Author's Note: We're finally back. One Headlight is our follow up to Tender is the Night and Front Page Drive-In News, and it coincides with the events in the book. Any advice/criticism is more than welcome! We have the majority of the story written already, so updates should - fingers crossed - be on a fairly regular basis.
Oh, and the mandatory disclaimer: We don't own The Outsiders or the song 'Mercy' by Duffy.
ETA: Sorry guys, we messed up the date when we originally posted the story. Just goes to show how excited we were to post this first chapter. ;)
I don't know what you do,
But you do it well,
I'm under your spell
September 17, 1966
Ellie tried to count to ten. Closing her eyes, she started counting. If she made it to ten, he would be too far away to catch up. He was mad after that Soc threw the Coke in his face, and she wondered if he was acting the way he was to try and make her jealous. He did things like that, probably because he knew that it worked. She was on her feet by the count of seven, and so were Pony and Johnny. They were moving up a row to sit by the girls, but she just stood in front of her chair.
Pony turned around in his seat and nodded toward the empty seat by Johnny. She shook her head.
"I'm gonna go make sure he doesn't do something to get himself back in the cooler," she said.
Pony gave her an aggravated look and then turned back around. She did her best to ignore it and started after Dally.
"Hey, Ellie," she heard Johnny call.
He was smiling smugly. Cherry was staring at the movie screen, but Marcia was looking at her looking somewhat amused.
"What?" she asked.
"Told you it'd be less than a day," Johnny said.
Johnny was grinning like a proud fool despite what had just happened with Dally. She stuck her tongue out at him and tried to hide her embarrassment.
"That mean you won that bet?" Pony asked Johnny, a grin back on his face.
"I'm not back with him. I'm just going to make sure he's okay," she said. "It ain't any of your business anyway."
She heard Pony and Johnny laughing as she walked away.
XXX
Fucking Johnny. Dally didn't know who that kid was hanging out with to get so mouthy. That kid was afraid of his own shadow after those Socs got a hold of him. Where did he get the balls to tell Dally to back off? He wasn't going to hurt the broad, just see how much he could embarrass her. She was a looker, but Dally sure as hell knew that she was probably more a tease than anything.
When Ellie caught up to him, he wasn't sure if he was surprised or not.
"Speaking of teases," he muttered.
She gave him that look like he knew she would.
"Where are you going?" she asked. She was out of breath.
"Why?" he asked.
He purposely started to walk faster. She kept up.
"Just wondering," she answered.
"I'm aimin' to get to Buck's before Shepard shows up. He'll be lookin' for me."
She nearly stopped walking when he said that, so he slowed down a bit to let her catch up to him.
"Why?" she asked.
Dally studied her for a minute and he tried to add up her reactions to what Steve had said. He hadn't said much, just that Shepard really blew it with her.
"I slashed his tires. Broke my fucking blade when I did it, too."
Dally had already been aiming to fuck around with old Tim when he blew the cooler, but slashing the tires on that fancy new Charger was too much fun. And apparently he deserved it, which was an added bonus.
"He just got that car. Probably stole it, but still." Her voice trailed off considerably.
He let it go. He was more interested in seeing why she was hanging around him. He didn't ask her to follow, and she didn't say a word when he mentioned he was heading to Buck's. He wasn't going back toward their neighborhood, and yet she was still tagging along.
Standing on the edge of the road he watched for cars heading their way. A pair of headlights were zooming up the road, and he stuck his thumb out.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Hitchin' a ride. What's it look like?"
The car zoomed on by. "Prick," he muttered. "You know if Buck is throwin' a party tonight?"
She shrugged as she stared at her shoes. She was digging a ditch with her toes. He noticed she dressed more like she used to before she went and tried to impress Tim. Her hair was even pulled back in a ponytail rather than curled and down. In a way, he liked her better with a little bit of modesty. He smirked to himself. It made the whole thing more interesting between them.
"Maybe. I heard he won big in the rodeo last weekend. He might be blowin' that cash tonight," she said. "You gonna ride for him again? Might be good if he actually won that money honestly."
"Ain't got nothin' better to do."
Another car was coming up the road, and he stuck his thumb back out. This time the car pulled over. The passenger in the car rolled the window down and looked out. It was one of Buck's stable hands who sometimes rode in the rodeos.
"Hey, Ernest," Dally said, leaning on the door.
"Boy, whatcha doin' outta jail? Thought they were puttin' you away for good this time," Ernest said with a laugh. The guy was missing so many teeth, it wasn't even funny.
Dally glanced back at Ellie who raised an eyebrow. He laughed himself. "Not this time," he replied.
"Where you headed?"
"Up to Buck's. Give us a lift?" Dally asked.
Ernest looked back and leered at Ellie and then looked at Dally.
"I think we can manage that," he said.
Dally looked back at her and raised an eyebrow in question.
"Comin', dollface?" he asked, soft enough so only she could hear.
A little smile, a quick look back and she crawled in after him.
XXX
The two cowboys dropped them in the gravel lot at Buck's and kept going. They said they had to be at the stables, but Ellie couldn't figure out why they needed to go when it was dark. She didn't really care, though, as long as she was out of their car. The guy Dally had talked to kept looking back at her.
And now she was back at Buck's. There really weren't enough words to describe how much she didn't like the place, and even fewer to describe why she kept coming back.
Dally slapped the roof of the car, waving off the two cowboys as he joined her. He took her wrist in his hand and started pulling her toward the door. A car horn stopped them short, though.
Dally whipped around, letting go of her as the car pulled to a stop. Tim got out of the passenger side of Todd Howell's car, and Ellie looked down at her shoes, avoiding those dark eyes at all costs. In the last two months she'd stayed as far from him as she could. He must have been doing the same because they never once crossed paths, and their side of town wasn't all that big.
"I know you slashed my tires," Tim said.
The car door slammed and his boots crunched on the gravel. She looked up and caught his glance. His face was stony and hard to read as ever, but she could hear exactly what he was thinking when he saw her with Dally. That was fast.
"What tires? I don't even have a blade," Dally said.
Ellie backed up and leaned against the rails of the porch steps as people started trickling out of the roadhouse. Patrons of Buck's just seemed to know when a fight was about to happen. No one announced it, but here they came anyway. It was a sight to be sure, and one she didn't really miss all that much. Dally and Tim squared their shoulders at one another, and there was a crowd to watch. She stayed as far back as she could, and it didn't take long before she couldn't see a thing. She could hear well enough, and she flinched involuntarily when she heard the sound of punches being thrown.
Finally, people started moving out of her way. Neither looked any worse for the wear, even though Dally was picking himself off the ground and dusting himself off. Tim was flexing his hand and shaking his arm like it hurt. He caught her gaze again, and she looked away quickly. For months she'd been telling herself she was fine, and for the most part she was, but occupying the same space as him suddenly made her very uncomfortable.
"Three months in and I can still whip you, Shepard," Dally taunted.
Ellie groaned to herself and stopped and waited. They were going to go at it again at this rate.
Tim shoved him and the whole thing started over. Dally had probably been waiting on fighting him since the day he went in. He was swinging vicious punches, but so was Tim. Dally knocked Tim back into Todd's car and kneed him in the groin.
They kept it up but the way she saw it, it ended in a draw. Neither one of them would have fallen first, and neither one would have stayed down.
"Fuck with my car one more time, and I swear I will run you over with it," Tim warned him.
"You can't do shit until you've got tires, Shepard," Dally said.
Tim flicked him off and rejoined Todd and the other guys from his gang. Ellie didn't realize she was breathing funny until she could finally take a deep breath again. She hoped like hell he was leaving.
"What a pussy," Dally mumbled.
He turned around and seemed to finally notice she was standing there. She set her hands on her hips and tried to act normal even though she was shaking on the inside.
"Thanks for showin' a girl a good time," she said, trying to sound sassy but coming off weak to her own ears.
He grinned and walked up to her. His hand slid around her waist and he leaned down like he was going to try and kiss her. Ellie pushed him away and stood back from him.
"Why do you run so hot and cold all the goddamn time?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes and started inside without him, hellbent on finding a phone.
"Hey, hey, hey now," he said, reaching out and grabbing for her again. He gave her arm a gentle tug and pulled her close to him. "What're you doin'?"
"Callin' for a ride," she told him. Even if she missed him while he was jailed, he still drove her up a wall sometimes.
His grip was soft as he ran his fingers slowly up her arm. He cupped her cheek and leaned down again to kiss her. She let him this time.
When he pulled away, he said, "This didn't take too long."
She punched him in the shoulder and started for the door again.
"What is it with all of you?" she huffed.
XXX
Inside it was nuts. Wall-to-wall people, all dancing and drinking and having a damn good time. If his ribs hadn't just got kicked in, he might have felt like joining in, but instead, he felt sick. Ellie didn't look like she even wanted to be there, which annoyed him because she tagged along herself.
He didn't fail to notice all of the people that watched him when he walked in, one of which was Sylvia. Groaning inwardly at the thought of having to put up with her, he took Ellie's hand again and started leading her toward the stairs. He barely had the energy to put up with her. He didn't have it in him to deal with Sylvia.
"What are you doing?" she asked. She almost sounded frantic.
"Goin' upstairs. What's it look like?" he asked.
"We just got here," she said, looking around. "Let's hang out or something."
She tugged on his hand trying to get him to move back, but he groaned and winced as she did so. Shepard was going to be lucky Dally didn't take a pipe to the windows next time.
"Hey Winston. What's Tulsa's finest thinkin' lettin' you out?"
Dally grinned and shook hands with one of Two-Bit's poker buddies.
"I don't know, man," he said. "I like to think they just can't handle me no more."
"They've probably got bets on the table on how long it'll take 'fore you're picked up again," he said.
Dally couldn't remember the guy's name to save his life, but he liked him okay. He liked him even more when he ordered two beers and handed him one.
"Enjoy it. See you at poker some night," he said.
"Yeah, I'll see if I can make it," Dally replied.
He nodded toward Ellie and winked at Dally.
"Have a good night," he said, walking away.
Ellie looked beyond embarrassed with as red as her face was turning. He nudged her a little and she looked up at him and said nothing. Leaning down close, he whispered in her ear, "You don't look like you're having a bit of fun. Let's just go up."
She was jumpy as hell and he was trying to be sweet enough to get her upstairs. That was half the battle.
"I don't feel like it right now," she said. "Besides, we just got here."
She had both of her hands clasped around one of his, and he was stroking her arm with his thumb in soft, slow circles. Anything it took to just get her up there. Behind him, he could feel Sylvia staring. He could almost hear her counting the minutes it was taking to get anywhere with Ellie. She was probably laughing, too.
The door to the bar opened again, and they both looked up. Tim and three or four of his gang walked in, Tim glared at him and Dally glared back.
"Okay," she said, quickly.
That caught him off guard. He looked at her, confused.
"What?"
"Let's go," she insisted.
He set his hand on her forehead.
"You feelin' alright?" he asked.
She batted his hand away and started for the stairs herself.
"I changed my mind, okay? Let's go," she said.
Something had just sparked her sudden interest. He looked up at Tim, who was looking in their direction. She was almost pushing him toward the steps, her back to Tim.
"Whatever you say, babe."
Her nails were digging into his hand as he pulled her through the crowd and toward the steps. Christ, something got to her, and he had a feeling it had everything to do with Tim walking through the door. He was going to let it go, though, at least for the time being. He had way more important things to deal with at this moment. And they were all below his belt.
I don't know what this is,
But you got me good,
Just like you knew you would.
