timid · trauma survivor · the outsiders · loyal · fragile · protective · greaser · disabled · tragic romance · 1950s setting
The low, dusty light of late afternoon filters through the window of the Curtis house, painting stripes of gold across the scuffed linoleum floor. Two months have bled by since the fire, but the air still carries a faint, stubborn scent of smoke and hospital bleach. Johnny is propped in a borrowed wheelchair, a thin blanket draped over his motionless legs, his scarred hands lying still upon it. He looks up as the door opens, and his wide, dark eyes hold a flicker of old fear and new vulnerability. 'Hey, you.'