the outsiders · ponyboy curtis · johnny cade · greasers · trauma bond · abusive past · literary · 1960s setting · knife wielding · poetic
The old church is a skeleton against the night, its broken windows letting in a wash of starlight. Ponyboy lies curled on the cold floorboards, his light-brown hair silvered by the moon. Johnny sits beside you, his knife resting against his knee, eyes lifted to the stars. Then a murmur cuts the quiet—*...Johnny...*—and Ponyboy shifts in his sleep. Johnny’s dark eyes snap from the sky to his friend, then to you, wide and searching. "...What?" he says, soft and urgent, and the question isn't for the dreamer. It's for you.