i gotta be nuts

two

The next morning, Johnny woke up and ran his hands through his hair. "Shit." He got up, and went to his kitchen. He took out the milk, and some stale cereal. He sighed, and poured both into a bowl.

Sitting at the counter, he ate and stared at the wall blankly. His mind, empty. Then, he shivered. It was still cold in his house, and he'd given away his most used sweatshirt.

After he finished his breakfast, he turned the small TV on and changed into a black shirt, jeans, and his red Cobra Kai jacket. He also pulled on his fingerless gloves, liking how the leather felt as he flexed his fingers.

He watched TV as he packed his bag, and then shut it off. He brushed his teeth and hair, and slung his bag over his shoulder. Johnny grabbed his keys, and headed out the door.

Daniels morning went like any other, except his thoughts were full of Johnny. 'You've got to stop.' He told himself. But, as he was about to leave for the day, he spotted the sweatshirt Johnny had given him.

He grinned, and dropped his bag. He pulled the sweatshirt over his head and picked up his bag again. Out the door he went, hurrying down the sidewalk when-

Danny stumbled, and fell back against the side of a building. Johnny had pulled him between two buildings, and was now looking around the front to see if anyone was there.

"Johnny what are you-" Johnny put his hand over Daniels mouth.

"Shh.. be quieter. Nobody can know I'm being nice to you." Daniel pushes Johnny's hands away

"You practically slammed me through a brick building, I don't think you know what nice is."

Johnny chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Be glad I'm not beating you to a pulp."

Danny smiled "So, what did you want?"

"Look, I don't want to mess with you anymore. However, I can't just stop. The boys will think I've gone soft."

"Oh no, we can't have your bad boy reputation be tarnished." Daniel said sarcastically.

Johnny looked at him threateningly before laughing a bit. "No, no we can't."

"So.. what? You pretend to beat me up every day? Is that it? Throw me against some lockers, knock my books out of my hands."

"Yeah." Johnny said, shamefully.

"Okay." Danny said plainly.

"Wait what? You're okay with it, just like that?"

"Just like that. Because I know you do have a soft side, Johnny. I know it's just a front. Also, you'd be doing it whether I was okay with it or not. The choice to be consenting to it softens the blow."

Johnny smiles "Cool. Cool. So, you wanna go out first? I'll follow in a couple minutes so it's.. inconspicuous."

"Sure. Hey, Johnny?"

"Yeah?" It was only then that he realized Daniel was wearing his sweatshirt again. Danny looked really attractive in his sweatshirt, and he was going to bring it up but Daniel was gone too quick.

"I'm glad to know you aren't as big of an asshole as you seem." And with that, Danny was gone. Johnny stared after him, and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

Johnny didn't know why, but it was like every time Daniel was there he couldn't breathe. Seeing Danny wear his clothes didn't help matters. Johnny had to take a seat. Squished between two buildings, Johnny and Daniel had been almost touching each time one of them moved.

Johnny jumped up, shaking out his arms. "Get a grip, Lawrence." He slapped his cheeks lightly to wake himself up, and left the small space. Lingering in the back of his mind, however, was Danny's coy smile, the one where he tugged at his bottom lip with a few of his teeth and smiled like he knew everything about you.

During lunch, Johnny and Daniel spotted each other from across the courtyard. Danny waved, shyly, with that cute smile of his. Johnny chuckled and looked down. He was gonna wipe that smile from his face.

Johnny stood up, tapping a couple of friends on the shoulder. They hopped up, and followed him. They formed a semicircle around Danny, with Johnny looking at him head on

Ali came up and shoved Johnny gently. "You need to stop pushing Daniel around. It does you no good."

"Stay out of this, princess." Johnny smiled sickly sweet and gently brushed in front of her, now a few feet away from Daniel. He sucked in a breath, and gave Danny a look.

Daniel looked back like 'Just get it over with.' And he did. Johnny grabbed Danny's arm, and twisted it behind him. He pushed Daniels face against the brick wall and whispered in his ear "This might hurt. Sorry."

Johnny then stepped back and twisted his arm the other way- not injuring it, just turned Danny around by it, and kicked Daniel to the floor. He spat on the ground near him, and crouched above him.

"See you later, punk." And he slipped a note into Danny's pocket, getting up and walking away with his buddies.

After Johnny had walked away, Daniel hauled himself off the ground. He checked his appearance in the reflection from a locker, and fixed his hair, brushed off some dirt.

"I wish they'd just leave you alone." Ali said.

"I've gotten used to it. Now, I gotta go. I'll see you after school?"

"Yeah! We can work on that project."

"Cool! Meet out front!" He jogged off to the bathroom, and pulled the note from his pocket. In Johnny's sprawling, slightly messy handwriting it read:

'Ice cream tonight? 8pm, at that small shop on the far side of town if you're in. No one from West Valley will be there.'

Daniel smiled, and tucked it into his pocket. He pulled out a scrap of paper and wrote on it "See you at 8." He left the bathroom right as the bell rang for the next period.

In the hallway, he stumbled into Johnny and pushed it into his palm. He looked over at him as he glared and yelled "Watch it, LaRusso!"

When Johnny got to his next class a minute or so early, he unfolded the piece of paper from Daniel. His neat handwriting said 'See you at 8.'

"Aw, Johnny's got a date!" One of his friends sat next to him, and chortled. He mistook Daniels neat handwriting for a girls

Johnny flushed and looked wild "Woah! It's not like that. Be quieter." There were only a few people in class and luckily, they weren't paying attention.

"Uh, you're blushing and defensive. It's definitely like that. Who's the girl? Is it Ali? I bet it is. Chicks dig guys who assert dominance."

"It's none of your business who it is, and even if it remotely was I wouldn't tell you. And, it's not a date." He demanded again. "It's.. it's not a date." This time, he was trying to reassure himself.