Sunsets and Switchblades

Dairy Queen (Part 7)

Pony and Curly go out for lunch!

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Curly drove Pony to the local Dairy Queen instead of Sonic where they could eat all the generic burgers and fries they ever wanted. Ponyboy hadn't noticed where they were because, once again, his head was in the clouds. Curly turned the car off and looked at Pony softly with a small smile on his face. Curly had no idea that just looking at someone could make them feel so many emotions; honestly, it left him a little breathless, but it wasn't something he ever wanted to get rid of.

"Hey, doll, we're here," Curly nudged Pony on the elbow, making Ponyboy jump slightly.

"Oh, sorry, I got distracted, I gues-" It was then that Ponyboy saw where Curly had taken them. A Dairy Queen, of all places. The last time Ponyboy went to a Dairy Queen, it was when he and Johnny were on the run after the murder of a Soc and they had to sleep in some filthy, abandoned church and eat nothing but stupid bologna and where Johnny had to dye Pony's beautiful hair a fake blond. To say Ponyboy never wanted to eat Dairy Queen or bologna ever again was an understatement.

"Pones, we gonna get out anytime soon, or...?" Curly looked at Pony expectantly, waiting for a response.

Pony blinked and all images of the church, dirt roads, fountains of blood, and fire were swept away. He took a shaky breath and smiled a short smile at Curly, his boyfriend. Who has here with him, not in a church.

"Y-yeah, of course. I haven't had breakfast this morning, so I'm pretty hungry." He smiled a little too large and Curly narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. Everybody and their mama knew Ponyboy had no sense of self-preservation and was always hurting himself in some way or another.

"Alright, babe, let's get some grub before your classes start again!" Curly hopped out of the driver's seat and raced to the other side of the stolen car, where he opened the door for his honey. Pony got out a tad robotically and didn't really blush at Curly's antics. Small alarm bells were going off in Curly's mind because, after years of knowing each other and a couple of days of being together, Curly knew Ponyboy was never, ever this quiet.

Going in seemed easy enough, the smell of cooking burgers and salty fries made Curly's stomach rumble, while the smell of charred meat and too much grease made Pony feel a little queasy and uncomfortable. But looking over at Curly, Pony saw his boyfriend looking at the menu options hungrily and saw the small glances Curly threw at him. Catching Pony's eyes, Curly threw in a wink for good measure, making Ponyboy blush because damn. Curly had no right being so handsome. Fucking bastard.

"What ya gonna get? I think I want a whole meal 'cause I could eat a horse and a half right about now!" Curly grinned and Pony really wanted to grin back because this was supposed to be a fun, cute lunch date that couples normally go on and not a freaking place of anxiety and terror, even though that seems to be the only thoughts popping into Pony's head at the moment.

"Um," Ponyboy floundered a bit, looking up at the menu, but not really understanding any of the words, "Uh, how about you choose for me? Whatever you choose is fine, I'll go ahead and find a table." Pony squeezed Curly's hand once and went off quickly to a booth by the window. Looking at the sky always made Pony feel better, so the window view was the only thing keeping him afloat. It's been a couple of months since that night and that week. But, Ponyboy still had some scars that haven't seemed to heal yet. When Johnny did what he did, Ponyboy honestly thought that that was it. He and Johnny would be on the run forever, and even though he was terrified, he would have done it for Johnny. Johnny saved his life and would never even hurt a fly if he didn't have to. Them being stuck together for about a week pushed their friendship to its limits at some points, but after it all, they became closer because of it. And the fire... both Ponyboy and Johnny felt invincible saving those children, but the aftermath- Pony wasn't as bad as Johnny, but he can still remember his best friend laying on the hospital bed saying all these things about how he was too young to die and to promise to take care of the gang when he goes. Johnny suffered from some severe smoke inhalation and some pretty bad burns to the point no one truly knew if his lungs could handle it. But, after a miracle, Johnny pulled through. Other than not being able to run as long as he used to and a couple of deep scars on his back and arms, Johnny was okay. Ponyboy almost passed out from the relief he felt overseeing Johnny okay. Everything turned out okay after that, nothing threatened to tear the Curtis Gang apart and Johnny was convicted innocent after it was proven to be self-defense.

But, some things you can't just erase, especially the really tiny details like Dairy Queen and bologna. Ponyboy's nightmares seemed to run on any fuel it could find, and if that fuel turned out to be about the trauma he went through months ago, or about his parents, or about being separated from Soda and Darry, or even that one scary movie Ponyboy accidentally watched, then so be it.

"-aby? Pony? Are you alright?"

Ponyboy blinked and the bustling noise of the diner came rushing back into his ears. Curly was sitting across from him with two brown bags that had grease spots on them, wearing a worried look, even though he tried to hide it.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good; sorry, got distracted... again..." Pony rubbed the back of his hand and chuckled weakly.

Curly didn't say anything for a moment, only staring at Ponyboy with his dark eyes. But, the moment passed soon after. Curly grinned and held up the grease bags.

"Lunchtime, baby!"

"Oh?" Pony poked his bag curiously, "What did you get me, Curls?"

Please don't be anything gross.

"Hm?" Curly looked up from where he was already tearing into his double cheeseburger and fries, ketchup dripping off the bun, and generally making a huge mess, "Oh, yeah, you didn't look that hungry, so I just you some chicken nuggets and fries. And, of course, the Pepsi I got you." Curly smiled and went back to devouring his food.

Pony looked at Curly with a mixture of disgust and tenderness. Curly didn't know about everything that happened or why Pony didn't seem that hungry, but he still tried to do something nice for Ponyboy. Ponyboy took a breath to steady himself and make those annoying thoughts of anxiety float away. Ponyboy opened his food and began nibbling on the fries his boyfriend got for him.

Curly was happily munching on his second burger, trying not to seem like a complete animal while he ate, but jeez this burger was everything he ever wanted. Completely engrossed in his food, it took a few nudges before Curly felt some light kicks on his feet. He glanced up quickly and saw Ponyboy nibbling on a fry and looking out of the window, trying not to smile. Curly did, though; he smiled like there was nothing better to do. He tapped Pony's foot back. Pony glanced over and with a small grin, quickly flicked a handful of fries at Curly's face. Curly blinked in surprise as a fry slowly went down his forehead, sticky from a bit of ketchup.

"Why you little-" Curly playfully glared at Pony, but before he could retaliate, Ponyboy leaned over the table, stole more fries off of Curly's plate, and giggled like some type of hooligan.

"We're gonna be late for class, Charles," Pony smirked and quickly hopped out the door, all while proudly looking like the cat that caught the canary. But before he left, Ponyboy just had to add a wink, for good measure.