𝓾𝓷𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱𝔂 𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 • 𝓳𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 | ✓ |

1. 𝓶𝓲𝔁𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓼

                     |1|
  "mixed signals, mixed signals, they're killing                          me"
              |MIXED SIGNALS; RUTH B|
︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
  TW: SMOKING, SUICIDAL   THOUGHTS, AND ALCOHOL MENTION
︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
"h-heya dal!" i said, trying to keep my cool.

"that's it?" he asked, sliding his large arms under my shoulders and picking me up to my feet. he then embraced me tightly and i hugged him back.

"hey, i miss ya johnnycakes." he said, slightly displaying his brooklyn accent.

"i missed you too dal." i said as we broke apart. i felt my face grow beet red and i did. my best to hide it. i got real flustered by the hug, and i was real embarrassed by it.

dally looked down at my face and chuckled. before he could get another word out, two-bit called him into the kitchen.

"see ya." he said, saluting and walking away.

"see ya! or...yea!" i said awkwardly. i face palmed directly and rushed to the bathroom.

i leaned over the sink and splashed my face with cold water, in hopes the redness would disappear.

the ice-cold water coming in contact with my face made me shiver, but i'd do water it took to remove the redness.

all of a sudden, i felt a hand rest on my shoulder and i shot up in defense just to find it was ponyboy.

"d'you get a bit flustered back there?" he said, not even trying to be quiet.

"shh!" i shushed, placing my index finger over my lips, "you want the whole household knowin'?"

"sorry," he said shrugging, "but seriously, are you good?"

i reached for a rag on the rack and wiped my damp face off. "y-yea, i'm all good. just spooked me a bit."

"i understand johnnycakes, just be yourself around him." pony said in a comforting tone.

"heh," i awkwardly laughed, "so i guess that means you truly know how i feel about dal now?"

he erupted into a roar of laughter.

"johnny, man, i been knew. it's been obvious."

i felt my joints tense up at the realization of what he meant by that.

"i-it's obvious? to like everyone?" i asked anxiously.

"no! oh, no! all those other guys are blind. the only other one that would possibly be able to see it is soda, and soda's trustworthy. i tell soda all my problems and he don't say nothin' to anyone." he reassured me.

i let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"thank god. i think i might just die if two-bit found out. he can't keep nothin' a secret!"

pony chuckled before patting his hand on my shoulder.

"alrighty, well, we should probably head on back in there." he said, making his way out of the bathroom and removing his hand from my shoulder.

i took a deep breath before speaking again. "okay, just let me use the bathroom right quick." i said, shutting the door.

i stood myself in front of the mirror, ran my fingers through my hair to the way i liked it, and then opened the door.

i walked down the short hallway to the living room, in which a cloud of smoke floated in the room.

heavy footsteps followed behind me and i instinctively froze, not knowing who it was.