It had been two weeks since the incident with the socs, and Nichole's knee was starting to heel nicely. She could tell because her knee was starting to itch as if there were a lot of mosquito bites on her leg that she couldn't get at in her cast.

"Don't scratch." Soda said for about the thousandth time when he came in from getting the mail, and saw Nichole propped up on the couch glaring at her leg.

"Shut up. It's my leg and I can do whatever I want with it." Nichole said. She grabbed her hair brush off the coffee table and started to stick the handle down her cast.

As Soda walked by he took the hair brush away before Nichole could do that.

"Hey!" Nichole said now glaring at Soda.

"You're not supposed to scratch." Soda said.

"You try not scratching an itch for a while. See how you like it. And the only one that said I wasn't supposed to scratch was you." Nichole said.

Soda just kept on walking away.

Nichole stood up on her crutches, and went to the kitchen to get a wooden spoon. She was on a mission now, and she wouldn't stop till she could scratch.

No one was in the kitchen but her, so Nichole was able to get a spoon and scratch till the pinch was gone. After that Nichole washed it and put it away.

"Victory!" Nichole exclaimed happily.

Nichole then started to go down the hall to see if she could get her hair brush back from Soda, but when she got to his room, that thought left her right away.

Soda was sitting on the bed, holding an envelope, with tears running down his face.

"Soda what is it?" Nichole asked her eyes wide. She worked her way to Soda as fast as she was able to, and sat down next to him.

"She sent it back. She didn't even open it." Soda said. His hand was shaking now.

Nichole's eyes widened. She knew what Soda meant because it had happened every time that she had read the book. Sandy had sent the letter back unopened because she didn't want to hear what Soda had to say anymore.

"Oh Soda." Nichole said. She didn't know what to do or say after that. She wanted to help Soda of course, but she didn't know how to do that.

"Why would she do this?" Soda sked.

"For the same reason she cheated on you. She's a bitch and you deserve better." Was what Nichole thought. What she actually said was, "I don't know Soda."

"What should I do now?" Soda asked.

Nichole shrugged. "I...I don't know, sorry Soda."

"That's a lie, Nichole. I can hear it in your voice. You do know what I should do, and you're not telling me." Soda said his voice rising.

"What do you want me to tell you Soda?" Nichole asked.

"The truth. What do you think that I should do?" Soda asked.

"If I tell you what I think, then you'll only get more upset." Nichole said.

"I don't care. Just tell me!" Soda said. He was close to yelling now.

Nichole took a deep breath, and let it out. "You should forget her, because you deserve better. First she cheats on you and gets herself pregnant with another guy's kid, then she sends the letter that took you days to write back without opening it. She is a bitch and a whore, and you deserve a lot better than her!"

Soda looked at Nichole with his eyes wide. "Is that what you think?"

"It's what I know Soda. Sandy is a terrible person, and I hate her for what she has done to you." Nichole said.

"How do you know this?" Soda asked.

Nichole looked down at her lap, unable to look Soda in the eye. "Because it's in the book."

Soda dropped the letter, and it fell to the floor. "You knew and you didn't tell me!" He yelled, and Nichole flinched.

"Yes." Nichole said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Soda asked still yelling.

"How could I tell you something like that huh?" Nichole said now looking at Soda her voice rising as she her own tears started to flow. "I couldn't just go up to you and tell you everything, because there was a small chance that it wouldn't happen. That she would at least answer your letter, and beg for your forgiveness for cheating on you. But obviously not everything can change. Sandy stayed exactly the same, just like she always had and always will. Also there was a chance that if I did tell you that you wouldn't believe me when I told you, until it either did happen or didn't. Also if I did tell you, you could have believed what I told you, that I could have hurt you with what I knew, and I didn't want to do that because I love you, and I couldn't bear to hurt you like that. So that's why I didn't tell you even though I wanted to. I wanted to hit Sandy the moment I met her for hurting you over, and over again!"

Soda just sat there in shock.

Nichole stood up and started to work her crutches out of the room, everything had come out in a rush she didn't realise that she had just told Soda that she loved him. All that Nichole knew was that she got her point across as to why she didn't tell Soda about what Sandy was going to do.

Soda stood up grabbed Nichole, spun her around, making her drop her crutches, and hugged her tightly.

Nichole was confused. Soda was supposed to be mad at her, not hugging her like this. She would have pulled away, but right now Soda was the only thing that was holding her up, and if she tried to pull away, Nichole would fall, and would not be able to get up on her own.

"Um what's the hug for?" Nichole asked.

"I love you too." Soda said.

Nichole's face went bright red. "W…what?"

"You said that you love me, so I'm telling you back. Is that okay?" Soda asked.

"When did I tell you that?" Nichole asked.

"You just told me a minuet ago," Soda said, "don't you remember?"

"No, because I was rambling, and when I did that everything comes out so fast that I don't know everything that I said, but I always know that I get my point across." Nichole said.

"So you didn't mean it?" Soda asked, and there was hurt in his voice.

"No, no that's not it! I did mean it when I said that I love you. I just didn't think that I would ever tell you that." Nichole said.

"Why?" Soda asked.

"Because I didn't think that you could love me back." Nichole said.

"What makes you think that?" Soda asked.

"Because you're in love with Sandy, and I didn't want to stand in the way of that if she did answer your letter, and came back someday." Nichole said.

"I see, but I'll get over Sandy someday. And I can start by going out with you." Soda said, and Nichole could hear that he was smiling.

Nichole's face started to feel a little hotter. "Um…okay."

"You don't sound too happy." Soda said.

"That's maybe because this is all happening so fast, and you pretty much told me that we're going out. You didn't ask me." Nichole said.

"Oh…right sorry." Soda said. He was about to just let go of Nichole, but she grabbed onto his arms before he could.

"What?" Soda asked.

"If you let go of me. I'll fall to the floor because when you hugged me my crutches fell." Nichole said.

"Sorry…again." Soda said.

He picked up Nichole, and gently sat her down on the bed, and sat next to her.

"Wow, your face is really red right now." Soda said smiling.

Nichole touched her cheeks in an effort to hide them. That just made Soda smile even more. He kissed her forehead.

"So, um what now?" Nichole asked.

"I was thinks about asking you to be my girl. So do you want to be?" Soda asked.

Nichole could only nod, because she couldn't find her voice.

Soda smiled, and kissed Nichole softly.

Five years latter…

It was Ponyboy's nineteenth birthday, and Nichole was baking a cake, which she found difficult with Soda hovering around to make sure that she didn't hurt herself.

"Would you calm down, Soda. I've done this a thousand times, and I have never gotten hurt." Nichole said.

"True, but you haven't with that in the way." Soda said pointing at Nichole's stomach.

Nichole looked down at her own rounding belly. She had only been pregnant for four months and Soda was already worrying about her hurting herself or the baby she carried.

"You worry too much." Nichole said, and gave Soda a kiss.

"No I don't." Soda said.

"Yes you do. You always do." Nichole said, and put the cake in the oven. She was carful when she did so though.

"Name one time." Soda said.

Nichole gave him a look, while crossing her arms. Her wedding band shining in the light coming in through the window. The look said. "Don't argue with your wife."

"You have that look down and we haven't even been married for a year yet." Soda said with a smile.

"I've had a lot of practice." Nichole said.

There was a big crash from the living room and Nichole and Soda hurried out of the kitchen to see what was going on.

"What happened?" Nichole demanded.

Johnny was on the floor rubbing his head with the step latter lying next to him. Johnny, Dally, and Two-bit were decorating the living room for a surprise for Ponyboy before he came home from work at the newspaper office. The room looked nice so far, with the homemade streamers, but the Happy Birthday banner looked like it was being put up when Johnny fell.

"I lost my balance on the step latter. I'm fine though." Johnny said seeing the worried look on Nichole's face.

Nichole ignored that Johnny said that he was fine, and checked his head anyway. She sighed in relief when she didn't see blood or a bruise forming.

"Just be more careful." Nichole said.

"I will." Johnny said.

Over the years Johnny had become Nichole's best friend, and was also like a brother to her. So of course Nichole was going to worry about Johnny. Soda never seemed to mid this at all either.

Dally and Two-bit put up the banner without using the step ladder, so Johnny didn't have to do it and get hurt again.

"Are you sure you should be running around?" Johnny asked Nichole concerned.

Nichole put a hand over her eyes. "Not you too."

"What?" Johnny asked.

"Both you and Soda are worrying too much. I'm fine, nothing bad is going to happen. I'm not going to lose the baby by running. The doctor said so." Nichole explained.

Johnny shrugged. "Okay then. I was just checking."

"You can't blame us for worrying." Dally said.

"Yeah," Two-bit agreed, "We don't want the new member of the gang to get hurt before he can actually join."

"What makes you think it's a boy?" Nichole asked.

Two-bit shrugged. "It's easier to teach a boy to spit, and curse and how to be a smart ass."

Nichole's eyes narrowed, and so did Soda's.

"You're not teaching the baby any of those things." Nichole said.

"And why not?" Two-bit asked.

"Because it's the baby belongs to Soda, and me and we decide what to teach it. And you shouldn't teach a baby stuff like that till he or she is at least…" Nichole trailed off not too sure what age would be a good one during this time period.

"Thirteen." Soda said. Nichole nodded.

"You guys are no fun." Two-bit said.

"If you want to teach a kid how to do those things right away. Go have your own." Nichole said.

Two-bit shook his head. "Naah. Too much work, and then I'll have to get a job too."

The timer dinged then, and Nichole went to take the cake out of the oven. Soda was right behind her. While that was happening Darry came in.

He told the guys that they were doing a great job, and Nichole could hear that from the kitchen.

"You know. He's only joking right?" Soda asked.

"Yes, but it is hard to tell with him sometimes." Nichole said taking the cake out of the oven, and then getting to work on making the icing for when it cooled.

[…]

Ponyboy came home when the sun was going down, and they all had a nice birthday party. It was a nice day for having a party, and Nichole couldn't help thinking that everything is going to be just fine for the rest of her life with the gang.

The End

Well everyone this is it. This is the end of Nichole's story with The Outsiders gang that we all know and love. I hope that you all have enjoyed this journey of this fanfiction as much as I have. Thank you to all that have read and reviewed this story.

Now for explaining how I got the last nine chapters up so fast. I have been writing the story really fast from the beginning. I actually had the first five or so chapter's already written before I had even put up my first chapter. This was because the first story I wrote was a flop since it wasn't planned out. It turned really dark, and I wasn't proud of it at all. So I took it down. Then this story was started and I wrote the first five or so chapters within two days with pretty much no social life at all. By the time the fifth chapter was done it was good enough, and I was ready to put the first one up, and had everyone wait for a week and sometimes even longer for the next one…I'm sorry, but also not sorry. So you can yell at me all you want.

I also have a question for you guys. Are you glad that Nichole ended up with Soda in the end? Or did you want her to end up with someone else? Please let me know on your thoughts about this matter because I'm really curious.

I have said this before at the beginning of the story, but it doesn't hurt to say it again. I do not own The Outsiders this novel has and always will be owned by S.E. Hinton.

Again, thank you all for reading my story, and hopefully I'll write another one in the future. That's all for now.

Happy reading!