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Early sunlight streamed through the windows of the house, birds sang outside. It casted a faint yellow-ish glow on the living room, kitchen, and then the dinner table. It wasn't even eight in the morning yet, yet Ponyboy sat at the table, staring at a piece of paper he was supposed to be writing on. He had only woken up thirty minutes ago, but was already doing something to keep his mind busy. His chin was on his arms. A bird flew past a window, causing a brief shadow to be casted. There was an off silence in the house. It hadn't been that loud recently, and the only times it had been loud was at least in the afternoon. He could picture it perfectly, the TV on maybe with a kids show on, at least two people were arguing or rolling around on the carpet, and someone would try to keep it calm. The mornings, though? Always calm, for whatever reason. If it was early enough, someone could actually think. There was always at least someone in the gang that was staying over, either because they were a latchkey kid, one of their parents (or both parents) forced them out, or some other reason. The Curtis house was just a safe place for 'stray cats' as some of them were called. Ponyboy would wake up one morning, get up, and maybe find Steve on the couch. Maybe he could find Two Bit in the kitchen, already drinking a beer if he woke up late. There was always one person there, though, and that was Johnny. He got kicked out one night and wasn't allowed back, so now the house was his home. A home where there weren't fights every night, a home where he could feel actually welcome instead of having to tip-toe around. He mainly spent every night there, and Ponyboy was happy about it. He would gladly admit that he was happy that it was a safe spot and now he could know if Johnny was doing alright and not in misery whilst sleeping out in the lot or something.
Ponyboy felt a sudden wave of sleepiness and he blinked quickly, trying to stay awake. It was only thirty minutes ago he woke up, loosely being held by Johnny, then spending fifteen minutes debating on getting up and risking waking up the latter if he tried to get up. Somehow, he managed to get out of bed without causing any of his worries. He did almost knock over a book that was on the side, that would've been bad.
There was a floorboard creak that echoed through the house. Someone was walking around. Ponyboy looked towards the kitchen and saw a half-awake Sodapop. "Mornin'," he called out, keeping quiet though, yet startling his older brother.
"Glory, what are you doin' up?" Sodapop asked, smiling politely. Probably wasn't awake enough for the charming grins.
Ponyboy shrugged, sitting up and dropping his pencil. "Couldn't go back to sleep 'n' I was burnin' up."
"Then get rid of some blankets?" Sodapop suggested whilst getting a cup of water.
"No, I only had one blanket. Maybe it was just Johnny or somethin', he's real warm sometimes." Ponyboy spun the pencil around on the paper. Silence was the response as his brother took his glass of water then... left the kitchen. Maybe more rest, but the silence was eerie again. The sunrise colours were gone again when he went back to writing. It was a small assignment, just writing a summary about a book he recently read for school.
That was something he did not like doing. It was only bad because all of the information about the book left his brain as soon as assignments popped up.
Honestly, after a few minutes, he gave up and decided to leave the paper and pencil there amongst the other items on the table. Maybe some more rest could do him better, so he got up and headed back to his room, pausing at the doorway to figure out how to get back into bed and not wake up Johnny in the process. Nonetheless, Ponyboy still tried, yet in the attempt to get close again, the latter was woken. The former tensed up. There was no in between, Johnny was either a deep sleeper or a light sleeper who was woken up at any noise.
Ponyboy only relaxed when there were arms around him again. He was a sucker for hugs or... what was it? Cuddling? Snuggling? That's what Darry called it before. It was alright, though, at least he was cozy. Johnny and him were always holding hands or hugging, though the former was the one who initiated most of the hugs, because Johnny was also a sucker for that kind of love. Though, if it wasn't for the gang, he might've not known what love and affection really was instead of silence and harsh hands.
"You awake?" Ponyboy asked quietly.
"Always," Johnny mumbled.
Ponyboy pulled his head away from where it was tucked under his chin, looking at his sleepy expression. "Shoot, when I came back in here, you were sleepin' pretty deeply," he joked, smiling.
Johnny rolled his eyes and let go of him, turning over. He sometimes wasn't that nice if he was woken up. Ponyboy frowned and moved, putting his chin on his shoulder, poking his side. "Johnnycakes," he drawled.
"Lay off, 'm tired," Johnny mumbled, pushing away his hand. He was pretty thin for a sixteen year old despite eating a lot at dinner, maybe just from being underweight 'cause of his parents. That would take a while to get everything back.
"Awh, mean," Ponyboy mumbled, pressing a kiss to his cheek near the scar on the side of his face before he pulled away to sit up and lean against the headboard.
Johnny smiled and turned his head away to hide the smile that quickly grew. "I'd be nicer if you didn't wake me up. Can I sleep again?" His voice was muffled a little.
"No, I'm bored, and I've been up since the sun started comin' up."
"So you're insane?"
"What?! No!"
Muffled laughter. A gentle shove despite a smile.
It only took a few minutes before Ponyboy was bothering Johnny again, the former's chin back on the latter's shoulder, his hand residing on his wrist. "Can you talk to me at least? Just, like, hums or somethin'. You don't have to say words," he requested.
"That ain't talkin', man," Johnny mumbled. There were the normal speaking habits, that meant he was fully awake.
A beat. "I mean, acknowledgement, I guess?" Ponyboy attempted again, frowning as he tilted his head to rest the top against the side of Johnny’s.
"Can I sleep again yet?"
"No!"
"You're annoyin'."
"Yeah, and that's why we're together, 'cause you're silent and I'm obnoxious."
Johnny turned his head to look at Ponyboy with exasperation as the latter pulled away from him to lay down beside him. A long exhale escaped the former before he turned over to rest his head on the latter's shoulder "'m sleepin', you can talk to yourself."
"Seriously? What if I leave again?" Ponyboy said, wrapping an arm around Johnny’s shoulders.
"Haven't figured that out yet," Johnny yawned. "You'd probably have to bring back food, though." Ponyboy held back a laugh, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling with a smile. The silence only lasted for a few minutes before Johnny spoke again. "What'd you want to talk about?" He asked.
"'Don't remember," Ponyboy mumbled. "Do you want breakfast?"
"Are you just hungry?" Johnny shot back, sitting up a little. Ponyboy nodded. “Then get up, you bum. I'll get up soon.”
The latter rolled his eyes, poked the former's cheek before getting up and out of bed again. Food was still a struggle, but at least Ponyboy got hungry. He hadn't eaten that well a while ago, skipping meals often, pushing food around on the plate. With a small amount of help, he did end up healing a little.
It took ten minutes for Johnny to sleepily walk into the kitchen. Ponyboy hadn't made anything, yet was just holding a piece of toast, nibbling on it as he looked out the window whilst sitting at the table again. The chair beside him was pulled out and then sat in by Johnny, who put his head down on the table on top of his arms and looked out the window too.
“I was with this guy once. I think he was the one that made me realize I was… queer, I guess. He was so borin’ outside of school, did nothin’ at home, just wanted to kiss me, I guess. He treated me like I was nothin’ in public, though. Ended up breakin’ it off later ‘cause he liked girls,” Johnny mumbled. “Messed with me for a little. I don't know, ‘guess I'm glad I've got you, so many of them were… assholes, I guess. Dal’ knew some of ‘em were shit, I should've listened. They all liked broads or just wanted to kiss a guy for a try.”
Ponyboy looked at him, in the middle of chewing a bite of toast. “Shoot,” he blinked. “I… that's bad. I'm sorry.”
Johnny shrugged, nudging his foot under the table. “Naw, it's alright, man, you're better anyway. Golden, too.” He turned his head to look at him and smiled.
That made Ponyboy roll his eyes. “Quit mentonin’ that poem, I read it to you twice,” he mumbled, looking away, smiling despite it.
Johnny bumped his shoulder. “Sure, but it's fun seein’ you get upset over it.”
“I ain't upset over it!”
“The tips of your ears are pink, quit gabbin’.”
Ponyboy fell silent and fixed his hair, hoping it would cover his ears. He bumped Johnny’s shoulder, then the latter bumped his shoulder again. They did this a couple more times before they were both laughing then shushing each other so they didn't get hollered at for being too loud. Johnny was more mature out of the two of them, but sometimes he could be a little similar to Ponyboy if it was just them alone. They went silent after a little while and their hands found each others’, linking together. The toast was split in half to be shared between them and eaten quickly. Quiet foot tapping. Drumming nails. The scooting of a chair a little closer, echoing and bouncing off the walls. Frantic shushing, then a couple of giggles.
Silence again. Ponyboy was back to looking out the window, Johnny had his head on his arms, looking at him, smiling. He was happy. He liked the green and the gray in Ponyboy’s eyes, the way he'd smile, the way his eyes would narrow a little when he was focused, the way his smile could make a whole day lighter, and a lot more.
“You're starin’,” Ponyboy mumbled.
Johnny shrugged. “‘M just admirin’.”
Ponyboy looked down, tapping his foot on the ground. “Well quit starin’ and admire me later.”
A moment. Johnny hesitated before putting a hand on his cheek, turning his head. Ponyboy stared at him for a second blankly, his eyes flickering for where to look. It happened in a second, but they both leaned in and kissed. They pulled apart after a couple of seconds, Johnny’s hand dropping back onto the table as he looked out the window, Ponyboy turning his head away, the tips of his ears pinkening again, his face gaining some colour at the same time.
“Sorry,” was the first thing to break the silence, coming from Johnny.
“What do you mean? Why–why are you apologizin’?” Ponyboy frantically asked. “It was fine, Johnnycakes. Shoot, not fine, it was good, you get what I'm sayin’.”
Johnny smiled a little. “Sure,” he whispered.
Ponyboy looked at him again and leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I didn't mind it, I hope you know that,” he mumbled.
A moment.
“I know,” Johnny's smile turned into a grin as he looked at him.
Ponyboy smiled as well and took his hand. They didn’t kiss again, only moved onto another topic. It was something they hated that they were being taught in school, but then the topic changed because one of them couldn’t stick to one thing for very long. At least Johnny could focus, but not when his boyfriend bounced from topic to topic.
They didn't kiss again for a little while because they weren't the couple who would be all over each other. There was one day where Ponyboy had a track meet during the weekend, (why did track season seem so long?) and before he left for it in the morning, Johnny had kissed him over scrambled eggs. Darry and Sodapop had witnessed it, a smile came from the former, a loud cheer from the latter.
Having a supportive surrounding was nice.