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Unedited from 2020.
Dallas is an international superstar, who is being forced to marry you. After you threaten to leave, he realises how much he actually wanted you.
***
When Steve steps out for a cigarette, he notices Dallas, motionless in the winter weather. Steve cusps his hands for warmth, only to realise that Dally had been out here for a while, maybe even all night.
"Dal? Dallas?" he panics, Dallas doesn't react. He won't even move a muscle. His stare was vacant and ahead, with skin freckled with flakes of snow and frost in the creases of his eyelids, Steve wondered if his friend was dead.
He checks Dally's pulse, he's alive but his blood is pumping slower than normal. Dallas has skin as white as the moon. "You have to get inside. Get out of the cold, and stop... stop thinking about her."
He worried about what his friend had become. Dallas was pegged from all human emotion, and Steve had never seen him in this state before. Especially not over some girl that he never seemed to like in the first place.
As a last resort, Steve offers to take him to you, "She leaves in ten minutes. I'll call the car around and drive you down to the harbour if that's what it takes for you to get over her. She'll just tell you to get lost again."
His words sparked a realisation in Dallas, he couldn't let you get on that boat. Without any warning Dallas jolted into a sprint. Steve tried to call out for him, it was no use, Dallas was beyond it.
He burst through the downtown streets, sliding on iced concrete at every corner. His focus unwavering, he rolls towards the harbour, so rushed off his feet he felt like he was going to faint.
Dallas halted at the empty dock, narrowly avoiding falling off, the boat headed off earlier than expected. Not a thought crossed his frenzied mind about the arctic temperature of the sea water below.
In an instant, Dallas leaped from the edge of the pier into the darkness, immediately his lungs slowed as he hit the freezing winter water. His limbs stiffened, heartbeat raced to heat his body.
The boat was just ahead in the distance, all reasoning went out the window. He didn't think about turning back to the surface, anything logical was gone. All he could think about was you and how fast he could reach you.
Dallas pushed himself, with aching arms he swam as fast as he ever swam before. If he had waited another half an hour another ferry would've picked him up and taken him not far behind you.
Stray passengers lingering at the stern of the ship saw someone in the water and called for the crew, who turned a spotlight on him. Passengers called out to him, but he wasn't listening. You were imprinted in his survival, you, it was you who was the only warmth.
Dallas strained his voice to call out to you, again and again until it was loud enough for someone to hear him. The boat slowed to a rocky stop, just in time for Dallas to make up some distance.
You found the deck, "Dallas!?" you cried out, hanging yourself half over the railing. Without a thought, you splashed into the ice-cold water and raced to him.
With all the strength he had, Dallas swam towards you. You tried to swim quickly, but your strokes aren't as fast as his. You met in the middle of the bay, a magnet drew you together in that instance. Dallas and you can only hear the utter silence and the sound of your own whimpers against each other's lips.
You both felt each other under the surface and clung together as officers, passengers and the crew applauded you. Your warm breath was the only thing keeping your lips from freezing together.
Coast guards hauled you both into the boat, scrambling to cover you with blankets. Jittering too much to say a word, Dallas turns his stiff neck to watch you, your eyebrows were frosted.
He probably had the same but his face was completely numb. He hadn't realised how painful the temperature was until he actually got out of the water, that's when the pins of pain started throughout his shoulders.
When you met the dock, you both were barely recognisable with hair stuck to your necks, Dallas without any grease was odd enough.
A crew member steers you towards paramedics for a check over. Both of you were draped in even more blankets and given hot tea to try to raise your body temperatures.
Before very long the blasting of cameras for paparazzi and reporters causes you to flinch, the glare is blinding. Normally Dallas would've told his story, and even exaggerated a bit but instead, he slips away from the crowd.
He sits next to you in the ambulance. Without a word, you share a brief but loving moment, infused with small kisses. The reporters swarm to cover this emotional display, and the flashes exploded again.
This time it felt true. You weren't forced by a publicity team or felt as if you had to get the attention of the media. It was love when you both jumped into the water and love when you didn't even think about it for a second.
