He Was Mine, I Was His

Forever and Always

    I left the hospital, grabbed all the presents from my closet, and made my way over to Sodapop's house. He, Johnny, Ponyboy, and Two-Bit were all throwing snowballs in the front yard when I pulled up. I laughed to myself and got out. As I stood up, a snowball slammed into the side of my head.

    "Who the hell was that?" I asked angrily. Everyone pointed to Two-Bit. He just stood there for a second before pointing to Sodapop. "You're dead."

    I picked up a snowball and hurled it at him. Then another and another, all hitting him. Soda, Johnny, and Pony joined in. He ran up on the porch, throwing his hands up in surrender.

    "Cease fire! Cease fire!" Darry yelled as he walked out of the house. Two-Bit grabbed Darry and hid behind him.

    "Yeah, what he said!" Two added. 

    We all laughed and I walked back to my car. I opened the door to grab all the presents. Sodapop's arms wrapped my waist. He wiped snow out of my hair and kissed my cheek. 

    "Merry Christmas."

    "Merry Christmas," I replied. "Would you mind helping me carry these in?" I pulled out a few presents and he took them. 

    "I can't believe you're making me carry my own present," he teased. 

    "Oh don't worry. I'll carry yours."

    "You mean these aren't all mine?" He frowned. 

    I looked down at the five boxes he had in his hands and chuckled. We walked into the house. I nudged Two-Bit as I walked in. Soda and I set all the presents under the tree they had set up in the living room. Soda turned me to look at him. He looked up so I did too. 

    "You know what that means," he smiled, looking up at the mistletoe hanging above our heads. I giggled and kissed him.

    "Hey Marilyn," Two-Bit said. "There's some over here too." He started to laugh. Sodapop wrapped his arms around me. 

    "Watch yourself," he warned which made Two-Bit laugh again. 

    "Who all are we waiting for?" I asked. 

    "Donna should be here soon," Johnny said. I smiled at him, happy they were still going strong. 

    "Then we just have to wait for Dally and Steve. He might bring Evie but he never made up his mind," Soda added. Just after that, Dally strolled in. 

    "Ho ho ho, where's my bottle of rum," he said as he walked in. 

    Ponyboy put on a Christmas movie while we waited for everyone to arrive. I would occasionally get up to help Darry with the food. Finally, everyone had arrived. We opened presents first because Two-Bit and Steve were too impatient. 

    I'm not the greatest gift giver so a few weeks ago, I told everyone to write down ideas or they wouldn't be getting anything special. Thankfully, they all gave me some ideas so when it came around to everyone opening my presents, they all seemed to be pleased. I got Two-Bit a new wallet, Ponyboy a book, Johnny a new jacket, Dally some cash because I was definitely not buying him alcohol, Darry tickets to a football game, Evie a few new lip glosses, and Donna a snow globe. Then I gave Soda his present. It was a plain silver ring with our entails engraved on the inside. Soda chuckled after he put it on. Ponyboy started to laugh too. 

    "What?" I asked. "What's so funny?"

    "Great minds seem to think alike," Soda smiled. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a box. He handed it to me and I opened it. My jaw dropped when I saw the gold ring sitting inside. Gold strands reached out from the band and curled around the pink diamond sitting in the middle. "I heard you liked pink."

    "This is beautiful Sodapop," I squealed, throwing my arms around him. 

    "I'm glad you like it," he smiled. "It was my moms."

    I smiled back. Some girls would prioritize how much money someone spent on something but him giving me something that belonged to his mother was so much more special. He was way too good to me. 

    "Did you two just get married?" Steve joked. 

    Evie hit his shoulder, "Oh hush that was so sweet."

    "Enough lovey dovey crap, let's eat," Dally howled. Everyone made their way to the dining room. 

    "Thank you so much Sodapop. This means the world," I said, kissing his cheek. He kissed me on the lips.

    "You mean the world."

    He took my hand and led me into the dining room. I found myself getting the same butterflies I got when Sodapop was just my crush. But he wasn't my crush anymore. He was mine. I was his.

    We all ate and finished the movie Pony had started. It was a lot of fun. As the night went on, everyone started to leave. Soda and I sat on the porch steps before saying goodbye. He was playing with the ring I gave him. 

    "This is really something Marilyn," he said. "No one has ever done something like this for me."

    "You deserve it," I replied. "And so much more."

    "I love you." He hugged me. "Forever and always."

    "I love you too. Forever and always."