Hhhhrrrnnnnggg. I am in need of trans Dally hcs, so if you're up for getting your mind off of something and find nothing else to do, this is always a free prompt!! Thank you, love!
im sorry this is so late i’m awful fdkdfndl
i decided to write ftm dallas because i know the experience personally, but let me know if you want mtf at any point instead!
content warnings: transphobia
- dallas knows when he’s little that he feels and acts a little different than the other girls in his class do
- his mom ran off right after he was born and his dad isn’t the most… involved parent, so when he’s nine years old, dallas starts experimenting with things
- he swipes some clothes from his father’s closet before school one day, and goes out wearing a flannel that’s much, much too big for him. the other kids laugh and dallas goes home crying that day. the teacher sends a note home for him to give to his dad, but he throws it in a sewer grate because his dad will probably be working late again anyways.
- he finally talks to his dad about it when he turns ten. he doesn’t really know what to call it, just says that he feels like a boy sometimes. it’s the late 50′s at this point and all he knows is that he thinks being a boy might be better than being a girl. he shouldn’t have said it, though, because his dad’s had a bit too much to drink and it’s the middle of november but dallas finds himself alone on the streets, apartment door slammed shut behind him.
- he wanders for awhile, wishing he’d had the sense to somehow grab a jacket before his dad threw him out, but it’s not long before he finds some action.
- just a few blocks away, right in the dead center of new york city, the cops are raiding one of the primary lgbt underground hideouts and there’s plenty of excitement to be had by a ten year old boy. he gets bold and runs right into the crowd of protesters and law enforcement.
- someone grabs him to pull him to safety, one of the drag queens who nearly got arrested, but the cops soon zero in on this ten-year-old kid who definitely shouldn’t be there. he gets handcuffed and thrown into the back of a cop car.
- he won’t talk when they get to the station, but they can only hold him for so long before they let him into custody of the state. luckily, that doesn’t happen. the drag queen from before shows up to get him, and even though there’s no documentation, they manage to get dallas through the system and he’s released to the care of the drag queen.
- she immediately takes him to the train station and buys him a couple of outfits from the second-hand shop next door. boy outfits, much to his pleasure.
- “what’s your name, sweetheart? we’ve gotta get you fixed up with a brand new name.”
- “texas. i got an uncle who lives there.”
- “that’s a big name for such a little boy. how about… dallas?”
- it isn’t long before she has to put him on the train, a ticket in his hand with his brand new name: dallas winston. “go on to oklahoma, baby. i’ve got a cousin who lives in windrixville. you just ask around for darla, alright?”
- dallas falls asleep about an hour into the train ride. nobody notices this little boy sitting all the way in the back, so the train goes clear to tulsa before he thinks to get off. he’s a little panicked when he steps onto the platform, grabs the first station worker he sees… who just happens to be mr. curtis.
- the next couple of days are a whirlwind. the cops can’t identify him, his name isn’t in the system, and he sure as hell won’t tell them where he’s from. he hides his ticket in the waistband of his jeans, because dallas winston has always had street smarts even when he didn’t realize it.
- they’re about ready to turn him over to the state once again, but mr. curtis intervenes. he had a cousin once who ended up in state custody, and it didn’t end well for her. he figures it won’t end well for dallas, either. so he takes the kid home with him, because even though money’s tight, mrs. curtis would never forgive him if he didn’t at least offer this child a hot meal.
- one thing leads to another, and dallas becomes a bit of a nomad. he’s a smart kid, very good at taking care of himself, and the curtises can see that right away, so they let him do as he pleases. the only thing is, they think he’s a girl for a long time, and after what happened with his dad, dallas doesn’t have the nerve to correct him.
- but when he’s fifteen, he tries again. he’s helping mrs. curtis fix supper when it just comes out: “i think i wanna be a boy instead of a girl.” by now, he’s had plenty of time to let his feelings settle, so he knows with almost absolute certainty that that’s what he wants.
- mrs. curtis is quiet for a moment, but doesn’t hesitate to nod her head and confirm his wishes. “nothing wrong with that, dear,” she tells him warmly. she had an uncle on her mother’s side who felt the same way, one they never talked about but existed on the outskirts of the family. she understands exactly what he means.
- it doesn’t take long for everyone to catch on, even if the curtis boys need some explanation. they all want what’s best for dallas by now, even if he wasn’t quite the dallas they thought he was.
- dallas goes bitter on the day the curtis parents die. they were the parents he never had, the first people to ever accept him and respect who he was. how dare the world take that from him? how dare it?
- he still frequents the curtis house, but decides that he’s going to go through life on his own now. don’t get close to anyone and the world can’t take them away.
- he starts working out, buffing up. if he doesn’t have the curtis parents to affirm him, he’ll just demand it from the rest of the world. he chops off his hair, binds his chest with tape every time he goes out, breaks a few ribs because of it but doesn’t give a damn.
- it isn’t long at all before he starts reading those books they have in the dusty corners of the library, and an even shorter time after that when he starts swiping vials of testosterone from the pharmacy when they’re closed for lunch. he gets the needles from a guy he knows out behind buck merrill’s place. the needles are clean and the guy thinks dallas is shooting up, and dallas chooses not to correct him. he’s done enough research by now that his self-doses work, and his voice drops the way he always wanted it to. they always did say he had street smarts.
- he sounds a little like his dad, but he doesn’t remember well enough to make this distinction. thank god for him, because sounding like his dad is the last thing he ever wanted out of a situation like this.
- he never does find betsy in windrixville, but he likes to think she would have taken him in the way the curtises did. he made it out just fine either way, it seems.
hope this was alright !! thank you so much for the request darling <3
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