Tragic Kingdom (80s/90s imagines)

81: Ponyboy Curtis/Johnny Cade (The Outsiders)

For FelixMaximoff

Sometimes it's hard to make friends, and you hoped and prayed that this wouldn't be one of those times. Tulsa seemed similar enough to your hometown, but the people were still strangers.

The minute you met Ponyboy (That's your honest to goodness name?) and Johnny, you knew you'd be friends for a long, long time. It had taken months to get them to fully trust you, but once they got there, you were inseparable. You were regularly seen coming in and out of the Curtis house, and you could honestly say they were your second family.

Besides, you lived on the same side of the tracks. What did your parents have to object?

It was like having a bunch of older brothers, and once or twice, they had been your saving grace. You were there to cook when Darry was tired and help patch the boys up after a fight.

Despite the family dynamic, two of your closest friends were harboring a secret from you. Both Pony and Johnny had developed crushes on you.

Being used to jokes about marrying one of them and defending your friendship, you never saw it.

Then came the obvious signs.

Ponyboy would write little romantic scenes—for practice, he'd say—and ask you to proofread them. He was hoping you'd realize they were about you, but you assumed he had gotten a crush on some girl from school.

Johnny offered you his jacket a few times when you were cold. When you tried to give it back, he insisted you hang on to it, but you didn't want people to get the wrong idea, so you found ways to return it to him.

There were more, but you still remained in the dark. Everyone else in the gang had caught on, and it was sort of a game now, seeing how soon it would be before you figured it out.

One day, after many very obvious acts of chivalry and flattery, you were starting to notice something.

"Y/n, you look real pretty today." Johnny blushed as the words left his mouth.

You playfully nudged him. "Aw, thanks, Johnnycake."

Ponyboy later offered to carry your books.

"I'm plenty capable of carrying my own books, Pony," you replied. "But thanks for the offer."

When you had a moment away from the two love struck dopes, you asked Sodapop about it. He was better to ask about these things because he could be quiet about stuff and actually cared about your feelings.

"Hey," you started. "Is something up with Pony and Johnny? They've both been super nice to me lately, and I know that sounds like a dumb thing to be concerned about-"

Despite caring very much about your feelings, Soda had begun to laugh. A full on chuckle. Catching his breath, he realized you had been standing there, confused. "Oh, Y/n." He had to stop himself from laughing again. "They're both sweet on ya."

And it hit you like a truck. Of course they did. After a second of reeling, you looked back at Soda, who still wore an amused expression. "I feel so dumb."

"Not nearly as dumb as those two," he gestured to the other room, where the other guys, specifically Johnny and Ponyboy, were messing around. "They've been tripping over each other for you for a while now."

"Oh gosh." You scratched the back of your neck. "What do I do?"

Soda put up his hands. "Not my territory, kiddo. You're on your own for this one." With that, he went back to the living room.

You decided you'd have to think about it. You had spent so long deflecting any suspicions about either of them liking you that you weren't prepared to find out that both did. It was all very overwhelming to try and process at the moment.

You gave yourself a couple days to think it over before taking an opportunity to talk to Pony and Johnny.

"Guys, I know."

They exchanged a look of confusion and slight panic.

A wide-eyed Johnny spoke first. "What do you mean?"

"I know that you both like me," you said calmly.

Both boys still had the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look.

"And I just want you both to know that I don't know how I feel about either of you." Reviewing your words, you corrected yourself. "I mean, you're my best friends, and I think you're both great. I just... I don't know if I like either of you that way."

"That's fine," Pony blurted. "No worries."

"Yeah," Johnny chimed in. "We'll lay off." He glanced at Ponyboy. "I'll back off."

Pony narrowed his eyes at Johnny for a brief moment before turning back to you. "You'll think about it, though. Right?"

You smiled at the boys. "Of course, but I can't choose between my best friends. Not right now."

"Okay."

"Alright."

You threw an arm around the two of them. "Thanks for understanding. Now," you gave a big cheesy grin to both of them. "How's about some ice cream?"

Oof I'm so sorry if you wanted me to choose one 😩 I absolutely cannot. Thank you for the request and I hope you enjoyed it (even if this is soo rough). M'kay.

~Mariah