Lydia's POV:

"So that's how you guys met, and how you met my dad, but what else?" Hope asks. Ponyboy sighs, and I can almost feel his heart breaking, as my own does the same. Ponyboy is Hope's dad, no matter what anyone says, and no matter what genetics say either. He loves her. That's what matters, right?

"Well, what do you mean by what else?" I ask her calmly, smiling. But on the inside I'm kind of hurt, and almost feel like I should never have said anything. My Hope was happy before she knew about this. She should be happy now, but now she's just in little pieces.

"Like... How did I.... Come to be?" She asks thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean, sweetie," I respond. There's not much left to our story. Dallas and I mostly left each other alone, we admired each other from afar.

"Like... How was I born? What happened?" She asks, making my cheeks redden a bit.

"Labor," I respond.

"Thirty six hours of labor for you, kiddo," Pony finishes for me. Hope smiles at us, but I can tell that that's not what she means at all.

"Mom, that's not what I was asking. I mean... You told me how you two met, but what else. Were you dating at the time that I um.... happened?" She asks. I shake my head.

"Nope... No we weren't," I say, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Wanna tell her who you were dating?" Ponyboy asks me. I can feel him staring at me, and I shake my head.

"Why don't you?" I suggest.

"Your mother and I were dating at the time she and Dallas were making you, Hope," He says. I want to go into my room, I want to lower my head in shame, but instead, my husband takes his arm and puts it around my shoulder. I lean into him, and he laughs.

"You know, it meant a lot before. It hurt me than anything when it happened. But now, think of where we would be if it didn't, Lydia. Where would we be without Hope? What would we be? Would we even be... us?" He asks.

I take a breath, realizing this other world that we could be living in. What would it be like? Who would I be with? Who should I be without Hope? She was my wake up call, my reason for a reality, my everything. Who would I even be without Ponyboy?

"I... I have no idea," is all I can say. Ponyboy made me who I am today. I would be different, to say the least.

"So um..." Hope says after a minute of awkward silence. Ponyboy and I both look over to her.

"Did you guys ever date? You and Dallas, I mean, mom," She asks. Ponyboy shakes his head, as in to say "no, I don't think they ever did," but there were a few occasions where we tried.

"Nope, we didn't, Hope. We had a weird relationship. He never even asked me out on a real date. Just once to the middle school dance. I was 10 at the time, he was 13," I tell her.

"Awe. Tell me about that," She says with a smile. Ponyboy looks at her, and I can tell he's trying hard not to lose his cool.

"Hope, what's this sudden interest with Dallas about?" He asks.

"Well, he's my father. Why shouldn't I be interested in him?" She says. My husband and I make eye contact, he sighs and shrugs, not wanting to fight about it again. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and a small smile peeks up on his face. I've always been able to do that to him. He's always been able to do that to me. Just knowing that we're in each other's company puts the two of us at ease. It's always been that way.

"You know what?" Ponyboy asks, a smile on his face now.

"I have some work to do, girls, so I'm going to go do that in my room. Call me when dinner's ready, though and I'll come eat with you," He says, politely excusing himself.

"Is he okay?" Hope asks me. I nod.

"He's fine, honey. Just a little bit... uncomfortable. Like we said earlier, we didn't plan to tell you about this until you're older," I explain. She looks down sadly at her hands.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause anything, mom," She says. I shrug.

"It's okay, Hope. Things happen. Do you want to hear about the dance now?" I ask. She nods.

*Flashback*

I remember the day they announced the dance. It was halfway through the school year in 6th grade, on the morning announcements.

"And students, one last announcement, and an exciting one at that!" The principal had said. We all listened intently to the loudspeaker, eager to hear what was next.

"We're going to be having our first annual all school semi-formal dance this Friday!" I remember our entire homeroom cheering, and looking around each other, getting ready to ask them out.

That same day at lunch, Dally came up to me.

"Hey, wanna go outside with me for a minute? I gotta talk to you about something." He asked. I nodded, and I remember him taking my hand and leading me to the smoking out, sending shivers up my spine.

He and I sat down on the ground as he lit up a cancer stick and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I said, taking it, even though I didn't really smoke very often. He lit his own up and immediately took a drag, while I just stared at mine.

"Now what's up?" I asked him.

"I... I was wondering," He said, staring at me as he took another drag.

"Do you wanna go to the dance with me?" He asked. I remember freezing after that. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, I couldn't feel anything for a minute.

"Lydia? Did you hear what I asked you?" He asked. I nodded.

"Y-yeah, I did," I responded.

"Well, what's your answer? Do you or do you not want to go with me?" I remember him asking, clear as day. My heart skipped about 10 beats, and I so wanted to say yes, but then I thought I Ponyboy, my best friend in the whole world. He wasn't interested in many girls, and I knew that he would later ask me to go with him. Just as friends, but I know his mom would offer to pay my ticket and help pick out a dress. And knowing my mom, I would need that.

"I.... I can't, Dally. I'm really sorry," I remember saying to him. He looked down at his hands, clearly upset.

"Y-yeah. Okay. I gotta get back to class now, Lyd. See ya," He said, and started running back inside. But suddenly, something inside of my wanted to call him back. I felt bad, seeing him like that, someone that I've had feelings for forever looking so sad.

"Dally, wait!" I yelled. He turned around, and I jogged up to him.

"It's not about you, my mom just doesn't think I'm old enough to date yet," I lie. I'm not sure why I said it, but he saw right through it.

"Lydia, you and I both know very well that your mom doesn't give a damn about you. I know that you'd rather go with Ponyboy, and I respect that, but I gotta go." And without another word, he ran off, hurt, and the two of us didn't talk for weeks after that.

A/N: 1,279 words! That's the longest chapter so far! And I know it's not the best, but it's really hard to write from a 30 year old woman's point of view. I tried though, so I hope you like it. Let me know!💕 5 votes and 2 comments equals an update? -Katy