Five years passed, 500 letters were sent and replied to, but it felt like infinity without Ponyboy Curtis by your side. You waited for him every single day to walk through that door and yell “I’m home!”, but it never happened soon enough. You still visited the Curtis brothers and the rest of the gang, but it was never the same without him. Soda went to Vietnam three years instead of five like Pony, and now without Dally and Johnny here, it was never the same. You always asked Darry if there were any updates on Pony, but he always responded with a sigh; that definitely and sadly meant “no”.
But one day, things were totally different. The gang was sitting on the porch, but they didn’t talk to you; they didn’t even say hello.
“Hey, guys.” You breathed out, walking onto the Curtis’ porch to do your daily visit. They said nothing, absorbed into their own little worlds to even acknowledge you. “Hello?” You asked again, wondering if maybe they had the decency to talk to you. But, there was no response.
You were a little upset though, because you didn’t know if you did anything to make them ignore you on purpose. You shook it off though; they would come around soon enough. “Alright, since you all want to be jerks and not talk to me, I’ll just get a piece of chocolate cake and go on my way.” You huffed, making your way into the unlocked home.
The minute you walked in, you noticed a large shadow out of the corner of your eye. You turned around frantically, noticing the boys were still outside and you were the only one indoors. You chuckled silently, and walked over to the kitchen. “Stupid hallucinations, always gettin’ the best o’ me.” You huffed. The boys walked in together soon enough, and sat down on the couches, staring at you. You walked over to them and gave them a piece of your mind.
“Guys, why’re you starin’. I’m kind of mad at you all for ignorin’ me; this ain’t helpin’!” You snapped at them with your hands on your hips. You glared until a voice sounded from behind you.
“I could see why they’re starin’. You’ve become even more beautiful since the last time I saw you.” The voice said. You dropped everything, gasped, and turned around fast enough to give you whiplash. Even though the voice was way deeper than you remembered, you could still identify that voice anywhere.
“Ponyboy!” You yelled, then crashing your lips onto his. Five years without him with you; five years since you’ve been this close to him. He’s gotten taller, and his hair darker. It still had the signature grease, and his eyes seemed tired. The boys cheered and whooped in the meanwhile of you and Ponyboy reuniting. You both pulled away and just held each other in your arms, your tears cascading down your cheeks like diamonds; even Ponyboy was crying, and he usually didn’t cry that much.
“I love you Pony. I’m so glad you’re back.” You smiled as you looked into your eyes.
“I’m goin’ to stay, Y/N. I’m done there. I ain’t goin’ back. I ain’t leavin’.” He smiled back at you, sneaking one more kiss onto your lips. You finally felt at peace again, he was back in your arms for good.