Dallas Winston - 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤/ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕤

♪i love you

IB: i love you by Billie Eilish
Context: y/n and Dally dealing with their problems during a rough patch in their relationship.

He broke down in tears from the amount of yelling, and it caught me by surprise. He was always so tuff, he never cried around me and he sure as hell didn't let go in a fight.

"It's not true!" I yelled. Another night, another accusation of cheating.

"Tell me I've been lied to." He said, as he let his tears flow freely down his red face.

"Crying isn't like you." I lowered my voice and he looked away from me and quickly rubbed his tears away, "What the hell did I do?"

He could see the concern written on my face and he frowned and looked away again. He didn't want to see the defeat on my face.

"I've never been the type to let someone see right through." He slumped down on the couch and looked his hands, spinning his ring in circles.

"Me neither." I sat down next to him and he let himself cry and I put my hand on his shoulder, to let him know I'm there for him.

"Maybe, won't you take it back? Say, you were trying to make me laugh?" He looked at me with his red puffy eyes and I tilted my head as a sign of confusion.

"Nothing has to change today. You didn't mean to say 'I love you.'" He stood up and grabbed his jacket and looked at me once more.

"Because I do too. I love you, but I don't want to." And he left. I looked down. What the hell does he mean "I don't want to"?

~~~
Dally's POV

Up all night again, with red eyes. Wish we never learned to fight. I felt horrible about what I had said to her, but I was upset. Mad at myself, mostly. Maybe we should just tell ourselves a good lie.

I heard the phone ring and I got up and picked it up immediately.

"What." I said with an unhappy tone of voice.

"I didn't mean to make you cry." She said on the other end of the line. I sighed heavily at the word 'cry'.

"Won't you shut up and forget about it?" I shot back at her and she whimpered on her end. I immediately felt bad about it, "I'm sorry baby, I- I didn't mean it."

"Dally, what did you mean by you don't want to love me?" She asked and I brought the phone to my bed and I sat down.

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking right." I responded and she whimpered again.

"Is that how you really feel?"

"N- no of course not. You- you mean everything to me." I said and I knew she had started crying then.

"Then why'd you say it? It's like you don't care. About us?" I sighed heavily again and she whimpered again, trying so hard not to be heard.

"I do want to love you, I want to hold you in my arms like we did in the park. And there's nothing you could do or say to change my mind. That I love you." I started to talk in the low voice she always loved and I could tell she stopped crying.

"But you don't want to-"

"But I love you. Don't you remember that smile you gave me? Even when you felt like dying?"

"That's when I knew I love you." She said and I smiled. I remembered that day.

~~~

"Why's everybody so gloomy?" I asked while lighting a cigarette.

"You didn't hear?" Sodapop shot his head up from the couch and looked at me. I shrugged and took a long drag from it.

"Y/n's in the hospital," Ponyboy said and I almost dropped the lit cigarette. I looked around at everybody, panicked that my girl was in the hospital. And nobody had told me.

"Why?" I asked and Steve sighed.

"I don't know, I think she's sick. She walked in here this morning looking pale and dead as ever, so Darry tried to check her forehead temperature but she was burning up so bad he could barely touch her." Two-Bit said and took a long drink from his flask he had.

"Well glory guys! Why didn't you idiots tell me?" I walked towards the door and Steve looked at me.

"We thought she called you," He said and I shook my head and Sodapop told me what hospital she was at. I nearly ran the entire way there, and I rushed to the front desk.

"Y/n Y/l/n's room." I demanded and the woman sighed and flipped through her files.

"Who are you to the patient?" She looked up at me with a look of a sad woman who was just trying to make it through.

"I'm her boyfriend, man, what's her room number?" I tapped my foot and she sighed again and flipped through the files again and stopped on a page.

"Room 307." She said shortly and I ran to the elevator.

The ride was as long and painful as ever. As I arrived to the third floor, I ran through the hallway to the room labeled 307. I bursted through the door and she looked at me and smiled the brightest smile I've seen in a long time.

"Is she okay?" I asked Darry and she fell back in her bed and he shook his head.

"Real bad case of Pneumonia." He said and I rushed to her side. I carefully put my forehead on hers and she looked in my eyes, looking so weak. She smiled and I smiled a sympathy smile at her.

"Baby, you're gonna be alright, I promise." I whispered and I kissed her like it was the last time I was ever gonna kiss her. I pulled away and rushed to the clipboard on the wall and I flipped through the notes.

Patient: 17, female, no legal guardian.
Worst case of Pneumonia I've ever seen, weak and unstable. Here with friend, 20, male. Keeps asking for boyfriend, 17. Running 107.3 fever, chills. X-Ray shows almost all air sacs in left lung are full but right lung is completely clean and healthy. Needs to be put on multiple antibiotics and oxygen.

"Oh my god," I said through my exhale while reading. I heard her giggle but it turned to a coughing fit, but it got so bad she was gasping for air. We had to call for a nurse and we had to be evacuated from the room. I was so worried, I thought I'd lose her.

~~~

"Let's fix this. Please? I- I don't know what I'll do if you leave." I stuttered because I didn't want to tell her the truth. I'd be gone if she left me.

"I was gonna ask the same thing," She said while softly giggling, "Can you come back here?"

"Mhm. I'll be over in 10." I said and I hung up the phone, smiling because I had her back.