Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from The Outsiders, they belong to SE Hinton.
Set after the book, except Dallas didn't die.
The sun had set along the horizon just as Johnny's coffin had been set deep into the ground. The gang all planned the funeral ourselves, set at the sunset, just as he would've wanted. He was right, it was the mist that was pretty; he was right, Dally had never seen a sunset before. This was his first time. Johnny's parents didn't show. No surprise. They never did really care about Johnny. The gang was the closest thing to family Johnny ever had.
Tonight was important to me. It was my time to say goodbye to Johnny. I need to remember it. Every little bit I have left of him, every memory, it has to stay.
We all squashed into the car and drove back to my house.
"Ain't gonna be the same without Johnny here no more." Sodapop sighed sinking into a chair as we all trailed in.
"I still can't believe it." I mumbled, letting in a jagged breath trying to hold back the tears that would soon be falling down my cheeks.
I missed him. I didn't think I'd ever lose him. He was my best friend. The only best friend I'd ever had. And now he's gone.
I hated the thought, it made me feel weird and empty inside.
Darry came and sat next to me, putting his arm around me in a tight grip.
"It'll be alright, kid. He ain't in pain no more. He's in a better place."
It was weird being comforted by my brother. He's always been more like a father figure to me since our parent died. He's always been there for me, but he's always been blunt with it. He never really show emotions. I suppose we just feel things differently.
We reminisced through the night and into early hours of the morning. We shared memories and all cried at some point. Including Dally. I kind of expected everyone else to cry, but not Dally. I mean, I never saw anyone cry before apart from Soda and Johnny really. I still expected the guys to cry though, but not Dally. Nobody ever saw Dallas Winston cry.
He was quiet through most of the night. Listening, thinking, smiling over memories. I'd never seen Dally like that before. As I watched him, I could see the pain in his eyes. He really cared about Johnny. I think he cared about him more than he cared about anyone else.
"Do ya remember when he had his first kiss?" Dally finally spoke, very softly.
"It was with Connie or somethin'. I was with him at the lot that night and he spoke about it. Man, was he happy…" Dally trailed off, smiling to himself. He hadn't said much that night, but what he did say sure did make a difference. It gave us all an insight into his and Johnny's friends, and it was something we knew nothing about.
Everyone spoke about memories with Johnny that we all already knew about, cause we were there or heard about it. Everyone apart from Dally. I wasn't sure if they didn't want to talk about their times alone with Johnny or if they just didn't have any to tell. I did, but I just didn't want to tell anyone about it. Not now anyway. Right now it's just between Johnny and I. I like it that way. If I told the gang, it feels like it wouldn't have the innocence it did before, y'know?
We spoke until we all drifted to sleep. I dreamt about him that night. I relived the sunset and the time at the church. In my dream Johnny didn't get hurt though. It all seemed so real. I thought it was. I wished it was.