(The photo above is a base I drew over a long time ago, but forgot existed until a few days ago. Thought it was funny 😂)
Johnny chuckled quietly to himself as he looked left and right, currently standing at the front of his best friend Ponyboy's house. Since the ravenette didn't really attend high school anymore or might not have even been enrolled, he was free to do whatever he pleased while Pony suffered inside the high school. If you are wondering what the dark eyed boy was up to, well, I'll tell you.
Johnny was planning to scare his friend, y'know, like any friend does; it was a prank kind of thing, and he was going to hide somewhere in the other's room, so whenever the brunette walked close enough to him, he'd jump out and scare him. He laughed just thinking about it, it was mainly just for funsies, and he was bored anyways, so why wouldn't this be a good idea?
Johnny had checked his surroundings yet again before taking in a breath, casually walking up to the front door and sneaking inside like he lived there. Well, he was over here more than his own home, but he didn't live there; yet still at the back of his mind, he always hoped he was never bothering anyone. Anyways, the dark skinned boy made sure to take off his probably muddy shoes before walking onto the carpet; carrying them silently with him up the stairs.
Yet, something made him stop in place, he was caught staring at all of the photos that were hanging on the walls of the staircase; and Johnny's somehow never noticed them before. There was one picture frame that just had him zoned out as he looked, it was a picture of all three of the Curtis brothers with their mom and dad; in this specific one though, all of them looked happy and weren't worried about the consequences of the future.
Darrel, the eldest brother of the three, was seen with a grin on his face as his father gave him a friendly rub to his head, the 18 year old boy from a year or two ago trying to smack his hands away happily. Then there was Sodapop on the opposite side, standing beside their outstanding looking mother, a big ol' grin on his face too, the same one he still has now, except the one in the picture was an innocent grin that nobody their age or older could have now.
And last but not least, 12 year old Ponyboy Curtis stood in between the older brothers, a cheesy but cute looking smile on his face too while the dog they used to have licked at his freckly face. Johnny could only stare at him specifically though. Pony was too young to have to deal with the death of his mom and dad, he was only 13, and it hurt him bad. All three of them didn't deserve it, it was unfair, and the pale 14 year old always told him that.
Darry had to quit school after their parents died and started work to pay for bills and had to raise his own brothers, Soda worked too to help with this, and Ponyboy had horrible nightmares that lead to Sodapop having to sleep in the same room as him. Sometimes, the teen would vent to Johnny about all of it, and he'd listen. He felt so bad for them, the whole family, but there's not a whole lot you can do. So, he suggested Pony moved on, not in a mean way if course, thus beginning the star gazing and sunset watching; Ponyboy always said it calmed him, watching the sky turn from blue, to an orange and yellowish hue, then to a starry night sky, all the while speaking to the ravenette as they watched.
Johnny loved it, of course, the close bonding with him and his best friend; but he always felt the need to help his friend, if he had the ability to revive his parents, he'd do it in a heartbeat just to see him truly happy again like he was in that picture. The puppy eyed boy hesitated, but soon allowed his index finger to shakily lean towards the framed photo before his fingertip landed right on the past Pony's cheek; the ravenette dragging it down slowly with no words, just pure silence.
That is of course, until the doorknob to the front door clicked, and there was a creak as the door was pushed open; Johnny flinching away from the photo before running up the stairs, but accidentally dropped a converse onto one of the steps as he snuck up to the rooms - not even thinking about grabbing it, it would ruin the prank! So, he rushed into the room he knew was his friend's, peering around with a quick pace to decide his hiding spot.
He was so nervous, he made it worse by just hearing the first step the boy made on the stairs; Johnny soon just rushing over to the closet and getting inside, setting the one shoe he had down and was about to shut the door, but Ponyboy had already walked into the room without a clue - throwing his backpack onto the floor as usual before throwing himself onto the bed, the 16 year old glad he was too busy getting over the 30 second blast of anxiety to giggle at his antics.
And just to be clear, the closet this room had inside had these little slits in the doors so you could see the outside from the inside and vice versa; well, it was actually kind of dark in this closet so, he was sure that the brunette wouldn't be able to see him, which worked almost perfectly - if he had time to plan the whole thing out as soon as he got here, it would have been easier, but he was too caught up thinking about his best friend's life... which was kind of weird, now that he thought about it.
All he could really do know was watch, watch what the other did by himself, it eventually kind of got pretty boring though; Ponyboy never walked by the closet once, he did his homework, read, went downstairs a couple times, and was now writing in a little book at the desk that was set up right by the window. Johnny was, as expected, curious as to what it was, but he wouldn't be stupid and just suddenly exit the closet with a "Boo!", that's just dumb. Well, to him it was.
This was a full proof plan he was going to succeed at, but he had to have the patience to do it, so he continued to wait. The ravenette occasionally wondered if the other could feel his eyes on him or not, it seemed that the gray eyed teen kept looking behind him or running a hand through his dark brown hair, and that usually meant he was nervous. But the more Johnny inspected him, the more... the more he noticed how sly Ponyboy was trying to be at that moment, looking around every couple minutes at the slightest of sounds while having an arm around the book, as if to hide something he didn't want anybody else to see.
It made the dark toned male kind of worried actually, he really hoped it wasn't something awful, or something Pony thought he couldn't tell anyone, then he'd feel guilty for not being a good enough friend... But somehow, he was wrong. His intentions of how the other would be feeling once he stood up was assumed incorrectly, because the freckled, broken teen stood with a beautiful and loving looking smile on his face as soon as he turned around; and it instantly reminded Johnny of the picture on the wall.
That smile that meant there was hope in the world, or that of an innocent child growing to believe the world would be good to them, but why? What was the reasoning behind it? The ravenette still watched as the boy flopped himself on his bed yet again, but this time, staring up at his ceiling as he grinned; like he'd won an award, or was given a compliment by the right person. But Ponyboy was happy, and the puppy eyed kid loved to see it, heart pumping unknowingly in his own chest as he stared at the one who had no idea he was being watched.
"God, I love him..."
Johnny's eyebrows instantly rose. Him? Was Pony gay? Or was he talking about his brothers...? Or the gang, maybe-? Did he mishear? Now the sneaky teen was very confused, and wanted more than anything to ask the other what he meant by that; or simply who it was. The brunette had him all sorts of curious from head to toe! But he wasn't planning on giving up his plan just yet, he was sure Ponyboy would walk by the doors eventually... but once again, he was wrong. The boy just sat there staring at the glow in the dark stars that were stuck to his ceiling with that same little smile plastered to his face, who was he all smiley for? And why won't he just walk by the doors so he could have a chance to actually ask?
Yet, he still watched with a mere impatience, but he guessed he had a reason to stare at him at that point without it being weird; Pony was kind of uh... a nice person to look at, if you know what I mean. Handsome, in a way. But it would be awkward if Johnny were to just blatantly stare without a word, or even a reason, just doing so. Now he could, even if it was technically stalking. The freckled, pale boy soon fixed himself into the correct position on the bed, unlike how he was laying before, and shutting his eyes, now was his chance, Johnny thought; he left the shoe in the closet, but opened it as quietly as he possibly could, glad that it didn't make the slightest of noises.
Then, he snuck out of the little closed in room on his tippy toes just for his plan to go into effect; not even rethinking about waiting in the closet any longer. Johnny silently crept to the bed, thankfully on the opposite side of the room from where the brunette lay, and finally got the courage to show himself in the best way possible; yelling a "Hi, Pony!" As soon as he jumped and landed on top of the boy, recieving a girly like scream that he'd wanted to hear for at least 10 minutes now. He giggled as he sat himself up with his hands, laughing for at least a whole 2 minutes before finally being able to breathe again.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for the right moment to do that to you!"
Johnny claimed, still chuckling a tiny bit to himself as Pony held a hand to his chest, staring at the ravenette with both confusion and annoyance.
"Johnny! That's not nice!"
Ponyboy whined before flopping back down, heart still pounding as the dark toned teenager smiled at him, cocking his head to the side like he was getting at something.
"You know what else isn't nice? Scaring me awake at the lot makin' me think the socs were coming to get me. That's just downright mean, this was just to get back at you, you're lucky I didn't do it to you at school."
The dark eyed boy claimed with a sly smirk, poking the other's cheek with confidence he normally doesn't have. The 14 year old only smiled with a nod of his head, agreeing with what Johnny had said; he did do that at one point just to mess with the other, so he guessed he got his karma - rolling his eyes before suddenly sitting up and flopping on top of Johnny, the surprised male letting out a slight yelp before giggles emerged yet again. But this time, it was both of them laughing.
"But I'm still bigger than you, and heavier! I could just lay on you and you'd never be able to get up, maybe that will be my revenge plan. Just sit on you so you can't move."
Ponyboy stated enthusiastically, wrapping his arms around the other's back so he couldn't push him off or anything, grinning into the crook of Johnny's neck as his friend still continued to laugh all of it off; not even trying to wriggle out from underneath the brunette, just having a good time. Now he wondered how long Johnny had been in his room or just in the house, waiting for the perfect moment to scare the shit out of him; he assumed it wasn't very long, the ravenette always knew when school ended for him and when he'd be home, he just wasn't expecting it.
"So, you're not even going to eat dinner? Just lay here for the sole purpose of getting me back for scaring you? What's the point in that?"
"Mm... yep! The point being that you'll never do that to me again~"
"Hah, I'll scare you countless times if it means getting you off!"
(Bad choice of words me, but I'll keep it because it's funny 😂)
"Pft, really? Then I'll just keep harassing you like this until you stop!"
"Aw, you'll end up killin' me when we get older then! I'll be crippled!"
"And I'll have a heart attack!"
The two playfully argued with amused laughter, but eventually just ended up lying there without a word, Pony resting his head on the other's shoulder while Johnny ran his fingers gently through his friend's hair; he wasn't exactly planning the scare to end this way, but he wasn't complaining. But in the silence of the room, he remembered something from earlier, a cocky grin spreading on his face in thought.
"So? Who's the boy you were talking about earlier?"
He asked in a whisper, still tending gently to the locks of hair on Pony's head as he asked this, feeling the sudden tension in his muscles and the brunette's pounding heart against his; not bothered by it, of course, just wondering who this lucky guy was. But somehow, Ponyboy was able to keep his calm, whispering back in a way you couldn't tell he was nervous just by his voice.
"Mm... what are ya' talkin' about...?"
"Pft, you don't remember? You said, and I quote! "God, I love him.". Who's "him"?"
Pony barely reacted on the outside, but on the inside, Johnny could easily tell he was anxious, but the ravenette said nothing, rubbing his best friend's back with his free hand to comfort him. He clearly didn't mind the fact that the brunette may be gay or bi, there's always questions or thoughts about it for everyone, and a sexuality didn't matter to him; Ponyboy was his friend, and he'd help him through anything like Pone did for him.
"Well... I guess since you asked... he's a friend of mine... shy and sweet... adorable too..."
"You mean like, a friend at school?"
"You could say that... except they don't go to school, they hang around there sometimes..."
Pony replied in a hushed voice, sounding as if he was tired, but really, he didn't want to be yelling in the other's ear, and besides, he didn't feel the need to talk normally anyways. Johnny nodded in thought, was this person like, a dropout or something? Or someone who just hangs around for kicks? Well, Pony did say they were a friend of his, maybe they hang around to talk to him?
"He has a sweet little voice too, like one of an angel... I just can't get enough of him..."
"Man, you must really like this kid if you describe him in that much detail. Don't tell me he's going to be a bad influence on you."
"Haha, bad influence? If anything, I'm the bad influence. I just told you, this boy in particular is the shy, scared of his own shadow kind of boy. And not in a way that I'm making fun of him, I think it's cute..."
"Hm... nobody really comes to mind at the moment. What does he look like?"
Pony almost couldn't believe it, was Johnny fucking around with him? Or did he legitimately not know who he was talking about? It was pretty obvious, and if he said these exact words to the gang, they'd all instantly know who he was talking about by the first or second descriptive word.
"Well, another thing is that he's clueless beyond belief, if that helps any. But his looks? His looks just make him even more adorable than he is, and his eyes; they're completely black, but somehow, that just makes him even cuter - considering how his eyes are more like a puppy's eyes, dark and hard to say no to."
Johnny thought long and hard, clueless? Black eyes? Cute? He assumed this kid was black, because he didn't think white people could have eyes that dark. So, he thought of each kid he's seen in that school, lightskins, darkskins, or mainly just anyone he's seen with eyes like that. Yet, he still couldn't think of anyone specific, shrugging before wrapping his arms around the other's back as well.
"Dunno. Can't you just tell me his name?"
"Fine... will you be mad if I tell you?"
"Of course not!"
The brunette took in a deep breath, anxious to see how the other would react to the news, but Johnny told him he wouldn't be mad so, he guess he'd risk it...
"H-His name's Johnny..."
"OHHH! You're talking about that kid who used to be in your Science class, aren't you? He was nice, you should ask him out! He seems pretty sweet."
Pony sat himself up with a face of pure shock, did he actually love someone this clueless? Well, he guessed he couldn't blame the other, Johnny never thought anything was about him, he only listened and tried to understand, but he couldn't understand anything at school, so he stopped going, but Ponyboy would've thought he would get it by now.
"Jesus Christ, Johnnycakes."
(I just realized that Johnny's initials are J.C, and Jesus Christ is also J.C, is Johnny Jesus?)
The freckled teen mumbled with a roll of his eyes, but suddenly leaned down and pressed his lips against Johnny's, catching him off gaurd real quick; but he didn't stop Pony, actually, he found himself kind of liking the contact... but he was still very VERY confused. Once Pony pulled away, he'd expected Johnny to understand now, but groaned when the boy asked "W-What was that f-for?".
"Johnny, I love YOU, who in the hell else would I be talking about? Your name's Johnny, you have the cute puppy dog eyes, you are super sweet and super shy, and from what I've learned today, you're as clueless as a chicken. You are the boy I've been talking about, and I can't believe you didn't get that from the first few things I've said. But no matter how gullible you may be, I still love you. A lot. Now, you said you wouldn't be mad, so don't get mad."
Johnny was actually speechless, mouth hanging open and everything like he was actually surprised, Pony only looking back with the opposite expression. He had a straight face, simply waiting for a reaction from the other.
"M-Me-? W-Why me-? I-I'm nothin' special..."
The 16 year old asked, obviously pretty flustered and embarrassed considering the stuttering and the blush; Pony shrugging as if he had no idea why he fell for the other in the first place, but he did know why. There were so many reasons why, there were simply too many to count or remember; Johnny was just a friend he had a special interest or attraction to, he guessed.
"B-Because well... I don't know... you! You in general just makes me wanna squish your cheeks and kiss you everywhere, even when you're not doing anything. Even when you're just watching the TV or eating, trying to read even, I find it super cute and I just... I love you... It's uhm- It's okay if you don't want to talk to me anymore..."
Pony explained pretty straight foward, sucking in his bottom lip and looking anywhere but Johnny's face, blinking rapidly to try and keep his tears inside; now assuming Johnny was guessing other people specifically because he only thought of him as a friend and nothing more. It wasn't the other's fault if he didn't like him, he could always get over it... but it made him feel kind of bad... Johnny rushed to sit up and wrap his arms around the other to aid his crying though, feeling horrible that he made Pony cry.
"Hey, hey, hey... It's okay, Pone! I uhm... I just didn't know I-I made you feel like that... But, from how you described it? I think I feel the same way... I just k-kind of thought it was normal with friends, so I didn't say anything..."
Johnny finally replied, wiping away the other's tears with his thumbs while looking into Pony's gray, watery eyes sympathetically; offering a kind smile once his friend's gaze met his own. The brunette couldn't help but smile back, chuckling a little before agressively rubbing his eyes from the tears with a tired sigh. The tears still came, but he felt better than he did before, wrapping his arms around the ravenette's back before shoving his now tear stained face into the other's neck.
"You d-don't have to lie to me, Johnnycakes... I understand if you don't feel the same..."
"No! I-I do-! I just- I thought it was a dumb idea that I could think someone as great as you would like someone like me, so I kind of kept it in the back of my mind so I wouldn't lose you as a friend... b-but I assure you! I've wanted that kiss for a while now..."
Pony then pulled away just a tiny bit, staring into those dark orbs of his crush to see if there was any sign of a lie or pity; but from what he could tell, there wasn't, and he could see how Johnny would occasionally flick his gaze down for a second with a bite of his own lip before looking back up - so a little smile grew upon the pale boy's face, pretty sure he knew what the other was thinking.
So, he leaned close once more and this time, kissed the other so gently, it was like their lips were barely making contact, but that may have just been the lightness in his chest that made him think so. Johnny actually kissed back this time though too, a hint of a smile on his lips as they did so. Pony could tell right then that the other wasn't lying at all, for the dark skinned boy had arms wrapped around his waist and everything; unless he was a expert at pretending...
Eh, he decided he'd stop overthinking so much, Johnny couldn't do something like that, and he was currently kissing who he figured was the love of his life; and didn't want to ruin it. He's been preparing for this moment for, what? A couple years now? It's just that the puppy eyed teen was so sweet and caring, and actually hung out with him when he was bored, watched the sunset with him; stargazed with him, Pony found it so sweet yet so romantic at the same time, and figured that their first date could end like that someday...
And on the thought of that, the 14 year old pulled away softly, but didn't go very far, lightly cupping Johnny's face in his hands with a slight sniff; his tears finally disappeared, and all that was left was the redness of his eyes, but mucus wanted to ruin it by trying to run down his face. Johnny was only a little confused at this action, but said nothing, just looking into Ponyboy's eyes with a happy, calm looking smile.
"Johnnycake? How would you like to be my boyfriend?"
The brunette asked with a poke of Johnny's nose, brushing the bangs from the ravenette's forehead and actually seeing his eyebrows for once, and what was amusing was that the 16 year old's forehead was more pale than the rest of him; but he didn't want to laugh to ruin this, so he just smiled. Johnny laughed softly at these actions, he couldn't help himself, so he gave the other another peck to the lips before deciding to answer.
"Of course, I would!"
Ponyboy nodded with a grin, he didn't think a prank like that would end in him getting into a relationship, but he felt happy, sealing the deal by giving the other the same peck as he'd recieved; Johnny laying back against the bed with Pony still on top of him, going back to the dark eyed boy running a hand through the brunette's greasy hair while the freckled teen cuddled into his now boyfriend's neck, and it kind of just stayed like that for a while... both happy and relieved at that very moment.
E.