Darling

Black

🥀Dallas🥀

He woke up again, not expecting Darlene to still be there, but he really wasn't expecting her to be leaning out the chair, asleep against his leg. He moved his hands away as if accidentally touching her would kill him.

"You f*ckin' kidding me, man?" He said to himself, slightly annoyed.

She stretched a little bit and he shut up, her arm fully hugging his lap as she slept. His heart fluttered in his chest as he watched her.

But then he back tracked.

"Sh*t, how do I get you off me..." He said, knowing full well he could just wake her up and ask her to get off, but he didn't.

He gently pulled the sheet over himself a bit more. Darlene grabbed the sheet in a fist stopping him from doing so.

"Aw come on, doll, I'm cold." He mumbled, going to tug on the blanked.

Before he could, her eyebrows furrowed and she jolted in her sleep. He dropped the thin white sheet so she wouldn't wake up, but she was still moving. She continued to twitch and pull on the blanket and made a small whining noise.

"Darlene." He said. "Hey, Darlene." He said again, this time grabbing her shoulder, but she didn't wake up. Tears started falling from her closed eyes.

"What's wrong? Get up." He shook her shoulder growing worried.

🥀Darlene🥀

Darlene stood in the middle of the train tracks. She began walking down the tracks, leaves and rocks crunching beneath her feet. She felt calm and at peace, feeling the slight breeze. As she kept walking, she started hearing muffled grunting and screaming. Her eyebrows furrowed as she picked up her pace. She jogged around the bend, noticing people tied down to the tracks. As she got closer she could tell who it was. Her parents and Johnny, all tied down, mouths taped shut. Suddenly the train tracks stretched further, pulling her loved ones away. She ran faster and faster, but they moved farther and farther. She heard the train. It was getting closer and closer.

She waved her arms, hoping the someone would see and stop the train, but it didn't. It kept getting closer to Johnny and her parents. "No, stop!"

It was too late. The train rumbled over them, pink mist spraying into the air. She stopped and screamed. Her knees buckled and she hit the ground. She curled up into a ball and covered her ears, feeling the tracks shake as the train got closer. She screamed again before feeling the impact.

---

Her eyes shot open and she sat upright with a gasp. Dallas held onto her arm, and she grabbed his arm back, scared if she let go she'd slip back into that nightmare.

"Are you okay, man?" He asked, wincing from the strain on his own wounds.

Darlene was panting, and her heart was racing faster than she'd ever felt it before.

"N- no." She said between breaths.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I had a nightmare, but it felt so real. It was new. Worse than the nightmares I'd had before." She said, still holding onto Dallas.

"You need the nurse or somethin'?"

She shook her head. "No. I just need to calm down. My heart is going so fast." She placed a hand over her heart, hating how it felt.

Dallas didn't let go of her until it seemed she had calmed down again. She relaxed a bit, and her breathing was back to normal.

Dallas scratched his head. "So uh...what was your dream about?"

She grimaced and shook her head. "I can't talk about it."

Dallas looked down at his lap sadly. "It was about Johnny, wasn't it..."

Darlene looked at him, her heart sinking. "Yeah. That was part of it."

Dallas turned away from her, brushing a finger over his cheek, quickly swiping any tears away.

Oh Dal...

"Dally, I'm so-"

"Is Darrel comin' to pick you up? Maybe you should go wait for him."

Darlene's eyes watered, and she wished naither of them had brought it up. She stood up without a word, walking to the door.

"Darlene." He called, and she noted the lack of her nickname. "Thanks for coming to see me."

"Yeah." She said quietly. "Of course, I'll come back. Take it easy." And she left the room, carefully shutting the door and leaving the hospital to wait for her brother.

---

That night, everyone kinda ate their own thing for dinner. Sitting quietly in the living room, eating whatever they found in the kitchen. Two-Bit and Steve left to see their own families. It was just the Curtis siblings drowning in their own sad silence.

"How's Dally?" Ponyboy asked while poking at his sandwich that he put together.

"He'll be okay. Physically." She said.

It was obvious he was sad. Everyone was. Dallas lost his best friend, and he had to keep going. They all had to keep going.

God,

She put her plate in the sink and went to her room.

I'm so sick of the hurting.

She closed her door and stripped from her clothes and grabbing some flannel pajama pants and an old DX t-shirt. She got into bed, worried that she wouldn't be able to sleep on her own again, but when she got in bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, she imagined being tucked in by someone. Not her mom or her dad. Not Johnny. Not anyone. Just some imaginary comfort. Someone who was there for her. She wondered if she'd be able to find someone like that ever again. They were all gone.

---
🥀🥀🥀
"And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black
Tattooed everything"