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Ponyboy yawned, opening his eyes and trying to adjust to the darkness of the room, Curly’s room to be specific. Shit, what time is it? He thought, trying to sit up. The other boy grumbled, holding Pony tighter. “It’s still early, you don’t gotta leave yet…” Curly mumbled, his voice gruff from sleeping. Pony relaxed a bit, sighing as he settled back in his arms. He had snuck out earlier that night, it was probably….four, five maybe? Which means he had an hour before Darry woke up, give or take. Damnit, why did he have to wake up so early?
After a few minutes, Pony couldn’t go back to sleep. He sighed, deciding to start the day. He eventually managed to peel himself away from Curly, much to his dismay. “I’ll be back,” he reassured, “I’m just going to the bathroom.” He wasn’t technically lying, if he was quick he could probably lay in bed with Curly a few more minutes.
He made sure to be quiet as he exited the room, (that noticeably didn’t have a door–it made him wonder what Curly did to have it taken away, but that was a story for another day.) stepping into the hallway. He nearly made it to the bathroom, before he jumped when he heard a door creek open. He whipped his head around, just for his jaw to drop.
He was met with Dallas Winston– his friend Dally– exiting Tim Shepard’s room. That in itself was weird, but not unexplainable. Maybe Tim wasn’t home and let Dally crash in his bed. Maybe Dally came to apologize to Tim for another one of his stunts. No, he wouldn’t do that, especially in the middle of the night.
He didn’t have time to question it further as he looked at Dally’s neck, it noticeably being covered in dark purple marks. Marks that were unmistakably hickeys.
Holy Shit.
He owed Johnny so much money.
He continued to look at him, really look at him, it was like something clicked. He finally understood why Tim would go looking for Dally, why there was an extra car in the driveway when he snuck in, all the little things finally adding up. He wondered if the same thing was happening in Dally’s head about him and Curly.
His hair was messy, his jacket nowhere to be found, with his necklace all messed up and completely turned around with the clasp showing. Jesus, he didn't want to think about what he and Tim had been doing. Gross.
Dally was the first to speak, his voice hushed as his eyebrows furrowed, walking over to Pony. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question,” he started, his voice quiet as he looked at Dally’s neck, “but I think I already know.”
Dally groaned, grimacing as he ran a hand through his hair, trying (and failing) to fix it.
“Yeah yeah, whatever man. Shouldn’t you be home? Darry would have your head on a stick if he knew you were here.”
Pony’s eyes widened, his attitude gone as he frowned. “Then don’t tell him!”
The blonde snickered, a smile now on his face. “That’s what I thought. Don’t get smart with me, Pone. The only reason I'm not telling is because he’d skin me too.”
He sighed, but a frown was still on his face. “Good. Now can you please get out of my way? I need to go to the bathroom.” Dally nodded, stepping back and letting him in.
“Alright. But make it quick, I'll be on the porch.”
-
After a moment and Pony said bye to Curly, he met Dally outside while he smoked. He offered a cigarette to Pony and the other took it wordlessly, grabbing his (Curlys actually, but Dally didn’t have to know that. Though, with the way he raised an eyebrow when Pony took it out, he probably knew) lighter and lighting it. He stood beside him, taking a hit as Pony enjoyed the sunrise.
Dally was the first to break the silence, eventually stomping out his cigarette once he was done with it. “So, you and Curly, huh?”
Ponyboy simply nodded, his ears the slightest bit pink. He’d blame it on the fact it was Dally he was talking too. You don’t talk about your relationship with Dally, let alone if it’s a guy–if he had told himself a while ago that he would be doing such, or that he had caught Dallas Winston exiting Tim Shepard’s room with hickeys on his neck, he wouldn’t have believed it.
Dally took the nod as a sign to continue. “He treat you right?”
Pony nodded again, finally done with his cigarette. He sighed, zipping up his jacket as a bit of cold air hit him. “Yeah, he’s real nice once you get to know him. We even do our homework together.”
Dally scoffed, a smile on his face as he raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? You really got him wrapped around your finger then. I’m impressed.”
Pony chuckled, blushing a bit more as he looked at Dally nervously. “Thank you..?”
“Don’t mention it.” The other responded, his hand going in his pocket to find something. After a moment he pulled out his car keys and started to walk. “C’mon, i’ll drive ya home, you still got some time before superman wakes up.” The younger nodded, following him.
Once he got in the car, they were silent again. Pony yawned, starting to fall asleep.
Just as he was about too, Dally started talking again, his eyes on the road.
“...How long have y’all been together?”
“Few months.”
“Are you guys serious?”
It was almost weird hearing Dally ask these questions. He rarely ever showed he cared, unless you get caught with Curly Shepard apparently.
But it wasn’t like he didn’t understand where he was coming from. While they were both greasers, Pony and Curly were complete opposites. One had a future ahead of them and one wasn’t going to make it past 20, if he was lucky. Maybe that’s why he was only surprised for a moment when he saw Dally leaving Tim’s earlier. He wasn’t surprised that it was Tim–he was surprised it was a guy, y’know? Tim and Dally were two sides of the same coin.
“Yeah, we are. Have been for a while. What about Tim? How long have you guys been together?”
Dally stiffened, looking towards him for a second before back at the road. “We’re not…We’re not together.”
Ponyboy furrowed his eyebrows, a look of confusion on his face. “Wha..? But, I saw you leave his room, you have hickeys on your neck–”
“But we’re not together, alright? We’re just…helping each other out. Plus, it’s not safe to be a queer like that, y’know.”
It was Pony’s turn to stiffen, he looked away, his voice quiet.
“I know. We’re not open about it, only Angela knows.”
Dally sighed, it almost sounded like it was out of relief. “Good. You can’t go around letting anyone see that, alright? You could get killed.”
Pony merely mumbled “I know” again.
Dally was turning into the Curtis house’s neighborhood, before Pony talked again.
“How do you think the gang would react if they knew? I-If they knew I was dating Curly.”
Dallas stopped the car, and although he’d never admit it, his eyes softened. He looked at Pony, being surprisingly genuine.
“Pony, they’re not gonna give a damn about you dating a guy. I’m sure everyone knows about me and Tim and they don’t do shit.”
He responded, before smirking and adding “they’ll hate him because he’s Curly Shepard, not because he’s a guy. Remember how worried Soda was when he heard Angela had a crush on you?”
Pony chuckled, his worry slowly disappearing as he agreed. “Yeah–he didn’t let me out of his sight for a week..”
“Exactly. Now get out of my car before Darry gets up and asks where the hell you were.”
Pony nodded, waving goodbye as he got out and started to walk towards his house.
He sighed as he snuck back through his window, Soda still asleep in bed, and he couldn’t hear Darry getting ready for the day. Thank god, he made it just in time. He had two things on his mind: getting back into bed before Darry checked on them, and getting Johnny his money.