'That house isn't your home.' Ponyboy x Johnny

Chapter 9, The lot

Johnny was running down the road. He knew he was late, so there wasn't really a point in running, though he wasn't thinking straight.  

He came up to his house, not home, he could hear the yelling from inside, it wasn't about him. When the yelling's about him, there isn't any sound of someone shoving the other, and there's no tears. This argument, or shouting match, was purely to do with his parents, his father was probably caught with the neighbours or something. 

He didn't want to go in through the front door, the back door was nailed shut, and his bedroom was on the second floor. So.. back to the Curtis'? Nope, he couldn't do that, they had already been nice enough to him. 

Climbing up to the window it is. 

He walked around to the back of the house, trying his best to stay silent.

Johnny looked upwards, looking at his bedroom window. He was a 5'4 and a 1/2 sixteen year old, he had absolutely no muscle, so the chance of him being able to climb up was very slim. Guess he would be staying out tonight. 

[The Curtis' household]

"We're leaving! Make sure to be in bed by twelve." Mr. Curtis called, as him and Maryanne left the house, tonight was date night! Maryanne had made dinner with the help of Darrel, but lets be honest, as soon as Steve comes over, him and Soda were going to buy pizza. 

"Darrel, can I go down to the lot with Soda and Steve?" Pony asked, he knew Soda and Steve were going, and he also knew that he wasn't meant to know about them going. 

"I don't know bout that Pone, you have school tomorrow." Darrel replied, he had a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Oh come on Darr, nearly everyone is going tonight, even Dallas decided to go, he never goes two nights in a row!" Pony begged. 

"First of all, you and Dally piratically hate each other, and secondly, you're meant to be home by twelve." Darrel replied. 

Pony gave him the best puppy eyes, which he was trying to mirror Johnny, as his eyes always looked like puppy eyes, he thought it was cute- what was he thinking?

 "If, and only if, Soda agrees to keep an eye on you, then you can go." Darrel said, Soda's head shot up, he went from shocked, to sad, to surprised, back to shocked and finally to happy. Wow Soda's just like my school days! Haha I'm still in my school days.. this isn't an autobiography, what am I doing? 

Pony looked at Soda, hope filled his eyes, Soda looked back, smiled, and simply nodded his head. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Pony smiled, while running up the stairs to grab his coat, which he now remembered Johnny still has it.

"Pony hurry up, Steve's here." Soda called. Pony could hear the dumb jokes coming out of Steve's mouth, sad part is he could also hear Soda's laughing. 

"Coming!" 

Pony came down the stairs, grabbed his shoes and the three of them were off, Darrel didn't go as he had an exam tomorrow, and didn't want to be hung over. 

"See ya Darry!" Pony called, while slamming the door behind him, much to his brother's annoyance. 

Pony quickly caught up with Steve and Soda, Steve carrying  a crate of bottles in his hands. 

"Aw shit Two got here before us." Steve muttered, Pony remembered their little bet, they always raced to see who would get to the lot first, Soda opted out as he wanted to see if he could delay Steve from getting there first. He can.

"Two!" Soda called. 

As they got closer, Pony realised who was there. Two-Bit, Dallas, and someone else. There was a small figure sitting beside Two, they couldn't be older than twelve- oh. Pony knew who that was. 

He rushed over, leaving Soda and Steve in pure confusion. 

"Johnny?" He called, as he began to walk over, the sense of panic going through him like water. [idk how to describe it..] 

"Hey Pony." Johnny replied, yup, it was Johnny. 

"What are ya doing here, thought you said you were heading home?" Pony asked, Johnny visibly tensed up when Pony mentioned 'home'. 

"Oh... my folks were going at it again, couldn't get back in the house."  Johnny replied, "So I decided to come here, then Kieth and .. Dallas came." Johnny continued, he seemed slightly confused mentioning the name 'Dallas', which Pony couldn't blame him for, the guy was really named after a place in Texas. The only one with a 'normal' name was Steve, though his weirdness made him just like everyone else. 

"You could've come around to our house." Pony replied. 

"I didn't want to be a bother." Johnny said, his voice was low. He looked cold and sad, like a puppy who had been kicked out one too many times. [Line inspired if not from S.E Hilton]

"Come on, I doubt you want to be here with all of these." Pony smiled, making Johnny laugh slightly. 

Pony put his hand out, to which Johnny accepted. 

"See ya Johnnycakes." Dallas called, as the two left the lot. 

"Does my baby brother have a boyfriend?" Soda muttered to Steve, the two were still standing on the sidewalk, still confused.

"Fuck.. I owe Two so much money.." Steve mumbled. 

notes,

This is rushed, just time skip after time skip. I swear chapters will be more of like one time zone in the future  😭 wow I just used an emoji on laptop, what has become of me..? 

ANYWAY hope you enjoyed reading the chapter and reading my breakdown! Once again, there may be some mistakes, so ignore them :]

Hope you have a good day or night, or different time..