PonyBoy was a very emotional kid at heart. he never let it show around his friends, though. the only person that knew who he really was is Dolly. they understood him, listened to him, and comforted him better than anyone else. the pair had been dating for a couple of years now, and they were inseparable. Dolly was very close with pony's gang, and they were protected and loved by them.

Dolly knew how their boyfriend's family life was. his parents had died, leaving him in the care of his older brother, darry. darry also took care of their other brother, Sodapop curtis. PonyBoy always felt as if Darry didnt love him, or like he just hated pony in general. but Dolly..knew Darry had a damn good heart.

one night, Dolly..was out having a smoke in the vacant lot, alone. all of a sudden, they saw a silhouette of a boy running towards them. immediately, they recognized the figure as Ponyboy. they snuffed out their cigarette, standing up immediately. ponyboy came into sight, tears running down his face and a red mark glowing on his cheek. he was panting and shaking, obviously extremely worked up. Dolly.. wrapped their arms around him quickly, enveloping him in a warm embrace. ponyboy returned the gesture, as well as burying his head in their shoulder,

after a moment, he finally managed to stammer out, "he hit me. Darry hit me."