Together:

CHERRY: I'd thought we'd have just slid into the backseat and done it like all the normal teenagers, but Ponyboy wasn't into that surprisingly. He didn't want our first time together be like that. When he'd told me that, I'd sheepishly told him I wasn't a virgin, but he blankly looked at me and told me he wasn't either. He then explained that he meant our first time as a couple. A couple? Could we really be called that? Especially when we were hiding it from everyone we knew? Either way, Ponyboy was mine and I was his. I guess that another one of those cliché sayings, but it suited us. And wouldn't you know where we decided to go all the way at? My house, of course. My parents both didn't get home until around eight and it was still early, so naturally, I brought up the prospect of us going there instead. Pony had been hesitant at first, and I could understand why: it was one thing to get caught in the act and other to get caught with a greaser. As awful as it sounds, I had no doubt in my mind that if one of my parents ever should find me in bed with a Soc boy, they'd never punish me as much as they would if they found me with Ponyboy. His hands were at my back as I unlocked the front door, leading us inside the darkness. I went to flip on the lights, but Pony's hand caught mine in mid-reach.

"I don't mind the dark," he whispered, squeezing my hand and making me blush. I nodded and closed the door behind us, moonlight our only guide inside. Luckily I knew my way pretty well around the house and was able to lead us up the stairs without killing myself. I held onto Ponyboy's hand the way down the hall, hoping he didn't notice my racing pulse spreading over my fingertips. I reached my bedroom door and pried it open carefully, even though there wasn't anyone we had to sneak around for once. I took a deep breath and once again shut a door behind us, securing us in our small sanctuary. I turned back to Ponyboy and caught my breath; all this time I'd been imagining making love to him, and here I was about to do it. He might have been younger than me, but seeing him that night, I felt like a silly little girl all over again.

"Ponyboy," I whispered into the darkness, holding out a hand to him. I watched him walk towards me against the moonlight, his hand closing around mine and pulling me close to him. My lips hovered only inches away from his, both of us breathing into the other's mouth before Ponyboy pressed his over mine. My hands instinctively went up to the back of his neck, cradling his kiss in my grasp. His fingers buried themselves in my hair and tugged hard on it as he kissed me deeper, our tongues meeting and breaking apart. Pony's hands moved down past my neck and across my back to the zipper of my dress, and I held still enough for him to pull it free. I stepped out of the dress and faced him in my underwear, suddenly blushing at the pure thought of it. He grinned encouragingly at me before bringing me back to him and kissing me softly, my fingers inching their way up his shirt. I tugged hungrily at it, making him raise his arms so I could pull it off of him. Pony reached around me and unsnapped my bra, peeling it away from my chest and covering my breasts with his hands. I let out a shaky breath as those hands traveled downward, across the plane of my abdomen and past my navel to the fold of my underwear. He hesitated for a moment, but I only nodded my head slightly and he too peeled that away from my body. And there I was, standing completely naked in front of him…and yet…it felt right, like I shouldn't be ashamed of it. I met his gaze and stepped in closer to him, kissing the line of his jaw and bringing my lips across his chin and up to his mouth as I undid the snap of his jeans, pulling away his last layers of clothing. We gazed at each other for a moment before Ponyboy pulled me to him and kissed me feverently. I fell back against him onto my bed, my hair covering our faces in a cascade of red. Ponyboy turned both of us over in one fluid motion, hovering above me as we kissed. I was panting and gasping for breath already, and we hadn't even really done anything yet.

"Cherry," Ponyboy whispered against my neck, "you're not gonna just pick up and leave me after this are you?"

I furrowed my brow and shook my head, hugging him close. "No. No, Ponyboy, I promise you, I'm not going to leave you. And you're not gonna leave me, are you?"

He chuckled, his lips brushing across my shoulder. "No. No, Cherry, I promise. I won't leave you neither."

I brought his face up to where I could see it and cupped my hand around it, smiling at him. "I…I lo—"

Pony covered my mouth with the palm of his hand. "No, don't say it." He trailed his fingers down my chin and neck, sending shivers down my spine as he gazed hard into my eyes. "Not yet, anyway, okay?"

I grinned sheepishly at him. "I thought the girl was supposed to be the sentimental one in the relationship, Pony. You're too deep for your own good."

He laughed and shook his head, strands of bleached hair falling from their carefully greased place. "Nah, I just tell it like it is, that's all."

I ran my hands down his back and up again to his face, bringing him down for a kiss, shifting myself into the curve of his side. There was a short moment where we held each others' gaze before Pony slipped himself inside me, making me tremble and gasp. He's inside me, I kept thinking, he's inside me, he's inside me…

It didn't take long for nature to take its course and make our bodies perform the way they were meant to in this kind of situation. I held on tight to him as we rocked back and forth, making me ironically think of rock and roll music. The Negroes had always meant it as a slang term for sex, and now I truly knew what they meant. I bit hard on my lip as the throbbing in my groin grew stronger and stronger until it flooded my entire body, making me cry out in a mixture of pleasure and agony. Ponyboy must have felt it too because he pressed his face into the swoop of my neck and let out a low moan. We were both shaking, and somehow we'd gotten covered in sweat. I breathed in deeply through my nose and closed my eyes, holding Ponyboy against me. If only he didn't ever have to leave me.

PONYBOY: Well…I'll say one thing: I've never had sex like that before. And with Cherry…God, it was incredible. We had about an hour left to ourselves, so I stay a bit longer than planned and simply laid in the bed with her, holding her in my arms. Cherry's window was in just the right position to show the moon hovering up above the sky, giving us the only light we had. I ran my fingers though Cherry's hair, breathing in her smell and trying to memorize every curve of her body against mine. Her skin was smoother than anything I'd ever touched before, and as pale as the moon itself. Cherry curled herself against my chest and sighed, her breath tickling my skin. I closed my eyes and felt myself drift into sleep. I knew I should stay away, but I was too comfortable with her and too relaxed to think of any the danger I'd put myself in. And it wasn't long before I was fast asleep.