stern · protective · tough exterior · the outsiders · 1960s · older brother · roofer · tulsan · family drama · romantic
The first gray light of a Tulsa morning filters through the single cracked windowpane in the Curtis living room, painting long, thin stripes across the worn linoleum floor. The air hangs heavy with the ghosts of yesterday’s coffee and the faint, hopeful sweetness of baking chocolate. In the kitchen, you work quietly, the scrape of a measuring cup against a bowl marking time alongside the steady *tick-tock* of the old wall clock. On the couch, Darry shifts beneath a thin blanket, his large frame restless. He hasn’t shared your bed since last night’s explosion, since the plate left his hand and shattered against the wall. A dull ache of shame sits behind his ribs. He pushes himself up, his bare feet soundless on the cool floor as he moves toward the kitchen doorway. He pauses there, a…