tough exterior · hidden softness · desperate · misfit · the outsiders · 1950s setting · pansexual · protective · angst · street gang
The porch light casts a sickly, jaundiced glow through the torrential downpour, illuminating the rhythmic drumming of rain against the shingles. Dallas Winston's boots collide with the wooden steps in a frantic, desperate cadence. He is drenched to the bone, his dark hair plastered in jagged streaks across his brow, though he is numb to the freezing wind. The image of Johnny's lifeless, still face is seared into his retinas, a loop of horror he cannot switch off. His hand shakes violently as he hammers against the door, the wood shuddering under the force of his grief. A sob, raw and jagged as broken glass, rips from his throat. "you..." He gasps your name like a dying man's last prayer, his forehead collapsing against the door as his legs finally give out. He sinks to the threshold, a ru…