No Angel - Dallas Winston

26

Dallas slowly opened his eyes. 

My head as still laying on his chest, as I looked up at him. 

"Heyyy, doll." Dallas dragged out, in his deep morning voice. 

He gave me a weak smile, as he ran his hand through my hair. 

"You don't look like you slept at all." Dallas spoke again. 

"I didn't, couldn't fall asleep.  I guess... I'm just too worried about everything." I sighed.

The two of us sat up. 

Dallas got out of bed and dug around for our clothes. 

He began putting on his, as he tossed me mine. 

"You shouldn't worry about things you can't control." Dallas said, as he put his shirt on. 

"Yeah, well... I just don't want them to get hurt." I said as I stood up, and began dressing. 

"They'll be alright, they are tough kids." Dallas attempted to reassure me. 

"As soon as I get home, Darry is gonna kick my ass." I sighed. 

Dallas grabbed me by my waist, and pulled me in close. 

"I told you, I'll go with you.  He ain't gonna holler at you if I'm there." Dallas sort of chuckled.  

"Oh, he will. You just wait." I sort of shook my head at him. 

"You're tough, you ain't scared of nothing." Dallas mumbled, as he he put a cigarette to his lips before the two of us left his bedroom. 

We walked down the stairs, and weaved through the people sleeping all over the main floor of Buck's place. 

"I'm scared of everything, Dallas." I told him once we got outside. 

"I don't believe that," Dallas chuckled as he lit his cigarette, "I've never seen you scared in your life."

"You remember that day I threw that milkshake at you?" I asked him, as we walked side by side down the street. 

"Yeah, It's kind of hard to forget having a chocolate milkshake dumped all over your head." Dallas took a long drag from his cigarette. 

"I think that's the most scared I've ever been." I told him. 

"You sure didn't show it." Dallas sort of shrugged his shoulders.  

It seemed like he didn't really believe me that I was truly terrified.

"You yelled so loud, and you sounded so angry.  You pulled me out of that cabinet with such strength, and held me to where my feet didn't touch the ground.  You held me so tight my chest bruised.  And that terrible, dark look in your eyes... I was scared to fucking death you were going to hurt me." I told Dallas. 

Dallas stopped in his tracks, and looked me right in the eyes. 

The expression on his face seemed to change every quickly. 

His eye's seemed to soften. 

"You know, I would never do anything to hurt you.  I didn't mean to scare you like that.  I promise I'm not a terrible guy that everyone makes me out to be. I don't mean to be so violent." Dallas pleaded. 

He almost sounded like he was begging. 

Dallas seemed so sincere... he seemed so vulnerable and so real. 

"I know, Dal." I gave him a weak smile. 

I then grabbed his hand and held it. 

To my surprise, Dallas held my hand back as we continued to walk. 

Our walk grew quiet until we walked past the park. 

I stopped walking instantly, as I saw the police tape blocking off the whole area.  

There were police everywhere. 

My stomach flipped in circles as I saw the large red, rusty colored stain next to the fountain. 

There was no way I could convince myself this was just a dream now. 

The sobering fact that Johnny really did kill that kid and that we were in a huge fucking mess, hit me all at once. 

It felt like my feet were rooted to the ground. 

I couldn't move. 

The more I looked at that blood stain on the concrete, the more it got harder to breathe.

"Hey, don't look at it." Dallas spoke quickly, snapping me back to reality. 

I was shaking hard, I didn't know what to do. 

"Look down at the ground, and close your eyes." Dallas told me. 

I couldn't even think straight. 

My brain was on autopilot.  

"Close your eyes." Dallas spoke again.  

It took me a minute to get my brain to listen to me.

I forced my eye's closed, and I kept them closed tight. 

Dallas held my hand even tighter, as he pulled me down the side walk quickly. 

I kept them closed tight for a while, as Dallas walked me through the streets quickly. 

I was trying everything I could to push the picture of that blood stain out of my head. 

But, I couldn't. 

It was imprinted in the back of my mind. 

"Open your eye's, were home." Dallas told me. 

I slowly opened my eye's, and we stood at the end of the Curtis house driveway. 

Anxiety was eating me alive, as through the window we could see Darry and Soda pacing back and forth in the living. 

Soda had seen us standing there now, as he turned his head to Darry. 

"Here goes nothing." Dallas took one last hit from his cigarette, before tossing the rest into the street. 

"Fuck." I mumbled out, as we walked up to the front door. 

"Remember, we don't know anything." Dallas whispered to me, right before he opened the front door.