#Arnie Cunningham/Dennis Guilder

[tvbles]

I got someone to watch Christine (1983)

[ashyslashyy]

a story in three parts

[mayusz]

—Queer, maybe, but not ugly. / Fuck you.

Christine (1983) dir. John Carpenter

[scarepackage]

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

Pick your doomed gay trio

[neothalamus]

doodle of arnie avoiding a certain subject, as per usual

[hemanwomunhater]

before it all went wrong

[the-woman-upstairs]

Definitely A Choice to have Dennis listen to two different love songs when he’s alone in his car. One, when he’s picking up Arnie for the first time (“Not Fade Away”) and the other when he drops him off at home for what will be the last time in the film (“Runaway”).

They’re both about an ardent, enduring love that appears to be one-sided; yearning for the object of their affection to accept that love and be with or return to them. Dennis starts the film confident in his relationship with Arnie, that the love is strong and won’t fade, but when Christine enters the picture, realizes that his love has run away from him, that it wasn’t enough for Arnie.

[normally-paranormal]

A slightly less tragic ending

-----

It was Sunday, January twenty-first, that I started to come back a little. My left leg was in a cast up in its old familiar position again amid all the pulleys and weights. There was someone sitting next to me, and it took me a moment to realize it was Arnie.

He looked like hell made-over. His lip was busted, his left eye was partially hidden underneath a deep, purpling bruise, and his skin had broken out into reddened, uneven patches of acne, brought about by stress or too many cokes or reliable old teenage hormones. To my eyes, it was the best he'd ever looked. There was a moment, as bleary-eyed and light-headed as I was, that I thought I had to be dreaming. And then he turned to look at me.

Seeing me awake must've shocked him. Arnie all but leapt out of his seat, his eyes wide and his hands hovering as if he didn't quite know what to do with them. He finally seemed to settle on trying to knock some of his hair out of his face, a gesture so familiar that it made my chest ache as he struggled to find something to say. "Dennis," he finally managed, his voice hoarse, still not quite the old Arnie, but there was enough of something earnest in it that I didn't hear LeBay, either. "Hey, man. ..It's been crazy, huh?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it, even if it made everything in my body squeeze and ache and burn. Arnie looked at me like he didn't quite know what to make of that. "Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it. What happened to you?" I asked, squinting as I peered up at him. "You look like you're the one who got hit by a car."

There was a hesitation, and then a shy, nervous sort of smile came over his face. It lasted for only a second before he broke into a laugh, too- and, God, that alone made it all worth it. The doc could come and tell me that I'd never walk again, that my leg was going to be amputated at the hip this time tomorrow, that all I had ahead of me was another decade of painful physical therapy, and I wouldn't have done a thing different. It was a laugh that sounded like Arnie, the way I knew him. Call me sentimental, or a big fucking crybaby, or whatever brand of queer you want to, but I'd never heard a sound that was so much like waking up from a bad dream.

"I.. kinda did," Arnie answered. His smile fell away, but the life in his eyes was still there. That was all I could focus on. "It was.. LeBay. One minute, my mom and I were driving along, and the next, he was just... he was there. In the car with us."

"Wasn't inside you?" I said it, then grimaced. Arnie seemed to shrug off the awkward phrasing as well as anyone could.

"No." He let out a shaky breath, then shrugged. "Whatever you and Leigh did, Dennis, it was like he couldn't touch me anymore. Couldn't get in my head. He was trying to get ahold of the wheel, and he.. did. We had a head-on with a Chrysler."

"Jesus." I frowned at him, shifting against the pillows piled behind me. God, I was so tired of hospital beds I could puke. "How's Regina?"

"Recovering." He matched my frown. "I think."

There was a dip in his voice that made me worried. It'd been so long since I'd seen the real Arnie that I was suddenly terrified to realize that I couldn't quite tell the difference between a regular lowered pitch in his throat and LeBay's ugly growl pushing through. I couldn't read if Arnie had changed in some way or if it wasn't him at all. Arnie must've caught something in my face, because he shied away from me, and finally sat back down in the chair at my bedside. He reached up to swipe his hair out of his face again, the new, short haircut maybe not doing it for him. Arnie sighed. "I really screwed it all up, didn't I, Dennis? I mean, I.." His breath caught. "My mom thinks I've lost my fucking mind. She won't even look at me! Leigh- I- I don't even know what to say to her. And my dad.."

His voice cracked. I pushed out a soft breath. "Arnie.."

"That fucker!" He burst. Arnie's fists were clenched on top of his thighs, digging into the fabric of his jeans until his knuckles had gone white. "I don't know if he's gone, they didn't find shit at the wreck, but I swear to God, Dennis, I'm gonna pull him out of his fucking grave and make him fucking CHOKE! That son of a--"

"Arnie!" I barked, feeling like my heart was trying to seize in my chest. If LeBay wasn't gone--

I didn't get to finish the thought. Arnie choked, the tension bleeding from his body as he broke into a mortified sob, and forgive me, but that was just as much of a relief as his smile had been. He was angry. He had every right to be. But it was just that- just anger. Just something Arnie felt, deep and true, that belonged to him. I tried to breathe, and my voice was hoarse when I tried again. "Arnie, I- I'm so sorry, man. About your dad. I tried to.."

I'd tried to warn him. The sight of Michael Cunningham's body passed through my mind again and I had to repress a shudder. Scrubbing angrily at his good eye with one hand, Arnie shook his head. "It's not your fault. None of this is. I.." He dropped his hand, sighed again. When he looked at me, he looked scared. "..We're still friends, aren't we? After all of this?"

"Yeah, man. Yeah, of course we are." My mouth felt dry. And I'm not ashamed to admit it, I started crying then, too. I'd missed him like hell. Arnie nodded, looking relieved.

"Thank you, Dennis," he said, his voice quiet. He leaned over to give me a light punch in the shoulder. "You really saved my ass."

"Yeah, I'm a real Han Solo type," I told him. He smiled, faintly. I wondered when the hell I was going to get out of here so we could watch a game at home again. We hadn't talked about Leigh yet, but I was sure that was going to come, and even more so that it'd work itself out. I loved her, but she'd been Arnie's girl first, and Arnie and I had been claiming Libertyville as our own since long before she'd come around. Right then, I believed I'd be happy with just about any choice she made.

Arnie was alive. He was himself, if a little worse for wear. We also hadn't talked about Christine yet, but the last I'd seen of her, she'd been as good as gone. It struck me then that if LeBay had been with Arnie, if he'd caused that wreck, then he'd abandoned the Fury. He couldn't have been in both places at once. I didn't have it in me to feel any sympathy for her.

"Hey," I said after a quiet moment, smiling tiredly when Arnie met my gaze. I nodded down towards my leg. "Sign my cast for me?"

[nouearth]

i just finished christine and like... the sexual tension between arnie and dennis is CRAZYY LIKEEE. JUST KISS!!! anyways, 10/10 and i will be watching it every autumn now it was great, ugh.

[psychicwound]

'arnie had me. then he had christine. leigh came later.' does stephen king know how queer this seems . or .

[tvbles]

Dog days aren’t over!

[christine-cunningham]

Keith Gordon and John Stockwell as Arnie Cunningham and Dennis Guilder, Christine 1983

[scarepackage]

CHRISTINE HALLOWEEN!!!

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

What about dennis/arnie with prom as the topic? :3c

Sue/Carrie + Small Fires

I had to combine these two asks because I had the perfect one in my drafts!!

A drop of sweat slid down the tan path of Tommy Ross’s skin as he held a cigarette between his fingers. Everything had been going alright since he’d bitten off the last half of his ‘Zagnut’ about three seconds from Chemistry with Mr. Olgz ending. His hands shook tentatively as Carrie White held up a lighter with a shy smile. She, the picture of sweet youth, and all her introverted glory led the scene with her dizzy laugh. Sue Snell, coming up around the back with her books jiggling in her hands, happily followed. The lyrics to ‘Stand By Me’ were on Tommy’s lips but the tip of his tongue twitched to share the good news. 

“Careful not to send his golden locks up into flames!” Sue hiked a clump of curls up from the back of her neck and haphazardly attempted a bun. The blondes turned to her with a bounce. 

Carrie’s stormy eyes flashed as she clicked the lighter shut and lit the cigarette aflame with the pure strength of her vision. Sue blushed and turned away. 

“I saw that, White!” Called a distant yet calm voice. 

Arnie Cunningham and his partner, Dennis Guilder, slapped their feet against the pavement in rhythmic time. Coming up the way with matching looks of eager excitement. Carrie grinned that special sort of grin that very few managed to see and dashed up the sidewalk toward them. Taking Arnie in her strong arms, she gave him a tight squeeze to let him know just how much she’d missed him. “How was your break?” Her cold voice whispered against his neck. 

“Tons of fun…” He started, a little out of breath. “Tons of shit too.�� 

Carrie pulled away and gave him all her attention. “Mom?” 

Sniffling in the spring air, Arnie nodded and enjoyed the gut reaction of his partner, whose hand moved to the small of his back. “Ah, cheers–” His smile was devilishly crooked yet profoundly soft as he and Carrie clinked imaginary glasses. ‘Drinking’ to their moms in a gesture Tommy found refreshingly stunning on his best friend. 

Sue came up to her girlfriend's side and slung her arm gently around her shoulders and as Tommy stared, the two couples mirroring grew even more intense. “Wanna get some lunch, losers?” She asked, pocketing her hand in her sweater. 

“We did eat on the way back into town…” Dennis started, putting his hands on his hips. “But I guess we could go for some Burger King.” 

“Yuck.” Sue shivered. “You know I get the feeling that it’s our turn to pick the restaurant.” Punctuating her statement, she pressed a small kiss to Carrie’s cheek. The air curled around them with a brisk wind, running its smooth fingers through Tommy’s tuft of hair. 

“I wouldn’t mind a bit of the King myself.” He chuckled, stepping out from behind the girls. “Nice to finally meet you two, by the way–” 

His hand reached out for a shake as Sue gestured to him. “Tommy Ross meet Arnie & Dennis.” 

“Big guy.” Arnie pretended to mutter slickly from the side of his mouth to Dennis, who seemed to already respect the dude. “Shoulda knew he’d steal you from me. Big Football, Baseball guy, huh?” 

Tommy laughed, head cocking back almost as if suddenly broken. “Yeah, sure. Played both in High School. Not so much now. What about you?” He turned his chin to the two of them. 

Arnie said nothing and raised a brow when Dennis turned to him. “What? He included me to be polite, babe, he’s really talking to you. By the way, I’m not your mouthpiece.” He chuckled and pushed his glasses up, taking Carrie’s arm and escorting her towards the picnic table which lay under a large tree. Sue giggled and followed them. 

“Football, yeah. But I had an accident…” Dennis swiped a thumb under his lip to try and stop his smile. Wasn’t it a bad look to seem happy about such a terrible thing? “Cost me my career.” He shrugged. These days, he didn’t give so much of a shit. He probably wasn’t going places anyway. “You just got tired of the sports glory?” 

Tommy nodded. “Tired and a concussion.” When Dennis widened his eyes, he went on. “Knocked me out right before prom. Baseball came flyin’ outta nowhere. Not a good time when your girl breaks up with you, then you get knocked to shit, and then find out she took another girl to prom.” He spoke sour words but laughed just the same. 

Dennis couldn’t help but laugh with him. “I got knocked 'cause I saw Arnie kissin’ our friend Leigh, who you’ll be meeting today.” At this point, he was keeled over with laughter…they both were. “I should say, we weren’t dating at the time. I thought I was mad about Leigh…but you know.” He shrugged, coming up for air. 

Tommy tracked Dennis’s eyes to his boyfriend and nodded, enjoying the way Arnie made the girls laugh. The two of them headed down the grassy hill towards the large wooden picnic table as the sun beat down. Apart from the chattering of Arnie and Carrie, the air was still. Spring break was coming to an all too quick close and Dennis was sad to see it go. He missed the ease that came with staying at home and though he’d never tell her, it had been fun being close with his sister again.

“So how was yours?” 

Dennis glanced up, still partly focused on the heated breeze…summer wasn’t too far away. “What?” 

“Your prom? Like I said, I missed mine, though Carrie and Sue had the time of their lives from what I heard. What about you and Arnie?”    

He paused on his way to the picnic area, sneakers now smudged in the green muck from the freshly mowed lawn. How did he put this? Or at least…how would Arnie put this? “Arnie’s Mom isn’t…well she…” He trailed off, picking up speed again as Tommy strolled over to their friends. 

“My mom’s a bitch.” Arnie suddenly piped up as he leaned forward onto the table and he said so in a way that oozed the confidence he’d once lacked for several years. Sometimes it amazed Dennis just how incredible that kind of conviction looked on his boyfriend. Hell, sometimes it amazed him still that he got to call him his boyfriend. “What about it?” 

Carrie blinked, turning her chin on her palm and staring at them with her big eyes. Sue sat behind her, rubbing a hand up and down the other girl’s back. 

“I was just tellin’ Tommy about prom.” 

Arnie crossed his arms, falling back on his ass with a look of annoyance. “Oh, that.” He punctuated his sentence by rolling his eyes. “She said she wouldn’t help pay for college if I went to prom with him and Dennis wouldn’t let me tell her off.”   

“Huh.” The other man took a turn to roll his eyes. “Spitfire here may be smart but he lacks common sense.” Dennis took a seat across from the others and looked at Tommy as he sat with him. For all Arnie’s determination, his courage was still rather new. He’d only begun speaking up to his parents for a short time. But once he started, he’d been like a snowball growing more and more pregnant as it rolled down a hill. Eating up every chance he could to ‘tell them off’. But…“I wasn’t letting him risk his future just for a party.” 

“My mom begged me to stay.” Carrie’s voice was small but something about it was all-powerful. “Said we could pray together…pray for my salvation.” Her eyes flickered and Sue seemed to sense something before anyone else. She tightened her grip on Carrie’s arm and opened her mouth to speak. But before she could a napkin lit up in flames. 

Dennis jumped in surprise, moving his elbow out of the way. 

“She said I would burn…” 

“Carrie.” Arnie reached out and overlapped his hand on Sue’s. 

“I’m fine.” She blinked, suddenly smacking her hand down on the flame. Again, Dennis was startled. “Everyone deserves a chance to dance at prom.” 

: 

: : 

: 

: 

: 

“This was a dumb idea, White.” 

Arnie called from over his shoulder as the couples swayed to the music that Tommy happily played from his cell phone. Dennis, for all his partner's protests, was greatly enjoying himself. He pulled Arnie closer and ushered his head to his shoulder. “You’re such a sap.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Just dance.” Dennis playfully smacked the back of his head. 

[gangles-toybox]

Silly goofy ah thoughts

don't y'all love my titles?/s

anyways I just watched Christine for the first time today and it was pretty awesome :) I unintentionally zoned out for some of it but yk it happens.

Anyways, but Arnie was definately toxic objectum with Christine.

Also I think it's so weird that in the beginning of the movie, Dennis is trying to get Arnie laid and he mentions one specific name. Sally Hayes. Which..if unintentional..is such a WILD coincidence w/The Catcher in the Rye.