♡ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱᴀʏ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ♡

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(Johnny's POV)

It seemed so surreal. She glided her delicate fingers through my hair, making my scalp tingle as my lips were graced with her sweet taste of vanilla and strawberries. She smelled of roses and lavender from her newly shampooed hair that fell through my fingers as I wrapped my hands around her waist. Her fingers like delicate feathers traveled down my spine, giving me oddly pleasant shivers.

Then she told me she loved me. I know I heard it before, but I didn't think it was real: a mere hallucination. But this was real, her voice gracefully smooth as it escaped her chapstick lips. I told her I loved her too, and to this, she leaned her forehead against mine and closed her eyes, and I followed suit. Her warm breath caressed my lips as we held each other, and my body was flushed with a pleasant, ethereal sort of warmth.

I could've stayed there forever and been happy, but like all good things, it had to come to an end.

An abrupt end, at that, because as we were dead silent and calmly still, stomping came from the porch, startling us apart and the cold of the empty air came between us again. Flustered, I searched for anything to do, and decided to return to fiddling with the toaster as I had been before Cary came in. The two pieces of bread I had put in bobbed up and down as I struggled, but this was merely a cover-up for what just happened.

Two-Bit's jolly voice bellowed through the house, and then I knew he had at least two beers that day.

"Guess who's home!" The screeching sound of the screen door slamming shut was followed by him kicking his boots off and bounding into the kitchen.

"Where ya been, Two?" I asked, desperately trying to hide my frazzlement.

He didn't seem to notice because he kept talking. "Eh, ya know, places." He cocked his eyebrow at me then turned to Cary, who was shuffling things around in the icebox pointlessly. "Ya feelin' better, kiddo?"

She nodded. "A bit." Her voice was small but cheery, and I could tell that she, too, was trying to cover up recent events.

I saw a gleam of concern flash across his face as he leaned against the threshold of the doorway, his eyes scanning over Cary as if he didn't believe her. Two-Bit could be oblivious, but he wasn't stupid. I silently prayed he couldn't tell she was flustered.

"Alright, Car," he said, slapping his hand against the threshold, "just make sure to keep up on that aspirin. Darry's gonna wring me out if you ain't been doin' it and I'm the one on babysitting duty." He cocked his eyebrow at her, his signature look if he was saying something sarcastic.

"Watch your words, Mathews," Cary hissed playfully, "or you're gonna be in two bits."

Two-Bit laughed and put his hands up. "I can only respect that one—that was good." He walks over to her, and by the way he had his hand way out behind her, I could tell he was gonna slap her on the back like he does the guys, but then quickly settled for a pat on the shoulder. "You really are feelin' better. Naps help, huh?"

"Yeah," Cary said as she looked at me mischievously, trying to hold back a smile, "sure they do." I'd never seen her look at me that way, but oh boy, did it give me butterflies. I quickly turned back to the toaster as I felt myself blushing. Man, I was so stupid. I still don't know why Cary was the one who made the first move.

I got butterflies thinking about it: her taste, her feel in my hands, the tingles her fingers sent down my spine when she touched me.

Two-Bit bounced back to the living room, leaving Cary and I alone in the kitchen again. I felt her come up behind me, and I turned to see butter in her hands. She set it down on the counter next to me and laughed. "Need help?"