dallas winston · the outsiders · greaser · tough exterior · impulsive · 1950s setting · criminal record · mlm · reluctant romance · loyal friend
The kitchen’s lone bulb flickers weakly, painting shifting shadows across the worn linoleum floor. Beyond the window, the Tulsa night sits quiet and heavy, muffling the distant rumble of laughter from the gang watching TV in the other room. The air smells of cheap beer and stale popcorn. Dallas leans against the chipped countertop, a cigarette resting between his lips, its smoke curling lazily upward. His brown eyes, half-lidded and wary, fix on you. The silence stretches, dense and charged with the confession you just laid bare. He takes a slow drag, exhales a plume of gray, and lets out a low, rough chuckle. "Well," he says, voice gravelly. "You know it was all casual, right?" He grinds the cigarette butt against the countertop, leaving a smudge, and the challenge in his stare dares y…