~Cicada~ Johnny Cade x male reader

Flaming Denim-Wearing Angel

(A/N) this one is also gonna be slightly different than cannon bc I can't remember exactly how it pans out but I'm taking the creative liberty to change it anyways

          About a week goes by, pretty much the same as our first day there. A lot of peanut butter and jelly and getting our asses handed to us in poker by Johnny.  At this point I'm probably in cigarette debt if anything. This morning wasn't any different. At least, until there was stirring outside of the church. I was the first to bolt up, peering warily out the window. Not taking any chances, I sprint over and shake the other boys awake. Johnny groans and Ponyboy grumbles, "What'd ya have to do that for?" I roll my eyes and respond in a hushed tone, "Sorry sleeping beauty, but we've got a visitor."

          Both of their faces pale. "A...a good visitor or a bad one?" Johnny asks in a whisper. I shrug. "But I ain't takin' any chances, so get your asses up and hide." They both scramble behind me to duck at the window. Then, when Johnny sees the familiar figure sauntering up to the doorway, he grins wildly. Hopping up, he eagerly meets the boy at the door. "Dallas!" He exclaims. The hardened blonde looks down at Johnny, a harsh fondness in his eyes. He ruffles his hair and says, "Yeah, missed ya, kid." He steps in and looks at me and Pony crouching by the window.

          Pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, he takes a drag and muses, "Hey, what, did ya think I was the cops or something? And what happened to the kid's hair? Looks like he caught wheat-fever from the locals!" He snickers at his own joke about this residential farmer town and Ponyboy rolls his eyes. "Blonde now, eh? You like more like a retriever than a pony to me. Oughta call you Puppyboy now!" Dallas keeps cracking jokes, much to Pony's annoyance. Then, Dally hands Pony a letter from his brothers, which Johnny reads over his shoulder. He gets this guilty look on his face, but that leaves my mind as Dallas mentions food. My ears perk up. Eating PB&Js for a week is not a path I'd recommend, so the idea of getting something to eat makes my mouth water instantly.

          Dallas decides to take up to Dairy Queen, Pony in the front and Johnny and I in the back of his red car, where we all get bundles of BBQ sandwiches. I guess Johnny was ravenous because he immediately dug in animalistically. Looks like he was also tired of peanut butter and jelly. Dally and Pony were talking about something in the front, but it sounded personal, so I decided to think of something to distract myself. Then, I grin and nudge Johnny with my elbow. "Bet I can finish all of my sandwiches before you." We each got three in our bundles. He also cracks a grin. "We'll see about that." We both dig in, eating quickly trying to beat one another.

         I won, obviously. Even though I may not be good at poker, I'm pretty half-decent in eating competitions. I used to enter when the rodeos came to town because they paid decent money, and started winning after a while. I look smugly over at Johnny, putting a hand out at him and snickering. He rolls his eyes and hands over three cigarettes, much to my happiness. We get ready to go back to the church, backing out, when Johnny does something unexpected.

          He mentions going back home and turning himself in. I furrow my brows and look at him. "Man, we're already far too deep in this. No matter what, it won't be good for any of us." Johnny argues with me until Dallas pipes up. Dally goes on to tell him that jail will mess him up, turn Johnny cold like it did him, and he didn't want to see that happen. The rest of the trip was quiet and awkward. As we got closer to the church, however, I started to smell something akin to a campfire. We make it over the hill when we see it: the church reduced to kindling for a raging orange beast, and children and teachers crowd around it.

          Johnny, being the person he is, didn't even wait for the car to fully stop before vaulting over the door, despite Dallas's warnings. Ponyboy and I followed suit, questioning the larger teacher about whether or not there were kids inside. He confirmed there were, and we sprang into action. Boy, was it hot. We all made it in, and located the kids fast, as the building was an open layout even with the fallen pieces of lumber all over the place. They were near a window, so we sprinted over and started picking them up and handing them to Dallas who stood on the outside. "Did that guy not follow us?" Pony asked, picking up a kid and handing him to me.

          "Nah, I think he was too scared," I chuckle. Johnny cracks a grin, handing another kid out the window. "Or too fat!" I laugh, grabbing the final kid and handing him to Dallas.

CRRRRACK

"AUGHH!!"

         I didn't even know what had happened. It was a blur. I tried to take in my smoky surroundings as everything moved in slow motion. A hand grabbed Pony and yanked him through the window, and Johnny was nowhere to be seen. Then, he was. I looked down, and he was pinned under a flaming support beam. Panick and adrenaline set in. I think Dally was yelling, and Johnny's mouth was moving, slighty but enough to look like it was forming words. The only thing I could hear was the crackles of the hungry flames. Not even taking a chance to think, I lift the beam off of him and push it, not even noticing the coughs that were forcing from my throat. My hands burned, but the feeling was delayed until I dragged Johnny out of the building.

          It was only when I saw his body fall from my arms and onto the grass that everything hit. I collapsed beside him, coughing wildly and looking at my hands. They were burnt pretty bad on the palms, and I had a few large splinters poking out of them. My skin was covered in ash, and as the adrenaline faded away, so did my consciousness.