zenosyne | johnnyboy one shots

snack run

quietly, he sat watching the clock tick witch each passing second. tick. tick. tick. tick. tick. ugh. he stood up. picking up his empty plate and taking one final sip of his coffee pony set the two in the sink to rot. yawning and turning on his heels, he looked at his calendar with dead eyes. only 1 more week. he crossed off another day in messy red marker.

today was one of those slump days. one of those days where he was just unexplainably sad. one of those days were he thought. a lot. more than he should. today was a little bit different. today, he missed. missed being held. missed having him sit in his lap while he played with his hair. missed playing video games with him. missed his laugh. his smile. his eyes. his face. his hands. his warmth. him.

he shuffled to the comfort of his bed, where he was 30 minutes ago. he had only been curled up in a tight ball for a couple of seconds when a light ping came from his phone sitting on his book stacked desk. without looking, he slammed his hand down onto the device and stubbornly pulled it up to his pale face. a text.

orange soda: hey my best bros in the whole world, who's up for a snack run?

da(i)rry queen is typing...

da(i)rry queen: at 9 in the morning?

orange soda: yea????????

da(i)rry queen: ...i'm down.

orange soda: how bout you ponyboiiii?

pony left the corners of his mouth lift slightly. he couldn't say no to a snack run.

ponyboi is typing...

ponyboi: sure, why not.

orange soda: heck yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

orange soda: SEE YOU GUYS AT WILLIAMS IN 30

pony shut off his phone and groaned, thinking maybe he should have pretended he was dead. nah. lifting himself from the warmth of his covers, he made his way to his closet. it opened it with a creak, and started his search. he found himself pulling out a shirt he didn't recognize. huh. looking at it, and aroma met his nose. it smelled like... oh. him. it was his. pony's heart faltered, but put it on anyways. it fit well. maybe almost too well. he then pulled on a pair of jeans and went to go grab his coat and hat. once he had pulled the thing over his shoulders and his cap was over his head he grabbed his backpack bound out the door.

soon enough, he was able to meet his older brothers at williams and the three immediately went inside. they had all been to the huge supermarket multiple times for multiple occasions. almost all the staff knew them. the three troublemakers. it was almost a second home. but not really. 'cuz it's a grocery store. as soda rushed ahead greeting some familiar faces, darry stared aback to talk with pony.

"you okay, buddy?"

"m'yep."

"one of those days?"

"uh-huh."

"y'know he misses you too."

"...i know."

"...well, i'm always here to talk about it."

both had reached the snack aisle and watched as soda tried to reach for a bag on a high shelf. pony smushed his face against his brother's side with a long sigh. lovingly, darry rubbed his back in return. he knew.

"pony!" soda suddenly yelled showing him a bag from all the way across the aisle, "aren't these the chips that you look everywhere for?"

lifting himself up, pony squinted his eyes to try and get a good view of what his brother was holding. he felt himself smile again as they walked closer.

"oh, yea! you found it!"

"i'm buying it for you, then," soda quickly stated.

"what? no, you don't have tooo!" pony rebutted.

"anything to make my lil' bro happy," soda said with a smile, shifting his weight.

pony pouted. but only a little. in a matter of time, snack were chosen and they were off to another store. suddenly, darry got a text. they all stopped. curious, soda peeked over his older brother's shoulder. pony rolled his eyes playfully, figuring soda was trying to find out if darry had a girlfriend or not. darry typed a quick reply and put away his device. soda frowned, disappointed in not being able to find out any information with him being so quick.

"i'd like to visit the park for a bit, if you two don't mind."

"hmm?" pony hummed, confused. darry didn't seem like a park kind of guy.

"why's that?" soda questioned, "gotta meet up with your girlfriend, huuuuuuhhh?"

"no," darry said sharply, glaring at soda. both soda and pony giggled.

before they could get any information out of their brother, he had started to walk again, them following close behind. finally, the park came into view. it was quite empty, probably because of the cold, grey weather. only a few people and dogs could be seen in the area. they entered, following the winding concrete path through the grass. suddenly darry stopped to look at a tree in the near distance.

"why'd we stop, darry?"

"i'm waiting for someone."

"YOUR GIRLFRIEND?"

"for the last time, i. don't. have. one."

both boy's snickered.

"oh, there he is now."

pony lifted his gaze to where darry was looking. from behind the tree, a figure stepped out. pony stared at the boy's appearance. pitch black hair, kind, grey swarming eyes, a soft, quiet smile. he wore what seemed to be a school uniform. across his body, he wore a messenger bag, that had 'property of merrick college in maryland' sewn neatly and professionally on the cover. pony could barely get out a whisper.

"johnny?"

johnny's smile turned bashful, "pony."

pony ran faster than he had ever gone before, immediately lifting johnny off his feet, spinning him around once, and melting into his embrace. he could feel hot tears running down his face and onto the boy's clothes.

"i thought you were coming home next week."

"the school let certain students who worked hard out early," johnny softly whispered, trying hard not to choke on tears.

hearing this, pony held the boy even closer than before, almost crushing his insides. quietly, soda and darry wrapped their arms around the two, all three of them welcoming johnny home. pony couldn't have asked for anything more than him back.

word count: 1,003

a/n au where johnny goes to an out of state college :0 two references in this time! maybe three? not really though. enjoiiiiiiiii - pj