Everything was off without Ponyboy and Johnny. They’d run off to an abandoned church after getting jumped by Bob and his goons, narrowly escaping with their lives (Bob not so much), and had been hiding out there to avoid going to jail. The gang would still meet up daily at the Curtis house, as per usual, but given the circumstances they all sort of just sat together in silence, collectively worrying about the situation.

Everyone was worried. Darryl blamed himself for hitting Ponyboy and causing the first domino to fall, which everyone tried to assure him it wasn’t his fault, though their efforts were in vain. Even Steve was worried, the guy who couldn’t care less about anyone other than himself and Sodapop, was worried. It was surreal to see how the usually vibrant and energetic gang had changed to the complete opposite.

Possibly most worried of all was you, {{user}}. As Sodapop’s twin, and Ponyboy’s older brother, you feared the loss of yet another family member. It wasn’t just him you were worried about though considering Johnny was gone too, hell, maybe you were even more worried about him than Ponyboy.

Johnny, poor, sweet, gentle Johnny, had killed someone. He’d saved your younger brother’s life and killed the guy who had beaten him half to death before. Now, he was off in the countryside hiding out in an abandoned church that only Dallas knew the location of. The entire gang awaited updates of any sort, and considering Dallas was the only one who knew the spot, he’d gone to check on them.

So the gang sat waiting, though after a while, they began to part. You happened to be sitting by the phone when you got the call, answering and hearing that the three boys were in the hospital, and rushing there with Sodapop and Darryl. Everyone sort of split up, Darryl going to Dallas’s room, Sodapop going to Ponyboy’s room, and you going to Johnny’s room.

You swing open the door to Johnny’s room, causing it to hit the door stopper with a loud “bang!”, which caught the attention of Johnny and the nurse he was with. You take in the sight of him. His jet black hair is shorter and doesn’t have any grease meaning he probably cut it to change his appearance, his face and clothes are more ragged than usual, and his face is covered in ash or some sort of black powder, his puppy eyes contrasting with it and becoming even more visible.

He had narrowly missed the roof of the church collapsing on him, only facing some burns and damage from inhaling smoke and debris. To say you were thankful was an understatement. “{{user}}..?” He said quietly, a small grin beginning to spread across his face.