Chapter 2

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Johnny growled, throwing a hard punch towards the wall. The plaster dented under his force, and he yelled at it, throwing punch after punch into the old walls. "Fucking… stupid… fucking stupid townie!" Johnny snarled, kicking at the wall. He turned away, still fuming.

He eyed his mattress. It was ruined now, forever marked because those two decided to take up his room as a great place to procreate in. He kicked it angrily, the dildo rolling across the floor. He made a face. "God damnit, Lola, you stupid whore…"

He could hear the sound of the doors opening from the front, and Johnny frowned. Everybody had probably heard by now; things concerning Lola were always known by the greasers as soon as they happened, and it would only take a few days until the rest of the school knew about the messy breakup, about stupid Johnny Vincent finally catching Lola in the act. All of them would laugh at him, at how he got duped yet again.

"Hey, Johnny, so how was your…" Peanut called, his voice ringing through the tenements as he trotted towards Johnny's room. He skidded to a stop at his doorway, his eyes immediately falling to the broken flowers on the ground. Johnny gave him a murderous glare. "Day…"

"What do you think?" he snapped bitterly, picking up the used dildo, and chucking it into the trashcan. Peanut made a face, walking into Johnny's room. It was a mess, and he stepped carefully over the ruined flowers and the pieces of clothing left by Jerry. Johnny bent down, grabbing a pair of socks, and throwing it in the dustbin.

"Hey, boss, it's alright…" Peanut said soothingly, coming up behind him, and placing a firm hand on Johnny's shoulder. He whirled around, knocking his hand away, and taking a sudden step forward. Their chests bumped together, and Peanut looked up at Johnny with wide eyes.

"Don't try 'n placate me, Larry, you know as well as I do that she's a bitch!" he snarled, clutching fists at his side. Peanut swallowed nervously, but didn't back away. "A fuckin' succubus! A she-devil!" he raged, "My Lola, my Lola's a slut, Peanut, a good for nothin' slut!" He grinded his teeth together, throwing his hands up into the air. Peanut frowned, sticking out a tentative hand to touch his shoulder; to just calm him down, but Johnny flinched, and pulled away before Peanut's fingertips brushed anything tangible. Johnny turned around, stomping away, and pushing his fingers into his hair. Peanut stared at his feet as Johnny grumbled to himself, his gelled hair giving way to his fingers, making a right mess of himself.

Peanut took a step forward, and the shoe against the worn floor made the loudest sound in the world. "Don't," Johnny's voice was harsh and gravelly, gripping his hair even tighter, "Don't."

"Johnny…"

"I can't believe her… Foolin' Johnny Vincent. Who the hell does she think she is, cheatin' on me like this?" Johnny murmured in disbelief, shaking his head slowly.

Peanut frowned. He acted like the wool had been pulled over his eyes. How could he not have seen the obvious? The nights when she suddenly disappeared, and sneaked back into the tenements at three, stinking like a bar and cheap cologne; or the days she left and came back with bags filled with clothes; or how her grades magically went up the same day Earnest didn't sneak into the adult shop to buy some more Playboys.

Johnny's shoulders shook slightly. Oh, he knew. He always knew, but his ignorance was spread far and thick over his vision. It didn't happen to work when her cheating was blatantly in front of him, watching someone fuck her like a common prostitute in his own bed. A shame. He wished it did, that he could forget what he had seen, but you can't just unsee things.

Peanut sighed, hanging his head. "It ain't your fault. You just… you just…" Picked the wrong person.

"Not my fault! I must have done something… somethin' to make her do this to me." Johnny clutched at his hair, pawing through his knotted locks in frustration. He was wracking his brain for the answer, that precious answer that would make the light bulb flicker on. And then he'd know his wrong, and could amend it; Lola would be his again. "What'd I do wrong? What'd I do...?"

Peanut shook his head. He wanted to run over and just hug him, but… Johnny's voice was cracking, and that scared him. Johnny had a reputation of going a little overboard when Lola did things to him. Johnny was a madman when he was broken up inside. "You didn't do nothin' wrong, Johnny! You've always been a good boyfriend to Lola!"

"In my bed, Larry, Jesus… she did it in my bed. I must've done something, something to deserve this…" he groaned, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes. "She loves me, I know she wouldn't… without a reason…"

Peanut walked slowly towards Johnny, his hands held out. It was like he was cornering a frightened animal; Johnny didn't know he was next to him until his arms were wrapped around his chest. Johnny flinched, growling and struggling, "Get offa me!" and Peanut held firm, gripping tightly to Johnny. It didn't take long. When he couldn't even manage to wrench his arms from Peanut's embrace, he snarled in frustration, then a whimper of defeat. Utter defeat. Peanut adjusted his arms around Johnny, trying to awkwardly make it a friendly embrace and not a more deviate one.

Johnny didn't notice. He never noticed. His ignorance ran in more ways than one. "Why? I love her, Larry. I do everything I can for her." Peanut's hug tightened slightly, and Johnny let out a long-winded sigh.

"She screwed him, in my bed." Johnny's eyes suddenly softened, and he shook his head sadly. "Funny, she always said, 'I'm waitin', Johnny, we can't do that.' Lying bitch," he snorted, closing his eyes tightly.

Peanut's eyes widened, his grip around Johnny loosening. "She never…?"

"No," Johnny interrupted bitterly. "Tease and tease, but no, we never fucked. Not once."

Peanut pulled away. "Then why the hell did you stay with her?" he cried, his face immediately going pale from his outburst. Johnny's eyes went wide, and he turned around, harshly putting a finger against Peanut's chest.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Larry?" Johnny asked darkly, his eyes glinting. Peanut put up his hands, chewing his lip.

"H-hey, all I meant… uhm… I didn't mean to say that-"

Johnny pushed Peanut's shoulder, making him stumble back. "Then what the fuck did that mean, Peanut? What, you think Lola was only good for a fuck?!" he shouted furiously.

Peanut flinched. "Well…" Johnny glared at him, and he glared back, taking a sudden step forward. "Well, yeah! That's all she ever did! She went around with other guys all the time, Johnny, you saw her! She would sneak out in the middle of the night, or she'd go out for a long time, and come back with clothes an' shit!"

Johnny suddenly lurched forward, and Peanut put his hands up to cover his face. Instead of fists, though, he was meant with a heavy sigh. He reluctantly moved his hands away, looking at Johnny looming over him with his fists raised. They dropped to his sides, and he exhaled heavily, looking away. "Sorry," Johnny mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "You're right… you're right."

Peanut frowned, reaching out. He looked exhausted. "Johnny…"

He flinched, pulling away, and shoving his hands into his pockets. "Look, I just need some time to cool off, alright? I'll see you later, Peanut," he said quietly, turning away.

Peanut nodded numbly. "Alright." Johnny walked out, slamming the door loudly behind him. Peanut sighed, running a hand down his face. It didn't take long before he threw on his jacket and ran out the door right behind him.

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Peanut was avid about finding Johnny; he always got a little crazy when him and Lola got into arguments, and this was pretty big. Much smaller rifts between them had caused him to do hugely stupid things. Leaving him to his own devices at the moment was not a good thing; especially with the tensions between the townies and all of the school cliques were threatening to bubble over at any second.

His first stop was at school. He searched the boy's dorm, but he wasn't there. His second stop was the auto shop. The first thing he noticed was that Johnny's prized BMX wasn't hanging up - he had taken it out. Peanut sighed, rubbing his forehead.

A stout boy popped out from under a car, waving. "'Ey, Peanut, you lookin' for someone?" It was Hal; his face was black with dirt and whatever else he was working with. Peanut gave him a small smile.

"Yeah… Johnny, ya seen him?"

Hal's face suddenly fell, and he looked away. "Uhn, no. Don't know where, I mean, why would I-"

"It's already out, isn't it?" Peanut interrupted suddenly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and glaring moodily at the ground. "How Johnny and Lola split."

Hal nodded, rubbing his forehead. He was smearing black oil over his face, but he didn't seem to notice. He climbed from out under the car. "Yeah. She got caught with one of those drop-out townie dopes." He leaned downward, reaching under the car, and grabbing the monkey wrench he had left under there. He wiped it down with a nearby rag. "I think it was either Duncan, or Jerry."

"Duncan's for the other team, it's Jerry who did it," Peanut commented off-handedly, then added, "You sure you don't know where he is?"

Hal frowned, and he looked back up at him. "If he's not here, or back at the tenements, he's probably at the Pool Hall. You know they sell booze there long as you got money and can reach the bar." He shook the wrench around, trying to think of other places. "Or, if it really was the townies, he might be hanging out 'round Blue Skies to try n' beat ones' skull, but I don't think he's that stupid."

Peanut shrugged. "Yeah, guess so…" They fell quiet, and Hal ducked down underneath the car again, metal clinking against metal as he started to tinker with the car once more. Peanut scuffed his shoes against the ground. "So, I guess I'll be seein' you around?"

"Yeah, but- Larry?" he asked, his voice slightly nervous. His head poked out from under the car, his eyes ivory against his dirty skin, bringing out how the pitch black pupils seemed to dart around. "The boys have been saying stuff…"

Peanut stared. They never used his real name anymore. "Like what?"

"We were thinkin', it's better for the whole group if we kicked Lola out," he said somberly, quickly adding, "I'm not sayin' this is what everyone thinks, but it's pretty unanimous. She may be pretty nice on the eyes and all, and, hey, we all know that you've been wanting to hook up with her for awhile," He wiggled his eyebrows at Peanut, and Peanut faked a dogged smile. Oh, if they only knew. "But she's no good."

Peanut's face fell. "Yeah. I know. Johnny's not gonna let that happen, though."

Hal's face hardened, looking out of place on his chubby features. "Yeah. I know. That's why I wanted to tell you first, 'fore everyone announced it to him. You need to convince him, 'cause, well…" he sighed, clinking the wrench against the car idly as he tried to find the right words to say. "You know how messy shit like this can get, 'specially with girlfriends and leaders."

Peanut gave another awkward shrug. "Yeah. I know."

Hal gave him a flourishing wave with his monkey wrench. "Johnny's like a brother to us, but you know, it's for the best of the clique." He pulled back under the car, the rhythmic clanks resounding again. "Just try an' get him to understand, Peanut? I know you can. You're his closest friend an' all."

Peanut frowned. "Yeah, sure, Hal." He turned on his heel, heading towards the door.

"Oh, and one last thing! Can you see if Lola would date me? I heard she got a thing for chubby guys…"

Peanut rolled his eyes, quickening his pace, and leaving Hal to work on his car.

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Peanut looked up as he pushed the door open, watching as it bumped into the small bell that hung over the door, and making it ring softly throughout the door. He swore it should have made much more noise than it did, but maybe it was the haze of smoke that was hanging through the bar, stopping the sound right in it's tracks. Peanut's nose wrinkled, the door swinging shut.

"'Ey!" The bartender was rough looking, beady eyes and a nasty looking nose piercing that was much too red to not be infected. He was cleaning a few of the glasses idly with a rag too dirty to clean things. "Whatchoo doin' in here? Ya got any money, punk?"

Peanut flashed his worn black wallet, and the bartender nodded at him. "Fair 'nuff. Don't make no trouble, you hear?" He pointed at him, before turning away to tend to his customers. Peanut sighed. All of the adults recently were a little suspicious of the kids ever since the town hall was tagged. You could be wearing bright green and have pants up to your chest, and they would still think you were trouble just waiting to happen.

He scanned the crowd carefully. It was mostly filled with older folk; the thirty-somethings that still clung to punk and anarchy, the dirty Russians that were taking whiskey by IV, that cranky old man that liked to throw things at the tenement windows. The smaller, slightly huddled body at the table caught his eye, and he carefully made his way through the stuffy bar, ignoring the glares and wary looks from the older patrons.

"Hey," Peanut could recognize that worn black leather from anywhere. He lightly touched his shoulder, and Johnny jerked around, the cigarette nearly falling from his lips. His glare softened slightly. Peanut looked down at the half-empty glass clutched in his hands. "You, uh… ran off pretty suddenly today, Johnny."

"Yeah," he said gruffly. "Told ya, I needed some fresh air to think."

Peanut took a seat next to him on a worn barstool, leaning against the polished wood. "Fresh air? There's enough smoke in here to make a fog," he said jokingly, elbowing Johnny lightly in the arm. He smiled lightly, though his melancholy refused to let go.

"You drinkin' here, punk, or are you two just here for a pow-wow?" the bartender interrupted quickly, his voice nasally. "'Cause if you're here to take up space, you can leave."

Peanut made a face. "I'll have whatever he's having." He thumbed over at Johnny, and the bartender smirked, nodding. Peanut sighed, turning back to Johnny.

Johnny finished the rest of his beer off, looking over at Peanut. "So, what? What'd you come here for?"

Peanut turned around on the stool, leaning back against the bar. "I was worried. You know how you act when…" he paused, nervous, watching as Johnny's stare hardened. "You and Lola…"

"Me an' Lola…" Johnny snorted, and as soon as the bartender set down Peanut's drink, he nabbed it from him, taking a swig. The bartender slid another beer towards them, and Peanut held onto it, gazing at Johnny anxiously. "I was so blind."

Peanut frowned. He really didn't know what to say, but Johnny didn't let them dwell into silence. "She's a fucking whore, Peanut, you know that? Sleeps around with everyone - the trust-fund fairies, the 'roid monkeys, the nerds… probably Kowalski has even had a piece of her ass, for fuck's sake!" he snarled in between angry gulps of beer, "What a slut…"

Peanut wanted to agree, but he was much too wary. Johnny's opinions on Lola changed faster than Gord Vendrome's wardrobe, and it wouldn't surprise him if he started to defend her once one ill word was said against her. He just stared down at his mostly full glass.

Johnny looked absolutely miserable, cradling his head in his hand with the other wrapped around his glass. "I bet she'd be with Harrington right now, if he wasn't a fucking faggot," he snarled, chugging down the whole beer, and slamming the glass all too hard back against the bar. "She'd get the benefits of being the leader's girlfriend an' the money."

"Aw, Johnny, that ain't true." He took his beer, taking a deep gulp. He'd need the buzz to be able to pull Johnny out of this slump. It would take some heavy lying on his part. "I bet she…" He paused, tilting the glass back, and chugging a good quarter of it down, grimacing at the taste and what he was about to say. He placed it down, ignoring Johnny's surprised stare. "Really misses you."

Johnny frowned, staring at his glass. "I doubt it."

"Really…" He paused, taking another hearty sip. "I bet she does. She's gonna come back tomorrow, askin' to be with you again." Peanut was suddenly craving a cigarette, and he took out a pack, taking one out. Johnny handed him his lighter, and he gave him a silent nod of thanks as he lit his smoke.

Johnny took back his lighter, tucking it neatly into his pocket. "I don't think I should take her back, Peanut," he said softly, looking off to the side. He didn't see the way Peanut seemed to brighten, on the verge of smiling. "But I know I will," Peanut's whole demeanor changed in a flash, "I can't help it. It's those damned eyes…"

Peanut finished the rest of his beer, feeling melancholy. "I understand…" He waved at the bartender, flashing two fingers at the man before turning back to Johnny. "If you don't think it's right, maybe you shouldn't get back together."

The bartender slid the two glasses downward, and Johnny took his, taking a small sip. "Maybe. Maybe not. I still miss her." He let out a wistful sigh, not noticing how Peanut had very abruptly became an alcoholic and was chugging down his beer. Johnny sighed, taking in a drag of his cigarette, and blowing it out slowly. "God, I miss her."

"It hasn't even been a full day," Peanut lamented, feeling bitter and jealous. He shook his head slowly, trying to keep his emotions in check; he couldn't just jump from 'best friend' to 'pining boy' mode over a few beers.

"That's how amazin' she is, Peanut!" Johnny frowned, wallowing in heartbreak. "Not even a day without her is like forever in hell. She may be a slut, but I love her." He took another gulp of his beer. "I don't deserve her."

"She doesn't deserve you." Peanut mumbled under his breath, but Johnny didn't hear it.

"I don't deserve her," Johnny repeated, mumbling it a few times like a mantra. Peanut fell silent, nursing his drink as Johnny stared off and kept mumbling to himself.

It wasn't long until the glasses piled up, and the bar grew even darker through the haze of smoke. A cig hung limply from Peanut's lips, and he struggled through his wallet. The bartender's gaze was piercing, and he grumbled as he finally wormed the three twenties from his wallet, a month or two's worth of money. He slapped it on the table. "There, that enough?"

"Mm-hmm." The bartender smirked, taking the money, and tucking it into his pocket. Johnny shakily stood from his barstool, hanging on for dear life as he swayed on his feet. Peanut hopped down along with him, guiding him through the bar towards the door.

He pushed the doors open and the fresh night air assaulted his lungs so vigorously, Peanut had to stop and cough before he could move, the cold air pushing out the fifty packs of smokes he must have breathed in just hanging around in that place. Johnny frowned, hunched over as he took a wobbly step forward.

"Let's head back," Peanut said quietly. Johnny nodded, watching his feet as he swayed.

"'Ey, Larry?"

Peanut walked up next to him, making sure Johnny wouldn't fall. "Yeah?"

"I miss her."

Peanut gazed at the ground. "Yeah. I know, Johnny, I know."

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Next chapter will really make the JohnnyxPeanut fans pretty happy. Anyway, please review, and check out some of my other bully stories on FF and on my LJ.