unexpected → ponyboyxdaniel

chapter three

     Daniel ran through the halls at school, attempting to find Ali first. He needed to talk to her.
     How could he be so stupid? He forgot a date with his own girlfriend. The guilt was killing him the night before, he couldn't sleep. All he thought about was Ali, and how he knew he hurt her.
     He caught sight of that blonde hair, and he shoved through the crowd. "Ali! Hey, Ali, wait up!" Daniel slowed when he came up to her, at her locker. "Ali, look, I'm really sorry, it's all my fault, I'm horrible, I know-"
     Daniel heard the faint sound of sniffling. "...Ali? Are you crying..?"
     Ali never cries. This was new to Daniel. Ali turned around, looking up at him. Tears stained her face. "I don't know who you are these past few days- or who you've been trying to be- but I'm not having it. I'm sick and tired of feeling pushed aside. Until you can get your shit together, don't come find me, Daniel. We're done." Ali shoved past Daniel, harshly bumping shoulders with him.
     Daniel was left standing there, a look of complete shock on his face. He didn't even know what the hell just happened.

     Ali broke up with him.

     Daniel was a wreck the rest of the day. Zoned out, quiet, sensitive. I mean, his girlfriend just dumped him, of course he wasn't going to be bright and happy.            Especially lunch.

     Daniel sat alone at a table now, glancing over at Ali, who was sitting with a group of her girl friends. He was alone again, like he was when he first came to the school.

     He suddenly felt someone grab his wrist and pull him away from the table.
     "Woah, hey, man, ow-" he followed the person out of the lunch room, and in to the janitors closet. Daniel saw it was Ponyboy.
     "Pony. Hey, uh- what's going on?" Daniel asked, confused on why they left the lunch room anyway. Pony shrugged a little, "I didn't think you wanted to talk about what happened around anybody. And, we can't just stay out here or we'll be caught, so now we're in here. I heard about Ali. All the guys are talking about it. I'm sure they're waiting for their chance to jump at her." Pony crossed his arms.
     Daniel was actually relieved they were away from the students now, because Pony was right - he couldn't talk about this around people. "It's fine. Really. It's my fault. I missed the date."
     Pony sighed, "well, now I feel bad. That wouldn't have happened if you didn't go to that stupid party with me. I'm really sorry."
     Daniel shook his head, "no, don't blame yourself. It was my own stupid self forgetting plans. I've been terrible to her lately."
     Pony rested a reassuring hand on Daniel's shoulder, "don't beat yourself up." He whispered. No one said a word after that. They just stared at each other.
     Suddenly, they both leaned in, fast, kissing each other - hard. Pony pressed Daniel against the wall, Daniel's arms moving around Pony's neck.

      'What am I doing?' Daniel thought to himself. He didn't know what he was involved in right now, what he was feeling - but all he knew was, for some odd reason, he really did not want it to end.

     Ponyboy broke the kiss, only to connect his lips to Daniel's neck. "The bell is gonna ring, Pony, we gotta go-" Daniel breathed out, closing his eyes.
     "Class can wait," Pony muttered, kissing back up to Daniel's lips.
      Daniel reached over to the shades as he kissed Ponyboy, tugging them down, moving his arm back around the other boy's neck.

     Daniel couldn't focus the rest of the day at school. All he thought about was kissing Ponyboy, and why he did it. Why did he kiss him? What urged him to? What did he feel for Pony? What did Pony feel for him? Daniel just got out of a relationship with Ali, and now this was happening. Well, maybe this is one reason why his relationship with Ali was weakening. Maybe he felt something for somebody else, without knowing it. Maybe Daniel was starting to realize it.

     Daniel walked over to Ali's house after school, thinking they should at least talk about the breakup. He walked up the steps, knocking on the door. He stayed when he saw Ali's parents weren't home.
     Ali opened up the door, looking surprised to see Daniel. "Daniel, um, hi. What's up?" She smiled a little.
     "I wanted to talk to you. Tell you that I'm really, really sorry. And you made your decision, I get it, I do, but I didn't want to just not say goodbye." Daniel shrugged slightly.
   Ali sighed quietly to herself. "It's alright. I mean, I'm upset that I had to be driven to that point, of course, but I respect your feelings for Ponyboy."
    Daniel looked confused. "Woah, what? My feelings for- what do you mean?"
     "Daniel, it's obvious. It's okay. I'm not mad that it just happened, because it did just happen. You and I can still be friends, but I don't want you feeling like you're wasting your time." Ali walked back in to her house, closing the door.
     Daniel looked down, rolling his eyes, walking away.

     He went back home to the apartment, walking through the gate. Daniel was walking toward the stairs, when he passed Pony's apartment. He figured he should stop by and say something.

     What was there to say, though?
     'Oh, hey, we kissed, what's up.'
     'Hey, I may have a slight crush on you, but what was the math homework?'

     Daniel finally worked up enough courage to knock on the door. After a few moments, Ponyboy opened it. "Daniel-" he smiled. "Hey."
     Daniel smiled back a little, "hey, Pony. Look, I think we should talk about today."
     Pony nodded a little, "the kiss? Yeah. We kissed, and, um.. I liked it, but.. Did you?"
     Daniel didn't know what to say. Of course he liked it. "Um- I think we shouldn't really bring it up. It was an accident. Yeah." He backed up, turning around, walking upstairs to his apartment.

     Ponyboy stood there, an expression of hurt on his face. He slowly closed the door.

     Daniel walked in to his apartment, closing the door. He hated that he just did that to Ponyboy, but he had a lot to figure out for himself.

     "Ma? I'm home from school," he dropped his backpack off on the couch. Daniel looked around, not seeing his mother, Lucille. He walked over to the fridge, and suddenly saw her unconscious on the floor, a drink next to her. Daniel didn't know what happened, but he had to get her some help. He ran out of his apartment and down to Pony's, knocking on the door quickly. "Pony, man, open up! Seriously!"
     Pony opened the door, "what? What's going on?"
     Daniel grabbed Pony's hand, pulling him up to his apartment, showing him his mother. Pony picked up the drink, "is she allergic to anything?"
     Daniel shrugged, "I-I don't know-"
     Pony nodded, "she probably is. Come on. We need to get her to a hospital."