Valeria's POV *September 15, 1964*
School has been boring as usual and Dallas hated it cause all his friends were busy all day. But it was a cool, Saturday, evening and Dallas said he was gonna pick me up at 7.
I got ready and waited and waited and waited. 7:30 rolled around and I finally saw him outside.
"Ma, dad, I'm leaving!" I called out. Nobody responded. I just rolled my eyes and closed the door. Not like they cared anyway. "Hey, Dally." I said walking up to him. "Where are we going tonight?" I asked.
"I don't fucking know." He said taking a drag on his cigarette.
I raised an eyebrow. "You ok?" I asked.
"Just fine." He mumbled. "Come on." He walked in front of me in a swift motion and we were going to a part of town I barely ever went to.
"Dally, where are we going?" I asked, after about 10 minutes.
He hesitated to say anything. "A bar."
"Dally, what?" I asked. "I'm not going there." I looked around. "What about the park?" I asked pointing to our right.
"A park?" He asked. "At night?"
"Mhmm. Look at the nice river and the pretty s scenery and park benches and not a drink in sight." I said with a hint of sarcasm.
I saw him role his eyes and look over there. "Fine. Fine! We'll go to the park." He said, clearly annoyed.
I wondered what had Dallas so angry tonight. I know he would never bring me to a bar. But he said he'd take me out today so something must have happened between yesterday at noon and today at 7.
He was walking around aimlessly and I was trying to just enjoy the scenery. There was this river that flowed around the park and into the forest over there. It was beautiful. I know Dal wouldn't think so, but whatever was bugging him was pissing me off.
"Dal, do you wanna sit down? You look tired." I said in the nicest way possible.
"Where do you want me to sit down at?" He asked, angrily.
I shrugged it off and I looked around. He had well passed the park benches. "I dunno..." I mumbled. "There's a tree with dry ground underneath by the river." I said pointing.
"Whatever. I guess we're just doing whatever you want to do today." He said stumbling over there.
I was almost annoyed now. He didn't normally act like this so I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt that something happened.
We were sitting there in silence with nothing but the river as a background noise. I finally had to say something. "Dallas, what happened? You're acting so weird." I said looking at him.
He threw his old cigarette into the water and got a new one from his pocket and lit it. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said putting his lighter back in his pocket.
"I'm talking about this!" I said grabbing the cigarette out of his mouth. "Two cigarettes in a row? Dallas. You were doing so well." I threw the lit cigarette in the river. He rolled his eyes. "What happened?" I asked.
"It's none of your business." He grumbled.
"So something did happen. What's going on?" I asked.
He sighed. "Well maybe it's something you just wouldn't understand." He said looking me dead in the eye.
"What, did you get in a fight? Your friends won't talk to you? I'm pretty sure I can handle it." I said crossing my arms.
"No. My family decided to come beg me for help again." He said lighting another cigarette.
Well that was something I certainly didn't expect.
"Family? I didn't even know they were still alive." I mumbled.
"Sadly, they haven't died yet. But it can't happen soon enough." He said rolling his eyes.
"Dal..." I started. I was gonna say something about how it's his only family but I knew the type of guy he was. Him and his family obviously didn't have a good relationship. "What do they need you're help with?" I asked. I realized it sounded kinda rude after I said it but he didn't seem to care.
"My mom overdosed again on illegal drugs. She'll be sent to jail or rehab again. So my old man called beggin' for money. Cause God forbid he do it on his own." He said throwing the gently used cigarette in the river. He ran his fingers through his hair. "And if I don't comply and give him what he wants, I have to go back to New York. I can't just not listen cause I'm 16." He said.
I was shocked. Did Dallas Winston just tell me about his family??
"I'm sorry, Dal. I had no idea. How much is it?" I asked.
"Whatever the hospital bills will cost." He said rolling his eyes.
I wanted to help. I really did. But I didn't know how. "Well, I guess you were right. I don't really understand. Well, I guess I just don't know what to say. I always kinda assumed your family was dead which was why you lived down here." It was silent for a second. "But how did your dad find you? Didn't you run away?"
"I did. God knows how he found me." He said rolling his eyes. "But now I'm in a situation that I won't be able to do anything about."
"How often does this happen?"
He shrugged. "Like once a year." He said leaning back on the tree.
"Well, next year you'll be 17. And you're almost 17 now. So maybe by the time he'll need something, you'll be 18 and won't have to comply." I said trying to make things better.
He gave me a small grin. "Yeah, maybe. Sorry for ruining tonight. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He said with a sigh.
"Don't worry about it." I said with a small smile. "It is a beautiful park. It was nice to see this side of town anyway."
Dallas put his arm around my shoulder and looked at me. "Well, guess I'm glad this awful night wasn't terrible for you."
I grinned unsure of what to do next. He looked down at me and my heart nearly stopped as he got closer. He pressed his lips against mine and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.
I smiled as he pulled away. "I love you." He mumbled with a grin.
I smiled. "I love you, too."
YOU ARE READING
What We Once Were
Romance"I loved him. But it was too late." She didn't want to leave him. But they just were meant to be. And that was that. Valeria, years after they have seen each other, relives the memories they had with each other. And after all this time, she finally...
