A/N: Hello! So, here's the next chapter guys. Enjoy!
Elena's POV:
About an hour has passed when I'm awaken by a soft knock on my bedroom door. I roll over in bed, just to stare at the clock. 12:01 a.m. I groan as I roll out of bed and pad over to the door. Turning the knob and opening the door, I must admit that I am a little bit shocked to see who is standing in my doorway. A sleepy looking Ponyboy is leaning against my doorframe.
I rub my left eye, leaning against the door. "What do you want, Ponyboy?" I ask, yawning.
"Hey, um...can I talk to you?" Pony asks awkwardly.
"You already are," I say with a drowsy smirk on my face.
"Come on, Elena."
"But I'm tired, Ponyboy." I whine, punching him lightly in the shoulder for waking me up.
"Please?"
"Fine," I grumble, giving in.
"Thank you," he sighs. "But not here, let's go out onto the porch."
I raise an eyebrow, but don't question him any further. I look down at myself, clad only in a pair of PJ pants and a tank top. "Just let me grab a sweater..."
I walk over to my dresser and pull out the first sweater I find, and shrug it on overtop of my tank top.
Closing the front door carefully behind me, so I don't wake up anyone, me and Ponyboy settle ourselves down. I sit with my back against the outer wall of the house, while Pony leans back against the porch railing on the edge of the top step. I gaze at him in the dim light provided by the outside lamp, to see that he only looks bothered by something. "Is there something bothering you, Ponyboy?"
He glances up at me for a quick second, before gazing back at the stray peice of grass in his hands that was lying on the porch. "Johnny."
I sigh, leaning my head back against the wall. "Did he not tell you, Pony?"
"Nope..." He trails off and is quiet for a minute. "What's wrong with him, Elena? I'm worried."
I smile softly at my brother, he is genuinely concerned about Johnny. "You want me to tell you the whole story, don't you?"
He stares at me for a second, and then slowly, he nods.
Letting out a breathy laugh, I ask him, "So...What exactly did Johnny tell you?"
He opens his mouth to speak, but then pauses, thinking. "Well, I asked him if he was crying and he eventually said yes, even though I already knew that he was because of his face. But then when I asked him why, he said that it was nothing to worry about. He was just upset about those couple of Socs beating him up. But that's not why he was upset, was it, Elena?"
I hesitate to tell him because I'm not quite sure that Johnny would want anyone else to know, but I think that Ponyboy needs to know what's going on with his best friend. He looks pained by not knowing how to help Johnny.  Sighing, I decide that Ponyboy should know what's going on, and tell him everything. I start with finding him crying in the lot, and then what he told me about what his dad had been saying and doing to him, how I held him while he sobbed into my shoulder, what I had told him, the kiss, everything. And Ponyboy listens through all of it.
When I'm finished, we are both quite for a moment. While I was telling the story I was staring at my bare feet, which are freezing in the cold autumn night air, but now I look up at Ponyboy. He glances up at me, sadness in his eyes. Pony looks back down at the floor and sighs. "Poor Johnnycakes..."
"Yeah..." I start, not really knowing what to say anymore. "I know."
The silence stretches from a few seconds to countless minutes that feel like hours at a time. Finally, Ponyboy speaks up. "You know that I'm really happy for you two, right, Elena?" I nod slowly. "But, you need to be careful."
"Why?" I ask curiously.
"Because, Elena. He's super fragile right now. Johnny, I mean. I don't mean to say for you to treat him any different than usual, so don't do that because he will honestly hate it, trust me. Just, take care of him. Ya' dig?"
All I can do is nod.
"Johnny's never really been that interested in girls, just because he didn't want to get hurt by them. You know what, El? He must really trust you to come right out with his feelings like that... So you better not hurt him, okay? I don't think that he could take it anyways..." Pony rambles on.
"You know that I won't. I wouldn't, no, I couldn't do that to Johnny. I would never hurt him, emotionally or physically, Pone." I say, sincerely.
"I know, El. I believe you. Johnny believes you. But you need to make sure that you stick to your word, and don't hurt him." Ponyboy says with finality.
I only nod, sensing that this discussion is now done with. I'm about to get up and leave when another thought comes to my head. "Wait, Ponyboy!" I hiss.
"What?" He asks with raised eyebrows.
"What if he hurts me? You are my brother, are you going to be all protective over me?" I ask, with a teasing voice.
"Oh, Elena. I think we both know that Johnny is too sweet to hurt you..." Pony speaks my thoughts. "But yes, I would."
I smile and nod. I would do the same for him, and track down any girl that hurt my twin brother.
"Elena, I don't you'll have to worry about that though..." Ponyboy breaks me from my thoughts. "He knows full well what it's like to hurt, so he would never do it to anyone else. Johnny'd never want to put anyone else through that, and you know it, too."
Indeed I do, but it's still sad to think about it that way though. I just simply nod.
"We should head back to sleep," I say a moment later.
"Yeah," Pony yawns. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."
As we go back inside, I just give him a look that clearly says 'seriously'.
He starts to chuckle, but I quickly shush him when I hear whimpering and whispering sounds coming from the living room. We both head over there and I peak my head in the doorway to see what's happening on the interior of the room. I'm slightly shocked at what I see to say the least, even though I know that I really shouldn't be after all that he's been through.
Johnny is laying, curled up on his side on the couch with his hands over his face, whimpering and shaking. Sodapop is kneeling on the ground beside him, trying desperately to calm him down and seize his hands to pry them off of his face, but is unsuccessful. However, Darry is just standing in the kitchen doorway, overlooking the scene with a grim expression carved into the sleepy features on his face. Without saying a word, nor seeing Ponyboy and I in the opposite doorway, he turns and walks back into his bedroom and shuts the door.
Sodapop however, does see us. At first he just gives us a weird look, but then beckons us over to him.
"I can't get him to take his hands off of his face," Soda insists. "It's like he's not fully awake."
"Just let Elena handle it, I'm sure Johnny'll be fine. Let's go back to bed, Sodapop." Ponyboy suggests, trying to calm our panicking brother.
"No!" Soda demands, whisper yelling. "Not until I find out what is happening to him, and what has happened to him previously. Guys come on! I'm his friend too, I'm worried about him. Now tell me!"
"Okay fine, Soda. I'll tell you. But I really think that we should head back to our room, and leave Elena with Johnny. Then I'll tell you what's been going on, I promise. Savvy, Soda?" Ponyboy says.
"Savvy," Soda grumbles, rubbing one of his ocean blue eyes. "But you better keep your promise, kid brother." He points a finger at Ponyboy.
"I will. Now come on, Soda, I'm tired. Let's go." Ponyboy says, ushering Sodapop out if the room. "Night, El."
"Goodnight, Elena." Soda whispers through the darkness.
"Night, Soda. Pony."
I turn back to the couch where Johnny still lay, all huddled up with his hands over his face. I kneel in front of Johnny and start whispering things to him, but when he doesn't even stir at the sound of my voice like he did Soda's, I decide that this tactic will not work. Instead I sit on the edge of the couch, rubbing his sides soothingly, and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. "It's alright, Johnny. It's just me, Elena. You're okay, shh."
Johnny let's out a long shuddering breath.
"Shh, whatever is was, you're safe now, okay? Relax, relax..."
And eventually, he does just that. He let's his hands slide right off of his face, to lay limply by his sides as his breathing starts to even out. I grab one of his hands in my own, while my other hand still rubs his one side, calmingly. It seems to really help him relax. After a while I decide that he is asleep, and get up to leave, but a soft voice stops me before I can.
"Elena?" Johnny whispers from somewhere in the darkness. Having walked almost all the way to the kitchen, I can't really see him anymore, it's just darkness.
I walk back over to the couch to see that he has propped himself up on one arm and is attempting to stay awake. I sit back down on the edge of the couch, and kiss his forehead, grabbing his hand once more. "Mmhmm? What's up, Johnnycakes?"
"Could you...could you stay with me? Please? I'd just feel a lot safer if you were here with me." Johnny whispers, unsure.
"Of course, Johnny. I'll stay here with you." I whisper back.
Even through the darkness, I can still see his sheepish smile as I climb up onto the couch behind him and wrap my arms around his torso. I kiss him on the forehead once more. He snuggles deeper into my arms and I try my best to pull him in closer to me. But then, I bury my face in his hair, and fall into a peaceful sleep.
A/N: Yeah...so, that just happened. Did you like it, not like it? Let me know by leaving a comment. Next update should be soon. So, until next time guys. -Ella :)