It's not been beta'd so I do apologise for any grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes.

Johnny woke up way before Pony did. He must've been cold because Johnny had to try and prize himself out from underneath his arm, he was facing towards him. Peaceful looking but he was shivering, he was right. Pony was cold. Slipping off his jeans jacket he placed it over the top of Pony. It wasn't much but he hoped it would at least help him, the fact he was laying on the ground didn't help either. Johnny had slept too soundly to care about the cold, he already felt so much better and he took it upon himself to get some supplies for them both. They were not going to survive on the water alone. Although that was a bonus.

Johnny moved his hand gently over the dust on the ground and then traced his message to Pony.

'Went to get supplies. Be back soon. J.C.'

A few times he had to swipe over the dust again just to erase it and try again, he wanted Pony to actually be able to read what it said, the last thing he would have wanted was for him to worry that he had abandoned him. He never would. Taking the money he left the safety of the church, looking back only once to just make sure he had not woke Pony up.

The walk had been peaceful, the sun was hidden behind the clouds, a soft breeze passed by and made him shiver. He reached the town in no time, it was much easier now that he had slept, the grogginess he had first felt when he woke had finally left him. There was a small collection of people dotted around now, and each of them looked at him as they went by. He suspected it was more to do with his appearance more than they knew what he had done. It had been a risk he needed to take now because if they left it longer than a day to go and get supplies they would really run the risk of getting caught out.

Still, Johnny shied away from the looks, his hands were deep in his jean pockets. It was like he knew what they were thinking. 'Murderer.' had been at the top of things, not that it was true. For one he couldn't read minds and two. Too soon. He was overthinking things and he knew it, he always had a habit of overthinking but he never shared that. He had learned to stay quiet. That was his home life teaching him that.

The store had just about everything he had thought about getting, the mental shopping list he had made came in handy. As he left the store he spotted another item, smiling lightly he took it, paid for it and officially left this time.

The walk back had not been as much fun since this time he had a bulky box full of stuff. But he didn't want to complain about it, there was no sense in doing that. As Johnny approached their signature whistle echoed through the open church. As soon as it was returned by Pony he smiled a little, at least he was awake now. Not that it would have bothered him, he wanted him to get as much sleep as he could do. What he had not been expecting was for Pony to come crashing through the door landing at his feet, Johnny looked down at him, brows raised above and hidden by his long hair. Pony looked a little sheepish but was grinning nonetheless. It made him smile.

"Hey, Johnny. Fancy meetin' you here." Pony was still grinning wide, finally he got up off the ground, looking incredibly happy. "What'd you get?" he asked, trying to lean over and peek inside the box that Johnny was holding. Johnny pulled it away and nodded towards the door.

"Come on, back inside. I'll show you." he said and then added. Dally told us to stay inside." he reminded, of course, that couldn't count the fact that he had just been down town to sort out the supplies. They had to get them somehow.

Johnny went in first nodding his head towards the table and his own jacket which it looked as though Pony had folded up neatly. He did not need to word what he meant because Pony grabbed the jacket and started to dust off the table so that Johnny could put the box down and take stuff out of it. "I've done my best with what we had. The store itself didn't have much." he made sure to tell Pony just in case. Baloney, bread, matches. He pulled them out one by one and Ponyboy started to join in, maybe getting a bit sick of waiting to see what else was in there. He didn't blame him, he must've been bored waiting for his only company to return to him.

"A paperback copy of Gone with the wind! How'd you know I'd always wanted one?" Johnny turned back to see him sitting down on a dusty looking chair, his eyes staring intently at the book and he was flicking a few pages open. Admiring it by the looks of it. Johnny couldn't help but blush, both because of the look Pony had been giving the book and the fact that well he got it for a couple of reasons, one of those reasons being completely selfish for himself.

"I remembered you sayin' something about it one time. And we also went to see that movie, 'member? I thought you could maybe read it out loud, kill some time." In other words, please read it to me. Johnny further reddened and had to turn himself away from Pony before he even noticed him doing it. Pulling the rest of the stuff out he placed it on the table, and he heard the chair scrape hard against the stone floor, and Pony was at his side in seconds.

"Peroxide? Johnny! Don't tell me you're thinking about…" Before Pony could even finish off his sentence Johnny was nodding his head, pulling his knife out. Pony genuinely looked as though he was going to start crying and Johnny felt a strain in his chest. He had to try and be a bit delicate.

"We're both gonna cut our hair. And you're gonna bleach yours." Johnny told him, even though he guessed he knew where it was going, Pony still looked horrified. So he pressed on, his face softening a little. "They've already got our descriptions. We just need to not fit them. I'm going to be cutting mine too Ponyboy." he told him just to put him at ease then added. "Your skin is fairer than mine." A lot fairer. He thought. "I wouldn't look right if I dyed mine."

"But my hair." Pony said, he looked less horrified and more like he was in mourning. Johnny sighed softly and nodded his head gently in understanding.

"I know." was all he said and Pony sat back down in the chair, his eyes directly ahead. After a few moments of silence he looked up to meet Johnny's gaze. Then he nodded, that was all Johnny needed.

"Just please… get it over and done with, and don't cut it too short." Pony requested. Johnny grabbed a small tuft on the top of Pony's head and felt his hand close around his wrist, pleading eyes staring up at him. " Johnny please promise me you won't cut it too short." Johnny stared back at him for a moment, how could he say no to that.

"Sure Pony. I promise you." he told him and that seemed to be enough because he let go of Johnny's wrist. And Johnny got to work, doing the best he could to cut his hair, and not too short either which difficult enough as it was without it looking stupid. He knew it wouldn't turn out too good anyway. Without hesitation the peroxide got worked into it next. It was burning Johnny's eyes so he could only imagine what it was doing to Pony. "Go sit outside for a bit. Get the sun on it." Johnny said, tapping his shoulders lightly.

Fifteen minutes later Pony returned. Johnny had searched around for something close to a mirror to let him see it. He managed to find one, even if it was broken it would still do what it was made to do. When he saw Pony he tried not to show anything on his face, he looked scared. Just like how Johnny felt right now. "Come here." he said holding the mirror, he turned it to face him and Pony was having a good hard look at himself. Johnny wished he would say something because he had been incredibly quiet for almost a minute. He never said anything and Johnny put the mirror down and held out the knife to Pony who took it hesitantly, as if it was going to burn him.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Pony asked him, still holding the knife awkwardly.

Johnny had already sat himself down, and Pony approached him. Standing in front of him. "First off, can you hold the knife properly. I don't want to end up dead." It was supposed to come out lighthearted, but they just sort of stared at each other awkwardly. They didn't need to speak about why. Pony did as he was told though and held it properly. Johnny continued now. "Just cut at the front, and thin everything else out, I'll comb it back after I've washed it."

Pony seemed to reel back, as if Johnny was the one holding the knife and had thrust it towards him. 'Bit dramatic Ponyboy.' he thought to himself.

"You can't wash it in that freezing cold water. Not in this weather. You'll get ill." Pony finally said, stepping back towards him. Johnny shrugged, what other choice did he have. They didn't have a shower here, which would have been amazing thinking about it.

"Go ahead and cut it."

Pony ran his fingers through his bangs and Johnny felt a shiver run up his spine. That was something he was never going to share with him. That he actually really enjoyed when someone played with his hair. Closing his eyes he let Pony get on with it, he did just as he said he would and when he finished Johnny stared down at the hair on the floor. His hair. There was so much.

Johnny brushed himself off as he stood from the chair and without saying anything he grabbed the bar of soap he got from the store and washed his hair. Pony had been right, this was a stupid thing to do, that water was freezing cold and it was beginning to make his head ache. When he was finished Pony handed him Dally's jacket and he put it on, it was way too big for him, but it was welcoming, he needed to warm up. The shivering began. Even when he sat outside in the sun, it wasn't warm enough to stop the shivering. Sitting with his back against the doorframe he brushed through his hair. He could feel the difference in it with each stroke through it. It felt horrible and he missed his hair already. Johnny knew it would grow back, he wasn't stupid. But it took away his identity.

Johnny could feel Pony looking at him, and when he finished combing through his hair he looked up and met his gaze. "We are disguised now." his smile was soft and Pony nodded.

"I guess we are," he replied. Pony ran his hands over his face and Johnny heard the sigh he let go of. When he took his hands away though he could see he had started to cry.

"Oh, Ponyboy. I'm so sorry I cut your hair off. But you know it had to be done." Johnny started trying his best to comfort him. Pony was shaking his head, sniffling.

"It's not even that. I don't know what it is. Well, I do. I think it's everything. I just feel a bit all over." Pony admitted to him and stood up helping Johnny up too. Johnny was shivering harder now and his teeth began to chatter together.

"Same here. It's all been happening so fast.." Johnny said. Pony had put his arm across his shoulder and Johnny leaned into him to try and steal some of his body heat.

Pony continued talking to him. Most of it he caught onto, some of it slipped away from him because he was concentrating on not trembling too much, it was beginning to hurt the muscles in his sides. And when he finally did zone back in, Pony was talking about last night, and Johnny couldn't help but close his eyes.

"Remember that? All the wisecrackin' from him." Pony shook his head and Johnny felt his mind wandering back to the night before. "Last night we were walking Cherry and Marica over to two-bits…" zoning back out again Johnny took in a gentle breath. He was flashing back to last night when Pony was being held under the water, struggling to breath. "Just last night we were layin' in the lot…" The knife had gone in so easily. Who knew it would be that easy to stab someone. To take a life away just like that... And the blood. There was so much blood… "Looking up at the stars and dreaming…"

"Stop! Just stop." Johnny cried out. Tears were streaming down his face and Pony stared at him shocked. "Will you shut up about last night. I killed a kid last night. He couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen and I killed him. How would you like to live with that?" Johnny was panting hard, sobbing and Ponyboy took him into his arms and held him, silence lingering between them. Johnny welcomed the hug, he had his face buried into Pony's neck, the warmth of it was incredible. He felt Pony shiver at the cold touch of his own face. "I didn't mean to…" he was still sobbing and Pony held him tighter against him. "I swear. But Ponyboy… they were drownin' you. I was so scared." he whispered the last part. And then Johnny felt Pony's breath stutter slightly. That meant he was crying now too. Johnny pulled back from him and he was right, Pony was crying.

Pony had slumped down the wall and was now sitting down, his head down, trying to stop himself from crying. Johnny watched him for a moment, his own tears had stopped. "What are we going to do?" Pony suddenly asked, he was looking up to him, and Johnny could see him shivering a bit now too. It was cold, and that was not just because he had been dunking his own head in water, he really could feel how cold it was in here, and at the moment Pony didn't have a jacket on. That reminded him of something he had bought.

"This is all my fault." Johnny called out, he made his way back over to the box and leaned into it. "For bringin' a little thirteen year old kid along with me. You should go home. You can't get into trouble for it, you didn't kill him." Johnny finished saying as he pulled out a blanket big enough for the two of them to wrap up in.

"No!" Pony screamed and Johnny looked over at him surprised. His mouth dropped open and Pony continued. "I'm fourteen and I have been for a whole month now." he then shook his head. "And I am in this just as much as you are Johnny." he wiped at his face with the back of his hand. "I'll stop crying in a minute. I really will." he told him going quiet.

Johnny made his way back over to him, his expression was softer and he felt so much guilt inside him. Draping the blanket behind Pony he sat himself down next to him, pulling the blanket up over his own shoulders, squishing himself as close as he could to Pony, who after what he said was still crying. "I'm sorry." Johnny whispered. Pony dropped his head onto Johnny's shoulder and cried harder. "I didn't mean it like that… I'm sorry. Shhh." he wrapped the blanket around them both and was holding Pony against him. His head resting against Pony's and after a few moments Pony went quiet and still. Breathing gently. And Johnny guessed he had fallen asleep.

"We will be okay. Don't worry." Johnny whispered quieter this time. Rubbing his cheek gently against Pony's head, hair ruffling. He then closed his eyes too.