Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story that is recognizable. The only thing I own is Sarah; she's of my own creation. The rest of the people and places belong to S.E. Hinton and I'm not trying to steal them.

Chapter One: The Welcome Back

Cool, crisp air hit her face as she stepped off of the big Greyhound bus. The bus station was in the center of town, and a big wave of memories overcame her as she watched the bus pull away from the curb. She crossed her arms and started walking towards the usual hangout, an empty parking lot on the Ribbon.

Her name was Sarah Thomas and she had grown up in this town. She had left about five months ago, leaving her drunken unlce and all of her friends, to go to Hollywood and try her hand at acting. Things hadn't gone as planned and that's why she was back.

Sarah had pale skin, dark, lucious brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a skirt and fancy blouse, something she wasn't accustomed to wearing, but she was anyways because that's just how Hollywood was. At the first moment she got to change her clothes, she would.

She passed the old movie house and smiled, remembering some very fun times that had gone on inside there. Soon she could hear the racket coming from the lot and she started walking faster, resituating the small bag on her shoulder.

The lot was slightly back from the road and was filled with cars and people at the moment. There was a mix of both Socs and greasers even though this was neutral territory, or so it had been when she'd left. She got closer, her heart jumping into her throat and her stomach clentching as she started looking for her friends. She got some whistles from the Socs, to which she just rolled her eyes. She wasn't into Socs; they were stuck up losers who took everything for granted. No, her friends were the greasers. They might be rough on the outside but if you were ever in trouble, they'd be there.

Finally she saw them. Or some of them at least. They were all around Two-Bit's piece of crap car. She saw Two-Bit, Steve and Sodapop. Where were the others?

"Sarah?" a voice said behind her.

She turned around and found herself looking at Ponyboy Curtis. "Wow, Pony, you sure've changed," she said with a smile, before giving him a hug.

"Wow, it's really you? You came back." Pony looked her up and down. "And you talk about changin? What's with the clothes?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Hollywood, Pony. I had to dress like this over there."

"California. Right. That's where you went."

She nodded. "Yep. So how've you been, Pony?"

He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. Why don't you go and say hi to everyone?"

She smiled and walked over with him to Two-Bit's car. Steve looked up when they came over, not seeing her at first. "Hey, Pony. What'd you say ab--Sarah! When'd you get here?"

Before she could answer, she found herself being hugged and lifted off the ground by him. "I just got here," she said once her feet were on the ground. Then she turned to the others. "Hey Sodapop. How've you been?" She gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Alright. What about you?" he asked, a smile on his face.

She smiled. "I'm good now." She then turned to Two-Bit who hadn't been paying attention to the others because he was talking to some other greaser. "Hey, Two-Bit!" she yelled, to get his attention. He turned around with an annoyed expression on his face that turned to a smile as soon as he saw who it was.

"Well I'll be damned," he said with a smile. "When the hell'd you get here?"

"Just now," she replied.

"Well come 'ere." He held his arms out and she hugged him. "I bet you want to see Darry huh? Here, hold this." He handed her a brown bag with a beer inside. As he walked off to get Darry, she took a sip of the beer.

"So how's Cali? Is it really the Golden State, or do people just say that?" Sodapop asked, leaning up against the car next to her.

Sarah shrugged. "I dunno. It seems like its ruled by Socs...which it basically is. I didn't get too far there and that's why I came back." She looked over to where Two-Bit had gone. He was trying to get Darry away from Tim Shepard, and with him being so drunk, it wasn't really working all that well. Finally, Darry had had enough and followed Two-Bit over to where the others were. And like Two-Bit, Darry's annoyed and slightly angry expression turned to a big smile when he saw Sarah. Her smile matched his and she rushed over to him, beer still in hand. He picked her up off the ground and swung around once before putting her down on the ground.

"Sarah! What're you doin back here?" he asked, not believing that she was actually back.

"I missed you guys! And Hollywood is overrated," she answered as Two-Bit wrenched his beer out of her hand.

He smiled. "Well it's real good to see you. Glad you came back. But uh, I have to get back to Tim."

She nodded. "Yeah, no need to keep Tim waiting." She smiled at him before he walked back over to the other greaser.

Steve, Sodapop, Two-Bit and Ponyboy all asked her questions about Hollywood and the overly asked question about what the hell she was wearing. After a while, Sarah pulled Ponyboy aside. "Hey, Pony. Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Sarah. What about?"

"Um...come here." She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the throngs of young people to the less crowded area in the back. "Pony, where're Dallas and Johnny?"

Ponyboy stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down.

"Pony?"

"They're dead," he said, looking up and into her eyes. The words didn't register right away. After a few moments she blinked.

"Dead?" she said softly. He nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "W--when?"

He took a deep breath. "About two weeks after you left."

"Both of them?"

"Yeah. The same night."

She took a shaky breath and didn't speak for a while. "What happened, Pony?"

"It started when Johnny killed a Soc," he started, his voice a little shaky as he had to relive those times. "He was tryin to drown me and Johnny stabbed him. We found Dally and he told us to go to this old abandoned church in Windrixville. A few days later, Dallas showed up and we went to town."

"Didn't they have you and Johnny in the paper?" Sarah interrupted.

Ponyboy nodded. "Yeah. The first day we were at the church, Johnny dyed my hair blond." She laughed softly and he could see tears in her eyes.

"That musta been some tuff hair huh?"

He smiled. "Yeah. But uh...we went back to the church after we were in town and the thing was on fire. Johnny and I figured that it must have been because we dropped our cigarettes everywhere. There were some kids inside and I went runnin in and Johnny came too. I got out okay, but Johnny got burned real bad and broke his back. Dally went in to get him and he got his arm burned. We all went to the hospital and everyone was sayin that Johnny wasn't doin so good." He took a deep breath. "Then there was this rumble because of Johnny killin that Soc. Us greasers won and I got beat up pretty bad. Dallas came too, even though he was supposed to still be at the hospital. He pulled me away from everyone and took me to the hospital so we could see Johnny. Dally told him that we won the rumble and then he just...died. Just like that." Ponyboy paused, the memory of being there when it happened still fresh in his mind.

"What happened to Dallas?" Sarah asked, her voice quiet.

"He snapped when Johnny died. He robbed a store and then called Darry to come to the park and hide him. By the time we all got there, the cops had surrounded him. He had a heater, but it wasn't loaded. But he was waving it everywhere and the cops shot him. But its like he wanted it, Sarah. Like Dally couldn't stand livin without Johnny."

A few tears fell down Sarah's cheeks; Pony knew why Dallas's death was so hard for her to take. "Hey, you gotta cigarette, Pony?"

"Yeah." He handed her a cigarette and lit it for her. "You okay?"

She shook and nodded her head at the same time. "I need to find Two-Bit." She started walking back to the car, Pony following, not wanting her to be alone. Two-Bit was making cracks at the Socs, smoking and drinking all at the same time. "You have another beer somewhere?" Sarah asked him.

"Yeah. Back seat," he said, before going off on the Socs again.

She pushed Steve and Sodapop out of the way and opened the side door on Two-Bit's car, before leaning into the back seat and pulling out a beer. She closed the door, stepped back so that she was next to Ponyboy, and opened the beer. A second later, half of the can was gone and her throat was burning, but she didn't care.

"Sarah?" Ponyboy started. "You got a place to stay?"

"No. And I'm not goin to my uncle's," she answered.

"Well you do now." He smiled at her.

A/N: I have this whole story written out but I won't update until I get a few reviews for each chapter. So if you like it, review and I'll continue!