Tex (Dallas Winston)

Chapter Seventeen

Up the stairs they went; Talia stomping angrily, Dallas sheepishly trudging along behind her.

'I will NOT argue with you in front of everybody.' were the words whispered harshly by Talia after her small outburst.

All eyes were on them as Talia led a scolded Dallas up to his apartment. The bar was eerily quiet as Dallas shut the door behind them.

"How dare you. How dare you sit down there in that bar and talk about my parents like they're the scum of the earth?" Talia scolded, folding her arms on her chest.

Dallas looked at her, confused. "I... I thought you thought they were?"

Talia rolled her eyes. "I'm upset with them, yes, but that doesn't mean I don't love them! Dallas, I honestly think they were doing what was best for me at the time."

Dallas cocked his head at her. Either it was the liquor talking, or Talia wasn't making any sense to him.

"Talia, I thought you hated New York?"

A few tears made their way down Talia's cheeks. "I did... I do. But at the same time, my parents sent me there for a reason."

Dallas laughed softly and tried to wrap Talia up in a hug, but she resisted.

"Tally, don't be like this, okay? You didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to."

Talia squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "No, it's not that it's just... You know I have this complicated relationship with my parents and..."

"Not to mention confusing." Dallas muttered.

Talia pinched the bridge of her nose and sat down on the edge of Dallas' bed. She was beyond frustrated with him, but didn't know how to put what she was feeling into words.

"I just... I don't know."

She watched Dallas roll his eyes. "You're gonna tell me you need more 'space', aren't you?"

While Talia was under the impression that Dallas was more than accommodating to her wanting her space, it was starting to come to light that maybe he wasn't too happy with her.

She ran a few fingers through her hair, exasperated. "I need you to understand that I have a lot on my shoulders right now, Dal. But it doesn't help me nor do I like it when you sit down at that bar and bad-mouth my parents. Sure, they're jerks, but come on, it isn't constructive."

Dallas stared at her. "Neither was you exploding on them."

Another sigh from Talia. How dare he. He didn't understand her situation, he didn't know what it was like to be in that house that day.

"Alright, Dal, alright. I'm putting off this conversation until we're both sober." Talia said, giving up and grabbing her bag from the foot of his bed.

"No, no. Let's talk about it now. I'm tired of this, Tal. I really am."

Her chest tightened with sadness. "Dallas, please."

He shook his head. "Nah, Tals, we're either gonna talk about this now, or we're done."

"So you're giving me an ultimatum?" Talia said after a few moments, in a very quiet voice.

Dallas nodded, his head bobbing drunkenly back and forth.

"You and I are both drunk, Dal, don't do this now."

He shook his head vigorously. "We're talking about this now, or I'm gonna walk out that door and NEVER come back."

Drunken words. At least that's what Talia hoped.

Dallas had a tendency to say awful things when he was drunk, but never things as extreme as this. It definitely wasn't something that Talia was used to, nor was it something she would want to get used to.

"You don't mean that." She said, her voice quivering.

"Really? Really? Watch me." He said, grabbing his stuff out of his drawer and shoving it into a knapsack, before opening the door and trudging down the stairs.

Tearfully, Talia ran after him. Maybe he was serious, but she knew (hoped) that in the morning when he sobered up, he would be calling, begging for her forgiveness.

"Dallas Winston, if you walk out that door, that means you are walking away from me and the life we built together! Do you really want to throw that away?" Talia screamed as Dallas reached the front door of the tavern.

Once again, all eyes were on them. Talia hated being the spectacle of drunken entertainment, especially in a situation like this.

"If you walk out that door, you're walking out on me. So you'd better not come back." Talia whispered her words harshly, throat burning with sadness.

"You can bet on it." He spat, opening the door and slamming it behind him, leaving Talia standing there numbly.

This can't go on.

-

"This can't go on." Darry soft voice said as he brushed Talia's hair behind her ear and wiped the tears from her face.

"I know. I don't even know if he'll be back." Talia sniffled, trying to hold back the remainder of her tears.

Buck's tavern was the most toxic place she could be after Dallas' departure, and since she was no longer welcome at her parent's house, the only place she could go was the Curtis' house. She hitched a ride with a bar patron, spending the entire ride puffing on her cigarettes. 

Thankfully, Darry was more than happy to answer the door at 1am, and gladly took Talia in.

"He will be. He always comes back."

"And if this is the time he doesn't come back?" Talia asked, causing Darry to have to think for a moment.

"Then you have us. You pick up your life and continue on living. It's the only thing you can do."

Talia nodded, and pushed away the fresh tears that had leaked out before Darry got the chance to.

"Let me get you some pillows and blankets." He said with a gentle smile, removing himself from the couch and going over to the linen closet.

Talia couldn't help but laugh softly to herself. She had no idea how she was going to sleep after that.

After all Dallas went through, it wasn't fair to either of them to end up like this. Through all the hardships and fights and rekindling, they deserved to be together... Didn't they?

After Darry set up her bed, he excused himself to bed. Talia understood; he had work in the morning, same with Soda, and Pony had to go to school.

So there she was, sitting in the darkness of the Curtis' living room, alone with her thoughts.

Just like old times.