Just The Two of Us (Johnnyboy)

Chapter Four

Ponyboy gets up and walks into the kitchen where Steve and Soda are stationed. Steve has half of the cake on his face. Ponyboy waves and cuts a small piece of cake for Johnny, not wanting to upset his stomach. Ponyboy brings Johnny the piece of cake. Johnny gently takes it without even looking Ponyboy in the eye. Their hands briefly touch and Johnny's cheeks turn a pinkish color. Ponyboy sits down on the couch next to Johnny's chair.

"Hey, do you know if Dally's got locked up in the cooler again? Cause he'll want that chair back." He says, trying to make conversation. He likes talking to Johnny a whole lot, and isn't gonna stop just because he was starting to feel nauseous for some reason.

"He... he's right over there." Johnny says quietly, eating his cake. He isn't looking at Ponyboy at all or barely talking to him. He seems so odd lately. Something is up with Johnny.

"Oh." Ponyboy says. He can tell something is up, but he doesn't want to push him. He turns his attention to the old James Dean movie on the television. Ponyboy notices Johnny turning all his attention to the TV as he slowly inches away from Ponyboy. Usually they're cuddling and stuff but he doesn't seem to want to be anywhere near Ponyboy.

Ponyboy feels the warmth from Johnny slowly escape. He looks over and sees Johnny farther away from him than normal. Ponyboy feels sort of hurt at this. They'd usually be right up close next to each other talking about whatever, but now Johnny seems to not want anything to do with him. Why? Ponyboy pouts a little.

Johnny sits silently and he eats his cake. He keeps his distance from Ponyboy. As much as he loves spending time with him, being around him has made him feel weird. His heartbeat speeds up, his palms get all sweaty, and he gets this weird feeling in his gut. He's never felt this way before and he isn't sure why he's feeling it now. Ponyboy glances over at Johnny and pouts even more. He didn't want Johnny to be mad at him or anything. Johnny's never mad at anyone, not even his parents who beat him and scream at him all the time. But he didn't know why else Johnny would avoid him like this. Should he ask or would that make it worse?

Both Ponyboy and Johnny's thoughts get interrupted by Two-Bit gallivanting into the room. He's chugging a beer and being his loud self. He seems to be in a good happy mood gabbing on about something Ponyboy didn't quite care about.

"Hey, Two!" Pony says cheerfully.

"Hey Pony!!" Two-Bit says chuckling with a large smile on his face, per usual. "I'm back from being on the phone with my girlfriend. She's so clingy sometimes, I swear."

"Oh, that's not good. Part of the reason I don't have one." He jokes, not meaning it. He's just never taken any attention to a girl before, not really. Cherry; maybe he just liked how she was different from other Socs. She didn't hate on him for being a grease.

"Yeah Pony! You've never paid much attention to girls anyway. Like you don't even really care about them..." Two-Bit says. His voice tapering off at the end of his sentence like he's realizing something.

"Well, I've got time. I'm only 14." Ponyboy says, confused. Why did he stop talking? Two-Bit stands there looking like he's really thinking about something. He starts chuckling.

"What are you thinking about?" Ponyboy asks. That feels weird to say, as Two-Bit doesn't think. Soda has the braincell, we all know this.

"You never have really seemed too into girls." Two-Bit says, sounding like he's still thinking. Ponyboy feels his face heat up.

"Yeah, w-what's it to you?"

"Alright Ponyboy, you and Johnny sitting so close together? Whatcha gonna do next, make out on the couch in front of everybody or something? You two lovebirds gonna start kissing right now?" Two-Bit says laughing his ass off. Ponyboy can see Johnny tense up out of the corner of his eyes. His face is bright red and he's shaking slightly. Ponyboy's face heats up and his mouth gets dry. He tries to make a snarky comment, but he can't seem to make his tongue form words. He stutters out a few vowels but that's about it. Two-Bit lets out another one of his booming laughs.

"I was just sayin' is all! You're always so close and I can see the way you guys look at each other. You two are a couple of homos."

"Don't say that! That's not true and you know it. That's bad, Two-Bit!" Ponyboy says, quivering. He can hear Johnny breathing, that's how loud it is. Johnny makes a sort of strangled noise. Two-Bit puts his hands up in the air while he chuckles.

"Hey, whatever you do with your boyfriend behind closed doors is your business, Ponyboy. I don't care. I bet Johnny's lips taste real good, don't they Ponyboy? Two-Bit starts laughing another loud booming laugh.

"Stop it, Two-Bit! It's not funny this time!" Ponyboy yells, but he can't stop his brain from thinking about what he said. Do his lips taste good? No, that's wrong. They're just normal lips, Ponyboy. He feels his throat strain like he's about to cry. But he's not going to cry over Two-Bit's teasing again.

"Two-Bit, I think it's best you lay off." Darry says to Two-Bit from his designated chair. But he chooses to entirely ignore this. Two-Bit just laughs again.

"Just look at them! Ponyboy, you and Johnny sitting so close together like that... it's gotta mean something. Y'all are always like that. I think it's real funny. Hell, I bet ya wanna kiss him right now!" Two-Bit is still laughing. He's keeling over laughing and slapping his knee.

"Quit it!" Ponyboy says intensely while looking up at Two-Bit.

Ponyboy impulsively gets up and runs to his room, taking Johnny's hand. He doesn't want to hear this anymore. Being like that is wrong, right? So why is Two-Bit saying they are? And why is Ponyboy so upset about it? It's not like it's true. But he still thinks about Johnny. Does he wanna kiss him? No. No, he doesn't, and that's final.