BETWEEN BARS: A Dallas Winston One-shot (Dallas x OC)

PART 1

As I burst through the door from the police station's lobby, I could see Dallas sharply lit by a hanging fluorescent bulb; sitting in a chair in the holding cell, looking nonchalant, and smoking a cigarette. The butt of his cigarette glowed a dim orange as he took a drag, and a few small scrapes and bruises glistened slightly over his face and arms. To my annoyance, he looked unfazed by them. He looked up through a haze of smoke when he heard the door open, and his shadowed, cool gaze met my blazing one.

I'm so upset with him for getting in another fight, and on top of that, getting arrested again; does he even realize the danger he puts himself and the rest of us in every time?!

With blood pounding in my ears and my fists clenched, I stormed right up to the bars of the holding cell as Dallas's expression shifted slightly into amusement. The cocky smirk growing on his lips just twisted the knife, and without a word, I reached right through the bars and grabbed him by his jacket to lift him to standing. His cocky smirks became more of a confused scowl as I got closer, and when I gripped his jacket and lifted with a grunt of effort, he finally spoke, whipping the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Hey- oof- watch it- what'sa matter?!" he sputtered as I yanked him up against the bars, looking down at me from inches away.

"What's the matter, Dallas, is that you coulda gotten hurt again, bad. And you got locked up, again! That's what's the matter, because you're acting like a damn fool!" I shot back hotly, meeting his look with another glare. A storm started brewing behind his dark eyes, and I could tell that this wasn't just kinda amusing to him anymore.

"You know, you've got no right to be talkin' to me like that! Ain't like I asked to get arrested! I can hold my own with those damn Socs! Ain't none of your damn business, anyway." He grumbled, his voice rising angrily as he threw his cigarette on the grimy floor and stomped it out with fervor.

"I have every right, I can't keep watching you throw your goddamn life away fighting like you're invincible!" I retorted. He scoffed and half-tried to move out of my grip as I continued, but I firmly held his jacket, scowling stubbornly at him.

"-And yeah, it is my business, 'cause I was there for at least half of those scraps, and I don't intend to let you let go of yourself just yet-" I said forcefully, solid resolve clear in my voice, pulling him down closer for effect, until our foreheads were almost touching- "- damnit, Dally, you can't let go. You can't." My voice cracked slightly, and the nickname just slipped out. I never could call him Dally, it felt too intimate, but in this moment, as we stood with barely an inch between us, as I was staring into his eyes with a fierceness that didn't quite hide the traces of fear and caring in my voice, it just happened.

Dallas raised an eyebrow, and he almost seemed amused by my slip-up; but then something changed in his eyes.  In the dim light, I could barely catch the flash of surprise and vulnerability in his eyes before they hardened again. He was silent for a moment, while the only sound was my pounding heart, and he sighed again, moving to grip the bars with his hands and lean like that, even as I still held him tightly by the jacket. He looked down, and his face fell into dark shadow, the stripes of the cell bars making a mesmerizing pattern on his hair as he stood with his head down, biting the inside of his lip in thought.

Suddenly, he looked up again, a look of slyness and something else I couldn't read on his face, and spoke softly with all of the bravado stripped from his voice, his eyes slowly, electrifyingly moving over me as if he was taking in every inch.

"You care a bit too much 'bout me for someone who ain't my girlfriend..."

The words came out unexpectedly quiet, in a smooth drawl that chafed at my every thought, made worse by the feel of his warm breath on me, that shook me from my anger into plain shock.

Shit.

What happens now, if I do care so much?

Caught a little off guard, his comment got to me just like he wanted it to. I gaped for a long half-second, racing to recover from it, and scowled, rolling my eyes. I could feel my cheeks reddening slightly more than I'd have liked, which brought the broiling anger right back.

"God, Dallas, every time I try to just-" I sputtered angrily, shoving away from him and turning on my heel with my hands raking through my hair. I spun to glare at him again as I heard his voice.

"What, try to yell at me some more?" He said easily with his head tilted up, still leaning forward with his hands wrapped around the bars and a teasing smile playing across his lips.

"No, I-", I started, about to take his bait again, but pulled myself to a wrenching halt with a sharp inhale.

"No? Really? 'Cause it seemed for a while like you were about to start on me again." He said, peering up at me with the shadows of the cell bars falling perfectly on his face.

How was he so calm right now? When he was covered in cuts, and the traces of a bruise were beginning to form on his sharp jawline, and the defined muscles in his arms were mapped with scrapes?

A flashing, swirling mess of emotions had been running rampant through my mind as I abruptly stopped moving, but just then I felt something inside me snap, as if all I could do was watch him, frozen in my tracks.

I stood, for a split-second that felt like a full minute, and my eyes were inexplicably drawn to the deliberately drawn lines of his smooth features and the taut muscles visible through his shirt.

Finally, resolve washed over me like the shock of a cold rush of water. With a set of my jaw, I forced myself forward, marched over to him so I could reach up to cup his face. His eyes widened, and I heard his breath hitch as my hands touched his bloodied cheeks.

"You idiot-" I mumbled a little breathlessly as I leaned in to kiss him through the bars.

~~END OF PART ONE~~

Continued in... PART TWO ->>>

I hope you enjoyed my first ever written piece here on Wattpad!! Please comment thoughts or any feedback, like, and vote! Part two will be up soon!

Stay gold,

Thea <3