𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑. ( 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘺 )

TWENTY-THREE.

JANUARY 20TH, 2019. (SUNDAY)

Johnny and Ponyboy continue to relax on the couch as they had been the day before. After finding out about Steve's boyfriend, they paid for their drinks, grabbed them, and came home. Everyone slowly followed suit as their work shifts ended ( minus Two-Bit and Steve since they were at their own respective houses ). 

There was soft music playing on Ponyboy's phone, knowing that if it were loud, Johnny would have a splitting headache. It was the last thing that either of them needed to deal with at the moment. Besides, both boys liked the gentler side of the music spectrum. It was comforting. It was like both of them were always in sync with everything. They were lucky to have that kind of relationship. To be so close in similarities and interests. Best friends.

The younger of the two slowly lean over to press small feather-like kisses against his boyfriend's tan skin. Johnny shifts a little and breaks out into a wide grin. He moves to playfully flip their positions, hovering over him as he placed small kisses around his face. The auburn-haired teen bursts into a fit of giggles and squirms a little.

After Johnny decided that Ponyboy had enough kisses, he simply laid atop of him and leans against his chest. Ponyboy quickly starts playing with his hair, curling and twirling the strands around his pointer finger. He absolutely adored playing with his hair, especially when it was ungreased and soft and lightly curled over his ears.

"I love you," Ponyboy coos softly, kissing the top of his head.

"I love you too," Johnny responds gently, his tanned cheeks turning a light shade of red. "So much."

"I know you do," Ponyboy teases. "And that makes me so happy. I like being in love with you."

Johnny chuckles softly and hums, going back to their comfortable silence. The gentle music playing made Johnny happy, knowing they didn't have to be completely bored until his concussion healed. Well, it was never boring because of his lover being beside him but it was just something to listen to.

After a while, both boys seemed to get a little restless with laying on the couch in silence. So, Johnny crawled off of his lover and sat up, stretching out his limbs. listening to the few pops and cracks that came along with them. His lover playfully scrunches up his nose before cracking his knuckles, making both of them burst into a fit of giggles that ended relatively quickly.

"Hey... Johnny?" Ponyboy questions, looking at him. 

It was time for a more serious discussion.

"Yeah?" Johnny responds, his tone sounding nervous, which he was.

"I wanna talk to you about something," Ponyboy says. "And it's a bit personal so we could always stop if you wanted to..."

Johnny simply nods his head in response. He felt like he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. Serious conversations always freaked him out. They were usually about his parents or his house or something regarding his injuries. The subjects made him uncomfortable.

"I know you basically live here now but I was wondering if you wanted to move in fully with us," Ponyboy says. "I know that it's a lot to take in but I already talked to Darry and Soda about it and they want you here with us too. Soda said he would go back to his room full time and you can move into my room. I cleaned it up a little for your things. Everything is figured out."

"Ponyboy... I legally cannot move in with you," Johnny says. "I live with my parents and because they have full custody of me... I can't live here full time. I mean they probably won't care where I go but at some point, they'll want me home for whatever reason. They have custody of me. I want to move in here but as long as they have that leverage... They could take you guys to court for a kidnapping case that isn't true but no one would believe you guys. They have proof that I'm never home and they'll use it against you and your brothers..."

"Then we need to make it to where they won't have custody of you," Ponyboy says. "Call the police, show them the conditions of your home and all your injuries. Their alcohol/blood levels will be so high and that in itself will get them jailed for a long time. But if we use the fact that they abuse you... Their custody will drop completely and Darry can have the chance to come in and take custody. If he won custody over Soda and I, this will be a piece of cake. I promise. I'll be here for you and you know that. I promised you that a long time ago."

Johnny looks at Ponyboy with teary eyes. He wanted to do this but the people he would be hurting were his own flesh and blood... His parents who raised him and all. They used to be good people and he knew that. It was just the alcohol and their marriage that was keeping them from raising him properly. A divorce and some rehab might just reset their clock and put them back to normal... They would finally love him again... And maybe the court would see that if he called the police and everything went down... Darry would get full custody until his parents cleaned up their act... And if this is what it took to get his parents back... So be it.

"Fine," Johnny murmurs softly, taking a hand to wipe at his eyes. A few tears had already escaped and cascaded down his cheeks. "We'll do it. But only because this might be the last chance I have to get my parents back to normal... Ponyboy, I love them... And doing this might be able to fix them. Jail will sober the, up, withdrawals will be a bitch but they'll get over it... And maybe they'll love me again."

And with that, Ponyboy handed Johnny a phone and he called the police. 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Word Count; 1,026

How was this?

Im on a writing roll right now and I'm starting to stack up a few chapters for this story. I've got all of them planned out and this story is actually almost over. It's hard to believe that since it's been such a journey of writing it.

But, Im super excited.

I hope you guys enjoyed this. Thank you so much for reading ❤