The Two I Trust | The Outsiders

Merry and Bright

Emma's pov:

It's now the cheeriest time of year, December. Not much has changed since early November. We had thanksgiving dinner together, which Rylie and Darry prepared for us. They made mash potatoes, green beans, corn, Turkey, meatloaf, rolls, and more. It was fun.

I haven't seen Curly Shepherd around much, and if I did, he would just glare at me, or say some sort of threat. I mostly just ignored him. I knew he wasn't really going to do anything, just mad and jealous we aren't going steady anymore.
He figured out I'm with Pony, probably from some of the other Greasers he hangs around with.

Darry got another raise at work, I've won more basketball games, Dally's been going to less parties, Pony and I have gotten closer, and he's been writing more stories, Sodapop and Rylie have been talking about their engagement non-stop, Two-Bit got more mickey shirts, and Johnny...he's still just Johnny. He has been a bit more emotional about Rylie getting engaged though.

I woke up this morning to see snow outside my window. Snow already. It's only early December. Dally was already awake and smoking a cigarette while he was looking out the window at the snow.

"Smoking this early in the morning, Dal?"

"Makes your lungs strong."

I rolled my eyes and got up to get ready for the day. I put on my black ripped jeans, and a grey t-shirt with Dally's brown leather jacket over.

Dally and I drove over to the Curtis house to meet the rest of the gang. They were all gathered around the living room, watching TV with blankets. Darry must have taken off work to avoid driving in the heavy snow. He was in the kitchen making everyone a mug of hot chocolate.

"Hurry, close the door Dally, you're letting cold air in." Two-Bit grumbled.

Dally shut the door behind him, then threw his burned out cigarette from earlier at Two-Bit.

"Get that thing out of my house." Darry fumed as he walked into the living room with a tray of mugs filled with hot chocolate.

We all went to grab one, Steve and Two-Bit racing each other.

Ponyboy's pov:

Once Emma got her mug of hot chocolate, she came and sat between Rylie and I on the couch.

"Race to see who can finish the fastest?" Rylie challanged her.

She nodded in agreement, and they immediately began chugging their hot chocolate. I sat back in my seat, concerned. Aren't their lips gonna get burnt?

"I win."

They both gloated at the same time. To settle the debate, they began play fighting. I got up and moved to the other couch so my hot chocolate wouldn't get spilt.

I sat beside Two-Bit who was holding his hot chocolate in one hand, and beer in the other. He would take one sip of beer, then one sip of hot chocolate and go back and forth.

Dally was stirring his hot chocolate with his switch blade, Soda was sitting on the floor showing everyone his Christmas sock collection, though no one was really paying attention, and Steve was staring out the window at the snow while he drank his hot chocolate.

Darry was in his room with the door locked. He wouldn't let anyone go in, or tell us what he was doing. But we all heard wrapping paper and tape. He's already wrapping presents.

I've been thinking about what I want to get everyone for Christmas. Especially Emma. Of course I want to get her something special and meaningful. But nothing cliché. She wears the ring I got her for her birthday everyday.

"My hot chocolates still too hot, it's burning my mouth!" Two-Bit whined.

He stormed outside, and got a handful of snow off the ground, sprinkling it into his mug. He came back inside, but left the door open.

"Close the door, Two-Bit, you're letting cold air in." Dally mocked.

Two-Bit got back up from his seat and went to close the door, then gave a glare to Dally.

"Can we go play in the snow?!" Steve called.

We all looked at each other, and next thing you knew, we all rushed out the door. Darry came outside close behind with his arms crossed.

"Ya'll come back here right now and put your coats on." He scolded.

Steve groaned and put his DX shirt on as a coat. Darry handed everyone theirs, and joined us outside.

Dally and Two-Bit were throwing snow balls at each other, Darry was pulling Emma and Rylie around on a sled, Steve begging for a turn to ride, and Johnny was with Soda making snow angles.

We messed around in the snow for a good while. Eventually, we all joined in on Dally and Two-Bits snow fight. I got snowballed in the face, which didn't feel good.

I wanted to take a break so I sat down in the snow and watched them continue their snowball fight. A few moments later, Emma left the fight and sat beside me.

"How you feelin bout a sister in law soon, Ponyboy?" She smiled.

"Ah, I don't know." I chuckled while looking down to my shoes.

I was actually pretty excited, and happy for them both.

She looked down to the snow as she laughed. I love her smile. When she looked back up to me, I placed my hand on her cheek and kissed her gently.

we were interrupted by a snow ball hitting me right in the face again. I whipped my head around to see Dally glaring at me with his arms crossed. Emma started laughing again beside me.

"Hands off her, kid, Or I'll kill you." He scolded.

Emma's pov:

After we played around in the snow, we head back inside to warm up a bit. Two-Bit made us watch the Mickey Mouse Christmas special on TV with him. After that, Darry made chili for dinner. Sodapop turned soft Christmas music on the radio while we ate.

Once we finished eating, Dally drove us back to Buck's for the night. During our drive, we passed neighbors houses that had small, lighted decorations in their yard. Soon, we pulled into Buck's parking lot and head inside to our room. Thankfully, there was no party going on.

I opened the door to our room, and to my surprise, I saw a small, un-decorated Christmas tree set up.

"When'd you do this, Dal?"

"When you weren't looking." He chuckled. "But I'll need help decorating it."

My face lightened. Dally went to open the closet door, and pulled brought out a small tub. Inside was small boxes, or bags of ordements. We began reaching into the tub and hung every ordement we saw onto the tree.

"Oh, another thing." Dally went over to the bed and reached into a shopping bag. He pulled out a smaller bag of candy canes, and handed me one. "We can hang some of these on the tree, then after Christmas, we can eat them."

I unwrapped the candy cane he gave me and began eating it as I hung the other ones on the tree.

Once we were out of ordements and candy canes, we stepped back to admire the tree. It looked great.

"What do you think, Dally?"

"I think it's time to add the star." He smiled.

I turned over to him and he was holding a shiny, gold star. He handed it to me, and lifted me up my the arms so I could reach the top of the tree. I carefully placed the star on the top of the tree, then he set me down. Just like we've always done.

"Perfect." I beamed.