Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Outsiders'
Chapter 5:
Like Paul said, David was home for breakfast. But what I didn't expect was for breakfast to be awkward.
"Pass the juice," I demanded softly, reaching out for it.
Paul and David looked at each other before David reached out and grabbed the orange juice, passing it to me silently.
"Thanks," I said suspiciously, before I finally broke. "What the hell is goin' on?"
Paul stuffed food into his mouth. "How'd you mean, Janey?"
I scoffed, leaning back in my chair. "Why are sitting down and having breakfast? Where is mom? Where is dad? Why are you guys bein' so...weird?"
David visibly swallowed. "Dad's gonna take a trip."
"What?" I choked on my food, the news new and exciting. "A trip?"
David nodded. "Yes, Jane. A trip."
"Where? For how long? What're you talkin' about?"
"A couple weeks," Paul answered simply.
I looked at him. "Paul?"
Paul tried not to look at me. "What?"
"Paul," I said sternly.
Paul sighed. "Since dad's gone, David -"
"I found a house."
My mouth fell open and I was frozen. "A house...for you?"
"Yeah." David had a small, happy smile on his lips. "Molly really likes it. It feels like home."
"This is your home," I said without thinking.
At that moment, I couldn't take in David's happiness - only the fact that he was going to be gone.
David's smile dropped, staring at me intently. "And it always will be, Jane, but -" He reached out for my hand, but I yanked it away and stood.
"You're gonna leave me here with the asshole and that dip-shit?"
Paul stood. "Watch it, Jane."
"Bite me, Paul."
"Sit down," Paul tried to command me, grabbing my arm.
"No," I growled, ripping my arm away from his grasp and taking a couple steps back, looking at David. "As soon as dad leaves, you find an out."
David stood, trying to take my shoulder in his strong grip. "Jane -"
"Stop." I started to walk out of the room and into the living room, too upset to think rationally.
"Jane!"
"Stop." Paul stopped David, then nodded to me. "Where you goin'?"
"Out."
"Jane."
"Out!" I yelled, storming out of the house.
I went straight for the Curtis household, hoping for the best. And the best was there, sitting on the porch with a Chemistry textbook in his lap.
"Hey," he said once he saw me, moving over so that I could sit down. "What're you doing here?"
I sat down beside him, my knee bumping his. "You have a cigarette?"
Pony shook his head. "I'm tryin' to quit." He flipped a page of his book. "Told Darry I'd try. And the track meet isn't that far away, so..."
I chuckled. "You're such a nerd."
Pony gave me a playful look. "You come to my house, bully me -"
I bumped my shoulder against his, my smile fading quickly. "David's finally moving out." I sighed, looking down at the ground. "I'm gonna be left in a house with my parents and Paul. The only one I like is leaving."
Pony sighed lightly, his arm coming around my mid-back, his hand holding onto my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jane."
I leaned my head against him. "Thanks, Pony." I turned my jaw and ran my teeth over each other, trying so hard not to cry as my face turned red and my eyes glossed. "I don't know what to do."
"You have me," Pony offered lightly, seeming unsure of whether that was something he should say.
I started to smile, leaning up for a second to wrap my arm around him. "Don't say dumb shit like that."
Pony laughed. "Got it."
I didn't go home - the opposite actually.
I sat up in the bed. "Can you pass me my shirt?"
Tim walked to the end of the bed, leaning down and grabbing my shirt, tossing it over to me. "Pants."
I reached down to the ground, picking up his jeans and throwing them over to him. "There you go."
"Thanks."
I stood, pulling my shirt over my head. "No problem."
"Tim!"
Tim groaned, barely being able to do up his jean zipper before the door burst opened. He rushed over, shutting it closed before it opened too much. "What do you want, Curly?"
"I'm goin' out, alright?"
"Uh-huh."
"Who's in there?"
Tim glanced over his shoulder at me. "No one."
"Oh, alright," Curly said and I could practically hear the snicker in his voice. "Well, I'll be back for dinner. You know what ma's cookin'?"
"No idea."
"Alright."
"Alright," Tim replied, moving away from the door and walking toward a dresser to get a shirt.
I watched his muscular back, doing up jeans of my own. "You're kind of the head of the house, hey?"
Tim pulled a white shirt out, sliding it on and looking at me. "I guess so."
"You don't wanna go to school?" I asked him, working on putting on my shoes.
"I don't have the time," Tim said, grabbing his leather jacket. "Or money," he added on quietly in the rough voice that got me in the kind of naked situations to begin with.
"Did you ever want to?" I asked another semi-annoying question, tying my shoe laces.
"Maybe once," Tim said, using a tone he had only used one other time when asking how old I was. He always sounded serious, but it was a different kind. It was strange, yet comforting. "But I got a lot of shit to do."
I nodded and stood, grabbing my jacket, nodding to his jacket. "Walkin' me out?" I smirked.
Tim looked like he was trying his best not to smile. "Don't flatter yourself, kid." He walked toward the door, holding it open. "Come on."
I walked out his bedroom door and past Angela in the living room.
"Jane, right?"
I stopped and looked at her. "Uh-huh."
She nodded, giving me a once over before looking down at her nails. "Nice shirt."
I looked down and noticed my obviously backwards shirt. "Oh, shit." I took my arms out, twisting the shirt around to the front.
"Classy," Angela commented.
Tim's hand touched my back and I realized in all the ways he had touched me, he had never touched me like that; so casual and simple. "Cut it out, Ang," he said, encouraging me toward the door. "I'm goin' out. Get that homework done, hey?"
"Uh-huh."
I walked out the door, jogging down the steps. "She's quite the girl."
"She means well," Tim said, pulling out his pack of cigarette. "Want one?"
I almost said yes, but I remembered what Pony had said earlier that day and I was still a little inspired. "No. I'm tryin' to quit."
Tim's eyebrows rose and he put the pack back in his pocket. "Alright then."
I smiled. "You should try it."
"I'm not doin' that," he said, lighting the cig between his nice lips.
I laughed to myself. "I didn't think so."
"Yo, Shep!"
Tim and I looked up.
It was Ray Tanner and a couple of his scary-looking buddies. They walked together, all of them walking with heavy feet, seeming to be on some sort of mission.
"What the hell are they doin' here?" Tim asked, walking up right next to me to get a better look. "This isn't their turf."
I shook my head. "The Tiber Street Tigers do whatever they want."
Tim took his cigarette between his long fingers. "Well, so do I." He walked forward, walking with power that he knew he had. He walked like he was going to kick your ass before you even knew there was a fight, and I could see some of the Ray's men falter slightly.
Ray walked quickly, standing in front of Tim within a couple of seconds, only a couple feet from me. "What's goin' on, Shepard?"
"What're you doing here, Ray?"
Ray eyes shifted to me and he laughed, walking around Tim with his arms out. "Janey, baby!"
I scoffed, pushing him away before he could get too close. "Don't."
Ray smirked, now turning to Tim. "You screwin' around with Jane?"
"What's it to you?" was Tim's reply.
Ray shrugged greatly, stuffing his hands in my pocket. "I just didn't know you loved sloppy seconds so much."
I stepped in front of Tim, who advanced quickly and angrily. "Hey," I said softly, pushing him back.
Tim's snarl was still on his face when he shook me off.
I didn't know if it was the suggestion that Tim was second best, but he seemed pretty damn pissed.
I sighed, turning toward Ray. "Get out of here, Ray."
He kept his stupid smirk. "Why, babe -"
I brought my arm back, my fist connecting with his face not a second later. My hand throbbed soon after and I shook it harshly as I cringed. "Shit."
"Shit!" Ray yelled over, holding his nose. "You broke my damn nose!" he said, pulling his hand away from his nose for a second to reveal the dripping blood.
Someone's body knocked into mine - not Ray's - one of his guys, though. "Bitch!"
I groaned when I hit the ground, but the man wasn't over me for long. Tim's body barrelled into the man's, knocking him down as they rolled in the dirt. I quickly stood, jumping onto a guy who looked a little too close to Tim.
I pulled his greasy hair back before it slipped through my fingers and he was down on the ground. I kicked him at his side, my legs being swatted at. I fell down, ass first - ouch, by the way, and the guy crawled over my, hitting me in the face.
"Enough!" Ray yelled loudly, wiping his nose on his shirt. "Let's cut out."
Tim stood, spitting blood onto the ground. "Don't let me see you back here again."
Ray chuckled, turning to walk away, but not before saying, "Sure, Shepard."
Tim walked over to me, holding his hand out. "You good?"
I grabbing his hand graciously, standing on my feet and brushing myself off. I sighed, touching my lip and then looking down at my fingers. Blood. Great. I sighed, wiping the blood on my jeans. "Great."
"Here -" Tim put both of his hands on the sides of my face, his thumb running over my lip - another way he had never touched me.
It was crazy how the most intimate moments were when you weren't having sex.
"There." Tim moved away, wiping the blood from my lip on his own jeans. "You're good."
"Yeah?" I asked, pushing my hair from my face.
"Yeah," he confirmed.
I looked his handsome face over before backing away slowly. "Thanks, Tim."
"No problem."
I smiled lightly. "I'll see you around?"
Tim waved briefly, getting a new cigarette. "See you around, kid."
I walked into the house, head down.
"Hey, Janey."
I walked past Paul to go to my room, but someone's tight grip caught be by the arm. I sighed, turning toward my oldest brother. "What?"
"We should talk about it," David said to me and I raised my head to speak, quickly being cutoff by by him grabbing my face and turning it, getting a good look. "What in the hell -"
I smacked his hand away. "I got in a fight," I said, feeling the burning on my lips when I spoke. My face ached and I wasn't feeling all to well. "Can I go now?"
"With who?" David prompted, a stern look on his face.
"No one important," I said, shaking my head. "It was just one of those things that happened for no reason."
"Everyone has a reason."
"Why do you care?" I asked, walking around him to the kitchen. "I'm not your problem anymore."
David groaned behind me. "As long as I'm your brother, you're my problem, Jane. It doesn't matter if I don't live here no more. I still care."
"Whatever." I grabbed a coke from the fridge, opening it as I walked past him again.
He grabbed my arm again, voice rising with every motion. "Jane -"
"What?" I said loudly, looking at him angrily.
"Stop!" Paul stood, finally opening his big mouth, though he looked more serious than I had ever seen him. "Stop yelling at each other," he grumbled, walking past both of us and going to his room, slamming the door.
I sighed, shaking David off and running to Paul's room, not knocking as I walked inside. "Paul."
He was standing not far from me, running a hand through his hair. "You two are so damn loud."
David appeared beside me, walking past me to get closer to Paul. "I'm sorry, man."
Paul looked between the two of us, eyes settling on me. "David's gonna move out, Jane, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it. He's gotta move on." And then he looked at David. "But don't forget about us, uh? We're still gonna need you over here."
Never had I seen Paul put something back together. He was usually the one doing the breaking, but not that time. He was the middle ground between his two hot-headed siblings. I had just never realized it before.
I moved closer to Paul, putting my arm around him and then one around Paul. "We're still a family, right?"
David nodded, putting his arm around both of us. "Someone's gotta take care of you two hooligans."
"Hooligan?" Paul asked, pretending to be offended. "Me?"
David and I just laughed.
"Kids?" my mother was yelling into the house.
The three of us walked into the living room, helping her with the grocery bags. Be it like her to do everything at once. We had set all the groceries down on the table and my mom order David and Paul to get the rest of the groceries.
"Jane," my mom said to me, taking out the groceries. "Could you help, please?" I started to pull out a bunch of stuff, handing it to her in an organized manner. Everything was going really well until my mom held out a pack of cigarettes to me. "Here. I bought these for you."
She never did that, and I assumed it was a pity present. It must've been her form of an apology for not doing shit all when I was getting my ass kicked.
I looked down at the cigarettes and then continued unpacking. "I'm trying not to smoke, mom."
"Oh," she said, recoiling the pack slowly. "Very good."
I nodded, offering up a smile. "Uh-huh."
"Do you want to tell me what happened to your face?" she asked, taking some fruit from my hands.
I sighed, gently touching my cheek that was probably bruised. "I got into a fight."
"How's the other guy look?"
I smirked, her new questions reminding me of older, better times with my mom. "Rough."
She laughed lightly, almost like she was trying not to. "Do I want to know why there was a fight?"
"No," I said simply. "It's not a problem anymore."
David and Paul walked into the house, chuckling about something only boys would find funny as they sat the bags down on the table.
That was my family, and it felt like a real one.
An entire two weeks of spending too much time with Pony made me feel inclined to go to the movies with Paul, which I soon regretted.
Paul walked out of the movie house, laughing loudly. "And - and that part when he was like, 'you asshole!' - did you see that part?"
"I was there and watching to movie, so, yeah, I saw that part."
Paul sighed happily, his arm coming around me. "I had fun, Janey." He sighed. "I know it's not what you wanted to do for your birthday, but family is sacrifice, right?"
I was seventeen that day. I didn't feel different. I barely even acknowledged it. I hated birthdays.
"I wish David could've come," I said honestly.
"Ah, you know he's busy gettin' all his shit together."
I nodded. "Yeah, well, he's moving really soon."
"Is it next week? I always forget."
"Yeah, it's next week."
Paul nodded, arm sliding off of me as he turned to me, smacking my face lightly. "That bruise is lookin' better."
I rubbed the spot of the faded bruise. "Yeah, I guess."
"Hey, Jane?"
"Yeah?" I said, looking far down the street.
"Where the hell were you all night last night?" he asked me, glancing down at me, brows furrowed. "I heard you climb through the window at three."
I had been at the Shepard household, and not to party with Curly.
I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn't help but to think back on the days within the last week or two.
"Well, what the hell?" I said, groaning out of frustration.
Tim grabbed my cue that was still in my hands and adjusted it. "You just gotta change your grip."
I heard him over the loud music and I looked at him in the red light of Bucks. "How much money are we in this for again?"
Tim chuckled, walking around me, giving me a pat on the butt. "Too much, kid."
That was a friendly game of pool that I had lost very terribly. Tim hadn't let up and let me win - no, no - he crushed me at that game and gladly took the money I had in my pocket.
Later that night, we went back to his place and 'hashed' things out, but that was the first time Tim started to be my friend.
But there were other times too - ones I enjoyed.
"I'm tryin' to quit, remember?"
Tim nodded, putting the pack back in his pocket. "Ah, that's right. Takin' the high road."
I laughed, continuing to walk alongside him on the street. "I heard somethin' about cigarettes shortening your life."
"That's what I'm goin' for."
I laughed again, shaking my head. "Tim, maybe it's worth a shot."
Tim scoffed. "With a sister like Angela? What, a brother like Curly? You expect me to not have some sort of relief?"
"There are other ways to relieve yourself," I said quickly, not realizing how sexual I had sounded in that moment. "I mean -"
Tim just laughed a beautiful laugh, heading toward the Mini-Mart. "Come on. I need some drinks."
"Alright," I said easily, walking inside and helping him carry some of his stuff.
Tim was walking by the candy aisle, already having the things he needed. He grabbed something off the display, stuffing it into his pocket.
"Tim!" I whisper-yelled in shock, laughing a little, though I shouldn't have found it funny.
Tim smirked at me - something he had never done. "You didn't see a thing, kid."
I smiled, watching his behind all the way up to the counter.
Tim and I started to hang out around the times were were doing much more than that. We were going to Bucks together, walking around town, hanging around his living room and watching TV. Sometimes we hung out and didn't even have sex later on.
And then that one strange thing happened.
I pulled my jacket on, grabbing my toothbrush that I had left from the night before. "Alright. I'll see you after work."
Tim nodded, following me to his front door. "You really wanna hang around the Dingo even after work?"
I nodded surely. "Definitely." I smiled, turning to face him and leaning against the door. "I can get us free burgers."
Tim smile, but just barely. "I'm in."
I leaned closer, subconsciously kissing him as my hand found the doorknob. I leaned away from him, confused by myself.
We didn't kiss goodbye. That wasn't our thing. Kissing wasn't our thing - especially not kisses goodbye. It was too romantic - too...couple-like, and a couple we were not.
Tim swallowed, taking a step back. "Uh, so I'll see you later."
I nodded, turning the knob and opening the door. "Uh-huh."
"Alright." He nodded. "Seeya, kid."
"Seeya," I said quickly, closing the door behind me and jogging down the familiar steps, running toward my bike and getting on it quickly.
My heart was thumbing and we face felt hot and I didn't enjoy it. The kiss, though, I did.
There was some weird transition neither of us were really away of where we started to kiss each other after leaving each other, but that was where that ended. We kissed while we were in his bed and when I was leaving, but no other times.
"Jane?"
I looked up at Paul. "Oh, I was out with Amy."
Amy and I hung out on occasion, but rare ones.
"That's bullshit."
I sighed, studying Paul for a second. "Can I tell ya somethin'?"
Paul smirked. "You know I'm gonna say yes even though you can't."
I looked forward, not wanting to see his reaction. "I kind of have this thing with Tim Shepard."
"Tim Shepard?" I couldn't see Paul's face, but he sounded shocked. "Timothy Shepard, as in Tim Shepard from the Shepard gang?"
"No, the other Tim Shepard," I said to him, finally glancing at his surprised face.
His surprised face turned to an angry one. "I'm not messin' around here, Jane. Why do you always go for the guys that are too old for you?" Paul sighed, shaking his head. "And the hood ones too. Ray and now Tim..."
I shrugged, hands in my pockets. "I don't know. I just like 'em."
"You and Tim are together?"
I was surprised by his sudden calmness and I looked him in the eyes. "No."
Paul sighed, and I could see the snarky comment he was holding in. "Alright."
"I'm impressed." I smiled, bumping my body against his. "You kind of remind me of -"
"David? Yeah, I'm givin' it a shot," Paul said to me, taking out a cigarette. "But it's a long one."
