You've never missed fresh air like you did now.
Staying locked up somewhere all night arguing with Dally while the rest of the group is loudly doing some stupid stuff wasn't the best choice. Dally really fucked up this time, and as you tried to angrily explain to him that what he did to Cherry earlier was wrong, the sound of his voice and the excessive amount of smoke coming from the several lit cigarettes in the room were becoming nauseating, and you decided to step out and disappear for a while, leaving a disgustingly smug tall brown-haired boy yelling after you.
You kept walking away, not even bothering anymore as you knew that he wasn't even listening to what you had to say in the first place.
Head on the cold stone wall behind you, hands on your thighs as you slowly sunk to the ground. You stared mindlessly at the horizon while the imperceptible layer of sweat on your skin started to dry. The suffocating and sultry heat of the room still lingered in your lungs, the soft crisp breeze blowed on your secluted figure, causing a contrast that made you shiver.
That's when you felt it, you always did. The soft but heavy pair of big brown eyes stared down at you, as if wanting to announce their presence by burning your skin silently. Your ribcage suddenly felt like fading to steel, but you didn't move your gaze.
"What do you want?" You started the conversation, knowing he felt too akward to do so himself most of the time. Even if in this case, he was the one that walked up to you. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket, breathing nervously as he tried to think of something to say.
"You walked out." You furrowed your eyebrows. "So?" You didn't see why he'd question that. Your harsh expression seemed to have made him a little uneasy. You felt slightly guilty but kept your mouth shut. "Uh...you don't, well.. is something wrong?"
A beat of silence passed, you took a small breath and finally peeled your attention off of the skyline, your eyes landing on him. "No, I'm fine."
"That's what everyone says"
"That's what you say too." You bit back, raising an eyebrow. That might have affected him, but you didn't think about it. He shifted his weight on the other foot "Did Dally do somethin' wrong?"
"Does he ever do something right?" He tilted his head, slightly rolling his eyes, looking like a puppy. "C'mon..."
"Still, he ruined the movie night."
"You know how he is.." he looks down, strands of hair covering his eyes. Just as you were about to respond with a much unkind phrase, your eyes darted down to his jaw, noticing a rather fresh and painful bruise. Your face must have morphed to one of slight disgust, because Johnny showed a confused and almost worried expression.
"Where are you sleeping tonight?"
"Uh...my house, I think."
You grimaced. "Yeah, right. Go to Pony's or something. I don't want you there."
He raised his eyebrows, then shaked his head, looking to the side. "No, I've gone there too many times this week, I don't wanna bother them further." You scoff. "Bullshit. You know they don't mind you crashing at their place. What's your problem? Just go."
"I ain't gonna go, stop."
You watched him through knitted eyebrows, then turned around to stare off in the distance again. You didn't have the energy to argue over this. "...Then stay at mine."
You shrugged. "I said, stay at mine. The lot is too cold this time of year, you apparently have some weird issues with stayin' at the Curtis' and your parents don't care about you enough to worry where you sleep every night. Your folks suck and I don't want you in your own home. I don't think that's too hard to understand, Johnny."
He freezed, gazing at you like a deer caught in headlights, not moving an inch. You took a deep breath and got up, mumbling a quiet 'sorry' before starting to walk home. As you did, you could hear the shuffling of footsteps behind you. You exhaled in relief but didn't turn around.
"We didn't warn the others that we were leaving. Ya think we should?"
"Nah. We're already too far, and I don't want to see Dally right now. But if you're so worried you can always use the telephone at my place." "Alright, thanks."
You opened the door for him and closed it back after you enter. He looked around, seeming a bit lost. "The phone's over there if you need it, I'm gonna go to my room and set up some extra blankets or somethin'.." you nodded towards the telephone and walked away.
After you were done preparing your bed, you grabbed some pijama pants and a comfortable band tee. As you tossed them somewhere you headed in the bathroom to change in your actual night attire. When you came back, you noticed Johnny sitting akwardly on the edge of your bed, waiting for your return. You gestured towards the clothes you had picked out for him.
"Wear them. You can't sleep in jeans, it's uncomfortable as hell"
He quickly whipped his head to the side, taking them. "Your folks don't mind me stayin' here?" He asks after a beat of silence. You shrugged. "They're not around much. They're not coming home tonight." He didn't seem too surprised and he didn't pry on the question any further. Without saying anything else he got up and went to change.
You rubbed your eye and jumped on the bed, laying down. You rested your eyes just for a little, enjoying the little gusts of chilly wind coming through your half cracked window and the faint sound of the upbeat music that constantly played in the diner nearby.
Your peace was interrupted by the feeling of the boy tapping your arm. Your eyes opened immediately, and for the first time in a good while you managed to crack a laugh.
"Johnny! You look...great."
"I'm swimming in this shirt! You ain't much taller than me, how the hell did this happen?
Now he was laughing too, and you were so glad to finally be able to see him grinning once again. Your laugh was slowly replaced by a small, soft smile, and you scooted over to make space for him. He sat down, grabbed a blanket and draped it over both your legs.
As your cheerful faces faded back to normal, your mind couldn't help but drift back to the damn bruise you saw earlier. With a little hesitation you raised you hand, placed it on his cheek and tilted his head to your left, examining the jaw. He winced a little, going back to looking like his usual puppy self, and you started feeling immense anger for the monsters he even dares to call parents.
"I'll put a cream on it tomorrow, remind me to."
Your hand dropped, and you lazily leaned on the headboard behind you. He copied you.
"Thank you for the clothes by the way. And, you know, letting me crash here." He added, his soft smile returning. Yours did too.
"Anytime, Johnny. Show up whenever you like, it's always a pleasure having you near, and knowing you're safe."
"You didn't seem to think so earlier"
"Oh shut up. I was just stressed!"
And with that, you both burst into a fit of laughter again. He looked beautiful. The best thing you can see on the face of someone you love is peace. Just pure peace. And Johnny seemed to be radiating it at the moment.
"C'mon, lay down. You look pretty tired." As you stated this, Johnny's expression morphed into a playful glare
He rolled his eyes, finally moving and sinking in the mattress. You rested your weight on one of your arms, looking lovingly down at him.
"Are ya layin' too or you wanna keep gawkin' at me?"
You gave him a lopsided grin and pushed some of his hair back with your free hand, off of his forehead. You didn't notice right away, but his face started heating up at the contact and his eyes were nervously shifting to the side.
"Just come here" he said, a little panicked, pulling you down againts him. You were taken aback by his bold move, and just chuckled once the initial surprise faded. He too looked stunned by his own actions, and you just shifted on the bed to hug him from behind, pulling him againts you.
Feeling the tension disappear from his shoulders and his breathing slowing and regulating, you ducked your head forward to place a light kiss on the space behind his ear.
He muttered faintly, closing his eyes. He was trying to fall asleep, he really was, but with your heart beating a lot faster than it should, it's not always easy.
You never really noticed how thin he actual was, but having him in your arms right now made it pretty obvious. You swore to yourself that you'd make him the biggest breakfast the next morning.
OMGG I finally did it?!?! I posted some actual content? I am so HAPPYYY AAAA
Ok, so, a couple of things.
First of all, I wanted to apologise in case there some mistakes or some parts don't make sense, you'd have to excuse me since my first language isn't english. Second, this is really just a test fic, to see how I handle this type of writing. This is also why the plot of this story is very predictable, i just wanted to whip something out to see how it goes.
Everything being said, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND ENJOYYY <3