The Outsiders Imagines

Johnny • Nursing Wounds

"It's okay...I got you." He murmurs, dabbing the cut on your stomach with a cotton ball of anticeptic, making you hiss.

"It hurts."

He sighs. "I know."

Your head was spinning and you wanted to cry. You'd cried when Johnny found you, throwing up drunk after a fight and stumbling down the street at two in the morning. He'd been trying to sleep in the lot, having just ran out of the house to escape a beating; but he ended up taking a walk since it was too cold to fall asleep. Lucky he found you or who knows where you might have stumbled off to.

You were so drunk that you had barely noticed the blood oozing out of the cut made just under your ribs, until you'd lost so much blood that you doubled over.

"Golly, what happened to you?!" He asked in shock, rushing over when he'd seen you smarting and aching on the side of the streets. You could barely give him an answer, a low groan coming from your mouth "J-johnny...?"

You were sobbing.

"Yeah, its me." He said quietly, putting a hand on your shoulder and trying to get you to sit up. You had felt your face screw up when he helped you sit up, fresh tears falling. You'd been so scared and dazed, having just run out of a bar fight.

"Hey...hey its okay, don't cry, its only me." Johnny always spoke gentle, especially when someone was hurt. He was hurt all the time, so he knew best how to take care of people when they were hurt too.

"I-I was so scared." You sobbed, burying your face in his chest when he scooped you up.

"Lets get you down to the Curtis', you're going to be alright, ok?" He said comfortingly. He always spoke quietly, and since he smoked a lot his voice had a little rasp to it that was all the more prominent when he spoke so low.

You were much a mess, with a black eye and a bloodied up lip.

He did his best to calm you, carrying you down to the Curtis'. Only when he put you down on Darry's sofa did he take in how much blood was on his shirt and it had come from a cut on your stomach.

"What happened?" Darry asks, rushing over immediately.

"Bar fight."

"What the hell were you doing at a bar? Who even let you in?!" He starts to go off on one but Soda stops him. "Hey, its not gonna help, I'll get the bandages."

"I'll take care of it guys, don't worry." Johnny says, already on it.

He couldn't stand yelling, even if he wasnt the one being yelled at. He'd been taking a beating from his old man just before he found you, so it was no wonder he was on edge.

"Ow!" You wince, your body contorting in pain. "Stop it Johnny, stop it!" You hated the burning feeling that the anticeptic on your fresh wound caused.

He sighed, and stopped. "What do you want me to do about it, huh?" He asked quietly, agitated. "Its a cut, its going to hurt."

"Y-yeah but it burns..." You wince, not used to Johnny being so abrupt, or abrupt at all. He'd been very on edge lately, but nobody had asked him about it. It was almost like it was just expected of Johnny to be on edge, so no one said a thing. You'd noticed, but you didn't know whether you ought to bring it up to him. "It really fucking hurts Johnny." You go on, rubbing your face with your hands.

"Gee, I know it hurts!" He snaps, not quite yelling, but his voice was caught up in his throat. "You think I don't know whats its like nursing wounds?" Huh?" Johnny never raised his voice like this, not to anyone. He could just about answer to his name on the register when it was called in class, let alone get all worked up like this. Neither Darry nor Soda knew how to react to this outburst.

You frowned, an embarassed blush flushing your cheeks. You were being a baby and you knew it. Compare to some of the injuries you'd seen Johnny stumble in with, you could barely call yourself hurt. There was an awkward silence between all four of you and Johnny pursed his lips together, closing his eyes and throwing his head back. He rubbed his face and sighed, hanging his head. "I-i...just got mad for no reason." He murmurs quietly, his hands were shaking. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, its alright Johnnycake." Soda says gently, putting his arm around Johnny's shoulder but Johnny just looked at his shoes in dismay.

"No, its not ok, look - I'm just making people upset."

"I'm not upset." You say quickly, shaking your head. You just felt bad now.

"Its alright Johnny, c'mon, Darry'll take care of the cut." Soda says, whisking Johnny out to the back for a smoke while the other boy muttered. "I'm making people upset man, I shouldn't have yelled."

"It'll be alright Johnny."

Darry patched you up after Soda and Johnny went outside and after Darry and Soda went to sleep, Johnny came by the sofa to talk to you.

"Hey...are you awake?" He asked quietly, he smelt like he'd smoked a lot.

"Yeah." You nodded, trying to sit up, he came over and helped you without being asked.

"I'm really sorry for getting mad at you..." He says, his voice all cracked and hushed. You didn't think he really needed to apologize and you told him so, but he was adament. "No, I can't just be getting mad at someone else just because I'm in a bad mood." He shakes his head. "I'm not going to be like my old man."

"You ain't a thing like him." You say defensively, almost mad that he thought he was turning into his dipshit dad for getting angry one time. "You're the most caring person I know, you ain't never be making it all about you - even if you got something going on." You tell him, watching his features soften as he cracked a small smile. He was not used to people telling him nice things about him.

"That what you think?" He smiles a bit, rubbing his arm.

"Yeah Johnnycake, you're a good guy."

Johnny had this special kind of smile, it was the kind of smile that met his dark puppy eyes and softened around the edges of his lips. A peaceful smile. He was smiling that smile right then.

"You had a right to be mad at me though...I wasn't even hurt all that bad but I was bawling like a baby." You sigh.

He shakes his head, waving his arm. "No, no, you were hurt and I wasn't mad at you."

"Yeah, but you've been hurt worse and I never so much as to heard you wince." You say and he sighs, looking at you.

"Its not a competiton, everyone gets hurt and it doesn't feel good...so we ought to look out for eachother, all of us." Johnny says.

"I got you if you got me." You smile.

"I got you."