The next day around 7 p.m. Dally was standing in front of Michelle's door and ringing a bell. Soon he heard footsteps, and she opened the door. She looked beautiful - she was wearing a white dress and a jean jacket over it. Her hair was down and she wore some makeup, not too much but just enough. Her big green eyes were glowing, and Dally, who was used to having girls fuss over him, found himself staring. He caught himself though and turned to his usual mocking, sly self. "Hey, ya look good Jenns," he offered matter-of-factly, "too bad ya gotta change."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"For where we are going you gotta wear pants. I should've toldya on the phone, but it slipped my mind."

"And where exactly are we going?"

"Ya ask too many questions," he replied sly smirk still plastered on his lips. "Go change, today. I ain't got all night."

"You're actually serious." She said, shocked a little by his obnoxiousness.

"As serious as I could be."

"Get in," she said, opening the door. Dally walked in, and she disappeared in the room. He looked around - the place seemed modest, but you could tell it wasn't a greaser place. There was nice furniture and a few paintings on the walls.

Finally Michelle emerged from the room. "Ok, is this good enough for you?" she asked a little apprehensive. She was wearing black pants, a blue blouse and the same jean jacket over it.

"Perfect," Dally sad and gave her one of his signature Dallas Winston smiles.

They got in the car. "Where on Earth are you taking me?" she asked concerned. He smiled at her apprehension. She didn't know him well, and all she knew was that he was a troublemaker and had a police record a mile long. "Don't worry hun," he replied still smiling and pressing on the gas, "you'll find out soon."

"It better be something good." she said.

Finally they drove all the way to the outskirts of town. "What are we doing here?" Michelle asked once again concern in her voice. Dally stopped the car, "Do you like horses?" he asked.

"Sure, but what does it have to do with anything?"

"Follow me, c'mon," he prompted. He started walking, and she walked after him still confused as to why they were there. Finally she realized that he was walking towards the stables. That's right he jockeys she remembered.

Dally stopped and waited for Michelle to catch up with him. She walked up closer. "So this is where your horses are?" she asked.

"They are not mine," Dally sighed, "but I wish they were. Riding is the only thing I love," he said next. "I couldn't imagine doing anything else." Michelle noticed how he changed from being a sly smart alec when he was picking her up to being pretty serious now.

"This is my sanctuary," Dally said, looking Michelle straight in the eyes, "I feel free here and when I ride. I can be myself, and nobody is judging me like they do everywhere else. Just 'cause I'm from the poor side of town or 'cause my hair is heavily greased."

"Do people really judge you for that?" she asked.

"All the time," he replied bitterly. "Admit it you judged me when you first arrested me." Michelle blushed. "Just a little bit," she replied quietly.

"See," he said, "but here I can have none of that. The horses don't care what side of town I'm from," he smiled, "the only thing is the other jockeys are always trying to fix the races and honestly I'm sick and tired of that. I'm the fastest, and my horse is the best so I win almost every time and that got them ticked off." Michelle was listening quietly and the expression on her face was that of seriousness and concern. She didn't realize he felt that he was being judged by everyone and this was the only place where he could feel free. She couldn't imagine what that must have felt like.

"Is that why you got into that fight?" she asked.

"Damn right it is," he replied, anger in his voice.

"You have quite a police record," she added. "If you don't want to be judged by people you shouldn't give them a reason and that police record can be a good reason."

"Well, when you are from that side of town," he replied, "it's just something to do and something to be proud of. But don't ya be worried or scared of me," he added with a grin, "I ain't such an asshole."

He paused then continued "let me tell ya the first time I was arrested was at the age of ten. And I went to jail for that too."

"What for?" she frowned.

"Attempted robbery," He replied, staring into the distance, and then continued, "I was living pretty much alone on the streets of New York. My mother left, and my father rented a tiny apartment in the worst possible neighborhood where there were fights going on and people got shot all the time. And he was never home and when he was he was drunk."

Dallas paused, took a deep breath and then continued, "Needless to say we didn't have anything, and I started hanging out with the gang just to protect myself and of course I thought it was tuff, which it was I must admit. They were planning a robbery and I went along with that. It's not like I had a choice, but I would've chosen that anyway. Like I said we didn't have anything, and the guy they chose to rob was some kind of lawyer. There was jewelry in the house, the TV, clothes. The guys though, they were amateurs. They were thirteen and fourteen and they didn't have much experience. The lawyer showed up, called the cops and we were arrested on the spot.

I spent six months in jail and lemme tellya it wasn't fun," Dally scowled remembering his past. "I got beat up by my cellmate, and the guards treated me like shit – withheld food, hit me with their sticks, didn't let me go outside when the rest were outside. There were regular fights in the cafeteria. Then I got solitary for the whole week for fighting. That was the worst week of my life." Michelle was listening patiently a serious expression on her face.

"It must've been really hard," she said sadness in her voice. He nodded – "You get harden in jail, but anyway that's how my police record started and it went on from there." He sighed.

Then he smiled and said, "So what about you?"

"What about me?" she asked shyly. They were waking in the field of tall grass. There was nothing but a field of tall grass there by the stables.

"How did you become a little perfect cop?" He asked curiously.

"Perfect?" she laughed. "I don't share this often, but since you told me your story I'll tell you mine. Can you imagine by the age of sixteen I was heavily addicted to heroin and was leading a self-destructive life style?" Dally frowned, while she continued, "Drinking, partying and not doing anything with my life. My parents found out, and sent me to a rehab, but even that didn't help. Then one day my friend died of overdose, and I got scared," Michelle paled a little, talking about her friend's death.

"Anyway, I asked my parents to send me to rehab again. Lucky for me they had enough money to afford it. One of the programs they had at the rehab was working with the police academy so that's how I ended up being a cop. But I absolutely love it and it's the best thing that happened to me." She stopped talking, looking at Dally expectantly, waiting for his reaction.

"That's quite a story," Dally gave it a whistle, "so you are not perfect after all, that's cool, gives me hope," he chuckled, and she looked down.

"Anyway, ready for a ride?" Dally asked next.

"Sure," she replied. Dally got his key and opened the stables. He then proceeded to one of the stalls. "Meet Spirit. He's the best horse ever." The horse recognized Dally and momentarily started to nibble on the strings of his jacket, then looked worriedly at Michelle. "Don't worry," Dally said, petting the horse, "she is good people." The horse made a small noise as if to say that he understood what Dally was saying.

Dally led the horse outside, and helped Michelle climb on the horse, then climbed in front of her. They started riding. The horse started slowly but then went full speed. Michelle wrapped her arms around Dally's waist. "This is some horse you got yourself Dallas" she said.

"You got that right," he chuckled in response. "Now you see why I gotta win all the races." She chuckled too holding on tighter. They rode for a while. Michelle clearly enjoyed it. They were galloping through the grass, Michelle laughing the whole time. There was a small gutter and the horse took a leap. Michelle screamed holding on tighter.

"Ready to head back?" Dally asked after they've been riding for a while.

"Ok," Michelle replied. They went to the car. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Dally said once they were in the car. He sounded genuine, not showing off or being a smart alec, "I didn't want to bring you to just eat or something. That's boring."

"Thank you for bringing me here," she smiled, "Your horse is really great."

"Would you see me race next time?" he asked.

"Sure" she replied. She was expecting Dally to start the car, but instead he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer and placed his lips on hers. For a moment she had this confused look on her face like she didn't know what to do, then she closed her eyes and started kissing him back.