Falling For Her - The Outsiders Fanfiction

Chapter 3

   "Johnny, I need to go home and change." Jess said as we walked down the road towards her house. I waited outside the door when she went inside, my hands jammed into my pockets. I was careful not to put my right hand too far into my pocket, since something was in there. About ten minutes later, Jess walked out of the house wearing black jeans, a pink shirt and my denim jacket. She was currently tying a white bandana into her hair. She flipped her hair over her head, and put the bandana below it at the base of her neck. She then flipped her head back over, tying a knot on top of her head. (Picture)
   I smiled, walking over and taking something out of my pocket. "Close your eyes, Jess." She closed her eyes, and I tucked a small pink flower behind her ear. "Open." She looked in the window at her reflection, smiling widely. "Johnny, it's beautiful!" She turned around and hugged me tightly. I smiled, kissing her cheek. "You're welcome, Jess."
   We walked hand in hand towards the Curtis' house. Dally and the others were inside when we walked in, and of course I held the door for Jess. Ponyboy looked away when we walked in. Soda, Darry, and Steve were grinning widely when we walked inside and closed the door. "What?" I asked quietly. Soda jumped up and pulled me into a hug. "Congrats man!" He laughed, shaking me slightly. "What for, I didn't ask her yet," My cheeks turned dark red. I had planned on asking Jess to be my girlfriend, but I needed to wait for the right time. We had just met about two days ago, so I didn't want to rush her. Soda back off, embarrassed. "Sorry Johnnycake." Jess giggled at my nickname, "Aww, it's adorable!" She held onto my hand a bit tighter, and I just smiled. "Come sit down," Dally said, giving up his seat.       Pony had walked off,
slamming his bedroom door.    "He's jealous," Darry whispered, and we nodded. Steve walked over, studying Jess. "She's awfully pretty, Johnnycake. You did good." I rolled my eyes, why bring up my nickname now? Jess smiled and blushed. "Thank you... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
   "That's because I didn't throw it at you." Steve rolled his eyes, then grinned. "It's Steve."
   "Steven Daniel Randle." I muttered. He shot me a look, then sat back down and ate some cake. "Does he always eat cake?" Jess whispered. I nodded. "Cake and beer, and the occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Steve flipped me the finger, and I grinned. "Man, now I'm hungry. Who else?"
   Everyone was hungry then, so we walked down to the Dingo. Dally and Darry lead, Steve, Soda, and Two-bit behind them, and Pony, Jess and I behind them. We walked in and got seated at one huge table. Dally, Darry, Two and Pony sat on one side, Steve, Soda, Jess and I on the other. Basically all of us ordered a burger and fries, besides Pony who ordered nothing but a Coke. I sat across from Dally who was making faces at me and Jess.    Most of them were sexual, and he would sometimes run his foot up Jess' leg and blame it on me. Typical Dallas. Jess leaned on my shoulder, closing her eyes while we waited for our food to come. "Get a fuckin' room." Pony muttered. Dally slapped him in the back of the head. "You be nice to them, this is the happiest Johnny's been in a long time and you're ruining it for him." Dally snapped. Pony rolled his eyes. "Yea, whatever man."
   I looked over at Jess, seeing her eyes watering. "Hey, what's wrong?" I whispered. She tightened her grip on my hand, and didn't say a word. I let go of her hand, putting my arm around her. Jess began to cry then, burying her face in my chest. Dal and Soda gave me concerned looks, and I just shook my head. "I don't know," I mouthed, looking down at Jess. She was a hysterical mess by then, and I didn't know what to do. "Jess, listen to me," I whispered. She looked up just a little bit and sniffed. "I won't know how to help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." She let out a long breath, shutting her eyes and laying her head back down. I looked helplessly at Dally, who just switched spots with Soda so he could help. He sat down, putting his hand on her back. "Hey Jess, it's Dal. Can you tell us what's wrong so we can help you?" He murmured. Jess scooted closer to me, whimpering at his touch.     Dally looked scared, and that's saying a lot.
   I pulled Jess closer to me, softly kissing her forehead. She lifted her head, looking me in the eyes. I was pretty sure our whole table was watching now, but I didn't care. "Johnny, I'm sorry if that scared you." She whispered. "I started thinking about something that happened while we were at my house, and it sent me into hysterics. It's one of those things that you can't control your emotions for, and I'm really sorry." A few people murmured it's okay and we forgive you, but I just leaned forward and kissed her.
Right there. In the middle of a packed building. With all my friends around me. I kissed Jessica Holland. She sat in shock for a minute, then kissed me back. Her arms snaked around my neck, and I couldn't help but break away and smile. Dally smiled at me and started clapping, along with the rest of the gang. Even Pony was smiling at us. We weren't even a couple, technically, but I made it look like we were.
   We got our food a few minutes later, and I'd never seen 6 boys eat so fast. Pony didn't order, but he was sneaking fries from Darry every few seconds when he wasn't looking. I excused myself from the table, walking over to the restroom. (He ain't doing anything nasty)
   When stepping up to the mirror above the sink, I saw how red my face was. Why did I always blush around Jess?? I ran my fingers through my dark hair, watching it fall into its place above my eyes. I walked back to our table, sitting down beside Jess again. Everyone was dead silent, staring down at their plates. I opened my mouth to speak, but Jess stopped me. She looked over at the table on the other side of the building, and I followed her gaze.    Soda's girlfriend, Sandy, was sitting over there with another guy. They were holding hands, and she looked happier than she ever had been with Soda. I looked over at him, and saw he was poking at his food with a sad expression. He then got up, walking over to the table.
   "Oh God, this isn't gonna end well." Dally muttered.
"Hell no it won't." Steve whispered, pointing to the table where Soda was beating the fool out of that kid. Jess gasped, grabbing onto my hand. I turned her away when the other guy started punching back, hitting Soda in the face multiple times. No one tried to stop the fight, not even Sandy. She sat there grinning. I jumped up from my seat, running over to the fight and kicking the guy in the back. He turned around, giving Soda a change to fight back.             We began to beat the hell out of him, our gang cheering us on. Dally stood up in his seat, jumping up and down and chanting "Fight, fight, fight, fight!"
   I got the guy pretty good in his jaw, eye, and mouth a few times. Jess yelled something at me, and I got distracted. The guy took this to his advantage and shoved me backwards into a table. I went down, hitting my head hard on the top before it crashed into the ground and broke. Dally jumped over the back of the seat, running over and picking the guy up by his collar. "Touch my friend one more fucking time and you'll be dead." He growled. (Rawr) Soda ran over to me, crouching down on his knees beside where I had fallen. "Hey kid, can you hear me?"
   I groaned in pain, turning my head away from him. "I take that as a yes." He muttered, slowly picking me up. Soda held me close to his chest, checking me over for any injuries. "Where does it hurt?" I thought for a minute, moving to see if anything hurt. When I turned my head, pain shot down my neck and back. "Head and back.." It was difficult for me to talk right then. Dally came over with a busted lip, sitting down on the ground. "The kid okay?"
    "His head and back hurt, but he'll be okay after some rest." Dally took me from Soda, carrying me over to our table. "We're going home, Johnny's pretty banged up." At an instant Jess was at his side, her hand on my shoulder. "Will he be okay?" She whispered. Dally sighed, "I don't know.." The way home was silent, everyone surrounded Dally since he was still carrying me. It hurt to move, and I could barely open my eyes. Ponyboy caught up to Dally, and looked over at him. "Is he awake?" He asked rather loud. "I'm fine.." I muttered, keeping my eyes closed.    
   Darry rolled his eyes. "Soda, if you wouldn't have picked a fight with that guy, this wouldn't have happened." Soda looked furious. "How is this my fault? If anything, it's Sandy's because she decided to cheat on me which provoked the fight!" Darry was silent after that. Steve kicked a rock as he walked. "I should've fought instead of Johnny. He's had enough pain from fights."
•• Note: Okay just look at Johnny as a puppy