Unrequited (The Outsiders ship fic)

Ch 3. Buzz off!

Johnny POV

I have no reason to think I'm a tease, right? That shouldn't be something to worry about, but it was. I asked him about it a few hours later when we parted for the day. The sun's starting to set, and he said he is going to head to a party at Buck's. I never liked going to those.
He explained to me what he meant with a faint tone of irritation that I didn't get it the first time.
"Ya see, Johnnycake..." he looked off in some other direction, "You're not givin' me what I want. And, see, usually, I do get what I want. That's just 'cause I'm mean and I can fight for whatever, ya know? All the guys know I could beat their asses in a second if they tell me no. But you... I ain't gonna beat your ass, Johnnycake. But you ain't threatening me, you're just quietly, ya know, teasing. Get it?"
I shook my head. What's he talking about?
He rolled his eyes at me, but kept going.
"I wanna talk to you, and you're always quiet. I wanna kiss you, and you're too scared. I wanna be around you, and you're nowhere to be found. I wanna be your boyfriend, and... Hell, I don't think you even know what that means!"
Am I really doing all that? I thought he must hate me now. Why do I always have to make things so difficult all the time?
He must have seen the worry and guilt on my face, because he got closer and told me it was okay in a reassuring voice.
"Hey, maybe I like a tease. Maybe you're just playin' hard-to-get. Either way, it gets boring, being able to just get people to do stuff for you, n all..." he trailed off for a second, lost in thought, "But not you, Johnny. You're the only thing keepin' me on my toes, kid."
It seems weird that he would say that. Dallas Winston could get things to keep him on his toes. What, is stealing all the time and never doing anything legal not enough? Just me and my fear-fueled resistance to being pinned up against a wall? I just didn't want to kiss him in front of Pony, that's all.
All I could think was that I'm up for the kind of task he's talking about. I'm not capable of keeping anybody on their toes. I'm like the superglue between the ground and someone's heels, for god's sake.
Not to him I'm not, though. For some reason Dallas sees me as something else.
"I oughtta get goin'," he said with reluctance in his voice that I couldn't convince myself is genuine, "But if you don't have a place to spend the night, if somethin' happens, Johnny, come find me. Please."
I nodded. To be completely honest, if something happens I'll would probably just go to Pony's. I like being there a whole hell of a lot more than Buck's after a party anyway.

Two-Bit POV

Dally always invites me and Steve, sometimes Soda, Darry, sometimes Johnny, and sometimes Pony, to go to parties with him at Buck's.
I remember Steve telling me once that Dal definitely could just go alone, and he didn't get why he always invites somebody. He didn't really talk to us when we got there anyway.
Steve and I went once, and the crowd was wild. Now, believe me, I love wild crowds. I also love just the guys in the gang, who are, more often than not, quiet, because with them I get to be the loudest. Steve hated the crowd though. He couldn't take a step without bumping into somebody, and he always yelled at whoever it was, so within a couple minutes his voice was sore. Every drink he took just made him more claustrophobic and mad. I didn't mind it all that much, aside from that nobody could hear anything I was saying. I still went sometimes when I had nothing else planned. Dally's my buddy, probably my closest in the gang, and I think I'm his too. If these dumb parties meant somethin' to him, I'm not gonna decline every time he invites us like Steve does.
After Johnny and Dally went outside for a smoke, I assumed the split cause they didn't come back for a couple hours. I didn't see Johnny all night, actually, but Dally showed up again.
Ponyboy kept telling me to take my eyes off the tv set for a second and look at the sunset.
"Ain't no sunset in the world as pretty as this gal on this screen here Pony," I said. He socked me on the arm when he looked and it was Minnie Mouse. The two mice were dancing together, stepping to the tune of the music.
"Now that's romance. You takin' notes, Pony? You'll need this if ya wanna chance at that what's-her-face soc girl-Marcia's friend."
I could see him blush, and he sighed unhappily, but all he said was "You don't know a thing about nature, do ya Two?"
"I dunno," I said, "You ever seen mice dance in the wild? I bets it's a lot like that."
"No!... I mean the sky, stupid. I bet you never seen a sunset in your life."
Then Dally came back. Pony's eyes were immediately on him, staring him down from his spot by the window. Dal didn't even glance at him.
"Hey Two-bit. Buck's having a party tonight, you in?"
I agreed, and before I knew it we were out the door. I told him asking Steve if he wanted to go wouldn't do any good. He gave a curious look but didn't say anything, which was good because Steve might get beat if Dally knew the real reason he always declined his invitations. Probably not, but it wasn't hard for Dally to find a reason to sock Steve anyway.
He asked if there was anybody else who might want to go.
I shrugged, "Johnnykid? He ain't much a drinker, but..."
Dal shook his head, "I need to get wasted and pick up ladies, Two-bit, Johnny's the last thing I need on my mind."
We smoked cigarettes and kept walking. People always figure I'm stupider than I am, which is sayin somethin cause I really ain't that smart.
Dally thought he could slip his hints passed me, did he? I saw right through him. I could put puzzle pieces together. Maybe I don't go to half my classes at school, but I knew something sketchy when I saw it.
"So what's goin' on with you and Johnny, anyway?" I piped up after a few seconds.
He groaned, "Why, d'he tell you too?" He flicked the cigarette butt a couple feet away and ran one of his hands over his hair.
"Hey, slow down there, speed racer. Tell me what?"
"Fuck, I don't know Two," he said as we approached Buck's doorstep, "Maybe I'm dumber than I thought I was. Whatever you think's goin' on between us, that's probably what it is."

Dally POV

I wasn't lying when I told Two-bit I didn't know what's going on with Johnny n me. I came to a somewhat familiar realization on my walk back to the Curtises' house from where I left Johnny.
Trying's stupid, maybe, that's what I was thinking anyway. I wanted him, but that's too much to ask. I wanted to be with him, more than any other person in the world, but the kid's complicated.
Give it up, Dallas. Go get some girls. Clear your head.
The guys in NYC would be proud.
Two asking about it was frustrating me though, because I didn't want to think about it and he was making me. But I always get what I want, so maybe I didn't really want to just avoid it.
I was drinking like it was my last day on Earth at Buck's. Usually when I dragged Two to one of these parties, we went our separate ways for the next few hours to try n get lucky. But this time he was clinging onto me. I told him to buzz off, and he walked off for a second but just came back with a beer. Didn't I tell him to buzz off?
I gestured to one of the girls there and said I would get her by the end of the night. Two shook his head and said "She's crazy man, don't do it. He's got paintings of clowns 10 feet tall on every wall in her bedroom." At first I thought that didn't sound so bad, but he told me she painted her tits bright red with body paint before she went out, to make em look like clown noses. No way.
I looked to another girl a while later. "I heard once she was givin' a guy that goes to my school a BJ n she bit his head clean off." We laughed way too loud at that-must be pretty drunk.
Every girl I said something about, or tried talking to, or asked him about, he had some crazy deal-breaker story about her.
"Crowd's hell today, Buck," I said, leaning against the wall next to him and tilting my head back.
"You're apart of the crowd, too, Dallas!" Buck laughed, and so did Two, who was suddenly next to me again. Didn't I tell him to buzz off?
Midnight came and went, and I didn't get a single girl. Most people are either out like lights or in rooms fucking by midnight at Buck's, so the place was quiet. Even the music was pretty dead, the tv was playing some commercial for fish sticks for one guy that was half passed out on the couch in front of it.
A guy that was half passed out of the couch even killed the music, so he could better hear the commercial for fish sticks on the tv in front of him. Not enough people were up to tell him to flip the music on or turn the channel, and even if they did it wouldn't do any good.
I'd never been around this late at a party there. It's kind of depressing.
"I didn't get any action, Two," I said, gloomily looking at the scene.
"If it makes ya feel any better, neither did I," he chuckled, "Unless ya count Dallas as action, I've been with him all night long!"
I scoffed, "You wish."