Inconsequential Love // Sodapop / Dallas Winston / Love Triangle

Chapter 4 - Sleep Over

"Johnny, come on. You gotta get up." I said, shaking him by the shoulder sternly enough to wake him but lightly enough to still be kind of gentle. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and watched as he finally opened his eyes slowly.

I had found him sitting outside my house last night, waiting on the porch for me. He didn't need to explain, or say anything, I knew he needed a place to crash - it happened at least once a week if not more frequently. Dally had started the whole thing. He was sorta Johnny's adopted big brother, and once I started hanging out with Dal, I pretty much adopted him too. It was hard not to take a liking to the kid, with his wounded puppy dog eyes and nervous twitch. I always just want to hug him and wrap him up in a blanket burrito, but I try not to smother him too much.

He rubs at his eye and looks around. "What-what time is it?" He asks, voice dry, giving me a mental note to grab him some water.

"Almost ten in the morning. I let you sleep but it's Saturday and my dad just left, so I figure you should beat it now before he catches you slinking off." Even though there's a flat chance my dad would care about a boy leaving my room. I could have an army of men come out and I doubt he'd bat an eye.

"Yeah, I can probably see if Pony's around. Thanks again for letting me crash here, I won't do it again, it's just-"

"Hey, stop. You can do it any time you need, or want!" I jumped in. "Really. You know I don't care about that stuff and I hate sleeping alone. Having you on the couch makes me feel better." I tell him, hoping it'll make him feel like he's actually the one doing me a favor.

Dally explained Johnny's life to me a while back and it was common knowledge around the gang. Since my room was downstairs, and when he came around at night to crash here my parents were usually asleep so it was easy to sneak him down. He usually crashed on the beat up old couch near the crawl space, but there were some nights I let him have the bed, telling him I had a knot in my neck and needed a change of habit.

"Hey, do you think you could give Dally his jacket back for me?" I ask, reaching for it over the chair and handing it to him. I still wanted to avoid him as much as possible. Johnny slips it on casually, and I have to stifle a laugh that it's kind of big on him too.

"Sure, if I can find him. I was lookin' around for him yesterday but he was nowhere. Surprised he saw you, he's been dissapearing a lot lately." He says, and my heart goes out for him. It was unlike Dally to be ignoring Johnny.

"Well, if I see him before you I'll make sure to tell him to head your way." I say, smiling. "Want me to make you eggs or anything before you leave?" I ask.

"Nah, I'll grab something at Pony's." He stands up and stretches, still in his clothes from yesterday. "See you later?" He asks, and I nod. Soda usually called in the morning to let me know his schedule for the day so we could plan around it, grab lunch, see each other after, but I hadn't heard from him since last night. Walking in the dark had made me sore and a little cranky. I wish he had a car.

As Johnny leaves I plop back onto my bed and wait, hoping to hear from him sooner rather than later.

______

"Hey, have you guys seen Soda?" I ask the guys, who are bumming around the front lawn of the Curtis residence. "He's not at work I just stopped over there."

"Forget about him, girl. I heard these three made you walk home alone in the dark last night!" Two-bit says, looking up at me as he lounges on the steps of the house, hand above his brow to block the sun.

"She always walks home alone, she never lets any of us go with her." Pony pipes up, looking a little mad about Two insinuating he wasn't a gentleman.

"So you go anyway!" Two-Bit says, raising his voice. "You know what kind of hoods roam around at night, just waiting for trouble. Damn girl, I'm surprised you don't know better."

I'm just about to say I usually bang into Dally and walk with him but I stop myself. I bite my bottom lip and ignore the conversation. "So, Soda?" I ask. "Whereabouts?"

"He's probably out hanging with one of his friends." Pony says, which almost makes me laugh.

"All his friends are right here." I say, waving my hands around. "Last I checked, anyway."

Pony looks at Johnny and neither say anything. I put my hands on my hips, starting to get nervous. "Come on, what gives?"

"He told us not to tell you." Pony says again, and Two-Bit smacks him up the side of the head.