Chapter Text
Ponyboy sat on the couch, staring intently at the TV as some new movie played. He didn’t know the name, just that Mom had told him not to watch it. He didn’t see anything wrong with it though. Just that he didn’t get most of it, but he supposed that was alright.
He heard the sound of the door opening. Pony turned, grinning. Soda was home! He’d been out playing football with some school friends or something, Pony thought.
“Hi Soda!” Pony greeted. Then, as Soda and Steve entered the house, another person came in behind them. Pony sort of recognized him—maybe he’d seen him at school? He wasn’t sure. He cocked his head.
“Heya, Pony.” Sodapop said with a smile, flopping down next to Pony on the couch. Steve sat down next to him, and the other kid hovered near the door, as if unsure of what to do. He met Pony’s eyes for a split second, then looked away just as quickly.
Pony kept studying him. He was probably one of Soda’s friends, he figured. Pony liked his hair, it looked nice. Soda finally seemed to realize that the boy wasn’t following them into the living room, and he just grinned. “C’mon, Johnny, we ain’t gonna bite or nothin’!”
So that was his name! “Hi.” Pony said, noticeably quieter than usual. He wasn’t sure why, it just didn’t seem right to be loud around him.
The boy—Johnny, right?—seemed surprised, raising his hand to give a small wave. Pony gave a small smile. Johnny hesitantly walked into the living room, and Pony scooted over so there would be room on the couch. He sat down.
“Hi.” Pony said again. “I’m Ponyboy.”
Johnny gave a small nod, playing with his hands. “Johnny.” he muttered.
Pony just nodded right back, figuring there was no use in telling him he already knew. He turned his attention back to the TV.
“What’s this one, Pony?” Soda asked, squinting at the TV.
Pony knew it didn’t particularly matter whether he told him or not, because Soda never paid attention and him and Steve would end up just going outside and playing without him. Well, Soda would drag him but Steve never liked it when Ponyboy played with them. Pony didn’t understand why, he liked Steve well enough.
“I think it’s somethin’ like the guy who knew too much.” Pony answered. “I dunno. Mom told me not to watch it. I dunno why, I know what kidnappin’ is.” Pony liked to think he was pretty smart for his age. He was only six, but Dad always said he was a ‘real smart kid’, so he liked to think so.
Soda shrugged. “Maybe she just doesn’t want ya scared or somethin’.”
“Prolly.” Pony replied, focusing back on the movie. He heard the door open again.
“Hey boys!”
Pony hopped up. “Hi dad!” he jogged over to hug his dad, smiling. He barely registered Johnny flinching at the loud voice.
His dad chuckled, ruffling his hair. “Heya Ponyboy.”
Pony pulled away, going back over to sit on the couch. Soda was changing the TV. “Hey! I was watchin’ that.”
“Sorry.” Soda apologized. “But you’ve been watchin’ TV for a while.”
Pony shrugged. He supposed that was true. He’d been home a lot longer than Soda had been, so it was fair. He turned towards Johnny. He didn’t say anything, just studied him for a moment. His hair seemed a little longer than Pony’s, and it was jet black. He seemed a little scared, which confused Pony a bit. Maybe he didn’t like Pony looking at him? “Sorry.” he said.
Johnny blinked. “Huh?”
Pony shrugged. “You seemed upset. I thought I was lookin’ at ya too long. Is it somethin’ else?”
“Oh.” Johnny mumbled. “No, it’s nothin’.”
“Hm. Okay.” He thought for a moment. “How old are ya?” He seemed a little younger than Sodapop, but he was definitely older than Ponyboy. “I’m six.”
“I’m eight.” Johnny replied quietly. He was quiet, Pony noticed. Whatever. He seemed nice, so Pony didn’t mind. As long as he wasn’t mean. Steve was kinda mean though, but Pony didn’t mind him. He was Soda’s best buddy. Ponyboy didn’t really have a best friend. Maybe Two-Bit, but Two-bit was ten, and Pony thought that was too old to be his best friend. Two-Bit was more like a brother.
“Wanna be friends?” Pony found himself saying before he could think about it.
Johnny, once again, seemed surprised. Pony wondered how he could talk to someone as nice and bright and loud as Soda if he couldn’t get through one conversation with Ponyboy. And Pony didn’t really talk much unless it was Soda or that one friend of Darry’s that came over sometimes and gave Pony drawing tips.
“Uh. Sure.” Johnny said, finally. Pony smiled.
“Okay. Wanna see my drawings?”
Johnny blinked. Pony wondered sadly if he had any other friends. Well, then he’d make sure he was a good one! Johnny gave a small nod, and Pony took his hand and pulled him up. “C’mon!” He dragged him over to his room. Suddenly, he remembered some conversation he’d heard Mom and Darry having and he dropped Johnny’s hand. Johnny seemed a bit confused but didn’t say anything. “Mom told Darry somethin’ about it not bein’ nice to touch people without asking.” Pony explained.
“Oh.” Johnny seemed as though he’d never heard of that before. “Okay.”
“C’mon, over here!” Pony gestured to a little stack of papers he had. The top one was one of his better ones. He picked it up. “This one’s my best one! I still don’t think it’s that good though. Not as cool as Paul’s drawin’s though. He’s real good.” he paused. “Oh, yeah. Paul is one of my older brother Darry’s friends. He comes around a lot and he helps me with my drawin’s sometimes.”
Johnny just nodded along, looking at the drawing like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. “That’s cool.”
Pony grinned. “Yeah! And then here are some of my other one’s—oh, wanna draw together?”
Johnny blinked, seemingly surprised again. Pony was starting to think it was a bit odd. “Okay.”
Pony grabbed some sheets of paper and a few of his pencils, and some crayons. “Okay, c’mon!”
He led Johnny to the kitchen table, plopping down and setting the paper in front of him, and handing Johnny a sheet. “Here.” Pony handed him a pencil. He started drawing, trying his best to draw the outside of their house. It was the first thing he thought of.
Pony glanced over at Johnny, noting that he wasn’t drawing yet. He frowned. “Did you not wanna draw? We can do somethin’ else. I think we have a ball in the backyard. Or we can go back and watch TV.”
Johnny shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I just don’t know what to draw.”
“Hmm,” Pony hummed. “Is there a place ya like? Or somethin’?”
Johnny seemed to be thinking. “I dunno. There’s this empty lot near the end of the street where I go sometimes, but it’s just grass and trees.”
“Then draw that.” Pony said simply. “It’s just whatever you can think of. It doesn’t even have to be important, it’s just about putting it on the paper. That’s what my Mom said.”
“...that’s real nice, actually.” Johnny muttered. He finally started drawing, and Pony gave a small smile, turning back to his own drawing. He liked his new friend. Plus, Johnny seemed real nice.