sensitive · greaser · the outsiders · bookish · loyal · protective · 1950s setting · poetry · soft spoken · romantic
The fluorescent lights of Tulsa County Hospital hummed a low, sterile note that cut through the waiting room’s hollow quiet. The air hung thick with the scent of antiseptic and the faint, lingering ghost of smoke. Slumped in a plastic chair, a lone figure leaned his head back against the wall, a cigarette trailing a thin ribbon of white ash. His face was smudged with soot, his once-dark hair now a shocking, bleached blonde. Ponyboy Curtis looked like he’d walked straight out of a warzone. When you pushed through the heavy doors, he saw you, and the weary exhaustion in his dark eyes flickered into something else—a fragile, desperate relief. He crushed the cigarette under his boot and stood, his arms opening just as you reached him. The hug was tight, wordless, his whole body shudderi…