#ponyboy and johnny

[lucyandlucy]

My new profile pic

[izaacs-notdeadyet]

LOOK??? LOOK AT HOW THEY STAND??? Just like their older brothers <333

[kaiskornerart]

“natures first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold. her early leaf’s a flower; but only so an hour. then leaf subsides to leaf. so eden sank to grief. so dawn goes down to day. nothing gold can stay.”

[eggrollinabowl]

Photo Booth besties

[made-my-peace-with-all-the-bad]

Sometimes Pony and Johnny would just sit down on the porch together. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes Pony sketched, sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes it was just them, sometimes the whole gang was there. But this time they were alone. Darrel was still at work, Steve and Soda had gone on some double date thing, Dally was back in county lockup, and Two Bit was off getting drunk god knows where with god knows who. But Pony and Johnny sat next to each other on the porch.

Their legs were touching and their hands were gently sitting over Pony’s knee, pinkies twisted around one another, passing a cigarette back and forth while they watched the sunset. It was nice and it was quiet, something that seemed rare these days.

Johnny finally said something as Pony took a drag of the cigarette. “We could do it yknow”. At Pony’s confused look and tilted head, Johnny clarified, “we could go off and get our big house on a hill”. Pony let a soft smile slip onto his face, “yeah, we could, and I could read a new book to us every week…” his voice trailed off as he let his eyes slip shut as images of it swirled in his brain.

He could see it so clearly. Just him and Johnny. It would have flowers, and a garden, and they could watch every sunset. Then, when it got late, they could curl up together in a huge and soft bed that they would never be able to afford. It was perfect, peaceful, and oh so far away. It would be theirs. He would be lying if he said he didn’t hear his brothers’ voices whispering that he was too much of a dreamer for his own good. Maybe he was, but when he was sitting here like this, listening to Johnny and feeling the gentle weight of his head on Pony’s shoulder, could you really blame him?

He was so lost in his head that when he went to pass the cigarette to Johnny, it slipped out of his fingers. He heard Johnny giggle as he bent forward to pick it up, knowing Darrel would lose his mind if there was another cigarette burn on their porch.

Just when his hand curled around the cigarette, it was like everything shifted. Suddenly he was surrounded by smoke and the hood awful orange color that he knew meant fire. Fire. No no no no, this couldn’t be happening. He was just with Johnny on the porch, laughing and dreaming about their future. He wasn’t in a church, he wasn’t surrounded by flames, he wasn’t alone. Except he was. He tried to suck in a breath but his lungs rejected the air, sending him into a coughing fit.

When he finally got his breathing more under control he began to look for Johnny, running through the smoke as it stung his eyes and he could feel the heat building all around him. But he needed to find Johnny.

When he finally saw him, he called out his name and watched Johnny turn. It took everything in Ponyboy to not throw up when he saw Johnny. Because the boy looking at him wasn’t the same one he was just with. No, this Johnny was in that same damn hospital gown he’d died in. His neck showed the nasty burns he’d gotten. His cheek still had the fresh cut from the socs. But the worst part was his eyes. Because Johnny was looking at him with dead and unseeing eyes.

Suddenly Pony was sitting upright in his bed, awoken by a loud scream, not even realizing it came from him. He was shaking violently, he had tears streaming down his face and blurring his vision, and his breaths were coming in short and fast. He could distantly hear Soda’s groggy voice, asking him if he was ok, but he couldn’t do anything but aggressively shake his head as he tried to force Johnny’s dead eyes out of his mind and he tried to ignore how he could still feel Johnny’s heavy and unmoving hand in his.

He felt Soda’s arms wrap around him but he could still barely register it. He knew Soda was whispering calming words but he could barely hear over the roaring in his ears. He didn’t know how long he went on like this, he just knew he was getting light headed from the lack of air, and he distantly realized that Soda was taking his arms off him and quickly rushing out of the room. Huh, that was strange, normally he stayed. Maybe he was just scared he’d die from being around Ponyboy, most people around him died sooner rather than later anyway, so it wouldn’t be surprising.

He hadn’t even noticed Soda return until he felt a larger and rougher hand on his shoulder and he watched someone kneel down in front of him. It was strange, this guy didn’t look like Soda. In fact, he almost looked like dad. But dad was gone? Maybe he was here to get Ponyboy, maybe Ponyboy was going too?

“Pony, baby, you gotta breathe, honey”

No, that wasn’t dad’s voice. It sounded kind of like Darrel? Ponyboy felt himself begin to sway, suddenly feeling very dizzy and even shakier than before.

“Soda, if this don’t stop soon we gotta take him to the hospital”

NO. NOT THE HOSPITAL ANYWHERE BUT THE HOSPITAL. That was what Pony’s mind screamed at him as he suddenly snapped his head to look at his oldest brother, immediately having a death grip on his brother’s hand as he shook his head even more intensely. He couldn’t make the words come out to explain just how much he couldn’t go to the hospital. Because the hospital was where Johnny died. It was where that sickeningly pristine white covered every surface. It was where he could still smell that sterile cleaner they used on everything. It was where he couldn’t go without picturing Johnny laying on that damn bed and dying.

“Hey, hey, we don’t gotta go but I need ya to breathe with me, okay?”

Pony tried to blink the remaining tears out of his eyes as he nodded. He felt Darrel move so his hand was over his oldest brother’s chest and he couldn’t feel the gentle rise and fall. He tried to time his with his brother and slowly, he started to breathe normally. He sniffled quietly, before speaking, cringing at the rawness of his voice, “‘m sorry for wakin’ yall and botherin’ ya, I know you got work early”. He felt Darrel’s gaze flicker with hurt before it was immediately replaced with a softness he didn’t even know his oldest brother could have. “You ain’t botherin’ us at all, baby. You just scared us somethin’ awful with how long you were like that”

Pony felt even more confusion fill him when he heard that, because it hadn’t been that long, had it? It felt to him like maybe 20 minutes? He’d had longer fits than that. Upon his confusion, he felt Soda’s eyes land on him, and as he reached out to wrap an arm around his brother, he softly said something that stunned Pony, “honey, you been like this for damn near three hours, I got Darrel after forty minutes, but you just wouldn’t calm down”.

When he looked between his brothers, he finally noticed the fear in both their eyes. They really were scared that they were losing him. Hell, he was scared he was losing himself.

“Do ya- do ya wanna talk about it?” Pony recognized this, it was what Soda did every time, he asked if Pony wanted to talk about his nightmare, about what got him so worked up. Usually it helped him, so he decided to give it a go. “It was Johnny ‘n the fire ‘n getting out ‘n-“ Pony stopped as he felt his breathing pick up pace again. He started curling in on himself until he felt Darrel’s hand on his knee, “hey, you don’t gotta talk about it if you ain’t ready”. Ponyboy nodded, feeling a hot and fresh tear slip down his cheek.

He felt guilt roll in his stomach. Guilt for the fire, guilt for scaring his brothers, guilt for everything. But even more than that he felt a hole in his heart, like he was missing part of himself. In a way, maybe he was. He missed him. He missed Johnny more than anything in the world. Maybe he always would. But his brothers understood. They were there for him. And that made him feel just a little closer to ok.

[d1sapp01ntm3nt]

Guess who had tech class today!!!

[johnnyvalance]

“Sing us a song, you’re the piano man.”

[cherrycolacowboy]

pb.c & d.w & j.c — there’s nothing you can do it’s already been done…

[twobitsblade]

hi!! i requested something recently however i absolutely can’t remember how specific i was with the format request and i do not wanna make this a guessing game for you lol

i requested something where ponyboy helps his gf reader who is very stressed after a long day of school with tests, projects, fights, etc. and how he would help her with that. i would like to request it as a fic, but if you want to ignore this then feel free! or if you already did hcs for it or smth lolll, anyways sorry this is so long, i LOVE your writing and i hope you have an amazing day/night!! tysm🫶🫶

⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ my boy’s gentle embrace

[ author’s note: hi honey, thank you so much for this wonderful request! you’re such an absolute sweetheart for resending it to be more specific! i hope this is what you wanted—if not, feel free to send another request and i’ll rewrite it. ]

as you stomped back to your modest one-story house on the east side of tulsa, each step made you feel angrier and angrier. the fact that your old, torn-up boots let the snow freeze your feet wasn’t helping—god, how today had gone wrong.

first, your english teacher had yelled at you in front of pony, which, although you knew he’d never judge you, still left you embarrassed. he was your boyfriend, after all. oh, whatever. it was too late to reminisce about that now. you had lord knows how many assignments to finish, and if you thought about it too much, you knew you’d snap—so it was better to just suppress it.

you continued trudging through the snowy sidewalk until you reached your house, but before you could even put your key in the lock, you heard a familiar voice—one that immediately soothed all your thoughts, no matter how cliché it sounded.

“c’mere!” ponyboy called out, and you quickly hopped over to him, almost slipping on the snow. the only thing stopping you was your boyfriend’s hands immediately gripping your waist.

“jesus, be careful!” he said, running a hand through his hair. “wanna, uh, stay over at my place for a bit? darry ain’t mad at me today, so he won’t have no problems with it.”

you sighed, shaking your head and dusting yourself off. “i can’t, pony. i got schoolwork for days!”

but the weariness in your eyes didn’t go unnoticed by him.

“oh… um, okay… well, how about you stay over for a bit, and i’ll help?”

looking at the genuine expression on his face, you couldn’t deny him. not long after, the two of you ended up on the curtis’ living room couch. as you removed your shoes, your teeth chattered from the cold. pony turned to you, eyebrow cocked.

“jeez, you really don’t take care of yourself, do ya?”

you shot him a look almost as icy as the weather outside, which made him shrug.

“it’s just—i dunno,” you muttered, cutting yourself off.

“no, c’mon, tell me,” he pried, and you immediately folded.

“well, it’s—god, i mean, today… the way the teacher yelled at me in front of you.”

a glint of recognition sparked in his eyes.

“and i’m being assigned so much damn work,” you admitted, and suddenly, tears slipped from your eyes.

before you could even think, his hands were pressing you against his chest. pony had never been good at comforting, but lord knows he could give a good hug.

“it’ll be alright, it’ll be alright,” he murmured against your scalp, pressing gentle kisses along your hairline.

“shh, just breathe, c’mon.”

eventually, you were able to calm down.

“i’ll help you with your work to the best of my abilities, alright? and if you really need an extension, i—” he hesitated, but after one good look at your face, he continued, “i’ll help you ask for an extended deadline.”

you started crying again at his words, but this time, not out of sadness or anguish—out of contentment. your boyfriend, your boy, was there for you. and finally, in all the chaos of your life, you felt safe in the warmth of his embrace.

[horror-girl13]

I swear I saw someone on here talking about how when Daryl was Johnny he laid on Pony at the end of Death’s at My Door. Is that true or did I dream seeing that on here?

[lucyandlucy]

Ponyboy, acting tough: You guys don't want to mess with me.

Johnny: Yeah, Ponyboy will straight up cry in public. Don't try him.

Ponyboy: Exactly, I will straight up-

Ponyboy:

Ponyboy, tearing up: Johnny, why would you say that?!

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

What do you think you woulda’ done if it was Pony instead of of Johnny? Yk? In that fire? It was real close to being him too.

He puts the paper down and sighs long and hard. He sits there for a good 5 minutes before finally sitting up, to light a cigarette. Then he flips the slip over and writes.

I dunno.

I really don't. I mean, shit. What if, y'know? I think about that stuff every day of my damn life after Johnnycakes died.

I don't know what I'd do. I don't even know what Darry would do. We'd both be helpless. We're just as lost as Ponyboy is when it comes to Johnny, if we lost him instead of the other I just...

I dunno.

[yournormalidiot]

Ponyboy swears, but Johnny has a sailors mouth. (He just does it under his breath most the time)

[eggrollinabowl]

[made-my-peace-with-all-the-bad]

Carlo’s Song Pony and Johnny explanation that no one asked for but I want to write:

“I see you for a moment, then the morning comes and it’s wasted” is Pony dreaming about Johnny and sometimes it’s a good and happy and they have their house together but he always wakes up to having nothing left of Johnny but his clothes, letter, and the permanent scar he left on Pony and his heart.

“We walked in the same direction but we both got lost, in your angst and my impatience” that’s Pony’s self hatred for blame for what happened. They ran off the park but that was because Pony worked himself and Darrel up. Pony repeats that to himself for months. He wonders what would’ve happened if they didn’t leave. Maybe his best friend would still be here…

“Did you find what you were looking for? Some escape from your skin” is Pony constantly remembering how Johnny said that he sometimes wanted to disappear. Sometimes Pony wonders if this was how it was always supposed to have happened. He hates it, but some part of him believes that Johnny didn’t deserve to live and die here. So he hopes that Johnny died but he was still somewhere. Maybe he felt whole and himself again. Maybe he wasn’t suffering anymore. Maybe he was with Pony’s mama and dad.

“You know that place you were dreaming of, where all light comes in” is Pony laying awake and thinking about their dream. He knows he could still do it. He could get out and go find a house on a hill and watch the sunsets and read his books, but doing that without Johnny felt wrong. He hoped Johnny found it though. He hoped that wherever he was now, he had a feather bed and a windowsill plant. He hoped that Johnny was with his parents and Dally. He hoped that Johnny would be there, waiting for him when his time came.

“I hope you know I grew my hair out long” is Ponyboy watching as the auburn hair starts to fill his head again. It’s him sitting at Johnny’s grave and feeling the cool stone through his t shirt and he notices that his hair is the length it was before. He notices that the horrible bleach is only the tips of his hair. He could easily cut it off and it’d barely impact the length. But he can’t bring himself to do it, because it feels like he’s cutting off one of the last tangible things of Johnny he has.

“And your sister’s just fine” is what Pony will always end his talks with. He’ll tell Johnny everything, but he always ends with her and himself. She wasn’t actually his sister but she may as well have been. She was Two Bit’s sister, but she and Johnny had a connection. It started years before, around when Johnny started going to Two’s after his parents got to him. One time, she’d snuck into her older brother’s room and sat down on the bed next to this scared boy who couldn’t have been much older than her. And she did what she thought would help, she slowly reached out and took his hand. When she did, it came with a silent message, a simple, “I’m safe, you’re safe here, I’m sorry, and it’ll be ok”. From that moment on, she became Johnny’s little sister just as much as she was Two Bit’s.

“I keep burning my bridges down, just to keep you alive” is Ponyboy’s quiet acknowledgement that he’s pulling away. He doesn’t let anyone get as close anymore, not anyone new at least. He still hangs out with his brothers and what’s left of their gang. But he’s even quieter at school now. He knows it’s not good, but he can’t help it. Trying to move on and find new friends leaves an awful taste in his mouth and a sinking feeling that he’s betraying Johnny. As if staying alone makes the possibility of Johnny walking through the door any more likely.

“Yeah I guess I just got busy, only saw you every other weekend” is Pony realizing that he’s been off at college and so focused on his classes that he hasn’t visited Johnny in a while. When he went back, he cried. It was the first time he’d cried visiting Johnny in a while. He cried for so many reasons. He cried because he felt bad, he cried because it wasn’t fair, he cried because he missed Johnny, and he cried because he wanted him back more than anything.

“I just moved to this city, hoping noise drowns out the regret” is Ponyboy going to college and getting as far away as possible. He moves to a city and he loves that it isn’t defined by its raging class divide and violence. But part of him hates how far he is. He hates that he needs to wait for a phone just to hear his brothers’ voices. He hates that he can’t go sit by Johnny’s grave and just talk. He hates that it’s all so big and unfamiliar.

“They tell me grief is just love letting go, they say it like milk has been spilled on the floor” is Pony when Darrel tries to get him to snap out of it. He hates how Darrel says it. He hates how easily Darrel can accept that their friends are gone. He hates that he can’t. He wishes he could but for some reason he couldn’t even think about Johnny without completely shutting down. He couldn’t get his best friend’s unseeing eyes and limp and heavy hand out of his mind. He couldn’t think of Dallas without hearing that train horn and seeing the blur as it went by. As it took another life he loved. He can’t handle it, why can everyone else?

“They say they don’t know who I am anymore, well I just have never shown anger before” is Pony’s thoughts when he breaks and bottle and threatens the socs. It’s his guilt when he comes home and sees the pure worry in Darrel and Soda’s eyes. It’s Darrel sitting down with him and holding him so gently and telling him that he isn’t ok now and that’s fine, but he’s slipping away and they can let that happen. It’s Soda’s hand gently carding through his hair as he quietly asks him to try, even if he can’t hold onto the rope, they need him to fight just a little so they can hold him up themselves.

“And I’ll keep growing my hair out long, just to cover my eyes” is Ponyboy when he looks in the mirror and sees that his hair is long enough to properly grease again. It’s him waking up and pushing it out of his face and seeing his eyes. They look greener now than they ever have. Green. He hates that his stomach still turns when he sees them because green eyes remind him of Bob, or the soc boy at the back of the drive in, or the girl who caused that burn scar on Two’s face. But they’re more than that. They’re the eyes that Johnny looked into when he said Pony looked like Paul Newman. They’re the eyes he got from his mama. Some days he loves them, some days he hates them.

“I just wanna keep you alive” is Ponyboy never getting rid of Johnny’s stuff. When he went to college, he packed Johnny’s jacket and letter with him. It’s the reason he visits Johnny’s grave until he dies. It’s the reason he tells their stories to anyone who will listen. He refuses to let Johnny become just another greaser who died too young. He can’t become that because Johnny was so much more than that. He had hopes and dreams and fears. He would fidget with his hands or his shirt or his jacket. He would laugh quietly but his body would shake. He bounced his leg constantly. He was a person. He was Pony’s person. So Pony spends his life telling stories and keeping Johnny’s memory alive.

[livfordoodles]

Outsiders based off book descriptions <3