Chapter Text
"I don't see what the problem is- I'm allowed to have friends, Daniel!"
"I didn't say - I'm not sayin' you aren't allowed to, Ali, alright? I just - you said you wanted t' go t' prom with me, but ya just - got dropped off here by somebody else!" He had been standing here, after fiddling with the corsage he got for her, dealing at home with his ma fussing over him and being so excited and then seeming to get sad and saying he'd better go, she hopes he has fun. Now here he was standing, biting his fingernails, getting a little worried honestly, because all Ali had told him was she would meet him here. And then she comes riding up whooping and laughing with some guy, a whole group of people in a car, actually, which honestly put him in mind of Johnny and his pals. Except there was a look from this guy (when Ali 'd kissed his cheek and said goodbye) that wasn't sizing Daniel up, wasn't like he expected a fight. Not like Johnny would. No, it was as if this guy knew there was no competition.
It was like Daniel was nothing.
Ali crosses her arms over her chest, her curls blowing in the air off the beach where they stand outside the place their school had reserved for prom, some hotel - which could be dangerous for the Encino kids in particular, as there might be rooms getting rented for the night. But hell, maybe their parents said it's safer for them to do that afterwards than to drive home, Daniel thinks; well he's got to drive back home, but the question is whether or not he'll be driving Ali too.
"What do you want me to tell you, Daniel? That I'm sorry?" She says.
"Hell, I don't know, Ali - that'd be me makin' you say it! I don't wantcha sayin' anything you don't mean, alright? But I just - I wasn't lookin' to get involved in...everything I ended up gettin' involved in by movin' here," Daniel waves his hands one then the other in an approximation of 'wax on, wax off'.
Man, he wishes Mister Miyagi was here, maybe he could give advice. Or tell Daniel not to worry, cut his losses, something.
Meanwhile Ali steps closer with her eyes narrowing. "Oh, you didn't want to get involved? Involved with what, exactly, Daniel?"
Daniel bites at his tongue before saying, his accent stronger as his voice deepens "look, Ali, on th' beach that night I was gettin' your radio back for ya because it was yours, alright? I just - wanted things to be fun, for us all to have a good time. I wasn't out to- to get your ex-boyfriend out for my blood! I wasn't - I wasn't even lookin' to go oUt with you. Or anyone," he adds quickly as she blinks and scoffs, hurt or irritated, or both "I just - I was just tryin' to make friends, or at least find something I didn't hate about movin' here. An' now-" you have so many friends, and clearly you'd rather hang out with them than me. He bows his head, scuffs one shoe across the ground, looking at his stupid frilly blue suit his ma had found. She was so excited....
"Now what, Daniel?! What do you want, you want me to hang out with you and not anybody else, is that it?"
Daniel's head snaps up. "What? No! I just - I just wantcha to be honest. If ya didn't want to come with me to prom, that would've been fine. Or- we coulda come as friends, I don't know -"
"Oh so you don't want to be here now?" He sees her eyes brighten, it looks like with tears, but she's angry. He thinks of the way she shoved at Johnny, told him he turned everything into a fight.
But as he stands here, clutches at his hair, he realizes she is the one who's fighting with him. He had just said hey when she showed, asked if he could talk to her, and she said okay. He let her take his arm to walk out here, and he asked if she was planning on telling him she was gonna go with somebody else this evening.
Okay, he could've said it differently, probably, but he honestly was really excited to come to prom. He likes to dance, has since he was little - he watched his parents and then learned how from cotillion and some classes he took at school before coming out here. He would even dance with his ma to Frank Sinatra songs and stuff like that when she was missing his dad. Dancing is fun, and it's not something he wants to ruin by arguing.
"You clearly don't want to be with me! If this is so bad why don't you just drive me home?" She's almost screeching. People glance over and then keep moving, as if Ali Mills shouting at her boyfriend isn't something new. Maybe it isn't, she had gotten into it with Johnny on the beach, after all; shoved him in the chest, yelled at him for turning everything into a fight. Why is Daniel thinking about that? Why is it repeating in his head? He can almost hear Johnny saying 'told you so, LaRusso' even though the guy hadn't told him anything about Ali at all, he can just see those blue eyes sparkle as he smirks. He wonders if Johnny was here, inside. Did he come to prom alone too? He was probably expecting to go with Ali, since they'd been dating... Daniel feels a twinge in his chest as he's got his keys in hand, is squeezing them. Not moving to leave, but suddenly Ali is running towards him. He puts up his hands only to feel her grabbing onto one. He spins with her. The momentum of her charge has him losing his balance and falling backwards, he could maybe catch himself usually but his leg twinges, there's a sharp jerk backward and blooming pain.
Daniel doesn't think he screams, or anything, but Ali's got his keys and she's running for the car that Mister Miyagi gave him. And he expects to slam into the ground, for asphalt to send shooting pain up his ass and back, but - he's caught. He falls into a body, no, into a pair of arms.
"Easy, LaRusso," a rough voice says, and he looks up into blue eyes. The blue eyes of Johnny Lawrence.
"Johnny -" Daniel's voice is hushed, almost garbled with surprise. And then he's pissed. "What the hell, man? You just - waiting me out t' get her back, huh??"
With a sharp noise and moving his big hands - why does Daniel notice the size of the guy's hands - Johnny's setting Daniel on his feet again and he's standing there with a scoff and toss of that golden blond hair, fluffed up. Looking - nice. He's wearing a sharp black suit, white shirt and blue tie. The tie matches his eyes, and... almost matches Daniel's suit, too. It DOES match, and Daniel doesn't know why that strikes him, why it ties up his tongue, but Johnny isn't looking at him anymore, he's looking past, away- and then he's saying "No way, LaRusso - but I'm pretty sure she's taking off."
What?! Daniel whips around, clenches teeth in the flesh of his lower lip to stop himself from exclaiming - or worse, whimpering in pain. He feels Johnny put a hand on his forearm, as if bracing, which makes Daniel feel a clench in his chest and flip of his stomach. Jeez, why- why is this guy even here, and why is he holding Daniel up, or making sure he doesn't fall?
What the hell's goin' on here?
But the bigger issue right now is "Oh, shit!" Ali IS going without him, she's turning on the car and backing up. "Ali what the hell are you doing?" He's running, or more like limping, and Johnny's coming with, he sees him from the corner of his eye.
"Leaving, Daniel! So you can think out all your jealousy and-" she's put the car in drive after backing up, and clearly slams on the gas, but she's not straightened up the wheels enough to make it to the road out of the parking lot, instead she's headed for the edge, trees and-
"Ali, LOOK OUT!" Daniel isn't actually sure if he screams, because he hears Johnny yell out too, and then there's tires screeching and a horribly loud crunching sound.
Daniel takes off running, he hears the sound of the car beeping, hears hiss of smoke or steam or something, and yet it's Johnny he sees at the door, Johnny gets there before him, and he's pulling it open and saying Ali's name, gently. Concerned while reaching for her
"Get your hands off me!" But she's still loud, almost shrieking, if not screaming. "This - your car almost killed me, Daniel!" Her eyes are wide and her makeup is running. It's wild, and Daniel's heart is threatening to break out of his ribcage as she scrambles out of the seat, looking fine, if disheveled.
But seriously? "My car - you were trying t' just drive off!" Daniel blurts. He moves closer, hopping to check it out. "Somethin' was going on- didja hit the brakes?"
"What?" She snaps. Johnny is still reaching out, still checking on her. Other students have come out of the hotel and are staring over. Ali's face is bright red as she slaps Johnny's hand away. "Of course I hit the brakes, they didn't respond!"
"... they're faulty? Oh my god," Daniel's eyes are wide. He reaches to try and lift the hood, even as it's crumpled enough to be up anyway. He feels his hands getting shaky. If she had been going much faster... "Ali-"
"What?" She snaps shrilly. "I guess this is my fault, or it serves me right, huh?"
"No! No, I just -" Daniel bends to check under the front of the car, and sees a pair of shiny shoes moving to the door. The sound of the car is gone as ignition is turned off, and then Johnny's hand is reaching out with the keys. Oh.
"Here, LaRusso," he's crouching a little, with gold bangs mussed and wide eyes of his own.
"Uh- thanks," Daniel says, accepting the keys. He checks the brake line, what little he can see from where he is in the darkness, and then pulls himself back up to check on Ali. "Ali-"
But she's walking away, quickly.
"Hey, where ya goin?" Daniel calls. Unbelievable!
She doesn't look back, only saying "You want me to go, so I'm going!"
"That's not what I - I don't even know if you're okay! Ali!" Daniel clutches at his hair again, dropping his hand with eyes huge. "I don't believe this," he mumbles. "I can't believe this." He doesn't expect to hear a response, as he sees people dispersing, and he's too shocked to even try going after Ali again. But a shuffle sounds next to him, and then
"You calling the cops?"
Johnny's voice. Johnny is standing there, one eyebrow raised a little, arms folded in front of his sharp black suit, one foot pointed. He's slouched a little, and there's something in his face. Not anything he's looked like before when talking to Daniel. No frustration and no rage.
"Why would I," Daniel blinks, registering fully what Johnny just said, and wrinkling his face. "What?"
"I mean, she technically crashed your car, man. Stole the keys from ya, didn't she? I mean I came out right when you were about to fall on your ass so I didn't exactly see, but you didn't give her the keys to drive herself home I'm guessin'."
"No," Daniel says softly. "But I woulda driven her, if she..." His heart is slowing a little, finally. He flexes his fingers, squeezing the keys. Looking at the car. Mister Miyagi's gonna be upset, he thinks. And then "...if she actually didn't wanna stay- or come t' prom with me." He steps back, suddenly, needing to sit down. He settles on the closest curb, not caring if he gets dirt or anything on his suit. "Why'd I ask? Why'd she say yes?" He presses fingers and palms against his face, groaning quietly. "I'm so stupid," he mutters. "Always, this 's always what happens."
"What, you get stood up by babes? How many proms 've ya gone to, LaRusso?" Johnny is still here. He's sitting down as well, which earns him a sideways glare. Why doesn't he just go back inside? What is he even doing out here?
"Ha-ha. None, smartass. I didn't even expect to go t' one here, bein' a junior. But she asked me...or she got me t' - she wanted me to ask her."
"Are you gonna ask me, Daniel?" She had asked, smiling, lifting her eyes up to him from under her bangs. Ask what, he said, and she'd laughed, bit her lower lip. And when he made a big show of remembering oh yeah, prom, she'd seemed happy. Maybe not as happy as when he beat Johnny in the All Valley, but still...
But then she heard her friend was here, Daniel guesses, or thought that was more fun, to go see him at UCLA....
"So I did. Then she's going around with this friend 'a hers, doesn't even want me to pick her up tonight. I had to wait here for her." Daniel feels his face getting warm as he pushes fingers through his hair and holds onto his cheeks. "Which, that's fine, just tell me we're goin' as friends, I would've been fine with that."
He hears a snort. "You would?"
Dropping his hands and looking over, Daniel catches Johnny looking right at him, like he's analyzing. A bolt of something like electricity seems to zap along Daniel's spine for some reason. Weird.
"Yeah, I would."
Johnny blinks and then shakes his head.
"What?" Asks Daniel. Demands, actually.
"I just don't get you, LaRusso. Don't flip out, I'm not tryin' to piss you off."
"That'd be a first," Daniel snorts. He bites his lip, then, eyes dropping and then rising. "An' why not?"
"Why not what, twerp?"
"Why aren't ya trying to piss me off? You got a whole lotta things to talk shit t' me about. My car, Ali running off, the fact I'm sittin' out here, my suit..."
Johnny looks at him and his lips lift into the slightest smirk. "I could definitely talk about your suit."
Daniel lets out a slight huff that's almost a laugh as he shakes his head. "'A course you could."
Chapter Text
"I mean, it either looks like a little kid's birthday cake got dumped on you," Johnny's saying now with a wicked twinkle in his eye "or you have terrible taste."
"Hey, knock it off- my ma found this suit for me."
"Oh yeah? Where, at the-" but Johnny stops. He remembers his mother looking for clothes for him, painstakingly combing through the racks at thrift stores or things on clearance when they lived in Reseda. He definitely had looked like he wore other people's clothes handed down to him, but he knows she tried. And this thing... "Honestly, LaRusso, it's not as bad as your orange shirt."
"What shirt?"
"The one you were wearing when I put the pie on your seat at lunch." The fact he remembers exactly when the guy wore it isn't something Johnny needs pointed out. He sees Daniel's eyes widen and figures the twerp is going to come for him about that, but
"Well what about your blue sweater? Cashmere, right? Ever get those blueberry stains outa it, or didja have to do dry-cleaning?"
"Screw you, man-" the guy is smirking, and Johnny can't keep himself from leaning over and grabbing the stupid ruffles of his suit. "Should've heard my stepdad, I think he was more pissed about it than I was." Johnny says this without thinking, dropping Daniel's suit as the guy looks at him with this ... softness in his eyes. Almost like he's concerned for Johnny, what the fuck- "what're you lookin' at?" He grumbles. But he isn't expecting what the runt says next.
"I'm - sorry," Daniel says. "That he got so mad at you, I mean, it's just clothes. Ma just told me I better figure out how to spot clean when she saw my pants."
"Oh yeah, you had to go the rest 'a the day wearing them," Johnny says. Daniel sighs.
"Yeah, yeah I don't have extra clothes to keep at school 'cause I'm poor, hilarious."
"I wasn't sayin' -" but he kinda had been, at least, he'd been laughing about it. Johnny lowers his head. Thinks about the guy's car, too. Not just the clothes- if he can't fix the thing himself, he might not have the money to get somebody to do it. "Sorry, LaRusso."
Daniel, staring down at his hands, snaps his head up to stare at Johnny, eyes wide.
His big eyes get even bigger, and Johnny shrugs, rubs at the back of his neck. "What?" He says.
"What'd - you - you just apologized t' me," Daniel speaks softly. Johnny sighs.
"Yeah, well. Don't make it a big deal," he puts hands down and pushes himself up. "Might not see ya again anyway. You gonna head out?" He asks, and Daniel looks up at him, feeling for some reason a clench in his chest. What-
"Whaddya mean, you might not see me again?" Daniel gets to his feet now too, scrambling and almost falling off the curb. He manages to get balance even as Johnny reaches out and catches the edge of his frilly blue coat.
"Calm down, LaRusso, Jesus. It's almost end of the year, I figure you don't wanna see me."
Daniel looks down, scuffs foot across the ground. "I- why not? You said I was all right." He sneaks a peek over at Johnny as the guy starts walking and he moves too, kind of in-step with him. Which is both crazy and amazing. Somehow, why is that? Daniel needs to snap out of whatever is getting him to think like that. Must be the oddness of tonight.
Johnny's lips curl up ever-so-slightly and Daniel doesn't think he's seeing things when the look in the guy's eyes appears almost ..soft. "Yeah I did. Might regret it," he's gone across the sidewalk to grab a fence separating it from the sand, and swings himself over in a fluid motion that Daniel can't help but watch. The guy is strong, he thinks, limber too. Whereas he's always been a bit of a klutz, or looks like it unless he's focused when doing karate.
Daniel climbs over the fence as Johnny stands like he's waiting for him. The wind has kicked up, pulling Johnny's jacket and tie out, fluttering in his hair. There's enough light spilling from the building that his hair flashes gold, and the light catches the blue of his eyes. Daniel clears his throat and starts walking, high-stepping to try and keep his shoes from filling up with sand.
Johnny takes his off in a fluid motion, pulling shoe and sock, one foot after the other, folding the socks up and stuffing them in a pocket like it's the easiest choice in the world. He then pushes his pants up, rolling them to stop halfway up each calf.
And then he's headed down through the soft warm sand to the colder, harder stuff that's wet from the tide. Daniel looks at his shoes, thinking about the sand clogging and gunking them up, and swears.
"You coming, LaRusso?" Johnny calls, and Daniel doesn't know why he does this. Except he can't back down from a challenge, but iS this a challenge? Whether or not it is, he finds himself hopping on one foot, untying his shoes and tying their laces together to hang over one shoulder as he stuffs his socks into one of the shoes.
"I'm comin'," he grumbles back. But "hey, shouldn't we try t' check on Ali?"
Johnny scoffs, looking back at him. "You actually think she'd let us?"
Daniel thinks of the way Ali had told Johnny to get off of her when he was trying to see if she was okay in Daniel's car. "... Probably not," he allows. "But still, she might need to get checked by a doctor or somethin'."
"Susan and Barbara are in there, she'll find them an' get home. Or call her parents with a payphone. Trust me, Ali isn't going to see a doctor. Or if she does, no one's gonna hear about it. This'll be something else she doesn't want to talk about."
Johnny's voice is flat. He sounds resigned, as well as completely sure. And Daniel wants to say something to him, that he doesn't know that, come on - except he gets the sense Johnny DOES know that, at least the part about Ali not talking.
"Did she... Did she do this type'a stuff when she was goin' with you?" Daniel asks, almost hesitantly. He doesn't want Johnny to fight him.
Johnny stops, and Daniel finds himself watching the set of the guy's shoulders. They're broad, but they sort of - drop, a little bit, and Johnny's glancing over at him again. "I mean, she did what she wanted, if that's what ya mean. I...always wanted to talk to her, but she - Ali's a 'take it or leave it' kinda girl. She says what she wants and then she's done talking." His lips twitch but drop away from a smile.
"So, she wouldn't talk stuff out?" Daniel asks. He's curious, because his experiences with the guy don't show Johnny as being somebody who WANTS to be talked to. But apparently, he is. Or at least he is with Ali.
"Nope." Johnny shakes his head. "Doesn't want explanations, doesn't like giving em. She didn't care why I missed her birthday, just that I did." He shrugs his shoulder. "Me caring wasn't enough, or - it wasn't about that." He's walked ahead a little bit, so maybe the last part of what he said doesn't make it back to LaRusso.
But Daniel hears. And -it makes him angry with Ali. He'd been frustrated, felt cast off by her tonight. Almost - used. But now he's angry, on behalf of Johnny. The guy still cared enough about Ali to make sure she was okay, but him caring didn't matter?
"That's bullshit," Daniel snaps. "That's goddamn bullshit, is what it is. Hell, it's nice enough if somebody remembers t' say happy birthday or how are you. Caring about a person - that's th' most important part! And I don't get why she wouldn't talk t' you," he flings his hands in the air. "She was all about talkin' to me even when I was just tryin' to make it at school. I don't get it," dropping arms down, shaking his head, Daniel steps forward, also onto the wet sand. And maybe it's the burst of sudden cold, the shifting wind that has Johnny move closer, or the crazy nature of this night knocking something loose, but Daniel's next words pass directly to his mouth from his brain.
"If it was me, I wouldn't wanna stop talkin' to you."
Chapter Text
Johnny's body tenses and he whirls around.
Daniel automatically drops, spreads legs to brace himself in a defensive stance, ducking his head and flattening his body even as his eyes remain fixed on Johnny's. But the guy isn't throwing hands or flinging his feet, he simply spins and stares.
And then he says "What the hell'd you just say, LaRusso?"
"What, man? I-" Daurel still doesn't know the rules here. He just knows he blurts out things he thinks, sometimes. A lot of times it's around these Encino kids - his little voice was there when he was initially talking to Ali, after all- but it's as if he's learned LESS about self-preservation even as he has learned more karate. Laughing at himself a little now, teeth flashing as he lifts his shoulders in a shrug, Daniel adds "I don't know, man, we always end up talkin' to each other or kickin each other's ass."
"More like you were talkin' and I was kicking your ass, LaRusso," Johnny says. Before, at least. That was before their fight. The guy got the first two points against Johnny, but wasn't even the one doing the real ass-kicking that night. Johnny took that after, in the parking lot.
From his sensei. Both of them think on that, Daniel's eyes automatically dropping to Johnny's throat, but it's covered, of course, by the knot of his tie and the collar of his shirt. He really does look smart, sharp in that suit- it accentuates the broadness of his shoulders as well as the muscles of his chest, but tastefully. Although WHY Daniel notices this right now is crazy. He's gotta be crazy, though the fact Johnny Lawrence is still here standing with and staring at Daniel makes him crazy too, probably.
They're closer to the site of the dance, now, light and sound from windows spilling out across the beach, including a jaunty guitar riff that has both of them nodding along.
'When I was a young boy
Said put away those young boy ways
Now that I'm gettin' older, so much older
I long for those young boy days
With a girl like you
With a girl like you
Lord knows there are things we can do, baby
Just uh me and you
Come on and make it, uh
Hurt so good
Come on, baby, make it hurt so good
Sometimes, love don't feel like it should
You make it hurt so good.'
Daniel shakes his head, shimmies side to side, doing a little dance step in the sand. He catches Johnny's voice, quiet, singing some of the words, and the guy is moving too, a little. A sort of hum goes through Daniel's body, like electricity. He wanted to dance tonight. And now he's getting to, just not with the person he expected.
But somehow - that's all right?
'Don't have to be so exciting
Just tryin' to give myself a little bit of fun, yeah
You always look so invitin'
You ain't as green as you are young
Hey, baby, it's you, huh
Come on, girl, now, it's you
Sink your teeth right through my bones, baby! C'mon and make it uh'
"Hurt so good," Johnny murmurs, thinking about singing this with Ali when it first came on the radio, flinging their heads back, the other guys howling too - well, mostly Tommy, but they were at someone's house, or maybe a club, dancing together, all close to each other. It's just that kind of song. He sings it now with a different sort of hurt in mind and he watches LaRusso, eyes closed, shifting around - the twerp has some fancy footwork, Johnny can give him that - and something about it, maybe the guy smiling and spinning, and the fact nobody else is out here close, Johnny pushes himself closer, drops his shoes, and takes hold of Daniel's hand.
Daniel spins, his eyes nearly closed, and then they shoot open as he feels a warm hand wrap around his own, his other hand comes up to hit the chest of Johnny Lawrence. He stares, the guy still holding him, and shifting his feet, his hips. Daniel wets his lips and curls his fingers slightly into the cloth of Johnny's shirt. He feels his warm chest, his heartbeat, and somehow he doesn't have the urge to push away. At least not yet.
So he moves, and Johnny moves, the guy's arm extending, hand wrapping around the back of Daniel's waist, wrist at his hip. Daniel moves, keeps his feet going through the sand, toes gripping and spinning, and Johnny, perhaps from dancing but probably from karate, keeps his balance and moves along. He spins Daniel again, lets him step away as he does too, and then they come back together. Daniel feels like his heart is going haywire as the song ends, Johnny having hummed the rest of it as Daniel ended up pressed against his chest, face close to his neck, head tucked under the guy's chin. It doesn't make sense, neither one's kicking the other's ass, but somehow it also does make sense being this close. And that's crazy too, Daniel reflects. It's gotta be.
The next song is much slower, one of those Daniel remembers his parents dancing to back in Jersey - he would have said back home, but didn't think that just now, huh. But it's a fifties song, slow crooning sweet words. He expects to be pushed away, or at least for Johnny to move, but the guy only shifts his head a little, hand moving up to the center of Daniel's back as the other holds his in a grip with their elbows bent. It could be one for throwing, but as Daniel glances up and Johnny looks down, he can tell that's not what the guy is doing.
No, he's just - dancing. They're dancing, together, and for some reason as the song goes on, this doesn't feel so crazy after all.
'Earth angel, earth angel, will you be mine? My darling dear, I'll love you for all time
I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you.'