Partners In Crime | Dallas Winston FanFic

Chapter Twelve: Enough

The four of us piled into Buck's car, with Ponyboy and Johnny in the backseat and me and Dally upfront. As we pulled away from the church, Dal showed off his amazing "driving with no hands" skills, while Johnny, Pony, and I all yelled at him to cut it out. Which, of course, only encouraged him more. But not gonna lie, it was kinda fun. I don't think Pony agreed, though, because he looked absolutely terrified the entire time. 

We pulled into the Dairy Queen drive thru and Dally ordered six barbecue sandwiches, four medium fries, and four cokes. When we pulled into a parking space, a young woman wearing a short skirt and way too much eyeshadow approached the car with our food. I knew by the way she was looking at Dal, she was gonna make a move on him.

"Hey handsome," she greeted while smacking her gum loudly. It was like she didn't even see me sitting right next to him. She was already getting on my nerves— and I no longer had an appetite.

She leaned up against the car, and I could feel my face heating up with anger and jealousy.

"Hey, man! I'm taken, lay off!" Dally said, his voice disgusted.

"Oh yeah, who?" She asked, raising one eyebrow and looking around.

"Are ya blind?!" Dally asked, shocked by her stupidity. 

Then, he grabbed the collar of my leather jacket and kissed me like he never had before. It was passionate— as though he'd been waiting years to do that. He crushed my hands in his own, as though to get rid of any doubt I may have had in my mind. In that moment, I knew that I was the only girl Dallas Winston needed. And all of that jealousy melted away. I wanted that moment to last forever— but then I remembered Pony and Johnny in the backseat. Oh god.

I pulled away from Dally, who stared at me in confusion.  I quickly turned around, where I saw Pony and Johnny both sitting there in complete shock— their eyes wide. Dally turned around too, then suddenly realized why I'd cut our make-out session short.

"L-Lexie?" Pony asked me, "I think you f-forgot to mention something..." He stuttered. 

Johnny still just sat there, as he awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, I think I did," I said, laughing, "Me and Dal are dating— have been for a few days now."

I held up the necklace and watched as realization washed over their faces. Johnny was even able to manage a small smile.

"Well, good for you, Dal!" He congratulated, giving Dally a pat on the back. 

Some of the color started to come back to Pony's face as he opened the car door to grab our bag of food. Apparently that broad had dropped it when she stormed back to the building, furious. Immediately after he sat back down, he had already torn into the bag and started eating one of the sandwiches. God, he was hungry. Once Johnny got his hands on the bag, he did the same thing without hesitation. Dally and I both laughed at them, their faces covered in barbecue sauce. 

And so we just sat in the car, eating our lunch, with light conversation here and there. Dally and I caught the boys up on some stuff, but nothing too special. Johnny was almost completely quiet the entire time, though. I could tell his mind was preoccupied— thinking about something else. Making a tough decision. 

Until he finally spoke up, just as everyone was finishing their food.

"We're gonna turn ourselves in."

"What?" Dally and I asked simultaneously, both shocked.

Johnny then went on to justify himself and explain his plan, while Dally stared at him blankly.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked, obvious concerned.

"Yeah," Johnny replied confidently, "It ain't fair for Darry and Soda to worry about Ponyboy all the time."

"I guess my folks aren't worrying," He added, mumbling sadly. 

"Hey, the gang's been worried about you!" I reassured.

"Yeah, man! Did you know that Two-Bit wanted to go to Texas to hunt for you?" Dally asked.

"But Dallas— it isn't the same. I asked if my parents asked about me," Johnny restated. 

God, that's all Johnny ever wanted— his parents' attention. His parents' love. No matter how well the gang treated him, it'd never be the same for Johnny Cade. And that broke my heart.

"No, they didn't! So what? Do you think my old man gives a hang if I'm dead in a car wreck or drunk or in jail or something? He doesn't care! But that doesn't bother me none!" Dally yelled.

It bothered him— the fact that he'd never be enough for Johnny. That's all Dallas Winston ever wanted— to be enough for Johnny. To fill that hole in his heart that his parents never would. But for Johnny Cade, it just wasn't the same.

Dally started the car and drove off, muttering under his breath. We headed back to the church so Johnny and Pony could get some of their things, like the gun Dally had let them borrow. The drive was completely silent this time. No one said anything, we just stared at the passing trees and fields. Johnny looked at his feet the entire time, at his beat-up black converse.

But as we got closer to the top of Jay Mountain, the smell of smoke became stronger and stronger. I looked up and the sky was almost completely black— as though it were night. And when we finally made it to the top, it all made sense.

The church was on fire. And before we knew it—

Ponyboy was running into the flames.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note:

ITS HAPPENING— THE CLIMAX HAS BEGUN AND IM SO EXCITED.

The first half of this chapter? The most difficult thing I've had to write so far. I needed Pony and Johnny to find out about Dally and Alexis in a natural way— but I just couldn't make it work. It's still not great, but hopefully it's good enough. But the last half came SO naturally to me, so I'm super excited to write chapter thirteen!! It's definitely going to be longest one so far, because I have SO many ideas— I can't wait!!

Hope you enjoy and stay gold 🌅