Puttin' on the Ritz (Y!Outsiders x fem! reader

6

["PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ!"]

<———>

    Johnny's head and heart was pounding with fear. He couldn't tell if he was unlucky enough to be dying, or to be lucky to be alive. 

    You see, he had just escaped one of the worst beatings of his entire life. He didn't even do anything wrong! He was just walking down the streets just like anyone else in this damned town.

   He shakily sighed and walked to the nearest street corner. He needed a smoke. Now. 

   Johnny whipped out his lighter and took out a cigarette from out of his jacket. He couldn't calm down without it. He felt like he was going crazy.

   "Hey." Johnny's head snapped upwards to where the new voice that he hadn't recognized come from.

     Johnny's eyes widened in terror at the new person's appearance. This person looked well off. Certainly a Soc.

     "You alright?" The person's eyes narrowed and a faint but still noticeable frown rested onto the person's face.

     He couldn't calm the ever growing fear in himself. He was quite anxious. It made him want to smoke more. So he took a long drag on the cigarette, his big black shaky eyes never leaving the form of the person.

     The bright and shiny sun that shined down in between the alley wasn't making the situation any better either. 

     Though this could be worse. Johnny figured.

     ————

    What a strange kid. You stood in front of a guy who looked to be your age, smoking. 

    Seriously, what is this place's smoking laws? Are they seriously letting a teenager smoke a cig? What kind of town is this?

    "You okay, sunshine?" You slowly crossed your arms, careful to not make any sudden movements. Even though this guy looks harmless, that doesn't mean that he isn't.

     He looks like a little puppy who's been kicked far too many times. And even then, a puppy will grow tired of being relentlessly kicked.

    "Kiddo. I'm not gonna ask again, are you okay?" Your tone changed to slightly annoyed. You were too busy stressing out about how you were gonna get home. But the inner empathetic person in you couldn't let some kid have a panic attack in the back of an alleyway.

    Nobody deserves to be kicked, especially at their lowest.

    "Who...who are you?" The guy asked, he took a long drag off of his cigarette. Which made you cringe a little backwards. It was as eel that you never had enjoyed. The smell was quite gross. To you, anyways. 

    "Y/n. You?" Your weight shifted between your two feet. This interaction was getting quite awkward.

    "Why do you care?" The guy snapped, taking another drag off of his cigarette. He was trying to look tough, you could tell. But you had a feeling he wasn't.

     "Common courtesy. If you don't wanna tell, that's fine. I don't really care." You shrugged and shoved your hands into the pockets of your pants. Then said, "honestly, I'm too tired and too stressed to care about social courtesies. If you know what I mean."

    The guy was slowly starting to relax. You yawned quietly. "Anyway, you never answered my question, and if you did, my bad. I already forgot-"

    "...Johnny." He interrupted you.

    "Eh?" You softly asked as your eyelids drooped. 

    You probably shouldn't have stayed up so late last night, but it was worth it. As you had managed to make a really pretty rich girl friend.

    "Johnny. My name's Johnny." 'Johnny' spoke up, he dropped the cigarette and stomped on it. Putting it out. 

    "Huh. Well, nice to meet'cha, I guess." You quietly responded. You were starting to wonder how Cherry was doing. Breaking up with someone sure is a difficult thing to go through.

    You just hoped that she was alright.

   "Ditto." He responded. "You wanted to know why I was nervous, yeah?" He asked. His hands now were in his pockets. His jet black greasy hair shone as the sun shined on it. 

    "Yeah, if it's not any trouble." You shrugged again, not really sure what to really do in a situation like this. "I figured you'd wanna talk, as it's better to talk about something disturbing than to let it build up and...fester."

    Johnny nodded. "I dunno, somethin' happened. I...don't wanna talk about it right now."

    You nodded. "I get'cha. Just remember that it's bad to let things fester."

    "I gotcha, Y/n. I gotcha."

<———>

    Johnny was walking by his lonesome to his house. Though when he heard the loud screaming coming from his house made him immediately do a U-turn. He knew two more places would be safe for him.

    The vacant lot and the Curtis' home. So he chose the safer option, of course.

    The second that his foot took one step in the doorframe, he was immediately greeted by the sound of something on the grill sizzling, and Ponyboy. "Heya Johnnycake!"

    A grin took over his face at the sound of his best buddy in the kitchen. He walked into the home and into the kitchen. It was one of the rare occasions that neither Darry nor Sodapop was home, those times were the best for causing chaos and hanging out.

    Not like they would know, of course.

    "What'cha cookin' up, Pony?" Johnny inhaled the sweet scent of steak. He could feel his mouth watering. He loved it when Pony cooked, though he wasn't as good as Darry was. Darry was an absolute god at cooking.

    The whole gang knew that for sure.

    And so when Darry cooked, the gang made sure to make the most of it. Which meant loud atmosphere.

    Which is why both Johnny and Ponyboy needed to make the most of the quietness they had now, because they knew it certainly wouldn't be like that for long.