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Nights were precarious times.
Sleep in if you didn't have anything going on the next day, or go to bed early if your day was packed the next day. Try not to flip and flop too much, you might wake up drenched in sweat.
The worst of all the things that could happen: having a test you forgot to study for that would be the next day. Who particularly does that on time, anyways? Nobody. Don't lie. Ponyboy was suffering through that at the moment, sitting at his desk, tapping the end of his pencil on the book he was reading, zoning in and out. He was aware of the pain and tingling in his hand that was holding up his head, too focused to care anyways. The lamp suspiciously clipped to one of the shelves on the desk was helping light up the book. His eyes went over the page tiredly and reread paragraphs over and over again. He knew the lack of sleep wouldn't help him tomorrow, he knew it'd end up kicking his ass. He didn’t particularly care, he mainly knew he wanted a cigarette, but he couldn't. He had to focus.
Arms circled around his shoulders from behind and he sat up pretty quickly, turning his head as dark hair brushed against his cheek whilst a weight settled on his shoulder.
"You've gotta go to bed, Pone," Johnny mumbled. He had been sleeping over for the past few days, much to Darry's dismay (partially due to Ponyboy and Johnny's relationship, which was unfortunately romantic, which caused doors to always be open) also gladness that he had a safe spot to go to.
Ponyboy sighed, his shoulders relaxing a little when he realized who it was. He didn't even realize he was tensed. "I can't." He quietly put down his pencil, putting his hands over his partner's.
"You can and you need to," Johnny reminded him, tapping his finger a few times against the other's collarbone.
"But—"
"Ponyboy."
Ponyboy took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, looking back at his textbook. He wasn't in the mood to argue with Johnny over something little, because he knew fully his boyfriend would say something that he couldn't deny. He chewed on the inside of his bottom lip, since he couldn’t chew on his nails at the moment. Lips brushed against his cheek, before arms pulled away from his shoulders and hands away from his chest.
He still craved a cigatte, and he felt as if his head was on panic mode and was trying to recollect everything that had been taught in the past few months. In which, it quite literally was, just a few more thoughts in there alongside the wishy-washy state of everything. He had made a promise the other day (or was it a week ago?) to quit smoking when he got sick and couldn't stay awake for too long.
The mattress to his right creaked after Johnny sat down at the edge. Ponyboy tapped his foot, his knee shaking. He eventually sighed after a few seconds and grabbed his lighter from a drawer, grabbing his jacket with a weight in the right pocket.
"What're you doing?" Johnny asked quietly.
"Er…" Ponyboy hesitated, pausing halfway towards the door, turning the lighter over in his hand. "Just want to go outside for a little bit. Fresh air."
"With a lighter?"
Ponyboy stared at his partner silently, before shrugging and walking out. Johnny watched him go, dropping his shoulders in slight disappointment before laying down, crossing his ankles after pulling the sheets above his body. He felt something poking his leg, and found a small hair clip. He furrowed his eyebrows before leaning over and putting it on the desk beside the bed, before going back to laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. The ceiling that they would use flashlights to cast shadow puppets on. The ceiling that once had a rain leak in it when a storm got real bad one night.
Five minutes went back. Then ten. Then fifteen. It was twenty minutes of tossing and turning when Ponyboy finally came back, running a hand through his hair nervously. The collar of his shirt had a faint water stain, though it wasn't very obvious. You had to squint, and it was dark in the room anyways. Johnny turned his head towards him when the weight in the mattress had shifted. He turned over and moved to rest his head on his partner's chest, closing his eyes.
"What'd you do?" He asked quietly, even though he smelt the faint smell of cigarette smoke on his shirt. When there wasn't a response, he lifted his head to look at him and raise an eyebrow.
Ponyboy smiled at him and brushed it off with a shrug, shifting a little to be in a halfway up and partially laying down position. "Just sat outside for a little."
Johnny frowned. "Honey…"
Ponyboy's smile faltered a little and he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his boyfriend's lips before pulling back and laying back down. Johnny didn't reciprocate the kiss when it happened, and he could taste the faint hint of smoke on his lips. He didn't question further and laid back down, curling up at his side. He took a deep breath and turned his head away from the wall, his nose brushing against shirt fabric.
There weren't anymore questions posed. Johnny figured Ponyboy would come to him and talk when he wanted to, but it didn't really ever happen.
And it likely would never happen.