Johnny's POV:

I wake up bright and early in the morning. I sit up, stretch, and go to the kitchen. I see that Rose put the purple tulip in a vase. Everytime I look at that tulip, I see beauty, just like Rose.

I look around and see that Ponyboy is awake too. He is eating his breakfast. Sodapop, Steve, and Darry left for work already. Two-Bit, Dally, and Rose are still sleeping. I wonder if I should make breakfast for Rose.

"Mornin' Johnny," Ponyboy calls from the other room.

"Morning," I say.

I look around in the kitchen for something I can make for myself and Rose. I am still scared of Dallas right now. What if he comes up from behind me and stabs me or something. What if he's still mad at me? I sure hope not.

Ponyboy gets up and cleans up his dishes. "Hey Johnny, did you hear Rose and Darry arguing last night?"
"They argued? About what? Is Rose okay?" I ask. I start to panic. I hope Darry didn't hit Rose like he did to Ponyboy back then.

"I'm not sure," Ponyboy says. "All I remember is that I woke up hearing a loud bang, like someone hit the counter or something and then Rose screaming about how Darry always gets on her."
"A LOUD BANG?!" I say loudly.

I shut the fridge fast run out of the kitchen fast. I hope Rose is okay!
I see Dallas walk out of his room and into the room Rose is sleeping in. I slowly poke my head in there to see what he's doing. Also, Dallas being up before noon, what?

Dallas walks over to Rose.
"Good morning, beautiful," Dallas said.
My heart dropped. Did he just call her beautiful? Did Rose chose Dallas over me? I think I feel tears forming…
Rose leans up from her bed. "Oh, hi Dallas. Up before noon huh? What for?"

"Our date," Dallas said.

I grab my heart. Did he just say, date?

"It's not a date," Rose said. "We're just hanging out as friends. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"Sure whatever," Dallas said. "Want me to pick out your outfit?"
"I'm perfectly capable to pick out my own outfit, Dally," Rose said. "Now, not trying to sound rude but can you please leave so I can go back to sleep, or perhaps get ready?"

"Yeah," Dallas said. "I'll be out, be back around 5 for the date."

"It's not a date!" Rose exclaimed.
When Dallas turned around and started to walk out, I jumped back into another room so he couldn't see me. I am so confused right now! Are they dating? I'm sure Rose wouldn't hide this from me. I'm gonna go talk to her.

After Dallas is out of my sight, I walk to Rose's room and knock on her door. She turns around and smiles big. "Hi Johnny, come on in!"

I walk in and sit on the bed with her. "Hey Rose, good morning."

"Good morning," she says and hugs me.

I hug her back. "Hey, I have a question." I let go of her.

"Yes?"

"What does Dallas mean by, your date?" I ask. "And he woke you up by saying good morning beautiful. Are you guys dating?"

"No Johnny we're not dating," I say. Whew… "And we are hanging out today at 5. Just as friends, trust me. I'm still thinking about everything."

"Oh, okay," I say. I look down. Maybe her and I can go on a "date" before she leaves and hangs out with Dal. "Well, um, oh nevermind."

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," I say and chuckle nervously.

"You can tell me anything, trust me," Rose said.

"Oh, um… Well, you- I was wondering if you'd want to… want to go on a 'date', like hang out with you like how you are with Dal?"

Rose smiles. "Why not?"

I smile big. "Okay So in about an hour we can hang out?"

"Sure Johnny," Rose said.

"Perfect," I say with a smile. "I'll see you then."

I stand up and hug Rose and then I leave her room. I get to hang out with Rose before she leaves with Dallas!

An Hour Later

I put my jean jacket on and I am officially ready for our little hang out. I see Rose come out and she is all dressed up. I walk over to her.

"You look very, beautiful," I say.
She smiles big. "Thank you Johnny."

"Ready?" I ask and hold out my arm in a lock form so we can lock arms.
"Yes I am," Rose says.

Her and I lock arms and we walk outside to the back. I have a blanket set up and I have a picnic basket on top of the blanket. I have the purple tulip and the vase on top of the blanket.
"Oh, Johnny!" Rose exclaimed. "This picnic set up is absolutely beautiful and perfect."
I hug Rose closely. "Beautiful and perfect, just like you. It's all just for you. I want you to be happy."
Rose smiled huge. "I am very happy. Thank you Johnny."

"You're welcome, Rose," I say.
Rose and I sit down. I open up the basket and lay everything out. We start to eat.
"Mmhm, this food taste amazing!" Rose said. "Did you make all this yourself?"

"Yes I did, Rose," I say.
Rose looks at me right in the eyes. "You know Johnny, you have very pretty eyes."

My face turns red. "I have pretty eyes? Thank you. Your eyes are very pretty as well."

We quickly finish eating and it's noon. Rose and I have about 5 hours left before Dallas comes back. Awesome. I wonder what else Rose and I can do…

I clean up everything and run it all back inside. I wish I had something else I could give her right now, like another flower or something more.

I look over on the kitchen table and notice a fake rose and a heart shaped box. I look in the box and see diamond earrings. Did Dallas give these to Rose to lure her in for a date? I know Rose said it wasn't a date, and that they're just friends. Plus, Rose wouldn't lie to me about this. I want to talk to her about it, but I don't want to ruin this whole "date" hang out thing by asking her about it. Well, I guess I can ask her about it later on tonight or this week.

I hurry up cleaning up so I can go out and be with her. I'm not gonna let the fake rose, heart shaped box, and diamond earrings bother me. Heck, it might not even be from Dallas to Rose. But, Ponyboy isn't crushing on anyone he's too shy. Darry is too busy for love, same with Steve and Sodapop. Two-Bit isn't looking to be in a relationship. So it leaves Dallas and myself. I didn't buy it so it is Dallas! Ahg! He probably stole the earrings or stole money to buy them. Oh, what should

I do?

I finish cleaning up and walk over to the heart shaped box. No name or anything. I know it's from Dallas though.

I walk outside with my head to the ground. It's actually bothering me. I'm not mad or upset at Rose, I'm mad and upset with Dallas. He can go out and basically get any girl he wants, he would be crushing on my dream girl. Why can't he stop chasing her and let me be happy? Let something good happen in my life for once? I know Dallas wouldn't even love her and treat her as good as I would…

I walk over to Rose and look up at her face. She smiles at me. "Hey Johnny, you okay?" Oh no, she knows. How does she know? Am I being obvious that something is bothering me? Oh no.

Should I tell her? I don't want to hide things from her- because I trust her. I don't wanna tell her in case it ruins this "date" hang out and I end up ruining my chances with Rose. Okay, I'll tell her. I'm not hiding anything from her.

"Well, yes and no," I say.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" she asked.

I look down and sit on the ground.

Rose sits down next to me and puts her arm around me. "Please tell me. You can tell me anything, you don't need to hide things from me, trust me."

I look over at her. "I know, I trust you. It's just, I saw the fake rose, the heart shaped box, and the earrings and it kinda, I don't know. Makes me…"

"Jealous?" Rose asked me.

My eyes get huge. I really hope I'm not messing everything up. "Um, well… Yeah.."

"I understand," Rose said. "Dallas bought me those things. I know he just bought them to make me say yes for today. Hey, you're not mad at me for hanging out with him, right?"

"I'm not mad," I say. "As long as you guys don't like, kiss or anything-."

I quietly had to shut up. I don't want to sound controlling or anything. And I'm not mad at her for hanging out with Dallas. I know they're not dating so I don't need to worry about anything.

"Dallas and I are not dating," Rose says. "Were just friends. I'm still just trying to figure out things, and still unsure if I'm ready to date anyone. Don't worry, and if he tries to kiss me or anything I will make sure to put an end to it before it stops."

What she just said lightened up my mood a lot. "Really?"

"Yeah," Rose said.

I look up at her and smile. She smiles back at me and we stare at each other in the eyes. Man, her eyes are just beautiful.
Next thing I know, Rose and I lean into each other. Before I knew it, her lips were locking mine.