Outsiders Oneshots {mostly angst]

TRUE LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING [Johnnyboy]

A/N: So this is an AU where Pony never ran out, so the events of the book never took place. Pony is 16 and Johnny is 17

"Hey, Johnny!" Ponyboy jogged over to Johnny, who was sitting in the lot smoking a cig. Pony had just gotten out of school and wanted to take him for a drive in Darry's car.

Johnny was slightly scared before turning and realizing it was Pony. He relaxed when Pony sat down next to him on the ratty old car seats.

"Okay, Dally lent me some money, and Darry's letting me use his car, so do you want to go for a drive?" Pony asked anxiously. Today was the day he was going to tell Johnny.

"Wow, that'd be great Pony," Johnny cracked a rare smile that set Pony's heart ablaze. "When're we going?"

"We can go right now!" Pony said, nervous excitement building up inside him. 'I mean unless you have something to do..."

"Nope, I'm free, let's go!" Johnny said, getting excited at the thought of driving around with Pony. He got off the makeshift sofa and stuck a hand out to help Pony get up.

They walked over to the Curtis household, talking about school, what the Socs been up to, anything and everything they could think of. They could spend hours just talking to each other.

"Darry?" Pony yelled into the seemingly empty house. He and Johnny looked around the house, poking their head in the rooms. 

He peeked into Darry's room, seeing him lying in his bed, his arm around Dally. They shot confused glances at one another as they backed out of the room.

Pony quickly wrote out a note, telling Darry that he took the car and he was with Johnny. He grabbed the keys and spun them around his finger, trying to appear cool, but they flew off his fingers and onto the couch. 

Johnny let out a quiet giggle that made Ponyboy's heart twist. He'd always had feelings for the boy and today he was going to make them know. The thought filled him with apprehension, but he was determined to go through with the plan.

"Okay, let's go," Ponyboy said quietly after he'd retrieved the keys. They walked out into the bright sunlight and walked over to Darry's old pick-up, opening the passenger door for Johnny.

"Wow, you're such a gentleman," Johnny commented quietly, even though they were outside and away from the people sleeping. "How come you don't have a girlfriend yet?"

Pony rolled his eyes, though fear filled him. "If Johnny's askin if I got a girl, he's probably straight " his mind repeated that he should quit now and just have a day with his best friend but he just sighed, his determination still very present.

"Well, I don't know, Johnny, none of the girls looking at a guy like me, y'know?" The class divide in his school was always a good excuse for feining straightness. They'd started to learn about the class divide in school when they started reading 1984 and he'd learned a lot from it.

"Well, they're just missing out," Johnny said and Ponyboy could've sworn he saw a small blush shade Johnny's cheeks. 

The comment left an awkwardness in the confined space of the car, but it was only for a beat until they started to talk about school and all that.

It took no time for them to arrive at the DX, Pony hopping out and running inside to greet Soda and get them some snacks for the road. He paid (though he was short a couple of bucks, Soda shrugged it off) and trotted back to the car, a bag of food and two drinks in hand.

He put the two Colas in the cup holders and handed Johnny the bag, filled to the brim with chips and candy. He'd saved up enough so that he could plan this excursion.