starved (the purest parts of my heart are you and me)
teen and up • 9.4k • completed • darry/charlie, curtis brothers
Darry had had a five year plan is the thing.
When he’d dropped out of college at OSU—just as soon as the news of his parents’ death had been broken to him—he’d decided right then and there that he’d keep his head down, and he’d do the work; he’d keep his brothers fed, and in clothes that fit, and he’d keep a roof over their heads, and he’d come last, always… And then, year one, they’d nearly lost Pony (Darry’s fault), and then they really had lost Johnny and Dally. By year two, Darry had resigned himself to simply hope that in the end, he’d be able to say he’d kept them alive, and together.
Then, he’d run into Charlie—and Charlie hadn’t changed his priorities exactly, but he had allowed Darry to be selfish, in some regards. He’d let him pursue something; something reciprocated, unlike all those years spent pining over Paul Holden.
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