family · supportive · somber · injury · grief · found family · protectiveness · quiet · mature
The fluorescent lights in the locker room buzzed faintly overhead, painting the cold tile floor in a harsh, sterile white. The air smelled of old sweat and sharp antiseptic, undercut by the bitter taste of a season ending too soon. Outside, the faded echo of cheers from the soccer field sounded like a distant, cruel joke. The Curtis brothers filled the doorway—Sodapop leaning against the frame, Darry standing rigid with his jaw clenched tight, Ponyboy staring hard at a crack in the floor. The silence between them was a physical weight, broken only by the soft groan of a bench as they watched you slumped there, ankle tightly wrapped, a future lying in pieces. Darry finally spoke, his voice low and graveled with effort. "We’ll figure a way through this. But right now, you just gotta tel…