"Do you want a bag?" The cashier asked me.
"Uh yeah, yeah sure."
Here I was, back in Tulsa, in my twenties and a borderline alcoholic.
My eyes were constantly darting left and right making sure I didn't see anyone I knew.
You see, I was just passing through
I was on a solo road trip from Stanford, California to Conway, Kansas for my cousin's wedding in a few weeks.
Of course the route I took had to pass through Tulsa.
And of course my car had to breakdown.
So I was buying booze and whatnot before deciding wether I should drop by the old DX and show my shameful face or just risk it with some other mechanic.
The clerk bagged my whiskey in a paper bag and I eagerly took and booked it out of there before anyone could recognize me.
My lungs threatened to explode, so I easily grew tired and settled for a random street corner to rest on.
I leaned against a post and lit a cigarette to just unwind.
"Y/n, is that you?" My heart beat changed drastically and my ears rang.
I looked to my left and saw Dallas Winston.
My boyfriend from when I was sixteen to eighteen years old.
Sure I was twenty one already but I was still mourning our lost love.
We broke up before I left because of some silly argument over me not wanting to stay with him.
"Dallas? Golly, it's been years." I crushed my cigarette under my shoe.
"Four, four years. You look...Different." He sounded surprised and oddly hurt.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I became a mild hippie.
My hair was long and free, slightly curled due to natural waves and I had on a bright orange halter with brown bell bottoms and my favourite sunglasses.
"Yeah, kinda weird seeing me all like this. The things California does to you I guess." I awkwardly chuckled.
Dallas nodded his head, "You look good though,a little tired maybe."
"Finals, no one said university was easy. Anyways, how are you?" I quickly changed the topic.
"Well I uh, quit the criminal getup and straightened out. Now I'm working full time at the rodeos." He shrugged, sending me a half smile.
He sure did straighten out.
His hair was the same but he had a blue button down under his usual brown leather jacket and his typical blue jeans were paired with a black belt.
"I guess we both changed, huh?" I smiled tiredly.
Dally could tell something was up he knew me all too well it was obvious too, too obvious.
He'd seen me drunk, he'd seen me drowsy from pain meds, of course he knew I was on something.
"Walk with me." He suddenly commanded, I obeyed.
"So...?" I prodded for him to speak.
"I know. I know it's not just that booze. What did you take?" I could hear the dread in his voice.
"Reefer mostly, acid too. The mushrooms occasionally, coke once." I recalled thoughtfully, realizing what exactly I'd been taking.
Dally swallowed hard, "All those drugs for your poor body? You oughta stop, it'll kill you without a doubt." He stopped walking and held onto my shoulders so that I was facing him.
"What happened sweetheart? You show up from out of the blue all sad, stressed, and frail." I looked into his burning eyes that showed the same boy I loved only matured and grown.
"I-I..." was the only thing I managed to sputter out before collapsing to the point where Dally had to hold me up.
I cried endlessly and he managed to console me through it all and took me back to his place.
After all that time he still lived at Bucks, bug it was cleaner and slightly classier.
All I can remember is the numbness I felt and the love I was shown after being denied it for so long.
Dally could have left me breaking down on the street but instead he took me into his own home and gave me food and water and a place to stay.
He even let me sleep in his bed, of course with him in it to my satisfaction.
I didn't actually go to my snobbish cousin's wedding after I wove a lie about how I contracted chicken pox and mumps at the same time, which she believed and made sure I wasn't in attendance.
The whole summer I stayed with Dally, and I even did the right thing and moved in with him.
I was finished University anyways.
But my biggest achievement is the fact that I was clean, no drugs or alcohol since Dally began taking care of me.
He saved me, he truly saved me.
