Outsiders Oneshots {mostly angst]

LOVE ME TENDER [Jally]

"Hey, Johnnycakes!" Dally greeted me as he walked into the Curtis house. I look up at him through tired eyes. I'd come to the house in the middle of the night and just slept on the couch, well "slept". I was tossing and turning all night and the only times I slept were filled with nightmares.

"Heya Dally," I said quietly before yawning. 

"Geez kid, did you get any sleep last night? You look pretty rough," Dally said, sitting on the couch by my feet and looking at me. I sat up and he gently laid a hand on my chin, inspecting my face.

I heard a crash from the kitchen and jumped back from Dally. I looked over, seeing Darry in sweatpants and a wife-beater dragging himself to the fridge and rummaging through it.

"Yo Darry!" Dally said, swinging into the kitchen. "Whatcha makin, Superman?"

"Just some eggs." Darry yawned and looked at his watch. "Isn't it a little early for you to be this awake?"

"Nah man, just excited for today," Dally said and I could see that he winked. I wonder what was happening today. 

"So, you all working today?" Dally said. I wondered why that would matter, but maybe there was some sort of rumble today or something like that. 

"Yeah, speaking of..."Darry trailed off, looking down at the eggs and then to the hallway to all their rooms. "Could you go get 'em up?"

"Sure thing!" Dally said, uncharacteristically enthusiastically. He ran down the hallway and, from the screams that could be heard from the room, you could tell he definitely took pleasure in scaring the daylights out of the two.

"DARRY WHY'D YOU HAVE TO SEND THIS ATTACK DOG TO WAKE US UP!" Soda yelled from their room as Dally came running out laughing, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

"Ah Johnnyboy, ain't it just good to be alive?" Dally said as he swung an arm around my shoulders and looked at me. His grin was so gosh darn full of joy that I found myself grinning right back at him.

"Say, how bout we go on a little trip, just the two of us?" He asked, leaning back on the couch. I noticed his smile fade as a distant look set into his eyes"There's this little place a little north of here I wanna check out."

"What about Pony?" I asked, knowing he'd be free. I really would wanna be all alone with Dally, but I couldn't do it in good conscience if Pony was all by his lonesome.

"Ah, he'll be alright," Dally said, brushing it off. "Someone's gotta babysit Two-bit."

 I laughed, but the nagging thought of Pony thinking of me as a poor friend made a dark feeling bloom in my stomach. 

But then I remembered how much he was going on about the book series he was reading. He was already on the third book, but he had about three more to go. 

"Okay, yeah we can go," I said. His smile almost instantly reappeared, the arm around my shoulder following quickly. 

"Alright there, I'll be back in a bit." He got up, ruffling my hair a little.  "See ya later folks!" He yelled to the kitchen, Darry giving him a slight nod as he exited. 

-Timeskip-

About an hour later, Dally came back, now with Buck's beat-up pick-up. He looked a little roughed up, liked he'd been in a minor scuffle. But his cold stare dropped the second he walked in and saw me laying on the couch. 

"Alright right, let's get this show on the road!" He exclaimed, helping me up. We walked towards the pick-up and he opened the door for me before going over to the driver's side.

"So, where are we heading?"I ask while Dally starts up the truck and we buckle in.

"There's this old church up in Windrixville I wanna head up to. Explore the place and whatnot," He got on the road and turned on the radio to a station playing Love Me Tender by Elvis.

I noticed a slight blush rise into Dally's cheeks before looking out the window. My thoughts wandered on why Dally had wanted to take me to Windrexville.

 "Could he think of me like that? No, how could that be possible?" I thought, trying to suppress the hopeful feelings rising in me. "I mean, he has a girlfriend, so he must be straight."

The ride was mostly quiet, the radio, playing Elvis's love songs, filled the car with an awkward tension that was uncharacteristic of Dally. And made me even more confused.

"Alright, we're here," He said, stopping the car by a hill. He got out, lighting up a cigarette. I got out and opened the back door to get the stuff, but Dally beat me to it. 

Our hands brushed slightly as we both reached for the bag, which was haphazardly throw in the back seat. A blush quickly rose to my cheeks and retracted my hand. I took a cigarette from behind my ear, lighting it, and shutting the door.

"Okay, it's a bit of a walk, but it's just over on Jay mountain." He said, joining me on the other side of the truck and started walking up the mountain. I joined him and the awkwardness slowly faded as we climbed higher, our conversation becoming more casual.

I was out of breath by the time that we reached the church, but it was definitely worth it. The old church had definitely been abandoned a long time ago, the rotted wood making it easy for Dally to break down the planks. 

I strolled through the old church, examining the spider webs and dusty pews. But I noticed that Dally had walked right to the altar, sitting down in front of it. He got out a soda from the bag and I noticed how much he was fidgeting. I sat down next to him and grabbed a soda.

"So, um Jonny there was uh actually something I wanted to talk to you about," Dally said,  it meeting my eyes. He scratched the back of his neck, looking at his soda. "I've started to have these uh feelings that I shouldn't for...well you."

He looked away from me, blushing fiercely. I turned away from him, heat rising to my face. I stole a glance at our hands and noticed how close they were. I inched mine closer and put my pinkie on top of his.

"I um well, actually like you a lot..." I said quietly, cautiously glancing over at him. He quickly turned his head to face me, looking down at our hands. He stared at them for a second before looking into my eyes. There was some confusion on his face, but he smiled nonetheless.

"Oh, well if that's the case," He said before moving his other hand to my cheek, leaning in, and kissing me. After a second of surprise, I kissed back gently. The kiss was soft and made the butterflies in my stomach explode.

He pulled away after a moment, slightly caressing my cheek before he put his hand down. 

"So, does that mean we're-y'know, gonna go steady or whatever," Dally said nervously, rubbing his neck. I shyly grab his hand and nod, still trying to process what just happened.

"Y-yeah, I'd like that," I look up at him, and his smile was as wide as the sky. I leaned in to hug him, but this hug was...different, it was more tender.