The Outsiders Imagines

Not as Beautiful as You (Ponyboy Imagine)

This is an Imagine for my amazing friend, TheOwlsGirl. I hope that you enjoy it.
I knock on his front door, and step back, wrapping my jean jacket more tightly around me. Shuffling sounds come from inside before the door opens, revealing my best friend, Ponyboy Curtis.
He quirks his head at me and smiles. "Hi, Karen."
"Hi, Ponyboy!" I exclaim, giving him a hug.
He glances back over his shoulder, where I can see his brother Soda and his best friend Steve arm wrestling. I can hear Dallas talking to whom I can't see but am assuming is Johnny, my other best friend, while Two-bit watches Mickey Mouse on TV. Darry comes out of the kitchen and greets me. "Hello there, Karen."
"Hi, Darry," I reply. I'm part of the gang too, so it's not uncommon for me to just show up here. Although, I'm probably closest with Ponyboy, we are the same age.
Pony watches as Darry goes into the living room, and then turns back to me. "Want to go for a walk?"
"Sure," I shrug.
He steps out onto the porch, closing the front door behind him. I push a piece of my straight black hair behind my ear as we start to walk. For a while we walk in silence, but it's not awkward. It's actually kind of nice, just being out here alone with Ponyboy.
After a few more minutes, Ponyboy speaks up. "How are you doing on that science project of yours? I heard it's coming along well."
I think back to the project sitting on my desk at home. "Yeah, I guess it is coming along well. It's almost done, and I think I'll do well. Thanks for the pointers though, they really helped."
"No problem."
We are quiet for a few more minutes, before I get curious. "Pony?"
He looks slightly down at me, because I'm a little shorter than him. "Mhm?"
"Where exactly are we going?" I chuckle.
"Hmm..." Pony muses. "I was thinking that we would go to the park. It's going to get dark soon, we could watch the sunset." Then he smiles at me.
Man, he sure does like sunsets....but I don't mind. I've kind of had a crush on him for a while now. I smile back at him. "Okay."
When we get to the park he leads me over to the playground. I raise my eyebrows at him.
"Hey, the sun isn't setting yet, now is it?" Pony asks pointedly.
"No, but why the playground, Pony? We aren't exactly little kids." I point out.
"No..." Pony says, drifting over to the swings. "But who says we can't act like them?"
Laughing, I saunter over to the swings to join him. I sit down on one of the swings and kick off from the ground, only to get about a foot in the air.
"Here," Pony chuckles. "Let me help you."
"What-"
Ponyboy grasps my waist to stop me, and then he pushes. Every time I come back down, he pushes me again. I laugh as I hang on tight, not wanting to go flying off of the swing set. Ponyboy starts to laugh too. Golly, do I love his laugh.
After a few minutes he calls out to me. "Jump!"
"What?" I shriek, almost reaching the bar as I swing upwards.
He continues to laugh. "I said jump!"
And I do just that. After the next time he pushes me, I let go of the chains and fly through the air, legs and arms flailing. I let out a wail of laughter, and then land flat on my back in the soft sand. For a moment I just lay there, laughing so hard that I am emitting no noise.
Ponyboy rushes over to me, thinking I'm hurt probably. However, when he sees me laughing he cracks up, and reaches out a hand to pull me up. He yanks me up, probably harder then he meant to, and I fall forwards into his chest.
I bury my face in his chest as I calm down. We are silent for a few moments before either one of us talks.
"Karen, look!" Ponyboy whisper yells. "The sunset."
I turn my head slightly to see. It sure is pretty, all the colours, and the clouds and such. I guess now I understand why he loves sunsets so much. "That's beautiful," I sigh.
"Not as beautiful as you," he says softly.
I lift my head up slightly and gives him a confused look. "What?"
"I think that you are beautiful, Karen." Ponyboy says quietly, his greenish grey eyes staring into my brown ones. My heart leaps into my throat. Did he just...?
One of his hands rests on my waist, and the other one on the side of my neck, whereas mine are around his neck. Now how'd they get there?
I laugh lightly. "You're not so bad yourself..."
He smiles and let's out a breathy laugh, and then he pulls me into a soft kiss. My eyes flutter closed and I melt into the kiss. It's gentle, but powerful at the same time. It makes me feel all warm inside, and for my first kiss, it's amazing.
When it's over, we pull away, and our eyes flit open. I blush under his gaze and smile in spite of myself.
Ponyboy lets out a long breath if relief and happiness. "I've always wanted to do that, ever since we became friends."
I laugh gently before I admit with an enormous smile, "Me too."
He smiles down at me before I bury my face back in his chest. I breath in deeply through my nose. He smells of fresh laundry...and a little bit of cigarette smoke, but I don't really mind that. Smiling, I let my eyes flutter closed once more as the sun sinks below the horizon at last.
Crickets start to chirp arounds us, but that's the only sound I can hear besides our breathing, and Ponyboy's steady heartbeat. A few moments pass, and we remain in the same position. I sigh happily.
"Karen?" Ponyboy asks quietly.
"Yeah, Ponyboy?" I ask, my voice muffled.
"Will you be my girl?"
I giggle. "Yes, Ponyboy. I will be your girl."
He sighs and kisses me on the forehead. "Good, because I'm really into you."
"I'm really into you too." I say, my voice still muffled.
He laughs, and pulls out of our embrace. "We'd better go. I'll walk you home."
"Thanks," I reply, staring at my shoes.
I feel his warm hand intertwine with my own and I smile. And with that, we walk off into the darkness of this chilly autumn night.