Happy Birthday Dallas Chapter 38
A/N: Thirty-eight? This is crazy! I'm not even near the end. I'm also tired of the doomsday crap. None of that in this chapter. I need a break. I need a Kit-Kat. Or a cigarette. dies coughing
I feel like this keeps getting worse. I know I keep saying, but honestly, I love the CC!
P.S. My updating for the next month will be sporadic. A million apologies! I'm doing something so crazy, I can't believe it myself (I blame the other writers who stuck the thought in my brain until I couldn't ignore it). I'm also going to Ottawa for a three-week long music fest. SCORE!!! Lack of sleep + crazazy music + massive planned caffeine intake inspiration for this fic. I'll be happier too, so this fic will be less...you know. Non-happy. :)
xxxx
Dally leaned back against the bed, smoking his third cigarette. The sex had been wilder than anything he was used to and he needed the nicotine to calm him down some. Sylvia was sprawled beside him on the bed, naked and watching him.
"You hear them at all downstairs?" he said finally.
She smiled. "Yeah, they were yelling pretty loudly." She yawned. "Before you get all sulky, lemme just say that I don't give a shit what you've done. I been with a lot worse than you before." The hardness in her eyes spoke volumes.
Dally stared at her, astounded. "You don't care?"
She stretched, then snatched the cigarette out of his hand. "If you start acting stupid and get caught, even by me, then I'm done with you for good and I'll side with anyone against you. Otherwise do whatever the fuck you want." She smirked. "That's my plan, anyway."
He messed up her hair, and laughed with her. The more time he spent with her, the more she reminded Dally of himself.
"You're quite a catch," he said honestly.
"Catch nothing," she said wickedly. "I hooked you."
xxxx
"Dallas!" Sodapop spotted Dally coming half a block away and leapt to his feet. He managed a couple steps before tripping.
He gazed up at Dally from the ground. "I'm glad you're here." He gave Dally his standard crazy grin.
Dally lit a cigarette. "What? You think I'd just crawl into a hole? I ain't scared of that dumb kid." He paused. "Who the hell was he anyway?"
"Donny Pinter. He's in Tim's gang," Steve said from the steps. He was looking at Dally strangely and smoking.
Dally gave him a cool look. "Ain't never heard of him."
"S'okay, he won't be around much longer if he keeps pissing people off like that." Soda watched Dally admiringly. "Boy, you sure made him look like an idiot the way you and Sylvia were going at it. Didja even hear what he said?"
Dally shrugged."Bits and pieces. Sounded like shit to me. Can't say I care."
Steve scowled. "You should care. It's your rep."
"Steve, I ain't never been one for following rules," Dallas said impatiently. "I ain't looking to trade one person's law in for another's."
Soda cleared his throat nervously. "But, you haven't been doing anything, anyway."
Dally shrugged. "Yeah, well..." He looked at Steve. He thought about what Sylvia had said. Do anything stupid...
With an effort, he shut himself up. "No. I haven't done anything."
Steve nodded. "Well, it'd give you a reason for a fight, at least." He grinned. "Like to see you stomp that little fucker."
Dally smirked back. "Like to see that myself."
xxxx
The day passed quickly into night. Dally hung around until dinner-time, alternately watching Darry help Ponyboy with his homework and helping Sodapop pretend to do his. He went out with Johnny when the Curtises sat down to their Sunday dinner and the two shared a couple of R.C. colas and moon pies. They headed back in time to see Steve dash out of his house like the devil was after him, and the three of them continued back to the Curtises' together.
Steve started up a game of cards, and Mrs. Curtis let him, seeing as he would be staying the night anyway. Soda lost all his money within the first fifteen minutes and spent the rest of the game helping Dallas lose his. Ponyboy was squirreled away behind a book despite Steve's graceless attempt to draw him into the game ("Don't be such a baby, Pony!"). Darry managed a streak of luck and when Dallas left for the bathroom he was giving Steve a run for his money.
This was what he'd been missing. Hanging out with the guys as just a regular one of the guys, not as a freak, not as a lover. Until Sylvia, Soda had been the only one to treat him normally after finding out - Angela had flipped, Sandy had blabbed, Two-Bit treated him like he was an idiot. And Tim... He didn't even want to think about how much their relationship had changed.
There was a knock at the bathroom door. "There's someone for you here Dal," Darry's voice said, muffled by the walls.
"Uh, yeah one sec."
"It's Tim."
WHAT.
"He says he needs to talk to you. Something important."
Dally froze, surprised, and slightly annoyed. He'd only just got away, and Tim was back already.
"Dal?"
"Coming!" Dally yelled, his voice strangely high pitched.
He wrenched open the bathroom door and sprinted back to the kitchen where Tim stood awkwardly, Mr. Curtis eyeing him suspiciously, and Mrs. Curtis warmly offering him a cool drink.
"Dallas," Tim said, looking relieved. He'd never been there before, only knew the place as where he dropped Dallas off. He didn't look as if he liked the idea of crashing a house owned by people he didn't know too well.
Dally hurried past Tim out to door into the cool night. "C'mere," he hissed, from the dark, beckoning Tim farther away from the Curtis property. "What the hell do ya want?"
Tim stared helplessly at Dallas. He didn't look entirely sure himself. "Come over," he said instead. "I got something I wanna talk to you about."
Dally sighed dramatically. He liked being with Tim well enough, but there was suddenly this tension between them that he wasn't too fond of. He'd been looking forward to some more time with the guys. "Fine. Hold on a sec." He jogged back to the Curtis's.
"Hey, y'all, I'm gonna take off," he called into the house. Soda raised an eyebrow at him.
"That your best friend?" Mrs. Curtis was drying the dishes.
"Yeah," Dally lied, and hurried away before he blew his cover. He didn't mind lying, but it was different this time. There was no end to this lie in sight, and he was losing interest. Dallas wasn't known for having a long attention span.
Tim had started away from the house. Dally hurried to catch him up, his shoes scrapping on the sidewalk.
"What do you want?" he asked crossly.
Tim stopped and gave him a longing look. "I'm sorry," he said abruptly. "But, you shouldn't have pressed." He turned and stalked off.
Pressed? Dally's brow furrowed as he tried to make out Tim's meaning. "Wait," he called and tore off after Tim. "Are you talking about those questions?"
Tim stopped. "You should have minded your own business, like I told you," he said roughly.
Dally shook his head. You're a fucking nutcase, Tim, he thought furiously. Flip out over nothing and apologize three days later. I didn't exactly beat it all out of you, either. I didn't force you to talk, you crazy...
"I shouldn' ta yelled."
Dally's anger burned out. He'd never been good at holding grudges anyway. That was Tim's deal. "S'okay." He rubbed his arms. The night had cooled off quite a bit. "How's your gang?"
Tim laughed hollowly. "Wish I knew for sure." He started walking again.
Dally followed him. It didn't matter that he'd wanted some time apart. Tim was like a magnet. "You figure we cooled off enough for them?"
Tim shrugged and didn't turn around.
Dally stopped. "Okay," he said, the disappointment in his voice too obvious for his liking. "Well..."
Tim whipped around. "I showed up at a stranger's house looking for you, Dal. Do I gotta spell everything out for ya?" He swallowed. "Come over."
Dally barely had time to be surprised before Tim turned around again.
Tim power-walked home leaving Dallas to half-run half-skip to keep up with him. He scrambled up the stairs after Tim and followed him into the bedroom. Tim sat stiffly on the bed and Dallas followed suit.
"Well?"
Tim stared at him, impassive.
Dally stared back. He blinked. Damn, he thought.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Dallas trying his hardest not to fidget. He counted to two-hundred-Mississippi before he gave up. Five more seconds and he was going to start babbling like an idiot.
To his abject shock Tim cracked first. "I missed you," he said suddenly, roughly, and pulled Dallas to him close. He squeezed him so hard Dally feared for his ribs. "I really... I missed you."
"You sound surprised," Dally gasped and eased Tim's grip a bit.
"I am."
"Well, me too," Dally said quickly. Tim sounded dangerously emotional. "I mean, I missed you, too." He twisted off Tim's lap. "I thought you were done with me for good, the way you been acting."
Tim rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, can see why you'd think that. Tried...but couldn't seem to... I just..."
Dally waited for the explanation, but Tim just shook his head.
Dally frowned. "This back and forth stuff is stupid, you know? We oughtta either break it off or just keep on..."
Tim nodded dumbly.
Dally sighed in frustration and tried to piece together his knowledge about Tim and the way he communicated. Yes meant maybe. No meant maybe. A shrug meant maybe. Tim wasn't good with commitment.
Dally knew that. He wondered vaguely when his own hang-up about commitment had disappeared. Then Tim kissed him and he stopped wondering.
Tim nuzzled against his neck, and with the practiced ease of a serial womanizer turned romance into raunch.
Dally groaned feeling Tim's hand slid between his thighs. Sex? he asked himself.
"Sex?" Tim asked him.
Why the hell not?
He flopped against the bed and let Tim do whatever it was he needed to get ready. Let Tim worry about the mechanics this time. Dally was just happy to be lying in a real bed again. He wiggled in the bed, taking in the smell of fresh laundry.
Tim raised his eyebrows. "You look comfy."
Dally winked. "Yeah, I'm real comfortable. Come. For. Table."
"Shut up," Tim said laughing. He met Dally's eyes and smiled for real. Dally grinned back at him. It'd been a while since he'd seen Tim relax.
It hurt like hell for the first thirty seconds but Tim managed to distract him with some well-placed hand activity.
"Mmm," Dally moaned, bucking against Tim's hand, but he regretted it when pain shot through his body. He gave it up and lay still as Tim pushed in.
"Oh, hell yeah," Tim panted.
In spite of the pain, Dally couldn't help grinning. "Feel good?"
Tim groaned. "One of these days I'm gonna teach you to like sex."
One of these days I'll top you and see how much you like it, Dally thought, gritting his teeth.
Dally relaxed himself as much as possible and watched Tim with a detached curiosity. Tim looked for all the world like he was the one in pain. He was dripping sweat though he was barely moving half a foot back and forth. Every so often he'd remember that Dallas actually had a dick too, but the feeble attempts at pleasuring him made Dally want to laugh more than moan.
"Oh, God..." Tim opened his eyes for the first time in five minutes. "You doing okay?" he gasped.
"Sure," Dally said, smiling. He wasn't, but it was nice that Tim bothered to ask, given his current condition. Dally didn't figure he'd be in pain much longer, according to the frantic tone of the bedsprings, at least.
"Oh, shit, oh, fuck, oh, Christ..."
Dally grinned and tensed his muscles as much as his pain tolerance would allow. Then he leaned back and watched Tim get religious.
xxxx
Tim wasn't used to being the loud one in bed, but he certainly couldn't say he minded it. He felt guilty and sleepy and furiously happy once it was done. Typical sex.
He smoked lazily in the bed and fought off sleep as best he could. Dally reached over a took his smoke.
"You'll fall asleep and kill us both, idiot." Then he took a drag.
Tim smiled. "How you feel about horse racing this summer Dally?" He could feel Dally shift and knew he was interested. "State Fair's got a track. Buck'll lend you a horse and I'll drive ya - hell, I ain't never seen you ride."
"Okay," Dally said eagerly. "Hey, maybe you could try it out?"
Tim laughed. "I got enough trouble trying to stay on top of you." He paused. He could tell Dally the truth. "Listen..."
"It's fun," Dally said quickly. A weak argument. "Make a real man outta you." He punched Tim's shoulder. "Something honest you could do for once." He face was glowing and he was smiling softer than Tim had ever seen him.
Tim swallowed the confession. "I'd rather just watch you." He watched the grin spread across Dally's face. Don't be an idiot, he thought. Question me for once...
"Okay. Sounds good," Dally said breezily and snuggled down in the sheets. He yawned. "Be good to get out of Tulsa for awhile. This scene..." He shook his head. "It'd just be good to get away." He leaned his head against Tim's shoulder. "'Night, Tim." Five seconds later he was out.
Tim's body was demanding sleep, but he couldn't seem to stop watching Dally breathe.
xxxx
A/N: Aww. Sweet. Gross.