Hide or Fight

Chapter 6 - Golden Blond.

Soda's POV

Warm. That's all I could feel right now. Well, not exactly. I felt strong arms holding my torso tightly. Not in a bad oh my god, I can't breathe manor, though. The arms had a reassuring, comforting hold of my body. I felt a breath on my neck which sent tiny shivers up my spine. The air smelled like cigarettes and laundry detergent. That's what Dally always smelled like. He never smelled like anything else. When you pulled him into a hug or even just stood next to him, that's his particular scent.

His scent is like a drug. Hmm... Dally... I smiled at the dreamy thought of his name in my head. I then reddened when I remembered that the cigarettes, laundry detergent, and strong arms that were holding me were Dally's. I snuggled into him even more, emitting a sleepy groan from him. His arms held me tighter. I sighed with content and used the hand that I was sleeping on to lace our fingers together.

The heat radiating from Dally's body felt extremely good on my skin. The night air was cold, but with the human heater I had to cuddle next to me, I could barely tell. Light breaths coming from his nose sent waves of balmy air over my skin.

I set my chin on his hard chest and looked up at his resting face. I slowly began to leave light, feathery kisses over his chest. It only took a few before I heard Dally let out a small moan and saw his eyes flutter open. His sleepy gaze took time to adjust to the dim light in the room before he looked down at me and into my eyes. We only stared for a few quiet moments until he took his hand and tilted my chin up. I leaned onto my forearms for leverage, letting our hands slip apart, as we slowly leaned towards each other. Our noses just barely skimmed together before the door of the room slammed open.

I instantly jumped off of Dally from the unexpected sound with a yelp. Pony didn't say anything as he sprinted into the bathroom.

"What the fuck?" Dally whispered with eyes as wide as mine.

We didn't hear anything for a few seconds before, finally, Pony hollered at the top of his lungs, "Jonathan Andrew Cade, I'm going to kill you!"

Pony ran out of the room again, but this time, I saw what I was pretty sure Pony was screaming about. His hair was bleached—again—but this time it was an even lighter shade of blond. My eyes widened at the sight because once Pony had gotten his hair back to it's normal color, he'd sworn to God that he'd never bleach it again.

"Were my eyes mistaken, or was his hair golden blond?" Dally asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was," I responded with a hint of awe in my voice. I shrugged and sighed, snuggling back into Dallas. I'd find out what was going on with Pony's hair later.

Johnny's POV

Once I heard Pony's scream, my first instinct was to run.

Back at the lot, a place Pony and I hang around when we want some alone time, I finished trying to bleach Pony's hair and poured some water on it from the bottle I had. It turns out, an entire bottle of peroxide is just a bit too much... I accidentally said, "oops," out loud, and he raced home to check his reflection.

So that was how I ended up hiding behind a very confused Darry in the Curtis brothers' living room, waiting for Pony to come and kill me. At that moment, Pony ran out of his and Soda's room with a furious expression on his face. His newly golden blond hair was soaked and disheveled on top of his head as he stalked towards me.

"Ponyboy..." Darry spoke in disbelief. "What happened to your hair?"

Pony stopped in front of Darry, keeping his glare on my face that was peeking out around his older brother. Pointing an accusing finger at me, Pony growled out, "That! That happened to me!"

"Hey, it doesn't look that bad!" I argued.

"Alright, I don't need more drama. I'm out," Darry said before leaving the room (and me) to suffer from Pony's anger.

"You ruined my hair," Pony said, uncomfortably calm.

Before I could answer, he had tackled me to the ground and pinned my hands next to my head as his legs straddled my midsection. I stared up at him with wide eyes, waiting for the blow that was sure to come from his revenge-seeking fists.

Frantically, I began to talk, not really sure of what I was saying, but not wanting to take on Pony's wrath.

"Come on, Mikey, I'm sorry! I didn't think your hair would turn out so light, but you don't need to hit me for that! Don't worry, Babe, it looks good, sexy even, I promise! Do you really want to hit the guy that loves you, Babe? And besides, now I can—and will; I, oh, so, promise that I will—touch you, hug you, hold you, kiss you. And, you're my boyfriend now, right, Babe? Don't hit me, please, Mike—"

"Wait, wait, wait, go back," Pony interrupted my desperate speech for him not to hit me.

"Go back? What do you mean? Go back where, Mikey?"

"Go back! Go back in what you were saying just then, go back!" he exclaimed with a squeak in his voice.

I tried to recall what I had just been saying before asking uncertainly, "When I called you 'Babe'? Do you not like that pet name? I'm sorry, Mikey, just don't hi—"

"No! Not the pet name, after that!"

"You mean me touching you? Of course I will, you bleached your hair for me, and I promised I wouldn't tease you anymore. Now please, Mike—"

"Before that, Johnny!"

"The boyfriend part?"

He hit me. Right on my shoulder. Since he let go of my arm to do it, I cradled the painful spot in my newly free hand. My eyes widened, and my mouth opened in a silent scream of pain.

"Ow! That's abuse, Pony! Why did you hit me?" I whined.

"The love part!"

"Wha—" I started, my face contorting into a confused expression before I finally remembered what I had said. I love the little twerp sitting on top of me. Sitting on top of me. Sitting on top of me and not holding my hands anymore—PG, Johnny! Keep it PG.

I let my head fall back and onto the ground as a breathy laugh escaped my mouth and a smiled adorned my face. My hands found their way to his hips as my eyes closed and my smile—if anything—got even wider.

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis," I started, "I am head over heels in love with you, and I have been for so long, that I'm pretty sure I was going to explode if I didn't tell you anytime soon."

After a few moments, I felt the softest hands cup my jaw and tilt my head up. Finally, a whisper broke the silence, "Open your eyes for me, Johnnycakes."

I did, and my eyes met the pair of greenish–grey eyes that I would love to look into for the rest of my life.

"Say it again, Babe."

A soft smile was on my face as I whispered back to him, "I love you, Ponyboy. So, so much."

Without warning, his lips were on mine. I moved my hands so one was holding the back of his neck, keeping him in place, and my other hand was combing through his damp hair.

When we both needed air, he pulled back so his lips were brushing mine as he spoke, "You have no idea how long I have waited to hear those words from you, Johnny Cade. I love you so damn much, Babe."

A groan of pure pleasure from hearing those words came from my throat before I pulled his lips back to mine, and I kissed the life out of the boy I love.