#and johnny doesn’t really stand up for himself with pony

[boysborntodie]

I think that Johnnyboy’s potential to complicated and messy is criminally untapped in fanon. Ponyboy ‘fucking sucks at feelings, both his own and of others, and can be a bitch’ Curtis and Johnny ‘imperfect victim with shit self-esteem’ Cade would definitely have their ups and downs

[callme-holly]

Hello!! Maybe you could write headcannons with the gang that have a s/o who’s getting picked on? Thank you!!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐒/𝐎 𝐖𝐡𝐨’𝐬 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐧

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - I go back to school in like 2 days... yay, im so thrilled... Also I'm so sorry this took be so long to get to, my inbox is crazy right now but I swear I will get to everyone eventually !! Anyways, hope ya'll enjoy and as always my asks are still open for requests!!

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 - 864 words

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - mentions of being jumped and fighting, that's it

Darry Curtis - 

If Darry found out you were getting picked on by someone, he would go mental

Like he’d be pissed

He’d instantly want to know who it is who’s giving you trouble 

If it’s the socs bothering you you best believe he’s walking everywhere with you 

His concern would go through the roof 

Darry doesn’t strike me as a typically violent person but if whoever is bothering you decides to jump you/cause you any physical harm, you best believe he’s starting something 

If you’re upset, please let him take care of you, it’ll help calm him down somewhat

Sodapop Curtis - 

If Soda finds out someone’s giving you trouble, he’ll instantly feel guilty

He takes it as his job to look after you and by someone hurting you either physically or verbally, he can’t help but feel like he’s let you down a little

He’ll get Steve to track down whoever it is who’s picking on you; you won’t have to worry about them anymore <33

He’ll cuddle with you for ages to try and make you feel better (although it’s mainly to help reassure himself that you’re okay) 

Much like Darry, Soda will walk you everywhere

This boy will not risk leaving your side and if anyone so much as looks your way, he’s giving them a dirty look and pulling you in the opposite direction 

Ponyboy Curtis - 

Pony will feel horrible and a little annoyed when you tell him you’re getting picked on

If it’s the socs giving you trouble, he’s mad

He’ll walk you to and from places and will try to comfort you best he can

If it’s kids from school, he’s got your back 

Pony will defend your case no matter what and if someone so much as says anything about you, he’s shutting them down with some smart comment real fast

And if you get jumped? Oh boy, he feels awful 

He knows what it’s like to get jumped first hand and he’d never wish it upon anyone

He’d get Dallas to have a “word” with whoever it is bothering you and chances are, you won’t see them again after that 

Johnny Cade - 

Johnny gets so upset when he hears that someone is picking on you but he also gets really angry 

Like, you don’t deserve anything bad that comes to you and he will do anything to protect you

I feel like people really down-play his character like, come on ya’ll, he literally stabbed someone to protect his friend 

If he sees someone giving you grief, he’s standing up for you 

He wouldn’t start a fight, no, but he’s definitely let them know what's up

If you get jumped, he’d comfort you in a heartbeat <33 

You two have got the whole gang backing you both up, so there really isn’t anything to worry about when you’re with Johnny 

Dallas Winston - 

Oh, Dallas… 

When he finds out you’re being picked on, he’s asking for names, appearances, addresses - you name it, this boy wants it

He will fight for you and he will make sure that whoever it is that’s bothering you, learns their lesson

And if you get jumped? He’s arranging a rumble and dragging in the Shepard gang to back him up

He’d walk you everywhere, and I mean everywhere

If you think he’s leaving your side for even a second, you’ve got another thing coming 

He’s got an arm around your waist, your shoulders, his hand in your back pocket and if anyone so much as talks to you, he’s standing behind you, glaring them down

He’s defending you in a heartbeat, no matter who the person is that's giving you grief 

Needless to say, nobody messes with Dallas Winston’s girl, and he’s willing to let everyone know just that 

Steve Randle

Much like Dallas, Steve is asking for names almost instantly 

He will not hesitate to fight someone for you

He gets so defensive on your behalf and will become insanely protective over you

If someone has said or done something to you that really bothered you, he’s comforting you and going after the person in a heartbeat

You’re his number one priority and he wants you to be happy at all times 

You think he’s leaving your side? Nope, no chance

He’s gonna be one step behind you at all times and if he catches anyone giving you problems, they’re in for a rough time 

I’m telling you, he’s shooting everyone dirty ass looks 

If someone so much as says “hello” to you, Steve will be coming up behind you 

“this person giving you trouble, babe?” 

He’s just looking out for you 

Two-bit Mathews - 

The second you tell Two-but you’re being picked on, he’s smothering you with love

He’s not letting you go at all 

He doesn’t want anyone making you think you’re worth less than you are 

Secretly, he’s super pissed that someone would even think to mess with you and if he sees them, he won’t hesitate to confront them 

He’s taking you everywhere you need to go, no complaints <3 

If you get jumped, he will not hesitate to help fix you up before tracking down whoever hurt you

𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬!!

[ididdedurmom]

More evil head cannons

I have silly ideas about the gang after the event of the story, everyone lives, except Bob

PONY:

Has a thousand yard stare when he zones out

Has the loudest, most disgusting, mucus filled cough ever

Actually really good at drawing

Has drawn every member of the gang at least twice

Loves physical touch, he leans on his friends when their sitting next to him.

Actually screams during horror movies, like loud genuine screams

Loves play fighting with Darry, like full on wrestling

Steve taught him how to drive

He either walks like a ghost or stomps, there is no in between

He can play one song on the guitar, and that’s it

His legs are super strong, so his kicks hurt really bad

He would be better at track, but his smoking habits hold him back

He feels jealous of Soda and Darry because they had more time with their parents

He and Darry have matching reading glasses

SODA:

He says “I’m just a girl” anytime he gets in trouble

He has used his pretty privilege to get out of being arrested multiple times

Despite how handsome he knows he is, he still feels super insecure about his looks

He steals from the DX station constantly

He and Steve spend hours gossiping about their customers once both of their shifts are over

A dog bit him when he was a kid, now he’s deathly afraid of them

He loves physical affection, hugging him is the best way to cheer him up

Absolute candy addict

Candy is the #1 item he steals from the DX

He broke his dominant hand once, and now his handwriting is permanently ruined

He reads insanely slow and monotone when he reads out loud

He either sleeps like a rock, or wakes up from the slightest sound, there is no in between

He lives in his flannel, that thing hasn’t been washed in literal years

He suffers from middle child syndrome, he knows his brothers love him, but they don’t pay enough attention to him

DARRY:

He hates his jobs, he knows he has to go but he can’t stand them

All of his coworkers are old and they treat him like a child (which he’s kind of okay with in a way)

He loves watching cartoons but he feels like he’d be wasting his time

He sneezes like a dad

He wakes up at 4 am and works out immediately

Loves compliments and words of affection

Doing favors is his love language

He has the whitest legs ever, he’s all tan on the top and snow white on the bottom

His tan ends where his pants start

Small bits of his hair are grey, he doesn’t know

He has a fear of abandonment

He is insanely flexible for a man of his size, like he can touch the floor standing up with ease

He hit a dog with his car once and cried for 2 hours straight

He loves cuddling on the couch with his brothers, it helps him relax

He despises Curly Shepard, he’s civil with Tim, but he HATES Curly

When he comes home from his ski trips with his old friends, he actually looks his age

A woman once assumed he was Pony’s father, and it made him die inside a little

He can’t stand Mother and Fathers Day

He was mad at Steve when he found out he taught Pony how to drive

TWO-BIT:

He and Dally bond by harassing women

He has a box full of things he’s stolen

His slight alcoholism stems from his father

He let’s his sister paint his nails, and he shows them off proudly

He gets his nails painted before rumbles

He watches soap operas with his mother every night

He can play the trumpet

He has never purchased a pack of cigarettes, only stolen

He listens to metal

When he passes Johnny’s house, he has to actively stop himself from walking in and beating Johnny’s parents half to death, especially his father

Its not that he doesn’t want a job, I mean he doesn’t, it’s that he thinks he’d only mess up whenever they had him do

He constantly forgets to brush his teeth

Pop and beer are the only things he drinks, he doesn’t touch water

He religiously wears Mickey Mouse merch, you will never catch him in a plain shirt

Baby Pony and him got along really well, he was kinda like Pony’s goofy cousin

Two-Bit and Darry have been friends since they were little kids

Two has no plans for his future, and it weighs on him

He broke both of his elbows once

His teachers have kinda given up on him, they just treat him like a bother instead of a student

STEVE:

He messes up Pony’s hair every chance he gets

He uses the most hair grease out of everyone

He has had the same comb for 3 years

He constantly smells like oil

The underside of his nails are always black, no matter how much he washes his hands

He and Soda have matching scars from a shared failed attempt to climb a barb wired fence

He is terrified of the police

He and Soda make your mom jokes at each other, despite neither of them having mothers

His voice is scarily deep when he wakes up

He and Two-Bit have an inside joke no one in the gang understands

He, Soda, and Two-Bit all have matching stick and poke tattoos

He hates his father, and by extension the fathers of Johnny and Two-Bit

He and Dally don’t hang out much, but when they do they are absolute menaces

Dally and him steal cars and hub caps together

He is genuinely upset by the size of his nose

JOHNNY:

He’s dyslexic

His handwriting is atrocious

His best subject is math

He and the gang all picked out stickers to put on his crutches

He loves sleeping around his friends

His hands are rough

He can’t stand the smell of beer, unless it’s one of the gang

He and Curly hate each other for literally no reason

Pony has slowly been teaching him to read better

No matter how much grease he puts in his hair, it won’t stay back

He hates going out in public because people always look at him funny

He hates looking at his burn scars

He, Dally, and Ponyboy watch sunsets together

He either sleeps at the Cutis’s house, Two-Bit’s house, Steve’s (very rarely), or Dallas’s place.

He’s not allowed to sleep in the lot anymore

He has tons of freckles, you just can’t see them against his skin

He loves sleeping outside when he wants to

He never wants children, he’s to scared he’ll become his father

His pain tolerance is so high that sometimes he won’t even notice when he gets injured

He likes how defensive Dallas is of him, makes him feel confident

He smokes marijuana with Dally sometimes, he’s super anxious when they do though because he doesn’t want to get arrested

DALLY:

He will not talk about his feelings

The cops forced him to go to therapy, it didn’t fix anything

He is amazing at lying

The police know him by name

He hasn’t told the gang much about the past other than where he came from and that he doesn’t talk to his folks

Darry nicknamed him “Rat”

He actually feels bad when Darry yells at him

He gets sun burns very quickly

He has his own personal stench

He doesn’t want Johnny to end up like him

He cried for 3 hours straight when he found out Johnny was still alive, it is his most embarrassing moment

He chugs drinks insanely fast

He can’t read very well

He needs glasses but he thinks he’d look like a wimp if he had any

Even though he knows he could have an asthma attack from coughing to hard, he still doesn’t carry his inhaler

He was happy when he thought he was going to die

Then he woke up and had an epiphany about life, it didn’t do to much, but now he knows death isn’t the only option

He proudly shows off the burn marks on his arm

He loves pushing Johnny around in his wheelchair

He listens to outlaw music and Frank Sinatra

He loves horror movies

He toned down his bad behavior once he got out of the hospital, he’s still a dick though

That’s it or whatever. I hope you like them, I’m sorry if some of them don’t make sense. I’m just so silly. I apologize for my horrible grammar lol. Feel free to tell me some of your head cannons!! :D

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Angsty Post Outsiders Headcanons

-Ponyboy gets real cuddly for a while, but Darry and Soda don’t mind because it’s kind of nice their kid brother is still a kid, even though he’s grown up a lot. Darry in particular will just sit with Pony on the couch with an arm around his shoulders, and it helps keep Pony grounded

-For a while, none of the gang can stand to say either Johnny or Dally’s names, because whenever they get brought up Pony goes completely blank, Darry’s eyes get cold, Soda tears up, Steve picks a fight, and Two-bit goes out drinking

-The long term effects from Ponyboy’s concussion leave him with balance issues, blurry vision, and dizzy spells for a while. It has Darry terrified about the possibility of him having long term brain damage and has Pony really stressed. Soda doesnt know what to do so he just pretends everything is fine, but his positivity is so false he cant even fool himself

-The first time Ponyboy voluntarily leaves the house after everything is when Curly Shepard gets out of the reformatory and shows up on the Curtis’ porch looking for him. A bit of the spark has returned to Ponyboy’s eye when he gets back that night and because of that Darry can’t really hate Curly Shepard as much as he wants to. Sodapop loathes the kid enough for both of them anyhow

-Steve notices Dally’s absence the most whenever he’s stealing cars because Dal used to know where the best places to drive them and then drop them without being noticed by the fuzz

-Sodapop is super wary of girls after Sandy, and Steve hates that he’s secretly happy about it because even though they get to spend a lot more time together now, Sodapop is clearly still heartbroken

-Curly Shepard has always liked booze a little too much, and even though Ponyboy doesn’t like the taste he quickly learns to like the feeling of being drunk and not having to think about Johnny or Dal. Surprisingly, Two-bit is the one to shake some sense into him after everyone else was unsuccessful

-Steve starts playing music real loud all the time and no one gets why. (He does it because everything is so quiet all the time without Dal causing trouble and Johnny and Ponyboy always muttering to each other and snickering)

-Steve was the first person in the gang to find out about Curly and Ponyboy being a couple when he walked in on them cuddling one day. They don’t notice him and he didn’t tell anyone, not even Soda, because if what happened to Johnny and Dally taught him anything it’s that rash actions and loose lips have a cost he isn’t willing to pay

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

The gang walking in on you changing

A little nsfw! (Not really but implication)

Ponyboy Curtis

-so embarrassed fr

-he slaps his palm over his face, standing there looking like a fish with that mouth open

-walks out backwards and closes the door

-doesn’t peek

-when he gets out of the room he does slightly blush at what he remembers seeing

-“C-Christ y/n there is such thing as locks yk”

Johnny Cade

-so apologetic

-“Golly y/n I’m so sorry I didn’t realize you were- uh- I’m sorry, real sorry”

-he stares at your eyes when apologizing, not glancing down once

-when he realizes he’s still staring at you when apologizing he immediately leaves

-his face is so red it’s not even funny

-he gets the most flustered besides pony

Sodapop Curtis

-he would definitely look you up and down

-nod in approval

-grin smugly

-“lookin good, y/n”

-and leave

Darry Curtis

-he looks like a deer in headlights

-he just stands there dumbfounded

-“Are you going to… go?”

-“Right. Uh, yeah. Yeah.”

-closed the door quickly and grumbles “y/n… leaving the damn door unlocked…”

-debates opening it for a small peek but decides against it, he’s supposed to be the mature one

-not some desperate boy

Dallas Winston

-pervert

-smirks and closes the door behind him

-“Need some company?”

-“Get out, Dal.”

-*puts his hands up* “Fine, alright alright”

-before he leaves he takes one last good look

-he’s saving that image fs for uhm…. Later uses

-“But, if you ever wanna hook up y/n-“

-“Dal I said get out!”

-you’d have to essentially push him out of the room

-*as you push him out* “You’re a doll, y/n!”

Two Bit Matthews

-a low whistle would come outta this one’s mouth istg

-would fs smirk and look you up and down

-“Hey by the way, locks were invented for a reason sweetheart.”

-would leave very slowly, closing the door at a snails pace with a shit eating grin

-would crack jokes about it to you for the rest of the day

Steve Randle

-raises his eyebrows

-crosses his arms

-“y/n there’s this crazy thing called locking the door ever heard of it?”

-sneakily pretends like he didn’t glance at you a few times before closing the door

-when it’s fully closed he smirks to himself, he’d need a peice of that sometime

[johnnycakesswitch]

Hey!! I see you’ve been reblogging a lot of sickfic type headcanons and was wondering if maybe you had any for the curtis bros and or johnny?? I’m a sucker for sickfics and I feel like you’d have some really cute headcanons haha

Ok I’m sorry I took a minute to answer but I wanted to think up some rly good ones for you!! Sick fics are my absolute fav so I will do my best!

Ponyboy

• he’s the baby of the family so he gets absolutely doted on when he’s sick and he loves it so much

• gets so many colds in the winter. His nose is perpetually red from having to blow it so much. Always has a wet cough

• when he’s sick he really enjoys being held or laying in someone’s lap on the couch. Soda will hold him close at night and do whatever he can to make him comfy enough to sleep like rub his tummy or back or play with his hair, he absolutely hates seeing his baby brother hurting

• when his head is hurting really bad, Soda will massage his neck and shoulders because migraines really make your entire body hurt so bad

• if his head isn’t hurting too bad he likes watching tv because he’s bored so he’ll curl up on the couch with a bunch of blankets and watch tv with whoever’s around

• If no one else can get off work, Two-Bit will stay home from school and watch Pony. He’s actually really good at taking care of people and Pony likes having him there when his brothers can’t be

• if Pony gets too anxious or stressed he’ll get awful stomachaches, he’ll be nauseous all the time and have no appetite. His brothers know there really isn’t much they can do until he stops feeling this way so Darry just makes him food that’s easy to digest and Soda always rubs his stomach so he doesn’t make himself sick

• if Pony is really sick like a flu or something he’ll lay in bed with Darry, partially because it reminds him of his parents and because his bed is bigger and more comfortable. Usually Soda ends up squeezing in there too

• not necessarily dramatic but can be very whiny. Not in an annoying way but he’ll like make noises in his sleep or just these unintelligible sounds when someone asks him a question, especially if he’s got a bad headache. Just incoherent, miserable whines

• very pukey kid, can’t keep anything down if his stomach is sick and usually throws up if he’s got a migraine. On rare occasions though, he’ll be super nauseous but not actually able to throw up which he hates more than anything, he’d rather just get it over with than feel queasy for a long time

• will stand in the doorway of Darry’s room like “I frew up 🧍‍♂️”

• Darry and Soda really fuss over him like always checking his temperature, asking him what doesn’t feel good, making sure he stays hydrated and try to get something in his tummy. Usually he doesn’t like being babied but being sick is the only exception and he will complain if he feels like he isn’t getting enough attention

• bro will whine about drinking ginger ale and asks for Pepsi instead and Darry’s just like bruh be fr

Sodapop

• poor Soda is a tummy ache survivor. He has such a sensitive stomach it’s not even funny. He physically can’t hide if he’s sick because his stomach starts making these awful noises and that’s how the others always know he’s not feeling good

• don’t even try to make him eat when he’s sick because he will throw it right back up

• when he gets sick it’s like really bad. He gets very high fevers and body aches and is just completely miserable

• needs to be physically comforted because he’s always just so uncomfortable when he’s sick. He likes having his belly rubbed or his back or having his scalp massaged. Darry does that for him to put him to sleep when he’s sick and it works like a charm. Another thing Darry will do is rub his shoulders and arms which he loves because Soda always has trouble getting warm when he’s sick and it feels so nice on his achy muscles

• gets sore throats a lot bc bro breathes w his mouth open at night ✋😭

• Soda looks so endearing when he’s sick though because his eyes are all glossy and his cheeks are flushed and he’s always bundled up under a bunch of blankets which makes him look so tiny and precious

• he always psychs himself out about being sick like he’ll convince himself that he has to throw up so Darry will go sit with him in the bathroom and it won’t ever come and he’s just like “no I swear I’m gonna throw up” and Darry just has to coax him back to bed because it’s been like an hour. Sometimes bro honestly just needs to burp and ends up feeling so much better after

• the most dramatic sneezes ever, if Soda has a cold it’s everyone’s problem bc you can hear him sneeze a block away

• he’s a very emotional sick person if he’s super sick, always really teary and upset because he feels so yucky

• worries Darry so much because he overheats so easily, his temperature will go from low fever to veering on dangerously high like nothing

• Darry makes him put a cold cloth on his face or neck and he hatesss this he always tries to take it off because he hates being cold so Darry will have to sit with him and hold it in place or make sure he doesn’t move it either until Soda falls asleep or Darry thinks it’s been long enough

Darry

• gets sick like a regular amount but it’s usually not that bad

• when he does get pretty sick though, he tries to stay away from the others so they don’t get sick too

• this never works because Soda and Pony will break into his room to snuggle him which he can’t deny that he loves

• the one thing that really gets poor Darry is a cold. He gets the most uncomfortable colds, his ears always ache, his head hurts, his nose runs, it’s just miserable. Soda and Pony can always tell when one is coming on because his colds tend to start with a sore throat and his voice gets really raspy

• Soda will massage his back to help him sleep because he’s so restless when he’s sick and can’t seem to relax properly :(

• stomach bugs affect him the least, he tends to throw up once and feels so much better after, which is good because they definitely hit Pony and Soda hard so he likes that he can quickly feel better and take care of them

• super light sensitive when he has headaches so if he’s holed up in his room for hours, the others know he isn’t feeling good

• when Darry is sick, Soda and Ponyboy make him soup which is actually super good and he really enjoys. They’ll lay in bed with him after and cuddle, Soda usually lays his head on Darry’s stomach and Pony on his chest and Darry puts his arms around them both. It’s soothing for all of them

• he actually gets sick frequently in the winter but it’s a bunch of small, not serious stuff. Like low grade fevers that’ll last a day, a random cough, sore throats, etc. He doesn’t like the winter because he feels like he’s perpetually not 100%

• will always try to go to work, but one time Soda convinced him to stay home by saying “what if you throw up off the roof” and the thought of that was so embarrassing to Darry that he stayed home so he wouldn’t risk it

Johnny

• will usually camp it out at the Curtis house or at Buck’s with Dally

• a very good patient- he doesn’t mind being left alone but he won’t fight being taken care of either

• Darry will always let Johnny lay in his bed or help him get comfortable on the couch if he would rather be with everyone else

• lots of fevers, whether it’s a flu or a cold or whatever, Johnny always runs warm when he doesn’t feel good

• a very sleepy sickie, he usually just wants to sleep off whatever doesn’t feel good. He likes if another person is near him when he’s sleeping, it makes him feel safe

• Dally will always lay with Johnny when he’s sick and at Buck’s, partially because he knows Johnny likes it and so he can keep an eye on him. If Johnny breathes the wrong way Dally’s like 👀

• Johnny likes if Ponyboy reads to him when he’s sick, it gets his mind off of it

• if he throws up it’s really bad, it usually comes on super fast and it’s always a lot. He can’t always get up in time so if Johnny’s sick best believe someone is getting a bin or a garbage can for him to keep close because he’ll go to completely fine to 🤢 super fast

• being sick really takes all his energy away so even if it’s just the sniffles this boy is TIRED. It’ll be 7 pm and he’s like guys can I go to sleep on the couch now 🥺

• will not go home whatsoever if he’s sick because he just can’t deal with both things at once and everyone knows, so they’ll make sure to tell Johnny to stay over so he doesn’t feel bad about asking and try to sleep outside instead

• everyone coddles him but he appreciates it so much

[alaskan-wallflower]

We always talk about the Curtis bros, but do you have any Johnny hcs? ❤️🎞️

Oh absolutely!

(tw for suicide and s/h mentions)

He used to feed the stray animals of the lot-he’d be walking to the Curtis’ house and there would be an army of kittens and puppies following him

He names them all too, he has favorites but he won’t admit it

His favorite is a black lab he named Mocha and a dark brown cat with green eyes that he named Cinnamon (he loves his food related names)

He has the biggest appetite out of everyone in the gang-when the Curtis brothers would host thanksgiving they would make two turkeys for that reason alone

He’s very light footed and will sidle people by mistake

He hates bio because he hates dissecting things (more so after bobs death- i refuse to accept that Johnny died)

He knows karate because he would watch through a window (tying together Ralph Macchio’s roles lol)

His hair is canonically super fluffy not greased back (in the movie at least) and he secretly loves when people play with it but will never let anyone actually do it unless it’s a gang member

He always makes sassy little quips under his breath and no one gets mad because they’re actually kinda funny and original

Before their deaths, Johnny was super super close to Mrs. Curtis

Like she would leave slices of cake or leftovers from dinner on the windowsill because she knew he was too prideful (and too worried about bothering anyone) to actually ask

He doesn’t get bloated no matter how much he eats. Soda is insanely jealous

He’s not big on cuddling because he’s just jumpy but sometimes he’ll snuggle up with Pony in the lot

He’s one of the shortest in the gang, right after Sodapop (i’d say he’s 5’10’’ or so)

‘He is undefeated in burping contests and he’s proud of it (unless he’s in public then he gets all shy. Dally gives him shit for it like “come on we’ve all heard you before! don’t get all chicken on us now!”)

He isn’t subtle about being hungry either. He by far has the loudest stomach in the gang (coincidental for him being so quiet)

Him and Pony were inseparable as kids and Soda was insanely jealous (he got over it after Mrs Curtis explained Johnny doesn’t have anyone at home like Pony and that Soda has him all the time while Johnny doesn’t)

He never drinks. Ever. Even when he’s of age because he’s seen what it’s done to his parents and it scares him

The rest of the gang know this and they don’t drink around him or come near him when they’re actually drunk

He’s the prettiest crier you’ll ever see

He was an oops baby and his parents have no shame in telling him so. Because of this he often feels like a mistake and takes it out on himself in very bad ways

He has an older sister but she ran away and left him behind. He used to resent her for it but then started wondering if he would’ve gone through with it if she had gone with him

He loves croissants

He isn’t a fan of chocolate and swears sour/gummy things are better (him and Pony have bickered about this)

He has no problem standing up for himself against the gang if he thinks they’re being unfair to him

He’s not really competitive but he’s oddly good at making bets

He doesn’t bother taking a lunch period in school because he never has food anyway

He gets easily embarrassed when people know he’s hungry because he feels like he’s being a burden or something

His mom is Hispanic and his dad is Native American

He’s fluent in Spanish because of this and knows a bunch of insults (mainly because his mom used them on him)

He has a high spice tolerance but spicy stuff makes him burp and hiccup like crazy

He’s a quiet crier. Like he’ll just put his head down and you’ll hear teeny tiny gasps. He kinda trained himself to be quiet though

He loves ducklings. He’s rehabilitated a number of animals because he has genuine care for them but ducklings and birds were always his favorites

He’s on the ace spectrum (Demisexual)

He has the biggest brownest eyes imaginable and knows when to use the puppy eyes to get what he wants (even Dally can’t so no to those puppy eyes)

He often makes jokes absolutely degrading himself and the gang always sits him down for a “101 reasons why we love Johnny” session

He made a joke about offing himself one time. Did not end well. The gang panicked and wouldn’t let him be anywhere alone for months because they were so worried

Speaking of, he’s attempted a number of times but was obviously never successful

He always feels a lump in his throat when he sees anyone with s/h scars because it means they’re hurting in a similar way to him

His parents tried to institutionalize him once but the gang got there before anything could actually happen

His response she to fear tends to be snap back. It’s all he knows. So if he’s afraid or feels threatened he will snap and yell at you

He hates feeling like a pet. The soc girls at school would treat him like a quiet shy pet until he snapped back at them

He despises nearly every soc (before he met cherry and expanded his thought process)

He has a pine allergy and once Darry had a pine scented candle and he almost died (Darry felt awful because he didn’t know)

Whenever the gang roughhouses they go light on him and make a point to not insult him because they don’t want it to turn into something his parents would do

I kinda like to headcanon that he has vitiligo but on his arms and back and such but he’s really insecure about it so he hides it

He has pretty bad PTSD and his panic attacks are intense

He has told the gang to “shut the fuck up” when they got too loud

Coincidentally he despises johnnycakes (he melts when it’s used as a nickname for him tho)

He’s kinda big on pet names because he didn’t get that a lot as a kid from anyone besides Mrs. Curtis. But he also doesn’t like to feel babied

That’s all I have for now-really went on the angst train…woof-anyway-hope you enjoy!

[littlestarbigsky]

finally finished my stats work for the week (ily chatgpt) soooo fic time :))

listen i reallllly love the idea of at least some of the greasers having good parents sooo two-bit and his sister get a good mom ;) also! i realize two-bit’s sister doesn’t canonically have a name but i saw someone call her molly like.. once.. so i’ve just been running with that lol

i wrote half of this when i wanted to write angst and then finished it when i was in a better mood so that’s what that’s about lol

anyways here’s the matthews family helping darry when pony gets sick :)

it was almost midnight when the sound of someone pounding on the front door jerked two-bit awake from where he had been dozing off watching cartoons. he shifted on the couch to look out the window, fully expecting to see steve or johnny needing a place to crash, hell, he wouldn’t have been shocked if a cop was standing outside the door because some socs had blamed some vandalism on him, wouldn’t be the first time. the last thing he was expecting to see was…

darry?

truth be told, it had been a while since he’d really seen darry. he saw pony at school most days, and he would swing by the dx to visit soda when he could, but since their parents died, darry had been busting his ass at all hours of the day to make ends meet, which didn’t leave much time for him to hang around with the rest of their crew.

you’d think darry was trying to break down their door with how hard he was pounding it. two-bit lazily pushed himself off the couch and hurried over to the door.

darry looked a real mess when two-bit opened the door, violet shadows stamped beneath his eyes, his hair sticking out in all directions, and he was in need of a shave and a shower.

“darry, what-”

“i’m sorry, i know i got no business comin’ here this time of night, but i-” he broke off, his breath coming in short, panicked, gasps.

“hey, you don’t gotta apologize,” two-bit grabbed his arm and ushered him into the house, out of the cool, early-spring, air. “what’s the matter? what’s got ya all worked up?”

“i need-” darry cut himself off and immediately started pacing the living room floor. “your mom… is she here? i need to talk to her…”

it was a mark of how badly darry was scaring two-bit that he didn’t crack a joke, just asked again, “darry, what’s going on?”

“it’s pony… he- he’s got a fever. i thought maybe he just needed a day to rest and get better but soda told me he’s been getting worse all day…” darry had to take a moment to gasp in another breath before continuing. “i- i don’t know what medicine to give him… he was real hot when i left, he always gets so bad when he’s sick… none of us have gotten sick since-”

“i know,” darry didn’t finish, but two-bit didn’t need him to, he knew he was about to say that none of them had gotten sick since their parents had died. he felt a lump swelling in his throat as he watched darry pace and panic across the living room floor.

“hey, dar,” he started gently. “how about you have a seat. i think mama’s still awake, i’ll go get her.”

darry nodded, squeezing his eyes shut, but he didn’t sit down, he just stood still where he was.

when two-bit came back with his mother a few minutes later, it was like watching a superhero go to work. he leaned against the doorframe that led to the hallway with the bedrooms, watching his mother envelop darry in her arms and gently guide him over to the couch. she coached him through a few deep breaths to calm him down a bit before starting to ask him what was wrong with ponyboy, how long he had been sick, what he’d been eating, if he’d been sleeping much. darry answered all of her questions quickly and succinctly, rattling off symptoms with painstaking ease.

a door creaked open behind two-bit, and he turned around to see his 12 year-old kid sister standing in her doorway. molly’s pajama shirt and shorts didn’t match, her hair was all messy from sleep, and her gray eyes seemed huge in the dim light shining in from the living room. he didn’t know what made him do it, maybe he was realizing how glad he was that he didn’t have to worry over molly like this, but without a word, he pulled her into his side.

“haven’t seen darry in forever,” molly said sleepily, her words almost slurring together.

“me neither, kiddo,” he answered, running a hand up and down molly’s arm. “he’s got a lot more to worry about now.”

“what’s he doin here then? shouldn’t he be at home sleeping?”

he had to laugh at the innocence of the question, of course darry should have been at home sleeping, he shouldn’t have to be staying up all night with a sick ponyboy, his parents should be doing that. he should be in college. he should be bringing home stories about parties and inviting his family to his football games, not losing sleep over what medicine he should be giving his little brother.

“ponyboy’s not feeling so hot,” two-bit finally answered. “darry just isn’t used to doing it all by himself.”

“so he’s askin mama?”

“yeah, she’s pretty good at gettin us better when we’re feeling lousy, right?”

“i guess so,” molly shrugged, taking a step forward, going into the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of water.

two-bit tuned back into what his mother was saying to darry.

“it doesn’t sound like anything too serious, probably just the flu. with any luck, he may already be through the worst of it,” she was saying to him, one of her hands rubbing his shoulder comfortingly.

“okay…” darry’s voice was thick with unshed tears, the tension between him and the dam breaking almost palpable. “what- what should i give him to help?”

“maybe some aspirin for the pain-”

“no,” darry practically shouted, so fast he knew he had sounded rude. “sorry, i caught pony takin’ too many aspirins last week, i don’t wanna be givin him that stuff…”

“that’s okay, honey,” she answered, ever patient. “how about some tylenol? that will help with the fever and won’t have aspirin in it. for his stomach, pepto bismol is probably best. and if he starts getting those bodyaches again, the tylenol should help but ibuprofen works, too, it’s an anti-inflammatory. do you guys have all that?”

“i-” darry looked at her with an expression that was so helpless and exhausted and scared. he had no idea if that had any of that stuff, let alone which did what and how much he should be giving his brother. the thought alone was so overwhelming. he felt his eyes glass over just thinking of having to wake pony up to persuade him to take the cocktail of medicine.

she reached up and ran a hand through his hair and over his cheek, “it’s okay, sweetheart, you can borrow what we’ve got. use as much as you need, you can give it back when pony’s feeling better.”

darry took a second before he opened his mouth to stutter out, “h-how much…”

“i’ll write it all down for you,” she answered, patting him on the knee as she stood up and headed towards the bathroxcom. darry’s head fell into his hands, breathing deeply and clearly doing everything he could to keep it together.

he only looked up when molly came over from the kitchen and nudged his shoulder, “shouldn’t you be in bed, little lady?”

molly just shrugged, sitting down on the floor in front of the couch, “kinda hard when you’re bangin’ on the door so loud.”

darry chuckled wetly, “sorry about that, kiddo, i’ll just break in through two-bit’s window next time.”

molly’s eyes widened, “don’t do that! he’ll scream like a little girl!”

darry laughed again. two-bit leaned his head against the threshold and crossed his arms across his chest, watching his sister break down darry’s carefully structured walls without even trying.

“i brought you this,” she held up something in a white wrapper. “it’s a popsicle, mama always tells us that there’s no trouble out there that a popsicle can’t help. might not fix it, but it sure can’t hurt.”

“thanks, molly, but i don’t think it’s a good idea,” darry sighed. “pony’s stomach is bothering him, i don’t wanna make it worse.”

“it’s not for ponyboy, it’s for you,” she crinkled the paper and held it closer to him to grab. “it’s strawberryyyyyy.”

darry let out a laugh, a true laugh, and took the popsicle from molly. two-bit pushed himself off the doorframe and grabbed two more popsicles from the freezer before handing one to molly and sitting down next to her on the floor.

their mother came back from the bathroom with the medicine in a bag for darry, stopping dead when she saw molly with him.

“what do you think you’re doing, little miss?” she asked, and molly whipped around. “it’s almost midnight what are you doing with a popsicle?”

molly pressed her red stained lips together and pointed at two-bit, “he gave it to me.”

two-bit pointed at molly, “she gave one to darry.”

their mother’s eyes jumped up to darry on the couch, his half finished popsicle still in his mouth. he shrugged and pulled it out of his mouth, pushing himself off the couch, “is that the medicine?”

“yep, this should be everything,” she smiled, her attention fully back on darry. “i wrote down all of the dosages and what should help with what, but if you need anything else, i wrote down our phone number.”

darry grinned sheepishly, “i know your phone number…”

“well then, you should have no trouble letting us know if things get worse,” she handed him the medicine and grabbed his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “because you are too damn young to have to do all this by yourself. pride has no place where help is being offered, darry.”

darry leaned into the touch. god, when was the last time someone had given the poor kid a hug?

“let us know when the kid’s doing better, steve and i will bring over some snacks,” two-bit said, standing up from the floor, ruffling molly’s hair as he got up.

darry nodded wordlessly and took the bag of medicine. he walked over to the door, looking like he was about to leave before he turned around and looked right at molly, who was leaning up against two-bit’s legs.

“you were right, kid.”

molly tilted her head, but darry only smiled and held up what was left of his popsicle.

“might not fix it, but it sure can’t hurt.”

[ciaossu-imagines]

Because there’s a pretty small cast of characters for The Outsiders, I tried to cover quite a few of the major characters when smutting it up! I used this prompt here and hope you lovely readers enjoy!

Our characters are playing strip poker and they’re both down to their underwear. How would the character react to seeing you just played the winning hand?

Ponyboy

Pony’s actually pretty against playing strip poker. Even the very idea of it embarrasses him. He protests at first but in the end, he finds it hard to refuse you and the hands go by, him resolutely staring at his cards, trying so hard to resist the temptation to greedily drink in the sight of each new exposed body part you show to him. He manages pretty well but you can’t help but notice his gaze on you every now and then, can see the blush on his face and how red the tips of his ears are, to say nothing of how hard he’s getting. He won’t even manage to get to the last hand. It’s the second to last hand when your bra comes off and you remove it so slowly that he knows you’re enjoying this, teasing him with it and he really can’t handle it anymore and stands up abruptly. His brain can’t form words and he will go crazy if he stays there at the table with you even one second longer and he’s almost tripping over himself as he leaves, stumbling his way into his bedroom, just to have a second to collect himself before he makes an ass out of himself by doing something you might not even want him to. It’s only when you follow him to the bedroom, coming up behind him with a low, murmured ‘everything’s okay, Pony, I promise’, your mostly naked body pressing up against his back, one arm going around his chest as the other one wraps around his clothed cock that Pony really lets go of any last doubts he has about the situation.

Sodapop

Soda’s more than up for a little game of strip poker. He’s stupid, but he’s not an idiot and he knows that if you agree, you’re more than okay with where the game might lead. He takes his time with the game, his smile growing wider with each hand he wins. He’s not going to bother pretending he’s not staring at you or hiding how hard you’ve gotten him. He throws the last hand completely because at that point, he’s so damn needy for you. He’s going to grin at you as you so triumphantly lay down the winning hand, tipping you a wink as he stands up and casually slides his boxers down, letting them pool around his feet. “Y’know, if you wanted to see me naked, all you need to do is ask,” he drawls out, eyes never leaving your face, enjoying the look of admiration and hunger in your eyes as you stare at him.

Darry

You don’t even get to play the game with Darry. He’s staring hard at you as you bring it up, trying to sound casual and teasing as you challenge him to a game of strip poker. He’s quiet, just looking at you and letting the silence drag out for a good long minute before a hint of a grin makes its way onto his face. He’s a smart man and he knows what you’re after. “I have a better idea,” he says, chuckling softly. “Why don’t we just head to the bedroom? Quicker and easier than wasting time playing around.”

Johnny

Johnny’s another one who doesn’t really want to play. He’s such a nervous mess about even the idea but he’s another one who can’t really refuse you. He doesn’t even know how to begin refusing you, stuttering and stammering over his words as you challenge him to the game. And, honestly, he’s a little more than interested in the chance to see you naked but like, at the same time, he’s kind of dying at the idea of seeing you naked and he just kind of quietly goes along with your idea because his mind is not working properly and he can’t find the right words. He’s a terrible poker player, and you throw a lot of hands to give yourself the opportunity to lose your clothing just as often as he loses his. He’s trying hard but with your naked body on display, he has no poker face and no real focus on the game. You actually throw the last hand instead of playing to win, ready to devour the man already. “Ah, seems I’ve lost,” you all but coo out, standing up and slowly sliding your panties off, letting them hit the floor before kicking them off. You make your way slowly towards him, enjoying how he’s staring, wide-eyed, pupils dilated and mouth hanging open slightly, just so intent on the sight of your fully naked body. Dropping to your knees in front of him, you smile wickedly as your hands slide up his thighs. “Seems only fair if I congratulate the winner, right, Johnny?”

Dally

Okay, but Dally is totally the one who even suggested the two of you played strip poker and he’s taunting and teasing you into accepting. And he’s also going to be the one to cheat to ensure he wins. You win only one hand, where he casually tosses aside his shirt. He’s got that crazy little Cheshire cat grin on his face the whole time and when he lays that last  hand on the table, he’s quick to get up and head to you as you rise and start to reach to pull down your underwear, pouting. His hands settle on yours, his mouth right next to your ear, his soft laugh rumbling in his chest. “Why don’t you let me take care of those for you?” he offers, fingers already tucking under the fabric.

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

orange peel

Darry hasn’t slept well in years. In fact, he can’t remember the last time he got a full night’s sleep. The stress of his parents’ death along with Ponyboy’s nightmares and the never ending stress about money and his brothers’ well being does that to a person. It tends to work out well for him though. It means he’s awake when Johnny appears in their living room, needing an ice pack and something to eat. And that he can answer three am calls from Dally to pick him up from jail. 

Tonight though, the house is silent. 

Pony and Soda have been asleep for a few hours. For the first time in days, their couch is empty. With Dally in jail for a few days and Johnny sleeping with Steve in the lot, it’s just the three of them. 

The kitchen light flickers ever so slightly, it’s yellow light warming the pages of bills in front of him. With his red pen and dull pencil, he works on their finances, double and triple checking that they can afford everything for the month. 

He knows it’s a bad habit, but he chews on the end of his pen. He is startled from his thoughts when a floorboard by the hallway. Turning over his shoulder, he sees Ponyboy standing nervously in the doorway. He’s wearing a track team shirt and a pair of pajama pants that probably belong to Soda. His hair looks akin to a bird’s nest, the impression of his pillow still on his cheek. 

Most of the time Pony tries to look older. He smokes and greases his hair and acts tough. It’s at rare moments like this that he actually looks like the kid he is. 

“You have a nightmare?” Darry asks softly. Pony pads over and roots around in the fridge before pulling out an orange. He sits down in the chair beside Darry, drawing his legs to his chest as he starts to peel the orange. “Pone?” Darry prompts.

“Yeah.” He keeps his eyes focused on the orange. “I didn’t think you’d be up.”

Darry heard what he really meant. I was counting on you being asleep. Unsure of how to proceed, Darry gently nudges Pony’s hands away from the orange. He’d been pulling off the peel in little chunks that now lie scattered on the table. Darry digs his nails into the pith to peel it properly. 

“Thank you,” Pony says quietly. “It wasn’t one of the bad ones. I didn’t wake up Soda, he needs to sleep.” So do you, Darry wants to add, but instead he hands Pony a slice of the orange. 

“What was it about?”

Pony looks hesitant to say, taking small bites of the orange. Usually he doesn’t remember them and would be quick to say so. Not this time. Darry gives him a reassuring smile and squeezes his little brother’s knee. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“It-It was about you.” For a moment, Darry starts to panic. He was the cause of his brother’s nightmare, he hurt his little brother and now- “You were in the car with mom and dad,” Pony adds. “And Soda and I were alone and they split us up and we kept getting jumped because you weren’t there-”

Pony starts to work himself into a panic so Darry does the only thing he can think of and pulls Pony into his arms. Though he’s a teenager and finally had a growth spurt, Pony curls into the embrace, his fingers gripping the back of Darry’s shirt as tight as possible. 

“Shh,” Darry tells him softly, “it’s alright, little buddy. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere. As long as I’m around, you never have to worry about being alone.”

“Promise?” Pony asks, his voice cracking with tears.

Darry felt his own eyes grow wet and the vulnerability in his little brother’s voice. He held Pony just a little tighter. “I swear, I swear, Ponykid. Your mine, you and Soda. I ain’t gonna let anyone take you away from me.” 

It takes a couple more minutes of comforting words and kisses to his head for Pony to stop crying. Darry smiles at Pony and nudges the orange towards him. Taking the cue, Pony starts eating again. 

“I’m sorry for crying all over you,” Ponyboy murmurs self consciously. He reaches up and wipes the rest of his tears away with his wrist.

Darry shrugs, “It’s alright. Soda threw up all over me the first time he had beer, trust me, tears are much better.” 

Just as he planned, Pony laughs. God, he’ll never get tired of that laugh. It’s then that another voice joins them, Soda. He must have been woken up by their voices or the absence of Pony in the bed. “What’s so funny?” Soda asks, dragging a hand through his hair as he plops down in one of the chairs. 

“You throwing up on Darry,” Pony says, still smiling. He slides a few orange slices towards Soda who shoves them into his mouth. 

“Which is why you’re not allowed to drink,” Soda gestures with an orange at the youngest boy. Pony rolls his eyes. 

“You two should go back to bed,” Darry tells them with a meaningful look. “It’s getting late.”

“You too, superman.” Soda rises, giving Pony’s neck an affectionate squeeze and running his hand over Darry’s shoulder. “Can’t have you fall asleep on a roof tomorrow, can we?”

Darry knows Soda is right, he usually is. “I’m right behind you.” 

Soda takes Pony’s hand, “Come on, honey. You got school tomorrow.” After finishing the last of his orange, Pony lets himself be led back to their bedroom. Darry sits there for just a moment longer and sweeps the orange rind into his hand. 

It smells of summertime and sunshine and his littlest brother’s laughter. 

When Darry finally makes his way towards his bedroom, he peeks into his brothers’ first. Soda and Pony are curled together under patchwork blankets. While Pony is fast asleep, Soda is still up. Over Pony’s head they make eye contact and Soda nods, pressing a kiss to Pony’s head. 

Darry lets his hand trail along the door frame. His brothers are safe, they’re together. That’s all he could ever ask for. 

[authorandartist13]

Respite--An Outsiders fic

“You sleep at your folks’ last night?” Discomfort creeps up his esophagus. “Nah.” Johnny wakes, and sleeps, and wakes again. There's a cycle to his couch-crashing, but he always feels a lap behind.

Hey hi hello! Welcome to my first (published) Outsiders fic. CW: Brief verbal/physical abuse of a minor, mentions of alcoholism. Not extensively detailed or graphic, but keep yourselves safe. We're gonna hit it with some homey comfort and a touch of angst for flair, folks. Here we go!

The Curtis place is separate from the outside world.

Here, it’s quiet. Johnny usually can’t stand the stale, tense silences lining the walls of his house, but this quiet just–isn’t that. It’s full, somehow, with the rustling of turning newspaper pages and the soft drone of the refrigerator in the background. And the inevitable clattering pots and pans from Soda’s attempts at cooking, of course. 

The screen door slams, and a haze of cigarette smoke announces Dallas’ presence as he ambles into the room. “Hey, Johnnycakes.” He kicks up his feet in the recliner. “You stayin’ the night?”

“Probably.”

“Sweet deal.” Dally frowns at the television. “What’re you watching?”

Johnny shrugs. “Dunno. Was on when I got here. Haven’t really been paying attention.”

“It’s Antiques Roadshow,” Soda calls from the kitchen. “Pony’s convinced he’s got a winning baseball card that’s gonna put him through college.”

“It could!” Pony says, indignant over the commentary of an appraiser examining a dusty trombone case, sans trombone. “Sometimes they show sports stuff, and most of the time it’s worth at least a couple hundred bucks.” Disgruntled, he adds, “Which I keep tellin’ them, but all they wanna watch is football.”

Darry pokes his head out from the kitchen entryway. There’s sawdust mixed in with the flour in his hair. “And I’m telling you the only thing that’s gonna put you through college are your grades, little buddy. You finish your homework yet?”

“Pretty much.”

Darry raises an eyebrow. 

Pony throws his hands in the air. “Alright, alright, I’ll go do the rest of it. Hey, Johnny, holler if they start looking over trading cards, yeah?”

“Sure.”

As soon as Pony’s out of sight, Dallas snatches the remote up and changes the channel. An old stick-’em-up western rattles through the crackling screen. Johnny thumbs through a pack of cards, half-watching two gunslingers trading leveled stares across the wavering heat. Dallas flicks a napkin scrap at him. 

“Deal me in, kid. Or are you playing fifty-two card pick-up?”

“Might be once we’re finished,” Johnny says, dividing the cards between them. “And you chuck ‘em all over the place.”

Dallas raises a wry eyebrow. “Don’t bet your milk money on that one.”

When Johnny whips him in poker, the house erupts with so much noise it drags Ponyboy out of his essay-induced stupor. 

*****

Johnny wakes to a hand on his shoulder. Blearily, he sits up, maybe a little faster than necessary. Soda’s standing over him, his hand now gone. Johnny’s skin feels suddenly cold without it. 

“Hey,” Soda whispers. “You need to be home by now?”

Johnny glances at the clock on the wall, remembers it got broke last week from one of Soda and Steve’s wrestling matches, and digs out his watch. Six-thirty. Shit. 

He pulls himself up with a smothered sigh and makes quick work of collecting his things. “I better,” he says, tying his blackened shoe laces. “Thanks, Soda. Tell Darry I said it, too.”

Soda shoots him a thumbs-up. Before Johnny can slip out the door, he says, “You sure you gotta go? We can keep you here, if you’d rather. You know what Two’ll do if your ma shows up.”

“Yeah,” Johnny says, but he knows his face says otherwise. “I just…nobody else will clean, so.”

“Yeah.” Soda sighs, smiles, and slugs Johnny in the shoulder. “But it’s no use running to a bad appointment, huh? Take the scenic route.”

“Sure, I’ll do a lap around your house. Should be scenic enough.”

Soda laughs. “Get outta here, Cade.”

He doesn’t have to tell Johnny twice. He’s already late. He ignores Soda’s advice and takes a shortcut through the lot back to his house, partly because he’s gotta slip inside before his folks notice and partly because dawdling in the streets means getting jumped (not that many socs are cruising for bait at this hour). The early morning dew seeps through his sneakers as he braces to climb through his bedroom window. He lands as soft as he can manage and works his way through the house, cleaning as he goes. There’s no room in the trash for the drained beer bottles littering the couch, so he bags it up and drags it outside. 

When he steps back inside, his mother’s waiting for him. 

Her eyes are roaming, coagulus, like they’re made of gelatin in their sockets. Not sober, then, but coming off it enough to recognize him. He shifts in his soggy sneakers, hand itching for his backpack, a jacket, anything. Instead, he braces. 

“You been back at that Curtis place?” Her voice is ragged, like a rusty blade against a telephone wire. Last night was a fighting night. A sobbing one, too, by the rings around her eyes. 

“No’m.”

“Where you been, then?”

“The lot.”

“Bullshit.” She spits. “You’re playing house with those kiss-asses.” He doesn’t–won’t–respond, and her jaw clenches. “Isn’t that right? You’d rather rob them blind than be grateful for what you’ve got here.”

“No’m.”

“Don’t you contradict me.” She reaches for him and he steps back. It’s a mistake; her knuckles flash against his cheek in a slap. “You think you’re so damn smart. Them Curtis boys have nothing to their name for a rag like you. They’ll be in the lock-up by winter.”

She said the same thing last year, and the year before that. Johnny doesn’t bother taking note.

His silence has gone on too long. He has to remember to match her temper, but he can’t. His bones ache. 

Her hand is like iron around his bicep. She leans in close, and he can smell the liquor and stale coffee on her breath. “You think they’ll keep taking you back? Go on, then. Their parents thought they were so high and mighty, it’s only natural for the sons to inherit it, too.”

“I can clean the kitchen.”

She throws him down by his hair. “God help me for such an ungrateful son.” A kick lands home in his ribs. He scrambles to get up, to get to the sink. The water’s scalding on his cracked skin. “I’ll give you something to whine about.”

But she must be too bleary to follow through, because her footsteps thud up the stairs, cursing him all the way. Johnny scrubs until his hands go numb, and then he takes out the trash again.

*****

The next morning hails a vicious wind. 

“Incoming,” a voice calls, before an arm is slung around his shoulders. 

“Hey, Two.”

“Hey yourself, punk. You beat up any socs today?”

“Not yet.”

“Eh, you’ll get there.” Two-bit ruffles his hair and they make their way down the sidewalk. When they stop to let a herd of cars pass by, Two-Bit’s gaze finds him more closely. 

“You sleep at your folks’ last night?”

Discomfort creeps up his esophagus. “Nah.”

“You weren’t at Soda’s.” No, he wasn’t. Johnny tries not to leech too many nights in a row. There may not be a schedule to his couch-crashing, but there are limits. He tries to make up for it. If he’s got an extra five bucks, he’ll slip it in the tin bank in the back of Darry’s closet. Cash is hard to come by with no job and a constant cycle of beer runs for his father, so other nights he dries the dishes. 

“The lot,” he says, eyes darting away to avoid Two-Bit’s frown. He’s not doing this right now. 

“Yeah,” Two-Bit says slowly. His hand comes up to feel Johnny’s forehead and Johnny bats it away. He doesn’t like when Two-Bit gets serious. It’s murky, unnatural. “You know my ma don’t mind making up an extra bed.”

“Bet she wouldn’t mind you making your bed, either,” Johnny says, and a flash of playfulness returns to Two-Bits eyes.

“Man,” he says, as the cars clear and they cross the street. Two-Bit pauses on the other side to flip off a particularly rambunctious Mustang. “She’d think I’d undergone a traumatic event. Got early Alzheimer's or something.”

Johnny lets himself scoff, and laugh, and doesn’t question how better to hide the rings around his eyes. It’s only gonna get colder, he thinks darkly, so he might as well get them tattooed on now. 

*****

Buck’s is the opposite of quiet. The minute the door opens he’s flooded with wobbly light and warbling music loud enough to make him shout at the stranger silhouetted before him. 

“What?” The stranger is shouting, too, but Johnny guesses it has more to do with the fog in his eyes than Hank Williams’ dulcet tones. 

“Dallas!”

“Oh, fuck him,” the stranger drawls, and slams the door in his face. Johnny sighs. 

He should go. He should probably, definitely go.

The wind whips a collection of ripping trash bags into the street like clattering tumbleweeds. From a cloudy window, he can see a silent game of pool. Someone picks up the eight-ball and chucks it into a beer pong table, sending booze sloshing. The apparent champion of beer pong clobbers him. 

Johnny’s feet stay rooted to the spot, mesmerized, so he moves the only other set of limbs he’s got left and pounds on the door. One, two beats. Three. 

The door catapults open. “--ucking girl scouts, we’re not buying shit,” Buck snarls, but at least it’s Buck. Better chance of being recognized, anyways. He blinks at Johnny. “Whaddaya want?”

“Is Dally here?”

“No. Go away.”

“Wait–” Johnny sticks his foot in the door, ouch, and fails to shut his trap. “Can I just, uh.”

“Spit it out, kid.”

“Um. I’m supposed to meet him, to–pay him back, for–can I just wait upstairs?”

Buck rolls his eyes. “Don’t go spelunking up there, y’hear?” The door is graciously removed from Johnny’s foot and he follows Buck inside. Standing surrounded by the ruckus is dizzying, and he presses through the bodies towards the stairs before he disorients himself. He prays no one is shacking up in Dally’s room and knocks for good measure, but miraculously, it’s empty. He shuts the door behind him and leans against it. 

He’s almost asleep when the door knocks into his back. 

“What the–Johnny?”

He scrambles to his feet, rubbing his eyes at the figure above him. “Hey, Dally.”

“The hell you sitting watch at the door for?” Dallas asks, collapsing onto the bed with a cigarette balanced between his lips mid-light. 

“Fell asleep,” Johnny shrugs. 

Dallas grunts. “Buck said you were here to pay up.” He looks at Johnny over his lighter. “We both know you don’t owe me shit, so what gives?”

“Lot’s cold. Didn’t want to bug anyone.”

“So you’re botherin’ me, huh?” Johnny’s face must morph into something aggrieved, because Dallas snorts and swipes a hand through his hair. “You know I don’t mind, kid, wipe that look off your face. I’m crashing,” he adds, puffing down the cigarette and crushing it out beneath his boot, “Extra jacket’s in the drawer.”

“What?”

“For a blanket, man,” Dallas says, like Johnny’s a little too slow on the catch-up. “You want the floor or the bed?”

Johnny pulls open half-filled drawyers until he finds Dallas’ leather jacket, the sheepskin matted but soft beneath his fingers. “Floor’s fine.”

Dallas rolls his eyes. “No it ain’t. C’mere, I don’t bite.”

Johnny settles on one side of the twin mattress, back to Dally and the coat beneath his head. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this, but small as he is, Johnny’s taller now than he used to be. They make it work, spines brushing, Johnny swept into a dreamless haze by the sound of Dally’s slow exhales and the dilapidated country swing reverberating below. 

*****

“Man, I’ll beat his fucking head in,” Steve says, lip curling as he prods at the lump forming on Johnny’s forehead. “He do this last night?”

“This morning,” Johnny says, and reigns in a wince. Steve’s not exactly known for his gentle bedside manner, but the DX has a stocked first aid kit, which is all he needs. He’s sitting on the counter and feeling stupidly small while Steve–dare he say–fusses around him. 

“I swear on his fresh-dug grave, Johnny. He’s gonna kill you one day.”

“Don’t I know it,” Johnny mutters, misery creeping in. He smashes it down. “It ain’t so bad, really. Just slap some ice on it or something.”

Steve clicks his teeth. “Yeah, all right. Soda?”

“No, I’ll–” But he should’ve known Steve would blab to Soda the second he got a chance. Johnny figured Soda wasn’t working today seeing as he’d yet to mother-hen circles around him, but he must be putzing in the back. 

“Wait here.” Steve wanders into the back garage, hollering. “Sodapop! The kid’s here.”

“Ponyboy?” Soda comes back into view with Steve, greased towel over one shoulder. His eyes land on Johnny. “Johnnycakes! You–well, shit.” He turns to Steve. “Can you grab some ice?”

“That was supposed to be your job,” Steve retorts, but he snatches Soda’s towel and cracks open the freezer. 

“Soc or your old man?” Soda asks, clearing the space between them in two long strides and leaning in close to Johnny’s face. His brow pinches as he resumes Steve’s prodding with much gentler hands. 

“Him,” Johnny says. It’s getting old, honestly, admitting he can’t hold his own against a sorry bastard unfit to walk most nights. Soda hums. 

“Did he get you anywhere else?”

“Nah.”

Soda raises an eyebrow as Steve returns, ice wrapped in the work towel. Johnny presses it to his face. “It’s fine.”

Soda looks unconvinced but relents. “You’re coming over for dinner tonight?” It’s phrased like a question, but Johnny knows there’s no arguing. He doesn’t want to refuse anyways, not tonight, but if he did there’d be guilty hell to pay.

“Only if you’re not cooking,” he hops off the counter and lets the smile play up his lips at Soda’s mock offense. 

“Well, excuse me for enjoying the subtle art of presentation,” he says. “You’re in luck, though. Darry’s making chicken gravy.”

Johnny can practically feel his stomach growling. “Catch you then, man,” he says, and wishes the whir of A/C could follow him out the door. 

*****

The rumble of a pickup warns its slowing advancement on him. Johnny shirks to the curb as it idles to a crawl, hackles raised. His blade is heavy and warm in his pocket. He can’t read the plates in the foggy light of fallen dusk. 

“Need a ride?” The driver calls, and he just about shakes his teeth, he’s so riled. Then the driver leans out the rolled-down window and he can make out a familiar jawline, a permanent cowlick. “Johnny? You headed to ours?”

Darry. Johnny’s shoulders sink with relief, and he lets his hands fall slack in his pockets. 

“Yeah,” he calls, and climbs in the cab. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Darry glances at him sideways as he signals himself back into the right lane. Johnny’s pulse matches the brief patter of the blinker. “You shouldn’t walk by yourself this time of night.” The way he says it–not bitten out or tensed, like he does with Ponyboy, but softer, almost apologetic–proves they both know Johnny’s well aware of what trouble he could bring. Darry worries about Pony’s casual shirking of danger, but Johnny. 

Johnny doesn’t need a lecture. 

It sparks a strange warmth within him, the knowledge that Darry cares. He doesn’t know how to hold it in his hands next to his blade and bottle caps. 

“I’m alright,” he says, watching trees flit by. Wondering whether a soc would’ve been hiding behind any one of them, had he kept going. A small, rational quadrant of his brain knows there likely wouldn’t have been, but safety breeds his freedom to speculate. He’d rather waste time hypothesizing than prove his theories, anyways. 

Darry hums and turns on the radio. Old jukebox rock ambles through the station. 

There lives another part of him. A deeper and steady calm that thrums through his veins any time danger is confirmed. The part that hooks his fingers around his blade and trusts in it. That flips up his jacket collar and sneers, kicks the scared puppy in him aside for something rougher to unearth itself across his features. The part that knows, unequivocally, that he will never be made a slick-mouthed soc’s ragdoll again. He doesn’t think about how he’d stop it, only that when he’s backed into a corner, a primal instinct quivers down his spine, itching for release.

Darry’s right to be more worried about Ponyboy than him.

“How was school?” Darry asks. The Curtis folks used to ask him the same thing. Darry’s filling their shoes as best he can–better than anyone else Johnny knows–but it still feels uncanny hearing the same phrases coming out of his mouth. 

“Not bad. Had to dissect a crayfish in biology.”

“Oh yeah?” Darry smiles. “I remember doing that. We had to do deer hearts too, during hunting season. Dad and some other families brought them in.”

“Did you cut ‘em open?”

“I stuck my fingers through the arteries and everything. The smell hung around the department for days.”

Johnny scrunches his nose. “Gross.”

“Yeah. Nice step up from worms, though.”

They pull into the driveway. Johnny makes to get out, but Darry doesn’t move, only unbuckles and lets the keys slip out of the ignition. He turns to face Johnny. “I opened the tin bank today.”

Dread makes room in his stomach. Not enough, it’s not enough. They cannot afford groceries, not with a revolving door of strays. 

“Soda and Ponyboy said they haven’t put anything in.”

He’s going to get a job. He’ll get a job doing–something. Someone will hire a good-for-nothing greaser, and if they don’t, he’ll have Dallas teach him how to hustle pool. 

Darry’s gaze is piercing. “Have you been adding to it?”

He swallows. “Yeah. I eat a lot, man.”

Darry huffs a laugh, shaking his head. “Have you met Soda? Two-Bit? No offense, but you eat like a bird compared to them. You–” he stops, sighs a little. “You don’t owe us anything, kiddo.”

That’s a load of bullshit if Johnny’s ever heard some, but arguing with Darry is firmly against his self-preservation complex. Besides, it’s easier to quietly disagree than to register the option that maybe the Curtis’ really are just that stupid good.

“Johnny?”

Or, worse, that they’re right.

“Thanks, man.” He lets Darry share a smile with him and they pop the doors. 

“No more sneaking us your lunch money,” Darry says as he locks the truck. “You want to help out, do what I tell Ponyboy. Finish school, get a scholarship. Go make a future.”

Johnny watches as he walks up the sidewalk and to the front door. He doesn’t think about his future past the current month. Darry gave his away, and here he is saying all this…stuff, like there’s a changed life somewhere in Johnny’s deck of cards. Maybe it’s up his sleeve, he thinks wryly, as he follows Darry into the house. The swell of warmth and banter and steam from the hot stove envelope him and he lets himself settle into it like a second coat.

Dallas demands a round of blackjack and Two-Bit slaps a cold beer in his hand to hold against his still swollen head, and while Steve and Soda make a righteous mess of being Darry’s sioux-chefs, Ponyboy collapses at his feet with a book in hand and a chewed pencil in his mouth. He tilts his head back to look up at Johnny.

“Wanna go bum a movie tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

The drone of the television scores their slow dispersion into the night, save for Johnny, letting the couch springs dig into his back as he watches occasional passing headlights trace beams up the walls. Here, it’s quiet. 

He rests. 

*****

The first episode of Antiques Roadshow didn’t air in the U.S. until 1997, but we’re gonna pretend that’s just not the case because I said so and think it’s cute. God bless public television programming.

Thank you so much for reading, and please drop a comment or a reblog below! They help so much, and whether it's a thesis or a keyboard smash, each notification truly makes my week.

[boysborntodie]

I can’t see Johnny and Pony getting into a relationship at 14 and 16.

There’s this maturity gap (with Pony being very much a typical 14 year old and Johnny having to grow up early) which also leads Johnny to treat Pony as a kid (seeing him as his responsibility and taking care of him, literally calling him a 13 year old to his face).

I also can’t see Johnny being ready for a healthy, normal relationship during that time because he’s already got a lot on his plate and is generally very unhappy in his life (to the point he’s genuinely thinking about suicide). He also doesn’t really stand up for himself.

But late teens to early adults Johnnyboy? Pony having left those turbulent years and have really settled into his skin? Johnny being in a better place mentally and more self-assured? I could really see them working out super well.

[callme-holly]

Hi!! I was wondering if you could please do the outsiders gang with a little Curtis sister!reader? Like readers a year younger than ponyboy? Also can it be hc’s please?

'𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫' [𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐱 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - Ahhhhh, i literally love this concept so much. Hope ya'll enjoy and as always my asks are still open for requests!!

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 - 671 words

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - none!!

The gang are so protective of you oh my god

You may only be a year younger than Pony but they will still bend over backwards to ensure that you are safe.

You are Darry’s whole world. He cares about you so much that it’s almost suffocating. If anything happens to you, you best believe he is sticking up for you in a heartbeat.

Sometimes it can get a little frustrating. The boys will baby you and you will have to stand your ground when they get a little too much.

You are never allowed to walk home alone, and I mean never. There will always be someone there to walk you to and from wherever it is you need to go. It’s dangerous out there and they will not risk you being jumped.

Speaking of which, if you did ever happen to get jumped, the gang is by your side in seconds. Dallas, Steve, and Darry will literally put someone in the hospital for you if need be.

You give the boys a run for their money. If they get put on “baby-sitting” duty you show them pretty quickly that you don’t need looking after.

Sodapop is your best friend and you can’t tell me otherwise. He’s that person you can go to when you’ve got a problem and actually feel comforted afterwards. He’ll take you to the DX with him and let you help out as well as letting you take whatever you want from the store. Steve doesn’t really like it (he’s jealous that you’re stealing away his best friend) but he warms up to you being around after a while.

Going to the movies with Ponyboy and hanging out in the lot with him and Johnny after!!

If you think Darry is hard on Pony, just wait until you get home a few minutes past curfew. He will go mental. Like I said, he cares a whole lot about you and isn’t gonna have your future wasted. Sure, he has near impossible expectations for you a lot of the time, but just talk to him and he’ll try to go easy.

The other kids at school hardly ever mess with you. They’ve seen how scary your brothers and the rest of the gang are and they really aren’t looking to be spending their days in hospital.

If you’re struggling in classes, Pony will drop everything to help you out. You will both sit and study until Darry is on your ass about getting to bed.

Sometimes the gang can be a little too protective. It’s suffocating having to have someone with you everywhere you go and while they mean well you have had multiple arguments with them about how you can take care of yourself.

Dallas has definitely taught you how to fight, much to Darry’s dismay. You need to be able to hold your own and Dallas is going to teach you everything he’s learnt during his time on the streets.

Two-bit is the go to “baby-sitter”. He’s more than happy to go anywhere you want and he actually lets you have some form of freedom. Maybe that’s because he himself has the mentality of a small child but regardless, if Darry wants someone to look after you, make sure you request Two-bit.

Johnny loves spending time with you. You’re calm and someone he can talk to when he needs to. When he stays over some nights, you will sit up with him and Pony and talk until the sun comes up.

At first, Steve didn’t like you. He genuinely believed you were going to steal Sodapop away from him and hated when you came along to the DX. He doesn’t care if you’re a year younger than Pony, you’re still a kid in his eyes, and he’ll treat you as such. After a while though, he starts to warm up to you, you’re his best friend’s little sibling after all.

Needless to say, the whole gang loves you and would do anything for you <333

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Grew in my heart

Heres part 2! Part 1 is linked here.

*******************

“Is he ever gonna wake up?”

When Pony wakes it’s to a not hushed enough whisper. 

“Course he is dumbass,” that whisper is a lot quieter, “but he’s little and he’s hurt, he’s real tired.”

“He was fine earlier.”

“He was overwhelmed,” the voice corrects, “he was bound to crash sooner or later.”

Ponyboy blinks his eyes open. Soda, Darry, and Johnny are all in a line in chairs watching him, but they quickly pretend to be busy. Doing what, he isn’t sure. He already caught them looking.

“There’s those darling eyes,” Mrs.Curtis’ voice is soft as she smiles down at him, “how did you sleep, honey?”

“Good.” He mumbles through a yawn, somehow still tired, more cozy than he can ever remember being. Somehow though, he still finds himself shy again, and he hides his face in her shoulder until she laughs, peppering his head with kisses and squeezing him gently, coaxing him out of the fabric. He lets himself enjoy it. It won’t last, he knows, but he can let himself pretend, have some good memories to hold close to his chest when he ends up alone tonight in a stranger's house, on a lumpy sofa in a yet another spooky, cold basement. 

“Curtis family?” Suddenly, the door to the office across from Ms. Summers opens and a lady with curly hair Ponyboy has seen a few times in the past when he’s been in the waiting room sticks her head out. She smiles the way Ms.Summers does, in a way that never really reaches her eyes, “Sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve got the paperwork all ready here, I just need the mother and father’s signatures, and then you just need to get it signed by a judge to make everything official.”

“We’ll be right back,” Mrs.Curtis promises them all, standing up and placing Ponyboy down on her chair but not before kissing his cheek almost absentmindedly, the way he’d seen moms at the park near Mr.Fuller’s house do with their babies sometimes, “be good boys for me.”

“Darry, keep an eye on your brothers, will you?” Mr Curtis adds, and Darry nods easily from where he’s lounging in his seat, reading a magazine.

“Does Johnny need to come in too?” Mrs.Curtis wonders as she follows the social worker into the office.

“He can if he wants to, but it’s not necessary for this part.”

“Well Johnnycake?” That was Mr.Curtis, looking at Johnny like he was the whole dang world, and Pony feels the same hatred from earlier bubbling up inside him, which definitely wasn’t fair, especially after Johnny and Mrs.Curtis and all of them had been so very nice to him all day. “Whaddya say? You wanna come with us or wait here with your brothers? We won’t be long.”

Johnny kind of shrinks with everyone's eyes on him. Pony knows the feeling.

“I’ll stay out here.”

“Ok kiddo,” Mr Curtis ruffles Johnny’s hair and follows his wife into the office. 

Even though he has no reason to be worried, the sight of the closed office door with its faded paint and frosted windows makes Ponyboy’s heart sink. Logically he knows its stupid, that something good is happening behind it, that it’s making it so Johnny can get adopted, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s the same door that closed behind his mother when the state made her sign away custody of him, and that it’s the same office every foster parent who ever returned him ran to as soon as they stepped inside the child services centre.

“Hey,” Johnny nudges him gently, keeping his voice low so Soda and Darry- who appear to be arguing, though Ponyboy can’t tell what about- can’t hear, “you ok?”

Johnny’s got eyes that are inky black and a scar on his head that says maybe he’s got a past life a whole lot like Pony’s current one.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Pony breathes. He glances at the shut door again. 

“That’s okay.” Johnny promises, simple and sure and kind. “You don’t have to know.”

Pony can tell then that Johnny really does understand, maybe more than anyone has ever understood before.

They lapse into silence. Soda appears to be trying to convince Darry to read out the advice column of the magazine, while Darry is doing his best to ignore him and read one of the sports articles. 

“Johnny,” Pony murmurs while Soda is dramatically wailing about the merits of Dear Abby and the plights of many he needs to weigh in on, “can-can I ask you somethin’? You don’t gotta answer if you don’t wanna.”

“Ok.”

“Did they take your mom away too?” 

Johnny doesn’t say anything but his eyes flash dangerously and Pony finds himself trying to explain.

“It’s only- they took my mom. First they took her away in a different police car, and then they took her into Ms.Summers’ office and then she was gone and I wasn’t allowed to see her anymore.”

Johnny raises a hand to his mouth, chews anxiously on his thumbnail.

“Yeah,” He admits softly after a minute, “yeah they took her. My dad too.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” 

Ponyboy kicks his legs, trying his best not to glance at Johnny. He often had trouble meeting people’s eyes, but that went double anytime he was uncomfortable.

“What about your dad?” Johnny asks after a minute, looking anywhere but at Ponyboy.

Pony blinks. “What about him?”

“Did they take him too?”

“No,” Ponyboy shakes his head, “he’s in jail. I don’t even know what he looks like.”

“I’m sorry.”

“S’okay.” Ponyboy shrugs. It really is too. He didn’t spend much time thinking about his dad, mostly because he usually forgot he ever had one. 

“Pony?”

“Yeah?”

“You ever miss your mom?”

“Yeah,” Pony admits quietly. It feels blasphemous, even as he says it, but it is true, “sometimes. But I still don’t ever wanna go back to living with her ever again.”

Mom was cold and mean with her vicious hands and quick temper, for all she could be nice sometimes. She’d pressed his hand to the hot stove once and threw stuff at him everyday, even if she did read him bedtime stories a few times a week. He’d had worse foster parents since they took him away, but not by much, and those people weren’t his mom. It made sense they didn’t want him. It never made sense why she didn’t.

“Me neither,” Johnny agrees.

“It’s different though,” Pony points out, “you got the Curtis’ now. No wonder you don’t wanna go back.”

“It ain’t different,” Johnny glares, and suddenly he looks like every kid in every group home Pony’s ever met, mean and defeated, “it don’t change the fact she didn’t love me even when I wanted her to.”

“Hey you two,” Darry’s suddenly in front of them, hands on his hips and a frown on his face, “how come you’re arguin’?”

They both hesitate.

“I was bein’ mean,” Pony admits, shamefaced, looking straight at Johnny, “You’re right it ain’t different. I’m sorry Johnny.”

Johnny’s eyes stay hard for a second until they melt back to something soft.

“It’s okay.”

He understands. Pony sighs, relieved.

“Ok,” Darry looks confused, “ well. Glad y’all are good.” 

He sits down again.

Pony can’t help it. He giggles.

“What’re you laughin’ at, huh kid?” Darry sounds mad but he’s smiling as he says it, so Pony thinks maybe he’s only pretending to be.

“Your face.”

“My face?”

“Yeah,” Pony says, “you look funny.” He demonstrates, pulling an exaggerated version of Darry’s puzzled frown, and Johnny laughs.

“Funny huh?”  Darry exchanges a grin with Soda, Johnny perking up beside him, eyes lighting in understanding, “we’ll show you funny.”

The next thing Pony knows he’s being tickled to death, all three older boys teaming up against him until he’s squealing and red faced from laughter, begging for mercy.

“What on earth is going on out here?”

Pony freezes. Darry, Soda, and Johnny all do too.

Ms.Summers has emerged from her office, hands propped on her hips, eyes blazing. She looks mad. Proper mad. The kind of mad adults get before they slap him or send him to bed without food.

Without really meaning to, Pony scoots a little behind Darry.

“Sorry ma'am,” Darry steps a bit more in front of him, putting himself in front of Soda and Johnny too, and gives Ms.Summers a winning smile, “we were just playin’ around. We didn’t mean to get so loud. We’ll be more quiet from now on.”

“See to it that you do. Where are your parents?”

“Signing some paperwork with your colleague, ma’am.”

“Hm,” Ms. Summers huffs, “well, behave yourselves until they get back. Ponyboy, if you can’t be good you’ll have to sit in the corner again without your new friends. Do you understand?”

Ponyboy forces himself to meet her gaze. She never liked it when he was impolite, and that meant he had to look at her when he was speaking.

“Yes ma’am,” he manages, just barely above a mumble. Ms.Summers hates mumbling.

“Good.” She gives them one last severe look and closes her office door with a snap.

As soon as she’s gone Soda starts snickering.

“Did you see her face?” He pulls an exaggerated frown, eyebrows scrunched down and cheeks puffed out a bit, and props his hands on hips the way Ms.Summers had a second a minute ago.

 “Stop bein’ loud!” He mocks in a high falsetto, a poor approximation of Ms.Summer’s actual voice, “no havin’ fun on my watch!”

Pony laughs. He’s learning that Darry wasn’t wrong earlier when he said Soda was just like that. 

“Ok, ok, settle down,” Darry chides, but even he cracks a grin, “c’mon and sit again, and I’ll read out that stupid advice column.”

“It’s not stupid!” Soda protests, but he obeys, pulling Johnny down beside him. It seems almost reflexive, Soda dragging Johnny around absentmindedly and the shorter boy following him without question. 

“You too kid,” Darry nudges Pony gently, “come sit.”

Pony sits and tries to listen to Darry’s soothing baritone, but finds he can’t quite focus on the story. Instead, he worries. 

Mrs. and Mr. Curtis are still in the social worker’s office but he can’t imagine they will be for much longer, and when they come back out the papers will be signed and Johnny will officially be theirs, and they’ll leave.

Ponyboy really doesn’t want them to leave. Not Mrs.Curtis, who’d held him in her arms and let him sleep on her lap, or Mr.Curtis, who never looked scary even when he was stern, and whose eyes were always laughing, even when they shouldn't be. He doesn’t want Soda and his effervescent energy to leave, returning the waiting room to the same, stuffy, suffocating place it always was before today. He doesn’t want Johnny to leave, even though he’s happy for him, because Johnny wasn’t mean but he also understood things, and that was something Pony had never found in any other person, ever. Most of all, he doesn’t want Darry to leave, because Darry just saved him from Ms.Summers like some sort of superhero, and because he’d never been mean to him. Every other teenager Pony came into contact with hurt him or ignored him, but Darry Curtis hadn’t, not once.

He knew this would happen. As soon as he put down his book and went over to play cards he knew he’d get attached. He can feel hot tears prick at his eyes but he blinks them away rapidly. He’s not some stupid little baby. He is not going to cry just because one family was nice to him for one day and now he doesn’t ever want to see them go. That’s stupid.

Maybe he should go back to the corner. Tell Darry he isn’t feeling well and hide behind Great Expectations until they’re gone. It might hurt less if he could do the leaving first.

He’s still psyching himself up to move away from Darry’s soothing voice when the social worker’s door flies open. Instead of the Curtis’ leaving though, the curly haired social worker hurries out, casting a curious glance in their direction as she knocks on Ms.Summers’ door.

“Keisha, could you give me a hand with something, please?”

“Of course.” Ms.Summers emerges from her office looking equally as puzzled, and follows her coworker into the other office.

Johnny and Pony exchange a look. He can see the alarm in the older boy’s black eyes and wishes he could reassure him, but anything he said would sound false to his own ears. Any kid who’s ever been in the foster system knows that things go badly when the social workers start acting like that.

“What’s goin’ on?” Soda sounds scared, looking up at Darry with wide, frightened eyes, “they ain’t…I mean, they promised Johnny could stay for good, right Dar? They said they got the papers and everythin’.”

“Everything’s fine,” to his credit, Darry sounds so sure Ponyboy could almost believe him, “Johnny’s ours for sure, that ain’t in question.”

He ruffles Johnny’s hair, and the dark haired boy manages a weak grin, but Ponyboy can still see the panic he’s trying to hide in the way his hands are trembling, tucked under his thighs. He doesn’t believe him, not really. Pony doesn’t either. Pretty lies are and always will be just that: lies.

“Y’know…” Darry looks at the closed office door, something like realization dawning, “I think things’re gonna be more than ok actually.”

“What do you mean?” Soda wonders. 

Darry shakes his head, suddenly fighting a grin. It’s such a stark 180 from the worry he was trying to hide a second ago it’s a little startling.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Darry!”

“Seriously, little buddy, don’t worry about it.”

“You oughta tell me,” that was Johnny, voice small, “if you know something I don’t. It’s my life we’re talking about here.”

“You’re gonna be just fine Johnnycake,” Darry promises, “I mean it. We all are.”

They will be. Pony is glad for them, as much as he can be- which currently isn’t much, with the envy and the loneliness battling for dominance in his gut. 

“All of us.” Darry looks right at him, blue green eyes bright, “that means you too Ponyboy.”

He’s trying to be nice. Ponyboy knows he’s trying to be nice, but it still stings knowing their fine is so much better than his own. Their kind of fine meant love and safety and warmth. His meant survival and a half decent dinner. Sure, they’d all be fine. But not the same.

He’s saved from having to say anything by the office door opening.

“-tell him.” Mrs.Curtis is saying, Mr Curtis beside her with a thick manilla envelope and a smile shining brighter than the sun.

“There’s my boy,” Pony thinks Mr Curtis looks like a boy himself, his handsome face young, open and  joyous as he crosses the room in three steps and sweeps Johnny into a bear hug, picking him up and swinging him around, “how does it feel to officially be Johnny Curtis, huh?”

Soda perks up.

“It’s official?”

“Signed and sealed,” Mr. Curtis presses a kiss to Johnny’s hair and sets him down, but keeps an arm around his shoulders, “just gotta file these with the judge downtown.”

Soda cheers, and Darry lets out a whoop, both of them swarming Johnny and Mr.Curtis, half tackling them until they’re all wrapped up in one group hug, and it’s the best thing Ponyboy’s ever seen and all he wants to do is cry.

A touch on his head has him flinching away before he realizes it’s just Mrs.Curtis gently carding her fingers through his hair, watching her husband and three sons fondly before looking down at him.

“They’re real special, aren’t they?”

“Yes ma’am.” Pony agrees. 

She hums, and Pony can’t help but lean into her gentle touch. They’ll be leaving soon. She’ll be leaving soon. It’s okay, he thinks, to enjoy her kindness as long as possible. He’d already tried not to, and it hadn’t worked. Trying to ignore Mrs.Curtis’ love was like trying to ignore his growling stomach on the nights he went to bed hungry. No matter how hard he tried to forget it, when he next got a taste of food he couldn’t help himself from eating as much as he could stomach, simply because he didn’t know how long it would be until his next proper meal.

“Y’know,” Mrs. Curtis says, “I think you’re pretty special too.”

Her smile changes, still soft but now there’s a secret hiding in her eyes, and a specific kind of love Pony doesn’t understand pulling at the dimple in her cheek. 

“I talked to Ms.Summers,” she says, and Pony’s heart twists. Ms.Summers has a way of making him into a bother to people who don’t even know him. He doesn’t want Mrs.Curtis to think that, “and she said you don’t have anyone to go home to tonight. So I thought maybe you might wanna come home with me and the boys.”

His heart stops.

“W-what?”

“Well,” she sounds almost casual, but her shining eyes and mischievous grin give away how false it is, like Darry’s had when they were playing cards earlier, an actor on life’s stage, “there’s an extra bed in Darry’s room, now that Johnny and Soda have bunk beds, and some chocolate cake in the fridge I really think you’d like. Besides, Soda and Johnny are always talkin’ about how they wished they had a little brother to teach things to, and I know they had a ball playin’ cards with you earlier. So what do you say? You want to come stay with us for a while?”

He wants to. More than anything he wants to. It sounds like a dream come true, like a storybook come to life. He lets himself imagine it, sharing a room with Darry of all people, eating chocolate cake with Mrs.Curtis, and getting to play with Soda and Johnny who actually liked him, maybe even not having to worry about being slapped all the time.

“Why?” he has to know. It doesn’t make sense why she would offer this. She has enough little boys, with Soda, Johnny and Darry. Why would she want him too? “Why would you wanna take me? You don’t need me.”

She wasn’t like Mr.Fuller, who’d needed an extra hand to help out on the farm, or Mrs. Delvine who had three babies and no husband. Mrs.Curtis has a husband who looks at her like she hung the stars and three boys already to help her out with chores. She doesn’t need him. It doesn’t make sense.

“Oh honey,” her eyes get sad, and Pony hates himself for making them that way even if he doesn’t know what exactly it is that he did, “I think I do need you. I think all of us do. But more than that I think you need me.”

“I ain’t your baby,” Pony reminds her, because it feels like maybe she’s forgotten that, and it doesn’t matter if he feels like he does need her, because she ain’t his mom and she doesn’t deserve to be stuck with him. “You got no reason to be stuck with me.”

“Hmm,” her mouth presses into a thin line, but she doesn’t look angry. Stern maybe, but that doesn’t feel quite right either, “you cried in my arms and slept on my knee, so I think you are my baby now, at least a little bit. I got more babies than just the three I brought with me today, and I needed all of them just as much as they needed me. So.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” she cups his cheek, “there’s Soda’s friend Steve, and Darry’s friend Keith, and Johnny’s friend Dally. And they’ve all cried in my arms and slept on my knee at least once, and they always come stay at my house whenever they need. And they didn’t grow in my belly but they grew in my heart and they’re still my babies anyway. So I think you could be too. If you want.”

If he wants. Ponyboy is used to wanting things, and even more used to not getting any of them, but he can be one of Mrs.Curtis’ babies if he wants. 

“Really?”

“Really.” She promises.

“Ok,” he breathes, “ok, yes, I’ll go with you.”

“We’re keeping Ponyboy too?” Soda whoops, half jumping on Mrs.Curtis in his excitement,  “this is the best day ever!”

“I knew it,” Darry claims, shaking his head at his parents but grinning all the same, “I knew as soon as that other social worker got called in there that you two just couldn’t leave him here if you tried.”

He knuckles Pony’s hair and grins down at him, inviting him to share the joke. Pony thinks he might actually be dreaming, because he still can’t quite bring himself to believe this is happening, that he’s gonna stay with the Curtis’.

“I’m real glad you’re coming with us,” Johnny murmurs in his ear, as Ms.Summers hands Mr.Curtis  Pony’s file and his meagre backpack of belongings, before bidding him a perfunctory farewell.  Ponyboy can’t help but agree. He’s real glad he’s going with them too.

It won’t last forever. Hell, it might not even last a week. They could get sick of him or he could get moved anytime, but as Mrs.Curtis takes his hand, and he follows the Curtis family out of the family services office and towards his latest new life, Ponyboy Hewitt lets himself believe for the first time that maybe, somehow, this fairytale might last. 

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

ON THE CONTRARY OF THAT ONE ASK—

Comically tall m!soc with the gang?? M!soc is one of the only nice socs and is pretty polite (bro was raised in a hella dysfunctional family but they had manners)

lowkey a pussy. Cannot fight for the life of him and has chronic back issues from how often he slouches to make himself less intimidating. He actually rlly likes poetry too, and tries to bond with pony over it (he fails. Miserably)

Honestly a beanpole. Mans is all height, no width. Roughly 6’4 if you want a proper visual

LMAO I LOVE THIS YAS ANONthis is gonna be hilarious (why is this loser my type)

Tall Wimpy M!Soc x The Gang + Shepard Boys

Ponyboy Curtis

-I don’t feel like he’s really decided how he feels about you

-Like he appreciates you trying to bond with him

-but he cringes when he looks back on that memory

-he does think it’s kind of funny that you’re so scary but you’re an absolute wimp

-Teases you about whenever you ran away, screaming from a rumble

-I feel like the gang would’ve kind of picked on him at first, but then kind of grown to like him because of how polite he is

Johnny Cade

-man, you’re so not tough

-he thinks it’s nice that you’re so polite

-you’re kind of the gang‘s pet in like a different way than him

-The gang knows that Johnny can hold his own if needed

-You legitimately need protection from like almost everything

-I think you are kind of funny together because Johnny is more small but better than you and you look tougher but you’re not

Sodapop Curtis

-he’s also generally polite

-And admires the fact you’re a Soc

-And not stuck up

-sure maybe you’re a bit wimpy and can’t fight for shit

-but hey, at least you’re baseline polite

-he would use you as a human body shield in a rumble though

Darry Curtis

-I honestly don’t think he can stand you

-I don’t know why I just think that he doesn’t.

-He just can’t stand people like you.

-he doesn’t understand how someone of your size could possibly not fight to their advantage

-because when you’re a greaser you take every little bit and scrap that can be used to your advantage

-so we can’t comprehend how you aren’t doing that

-Then again, he didn’t grow up as privileged as you

Dallas Winston

-he just thinks your existence is hilarious

-Probably just laughs at you💀

-Picks on you the hardest side of the gang

Two Bit Mathews

-“Hey, how’s the weather up there big guy?”

-“Can you kiss the moon for me?”

-“ Yeah, you could climb Mount Everest in two steps”

-“ Did ya have fun chasing Jack down the beanstalk?”

-and as soon as he finds out how much of a wimp you are

-you know he’s making fun of that too

-“Careful, don’t punch him. He’ll fall over like a pencil”

-“ Careful running sweetheart the stick that keeps you standing straight might fall outta your ass.”

-he never lets you live it down whenever you run away from a rumble screaming

Steve Randle

-like Darry I feel like he’s also a little bit annoyed at you

-Doesn’t really understand you

-but also like sodapop he’s definitely using you as a human body shield

-he’s kind of coldly neutral around you

Tim Shepard

-pretty similar to Dallas

-He doesn’t really care that much about you

-but if you guys grow to become friends, he would protect you

Curly Shepard

-based on how he kind of likes picking on anyone who is below him to make himself feel bigger in canon

-I’m guessing he’s probably beat you up before and you two aren’t on talking terms

-Gets really mad when you’ve managed to outrun him

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

the gang with a waitress s/o??

DARRY CURTIS

You guys know each other from high school, neither of you went to college

Darry’s working two jobs to take care of his brothers, you’re working at the diner to make ends meet in your household

He knew you from school, but he didn’t really meet you again until he stopped by the diner one day for a cup of coffee

Old feelings were rekindled, you all know how that goes and suddenly, you two were together again!

Darry gives you rides to work, making sure he gives you a kiss every day before you get out of the truck

Being a waiter/waitress is super hard, sometimes customers don’t make it easy, and Darry understands how hard jobs can be

You can rant about everything that goes on at work and he’ll listen, he knows what it’s like to have tough days

SODAPOP CURTIS

So. Much. Flirting.

Again, you two knew each other from high school but Soda’s always had his eye on you

Half the time, when he’s at the diner, he doesn’t even buy anything

Soda’s just there to flirt with you!

When he finally scored a date with you, not at the diner you work at, but one of the other diners in town, he was so very excited

He walks you home from your shifts! He tries to always be there for you, to walk you home and keep you safe!

PONYBOY CURTIS

The diner really wasn’t someplace Pony frequented until he started having feelings for you

He’d go, but it was only when everyone else decided to go

Now that he’s dating you? His diner time has increased a little, but not much

Sure, he’s around because of you, but because you spend so many hours there, you love not having to be at the diner

There’s really not a lot of diner dates for you and Ponyboy

He thinks it’s cool you work at the diner though! Thinks your job is cool!

DALLAS WINSTON

It doesn’t matter if your in the middle of taking an order, Dally will walk up to you and try to get a kiss

I kid you not, you could be talking with some of the guests and Dally just walks up and tries to tip your face towards him for a kiss

Like Tim, his presence isn’t really appreciated by the staff but it doesn’t stop him from coming around

But, also like Tim, when he’s at the diner, some of the more dangerous hoods stay out

So the diner puts up with him!

It’s great for you because you can be working and spending a bit of time with Dally

JOHNNY CADE

Dally was hungry, the diner was open, and Johnny was bored. That’s how he met you

He doesn’t stop by the diner very often especially when you’re working but he is always waiting outside when you finish a shift

Johnny’ll stand by the windows so you can definitely see him and then he’ll give you a small smile and a wave while he waits for you

The other members of the waitstaff think he’s just the sweetest thing, he’s well-behaved most of the time

He loves to hear about your day, tell him all about it!

Whether it was a good day or a bad day, Johnny wants to know, he likes learning about what’s going on in your life

TWO-BIT MATHEWS

Two-Bit started going to the diner you worked at because he thought you were cute, it’s that simple

He was walking by and thought you were so pretty he needed to go inside and introduce himself

Now that you’re together, Two-Bit’s a regular at the diner

The other waitresses like him, they think he’s quite funny as long as he behaves and he brings out the best in you

Is always stopping by when you’re working, he’s trying to be cute and playful with you but more often than not he gets in your way

You had pitcher of hot coffee and Two-Bit scared you, mostly by accident, and you ended up dropping the whole thing

Granted, he did stick around to help you clean it all up so he gets points for that

STEVE RANDLE

Steve loves having a partner who works at the diner in town, he just really loves it

His time spent at the diner grows the longer you two are together, he’s not a regular but he’s around enough for the other waiters and waitresses to know his name

On his lunch break at the DX? You can bet he’s run down to the diner before to maybe grab lunch for him and Soda but to mainly say hi to you

He’s adamant that the diner’s chocolate cake isn’t as good as Darry’s and yet he always ends up getting a slice

Is very proud that you have a job, all the boys are but Steve in particular

If someone asks about you, Steve immediately responds with an, “Oh yeah! That’s Y/N, they work over at the diner in town!”

TIM SHEPARD

You noticed Tim when he and his gang started hanging around the diner more

They had a reputation as rowdy customers, blowing straw wrapped at some of the other waitstaff and just being nuisances

But when you were assigned their table?

They were practically angels, they raised almost no fuss when they had you

All thanks to Tim, of course, he wanted to impress you

Blah, blah, blah, feelings develop and then you’ve got Tim coming into the diner almost every other day to say hello to you

The other members of the waitstaff absolutely despise Tim but they can’t help but smile at the soft way he smiles at you while you make fresh pots of coffee

CURLY SHEPARD

Curly will pull you down into the booth with him when you come to wait on his table

He doesn’t care if you’re working or not, he’s gonna do it and you can’t stop him

He’s probably the one who hangs around the diner the most, even when you’re not working

The rest of the Shepard outfit likes the diner so it just sort of worked out that way

And because he’s with you, he now is able to get food and kisses, it’s great!

If one of the customers tries to do anything to you, Curly is literally so quick to protect, jumping up, snarling and growling to save you