The Outsiders (The Good Stuff)

Pinky Promise? (Johnny x Dally)

Where was Dal?
I couldn't find my lover in the sea of people at Buck's. He wasn't in his room, he wasn't out back, and he wasn't anywhere in the living room with most of the other people at the party.
"Hey Buck! Do you know where Dallas is?"
"Ah man, kid. Last I saw him he was headin' towards my room in the back. Could be anywhere though."
"Ok, thanks," Why was Dal in Buck's room? If he wanted some peace and quiet, he would usually go up to his room. People only went to Buck's room t- Oh no. Dal would never do that. I mean, he may be a self-absorbed asshole most of the time, but he would never cheat on me. Even if he didn't show it all the time, especially in public, I knew Dally really cared about me.
As I neared the door to Buck's room, I prepared for the worst. I thought that Dally would never cheat on me, but you really never knew what that guy would do.
My hand was on the handle now. My brain was yelling at me to run. Run away. What I didn't know couldn't hurt me, right? But my heart? My heart was yelling at me to open the door. I desperately needed to know what Dal was up to. I could already feel that something wasn't right, and I needed to know what that something was.
Sadly, my heart won because next thing I knew, I was swinging the door open before I could even think about it.
What I saw was really not what I expected, but even worse.
There my boyfriend was, sitting in a chair beside the bed with a syringe needle stuck in his arm. Sweat was pouring down his face, and his eyes were shut tight as he took the syringe out.
"Dallas! What the fuck are you doing!"
With a loud gasp, Dally's eyes shot open and the syringe dropped to the bed with a little thud.
"Johnny! I- What are you doing here, baby?"
He tried to get up and walk over to me, but had to stop after a few steps to balance himself on the dresser.
"What are you doing, Dallas?" My voice was so quiet that I could barely even hear myself speak over the loud music. When Dally didn't respond, I spoke louder.
"Dally, what are you doing." My body shook as I waited for him to answer. I knew that Dally wasn't in a good place, but I never thought that he would turn to drugs to cope with his problems.
"I'm fine baby. Don't worry 'bout me." He gave me a crooked smile, but I could tell that he was in a different place.
Tears were starting to form in my eyes, so I turned to walk away.
"Wait, don't leave! Ya just got here! Party ain't over!" I'm pretty sure that Dally didn't even know what he was saying, so I started to walk faster.
"Where are ya goin'? "That's when Dally started to stumble after me.
"Go away, Dal! I don't want to see you right now!" I yelled at him through my tears, as I started into a sprint. I shoved my way through the crowd of people in Buck's place, never looking back. Everything was a blur through my eyes, but Dally had taken me to Buck's place so many times that I already knew exactly where the front door was without even having to think about it.
Finally, I burst through the front door. I stood on the front steps for a second, gulping down air that wasn't coated in cigarette smoke. That didn't last long, though. I started running again. I needed to get away from this place. Away from Dally. As far as I could.
"Johnny! Come back! It's cold out here!" Once again, I heard Dally's voice behind me.
I knew I shouldn't have, but I looked back. There he was, stumbling down the stairs. Trying so desperately to catch up, but having to stop every few steps to balance himself or catch his breath.
I stopped. I couldn't leave him like this. Could I? Even if he just shattered my heart, I couldn't leave Dally wandering the streets, high on heroin. The least I could do was get him back to his room at Buck's. Then, I was free to run through the streets and have a pity party all I wanted.
I walked back over to Dally, all while he was still trying to get to me.
"Johnny! Come back! I- Stop!"
"C'mon Dal. Let's go back to Buck's place."
"Oh, there you are. I thought I'd lost you, baby," He leaned in for a kiss, but I quickly stepped away. I wasn't in the mood for this right now. Honestly, I don't know if I'd ever be in the mood again.
"Let's go."
"Where are we going? Can we go get ice cream? I'm real hungry. Cookies an' cream is my favorite flavor," I tuned out Dally's mindless talk while I led him back to Buck's. Even though the house was only twenty feet away, it took so long to move only a few feet. Dally kept stumbling into me and tripping over nothing. How could he do this to himself? It was so hard to watch him without my heart aching even more, but I knew I had to get him somewhere safe.
"Wait, when did we get here?" Dally finally came back to reality once we reached the stairs. I tried to get him inside, but he refused.
"No! I don't wanna go in there! Stop it! I can't go in!"
"Dallas, you need to get inside! It's too cold and dangerous for you to stay outside by yourself."
"Wait? Does th- are you gonna leave me by myself? Are you gonna do that? Please don't do that."
As I tried to get Dally into the house, he kept frantically blabbering about how he didn't want me to go anywhere and how he needed me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Fine! I'll stay with you! Just get inside!"
"How do I know you're not lying? Pinky promise me."
"Dally, I'm not pinky promising."
"Do it! Or I won't go inside!" I couldn't believe I was actually about to make a pinky promise with Dallas Winston. The Dallas Winston. The guy that punched a Soc in the face after he called me short. The guy that jumped others for fun. The guy that would sooner be caught dead than make a pinky promise. Well, at least when he was sober. Now, Dallas Winston had a whole new meaning to me.
"Fine, pinky promise," I could feel the childishness that washed over me when I wrapped my pinky around his. I hadn't pinky promised anyone since I was like- what? Nine years old? Maybe even longer than that.
"Now, get inside, Dally."
"Ok," He sighed. Rather reluctantly, Dally just walked (more like stumbled) into the house.
"C'mon, your room is this way."
"No, it's that way," Dally said as he pointed in the exact opposite direction his room was in. I pulled him through the crowd in the right direction as I huffed out a, "Whatever."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how stupid all this was. Dally did drugs, so now I have to babysit him? That's completely un-fucking-fair. All I wanted to do was leave, but I really couldn't leave him.
Dallas Winston was high and vulnerable. If anyone who came across him wanted to, then they could take complete advantage of him. I couldn't stand that thought.
"Hey, this is my room." When we reached Dally's room, luckily, he just went right in without being difficult.
I started to walk away, but was quickly stopped.
"Hey, don't leave! You pinky promised!"
"Dally, pinky promises are for seven year olds. I'm leaving."
"No, you can't! You pinky promised me," As Dally's voice got quieter, I turned around to look at him. To my surprise, he was on the brink of tears. I don't think I've ever seen Dally on the brink of tears before. I've never even seen him look sad.
"Please, don't leave me," This one came out as a whisper. The quietest Dally has been all night. Was his face showing, dare I say it, helplessness? Now, this was a stretch, but I think that Dallas Winston was helpless. I mean, being sad was one thing, but helplessness? That was a whole 'nother side of Dally that was being revealed for the first time tonight.
"Dally, I really gotta go."
"No you don't! You gotta stay with me."
I was mad and disappointed, but not enough to leave Dally like this. Dally had only needed me a few times. This was rarity, and a serious one at that.
"Fine, I'll stay. I'm just gonna sit here, though," I was expecting Dally to try something on me, but, to my ultimate surprise, as soon as I sat down in the chair across from his bed, Dally sat down too. We just sat facing each other, me on the chair, him on his bed, for a few minutes in comfortable yet awkward silence. I couldn't tell what the feeling was in the atmosphere, but there was definitely something there.
"Goodnight, baby."
"Goodnight, Dally," And with that, Dally laid down in his bed and drifted off. As I drifted off in the chair opposite him, I wondered, would Dally remember any of this in the morning?