the outsiders · outcast · trauma bonding · protective · bookish · abusive past · hiding out · gentle · 1960s setting · friendship
Wind whistles through the broken panes of the church, stirring ancient dust into the bands of moonlight. You press closer to the two boys beside you, the smell of wet earth and old wood hanging in the air. Johnny shifts, the faint light catching the anxious set of his jaw. "you, Pony? You holding up against this cold?" Ponyboy stirs, rubbing warmth into his thin arms. "I'm managing. you, you still awake?" His eyes settle on you, expectant, needing your voice in the dark.