𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒. ( 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘺 )

picture perfect

Steve takes a deep breath, looking around for Ponyboy. Evie had disappeared from his sight and the redhead was taking forever to get hot chocolate. He figured that the line was just long and that maybe there was only one person running concessions. The brunette wanted to think of every excuse possible.

Although as he actually twists his body to turn and look at the line, it was practically non-existent. He furrowed his eyebrows and looks around the area, trying to catch a glimpse of the younger male anywhere. The redhead was just gone.

He stands up quickly, immediately walking around and looking for him in the crowd of people at the ice-skating rink. The male was starting to panic. Did something happen to him? Was he just in the bathroom and he was overreacting? He didn't know for sure.

The bathroom was the first place he checked, poking his head inside. All of the stalls seemed empty and there was no sign of Ponyboy. He chews at his lower lip nervously, closing the door before making his way to the truck.

If Ponyboy had just walked off, he couldn't be that far on foot. Unless he ran, which in that case meant that Steve would never find him. The track runner would be home already, sprinting like it was one of his old races.

Steve gets into his truck and buckles up, starting the engine. The brunette was careful to exit the parking lot, slowly driving back the way he came. He was keeping an eye out for the younger male, hoping that he'd just walked off and wasn't kidnapped or something.

Although as he reaches the park, he stops and parks on the street.

Ponyboy was on one of the park benches, a devastated look on his face. His hands were pressed between his thighs, assuming to keep them warm, and tears were streaming down his red cheeks. The brunette gets out of the truck and closes the door, making his way over to the redhead.

He drops beside him on the bench, making sure that their sides pressed together. Steve was worried about Ponyboy. He wouldn't run off like that without a good reason.

The redhead sniffles, making no move to wipe the stinging tears from his face. It was freezing and he didn't want to make his hands any colder than they already were. He glances at Steve before looking away, not saying anything.

He didn't feel like he needed to.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, the redhead still crying quietly. His heart was broken and even though the older male was right next to him, that wasn't enough to heal his heart. Ponyboy was really hopeful for today and it was ruined yet again by someone making an entrance.

"Do you wanna tell me why you walked off?" Steve asks, finally turning his head to look at Ponyboy. "I was worried about you, thought that something happened. You didn't say anything."

Ponyboy looks Steve in the eye, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Did Steve not understand what happened? He thought that Steve had been jealous before. But then he was flirting with Evie like it was no big deal. At least it's what he thought.

"You really don't know?" The redhead croaks.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking. I just... I wanna know what's going on in that head of yours... You really scared me back there, Pony..."

The redhead's heart flutters. He would never get over Steve actually using his name, no matter how sad he got. It was special when it happened. The brunette never used his real name. It was all nicknames and other methods to get his attention. Never his name.

"I... I saw Evie," Ponyboy says quietly. "And I saw her smile so wide at you, laughing too. I just couldn't stand there..."

Steve's eyebrows furrow at his words, trying to decipher what the younger male meant by what he was saying. The brunette was confused but he was really trying to understand. Why would looking at Evie bother him so much?

"I spent..." Ponyboy swallows thickly. "I spent so much time looking at her... and wishing that I was her... I felt stuck. Like I was back where I started. Looking at her made me feel 14 again..."

The redhead let out a broken sob. He'd always been emotional when it came to things that he was passionate about. Or things that upset him to his core. This upset him to his core.

"Ponyboy..."

"The thought scared me sometimes. I thought that there was something wrong with me, something sick. I... God..."

Steve's arm slowly wraps itself around the younger male's shoulders, tugging him close. He was starting to get it. But he was baffled that Ponyboy had ever felt that way. About him, especially.

"It took me so long... to know that it was okay to love you..."

The brunette's eyes widened at the confession. This wasn't what he was expecting. After what he saw with Ponyboy and Johnny, he really thought that he was reading the situations wrong. That they weren't the flirting that he thought it was.

"You love me...?"

"I've always loved you, Steve. There was never a part of me that didn't."

Steve couldn't help the grin that broke out onto his face. He twists his body a bit, moving to cup Ponyboy's cheeks in his hands, keeping their eyes locked together. His thumbs swipe away the tears, watching as the redhead whimpers and his lower lip quivers.

He presses their foreheads together, his smile softening into something comforting. The redhead felt even more teary-eyed. Was he finally getting what he wanted? Was he finally getting what he'd craved since he was young?

"I love you too," Steve finally responds, voice quiet and gentle, intimate. He needed Ponyboy to know it and understand it. "I love you so much..."

Ponyboy takes a shaky breath, his tears falling down quicker than they had before. Although this time it was because he was overjoyed. His heart felt full and complete. This was really happening.

The brunette continues to rub his thumbs on Ponyboy's cheek, wiping away the tears. The younger male was melting into his touch, a shy and watery smile on his lips. He'd waited and waited for this moment. It was finally here.

Their eyes were still locked, holding so many emotions. It felt like time had stopped and that it was only the two of them in the whole world.

Ponyboy and Steve were getting their picture-perfect moment.

The silence was comforting and warm. It was perfect.

The redhead slowly moves one of his hands up to rest over top of Steve's, his touch delicate, like he was afraid one wrong move would make this all go away. He didn't want it to ever go away.

"Steve..."

The brunette hums in response, still smiling gently as the redhead covers one of his hands with his own. It was one of the sweetest sights he'd ever seen in his whole life. The redhead was beautiful, even if he was crying.

"Kiss me, please... I wanna know that this is real, that I'm not sleeping. I... please..."

Steve's expression goes even softer if that was possible, a breathless laugh escaping him. Ponyboy's words had awoken that pesky swarm of butterflies in his belly.

And how could he say no to a voice like that? So soft and desperate sounding.

Steve leans forward slowly and captures Ponyboy's lips into a kiss. It was everything that he had ever dreamed of. Especially as the redhead kissed back, leaning forward into him like if he didn't brace himself, he would disappear.

The brunette wasn't going anywhere.

Ever.