17.11.2010 - IMPORTANT NOTICE! Do you have the habit of skimming through stories looking for mentions of or appearances by your favorite characters? The reading aid in my profile ought to help you find your way around this fic!

Author's Notes: This fic is mostly Peanut-centric, but I'm also trying to flesh out other characters. My interpretation of Lola may not sit well with some fans, but know that I don't hate her. Both straight and non-straight pairings and sexual acts are possible in the future, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

English isn't my native language! If you find grammatical errors, punish me for them or I'll never learn.

Chapter 1: Beta Male

Larry "Peanut" Romano, the stern and steady right-hand man in the greaser clique in Bullworth, couldn't help but to be feel conflicted about Lola Lombardi, his best friend's girlfriend. She had come to be so many things to him. At first, she had been a crush. His first one, in fact. Then, when Johnny had won her over, she had become his only female friend that he hung out with on regular basis.

Most recently though, Larry had started to hate her guts. It was their senior year and Lola hadn't toned down her man-eating habits at all, not the slightest. She kept choosing the worst possible moments for her infidelity too. It was threatening to give him stomach ulcer at a staggeringly young age.

"So, Lola. Where we goin'?"

The autumn night was surprisingly cold. Larry was probably going to be fine, but he was worried about the skimpily clad young woman walking right next to him. If she were to become ill, she would no doubt be even more of a hassle than she already was.

"You're gonna accompany me to the clothes shop today. You wouldn't want the townies to be all over me, would ya?" Lola chuckled and poked Larry's shoulder playfully.

The brown-haired male didn't answer, only glanced at her with his dark eyes before turning his attention back to the ground.

Once again, the melancholic youth longed for the simple times. Or, at least, simpler times. When he had first become a member of the greasers, he and Johnny had been fierce rivals. Lola, back then the princess of the group rather than the queen, had been the catalyst for the two of them. She hadn't been the only thing that their rivalry had extended to, but it had at least been a competition: competitions were easy to understand.

"What's the matter, Larry dear? You used to be so much more... Expressive", Lola said with a debauched voice.

Larry shuddered.

"It's Peanut to you", he grunted. At first he had hated that nickname, but now he felt that anything was better than what Lola called him when they had still been together.

Lola giggled and latched onto his arm as they walked side by side.

"Oh c'mon, Johnny won't mind", the girl said as the disgruntled greaser shot a deterring glare at her.

He sighed. Lola said a lot of things, but they both knew just as well that they had to be careful not to mention about this kind of stuff to Johnny. Sometimes Larry wondered whether things would be easier if he had become the leader. Or if he hadn't ever even tried to become one. When the graduation of the toughest greasers had drawn near back in the day, Larry and Johnny had become lieutenants of sorts and the tension had become unbearable. The air between them became a toxic compound and everyone else avoided them, although the other greasers were evenly sided with both. It had been clear that the battle for leadership would be fought between the two.

Lola's presence had made the concoction all the more dangerous. Back then, she had still been a kitten that was practicing the use of her claws. She had seemed to tremendously enjoy seeing Johnny, an extroverted, spontaneous, and impulsive personality, and Larry, a more broody, reserved, and calculative guy duke it out together and she hadn't saved her ammunition. Once, Johnny had ended up with broken bones because the pair had tumbled down a flight of stairs during a fight.

Nowadays, Larry wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something like that happened.

Suddenly the greaser stopped and looked up, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

"... This ain't the clothes shop", Larry commented, realizing that he had let the young woman lead himself somewhere totally different while he had been deep in thought.

This was the bar that was owned by a friend of Lucky's friend and one of the only places to get booze relatively safely if you were underage.

"I need a drink", Lola said bluntly and dragged the boy indoors.

Larry wasn't going to care where they were going. It was Friday, but as long as he didn't drink anything alcoholic himself, he'd be okay. Lola usually only became more withdrawn and irritable when she was drunk, so misunderstandings weren't likely to happen. He had to admit, Johnny had won himself quite a strange queen. Nowadays, Larry couldn't even really understand what he himself had seen in her. Apart from the good looks. And her adventurous and bold personality. And her insatiable sex drive.

Oh okay, maybe he really did understand what his younger self had craved for.

Larry had, fortunately, given up the fight for Lola and the greaser clique. This hadn't been because he had been wise or anything though, but because of a notorious incident that he caused. He had been antsy about proving himself to be tougher than Johnny by messing around with a certain Tad Spencer. To piss him off, Larry, Hal, Lucky, and Ricky had sneaked into the Spencer Shipping warehouse to destroy valuable goods in the middle of the night. That hadn't been too smart a move.

"Hmmm. I wonder what I should have. I don't have much money though", Lola mused to herself as she was about to order a drink.

"It's on me", Larry grunted and mentally made the decision to have a Beam Cola while he dug his wallet from his pocket to see how much was in it.

"Oh, isn't that sweet of you", the girl beamed, as if she didn't know that Larry would've had to pay for the drinks anyway.

When the two sat down to drink, Lola scrutinized Larry with gleaming eyes like she hadn't seen him in ages.

"What", the youth asked flatly.

"Nothing! I just thought that you sure have grown. I wonder if you've grown down there as well", the lush brunette wondered and her eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

Larry looked at her unflinchingly. Nothing she said to him surprised him anymore.

"It's just us, y'know. You don't hafta put up an act", he said unenthusiastically and took a sip of soda.

Lola rolled her eyes and stirred his colorful drink with her cocktail stick.

"You've become so boring lately", she sighed, her voice losing her usual excitement.

Larry took that as a compliment.

"I can't say I couldn't understand why, though. I mean, the only way you can keep Johnny happy is by keeping me happy", Lola said with a cynical tone and drank the last of her drink in one go.

Larry did the same with his soda.

"I owe it to Johnny that I ain't in juvenile hall or somethin'. It don't matter what I gotta do, I wanna keep him happy 'n' outta trouble."

Larry's little warehouse operation had gone well right up until they had been spotted by the workers. The gang had split up and scrammed into different directions, confusing their chasers. When someone had noticed that Larry wasn't anywhere to be found, they hadn't had any other option but to get Johnny and the rest of the greasers to find him. When they had found him, he had been in the warehouse, panicked and broken-boned under an expensive statue that had fallen on him while he had hid behind it. They had busted him out safely without the workers noticing, miraculously. Larry had been very fortunate that Tad Spencer had found out it was his doing only a lot, lot later.

"That's not all, is it Peanut", Lola suddenly said.

Larry hemmed.

She was right, though: that wasn't all of it. After the accident at the warehouse, Larry's attitude towards Johnny had changed completely. He had been genuinely touched by his efforts to save him. He had straightforwardly announced that he would give up on both the leadership and Lola Lombardi's affection and he had become Johnny's most fiercely loyal follower. Everyone had seemed to have been relieved by the turn of events.

Except for the then newly crowned queen of the greasers.

"Poor, poor Peanut. Always wanting something he can't have", Lola drawled, observing her friend expectantly.

Larry frowned and was about to express his disapproval of the direction their conversation was heading, but he halted as he noticed that there was something odd about Lola's face. It wasn't just her maniacal smile, but also the way her entire head seemed to warp into different shapes. Very disturbing shapes.

"What... What did you... Your head issss...", Larry slurred.

Things got awfully dark for some reason.