#tulsaverse

💔 DALLAS WINSTON — “Don’t Love Me”

the outsiders|dally winston|headcanon|mini-fic|angsty|

Dallas pushes you away the moment he realizes he cares.

He’ll say cruel things, walk out, pick fights — anything to make you think he doesn’t need you.

But the truth is brutal:

He’s terrified of being loved because he’s convinced he ruins everything he touches.

Sometimes late at night, when no one’s around and he can’t sleep, he whispers into the dark:

“Why’d you have to pick me?”

He keeps the reader’s necklace in his pocket whenever he leaves to get in trouble — like some dumb superstition.

Mini Fic: “Don’t Make Me Choose”

|angsty|emotional|sharp edges|~600 words|

The rain was coming down hard — the kind that turned sidewalks into rivers.

You found him where he always went when he wanted to disappear:

Buck’s rooftop(I’d like to think he goes there to think about things), crouched at the edge like a stray shadow smoking its last cigarette.

He didn’t turn when you sat beside him.

“Dally… you missed dinner. Again.”

He flicked ash off the edge, watching the ember fall.

“Wasn’t hungry.”

“That’s a lie.”

He finally looked at you — eyes tired, lips tight, like the weight of the world sat on his spine.

“Why’re you always chasin’ after me, huh?”

“Because I care about you.”

He laughed — low, mean, humorless.

“No you don’t.”

“I do.”

“You shouldn’t.”

You flinched.

Water soaked into your shoes and jeans, but neither of you moved to go inside.

“Dallas,” you whispered, “I’m not afraid of you.”

He looked away again — jaw clenched, cigarette burning down between shaking fingers.

“You should be.”

“Stop trying to scare me off.”

“I ain’t tryin’.”

His voice cracked.

“I’m warnin’ you.”

Your heart tightened.

“Warn me about what?”

“That I don’t get happy endings.”

His eyes flicked up, stormy and wet — not from rain.

“They don’t let people like me have nice things. Or nice people.”

“Dallas—”

He cut you off, voice sharper.

“Every person I cared about left or died. You wanna be next? Go ahead.”

You swallowed back the sting in your eyes.

“I’m not leaving.”

“You will.”

“I won’t.”

He shoved away from the ledge suddenly, pacing like a trapped animal.

“Don’t say that! Don’t—you don’t get it!”

“Then explain it to me!”

He spun, rain dripping off the collar of his jacket.

“I ruin things.”

A breath.

A confession.

“I ruin people.”

You stepped closer.

“You can’t ruin me.”

He shook his head, voice barely a tremor.

“I already have.”

Silence.

The rain filled all the spaces you couldn’t.

He stared at you like you were something holy and dangerous all at once.

“Don’t love me,” he whispered. “Please. Don’t.”

You reached out — slow, gentle — and took the cigarette from his shaking hand.

“I already do.”

Dally’s breath hitched.

For the first time, you saw it — not the anger, not the attitude, but the fear.

The fear of being known.

His voice broke entirely when he spoke next, soft and wrecked:

“I don’t know how to be loved.”

You stepped forward and pressed your forehead to his — rain, tears, breath, closeness.

“That’s okay,” you whispered.

“I’ll teach you.”

Dallas didn’t kiss you.

He just held your face in both hands like it might be the last time, eyes squeezed shut, rain sliding down his cheeks like proof he could cry after all.

And in a shattered voice, he finally admitted:

“I don’t wanna lose you.”

“You won’t.”

A beat.

“Promise?”

You didn’t hesitate.

“I promise.”

Ponyboy wakes up in a cold sweat, the bed empty of Sodapop. He was probably up late talking to Darry about bills they were trying to hide from Ponyboy. He rolls over to try and go back to sleep, but his heart is pounding in his ears like he'd just run a mile sprint. So instead he decides to get a drink of water. When he steps into the living room, the house feels darker and quieter than it has ever been; there are dark droplets on the walls and a metallic smell in the air.

Dally is hunched in the middle of the room, breathing heavy, deep breaths. He stands up slowly, uncurling to reveal he was taller than he normally seemed, taller even, by nearly a foot, than Darry. His dark hair now glowing a platinum blonde in the minimal moonlight coming through the broken door that hangs off the frame. He turns to look at Ponyboy like an owl, ice-blue eyes piercing through the darkness as his head twists around first, followed by his body that unravels until it faces Ponyboy.

Chills race up Ponyboy's arms, and his heart skips a beat at the unnaturally wide smile that splits Dally's face in half. He tilts his head and leans forward to observe Ponyboy with a distinctly satisfied hum.

"Dal?" Ponyboy whispers, dread creeping up from his stomach.

"Pony, did I wake you?" The voice is perfectly normal, a slightly New York-accented drawl coming from Dally, not at all what Ponyboy would've expected coming from this- this thing.

"What- what's goin'on?" Ponyboy's voice is barely audible to his own ears as adrenaline floods his senses. Dally's grin gets impossibly wider, his strangely pointed canines alongside even more canines where there should be molars, Ponyboy notes dreadfully.

"You are no longer grounded. We can be friends again." Dally's voice is tinged with laughter, like he was entertained much more than he'd ever sounded before.

"What'd you do?" Ponyboy can't keep his hands still as his gaze trails over the dark spots again, then down to the pool on the floor, then down to Dally's feet, next to the couch, where an arm was lying just visible around the corner. Bile rises in the back of Ponyboy's throat when he recognizes the friendship bracelet he'd given Sodapop years ago, the one he never took off-

"I made it so we can be friends again." Dally sounds so pleased, like a cat that's left a dead bird on his owner's doorstep, and Ponyboy is sick at the comparison.

"Ain't you happy? I did good."

welcome to the career challenge!

about the challenge

welcome to the second challenge for this year! this is an event focusing on writing characters in careers they aren't usually seen in with hintonverse with a minimum word count of three thousand words. sign ups open march 1st, 2026, close on march 8th, 2026. posting begins on may 7th, 2026 and close on may 14th, 2026.

rules for works

as stated, these challenges are meant for all of s. e. hinton's books, tim hunter's adaptation of tex and the two coppola films. characters and plots from the television show and the musical aren't applicable. you can do crossovers with hinton canons for this as well! (ie: you can cross over tex and hawkes harbor but you cannot submit a work involving any musical or television version of canon or any characters found solely in those canons.)

for this, the challenge is to write a hintonverse character in careers that are not typically seen in fandom. that means writer ponyboy curtis or mechanic sodapop or construction worker darry are all out. you're challenged to show them in other careers at any point in time, and meet the word count (elaborated below.) when it comes to "common careers" in fic, if there is a canonized tag with more than ten works, then that career cannot be used in the challenge. the career cannot be something that they do in canon and it cannot be something that's used in fanon frequently in fics (ie writer ponyboy). if you have a question, come to my ask box and we can see what's up.

all works must be posted onto AO3 during the posting period. i will not accept any fics posted solely on tumblr.

the works are supposed to center on the canonical hintonverse characters. if you'd like shipping in your work, that is okay! please tag your works accordingly for the ships and canons.

this challenge is also only for participants who are 18+. i will vet everyone who wants to participate; that's why it's semi-public. if you're underage, you will not be allowed to participate and i reserve the right to deny participation if harassment or bad behavior occurs.

entries must hit the minimum for 3,000 total words. when i say that, i mean if you want to write three separate one shots, all three would have to add up to 3k or more in word count. or if you wanted to do ficlets or longer pieces, they still need to hit the 3k minimum total when they're submitted. you aren't obligated to write one whole piece that is 3k — all you need to do is get there whether it's over one work submitted or multiple.

yes, you may submit multiple works! just please submit them and then post them during the week of posting.

as stated elsewhere, your works will not be policed. that means that if someone writes a ship or tackles are more controversial subject or has a rating higher than T/PG-13, your works are fine and allowed. the only thing that is required is that you tag appropriately and rate appropriately on AO3 and you treat fellow people who are involved respectfully.

do not post your works until posting week! i understand you might get antsy, but please wait until submission week.

if you have any questions, my ask box is open.

timeframe

signups open march 1st, 2026 and close march 8th, 2026. all i require for sign up is your tumblr url, your ao3 user, and the ships you intend to focus on. that's it. once you sign up, you can more or less begin to write unless i have a follow up question/clarification.

pre week check in. we'll have a check in around april 10th to see how things are going. this is going to be a tumblr post with responses, and maybe shooting a message.

or is that just me?