Chapter Text
Dallas leaned back onto the street lamp and closed his eyes. Smoke seeped from his lips as he crushed the end of his third cigarette that night. He'd had a stupid row with Tim Shepard and ended up with a cut lip and a mind clouded with thick rage. The only good thought was the fact that Shepard had gotten a nice black eye out of it. He wiped the drying blood off with the back of his palm and started walking down the street. The moon was high and full in the sky, casting silver light onto the road ahead of him. Not anyone would be dumb enough to still be out at two in the morning, but those stuck-up Socs didn't scare Dallas one bit.
His feet led him to the vacant lot and Dallas sighed as he let himself relax on the car seat. After a few silent minutes, he dragged himself up to get sticks and kindling for a small fire, but those thoughts were cut short when he heard a slight groan from on the other side of the tree behind him. He readied himself to fight as he crept around the tree to see a limp body emitting shallow breaths pressed against the trunk. Dallas fumbled around in his pockets with one hand for his lighter, not taking his eyes off the guy in front of him. He flicked the lighter on and froze as he saw the familiar shaggy bangs and dark face of Johnny Cade.
"fuck" he mumbled, "what the hell happened to you kid?". T
hose big dark eyes flickered open "dal.." Johnny said incoherently.
"I'm right here Johnnycakes," Dallas said and went down onto one knee.
The clouds cleared past the moon again to reveal a full show of Johnny's face. Blood was smeared across his lips and chin. As the moon grew brighter, the better Dallas saw the heavy black eye and a bloody nose. Johnny's eyes began to close again and Dallas quickly shut his lighter.
"c'mon kid, stay conscious" Dallas muttered as he pulled Johnny towards him and helped him onto his feet. He pulled off his own jacket and slung it across the others shaking shoulders.
"dal, I never wan' see him 'gain" Johnny croaked out slowly. "That's alright Johnny you won't" Dallas replied, not exactly sure of who they were actually talking about but he had some guesses. Dallas pulled Johnny onto the car seat and wrapped him up in his jacket.
"Stay here kid" he whispered as he walked back to the tree. Johnny groaned in response. Dallas picked up sticks and dropped them into the fire pit beside the car seat. he picked up paper trash from the ground and stuffed it between the sticks before lighting it with his lighter. The fire slowly grew as Dallas fed it slightly larger sticks until it was big enough to stay up on its own. The Dallas went to sit beside Johnny. The smaller boy's head slumped onto his shoulder and Dallas wrapped an arm around his shoulders for extra warmth. As the fire began to die down, Dallas's own eyelids got heavy and he soon drifted off.
"Dala' wake up" johnny whispered in his ear and the older groaned before opening his eyes.
"look a' the sky" Johnny mumbled and pointed towards the horizon where a beautiful splash of colours was growing as the sun rose. "ain't it beautiful" Johnny attempted a pained smile.
Dallas smiled slightly "yeah, s'pose it is" he mumbled. He quickly rubbed his eyes and stretched. "you've put my arm to sleep Johnnycakes, but how are ya' doin'?" He asked looking down at the boy whose eyes were wide as he stared at the sunrise.
"could be better" he shrugged which cause him to wince.
"your shoulder hurt?" Dallas questioned.
"a lil' bit" Johnny shrugged back. Dallas pulled back his jacket and shirt to reveal his shoulder which was sporting a nasty bruise.
"don' look like a 'lil' bit' to me" Dallas exclaimed. Johnny pulled away
"'s fine" he slurred through a yawn. Dallas stood up.
"c'mon we gotta get ya' to the Curtis's" He let out a hand to pull Johnny up. As soon as his feet hit the ground he staggered and balanced himself on Dallas's arm. "shit" he hissed through his teeth as Dallas put an arm around his waist to help him walk.
They slowly walked from the lot. "wanna tell me what happened?" Dallas questioned gruffly as he lit a cigarette.
"went to get a glass o' water an' the old man was drunk' Johnny replied quietly.
"he beat you bad?"
"yeah I guess"
"why'd you go to the lot 'stead of the Curtis's in the firs' place?"
"didn' wan' bother anyone" Johnny shrugged and looked at the ground as they staggered forwards.
Soon they arrived at the Curtis's and Dallas peeked through the window. "don' seem to be home, what day is it?"
"uhh.. Tuesday? don' know" Johnny shrugged. "they must be at work or somethin' then"
Dallas groaned. "c'mon, we're goin' to Buck's" Dallas then stated.
They were half way there when a shiny car pulled up beside them.
"god damn it, they really do show up at the worst times" Dallas groaned as pushed Johnny lightly into a wall behind him. "stay over there kid, can't let you get hurt anymore," Dallas said. Two Socs jumped out of the car and smirked.
"Looks like we've caught a couple of fags" One of them sneered while the other laughed. They taunted I'm, but Dallas only tightened his fists.
One of the Socs swung a fist toward his face. The cut on his lip from the day before reopened and Dally snarled viciously as he lunged forward punching the Soc so hard he hit the ground with a thud. Dallas had gotten a fairly good hit on his nose which was gushing blood. As the first Soc got back to his feet, the other made an attack for Dallas which he dodged. Dallas grabbed the guy's arm harshly and kneed him in the stomach. The other one had gotten up at this point and lunged onto Dallas's back pulling his head back by his hair. The second one punched him in the jaw. Dallas got a kick at one of the Socs in his stomach and swung his fist backwards aiming for the other Soc who dodged right on time but freed Dallas in the act. Dallas grabbed the Soc by his jaw and pushed him into the car. He swung his fist at him until the guy was in tears, then turned to the other Soc who was still regaining himself from the kick.
All of a sudden he grabbed his buddy and jumped into the car, they drove off after yelling obscenities at Dallas. He knew why when he heard Two-bit's voice behind him.
"what a bunch of losers, so afraid of a couple of greasers like us," Two-bit said as he flipped off the guys in the car who were driving away as if their lives depended on it. Maybe their lives did. Two-bit slapped him on the shoulder
"what're you doing out here anyway? not like you" Two-bit questioned. Dallas nodded his head towards Johnny who stumbled toward them. "woah, kid, you okay? Socs did this? or..." Two-bit didn't need to finish his sentence.
"hey," Johnny said quietly. "isn't Bucks closest to here? we'd better get you fixed up." Two-bit said. "that's where we were headin' before those bastards showed up," Dallas said shoving his hands into his pockets. The three began walking again and they were at Buck Merrills in only a few minutes.