A hand is on Ponyboy's shoulder, shaking him. He doesn't want to answer it; he's so fucking safe here, wherever this warm place is. It's comforting, the scent around him feels so good, the arms around him are strong and nice, and there's a mix of the outside that comes with it. Sleep still tugs at him, even though the more aware he gets, the more it falls away.
He wriggles closer, and Soda's laughter washes over his ears. "Guess you don't wanna get up, honey?"
"Mno," Ponyboy whines, rubbing his nose against someone's neck. Someone being Dallas, given the grunt that leaves him as Ponyboy cleaves closer.
Dallas shifts, his voice scraping near the bottom of his register. "I got him, Soda. We'll be by the house in the morning for breakfast."
"I'll tell Darry. G'night, Pony, Dally," Soda says.
Ponyboy lifts his head up from Dallas' neck, finally looking at his brother. He feels happy to see Soda there, smiling the way he used to. The pack was back together, normal again. He feels very pleased in that moment that he and Dallas hadn't done too much, and that Dallas had snagged some blankets before they'd claimed a spot. Ponyboy hadn't been thinking about it; not with how eager he was.
He's sure he looks like a tousled mess, smiling up at Soda. "See you in the morning. Tell Darry and everyone else I said good night."
He watches as Soda takes off towards the main bonfire, back to the ring of warm fire light. He and Dallas stay there, right at the edge of it all, in a half nest that Dallas constructed, both of them pressed close together, warm body against warm body. Ponyboy moves a little, yawning — he's not sure when he fell asleep or for how long, only it's noticeably colder as he moves around. There are greasers farther out, some of them together, some not. Some are like Soda and the rest, heading back to other places for the night though most will be staying here, those who didn't have a good place at all or who preferred to be there with whoever they were going steady with or just cause.
He wasn't sure what category that placed him and Dallas into — just that they were comfortable here together, beneath the starlight, in this semi nest together, the past week or so's events finally behind them.
If he thinks about it too hard, it will overwhelm him because now that they were a pack, now that they were back where they needed to be, there was something else looming, something that could change their lives forever.
Tonight, Ponyboy doesn't want to think about it, doesn't want to have to consider that yet. What he wants, what he concentrates on is the way Dallas looks as he moves just enough to prop himself up on one arm, the way his hair is curling at the end when he squints down at him, asking, "You want something to drink? There's still some stuff left."
"Drink, some food yeah," Ponyboy yawns again, rubbing at his eyes. "Just a little bit. And a weed."
"What am I, a waitress?" Dallas nudges him as he fully gets up. He's just in his jeans and shirt, his shoes off. Even though he grouses, he steps out of the nest, padding across the grass. Ponyboy watches him go, enjoying the way his body cuts through the darkness, at the sureness in his steps and how much Ponyboy wants to hook his fingers in his shirt and yank it away.
No book could have every conveyed to him how different he'd feel after mating. Even through a day as difficult as this one, he had just wanted Dallas, wanted to touch him, wanted to be near him, wanted to have him any way that he could. To not be so close to him had made Ponyboy uncomfortable, made him unsteady.
Even now, with Dallas in his eye line, even with Dallas just a few steps away, Ponyboy wanted him back, wanted to drive his fingers into his side, wanted to kiss him, wanted to have Dallas knotting him again, as soon as he could.
When Dallas comes back, he offers a canteen of water to Ponyboy and a chocolate bar, sitting in on the edge of the nest. He crosses his legs, nose flaring, eyebrows raising. "After you eat, kid."
"How'd you know?" Ponyboy takes the canteen, and the water is deliciously cold as he pulls from it.
"You ain't the first person I've been with," is Dallas' answer. It's not a good one — a spark of jealousy flares in Ponyboy's gut as he continues. "Just know it."
Frowning, Ponyboy tears open his chocolate bar, "Didn't mate 'em though." Dallas chuckles, and the sight of his sharp fangs soothes down that bit of jealousy. The chocolate is okay enough, Ponyboy taking a few bites. "Are you gonna come with us, tomorrow?"
"To do what?"
"Well — I gotta talk to Darry and Soda, really," Ponyboy sucks at his teeth. "I gotta – we need suits for the trial come Tuesday. The one I wore last time, I don't fit it no more." He knows he could use better grammar — and doesn't care to, knowing what the rest of this week, month will be. A thought that sours the chocolate in his mouth and has him put it down. "We gotta go get one that fits. I think – Darry can wear one of Dad's old ones. Soda probably can wear the other one, though."
In his chest, he can feel anxiety well up, can feel some of those fears start to snap at him, racing to devour him, to take away all the good of the night.
Dallas reaches out, grasps his chin, and before Ponyboy can say what?, he's tugging Ponyboy forward roughly – then he's kissing him, rough, scent overpowering for a moment. It's enough to pull Ponyboy out of his thoughts, to get him to concentrate on Dallas' mouth, on the way he can taste a little bit of beer on Dallas' tongue, on putting the chocolate bar down and enjoying how sharply Dallas' fingers dig into his cheek.
He kisses him back, inhales his scent, fingers reaching out for Dallas' shirt the way he'd been wanting to. The mating mark on his neck seems to pulse, and Ponyboy's pushing the candybar away from him, starting to feel dizzy, trying to keep up with Dallas.
It's Dallas who breaks away first, who says, "Tomorrow, kid. We don't have to do anything about that til tomorrow." Against Ponyboy's mouth, his breath is warm, inviting.
So Ponyboy takes him up on the invitation, kissing Dallas this time, pulling him closer, down into the nest with him. Allows himself to just be a regular kid, just the average teenager having time with his mate at the bonfire like so many others, moaning as Dallas' tongue slips into his mouth, as his nose half bumps into his, his fingers moving to undo Dallas' jean buttons, the scent of slick starting to permeate the air.
Underneath the stars, it's just them. It's just Dallas laughing in his ear when Ponyboy yanks his boxers down too fast, it's just Ponyboy wriggling when Dallas tries to get his jeans off just as quickly. There is no past or future: simply the present as Ponyboy, feeling heady and happy, kicking his jeans off, pulling his shirt off with Dallas' aid.
Then Dallas' teeth sink into his neck, his fingers move between Ponyboy's thighs, and then there is just their bodies, melding together as best they can, colored by pleasure.
He will never, ever forget what it feels like to wrap his arms around Dallas, to look at the moonlight above them as Dallas strokes inside of him, as he wraps his legs around his waist. He will never forget how beautiful it looks like when the moon illuminates the tips of Dallas' hair, or how his vision blurs together when his orgasm overtakes him, the world narrowed down to just them.
"Glad you got here early," Darry's being diplomatic as he can, something Ponyboy appreciates as he steps inside of the house. It's cleaned up, as best he could even if the lamp not being there makes his heart hurt. Darry's cleaned up, and in the kitchen, Ponyboy can see Soda there. "We gotta go downtown for shopping. Mrs. Mathews told me about the lawyer saying we need new suits. Think you two could eat and get showered in the next hour so we can drive and meet her together?"
"Yeah," Dallas nudges Ponyboy towards the hallway, "Go on, kid. You first; I can run to Buck's and get back here in time. All my shit's there."
Darry nods haltingly, and Ponyboy spares Dallas one more glance — at his tousled hair, at the mating mark that's dark again, at the hickeys and scratches Ponyboy had left on him — then he goes down the hallway. At least Mrs. Mathews had already talked to him, which was a good sign, made sense. She was the one who was going to help with Johnny so it was gonna be her money.
That old anger at his parents flares up. Even now, the Cades weren't doing a goddamn thing to help him, making him rely on someone else. He thinks he can hear Darry and Dallas speak a little more in muffled tones as he pulls clothes out of his drawers. Whatever it is light enough: soon Dallas' boots are hitting the pavement, Ponyboy able to see him through the window, walking down the street, turning to Buck's.
Ponyboy steps out of his room, going to the spare closet with towels, noting how little they have. Shit, someone needed to do laundry. "How many pancakes you want, honey?" Soda calls out, the smell of food growing sharper.
"Four! Gimme scrambled eggs – don't color any!" Hastily, Ponyboy moves to the bathroom and Soda laughs.
His shower is quick, Ponyboy not bothering to do much with his hair. The blonde is becoming unsettling to look at, remembering the trial. He brushes his teeth, washes his face, and once his clothes are on, he's stumbling into the kitchen where the food is surprisingly normal looking for food Soda's cooked. Without chocolate cake to boot, causing Ponyboy to pout.
"We're a little short on food coloring and cake," Darry sets down the milk and syrup. "We need it for the other stuff right now." He sounds regretful, and a part of Pony is sad that that they can't have a regular Saturday morning to themselves, the way they used to with colored food and the cake.
Still... he needs the suit. So he just nods, smearing butter on the stack of pancakes that Soda's made. "I figure when Dallas gets back, he can make himself something real quick if he ain't have anything at Buck's," Soda sits down himself, cutting into his own pancakes.
Even though there's no colored food, even though there's not any chocolate cake to split, it feels as if some things are back to normal enough as Darry flips through the newspaper, as Soda eats messily beside him, as Ponyboy bites into slightly undercooked pancakes. It's as close to a typical day as they'll get for awhile, he thinks, and that's enough for him to quell anything else.
"You didn't use up all the hot water I hope," Soda nudges him and Ponyboy grins. "I gotta shower next and Darry's last."
"Nah, you two should be okay. Is Steve coming with us?"
"No, he's covering for me today while we're out," the way Soda replies is light. Not necessarily happy, just light, and still a good sign. "He'll meet us at the bonfire with Molly."
"I thought I saw her last night," Darry mutters, flipping over the newspaper, then glancing at the clock. "C'mon, kid brother, need you to eat a little faster if we're gonna get there on time."
"Yeah, yeah," that's all it takes for Soda to eat a little faster, lifting his eyebrows at Ponyboy. "I think Two-Bit might be trying to ask her out by the eyes he was making at her."
Never one to pay attention to this sort of thing, Ponyboy's eyebrows shoot up. "You think she'd actually take him up on it? She ain't really Two's type. Never seen him look at anyone who ain't a blonde."
"Everyone's going out of their usual type lately," there's the sound of a fork on the plate, and Ponyboy feels his ears burn red at that. Soda smiles at him, then grabs his mostly cleared plate. "I'm heading to the shower, see you guys in a couple of minutes."
"Don't forget your pants this time!" Darry calls out and Ponyboy laughs.
It wasn't perfect. Yet, it was at least getting there, going into being normal again.
