losing sleep ➵ dallas winston

two

July 6, 1968

It was a week before I saw Dallas again.

I continued with my day-to-day life, picking up extra shifts at the diner. Besides, it's not like I had anything better to do. I was a bar regular with no friends other than the bartender. Which, admittedly, was depressing. But, I finally had a day off and decided to spend it at the bar.

I watched the green lights sifting out from the bottom of the door. Inhaling through my teeth, I realized I was scared. I didn't think that what happened the last time I had been here had really affected me, but I was terrified to leave my food or drinks alone. Even at work, I refused to leave my water anywhere. I waited tables with my water in my apron pocket.

I exhaled, taking a step toward the bar. I pulled the door open, immediately being consumed by the pulsing lights and blaring music. It was a comforting feeling.

Not exactly wanting to get black-out drunk, I didn't order anything immediately. Instead, I led myself to a couch in the corner of the room and took to observing the party.

A few hours passed, and I realized nothing much was happening. As I got up to leave out of boredom, I passed by a boy, who grabbed my arm. "Check this out," he said, turning me towards a circle of people.

I wiggled out of his grasp, not being much interested in a bar fight.

But I caught a glimpse of a familiar face and was immediately drawn into the circle. It was Dallas. He was in the middle of the circle, yelling at some soc. I pushed my way to the front and recognized the soc. I didn't know his name or anything, I just knew he was one of Bob's friends.

The fight escalated, and eventually, the soc threw a punch. It landed exactly on Dallas' jaw, and I winced. I had a feeling he could handle himself, and everyone in the circle seemed to have the same idea because no one stepped in.

Eventually, the soc had the advantage, and Dallas was getting beat up pretty badly. I realized he was losing hard, and there was no way for him to get back into the fight after this one. The soc was going hard too.

"Hey!" I yelled, bursting through people to reach the center. The soc looked up, but just rolled his eyes at me and went back to beating on Dallas.

I was so dazed by his lack of reaction that I felt the need to get one. I felt in my back pocket for my switch, securing it in my hand. I flipped it open and made my way over to the soc, who was beating the shit out of Dallas. I held my switch up to his neck and whispered in his ear, "Back off, white trash." He immediately stopped, leaving Dallas to recover, at least a little bit.

"Please, I'm sorry," He didn't move at all, just spoke. I released my blade from his neck and shoved him away from Dallas. He quickly left the circle, disappearing into the crowd of people, who started to disperse after the soc left.

I rushed over to Dallas, kneeling behind him. I pinched his face as I held his head in my lap. I looked at him as his overly red and swollen eye opened. His eyes were bright and aware, and he didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere on his body other than his face, so I safely assumed that the soc hadn't been fighting dirty.

He gazed up at me, taking a few solid seconds to recognize me as the girl he saved a week ago. Smiling, he spoke, "Brookie."

I was stunned by the nickname, but replied anyway. "Dally," I said, smiling right back at him. "That's a nasty cut you've got on your lip," I said, flagging Buck over for a rag with alcohol.

He touched his lip and winced, "It is, isn't it?" he said, a grin taking over his face.

I grabbed the rug from Buck and placed it on Dallas' lip. He gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply. "Sorry," I said, brushing his hair away from the cut.

After cleaning up the cut on his lip, I decided he wouldn't need stitches, and I focused on a smaller cut on his cheek. It looked like it was from a ring, so I just quickly ran the rag over the cut. "Can you walk?" I asked him, letting him raise his head as I stood up. I gave him my hand, in an attempt to help him up. He wobbled as he stood up, and had to lean on me for support.

He was a lot taller than me, and with his frame leaning against mine, it was a little hard to walk, but I managed. I led him up to his room, letting him sit on the bed once we got there. He grinned at me, "Thanks, Brookie."

I laughed softly, "Whatever, just don't go falling in love, I just did it so we're even."

"I don't fall in love," he said, completely serious.

I laughed awkwardly, stepping out of the room and heading back to the bar. "Hey, Buck," I said, arriving in front of him. I sat down on a stool and explained to him that I'd be on the couch, just in case Dally needed anything.

Buck nodded, "I'll check up on him every once in a while, just in case he needs water or something," he shrugged. For being a bar owner and seeing his fair share of bar fights, he didn't seem like he knew how to take care of an injured person. But I nodded, returning back to the couch in the corner of the room.

--

After a few hours of sitting back and observing, I saw Buck push his way through the crowd of people on the floor. He reached me, "Dallas is asking for you, won't shut up."

I laughed, sitting up from my spot on the couch. I followed Buck as far as the bar and watched him grab painkillers and a glass of water for Dallas. He handed them to me, and waved me away, towards the stairs. I followed his wave and started up the stairs, painkillers, and water in hand.

I thought about knocking, but then remembered how late it was. He probably wasn't awake at the moment, so I just pulled the door open.

"Jesus fuck-" I heard, before realizing I'd walked in on Dallas changing. His expression softened when he saw it was me, but I was already throwing my open hand over my eyes and backing out of the room.

"Sorry!" I yelled, my eyes still squeezed shut.

"It's fine," he said, moving my fingers and peeking at my face.

I removed my hand, "You ask for me, then decide to start changing?"

"You don't knock?" He snapped back.

"Yeah you're right," I said, sighing. He was still looking around the room for a shirt, and I couldn't help but notice how much muscle definition he had. I blinked, turning my head away.

"Like what you see?" He said, holding eye contact with me.

"Shut it," I said, my eyes falling to the cut on his lip. "Right," I remembered I had painkillers in my hand. I gave them to him, waiting for him to put them in his mouth. Once he did, I handed him the water. He took it, swallowing the pills with ease. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he flipped me off. "Why did you want me to be here?"

He sat on the bed, scratching his face before answering. "I dunno, just like being around you I guess."

I was taken aback by his vulnerability. "Cool," I replied, "I like being around you too." He grinned at this, taking my hand and using it to pull himself off the bed. 

I hovered my hand near him, making sure he didn't fall over. "I'm fine," he said, swatting my hand away.

I dropped my hand, and tried to get the other one from Dally, but instead he interlocked our fingers.

No way I'm falling for this, right?