D A L L A S

The next time at Rehab a week later, Dallas couldn't help but grin ear to ear, something he hasn't done in a long time. He was genuinely happy and that was all because of his new boyfriend that was already sitting down in the circle.

Dallas walks over, trying not to act too excited as he takes a seat next to his boyfriend. The older boy turns his head and starts grinning just as wide as Dallas was, which in a way, was surprising.

The most you would get out of Keith were small, shy smiles but now, now it looked like a miracle had happened. In a way, a miracle did happen since Keith was drinking 'Pepsi' or water instead of alcohol, not touching a drop of it.

"Hey, Dal," Keith says shyly, the smile staying on his face. "How'd you sleep last night?"

"I kind of wanted you with me but I know you were watching your little sister," Dallas says. "Maybe sometime though, you could come over or I could come over and, yeah..."

"Is that a cuddle invitation," Keith asks, laughing lightly.

"Maybe," Dallas says, dragging out the 'a'.

"Well it's a yes," Keith says, leaning over and pressing a kiss onto his cheek. "You can come home with me tonight and we can do that."

Dallas nods happily and blushes at the kiss that was pressed against his cheek. He slowly takes Keith's hand and holds it, intertwining their fingers.

"Okay, everyone," Jackson starts. "What's new this week? Anything interesting happen? Doesn't even have to do with the addiction issue. We're gonna just start by telling interesting news for once, make it more easy to talk to one another."

The group of boys nod and hum, looking around at everyone and giving warm smiles. Many sets of eyes lingered on Keith's and Dallas' intertwined fingers but didn't say anything.

"Anyone have news," Jackson asks, putting on a smile. "Raise your hand."

Darry's hand slowly raises and he makes an awkward face. Jackson points at him, signaling him to speak.

"I have a fiance as of last night," Darry says. "We were on a date and they proposed."

Soda and Ponyboy look at their older brother, shock evident on their faces. They didn't even have a clue that Darry was dating someone, let alone engaged to someone.

"You were dating someone," Ponyboy yells playfully. "And you didn't tell us, your brothers!"

"I thought I told you guys at one point," Darry says, shrugging his shoulders like it wasn't a big deal. "Oops."

"How long have you been dating this mystery person," Soda asks.

"Maybe around a year and two months," Darry says. "You guys have seen them before."

"We have," Ponyboy asks. "When?"

"Well he picked me up last night for our date," Darry says. "He was in the house for a minute?"

"A boy," Ponyboy asks in surprise.

"Mhm," Darry hums softly. "Is that a problem?"

"No," Ponyboy says. "I'm just excited because I have a boyfriend too!"

"You do," Soda asks in surprise. "Who is he?"

Ponyboy looks at Johnny shyly who was blushing and smiling back at him. This boy made him so happy.

"Hi, baby," Ponyboy says softly.

Johnny waves back shyly and laughs a little as Ponyboy kisses his forehead. The younger boy grins more.

"Johnny," Keith says. "How cute!"

Dallas smiles and nods at his boyfriend in agreement. The older boy grins shyly.

"That's nice," Darry says, smiling at his little brother.

"Any other news," Jackson asks.

Dallas raises his hand slowly and glances around shyly. His fingers were still intertwined with his boyfriend's fingers.

"Yes, Dallas," Jackson asks. "What's your big news?"

"Keith and I are dating," Dallas admits. "We started dating last week."

The rest of the group smiles and gives them both thumbs up in approval. He laughs softly.

"Anyone else?"

Steve raises his hand softly and smiles. He hums and waits to be called on before answering.

"I-i don't stutter so much a-anymore," Steve states proudly. "A-and I have a crush on t-this sweet boy I know."

Soda's eyes visibly go dull and his big smile goes weak. He liked someone that wasn't him.

"That's nice, Stevie," Soda says weakly. "I hope he makes you happy."

Dallas starts to frown, seeing the evident pain in Soda's features. He felt sympathetic to the boy.

"He does," Steve says. "He makes me so happy."

Steve looks at Soda and stares for a minute before leaning in quickly and pressing his lips to Steve's gently. The slightly younger boy's eyes widen and he slowly melts into the kiss and kisses back.

They pull apart after a minute and Soda is grinning like a fool. He instantly hugs the older boy tight, almost knocking him out of the cheap plastic chair.

"Oh my gosh," Soda exclaims excitedly. "I'm so happy."

"So does that mean you'll be my boyfriend," Steve asks hesitantly.

"Of course," Soda yells back happily. "I wouldn't have kissed back if I didn't like you!"

Steve smiles goofily, showing the gap in his teeth that Soda happened to love so much. It made him really cute in his opinion and anyone stating otherwise wouldn't be happy with the argument they'd be getting from Soda.

"Everyone is together with someone," Dallas states. "I don't know why but that makes me super duper happy. Y'all are so smiley now."

Johnny nods his head and laughs a little. Ever since he and Ponyboy got together (a few weeks into rehab), he'd been doing much better with his addiction and just in general.

It was all starting to come together for everyone and you could see that everyone was getting so much better. All they really needed was each other.

- - - - -

How was this ending?

I'm proud of this actually and I think this book was really good. It was fairly popular with you all, even though it wasn't johnnyboy as some of you commented.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you continue to read my works if you want 😌

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