~Cicada~ Johnny Cade x male reader

Johnny "Cicada" Cade (2/2)

CW: Gun violence, mild angst, loooong chapter, just bear with me here I promise I listened to y'all

          Still unable to get my mind off of Johnny and how pitiful he looked, I desperately try to think of something to distract myself. I'd try to go to the rumble, in Johnny's honor, but they had me on lockdown for running out earlier to go see the mangled boy. I can't crochet, so the needles designated for the job sitting in the corner won't help me none. I already read through all of the magazines in here. All of them. Twice. And I'm not really a guy who's into that kinda pastime anyways. Maybe I could-

Tap! Tap!

Where's that sound coming from?
It's light.
I look over at the window.

Tap! Tap!

Surely enough, the tapping was on the window.

          I carefully get out of my hospital bed and tiptoe over to the window, opening it swiftly, and I'm met with a familiar rough face. "You ready to go to the rumble?" The one and only Dallas Winston says, smirking up at me evilly. I grin back and hop out the window, following him to his car. "How'd you break out?" I ask, clicking my seatbelt. "Good behavior," he says sarcastically, not even bothering with his belt.

          I grin. "So we're just gonna show and kick some soc ass?" I ask, trying to hide the excitement in my voice. He looks over at me and grins. "Like that, but more badass."  Sitting in the passenger seat of Dallas Winston's car is quite an experience, I'll tell you that. He doesn't look at the road and drives like a drunkard, swerving and running lights as if he's ranking up points for doing so.  However, he also likes to talk, I've come to find out. We weren't ever really close, not like him and Johnny, but we had eachother's backs since the moment I stepped foot in the Curtis house about two months back.

          Now I see him in a new light. He kept rambling on about Johnny, talkin' about all the times they've had. Then he told me his side of the story from the time Johnny got jumped. Man, I'd have hated to be in Dally's shoes. I've come to realize that Dallas isn't this hardened, unfeeling douchebag I originally respected him as. He felt just as much as I did, or even as much as Pony did (and that's saying something). He was just more... selective about when he let people see those feelings. It was clear to me that Johnny was like his little brother, his best friend, his reason to go on living the life he'd been burdened as a filthy hood from New York.

          "You're all stupid, every one of ya," he sighed. My gaze up at him softened as he parked the car in the lot next to the place we were gonna fight. That was is way of saying he cared, as masked as it may be, and I understood that. I noticed him glancing down at my bandaged hands. "Alright kid, let's see the damage." Raising my hands toward him, he takes them and swiftly unbandages them. The skin is pink and discolored, overall not pretty and kinda itchy, but I played off like they felt fine. For the first time I'd ever seen him, Dally looked into my eyes genuinely. "You sure yer up to fight, kiddo?"

          I nod. "O'course. And I don't know why you call me and Johnny 'kid'. You're barely older than us," I snicker to lighten the mood. He smirks. "Barely is still older, man." The time has come for us to get out of the car, so I put my hand on the handle and open it, sending tingles through my arm. I shake it off and join Dally with the rest of the gang, as well as Tim Shepard's boys. I glance over at Pony who'd been chatting with Curly, and he looks a little shocked to see me. I wave slightly, and the appearance of my unbandaged hand just increases the severity of the shock on his face. I just shrug.

          Dally and the head soc hash it out verbally for a moment before the first punch is thrown. Much like the shot heard around the world, nobody knows who threw that first punch, and it became even hazier after that. The rain started guzzling down by the bucketfuls, and socs and greasers were clawing at whoever they could get from the opposite side. I was no different, immediately charging towards a large boy and clashing with him in an instant. He managed a hit when I ran over, blacking my eye, and I pushed him back with immense force. Apparently not enough force to knock him over, though, but merely stun him. He came charging back at me, and I used this to my advantage.