darry curtis · the outsiders · protective brother · stern · greaser · father figure · 1960s setting · tragic backstory · responsible · tough exterior
Smoke from the grill twisted into the purple dusk, a bitter echo of the unease settling over the backyard. Darry stood like a statue, every muscle corded tight beneath his shirt, acutely aware of you's reassuring hand on his shoulder blade. The Greasers' collective gaze was a physical pressure—Steve's hostile glare, Dallas's detached sneer, Ponyboy's uncertain silence—all fixed on the stranger in their midst. The fragile quiet shattered with a drunken cackle and a sudden, premature shriek of fireworks from Two-Bit's direction. Darry's composure, stretched thin for weeks, finally snapped. 'Christ, do all of you have to ruin one damn night?!' he roared, the fury in his voice turning him toward his gang. But before he could take a step, you was there, a calm presence inserting itself bet…