Yellow Roses// Johnnyboy [𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓉𝑒𝒹]

d o d i c i

hey y'all! welcome to the second to last chapter!

thank you so much for 680+ reads too, that's cRaZy, man! I hope you've all been enjoying this book, because I know I've been having a blast writing it. It's going to be my first real finished book, and I've been so excited to share it with all of you every week!

So enough of all of that sappy stuff, and onto chapter 12!

Ponyboy's POV

I woke up to a bright light coming in through the windows; the sun's way of telling all of Florence it was time to start the day.

Johnnycake and I had spent the last couple days going all over Florence. I'm pretty sure we've been to, like, every cafe. He showed me the market, the medieval streets, which I thought was the coolest thing we saw, and tons of other things.

I yawned, starting to stretch, before I noticed Johnny was missing. All that was laying in his usual spot was an upturned blanket. I sat up hastily, immediately alarmed.

"Baby?" I called through our hotel room, scrambling to get out of bed, nearly landing myself on the floor.

I heard a faint "Hmm?" from the bathroom, quickly calming my nerves, which were off the charts. I let out a sigh of relief, when I saw none other than Johnny in the bathroom, painting rainbow streaks on his cheeks.

He looked at me and grinned, reaching up to leave a dot of swirled colors on my nose. He giggled, totally oblivious to the fact he just made my heart melt, then getting back to painting his own face.

"Good morning, amore mio." Johnny said, washing his hands off.

"Morning, Johnnycake," I replied, kissing his temple. He smiled and after drying his hands off, he rested his arms around my neck, and we both leaned in to share a soft, sweet kiss.

We've kissed tons of times, but still, every time my stomach does summersaults, and fireworks go off in my head.

We pull away, and he wraps his arms around my waist, as I whispered in his ear, "I love you".

"I love you, too." He whispered back. A few minutes of bliss later, we're reminded again by the sun that it's time to get up and at 'em.

Johnny sat next to me on the train, running his hand through his soft hair. His knee bounced on the floor, a token of his pure excitement. The little rainbow streaks he'd painted on his cheeks weren't as bright as they once were, but they were still adorable on my baby.

At first I was a little concerned about what people would say to us about it, but I know now that Italy isn't like America. People here are more accepting.

Anyway, I was excited to get to Naples, too. I'd never been to a parade like this before, they don't have them in Tulsa. On top of that, I had a little surprise for him, and I was nervous out of my mind to give it to him.

I didn't really have a reason to be nervous, I mean, he's my soulmate, and we're in this life together, but I'm still crazy anxious.

But I really do love him, and I know it would be the right choice for our relationship in the long run.

Before I knew it, they were calling out our station, (the only word I understood was Naples, but Johnny told me what they said) and we were making our way out onto the train platform.

Eventually, we found our way to the second hotel, and quickly left our stuff there. We didn't have much time to spare, we had to make it to the parade before it started without us.

We'd resorted to running down the street, hand-in-hand, laughing and grinning all the way there.

Johnny and I made it just in time, totally out of breath. Once I'd finally caught my breath, I could gawk at all the beautiful flags, and all the confident people.

The only flag I was really familiar with was the rainbow, but there were flags with shades of colors I'd never even seen. They had blue, pink and white, yellow, blue and pink, green, white and purple, you name it. Even one with purple and shades of gray.

Johnny was grinning too. I put my arm around him, kissed the top of his head, and we joined the walking crowd together.

After we'd been marching hand-in-hand for a while, I started to get anxious again.

I was itching to get the question through, but at the same time, I wanted it to be special for us.

Johnny must've noticed my change from giddy and excited, to nervous and anxious. He reached up and gently directed my face down in his direction.

"You alright, hun?" He asked, with a slight frown occupying his lips. I nodded, managing a light smile towards my black-haired boyfriend.

Johnny nodded, not quite seeming to buy it, but he didn't press. I just gotta stop being nervous, and then I can finally get the guts to do it.

I grasped Johnny's hand, and led him a little bit off to the side.

"Can I take you somewhere?" I asked, nervously rocking on my feet.

"Sure, honey. Wherever you wanna go," he replied, so I took off, pulling him with me.

I had to be careful, though, because I don't know my way super well around Naples, or even Florence for that matter, but I knew the basics of where I was going.

I stopped at a lookout, looking out over another small town. You could see for miles and miles and miles.

There were gardens, trees, small little cottages, and there was peace. It was quiet, and I knew Johnny always liked that better than the loud crowds of marching people, anyway.

Johnny's jaw dropped just a little, before he turned my way.

"Pony! How did you know I used to run off and sit here when something was going on at home?"

I blushed, and replied sheepishly, "I remember you tellin' me, a couple years ago.."

"And you remembered! Gosh, what'd I do to deserve you.." I heard Johnny mumble under his breath, causing my blush to deepen even more than it already had.

"I remember everything you tell me, baby."

"Then remember this- I love you to the moon and back."

I smiled, leaning on the railing of the lookout, letting the breeze go through my hair, almost as if all my doubts were being blown away with it.

"I love you more. Always and forever." I paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Johnny, baby, I don't wanna be your boyfriend anymore."

I saw his facial expression twist, and I knew I'd better hurry up before this went the wrong way.

"I want to be your husband."

And with that, I got down on one knee.

a/n: Ponyboy's plans will be in chapter 13, which will be the epilogue and the last chapter of this book. I hope you've been loving it as much as I have💓🌿

see you in 5 days, loves!🌧🌿