𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 | 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 24 - Just Like Before

"Here's some popcorn and..." He sighed as he handed me a red striped cup, filled to the brim with glistening, buttery popcorn. Then, from his other hand, he brought out a bottle of coke. "a coke." He handed me the glass bottle of bubbling liquid as he sat down, popping off the cap for me as I gripped it tight in my hand.

"Thanks Winston." I smiled as I threw a handful of popcorn in my mouth, shortly washing it down with a sip of coke. "And one for me." He sighed with contentment as he pulled another bottle from his side, quickly flipping off the cap and taking a swig. He sat relaxed, his crossed feet sitting upon the chair in front of him and his arm draped around my chair nonchalantly. I smiled at his manner before looking ahead.

We both watched the screen, quiet as we watched the movie with only the sound of my chewing, our drinking, and the people around us chatting, being heard. The movie wasn't too interesting, so I watched mindlessly, spacing out every now and then, breathing at a steady pace and not blinking once.

"So..." Dallas spoke up, breaking the silence between us. I looked over to him, his fingers tapping against my chair and his eyes darting to look towards me. "What?" I asked with a chuckle, taking another sip of my coke. He shrugged. "Is Johnny a good boyfriend?" He gave a small smile, almost anxious and curious as to know the answer. I laughed, slightly confused by the glint of nervousness in his eyes. "Pretty good." I sighed with a grin. His smile faded a bit at my words, almost as if he were disappointed.

"You know he's not actually my boyfriend, don't you?" I chuckled. His grin grew in that moment, relief washing over his face. "Steve, he just blurted it out. Poor Johnny, man, he turned red as a tomato." I joked with a laugh, again taking a swig of cola that bubbled straight down my throat with a tingle. He shook his head as he looked to his lap, unsurprised at the apparently regular acts of Steve Randle.

"That kids funny man. Johnny." He smiled, looking to me again. "Gotta love him though. I mean, I haven't known him long, but he seems like a good kid." I looked to the ground, then back to Dallas with a half grin. "Yeah..." He sighed.

"Hey, are you coming to the rumble tomorrow night?" He shifted in his chair, facing his now planted legs towards me and putting his elbow to the chair in front of him. "Rumble? What's that?" I also shifted towards him, my arms crossed and my brows furrowed with question. "It's like uhhh..." He shifted more, brushing his hair with his bottle free hand as he thought for a moment. "Like a fight. With the richies over there." He gestured to the car lot. I laughed, seemingly amused by this "fight".

"What? Do you guys fight over a hairbrush or something?" I mocked, smirking with pride. He merely rolled his eyes, shifting even more in his place. "It's just for the adrenaline rush. You coming or not?" He smiled. "Well, whatever floats your boat I gue-" I was cut off by Dallas lightly punching me in the shoulder, causing me to erupt in laughter.

"I'll come Dallas." I replied as I calmed down, a grin adorning my face. "Good." He leaned back in his chair, once again placing his crossed feet upon the back of the chair in front of him and letting his arm drape over the back of my seat.

~

"Boo!" A familiar voice shouted behind us as the movie came to an end. Startled, we both jerked our heads around, only to see a happy and boastful Two-Bit leaning between both of our chairs. "Hey Two-Bit." I chuckled as I watched him shake with excitement. Dallas only rolled his eyes, shifting his place in the seat to face Two-Bit with a grunt. "Did I scare y'all?" He finally spoke with a grin. "Sure did Two-Bit." I smiled wildly, the fright slowly leaving my body as I became relieved.

"I didn't ruin your little date, did I?" He hopped over into our aisle, quickly seating himself next to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders with a smirk. I grinned a bit, trying my best to hide my flushed cheeks. "Yeah Two-Bit, ya did." Dallas spoke, disgruntled at Two-Bits sudden appearance. I only rolled my eyes with a smile before looking back to Two-Bit. "You're fine Two-Bit. By the way, it's not a 'date'." I stated with hand quotations as I gave a glance to Dallas, then looked back to Two-Bit. Dallas only sighed with annoyance at my quick words.

Two-Bit nodded his head, a smirk still lingering over his lips. "Sure did look like it though." He sat back against the chair, still resting his hand upon my shoulder. "Eh. I just wanted the free popcorn." I said with arrogance and a shrug. "I hear that." He laughed, tipping his almost empty beer bottle to his mouth.

"Whatcha doing here Two-Bit?" I questioned before taking a sip of my cola. He shrugged before speaking, "Just bored. Got hammered, came here to flirt with some soc broads. I'd say it's a pretty normal Sunday night for me." He chuckled at his own words. I laughed along with him, Dallas only sitting quietly by my side.

"We should probably get going. It's getting pretty dark." Dallas stood from his chair, looking towards me with an urge to leave. "You afraid of the dark now Dal?" Two-Bit jested as I also stood up. I laughed as Dallas only stood with annoyance. "Ahh, come on Dallas. Don't be stubborn, it's only a joke." I smiled as I looked to him, only for him to roll his eyes in return.

"Let's go." He threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, surprising me and turning my cheeks bright red. "I'll come too. I got nothin better to do anyway." Two-Bit stood. Dallas sighed, "Fine. Just don't be a pain in the ass." We all started walking out of the aisle. "Cant make any promises Dal."