𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕. ♡ 𝒋𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆.

xx

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  it was two nights before christmas eve and the curtis house was cozily packed with guests. it was just jahanna, trish, and the gang, together as their own kind of family to celebrate the holiday. they all (although to some people's dismay) wore festive jumpers and pj's as they conversed and ate side by side. small lights blinked on the lining of the roof, the radio was on, and the good food was quickly going. darry even pulled out a christmas tree and everyone gave a helping hand in decorating it at the start of the evening. the atmosphere felt so safe, and as if it was a world on its own. but out of the blue—

  "hey! hey! the mickey mouse christmas special will be startin' in less than an hour! jay! get your secret santa thing over and done with already so we best not miss it," two-bit hollered over the lively noise.

  with that, sodapop and steve cleared out the furniture, dally put out his cigarette, trish handed out the gifts from under the tree, and johnny turned down the radio. everyone sat in a circle on the floor—criss-cross-applesauce like the good ol' days—with their gifts in their laps.

  "alright," jahanna smiled, the list of the secret santas in her hand, "let's get this show on tha road!"

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  "gee, dal," marveled sodapop as he held the drag race poster in front of him after guessing correctly, "how'd you get this?"

  "stole it," he replied reclined lazily on the couch, playing with the pack of cigarettes he received from steve in his hand.

  "well, thanks anyway, dal," sodapop smiled, "would you look at that, pony! looks just like the real thing. where d'you think i should hang it?"

  ponyboy wasn't paying attention, he was already reading the book darry gifted him. meanwhile, jahanna clapped her hands, gaining back the attention of the others in the room.

  "okay, okay, now next... we haaave..." she started, staring at the paper in her hands with squinted eyes. a few moments passed and she finally announced, "johnny."

  johnny had been spaced out since the beginning of the exchange, so when he heard his name his head darted up with a confused expression. his friends lightly laughed as johnny quickly tried to compose himself.

  "oh, um... okay. i guess i'll open mine then," he said, starting to rip off the striped paper on the edge of the box in his lap.

  "wait!" jahanna stopped him. johnny's head darted up once again with wide eyes. "describe it first."

  "what does that mean?" johnny asked. 

  the girl sighed, "well, maybe shake it for starters."

  johnny lifted the box and moved it around, emitting a clunky and rattling noise, "like this?"

  "is it heavy?" darry pitched in.

  "lil' bit."

  "does it sound like it's got parts?" steven questioned.

  "um... maybe."

  "alright, just get to openin' it already," dally complanied.

  so johnny continued tearing the layer of festive wrapping off the box. he felt slightly bad for ruining the neat work, but he supposed it was destined to be ruined. eventually, a bit of the box peeked through: