Tough Love, Johnny Cade (Jally)

Seven: Wake Up Call

The next night, I had been hanging out with Ponyboy. Everyone had been talking about camping lately. Or, Dally, Two-Bit, Pony, and I. Everyone else was too busy with work. However, neither Two or Dally seemed to want to put in the effort to actually plan, so me and Pony spent hours trying to sort everything out, looking at catalogues Soda had brought home and trying to sort out what all we could afford with our budget.

By the time we were done, it was a little after eleven. Soda had come in multiple times asking if we were done yet. He was tired, and I was keeping him from sleeping. I told Pony goodnight and I headed into the living room. To my surprise, Dally wasn't sprawled on the tan chair with his feet on the coffee table. Just then, Two-Bit was coming from the washroom, about to head for home, or maybe somewhere else.

"Hey, where's Dally?" I asked, Two fishing his keys from his front pocket. He frowned thoughtfully.

"Ehh, he said he was going to sleep at Buck's. He left about two hours ago." Then he grinned. "Did you want a goodnight kiss?"

I had a feeling he was doing this because of what I'd said the night before about him avoiding me. He was trying to convince me nothing was off, so he slept somewhere else, like he normally would.

"Can you give me a ride there?" I was asking before I could really process the question in my head. The words just came out. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, but I had already asked the question.

"To Buck's?" Two asked, genuinely surprised. I nodded, my face slightly hot. Two shrugged, and he reminded me of a cartoon character. "Anything for your goodnight kiss, I suppose."

Two drove me over to Buck's, which was only a few minutes, though time moves slower when Two-Bit's driving. He was making jokes, and telling unbelievable stories the whole time, but I was only half-listening. Two-Bit dropped me off, saying one last wise thing before he left. He sounded a little nervous though, even as he made the joke.

Two drove off, and I walked up to the house. I tried knocking at the door, and everything was quiet. At least there wasn't a party, Buck had a few too many friends. I knocked again, and there wasn't any answer. I decided to peer in through the window, and I saw Buck passed out on the couch, the TV flashing absently. There were multiple beer bottles sitting on the side table, and that explained why nobody answered the door.

I decided to see if it was unlocked, and it was. I walked right in. I thought about waking Buck up and asking about Dally, but I didn't really want to deal with Buck drunk. Plus, I already knew Dally stayed in Buck's extra bedroom all the time, so I figured I could find him on my own. They were essentially roommates- except Dally was away half the time because he was Dallas, and Dallas would sleep wherever he felt like it.

I made my way to the extra room. The door was cracked, and the room was dark. I gently pushed the door open, a trail of hallway light sweeping into the room. Dally was sprawled out on the bed, the covers kicked to the side, and his shirt tossed on the floor. I wondered if he was hot, but I could feel the cool night breeze coming in from the window. That one had been broken, and Buck had tried covering up the window with cardboard.

I figured Dally would catch a cold, so I came over and started pulling the covers over him. Dally shifted, and I jumped, kinda tugging on the blanket when I did. Dally started coming around, and I suddenly wondered why I thought coming here was a good idea.

Dally suddenly seemed to lurch awake, gasping as though he had just come up from underwater. I noticed him visibly sweating as he panted.

"Johnny?!" His voice was scratchy, as well as deep from sleep. Dally reached up and touched my arm, then my face. It was like he was making sure I was actually there.