The weekend was finally here and Ponyboy couldn't be happier. With homework all finished, Darry usually lets him do whatever he pleases. His curfew was later than it was on a school night. Although being 17-years-old, he didn't like the idea of a curfew. He wasn't a little kid.

The redhead was on his way home from the movies, the sun starting to dip below the horizon. The movie had been good, something Ponyboy's been meaning to see the whole week since it had come out. No one in his friend group could sit down and watch movies with him.

Their attention spans were too short, they got too fidgety. Well, except Johnny. Johnny could sit still just fine and watch, but he's been spending a lot of time with Dallas lately. So he wasn't about to go and track him down to ask if he wanted to see a movie.

Ponyboy sticks his hands in his pockets, eyes staring away at the sunset. He was a sucker for the pretty colors, how beautiful it looked. It made him want to paint. He was still learning. Blending colors was a bitch, but he would try and make it work to be able to paint this.

With him not paying attention, it was no surprise that someone was able to get the jump on him.

An arm slings around his shoulders, tugging him close. The first thing Ponyboy could smell was alcohol. The second was a familiar cologne, one he's grown to love over time. Lastly, he could see that the arm around his shoulders was holding something. A half empty bottle of beer.

Ponyboy jolts a little and he turns his head in surprise, relaxing once he saw that it was only Curly. The other male had a goofy grin on his face, looking down at him.

"Well, well, well," Curly teases. "I thought I taught you well about not walking all by yourself. I could have been a pretty scary stranger."

"It's a good thing you're not a stranger," the redhead teases. He carefully takes the beer bottle from Curly's loose grasp, taking a small swig before holding it at his side contently. "What're you doing wandering around by yourself? Drinking no less."

Curly barks out a laugh as he watches Ponyboy drink from his bottle. The ravenette hasn't ever seen him drink. It was a pretty amusing sight, mainly because the other male didn't even flinch. Not that it was hard liquor or anything, but he knew that the taste wasn't exactly good.

"You know, just wandering about," the ravenette teases, making no moves to grab the bottle back from the other male. "And just my luck, leads me right to you. What have you been doing?"

"Heading home from the movies," Ponyboy responds. "Darry dropped me off. He and Soda had plans to go to some party. Soda was real convincing. So I just promised that I'd get home safe."

"So you're saying the house is gonna be empty?"

"Yeah, why? You wanna come over?"

"You read my mind, baby Curtis."

Ponyboy rolls his eyes, finding himself melting into Curly's arm that was wrapped around him. The redhead didn't mind Curly coming over. It was fine just as long as Darry and Soda weren't home. Which they weren't, currently. So... He didn't see why not.

"Sure, just make sure you dispose of the beer bottle somehow. Darry spots it in the house and he'll wring my neck thinking I drank it."

"Technically you did," Curly teases. "Watched you take a nice big drink of it. Didn't even flinch. You a drinker, darling?"

Ponyboy's cheeks flush red.

"Nah, Two-Bit just insists on sharing when he's real buzzed. Would give me anything I asked for, really."

"Well damn, seems you got everyone wrapped around your pretty little finger. You got a real talent, you know that?"

"I do not have everyone wrapped around my finger," the redhead huffs. "And I certainly ain't pretty."

Curly couldn't help but groan, continuing to walk with the other male.

"You ain't pretty? Shit, Pony, you're downright ethereal. An angel."

"Where'd you go learning a big word like that?" Ponyboy retorts, cheeks darkening even more. He was flustered. "Didn't realize you could say things like that."

"Learned it from you," Curly purrs. "You helped me study for that vocab quiz in English. And thanks to that big brain of yours, guess who passed?"

"You passed?" Ponyboy questions, looking at Curly with a small smile.

"With an 86%, baby!" Curly cheers, taking the beer bottle back from Ponyboy before downing the rest of it, tossing the empty bottle into the grass without looking. His eyes never once left Ponyboy. "I've got the greatest teacher around."

Ponyboy bursts out laughing. The redhead was quite proud of Curly to say the least. Passing anything was a pretty big deal. That meant that Curly actually tried. He tried and it paid off. That was a huge step.

"Guess we oughta celebrate, huh?" The redhead teases. "Whatcha wanna do?"

Curly purses his lips in thought, leaning his weight against Ponyboy for a few moments as they walk. The ravenette's mind was running absolutely wild. He could think of more than a few things that they could do to celebrate.

"I'm thinking I just wanna hang out with you," he eventually responds. "I did enough drinking for a celebration."

"I can definitely do that," Ponyboy teases. "Let's get you back to my place."

The ravenette grins widely, continuing to walk with Ponyboy all the way back to the house. And just as promised, no one was home. The house was silent.

"Alright, Curly, let's celebrate," Ponyboy teases. "Whatever you want."

Curly playfully unwraps his arm from the other male's shoulders, moving to hoist him up and over his shoulder again. He carries the redhead off to the bedroom, laughing as Ponyboy swats at him and giggles. His chest felt tight.

The ravenette drops Ponyboy onto the bed, watching as he bounces before settling. He crawls into bed with the other male, making sure to kick his boots off. The male hovers over him comfortably. He grins gently at the sight of the other male, pressing a playful kiss to his cheek.

"You drive me absolutely insane, you know that?" Curly asks. "More than anyone ever has."

Ponyboy's giggles stop and he looks up at Curly, heart hammering in his chest from the kiss to his cheek. His face was on fire and he was so sure that Curly could see it. Especially with the other male eyeing him so intensely.

"I do? How so?" The redhead breathes out.

"You just... Do." Curly couldn't help but laugh. "Everything you do drives me mad. The way you laugh at me when I'm being stupid, how patient you are when I don't pick something up when we're studying... I just..."

Curly puffs his cheeks out in thought.

"My feelings are just so big and I don't know what to do with them..."

Ponyboy swallows thickly as he simply looks up at Curly. He takes a small breath. The redhead never thought that Curly would admit to having feelings, much less big ones.

"It's okay to have big feelings," the redhead reassures gently. "It comes with being human."

The younger male couldn't help but reach up and cup Curly's cheek. He rubs his thumb over his cheekbone gently, worried that anything more would scare him away. Ponyboy didn't want to do anything more, not while he knew Curly was drinking. He could still smell it on him. Curly wasn't sober. It was likely the only reason he was saying anything like this.

Curly leans down into the touch, their lips a mere inch apart, noses bumping together hesitantly. Just like they had been on the couch. They were so close all over again. This time just in the safety of Ponyboy's bedroom.

"I wanna kiss you," the ravenette blurts out quietly. "I really, really wanna kiss you..."

"And I'll let you..." Ponyboy breathes out, thumb still rubbing gently at the apple of Curly's cheek. "When you're sober enough to remember it."

The ravenette makes a disheartened noise, but he slowly nods his head. He doesn't break the distance though. He couldn't. He didn't want to.

"You promise?" He asks quietly. "Really promise...?"

"With my whole heart I do..."

Curly shifts finally, moving downward to rest his head comfortably on Ponyboy's chest. He curls up a bit and his eyes fall shut. The ravenette wanted to believe the other male more than anything in the world. He'd be patient for him.

Ponyboy's raised hand slowly drops to move to run through the other male's thick head of curls. Every so often his fingers would snag a knot, and he'd carefully work to detangle it. But there were no more words. They didn't need them. Not now.

And eventually the redhead could feel Curly slumping against him, sleep consuming his body.

The redhead's fingers don't stop though.

Not for anything in the world.