The Outsiders Imagines

49: Dallas Imagine

You thought about him again. He seemed to always be on your mind. Especially when you looked at your son.

"Junior! Please be careful over there, don't fall!" you warned your 8 year old boy.

He huffed. "Yes ma'am!" he replied back from on top of the monkey bars.

"Hey, Y/N," you heard a voice call out from behind you. It was Ponyboy.

"Hey, Pony," you greeted him warmly, embracing him in a tight hug. "How're you?"

He nodded. "Good, great, in fact. I just got out of college not too long ago."

"I know, I heard! Congratulations," you said happily. "I can't believe how grown up you are. Gosh, it makes me feel old." You both laughed.

"Where's the little man?" Pony asked, sitting next to you on the park bench.

You nodded over to the playground, pointing out your son. "Right there on the monkey bars."

Ponyboy's eyes widened. "I should've guessed. He's a spitting image of Dally. The hair, the face, everything."

You laughed softly. "Yeah. He reminds me so much of him especially when he's in a temper. That's when he really looks like Dally." You shook your head. "Junior! Hey, sweetheart, come over here real quick."

The boy jumped off the playground equipment and ran over to you, his shaggy hair falling in his eyes. "Yeah, Ma?"

You smiled. "Junior, this is Ponyboy. He's a friend of mine from way back, and he was a friend of your dad's too."

Junior looked at Pony questioningly. "You knew my dad?"

Pony smiled and nodded. "Yeah, buddy, and boy, do you ever look like him."

Junior smiled pridefully. "I know. Mama always tells me that." He turned back to you. "Ma, can I go play now?"

You chuckled. "Sure thing, kiddo. Go on."

He smiled. "Bye, Ponyboy," he waved as he ran back to the playground.

You both looked after him as he ran off.

"Did Dallas know?" Pony asked, looking at you.

You looked down. "No. I never got around to telling him. We hadn't seen each other in a couple months, and by the time I was ready to tell him..." You paused, holding back the tears you felt coming. "By the time, I was ready to tell him, he was gone." You looked up at Ponyboy.  "I wish for all the world that I had told him sooner. Maybe, he wouldn't have  let himself die like that. Maybe he would've held out for Junior..."

Pony patted your back. "Did you name him..." he trailed off.

"Dallas Cade Winston. He's not technically a junior, but I know that's what Dally would've wanted," you answered. A tear escaped. You quickly brushed it away. "Sometimes I can't stand how much he reminds me of him. Things he'll do that remind me of things Dallas did. The way he'd say things. Sometimes,  it just makes me sad. He's caught me crying a couple times, and I didn't know what to tell him." You looked at Ponyboy. "What could I tell him? 'Looking at you makes me sad because you're so much like your father'? I feel bad that he won't know his dad. Or Johnny. He would've loved them both."

Pony nodded in agreement. "They would've loved him."

You looked at little Dallas playing, and you smiled.

"Bring him over to the house sometime, okay?" Pony requested. "We still live in the same place. Come on over anytime."

You nodded. "That sounds good. We will sometime. Thank you, Ponyboy. Not only for the invitation, but for coming to see us today. He needs people that really knew Dallas to tell him about him. I knew him, but not like you guys."

Your thoughts shifted to Dallas. The original Dallas Winston, with his white-blonde hair and his icy eyes. You thought about the smoke puffing from his mouth, at night, and how his face looked in the moonlight. You remembered how he trued to put you first. Until you broke up, but that was nothing now. You didn't want to remember that. You remembered the times he'd sneak you in the Nightly Double or when he stole a dress for you just because he thought it would look nice on you. You remembered all the good things about Dally.

When you came back to focus, you could almost picture Dally standing behind Junior, pushing him on the swing. Just almost.

That's it, guys. That was the last one. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this book as much I had writing it. Every vote, comment, request, every time one of you added this book to a reading list has meant the world to me. You have no idea. Thank you all for a little over a year of this book. My gosh, I can't believe it's been that long! This is me signing off for the last time in this book. For any updates on me or my upcoming books, read my random ass book called Introducing Me. It's lame af and I just made it lamer by the self-promo, but who cares. Love you guys! M'kay.

~Mariah