Golden Lovers | Johnny Cade x Reader | The Outsiders

Jeans Jacket

"Man, it sure is cold out," I heard Johnny say through chattering teeth.

The five of us had left the drive-in and started walking. Cherry and Ponyboy were walking together and Two and Marcia were hittin' it off real sweet, so me and Johnny were left on our own. Which was totally fine with me, by the way. It had gotten darker and much colder. I still had Johnny's jacket. It was lying out on my bedroom floor. I should get it for him.

"Here, I'll get your jeans jacket for you," I started to say as I strayed from the group.

Johnny grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him.

"No, don't go," He hesitated for a moment. "You can just get it later."

"You sure?"

He nods his head. I guess he didn't want to be left alone. I felt bad, just watching him shiver in the night beside me. I'm such a dummy for forgetting it. It's his only jacket and now his freezing because of my great memory. I'm an awful friend. I turned to look at the boy next to me. He had his arms crossed and was practically shaking. The grease made his hair look wet and made him look colder. The sight of him only made me feel worse.

Pony and Cherry had stopped walking and leaned up against the chainlink fence. Me and Johnny decided it would be good to just stand near them. Cherry was asking about Ponyboy's brothers, which I thought was a little odd. When she asked about Darry, Pony's face dropped.

"Well, he's nothing like Soda, and he sure ain't like me. I bet he wants to send me off to some boy's home but Soda won't let him."

Me, Johnny, and Two-Bit were shocked to hear this. It always seemed like they always were great and didn't have any problems.

"What are you talking about? Y'all get along fine." Johnny said what we were all thinking.

"No, we don't," Ponyboy snapped, "And you just shut your trap Johnnycakes, cos' you ain't wanted at home neither, and I can't blame them!"

Johnny flinched as if Pony had hit him. Those words must've hurt, especially from a good friend. I stared at Pony in shock as Two-Bit smacked him good across the back of his head.

"You better shut your mouth, kid. Only reason I ain't beating the lights out of you is 'cos yous Soda's kid brother." Two-Bit wore a stern look.

"Hush, Johnny. He didn't mean it," I told him softly as I wrapped an arm around the boy.

Pony's face changed from anger to sadness when he saw Johnny.

"I'm sorry. . . I was just mad," he said sorrowfully.

"It's okay, man." You could hear the hurt in Johnny' voice.

"It ain't fair we get all the hard breaks!" Ponyboy shouted. We all knew what he meant. How the Socs have the perfect life and us greasers take all the punches. There was a silence of understanding, even from Cherry and Marcia. I then heard the sound of tires running on gravel and felt bright lights shine on my back. I hear Cherry mutter something under her breath to Marcia. A blue Mustang rolled in behind us and stopped. Two boys stepped out, both clearly drunk. Both I clearly recognized. The blonde boy wearing a madras ski jacket is Bob, Cherry's boyfriend. The other had dark hair and a maroon colored sweater, I assumed he was dating Marcia. Besides their relations with the girls, I recognized them from somewhere else. The first day I got to Tulsa, in the hallways at school, at detention. They were James's friends.

"Cherry, Marcia, listen to us..." the dark haired boy began, I can't remember his name. Suddenly, I felt something brush against my arm and saw Johnny. He face showed a pained expression of panic and worry. I then remembered the story that Pony had told me... about Johnny's scar. A couple of Socs in a blue mustang. Johnny's scar was from some guy wearing rings. My eyes immediately darted down to Bob's hand. He was wearing multiple thick, silver rings. My stomach dropped. A sharp whiney Soc voice broke through my thoughts.

"...just because we got a little drunk last time-" Cherry cut him off.

"A little?" her voice cracked with anger. "You call reeling and passin' out in the streets 'a little'? Bob, I told you, I'm never going  out with you when you're drinking and I mean. It's me or the booze." I admired her for sticking up to her boyfriend.

The Soc with dark hair turned to Marcia, "Baby, you no we don't get drunk very often..." Marcia just gave him a cold stare. "And even if you are mad at us, it's no reason to go walking the streets with these bums!"

"Who are you callin' bums, pal?" Two-Bit said, taking a long drag of his cigarette.

"Listen, greasers—" that word stung as it came from his mouth. "—we got four more of us in the back seat..."

Two-Bit cocked and eyebrow and grinned, making him look more tough. "Pity the backseat."

"Hey, man, if you're lookin' for a fight..."

Two picked up a pop bottle, broke it on the fence, and handed it to Ponyboy. He then pulled put his own blade. "Maybe I am..."

Randy, the Soc in the maroon sweater, and Two-Bit had started arguing and it turned incomprehensible.

"Stop, stop! I hate fighting... I hate it!" Cherry suddenly shouted.

I couldn't agree less. Fighting made me look more tough, made any greaser look tough. Cherry walked over to Ponyboy and they had a quiet little talk. I kept my eyes on Johnny, who looked terrified. I knew that Bob must've been the Soc that scarred his face. The thought made my blood boil. I snapped back to reality when I overheard something Cherry was saying to Pony.

"I hope I never see Dallas Winston again. I'd probably fall in love with him or something"

My eyes widened in surprise, but I pretended to not hear what she had just said. Cherry ran off to her boyfriend and the Socs all drove off together. Me, Johnny, Two-Bit, and Ponyboy started walking back home, in the opposite direction. It was barely a 2 minute walk. Two-Bit was cracking jokes as we walked back, reaching Johnny's house first. My heart melted, you could hear his parents arguing from the front yard. He quickly walked away towards me and Pony.

"C'mon guys, let's head to the lot" he said while sticking his hands in his pockets. He must've been freezing.

"I'll meet up with you guys in a bit, I need to get your jacket," I told them, specifically Johnny. He smiled and nodded. I ran off to Buck's. When I walked in I could tell there was a party going on, which was not uncommon. I went up to my room, grabbed Johnny's jacket and quickly ran down the stairs. I located Buck and asked him where Dally was.

He puffed out a ring of smoke. "Dunno, kid. Last time I saw him, said he was leaving to go find Shepherd."

"Damn. Thanks for the help anyway!" I shouted while heading to the door.

"Anytime."

I made my way to the lot when I noticed Johnny sitting alone. I made my way over to him and handed him his jeans jacket.

"Hey, where's Pony?"

"He left. Went back home. Thanks for my jacket, though."

I smiled at him. He was sitting up against the big oak tree, I sat beside him. My eyes were starting to get tired and my head was starting to fall. I eventually rested my head on Johnny's shoulder, as I had done before, but he didn't flinch this time. I could feel him looking at me, but couldn't tell if it was good or bad....

Oh well, least he's comfortable.