A Little Off-Limits - Ponyboy x Reader

Hoods and Dresses

Ponyboy
     I tossed my cigarette to the cement and stomped on it once as I opened up the library doors. When I walked inside, I felt a blast of cool air hit my face. I was a little antsy about walking into Socy territory, since that was where the library was; but, hey, (F/n) did it every day. I hadn't been jumped on the street, so why should I have been worried about it while walking into the most mellow place in town?

     I walked up to the front desk and grinned at the lady there. She was an easy seventy years old, and looked like she hadn't cracked a smile once in all of her years. She had a nice, floral dress on and a neat, white bun in her hair. She looked at me above the roof of her glasses and sighed.

     "You're not planning something, are you, hooligan?"

     I shook my head. "No, ma'am. I'n just looking for (F/n). She's a friend of mine."

     "Ah, I see. She's sorting adult fiction. Walk upstairs, the section is to your left." The woman went back down to her paperwork and shooed me along with her wrinkly, old hand.

I nodded again, turning on my heel, and headed up the stairs. I looked through the clear skylight and saw the sun beaming through. There was a stain of bird-muck in the corner of the skylight, but the warmth from the sun was nice. I searched around the 2nd floor of the library, hoping I could spot a sign that read, "Adult Fiction" or something.

     Though I didn't see a sign, I managed to spot (F/n) as she rounded the corner and walked up another aisle of books. A grin crept onto my face as I headed towards the aisle; she didn't notice me at all. I snuck along the side of the bookshelves, seeing her walking down the aisle.

     Creeping up behind her, I placed my hands on her waist and whispered, "Boo."

     She jumped forward a bit and gasped, knocking into the cart she was pushing, but when she turned and saw me, she grinned. She set her book down and turned to me. "Ponyboy, you hoodlum, you scared the hell outta me. What're you doing here?" she whispered.

     I put I hands on the handles of the cart she was backed against, pressing myself a bit closer to (F/n). If she had wanted me further away, she would have said so. I could feel her body heat from just a few inches away. 

     "Visiting you. I was bored." We both grinned.

     She said, "Well, I'm glad you couldn't find anything to do. Wanna help me out here? It's just handing me stuff and placing books on the shelves I can't reach. Maybe, if you want a real challenge, you can try and put some of books away on your own," she joked.

     "I think I'm capable enough. I mean, they're just books--" I stopped, placing a hand on her head, which was level to my own. "Wait. Did you grow two inches?"

    (F/n) chuckled and kicked her foot a bit. "Pony, you idiot. I'm in heels." I looked down and saw the white high heels on her feet, which went well with her pale blue dress.

     I nodded, silently mouthing, "Ohhhh, okay."

     "Pfft," she laughed, "come on, let's get to work." (F/n) handed me a book off of the cart and grabbed one for herself.

     We spent a while chatting quietly and placing books into their respective spots on the shelves. I found a lot of stuff I would have liked to read, and a new copy of something I was currently reading. We went on for an hour or so before I caught a glimpse at the clock. Darry wanted me home before dinner, which was about thirty minutes away. On weekends he tried to get us to eat together for dinner, since he, Soda, and I didn't see each other much during the week. Darry, working two jobs, rarely saw home in general except at night, and Soda partied a bit too much when he wasn't at the DX to be home regularly—and me, I was normally out with Johnny just fooling around.

"(F/n), I should get going, Darry wants me back for dinner," I told her, turning and seeing her struggle to get a book on one of the higher shelves.

"That's fine," she strained. I went over to her, a hand moving to her waist to steady her, and reached up to grab the book. I slipped it into the empty space and came off of my toes.

(F/n) looked my way with wide, (e/c) eyes. My face flushed suddenly, and I pulled my hand away from her waist once I realized. "Like I said, I oughta go..."

"Th-thank you, Ponyboy." She waved as I walked down the aisle. "Talk later?"

"Yeah, alright." I rubbed the back of my neck, darting out of view.

You
I watched as Ponyboy fast-walked past the aisle to where I couldn't see him anymore. When I went to the end of the aisle to see him, and I don't know why I did this, I only caught his head as he moved down the stairs to the ground floor. I swiped the last book from the cart and smacked it against my forehead. I shouldn't have stared! I probably scared him! But it had felt so nice having his hand on my waist. Ponyboy's hands were warm and soft and strong. I stared up at the book he helped me with for a moment or so.

I placed the last book into its proper place, in the E section, and drove the cart to the front desk of the fiction center. Mrs. Jenkinson thanked me and wished me a good evening, so I did the same and left. And from the library, I took the shortcut home through Socy territory. I went to school with some of the girls who lived in the Socs' side of town, so I rarely got jumped because many of them and their boyfriends knew me.

When I got home, there was a note on the table from Dad. I sighed after reading through it, crumpling it up and tossing it to the floor. Steve stepped through the door just then, so I groaned and gave him a look.

"Dad's fucked off to Vegas for a week," I said blankly, then walked past him to go to my room.

"(F/n)," he called. I looked back and saw him picking up the note. "Wanna make dinner tonight? I'll cancel my plans and go and grab stuff for spaghetti, and we can have a quiet night in."

I knew what he was doing. Steve didn't want me alone when mom had died, so he stayed in with me for a while so I wasn't left thinking too much. He did the same here. But I nodded anyway, then went to change into some night clothes.