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The view in front of him was blurry as Ponyboy stared at nothing but blue and fuzzy white. He knew sunlight was shining on him, and it was burning on his skin. His right hand was next to his head, left on top of his stomach where he felt the soft fabric of his shirt. The floral smell around him was prominent. The fuzzy white things he was staring at were slowly drifting along. The sunlight burned on his skin. The dirt that he was laying on had rocks stabbing into his clothes, and he could feel it on his skin.
He didn't know how long he had been out here, nor how he got out.
“Ponyboy?” A quiet voice from maybe forty feet away called out. He turned his head to stare at the blurry figure. The figure sighed and started moving towards him. “‘Course you're out here.”
“What's that ‘posed to mean?” Ponyboy called back. His vision cleared a little bit as he focused, and he saw trees (the ones close to him were clear, the far ones were still blurred) along with broken down cars.
The figure stood above him, hand in their pockets. He focused and saw Johnny's face, the sun behind him, creating a bright cast behind his head and exposing the friziness of his hair. “‘M just not surprised.” He shrugged as he said that, pulling his hands out of his pockets and putting them on his hips instead.
Ponyboy lazily looked the other up and down before sighing slowly, coughing once as he turned to look back at the sky. “What's happenin’?”
“I gotta drag you back home,” Johnny said shortly.
“Ah.” Ponyboy held out his left arm and felt fingers wrap around his wrist, tugging him up to a standing position. He stumbled a little after he stood up, holding onto the person holding him for balance.
“How long have you been out here?”
“I don't really know.”
Johnny exhaled through his teeth as they began walking. “I'm not surprised, once again.”
Ponyboy looked at him with a small grimace, glancing back to where he just was, seeing it get blurry again. “I was comfortable.”
“Connecting with nature?”
“Sure, you could call it that.”
Johnny shook his head silently and still held onto him as they continued walking. The only material against his arm that Ponyboy registered was denim, and then the rest of his senses were just I'm hot. It's hot. I'm burning up. Sunlight. He felt a little bit like a plant. They turned towards a house at some point and headed up the porch. He lost balance again and slumped against a white pillar, squeezing his eyes shut. When he reopened them, everything was blurry again. He knew who was in front of him, but he didn't want to. He wanted to go back and lay in the dirt. His ears were ringing.
“Pone.”
“C'mon, you've gotta get up.”
Johnny's voice finally became clear. “Do I need to get Darry?”
“No,” Ponyboy quickly responded and stood up again, rejecting an offer to hold onto the other's arm for balance.
They walked inside the house in silence. The living room was unnervingly quiet. “I found him in the lot, he's a little unstable,” Johnny called out, walking over to the couch as a first decision, both of them sitting down. The younger didn't even move to curl up and get close like he normally would. “Doesn't know how long he's been out in the sun.”
Ponyboy stared at the carpet and zoned out, everything getting blurry again. A figure walked over and kneeled down in front of him, a soft smile on their face.
“Honey, you okay?”
“Soda, I don't… think he really registers anything in his head right now.”
The figure sighed and got up. Ponyboy laid down and felt a cold material against his cheek. He knew it was the couch. He closed his eyes. A muffled conversation happened around him. He turned his head and pressed his forehead against the coldness, curling up. A hand gently met the small of his back for a few seconds and Johnny appeared knelt down on the floor in front of the couch when he opened his eyes and turned his head. His bangs were brushed out of his forehead, the longer strands tucked behind his ears.
“What?” Ponyboy whispered.
“Just checkin’ if you're okay,” Johnny reassured him quietly, hand pulling away then down so they could hold hands. He ran his thumb over his knuckles. He took an ice pack from someone with his free hand. “What do you remember?” Ponyboy stared at him without answering, feeling a cold feeling on his neck where the ice pack was settled. He blinked for a long time. “Pone? Need you to answer me, please.”
“It was blurry outside,” was the only sentence uttered after a minute, then added on, “it was hot.”
“How'd you get out there?”
“I dunno.”
Johnny sighed and stared at their hands for a little, turning their hands over a few times, noticing a similar scar they had on their forearms. “You probably overheated.” Ponyboy watched him (didn't listen) with half-awake eyes before moving his pointer finger and raising it to poke the other in the face. He was aiming for his cheek, ended up poking his mouth instead, accidentally startling him. “What was that for?”
“I don't know.”
“Please don’t do that.” Ponyboy raised his pointer finger again and Johnny pulled his face away. “Ponyboy, I said no. We aren't gonna hold hands if you keep this up.”
“No!”
“Then stop jabbin’ me.”
“Sure.”
Ponyboy zoned out again and stared at the carpet. The figure from earlier came back and spoke for a little with Johnny. Sodapop, the youngest of the three realized.
“He overheated.”
“Shoot, really?”
“I think. How can you tell?”
“No idea, Johnnycakes. D'ya mind staying with him for a bit?”
“No, I've never minded that.”
“‘Kay, good. ‘M goin’ to try and get Darry back here.”
Johnny gave Sodapop a thumbs up as he stood up. Ponyboy focused again and stared at the former, who stared back him. A thumb ran over his knuckles again and he relaxed.
“We're tryin’ again,” Johnny announced as he walked into Ponyboy's bedroom, tossing his jean jacket on the end of the bed and sitting down behind the other.
Ponyboy turned his head. It had been an hour and a half since he was found in the lot, and he was regaining his senses. The curtains blocked out the light from the window so he wouldn't just think sun. His thoughts were starting to make sense again. “Okay.”
“How long were you out there?”
“Uhm…” he paused. “Couple hours? That's my guess. How many points do I get?”
“Jeez, okay, uh… five? Actually, none.”
“Aw, man…”
Johnny smiled a little. “How'd you get out there?”
Ponyboy turned onto his back. Nausea. “Er… walked?”
“Reasonable. How do you feel?”
“Nauseous, and tired, and hot, and I want to lie in the sun again. Connect to nature.”
“Nope, you ain't doing that.”
Ponyboy rolled his eyes. Johnny pushed his hair out of his eyes again. “What other questions…?”
“No, just need you to rest for a bit.”
“Can you stay?”
Johnny's smile widened. “Yeah.”
Ponyboy looked back at him and the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled in return. They moved positions and ended up with the younger curling up at the older's side, close once more.
And wasn't burning up, instead comfortable.