❝ soul ❞ (the outsiders / johnny cade x reader) ˚⊹♡

chapter eight :: wednesday .

chapter warnings : fighting

i blinked my eyes open, and sat up. i stayed still for a moment, and heard nothing. no movement. the house was still. i sat on my knees, peering out of the window. it was still dark outside. i glanced over at my clock, and it read that it was about two in the morning. now, usually i didn't wake up during the night unless something was wrong. i'm a relatively deep sleeper. the last time i remember waking up during the night was the night mom got sick. i pulled myself out of bed, rubbing my eyes. i was still wearing my clothes from yesterday, i must've fallen asleep in them. i tiptoed across my floor, and opened the door, cursing myself when it creaked. i checked my brothers room. he was asleep, though. so why was i up? and that's when i heard it. someone was yelling. it wasn't like those drunk, party yells, it was fear, and by the way their voice was wavering, pain. i walked back over to the window. there were socs surrounding some kid. they had a knife. i squinted my eyes to try get a better look of who it was, but i couldn't see. did it even matter? i ran down the stairs, pulling on my shoes as quick as i could, before bolting outside over to where they were. i couldn't hear what was going on, but they were saying something. i carefully walked behind a soc, that i didn't recognise, the one holding the knife. i kicked him in the back of the knee, causing him to stumble to the floor, the knife clattering. "what the fuck?-" the soc said, turning back around, i quickly punched him in the nose, and his head fell back, hitting the cobble. the rest of the socs turned to look at me as well as ponyboy. wait, ponyboy?

"y/n?" holy shit. so, it actually was ponyboy. "pony what the fuck are you doing out here?!" i said, panicked, trying to dodge under the socs drunken punches. he gave me this funny look. "okay never mind, that's not important right now- pony can you help?" he nodded quickly, getting up. a soc punched me in the nose, and i could feel blood begin spilling. he shoved me quickly to the ground, and i kicked him in the stomach. i glanced over at ponyboy, who was trying his best to fight a soc off. i pulled the soc by the ankles to the ground, and hopped up quickly. under better inspection, i quickly realised it was bob, so i gave him a harsh kick in the ribs. "you fucking bitch- y/n?!" bob's voice echoed. "funny seeing you here" i said, smirking. i got a swift punch in the jaw for that. it seemed like all of the socs attention had now turned to me. i shot ponyboy a glance and whispered to him to run. he stared for a moment, wide - eyed, and i quickly pulled him up, and pushed him along. "i'll catch up in a minute" i said quietly, as ponyboy began running off. i pulled my attention back to the socs, who were now all after me. i quickly grabbed my switchblade from my back pocket, pulling it out. i dragged it along the back of bob's achilles. he cursed under his breath before falling to the ground. he was rolling around, screaming and clutching his leg. "i'll fucking kill you y/n!- the next time i see you, you're dead." he spat out through muffled cries. the entire gang gathered around him, and i quickly ducked under their arms and ran, shoving my switchblade into my back pocket.

i ran down an alleyway, eventually stopping within the alleyway to catch my breath and regain my stamina. i heard someone behind me and quickly jumped up, grabbing my switchblade. "it's just me!-" ponyboy yelped, taking a step back. i turned around, looking at him, letting out a shaky sigh. "jesus ponyboy, i almost stabbed you-" i muttered quietly. he was clutching his arm, and there was a small slit along his flannel. "did they use that knife on you?" he nodded, wincing. i sighed gently, pulling off my hoodie. it was old, anyway. i got my switchblade, and very carefully dragged it down one of the sleeves. i pulled up his flannel sleeve, and wrapped the fabric around his arm. it began to slowly soak red. i pulled back on what was left of my hoodie, it was too cold not to. my nose was still bleeding, i think it was broken or something. "what were you even doing out?" i asked, eyeing him. "i woke up during the night, i don't know why, and i went down to get some water, and it only occurred to me that johnny was out by his lonesome, so i went outside just to talk to him for a bit." i didn't entirely believe him, but i decided not to push further, and get him home. "what'd you do for them to jump you?" he shrugged, looking down. "dunno, i was just walkin' by them. didn't even say nothing." he said quietly, and i could see a bruise begin to form on his cheek bone. "what'll we say to your brothers?" i asked, scanning around to make sure the socs were in fact gone. he shot me a look, and got all pale. "i didn't think 'bout that. please don't tell them, they'll kill me. i'll just climb up through my window and sneak by soda." he said quickly, stumbling his words. "and how will you explain in the morning when your brother goes to wake you up and you're covered in blood? and won't soda notice you coming in?" he bit his lower lip, thinking. "pony, i think you're working yourself up too much about this, will they really be focused on the fact you were out of the house rather then you getting jumped?" "i dunno, maybe. soda wouldn't, but i don't know about darry." i thought for a moment, before someone ran up behind us. i jumped, and pony yelped, and we both turned around. it was johnny. he was looking at us, scared. he was out of breath, and i noticed he was bleeding, too. "oh god, pony, i finally found you. pony you scared me to death when them socs came along and started picking on you, and i went to go get two-bit or dally or something, and i came back and you were gone." he said, his voice shaking. "y'all okay?" i nodded gently and filled him in on what'd happened. i told him we needed to think of something to justify our case, too. "okay, well, we gotta think quick. y'all can't stay out here. they're out looking for y'all, especially you, y/n. they got me too, but they didn't hurt me too bad, don't worry." he said, wiping his forehead. i realised we were standing outside ponyboy's house. we had been walking and talking for atleast 5 minutes at this point, so it made sense. we looked at each other, trying to think. the living room light was on, and someone was standing there. whoever it was had seen us, though. "it's too late. if those socs didn't kill me, darry will." he said, squeezing his eyes shut, conjuring up the courage to go in. i dragged him in lightly by his wrist, trying to reassure him it'd be okay.

"thank the lord, he's alive. ponyboy where the hell you been?- oh, y/n, johnny, y'all too?" he said, walking over. he stopped in his tracks, staring at the both of us. "what the fuck happened?" he said sternly, his eyes wide. we tried to explain ourselves, but we couldn't think of anything. ponyboy looked at us and sighed gently. "i woke up during the night, and i went downstairs to get some water, and i remembered johnny was out by himself, so i went outside to keep him company- we were just talking, and some socs came over. they started picking on me, and i was just walking away, and they just started hitting me, and then y/n came over and helped me out, and we ran off. johnny and y/n didn't do nothing, i swear. they were only helping me out" he explained quickly, glancing over to us. darry shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "so you mean to tell me that you left this house at two in the morning, to go to the lot?! ponyboy, what's wrong with you?! do you not think about anything?!" he yelled. ponyboy hung his head, and darry began pacing up and down the hall. he was mad. i glanced over at johnny, who looked sick. like he was about to start crying, even. i stood there awkwardly, trying to avoid eye contact. "god knows what could've happened if your little friend-" he gestured to me. "-hadn't been there. and you, what were you doing out at two in the morning anyway? and johnny, would you not think to tell ponyboy to head back on home the minute he stepped foot in that lot? for gods sake you two are two years older then pony." he said firmly, switching between me and johnny. darry continued pacing. he took out a cigarette, and lit it, smoking. he sighed deeply, and seemed to have calmed down. "i ain't gonna yell no more cause you're obviously hurt and have had a rough night. i'll deal with y'all tomorrow." he eventually said. "ponyboy, get upstairs now to you and soda's bedroom. i don't want to hear it from you." he said, and ponyboy stormed upstairs, his arms folded. i think he was crying. he averted his gaze back to me and johnny. "now y'all don't think you aren't in trouble, either. y'all played just as much of a part in this as ponyboy." he went to walk away, but then stopped, looking back at us. "y'all got somewhere to stay?" he asked quietly. johnny shook his head no. "well um, i can just walk home. johnny you can come too if you want" darry stopped for a moment, thinking it over. "no, i can't have y'all leaving the house. they're probably out looking for you. why don't y'all sleep here? the couch is free, and you might be able to sleep with pony and soda." i nodded gently, and me and johnny walked into the living room.

i laid down on the cold wooden floor, taking a deep breath. johnny sat on the couch. johnny's eyes were still wide, tears brimming them. "he didn't mean to yell, johnny. he's not mad, he's just looking out for us" i said quietly, staring at the ceiling. "it's not that y/n. well, that's some of it but- it's just the thoughts that there's socs out lookin' for us. they're gonna kill us, y/n, i mean it. we're dead." his voice was all wobbly, and he kept tracing over a specific scar on his cheek bone. i pulled myself off the floor and sat next to johnny. "it's okay johnny. this time we were just unprepared, but they won't get us like that next time, i promise." he sighed gently, and i cracked a joke to try lighten the mood. he smiled gently, shaking his head. we lay down, talking to each other about something i can't remember until we fell asleep.