Chapter Text
Ponyboy Curtis had never thought about liking another boy, as well as someone in his gang. That wasn’t something that he would even consider. He didn’t really like anyone for that matter. Sure, he thought a few of the girls at his school were pretty, but no one else appealed to him in that way.
Pony had been at the lot with Johnny. They were laying next to each other, in the grass, talking for at least an hour or two.. They had always done this, for the longest time. When Pony was tired of Darry nagging at him, and when Johnny was tired of his abusive parents, they would just come to the lot, lay in the grass, and look at the stars. They would talk, sometimes even for hours, about all their struggles and problems, what they did that day and what they were going to do tomorrow, about girls, about food, the Socs, rumbles… It was a typical occurrence.
But lately, Johnny was unusually quiet. Johnny was always quiet, after he got beaten up pretty badly by the Socs, but now his silence seemed… different. Ponyboy had tried not to stress about it. He hadn’t done anything to upset Johnny. He tried so hard to remember if he had done something bad or offended Johnny, but nothing came to mind.
“So, Johnnycake. Aside from everything... how have ya been?” Pony asked Johnny, looking up at the stars before back at him. Johnny was looking away from him. Pony stared at Johnny for a moment, desperate to see if he would look at him back like he would a few weeks ago, before Johnny got… weird.
“I’ve been good.” Johnny said softly. He still didn’t look at Pony. Ponyboy felt an ache in his chest. He loved Johnny like he was his own brother, and he felt like he did something that somehow hurt him. He just wished that he would tell him.
It stayed silent. Ponyboy sat up and huffed, finally wanting to confront Johnny. He felt like he wasn’t telling him something. It pained him. He knew Johnny told him everything, from his abusive parents to his fear of the Socs.
“Johnny, you’ve been acting weird for the past week. Did I upset you? I just…” Pony began, staring at his hands. He swallowed, feeling nervous, as if Johnny was just some stranger in front of him. “You’ve been so weird.”
Johnny looked up at Ponyboy, a bit startled. Pony had never… confronted Johnny like that before. Johnny flushed. He would probably never tell Pony the reason why he was acting like this, and he knew that he was being weird. But he didn’t expect Pony to ask him about it.
“Um.” Johnny began, trying to find a reasonable excuse on why he was being so distant. A weird ache settled in his chest. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Pony glanced at Johnny, his eyes desperate. “I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“No. No, you didn’t, Pony.”
Ponyboy knew there was something Johnny wasn’t telling him, but he didn’t bother to pry any further. Johnny really wasn’t one to lie. So Pony didn’t bother to push him any farther. He didn’t want to risk an argument happening.
It started getting later and later. Pony didn’t realize that he was falling asleep when he heard Johnny yawning. He shifted to his side, looking at his friend next to him. Even Johnny looked tired. He was staring at the grass, his eyelashes casting soft shadows against his cheeks. He looked at Pony, making awkward eye contact with him, before looking away. His cheeks flushed. Pony got confused, but he just shrugged it off.
Pony rubbed his eyes and yawned. “I’m getting kinda tired, Johnny. I should head back. I don’t want Darry making a big deal about how I was gone for so long.”
Johnny nodded, laying back down in the grass. “Alright. I'll probably stay back here.” Pony nodded. He turned away from Johnny, hesitating for a moment. He wanted to stay back with him and maybe have another conversation, or get him to say what was wrong. But he also wasn’t in the mood for Darry to yell at him. It was already late enough.
Pony was too lost in his thoughts, thinking about how mad Darry would be, about why Johnny was acting so weird… Before he knew it, he was at his house. He yawned, walking inside, bracing himself for Darry’s reaction. At first, it was dead silent except for the sound of Soda’s familiar snoring, since he was sleeping on the couch. Pony let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. Finally, he was safe from Darry’s lecturing… He turned and-
“Where have you been?” Darry had been standing next to Pony this whole time. His voice was a bit toned down since Soda was sleeping on the couch. “You were out so late. What did I say about staying out too late? You’re lucky you got home at this time, because if you did, I would’ve called the cops, and-”
Pony tuned out Darry’s complaining, sighing to himself.
“Seriously, Pony. You’re always disappointing me.”
Pony paused. Normally, that would’ve been something that he just got mad at, or brushed off. But he was tired of hearing Darry constantly be on his ass and complain about every little thing that he does. Pony could blink and Darry would dissect his every mannerism and what was wrong with him.
“And you-”
“Shut up! God, Darry, just shut up!” Pony yelled. Darry paused. It seemed like the whole room went silent. Pony didn’t know why, but he could feel hot tears welling in his eyes. Soda’s snoring paused, and he was sitting up on the couch, rubbing his face.
Darry’s brows furrowed. “Pony-”
“No! Stop! I don’t know why you’ve become so strict ever since mom and dad died! You’re trying so hard to be like dad, but… but you’ll never ever take his spot.” Pony continued, seething with anger. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Darry was standing there wordlessly. He didn’t know what to say. Pony continued. “You’ll never ever be like dad. You just try to be his replacement.”
“Pony, you don’t mean that-”
“I do! I mean every word!” Pony’s breathing was shaky. He glanced over at Soda for a moment, his expression faltering. He didn’t want Soda to see him acting like this, but his sudden anger got the best of him. “I- I hate you. And I hate this stupid house, and-”
Suddenly, Darry struck Ponyboy across the face. His cheek stung for a moment, numb with the sudden pain from Darry’s slap. It sent him stumbling back towards the door, and more tears pricked at Ponyboy’s eyes. He reached a shaking hand up to his cheek, the spot burning like hot coal every time he touched it. He sat there in silence for a moment, before looking up at Darry.
Darry was staring down at Pony, his expression guilty and his eyes wide. “Pony, I-”
Pony stood up abruptly, pushing open the door. He nearly tripped on the steps. He ran. He didn’t know where he was running to, but he ran. Tears and sweat dripped down his face, and the pain from the slap was settling in on his cheek. He just couldn’t take it from Darry, always being so goddamn petty and nitpicking at everything Pony did. Darry never did that to Soda…
Eventually, Pony got tired and started walking, a stabbing pain in his side from running too hard. He looked up at the stars. Even in the sudden moment, he really did appreciate the sky. It was a velvety darkness, a blanket that seemed to cover the earth, with thousands of silver stars scattered across that hollow darkness of the night. God, it really was pretty, Pony thought. He kept walking, his head up, until he accidentally tripped on a rock. He sighed. He should really watch where he is going, or else he might trip and fall, and there would be a new scratch to decorate the burning red mark from Darry’s slap. Pony tensed just by thinking about it.
As he walked, he realized he was rather close to the lot. He heard voices, and just assumed that was him being tired. It was late out… but as he got closer, he found that it wasn’t his imagination. There were about two or three Soc’s gathered in the lot, and some greaser… wait.
Johnny.
Johnny held his switchblade, his expression scared but threatening at the same time. He had a few cuts on his cheek and one on his lip, and maybe one on his forehead, but his black hair and the darkness of the night didn’t help with being certain of that. He was shaking, trembling, stalking around the Socs like a predator and its prey. Except Johnny was the prey. He looked too innocent.
One of the Socs scoffed. “You’re not gonna do anything with that blade, you’re just bluffing. Your friend, Dally, he does the same thing.” His expression was calm, eyeing Johnny up and down. He had this stupid smirk on his face as if he liked seeing Johnny in pain and vulnerable. And he probably did.
“I-I’ll use it.” Johnny stammered, his voice shaking. He looked around for someone, an escape, possibly Dally, until he saw Pony, and his eyes had a glimmer of hope. The Soc seemed to notice and turned around. He chuckled.
“Oh, so there’s two now?” The Soc said to Ponyboy. Pony eyed them as well, keeping a good distance between the Soc and him as he walked up to Johnny’s side. If they were gonna hurt him again, at least he would be there to defend him.
“Just go. You’re wasting your time.” Pony warned, his voice low. He didn’t have any weapons on him, but hopefully he could just use his fists. If he was strong enough…
The Soc opened his mouth, about to say something, but a Corvair slowly pulled up next to them. The headlights shone into the blackness of the asphalt, and Pony winced. The lights were bright. The window rolled down, and it was… Cherry? Pony thought for a moment before remembering her. He was too tired.
“Bob. Randy. Get in the car. We’re leaving.” Cherry said firmly, her tone cool. Bob chuckled lowly.
“Gosh, Cherry, do you know these greasers or something?” He said, turning to the car. His movements were sluggish, and his talking was slurred, and that’s when Pony realized he was most definitely drunk.
“That doesn’t matter. Just leave them alone, they aren’t worth it.” Cherry said the last part a bit hesitantly, glancing at Pony with this look in her eyes, before looking back at her drunk, bum excuse of a boyfriend.
Bob scoffed again, turning to look at Johnny and Pony, before making his way to Cherry’s car. Randy and the other Soc followed. When everyone was in the car, Cherry didn’t leave right away. She stared at Ponyboy and Johnny for a long time. She looked like she wanted to get out and help them, before Bob yelled something at her, and she drove away quickly.
Pony huffed, watching the car go. “Wow. That was a lot, wasn’t it, Johnnycake-”
Johnny collapsed against him. Pony’s eyes widened and he acted quickly, grabbing Johnny from under his arms and into a more secluded, hidden spot of shrubs, bushes, and trees. He didn’t want any Socs to find Johnny like this.
Once they were hidden, Pony pulled Johnny into his lap. He was still shaking. “Johnny, are you okay? They didn’t hurt you too badly, did they?”
Johnny’s eyes were closed, and his brows furrowed. He groaned and attempted to sit up, and he did, with the help of Pony and leaning against his shoulder. “No… I-I’m sorry… I don’t know why my legs just gave out like that.” He said softly, his voice still shaking a tiny bit. “They just beat me up and threatened me with a switchblade…”
Pony listened to Johnny. He felt guilty. Maybe if he had stayed behind for a little bit longer, then Johnny wouldn’t have gotten beat up so badly by the Socs.
They stayed silent for a bit. Johnny was avoiding eye contact with Pony, like usual. Pony yawned. He was still exhausted from it being late, and running here, and the thought of Darry made him want to curl up and fall asleep. But Johnny was still next to him.
Johnny laid down, feeling tired. Pony wanted to make conversation with him, but it definitely wouldn’t fit the moment ever since the Socs beat him up. Plus, Pony was still upset with Darry and the slap. He leaned against a tree, thinking. He glanced down at Johnny, and he noticed that he was blushing. He wanted to point it out and ask why. Was he sick? Was he embarrassed from being beat up by the Socs? Was it hot out? Pony didn’t know, but there was no way in hell that he was saying anything about it.
He still sat against that tree, thinking, until his eyes fluttered closed. He was dozing off until he felt Johnny’s head shift against him. He looked down, and he found his best friend asleep against his leg, his breathing soft in the silence of the night. Pony’s eyes softened when he saw Johnny like that. He leaned his head back against the tree, looking at the night sky. He wondered what he was going to do tomorrow, what he was going to tell Darry, how much trouble he would be in. But none of that mattered right now. Nothing really mattered in that moment as Pony drifted off to sleep.