Chapter Text
Dallas was really wondering if he was starting to lose his mind when he saw that shocking scene unfold before his eyes. It had been so unexpected that he felt compelled to rub his eyes with his hands, the expression of surprise on his face impossible to hide, with his lips slightly parted in a small ‘o’.
Was that Johnny who had just walked by on the opposite sidewalk holding hands with a... Soc?! It had to be a nightmare, without a doubt. He had slipped behind a lamppost to get a better look at the scene without being noticed. Johnny walked as he always did, with that uneasy expression and slightly hunched posture; that greaser aura clung to him, even if he didn’t quite look like one at the moment. Sure, he still wore his usual jeans and his signature black Converse, but aside from that, Dallas could swear he could be mistaken for any other Soc, if not for his bruised face and bad-boy demeanor.
Come on, he had to admit the kid didn’t look bad at all like this, but it was extremely... strange, seeing him without his usual jacket or greasy hair. If Dallas hadn’t known him well enough, he wouldn’t have recognized him at all.
Dallas went blank for a moment, recalculating the situation in detail. Why was his best friend Johnny, a greaser, walking hand in hand with a Soc? Specifically, the insufferable guy Dallas hated with all his soul, Bob Sheldon? The look of disgust on his face was indescribable. He was too disgusted by what was happening in front of him, and he didn’t even know what was really happening. His mind could only come up with guesses.
He kicked a trash can on the sidewalk before continuing on his original path, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked with a strong, hard stride. Did anyone really know why Dallas was ridiculously mad? God, he didn’t even know himself; he was just mad and needed to talk to someone urgently before he got involved in something that could end very badly.
“Johnny is gay?”
“Johnny’s not gay, Tim! Didn’t you listen to a word I said?”
“You told me you saw Johnny, holding hands with a guy. What am I supposed to think?” Tim raised an eyebrow, somewhat indignant at his friend’s irritation over such an innocent question.
“Johnny is gay?!” A loud shout echoed from the Shepard kitchen, startling the two teenagers.
It only took one challenging look from Dallas at Curly for him to immediately disappear from the room. “The problem isn’t that it’s just any guy, it’s a damn Soc, it’s Bob Sheldon, the guy who almost killed him in the lot a few months ago.”
“Dally, are you really sure it was Johnny you saw? I mean... what you’re telling me sounds kind of crazy, even to me. You know, there’s a study that says every person has at least four copies—"
His words were interrupted when Dallas slammed his beer bottle against the wooden table. It was a miracle neither the bottle nor the table broke...
Tim’s first question hit him like a bucket of cold water over his head, making him question why he was really angry. Sure, a big part of his frustration came from seeing his best friend with a Soc, but he hadn’t stopped to think in detail about the fact that those two were holding hands. Homosexuality wasn’t a topic widely discussed in the area, mainly because no one was fully familiar with the term. For some greasers, it was nothing more than a sickness, something that disgusted them, while for others, it simply didn’t matter—as long as it didn’t affect them, they didn’t care.
Dallas fell into that small group of greasers who really didn’t care. He had never really thought about whether it was something that disgusted him or not since he’d never witnessed it in person, and the topic had never come up in any conversation he’d had with his friends.
To Dallas, Johnny had always given off some slightly peculiar vibes. Maybe the thought that Johnny might swing the other way—or even both ways—had unconsciously crossed his mind once or twice. He had never seen him too interested in any girls... or guys. He’d have to investigate.
The next day
The night before, he had spent far too much time thinking about what he would do or say when he saw his friend later in the afternoon; they always ran into each other, so it was inevitable. That word, inevitable, made his head ache in the worst way.
The poor guy had been haunted by the unprecedented images he’d witnessed live the day before. The trauma was so bad that he couldn’t sleep, with images flashing back and forth and countless questions without any apparent answers.
“Hey, Earth to Dallas.” Johnny was waving his hand in front of a tormented Dallas Winston’s face. “help me with the cigarette.”
“Oh, yeah.” They were sitting in an abandoned lot in the city, smoking one of their many daily cigarettes.
Dallas pulled a metal lighter from his jacket. He quickly flicked the flame on, lighting the cigarette that dangled from his lips, while Johnny did the same, the only difference being that his cigarette was held between two fingers as well as his lips.
Johnny's gaze was solely focused on the warm flame flickering between their faces, while Dallas could only stare at Johnny’s face with a completely blank expression. He had been analyzing him the entire time they’d been together; there wasn’t a trace of the Johnny he had seen yesterday looking so… cute.
He finally snapped out of it when the lighter between his fingers started to heat up more than it should. He extinguished the flame with a quick blow, then closed the device and slipped it back into his pocket. He blew a puff of smoke in the younger boy’s face, causing Johnny to pull away, coughing lightly. “I haven’t seen that guy with the blue Mustang around here these days.” Dallas cast the first stone.
He continued as he took another drag from his cigarette. “He hasn’t come to bother you, right?”
Johnny shook his head. “I haven’t seen him either.”
The fact that Johnny was lying to his face so easily was unbelievable, especially because the kid was clearly putting effort into it. If Dallas hadn’t seen what he had, he might have fallen for it completely. God, the kid looked just like he did every other day—his dark hair was greased, he wore his usual jeans, and he had that same tough look on his face.
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.”
Silence.
“What do you think about gay people?”
Johnny choked on a strange mixture of his own saliva and some smoke. He could’ve expected anything except that question. “What? Where’s that sudden interest coming from?”
“What? Oh, it’s just that yesterday Tim told me that some guy in his gang was doing some weird drugs and one of the side effects made him gay, or something like that.”
“Uh, I don’t think it works that way, Dally.”
“But what do you think?”
“I don’t know, man. I don’t care.” Johnny was confused.
“But I mean, if you knew someone who was gay, would you still be friends with them?” Dallas seemed really intent on getting a clear answer from Johnny, and that was starting to annoy him.
Luckily, as if the world had decided to be on his side, Ponyboy arrived just in time to save him from more questions that were starting to make him uncomfortable. He had really been saved by the bell. Pony showed up all excited, snatching the cigarette from Johnny’s hands under Dallas’s expectant gaze.
Pony looked at him curiously. “Why did you make a face like a dog when I showed up?”
“Why did you show up?” Dallas countered with his typical bad-boy tone.
Johnny just watched the comical scene with a half-smile on his face. The guys didn’t get along badly; it was just that sometimes their personalities clashed unexpectedly, especially since neither of them liked to lose an argument.
Pony made a mocking face at Dallas before turning his attention back to Johnny. “Nightly Double, tonight.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.
“What about me?”
The youngest of the three turned to the eldest. “If I invite you, the last thing you’ll do is watch the movie, Dallas.”
Dallas had a reputation for being a real troublemaker; any plan involving him would undoubtedly end in an unnecessary fight.
“I’m going anyway. Johnnycake agrees, right?”
The two teens turned to look at the silent one. God, the poor kid felt like a cat cornered by two wild dogs.
Johnny nodded with a lump in his throat. He really hated having the final say.
The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly for the three teens, pulling pranks here and there, annoying little kids or grumpy adults. Most of the ideas came from Dallas, who took endless pleasure in disturbing people’s peace.
Now the three of them found themselves running under the cold evening light after Dallas had decided to throw a few insults at a Soc they had crossed paths with.
They had gotten far enough away to finally end their chase at the Nightly Double. They all made sure there was no trace of the Soc who had chased them for a few blocks until he tripped a few streets back. It was the lucky day for all three teens.
Dally had ended up crashing Johnny and Ponyboy’s impromptu outing, but with the advantage that Dallas knew a way to sneak in without paying for tickets. So, they made their way to a less crowded area, where a small gap in the fence allowed them to slip inside.
Dallas headed off to grab some drinks while the other two went to secure seats for the three of them. In a relatively good spot—well, it was terrible—they finally found a few empty seats, and they quickly claimed them. “Do you have any idea what movie they’re showing today?”
“I’m not sure, maybe I should’ve found out before coming,” Ponyboy said, rolling his eyes as he noticed one of the few advertising posters around the place.
The cool air drifted gently through the area, but it wasn’t really bothersome. They were at that time of year when the warmth of summer could still be felt, and a little fresh air didn’t hurt anyone.
Johnny was leaning back in his seat, ignoring the commercials playing on the big screen. His gaze was fixed into the void, his mind swirling with thoughts that weighed him down, mostly due to certain events that had unfolded the previous day.
He let out a heavy sigh, which was interrupted when a loud voice addressed him, offering a cup of Coca-Cola. Of course, Dally had returned.
Dallas handed the boys two drinks before finally sitting down next to Ponyboy, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at Johnny’s face. “Man, wipe that dead look off your face.”
“This is my everyday face.”
“No wonder it feels like I’m talking to a ghost every day.” Dallas laughed at his own joke as he stretched his legs out, propping them on the empty seat in front of him. Nearby sat a girl, and Dallas could swear her silhouette looked enchanting.
Both boys beside him knew exactly what was coming when the older boy flashed that idiotic grin.
Dallas stood up from his seat under the expectant gazes of the two other teens, then took a seat beside the redheaded girl, casually slinging an arm around her shoulders. Dallas was up to his antics again.
Both boys felt incredibly awkward as Dallas started raising his voice, throwing out cuss words and making suggestive remarks left and right. Johnny sank into his seat, watching the scene unfold with embarrassment. He had to admit he was surprised when the girl put up a strong defense as Dally started bothering her—she was tough and knew how to hold her own, and that made Johnny let out a small laugh that only Pony could hear, causing both boys to chuckle quietly as they watched Dallas get humiliated.
“Come on, babe, no need to get rude with me, relax.” Dallas spoke with a mocking tone.
“You’re the one who should relax, you shameless bum.” The redhead had thrown the drink Dallas was holding at him, and his only reaction was to let out a bitter laugh, wiping his face with the sleeve of his jacket.
Before the girl could do anything else, Dallas leaned dangerously close to her face, one hand playing with the long, red strands of her hair.
“No need to get all worked up, sweetheart.”
“Leave me alone, greaser.”
“The ones I like best are the ones who play hard to get.”
Behind the uncomfortable situation was Johnny, who no longer found any humor in what was happening in front of him. Johnny had never considered himself a disrespectful guy—at least not by greaser standards—and because of that, he didn’t like seeing situations like this. They made him uncomfortable and, in a way, even disgusted him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly brave enough to stand up to Dallas Winston, the town bully.
“Leave her alone, Dally.” Ponyboy tried to end the matter as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, but Dallas completely ignored him.
Johnny’s patience was running out, as quickly as the countdown on a ticking bomb. “Couldn’t expect anything less from a bully…” Johnny had let those words slip from his soul, and he really thought he’d said them to himself until Dallas looked at him with a serious expression and Ponyboy nervously elbowed him.
God, he was so reckless. “What?”
Dallas was angry—no, worse than angry, he was deeply offended by the words that had come out of his friend’s mouth. A bully? Sure, it didn’t bother him to hear that from some grumpy adult or an annoyed Soc, but to know that’s what his little brother figure thought of him… damn, he could feel his heart crack.
“You heard me, Dally. Just leave them alone, they haven’t done anything to deserve you bothering them.” Dallas frowned as he got up from his seat, not taking his eyes off Johnny. Probably, if those words had come from anyone else, Dallas wouldn’t have hesitated to beat them senseless. But this was Johnny—his favorite friend, the kid he could never see himself hitting, not even with a tree branch.
Despite all of this, Dallas’s anger didn’t seem to dissipate easily, and when things like this happened, his words sometimes spilled out more than they should, leading him to say things he probably shouldn’t have said in that way or in that situation. No one told Dallas Winston what to do.
“Excuse me? Now you think you have the authority to insult me just because you’re friends with a damn Soc, Johnny?”
Ponyboy’s gaze first shifted toward Dallas, then to Johnny in surprise, and back to Dallas again. Someone needed to explain what was happening immediately, because the poor kid didn’t understand a single thing—had he misheard?
Johnny’s face radiated anger, something that didn’t happen often unless something truly bothered him. “I’m not friends with any Soc, and even if I were, it shouldn’t matter to you. Winston.”
Johnny was really upset, and it showed clearly when he abruptly stood up from his seat, with no intention of staying another second listening to the older boy’s nonsense, even if it wasn’t entirely a lie. Of course, deep down, he was dying of fear at the thought of having to explain Dally’s words to Ponyboy later.
“Now you’re gonna run off like those cowardly idiots?” Dallas had gotten dangerously close to Johnny, completely indignant. He shoved Johnny’s shoulder with his right hand.
“fuck you, Dallas.”
Johnny spat those words with disdain in his voice. Ponyboy froze upon hearing him and had no time to say anything before Johnny stormed off, with Dallas following angrily, hurling insults into the air.
The girls looked at Ponyboy. “Are you friends with them?”
Pony let out an awkward laugh, still shocked by the scene. “Nah, I don’t know them.”
That night had turned out to be a complete disaster, and everyone knew it when Darry Curtis received a call from his brother, Ponyboy, from a police station, explaining that he had to come pick up Johnny and Dallas because they’d gotten into a fight—and had the bad luck of doing it in front of an officer.