kate

You had been friends with Soda for a while now, since before he dropped out of school. You had hit it off instantly but at the time both of you wanted something purely platonic, so nothing happened and eventually he got a girlfriend. He was hot, funny, and could probably cheer a devil up if he tried hard enough. It wasn’t that you weren’t into him, you just weren’t looking for that. By the time your feelings had developed and you realized that you did, in fact, like Sodapop, he had already moved on.

It didn’t hurt you too much. You knew almost every girl he talked to was into him, everyone did. You were genuinely surprised that he was single when you two met.

Even though you were still in school and he was working a full-time job, you two still spent a lot of time together. Whenever you could you would just walk over to the Curtis’ and hang out. You always secretly hoped that Soda would be there when you went (and you were sure at least one of the guys in the gang could tell).

You had another bad day at school. One of those ones where everything that could go wrong, did. You were exhausted and all you wanted to do was cuddle up on the sofa next to him and watch some stupid movie that you had both seen at least a couple dozen times before.

Instead of seeing some boys roughhousing on the couch and nearly knocking over half of the things on the coffee table, you found Steve attempting to comfort an uncharacteristically sad Sodapop. Immediately you knew that something was wrong. Nothing could make Sodapop sad. He was like a golden retriever, even if something bad did happen to him he’d still be his cheerful, overexcited self. Almost like he didn’t understand what had happened or why it was supposed to be upsetting.

“Steve? What happened?” You set your bag down near the door and sat on the other side of Sodapop. He didn’t look like he was in the mood to explain, so Steve sounded like your best option if you wanted an actual answer.

Steve shook his head with a small sigh. It was strange seeing both of them so down, especially at once. It was almost like their emotions were connected. Sodapop was happy, so was Steve; Sodapop was angry, Steve was angrier; and apparently, if Sodapop was down about something, Steve acted almost as sad as if it had happened to him too.

He lowered his voice, perhaps attempting to say it without upsetting Sodapop too much more. “He just found out that Sandy cheated on him… real down about it right now.”

You couldn’t believe it. You were filled with rage at the same time you were almost empathetically as down as Soda was feeling. You couldn’t believe that someone – Sandy, no less – could have the nerve, the audacity, to cheat on someone like Sodapop. He was loyal, kind, and more than just attractive. He had the looks of a movie star and the charisma to go with it. He was the perfect man in your eyes.

Then again, perfect man or not, cheaters were cheaters. You just hated the fact that you had trusted Sandy, and that Sodapop had trusted her even more. You also hated the fact that, even though he had just found it, she had probably cheated on him dozens of times before now.

Of course you did your best to comfort Sodapop, you couldn’t just leave him like this, but it was hard when he was usually the one cheering up other people. You weren’t sure how to comfort someone who you had never seen this sad before. Who you had never really seen sad before at all.

“Hey Soda, I know it hurts now but it’ll get better. You know it will. You’ll go on and find other girls, but she’ll always be a cheater.” You say softly. You were still avoiding touching him though. You didn’t think it was the time, especially not now that he was newly single and you still had feelings for him. Even if he didn’t necessarily know about your feelings.

You and Steve spent nearly the entire afternoon (going late into the evening as well) attempting to comfort him. Trying nearly everything either of you could think of. You gave him some ice cream, though you didn’t think that really worked for most people; Steve put on his favorite movie; and you two spent the entire night talking and laughing. Yet he was still clearly upset.

Logically you knew that it would take him a while to get over it. He’d been with Sandy for a little over a year. You just hated feeling so helpless being able to do virtually nothing to cheer him up.

Once he fell asleep, you went home. It was nearly 12 now but you had no plans of sleeping. All you could think of was how to get Sandy back for breaking his heart. You spent the rest of the night coming up with a plan. Once morning came, you got in your car and drove a little too fast to be safe. You couldn’t think straight enough to worry about it at the moment. You hadn’t brought more than a change of clothes and some money you had stashed away from babysitting jobs.

You weren’t planning on staying for long. No, if you had any say in it you’d be gone as soon as you were finished. You just didn’t want to be unprepared.

The drive was long and tiring. You tried to distract yourself with music but it didn’t do much. All you could think about it was how angry you were at the moment. 

You felt your knuckles tighten against the leather steering wheel. One of the only things keeping you grounded as you drive. The angrier you got, the faster you went, but eventually you tired yourself out. Giving up and driving more slowly so that you wouldn’t accidentally drive yourself off of the road.

Despite how early you had left, it was still fairly late when you arrived. Running purely on rage, coffee, and not wanting to give up now, you quickly found her car. You were too exhausted to fully complete your plan. You slashed three of her tires, spilt the rest of your nearly scolding coffee on the white leather seats, and keying one side but writing no particular letters. By the time you were finished, you were coming down from that rage-fueled high. You drove yourself to an empty lot and fell asleep in your car. Driving back home now would not be a good idea.

The bright sun woke you up quickly. It was now nearly painfully hot in the car and the fact that you were only going on a few hours of sleep didn’t help you feel any better. You decided to keep on driving. If your parents hadn’t already called the cops, they sure would soon.

By the time you were nearly there, you couldn’t stand it anymore. The anxiety pounding in your head, the fact that you could barely see 10 feet in front of you in the dark, and the realization setting in that what you did was, in fact, very illegal. You weren’t like Dally, and girls didn’t go to jail. Especially not for stuff like vandalizing a car. You anxiously tapped your finger on the steering wheel as you drove. Barely realizing that you kept speeding up until you heard cop sirens from behind you.

At first you told yourself that they couldn’t be for you, but it was much too late for anyone else to be driving. You sighed and pulled over. The officer, noticing how delirious you seemed, decided to take you in.

He didn’t handcuff you and he didn’t even tell you that you were being arrested, but it was still embarrassing. Having to be driven to the police station in the back of a cop car like a common criminal.

Once you got there, he handed you the phone and told you to call someone to drive you home; he wasn’t going to let you drive like that but he didn’t want to see you spend the night in a cell either. You knew your parents would murder you if you called them late in the evening and told them that you needed to be picked up from the police station. So your best bet was calling the Curtis household and praying that Darry didn’t lecture you too awful.

You could immediately tell that Darrel was exhausted when he answered, his voice rough. “Hm? What is it?” He was always polite on the phone, even as tired as he was. He didn’t want to risk it being a social worker on the other end.

“I’m sorry for calling this late Dar but I need to… I need someone to pick me up from the station.” You kept your voice down as you spoke. Even though everyone of the cops obviously knew where you were, you were still ashamed to speak it aloud.

He groaned and you could tell that he was going to scold you later, but thankfully he agreed. Very unfortunately for you, the second they heard your name both Pony and Soda insisted that they come along. You awkwardly slid into the backseat and gave them a glare that told them not to say a word before laying your head down against the back of the seat and instantly falling asleep.

When you woke up you were laying on the couch, a warm blanket wrapped around you. Sodapop was sitting on the end of the couch near your feet. Apparently extremely anxious for you to wake up. It wasn’t like you had nearly died or anything. He just wanted to know why and how the hell you had managed to be brought to a police station.

He started talking as soon as he noticed that you were awake. “What is it? What happened? Y/N why were you out that late?!” He didn’t mean to raise his voice, it just happened.

You had to come clean eventually. If you didn’t, you knew he would just find out from someone else. “Well I… I went to Sandy’s house and… taught her a lesson.” 

Sodapop couldn’t quite believe it. You had been missing for a little over two full days and it turns out that it was all because you wanted to “teach his ex a lesson.”

Note: I think this is gender neutral reader but it might be a little feminine? No mentions of gender/agab though. Also I have never seen this show but I think I know the premise so I did it the best I could lol. Ponyboy is like 15/16 in this 'cause I felt a bit weird writing about a freshly 14-year-old. ---------

About a year ago, with an avid crush on a boy in your year, you had written him a love letter. It was short and silly but it still made you smile. Usually you would’ve never had the nerve to say those cheesy romantic things, but you didn’t see any harm in writing it in a letter. Once you finished, you had tucked it away in a box under your bed, of course. You could never actually show it to him. Not in a million years, especially not with your name signed at the bottom of it. It was beyond embarrassing to even think about.

You had almost completely forgotten about it. You still thought Ponyboy was cute, he was the cutest boy in school in your opinion, but you barely had any classes together this year and the crush had started to fade. It was still there, obviously. It was just less prominent. More like a foggy memory than an actual feeling.

One day, while looking under your bed for some pen you had just dropped, you found the box you had left it in. You pulled it out with a smile, the memory rushing back to you. Maybe you could read the stupid letter again and have a good laugh at yourself

To your dismay, the letter was gone. Along with all the other stupid things you had shoved in that box over the years. Your sister, being the only one who really snooped around in your room anymore, had obviously done something. Your parents wouldn’t have just thrown something away like that and if they had, they definitely wouldn’t have left the box. You ran downstairs and started shouting at her.

“What the hell did you do with that letter?! The one in the box under my bed!”

She looked taken aback, “What do you mean what did I do with it?! I sent it! What else are you supposed to do with a letter?”

“When… when did you send it?” You asked, fear visible on your face.

“Like a week ago? Y/N what’s wrong? I mean it’s not like it didn’t have his name on it! All it was missing was a stamp!”

“It was missing a stamp for a reason, you idiot!” You shouted before running out of your house. Surely you could get the letter before Ponyboy read it, right? It wasn’t like his family seemed like the type to check their mailbox daily. You wouldn’t be surprised if it had mail from weeks ago stacked up in there.

The mailbox’s flag was up but when you looked inside, there was no mail. You sighed and put the flag down like you would’ve on your own mailbox out of habit. As you walked away, you tried to tell yourself that the letter just hadn’t come yet, but that didn’t seem very likely. So far luck hadn’t been on your side and you didn’t think now was the time for it to get better.

You were tense and anxious throughout the entire next day. To the point where even your most self-centered friend noticed it. Vickie wasn’t mean. At least, not by textbook definition. She just wasn’t all that nice unless she wanted something from you. In your opinion it seemed more like she just hadn’t learned how to be kind, and maybe that was true. From what you had seen the last time you came to her house, Vickie’s mother didn’t seem like she could teach an adult bird how to fly, much less teach a child how to act.

“And so he was all ‘maybe if you were hotter I wouldn’t have kissed her’ like- excuse me? How is it my fault you can’t keep your-“ Vickie turned to you, suddenly noticing how worried you looked, “What’s wrong?”

Honestly that caught you off guard. Vickie didn’t usually notice when anything was going on with you or anyone else for that matter. You sighed softly, staring at your tray of nearly inedible looking school cafeteria food. Eventually deciding that, even if she didn’t care, you might as well take this chance to talk about it. It wasn’t like she could be any less help than the sister who sent the letter in the first place.

“Well, like a year ago I wrote this… one guy I had a crush on a love letter. I never sent it, obviously, but I signed my name and addressed the envelope to him. Mostly to entertain myself.” She looked a bit confused so you decided to continue, “Well, I found out last night that my sister had sent the letter to him almost a week ago.

Vickie practically squealed. “Oh my god! Oh my god! Isn’t that perfect? You don’t even have to confess!”

“Oh I wish it was that simple Vick. He knows where I live. The second he reads that letter my life is over.” You complained with a groan, letting your head fall onto the palm of your hand.

As you continued to pick at your food, you couldn’t help but glance over at where he was sitting. Your mind began to wander, thinking about how nice he looked today. The year had changed him a lot, but that definitely wasn’t a bad thing. He still had that cute, boyish charm about him. You didn’t think he would ever manage to grow out of that. But his face was more mature now. He was a year younger than you, so you could say that that was the reason why you thought he looked sweet and boyish. Really though, it was just because of how nice he was compared to all of the rest of the greaser boys.

The school day was finally over and you were beyond relieved that he hadn’t approached you even once the entire day. You had assumed that meant that he had not read it yet (either because he hadn’t had the chance or because he hadn’t gotten it yet), but unfortunately when you felt a gentle hand on your shoulder you knew it wasn’t.

You sighed before turning around to face the exact boy you had been avoiding all day. It was evident on your face that something was up with you, you could already feel it heating up as you two made eye contact. “Hey…” he said softly.

“Oh god I’m… listen, I’m so sorry. You were never supposed to-“

“Man I’m not… what, do you think I’m mad or something?” He laughed slightly, you noted that his voice was deeper than you remembered, “I was just wondering if you could come over to my place for a bit? I’m having a bit of trouble with my homework.”

You felt like someone had just taken a 50 pound weight off of your chest. Like the world suddenly wasn’t ending anymore. He didn’t read the letter, he probably hadn’t even gotten it yet. All Ponyboy wanted to do was hangout with you and study.

You couldn’t help but smile slightly. Maybe you did still have a crush on him. “Yeah… yeah I can do that, right now?”

Pony just nodded in response. You walked home with him, smiling nearly all the way. Just enjoying his company. You noticed yourself glancing over to him every once in a while. Unbeknownst to you, the only reason you hadn’t seen him staring back was because he was so focused on you he could always tell right before when you were about to turn your head towards him. It was something he had been practicing for a while with you.

As you reached his house, he turned to you with a small smile on his face. “The place is a bit messy, but my bed’s alright.” 

You didn’t do much more than nod. Too focused on memorizing his features to pay much attention. You heard him talking, you knew he said something. You just weren’t sure what that was.

You followed him into the house. It was almost exactly how you remembered it. It wasn’t as messy as you would normally expect a house that usually had seven boys in there messing around daily, but it was still a bit sloppy. Darry probably hadn’t gotten around to cleaning yet this week. You knew he was the only one who really cared about the house’s appearance.

“So Pony…” You sat on his bed, “what’d you need help with?”

Pony sighed, “No… actually I just…” He pulled the letter out from under his pillow and handed it to you. You immediately recognized the paper you’d written it on, “I want to talk about this.”

“Oh god. Pony listen, this was never meant to be sent to you. I’m sorry if it made you think anything or-”

He interrupted you. “Y/N I don’t mind, at all, actually. I thought it was a bit sweet.”

You felt your face heat up, hoping he wouldn’t notice how flustered you were. You wanted to say something but you weren’t quite sure how you should. This already felt awkward enough.

“You did? Really? I mean… honestly I thought it was a bit stupid.” You admitted, looking down at your lap. You wished you were more confident right now but that look that Pony always seemed to give you made you weak in the knees, even when you were sitting down.

“Hey,” Pony placed his pointer finger under your chin, bringing your face back up to look at you better, “I’m not mad or anything… actually, I like you too.” He confessed, his eyes briefly falling down to your lips before making eye contact again.

You could tell what he wanted now that your head was clearer. Now that the initial anxiety of him knowing had lessened. He was actually a bit obvious with it, when you really think about it. You bit your lip before taking the risk. It seemed worth it, at least it did after you heard him say those words. You closed your eyes before leaning in and kissing him gently. It was a quick kiss. A sweet, innocent one, just like him.

— he's young but with how little free time he has he rarely uses his phone or understands it

— he texts like a dad and usually only ever has one word or letter responses. always says "k" to Pony

— he would either be an avid Star Wars fan and refuse to watch Star Trek or be an avid Star Trek fan and refuse to watch Star Wars

— he has a tv for his room (he hates dealing with having to fight with six other guys over what movie to watch) but it's so old and he got it at a thrift store so it barely works

— he refuses to get his own clothes from anywhere but thrift stores but whenever he has the money he always buys his kid brother's clothes new

— Darry absolutely despises horror movies but anytime a kid from the gang (so basically all of them since they're all younger) wants to watch one he insists on watching it first

— one time Pony really wanted to watch a movie but it was rated R so he talked Darry into watching it anyway and though he didn't care he still went with it 'cause he thought it was sweet

— bought a "family computer" for all of them to use but really it was just for Pony bc he knew he was the only one who would ever use it

— he has a secret interest in those weird asmr channels (no explanation)

— Ponyboy is that kinda guy who just has a bunch of random games on his phone

like almost daily he just goes to play a game, sees an add, and downloads that game too

— when he gets real mad at Darry sometimes he’ll block him but he never leaves it for more than 5 minutes incase something happens

— the gang (including Pony) always sneak a bunch of snacks in whenever they go to the movie theater together. at least one of them always gets caught

— i feel like Pony would be into older films (80s, 90s) if he was a 14-year-old today

— he watched some of the final destination movies because of course he did but they made him paranoid to the point where Darry had to ban them

— whenever he sees Johnny in school and he’s looking upset he texts him cute animal memes for the rest of the day until they can talk. Johnny acts annoyed but really he’s just glad that someone cares enough about him to notice

— before he goes home and tells anyone else he always texts Soda if anything (good or bad) happens at school because he always manages to either cheer him up or somehow make him even more excited

— one time he tried to change his grade on the paper but Darry had already checked the digital gradebook and he was in even more trouble (hasn't done it since)

You’ve had a crush on Johnny Cade for as long as you could remember. He was cute, sweeter than most of the rest of the guys, and quiet too. All traits that you thought made him just so much better than any other guy. Even the ones who you went to school with.

Recently though, your crush has only gotten worse. You’ve been blushing around him, glancing towards him every chance you’ve gotten, and of course you can’t help but daydream about the guy every once in a while. Your brothers quickly picked up on it. How could they not? You were their sister. Your first crush (that they knew about) had to be important. They teased you about it gently, just normal brother stuff, but it wasn’t until one particular day that they realized what was up.

Most of the gang had left and you were sitting on the couch pretending to read some book for school (but really staring at Johnny as he left). Sodapop sat down next to you with a smug look on his face. He always looked a little smug, but today you could clearly tell that he was up to something, though you weren’t quite sure what that was yet.

“So… what’s up with you lately?” He teased.

“What? Nothing!”

“Mhm,” he nodded slightly, unable to stop himself from laughing, “So, Steve, huh?”

You glared at him, but looked confused enough that he decided to clarify. “Oh c’mon Y/N, we all know you gotta crush on him.”

You felt your face heat up violently. A crush on Steve? You couldn’t believe that they would ever even consider that.

Ponyboy couldn’t help but laugh hearing that. He was the only one you actually told, but he had never been the best at keeping secrets. You had just hoped that he had already gotten out of that little brother snitch phase when you’d told him; evidently, he hadn’t.

You still regret the night you told him. As sweet as he was (compared to the rest of the gang), he was still your obnoxious little brother. You couldn’t even be sure he wasn’t going to tell Johnny himself at this point. He had actually threatened it once before. Telling Johnny just so you would get over your crush. Thankfully he hadn’t done it yet, but you could never be too cautious. Not with how much time they spent together.

”Pony!” You shouted with a glare towards him, “I don’t have feelings for Steve- never have, never will.”

“Well…” Sodapop slid closer, “Steve or not. I know you got a crush on someone and I wanna know who that someone is. You’re my baby sister!” Only by a few minutes, you wanted to tell him, but you decided against it. It would only confirm that he was properly annoying you like he seemed to love to do oh so much.

Before you could answer. Well, it wasn’t like you were really gonna tell him anyways. Not now. Darrel came into the room and interrupted the conversation, if it could even be considered one. It felt much more like an interrogation at this point, and a very embarrassing one too, mind you.

“Lay off her. If she likes a boy, that’s her business.” He said, sitting in between you and your twin so that he couldn’t bother you. After telling off Soda, he turned to you, “That being said kid, I gotta meet him before I let him go near you. I’m your big brother. I don’t want you going off on a date with some asshat who doesn’t give a shit about you.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at that, rolling your eyes at him. “Oh come on Dar. There’s a reason I haven’t told him already. It’s not gonna happen.” You replied. At this point you had already accepted it.

Johnny was quiet, skittish, and you didn’t think he’d be willing to date a girl that he didn’t think of as part of the gang. Not with all the stories about cheaters and liars that Dally had told him which could probably be recounted as horror stories with the way he exaggerated. It was disappointing, sure, but you’d accepted it by now. Johnny was just off limits. Both mentally and because he was so close to your brother. That didn’t mean you couldn’t daydream about him, or hangout with him, or even fall asleep wishing he was next to you, your arms around him, instead of your pillow. All it meant was that you had to be realistic. That you had to realize he’d never want more than a friendship.

You heard someone laughing from behind you, which made you realize that Pony was still there. You shook your head, momentarily considering glaring at him again but deciding against it. Pony already knew, no one else needed to. Not in your opinion. Especially not someone as talkative as Soda. He may pretend to hate gossip, but besides for Two-Bit he was the worst at keeping secrets out of the entire gang. If he found out everyone in the city would probably know by the time he came home the next day.

Soda quickly turned to look at him. A smirk evident on his face. “Ohhh, so you know who it is? C’mon, tell me Pony. I swear I won’t tell nobody.” He put his hands up in defense, though mostly as a joke. Everyone knew he had to tell at least someone. Hell, he might’ve already told Steve about the crush he thought you had on him.

“Hmm, who knows? Maybe she does like Steve.” Pony joked, unable to stop himself from laughing.

You wanted to tell him off, assure them all that you didn’t like Steve, that you never would. But in doing that you would only reveal who you actually liked. You couldn’t convince them otherwise if you didn’t tell them the truth. Unfortunately just denying it wouldn’t be any good. For a moment you considered lying. Saying you liked a boy from your school, or one of the other greaser boys they knew, or maybe even Dal, but you were never too great of a liar. They all knew that and they all knew exactly how to catch you lying. That was your least favorite part of being the only girl in a family (and group) full of boys.

“Come on Pony! You know I don’t!”

“So he does know. What does he know that we don’t, Y/N?” Darry asked, turning to you. Unfortunately, in taking on the role of father figure, he also became way too overprotective. Maybe too protective even. You knew you couldn’t tell him. God, if he found out there was a chance that he’d either kill Johnny or thank him for being such a good kid and not one of those jerks. You could never be too sure with him but Johnny was a good kid and one of the better boys out there. He wasn’t like Dallas by any means, who would definitely get you in some sort of trouble if you did like him. Hopefully it wouldn’t go too bad if Darry ever did find out

“Oh nothing! He’s just being annoying.” You insisted, though your face gave you away.

Sodapop tried to push, He peaked out from behind your older brother with his mouth open. Then Darrel quickly stopped him. “Okay okay fine. Crush or not, she’s still our sister. Just lay off her for now. I’m sure she’ll tell us when she’s ready. Won’t you?” He asked, shoving Soda into the sofa gently as he spoke.

You quickly nodded, though still not too excited about the idea of telling them.

As you and Pony were in the bathroom brushing your teeth, he nudged you with his elbow with a smile. “You know he likes you. Just tell him, really. I mean have you seen the way he looks at you? I think he might be in love.”

“Oh come on, don’t be cruel Pony. You know he doesn’t. Has he ever even told you he liked a girl before?”

Despite insisting that Johnny had a crush on you, he had to say no. Johnny had never. There was a time that he was sure Johnny would never like a girl.

Though Ponyboy was much closer to him than the rest of the gang was, personally at least (aside from Dal), you didn’t trust that. Johnny didn’t look at you any sort of way. With how much you stared at him every day, you would’ve noticed if he did. Surely you weren’t that clueless. You couldn’t be.

Thankfully he decided to stop bothering you for the night. You got an alright night of sleep, only waking up once when you thought you heard Pony having another nightmare. It had only been your imagination, but it did take you a bit to calm down again.

Johnny was there again the next day and coincidentally, no one else was. You smiled as you sat down next to him, pulling a blanket towards yourself.

“Oh… hey.” He smiled, though he looked a bit embarrassed. Almost like he had been caught doing something. You didn’t quite understand why.

As you two sat on the couch, you kept glancing towards him. Trying a little desperately to see if he really did look at you a certain way. You barely got the chance to catch him looking, unfortunately. He always seemed to look away the second you turned your head.

You kept debating the pros and cons of asking him out as you sat next to him. There was a chance he would like you, but that wouldn’t mean he would want to go out with you, and what if you lost him as a friend too. Though you didn’t think he would ever break off a friendship because of that.

By the time you had finally started to figure out what you wanted to do, Sodapop was home and bothering you again. He sat himself right down next to you, but looked over at Johnny.

“Oh didn’t you hear Johnny? She likes St-“ You cut him off by elbowing his shoulder.

“I do not!” You insisted, but Sodapop clearly still didn’t believe you.

Despite being so unbelievable, Johnny looked a bit sad at hearing you liked someone. You weren’t sure why. Logically there would only be one reason and you didn’t think that it was possible in Johnny’s situation. Oh poor, sweet Johnny. Maybe he always looked sad and you just hadn’t noticed until right now.

After about half an hour of bothering you, Sodapop decided to go do his own thing. Apparently even annoying his own sister couldn’t be entertaining for too long. Once he was gone, Johnny spoke up again,

“Do you… do you really like Steve?” He asked. Johnny always looked a little like a lost puppy, but at this moment he resembled one even more. You sighed and shook your head, though you couldn’t help but smile at him.

“No, he just likes annoying me , Johnny Cakes. Don’t worry about it.”

You tried to assure him, but unfortunately it didn’t look to be doing too well. He still looked a little skittish. Like he would run at any moment if you said the wrong thing. So you sighed and wrapped an arm around him. “You okay?”

He nodded, but the fact that he didn’t respond verbally gave you all that you needed to know. He was obviously upset about something. You guys talked for a bit longer, but eventually Johnny fell asleep. So you did too, cuddling up next to him on the couch.

When you woke up you saw your younger brother standing above you with a small smirk. Unfortunately you could no longer feel Johnny next to you, you wondered how long you’d been sleeping. “Better luck next time, eh?”

“Shut your mouth Pony.” You said as loud as possible without waking Johnny up. You groaned and threw a pillow at him.

It started off as a joke, the whole thing did, really. And at first you thought it was funny too. Making fun of some poor, lonely greaser by leaving notes from a secret admirer in his locker. You had never really cared about a greaser’s feelings before – everyone had always told you they were mean, dirty, careless assholes who were just jealous of the socs – and your locker was only a few away from his so it was real easy to catch his reactions which only made it better. Being able to see exactly how flustered he got after reading them.

You especially had fun writing the letters. It was just exhilarating and you giggled the entire time. They were cheesy love notes written in blue ink on your college ruled notebook paper. You loved dotting your i’s and j’s with hearts and saying stuff that you’d normally never have had the confidence to say.

The problem with your perfect joke (which, now that you thought about it sounded more like blatant bullying than a funny joke) came a few weeks into this new hobby of yours. You found yourself glancing over to him every passing period, smiling when you thought about him, and even getting excited seeing him read the letters. It was then that you realized that it had gone too far.

Your friends started to pressure you into telling him it was a joke and breaking his heart, but you could no longer bring yourself to do it. It was what you had been planning to do in the first place. Yet you realized now that it was much too cruel to be funny. He was just too sweet, Johnny didn’t deserve it. He was just some poor kid who was actually quite cute, the more that you thought about it. You didn’t think that someone like Johnny deserved it. He’d done nothing wrong. If anything, you were the one who deserved it. You were the asshole, you were the one who had thought it’d be funny to play around with some guy’s feelings.

Eventually you decided that you needed to end it, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do that. You liked Johnny more than you’d originally thought and you didn’t want to stop writing him letters. After what felt like years of barely sleeping because you couldn’t decide, you finally figured out what you wanted to do.

The letter started off with, “Please act upset as you read this letter. I will explain why in a minute.” Just in case your friends had decided to watch for his reaction you didn’t want them to catch on to the fact that you actually weren’t breaking his heart in your letter.

You then wrote asking him to meet you in the back of the drive-in at eight in the evening and that you’d be wearing a dress with a bow tied in your hair, both in your favorite color. You didn’t want him to be scared off if you told him you were a soc right away but you also didn’t want him to think that you never arrived.

You snuck up to his locker and quickly pushed the letter in while your friends giggled almost hysterically. You didn’t like the fact that they were laughing at him but then again you were just like them only a few weeks ago. You weren’t any better. If anything, you were practically worse for being the one who wrote those letters in the first place.

Johnny did his best to act upset, his face dropping as he read further and further and then running away to go to the bathroom, but in reality he only left so that he could smile without anyone seeing. He had been crushing on his secret admirer ever since he found the first letter in his locker. He couldn’t believe that he would finally get to meet you.

He couldn’t help but be a bit anxious. He didn’t really trust girls, not after all that Dallas had told him, but he was still excited. You seemed to be nice and he really did want to trust you. Living life assuming that everyone was just going to hurt him wouldn’t get him anywhere.

He got there early and leaned against the fence, anxiously rubbing the letter you’d left him as he waited. He eventually saw you and smiled softly even though you were a soc. Johnny felt even more anxious now but he couldn’t let himself back down. He had gotten this far after all, and he didn’t want to be a weak kid afraid of doing anything forever. Leaving now wasn’t what Dally would do, he told himself as he shook his head.

You ran up to him with what was probably the sweetest smile he had ever seen, if he had to guess. “Hey Johnny!”

Johnny nodded his head towards you as you leaned against the fence, copying his position. He was already a little flustered but he pushed through. If it was Dally here with you he would’ve already started flirting. There was no reason for Johnny to just back out.

“Oh hey…” He looked down to hide his smile, “Y/n, right? We have English together.” He could recognize you from a mile away. Everything about you made him smile, and learning that you were the one who had been writing him those love notes all along only made him more happy.

“Yeah, it’s nice to see you out of school for once.” You put your head on his shoulder. You didn’t want to make an advance too quickly and scare him off, but this was also technically a date.

He quickly felt his face heat up. You were just so gorgeous and kind and he just couldn’t help it. You two watched the movie, but neither of you were really paying attention. You were too busy staring at him and he was too busy staring at you without you noticing.

At the end of the movie you suggested going back to your house. Usually you would have not offered, him being a greaser and all, but your parents were out on a business trip and they would have no clue. Johnny was obviously skeptical. He wasn’t so sure it would be a smart idea for him to willingly go into soc territory with some pretty girl. But he eventually agreed. If he was gonna die tonight he would rather it be while on a date with a pretty girl.

You two got into your car and you started driving. Johnny did not talk much, so it was mostly you just carrying the conversation but you didn’t totally mind. Being a soc you could talk about absolutely nothing for hours on hours without messing up once, but there was one thing different about talking to Johnny. You quickly realized that you could tell him things that you would never normally tell anyone. It was comfortable and you felt safe and he was a greaser so he wasn’t nearly as judgemental as anyone else you had ever talked to.

Soon enough you pulled into your driveway. It was a nice white picket fence house with a freshly mown lawn, fairly boring if you really thought about it. He took note of how perfect it was. Not a single thing out of place. That was only a facade, but not a lot of greasers seemed to understand that. They all seemed to think your life was perfect, that every socs life was perfect and that they shouldn’t ever have the audacity to complain about it for even a second.

You two stayed up almost the entire night; drinking way too much soda, laughing, and just enjoying each other’s company. It was genuinely the best date you had ever had and you were quickly grateful that you had taken that chance.

not sure how much i rlly like this but oh well i can edit it later Ponyboy - sometimes while reading books he'll imagine himself as a character in them and daydream about it - he has anxiety because why not - he's always wanted a better relationship with Darry but since they were further apart in age he never really saw much of him growing up - even when he hasn't had nightmares for months he's still glad that Sodapop is next to him because the thought alone makes him feel safe - when he thinks he's alone he'll sometimes hum his favorite songs but the second he hears something he'll stop and pretend it never happened - if he's really anxious he'll bite/pick at his lips to the point of bleeding even though Darry always scolds him for it - blushes/gets flustered really easily and the gang always enjoys teasing him about it - loves to write letters even if he knows that no one will ever read them - has really nice handwriting but he sometimes makes it seem messier to look more "tough"

Sodapop

- sometimes when it looks like Pony isn't doing too well with homework he'll try and help 'cause he wants to be a good brother but he never does anything but get annoyed at it

- teases Ponyboy about any girl he glances at

- sometimes he "steals" (borrows, he always gives them back before Pony notices) Ponyboy's favorite books because he actually sometimes likes reading but he's too indicisive to choose books and never finishes books often enough to get them for himself

- was one of those kids that mixed up "potions" with things like bleach and shampoo and also enjoyed making mud pies

- considers dating another girl after Sandy but he doesn't want to ask out a soc and hes afraid that any greaser girl he dates wouldn't be nearly as he thought Sandy was

- he's absolutely awful at reading social ques and has a tendency to run his mouth until he realizes that everyone else feelss awkward

Darrel

- he hasn't dated since their parents died because he always tells himself he doesn't have enough time

- used to want to get a dog for his little brothers but quickly realized that realistically he'd be the only one taking care of it

- calls everyone in the gang his kid brother just because

- sometimes he daydreams about having a wife who'd help him with money and taking care of his younger brothers but he knows he'd be too scared to actually trust her around them

- he acts a little cold towards Pony solely because he's afraid that he'll mess something up and fail at giving him the childhood he deserves

- gets all dressed up for parent teacher conferences and is always so proud of everything they say about Pony

- sometimes on his breaks he goes and visits Soda's work when he gets longer breaks because he takes any chance he can to try to act like a good father figure towards Soda

- loves cooking for other people sometimes scolds his brothers if they aren't eating enough but also constantly forgets to feed himself

- enjoys gardening because his mother used to garden with him

Dallas

- he's always so cold around everyone but in turn he feels every emotion 10x worse when they do end up getting to him

- stops by the Curtis' house even when he knows no one is home because it feels more like his home than anything else ever has

- sometimes he cleans but he always lies about it being someone else because he's known as being careless and messy

- anytime he sees Johnny with a new bruise or cut he immedietly goes into guard dog mode and threatens his parents

- he's basically just the scary dog people take on walks

- he likes messing around with knifes and flipping them but always stops when he cuts himself

- whenever he's caught in the rain, just got out of the shower, or anything else that makes his hair wet, he likes to walk up to his friends and shake his hair like a wet dog because he finds it absolutely hilarious

Johnny

- has always been tempted to hug Dally but doesn't want to weird him out

- stray cats absolutely love him and sometimes they'll follow him around just to cuddle him

- usually only ever wears baggy clothes (because that's all he really owns) but gets annoyed at the fact that they only ever make him look more small, young and weak

- the gang usually avoids touching him because he always flinches at it but he actually does enjoy when people hug him or mess with his hair or even just brush against him (as long as they're someone he knows and trusts)

Keith "Two-Bit" Matthews

- never tells anyone about his troubles because he's always such a "happy" guy and a jokester that he thinks that no one will take him seriously

- has a nervous laugh

- says ow or ouch constantly when he brushes against something or accidentally falls down into a seat but stays practically completely silent when he's actually in pain

- has made jokes about turning tables and having greasers jump socs instead but he geniuinely thinks it might work and everyone just laughs because they take nothing he says seriously