his hand up and down my back. "What's going on?"

"I… I-" I couldn't say it, not out loud anyways. I lost the baby.

I heard Darry and Soda mumbling above me, and I forced myself into their conversation. It was about me, after all.

"Soda knows," I said. "He figured it out, but it doesn't matter now."

Darry's hand paused on my back. "What?"

I pulled myself from Soda, who looked almost as pained as I felt, and I turned to look at my terrified boyfriend. Just say it. "I lost it," I choked out before I launched myself into his chest.

Darry was stiff only for a moment before he tightened his strong arms around me, then Soda rubbed circles on my back. "Kate… I'm so sorry. I should've… I should've been here," Darry said, his pain leaking through his words. Then his voice sounded different, quieter even. "You could've called me," he said.

I didn't know if he was addressing me or Soda, but it didn't matter. I shook my head into Darry's chest. "You couldn't have done anything, Darry."

"I could've been here for you," he said, his voice sounding shaky. He's crying too.

I didn't have much to say to that. It was probably just as hard on Darry as it was on me, and he would've been there to help me and mourn with me if I would've called him.

Suddenly, I heard the loud noise of the door slamming open, followed by at least two or three of the guys entering the house.

"I'll take care of them," Soda said, standing up from the bed. "Don't worry, I won't say nothin'. I'll just make sure they leave y'all alone."

I straightened up to face him. "Thanks Soda," I said earnestly. "For everything."

He gave me a small nod. "Just take care of yourselves. I'm here for you if you need anything." With that, he left the room and shut the door behind him.

I went back to hugging Darry and crying, and he resumed holding me tight and apologizing for not being home when everything happened. Once my sobs started dying down, he risked asking a question, his voice still sounding thick with emotion. "Why didn't you call, honey?"

"I'm sorry. I was scared," I admitted. "I didn't know what to do."

He let out a sigh, which ended with a short sob. "I would've left work in a heartbeat if you would've called."

Maybe I knew that. Maybe, deep down, I didn't want Darry to lose out on both the money that he and his brothers needed as well as losing our … losing our baby.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I know you would've come home, but I just wasn't thinking. I'm sorry about losing… losing our-" I couldn't say it anymore. I just clung onto Darry and didn't let go.

"Hey now, it's not your fault," Darry said, rocking me back and forth gently, just like his brother had done. "I don't want you thinking it's anything you did. Sometimes… sometimes things happen."

Everything happens for a reason.

I wasn't sure if I believed it, but maybe Darry did.

"Soda said everything happens for a reason," I muttered. It took me a few moments to peel myself away from Darry and look into his red-rimmed, blood-shot, watery eyes. He was just as heartbroken about it as I was. "Do you think he's right?"

Darry looked at me and sighed before he responded carefully. "I think he's right, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt in the moment."

I let out a half-sob, half-laugh at that. "You sound like Soda."

"No, Soda sounds like me," Darry said with the world's smallest grin. He wiped the tears from my cheeks and pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear, all while not breaking eye contact with me. "I don't know what the reason is for all of this, but I do know that I love you more every day, and the thought about starting a family with you makes me happy and excited for our future."

I stared into his eyes and got lost in my imagination. I thought about raising kids with Darry, watching him be the father I knew he could be. He had already proven to be a good guardian for his brothers, but to be someone's father from day one is different. I knew he'd be great at it, and to hear him excited about it made me happy.

"Maybe this happened to show us that we can do it," I offered. "We weren't ready, but we were going to try. We were going to make it work."

Darry placed a kiss on my forehead. "Of course we were." Then he wrapped his arms around my waist. "And one day, it'll happen."

I sat there, letting all of my emotions wash over me. I was devastated, and excited. Upset, but glad. I never wanted to feel that kind of pain again, but in a strange way, I felt like the awful experience brought me and Darry closer.

I wiped the tears from my face. "I love you Darry. So much."

He pulled me close to his chest, rested his chin on my head, and he slowly stroked my hair. "I love you too, Kate. We'll get through this."

I knew he was right. We would get through it, and one day, we'd have a family of our own in addition to the group of guys that were probably having a wrestling match in the living room.

I wasn't expecting all of the responses I got from the last update (thank you all by the way) so I felt the need to write a continuation. I was already thinking about writing a chapter like this, and I know you're all going to hate me for it, and I'm sorry. I promise future chapters won't be so tough to read emotionally.

Just a reminder, these are all (supposed to be) one-shots; some of them can work together, but others can't. Some are canon-adjacent, while others aren't.

HOWEVER... with all of that being said, I haven't discarded the idea of making a separate fic about Darry and Kate in which the chapters actually flow together. If that's something anyone would be interested, feel free to comment or PM me.

Again, I'm sorry that this chapter didn't go how most of you wanted... I'm mean like that.