♡ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱᴀʏ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ♡

2 8

He pulled away and smiled at me before turning to Soda. "You need to get back to work, too."

"What about me?" Pony asked.

Darry looked at him for a second, then glanced at his watch. "I guess you could stay home for the rest of the day."

Pony's eyes lit up in momentary celebration before Soda came over and threw an arm around his shoulder. "Aw, you lucky duck," he said, grinning wildly as he put him in a headlock.

Pony smiled shyly and playfully shoved him away. "Lay off, Soda."

"Alright, you two," Darry sighed as he started towards the door, "let Cary get some rest. Johnny, you comin'?"

As bad as it may sound, I had nearly forgotten Johnny was there, he was so quiet. "Yeah." He said shortly, standing up quickly and making his way to the door.

His shoulders were slightly slumped as he walked, his feet sort of dragging against the tile. He seemed distant, and I don't mean because he wasn't saying much, I mean because of the fixated look in his eyes and droid-like movements he made.

Johnny was always quiet, but he was never distant. He was always alert and aware, nervous and jumpy. But never distant, and I had a feeling it was because of me.

After Soda and Pony said their goodbyes, they filed out of the room behind Darry, leaving Johnny to be the last one. He lingered in the doorway as if his legs wouldn't carry him any farther, and after hesitating for a few seconds, he turned to face me.

He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to—his eyes said plenty. His normally sweet chocolate irises seemed darker than I remembered them, now full of pungent hurt and poignant sadness.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no noise came out. Before I could do anything, he turned back and walked away, as if looking at me gave him the ability to move, allowing the door to close behind him with a deafening click.

Again, I was left, completely alone, in the room with nothing to keep me company except for the buzzing lights and the suffocating sea of my own thoughts.

I closed my eyes, stupidly hoping that maybe, just maybe, I would wake up in my bedroom next to Johnny.

Because then, none of this would be real. I could just...forget.

And in that moment, there was nothing more I wanted than that.

~

(Darry's POV)

I drove home that night in silence.

It had only been about three hours since the hospital visit, after which Soda dropped Ponyboy and Johnny at the house before taking me to work and going back to the DX himself in Steve's car.

Now, I was driving in my truck, on my way home to a situation that I hadn't decided if I was ready or not to face.

Let's be honest—I was never ready to go home. I was never ready to get the cold shoulder from Ponyboy, and I was never ready to worry my head off about Cary walking home alone at night.

I guess that now, I didn't have to worry about that.

My point is, it was hard for me to enjoy being home anymore. I tolerated it. And I hated that I had to.

Pretty soon, I pulled in front of the house and parked the car, taking a breath before opening the door.

I assumed that Ponyboy and Johnny were upstairs, because they weren't anywhere in the front room. I hoped, anyways.

It made me sick that I couldn't protect them. They always seemed to be getting hurt. Mom and Dad left them in my hands. Mine. And I couldn't keep them safe.