Chapter Text
Darrel Curtis remembers his parents in the way a man remembers his dead wife in a movie, Flashes of laughter and joy, moments of quiet and a feeling of warmth played in his mind to a sad song. He sees his mother holding an infant Ponyboy, his father playing catch with him and Sodapop in the yard, he smells cinnamon and lavender and when his eyes open it’s all gone.
The house Darry has managed to rent is small, two bedrooms, one bath, a living room and a kitchen, a small fenced in front and back yard and that's that, But its home and with two twin sized beds in the master bedroom it’s enough space for him and his brothers… or it will be when he finally gets to bring his brothers home. It’s been an uphill battle, one multiple people told him he was going to lose. "Go to college Darry’ ‘You haven’t seen your brothers in years, why waste your time?’ ‘Do you really want to spend your youth looking after your brothers?”
Does he want to spend his youth looking after his brothers instead of going to college? Well no of course not, sometimes he thinks it’s selfish, wanting to live his own life and not worry about them. But his state paid therapist said it was natural, to want those things, to wish his parents were alive and life was fair and he could just live. But life isn’t fair, his parents are dead and there’s no point in living in a world where he doesn’t even know what his brothers look like. Sodapop and Ponyboy are the only family he has and he’ll die before he abandons them.
“Ladies and Gentleman Darrel Curtis exactly where I left him last night!” The door opens just as loudly as it shuts and Darry doesn’t have to look to know it’s Twobit back from his late night of drinking at the drive-in and Bucks. “You should’ve gone with me man, you missed out.”
Darry rolls his eyes as Twobit flips himself over the back of the couch, landing next to him with a huff. “Missed out on drinking?”
Twobit grins “And other stuff”
Darry stands, rolling his shoulders and ignores the part of him that wishes he had gone out last night “I’m making cake, you gonna help me or sit here like a bum?”
“A bum? Me?” Twobit makes himself comfortable on the couch. “Never.”
By the time the cake is iced and ready to serve the house is full, Twobit laying on the ground, Steve, Johnny and Dallas on the couch, Darry settled in his chair. He’s lucky for them, his little gang. When they’re not around the silence threatens to drown Darry, pull him under and strangle him. The group home was never quiet, and the foster houses when he was placed in them were just as loud, they were only ever emergency placements. Once when the group home burned down, another time when they thought a family might like to adopt him in a different state. Never permanent, never for long. The group home had been it for Darry, they’d tossed him in and left him to rot. But it was better than the kids who went back and forth, better than the ones taken in with greed and spat back out with hate.
At least he’d had food, a bed though no private room, clothes on his back even if they were a size too small. No presents at Christmas, his birthday a nonissue, but a roof over his head. It was good enough. Good enough that he wasn’t hit, not like the other kids he saw- his bruises were from soc fights and football.
He worried then and he worries now that his brothers haven’t been as lucky as he was. He thinks about the kids he met, the ones with ghosts in their minds and a far away look in their eyes, the ones who flinch when you get too close or move too fast to grab food, afraid of not having enough and he hopes that isn’t his brothers… Will he even recognize them? When he finally holds them again will they be strangers with the same blood?
He finds out a month before he turns nineteen. He’s not sure how or why but after months of court visits, home visits, more court visits and lots and lots of paperwork his brothers are finally coming home. Not today, today they’re just visiting, meeting in the park that stands too close to the West side to be comfortable. But it’s progress. Big progress… and at the very least they're in Tulsa now, moved to a temporary foster home until the visits are over and Darry is cleared to bring them home. One more month... What’s one month when Darry has been waiting eight years?
The spring air is heavy today, it’ll rain soon but only after the hour Darry gets to spend with his brothers. It’s not exactly how he’d imagined their reunion. In a park they never used to visit, under social worker supervision, on a chilly cloudy day. But Darry wouldn’t have it any other way, because at least he gets to see them. When they were kids he’d wanted to write letters, to let his siblings know that he was out there missing them, caring about them even if he couldn’t be with them. He’d been so angry at first. Wasn’t the foster system supposed to keep families together? Why was he thrown in a foster home with zero word on if his brothers were even alive. For years it had felt like he’d lost them just like he’d lost mom and dad. He worried about Soda, as clingy as the kid was… all alone. And Ponyboy- only three… would he even remember his family? Darry had gotten lucky on an emergency placement, he’d come across a social worker he didn’t know. A new guy who still wanted to do everything he could to help instead of just taking home a pay check. Darry had begged the guy for information on his brothers and been given what he asked for. They were together, thank god, bouncing around the system but together. Darry had felt relief, then jealousy and then determination. When he turned eighteen he would do whatever it took to get them to be a family again. And so he did.
Darry tries not to throw up as he parks his truck, eyes scanning the park for only a moment before he spots them. The social worker, Oscar who has been at his side, fighting to help him bring his brothers home, standing next to a bench where two figures sit. One in a t-shirt and jeans, shivering just slightly, the other wrapped up in an old jean jacket, curled up in a ball against the taller one tight enough that Darry can hardly see him. But they're his brothers, Darry had worried at first if he would even recognize them but standing here, unable to even see their faces, he knows he could never not know them. They're a piece of his soul.
Darry walks with purpose across the grass, Oscar greets him with a smile, shaking his hand. “I’ll stay out of the way.” He says gently. “If you need something let me know.”
Darry watches for a moment as he walks away before he turns, finally coming face to face with his brothers. They’re standing now, Ponyboy tucked safely into Sodapop’s side.
“Hi” Darry says stupidly- he’d had this entire thing planned- he’d hug them and welcome them home and tell them how much he missed them- but now standing in front of them all he can think is ‘holy shit they’re so much older- my baby brothers -
Sodapop shuffles just a bit closer, Ponyboy moves with him as though they are connected but only Soda speaks. “Hi”
Darry is frozen for only one more moment, watching Soda shiver, watching Ponyboy look up at him with those big deer-like eyes, before finally Darry can't sit still a moment longer. He takes his jacket off, it’s not quite thick enough but it’s better than nothing, gently and slowly he wraps it around Soda and in turn around Ponyboy. Ponyboy curls into the newfound warmth but Sodapop shakes his head.
“I’m fine, you don’t have to-”
“I want to,” Darry says firmly. “For years Soda you have no idea-”
Darry has only a moment to brace before Soda is slamming into him, knocking the air from his lungs, he stumbles back half a step before wrapping Soda up in his arms. Holding him as tight as he can without suffocating the poor kid. It’s been so long, Darry had forgotten this feeling. The feeling of home, of safety, of loving and being loved in return unconditionally and limitlessly.
“I missed you so much Pepsi” Darry mumbles. But the moment is over already, Soda is pulling away, wrapping the jacket tighter around himself, pulling Ponyboy back into his arms, mumbling something quietly in the youngests ear. Darry shoves his hands deep into his jean pockets, ignoring the cold bite of the air. “So uh… Are you two hungry? We could get hotdogs from the shop down the street?”
Ponyboy perks up at the mention of food but doesn’t speak and doesn’t move until Soda nods “Sure, we could eat… Are we allowed to leave the park?”
“Oscar will follow us but we’re fine so long as I don’t take you guys home.” Darry says, leading the way to the shop.
Soda and Pony follow close behind, in perfect sync with each other's movements. Soda says “Where is home… exactly.”
“A lot deeper into the east side” Darry explains “ash street. You remember the lot?” Soda shrugs, Darry continues anyways. “It’s right next to the lot, straight shot and to the left a little… The house with the blue front door.”
Soda is nodding but Ponyboy seems to be the one actually paying attention. Darry wishes he could hug him but the kid is completely glued to Sodapop's side and the last thing Darry wants is to make him uncomfortable. They get hot dogs in a warm little shop Darry has let Twbit drag him to a few times over the years. Darry buys his brothers two hotdogs each, anxious of just how skinny they are. He'd noticed it when he first walked up but now being so close... they're practically skin and bone. Soda wraps two of them up, shoving them into Ponyboy’s jacket and Darry feels like throwing up.
“They ain’t feedin you at your foster house?” Darry questions.
Sodapop leans back in the booth, glancing over at Oscar who is ordering himself a lemonade. “I ain’t say that.”
“You’re hiding food.”
Soda raises an eyebrow “Is that a problem?”
“If they ain’t feeding you it is.” Darry pushes.
“Then it ain’t.” Soda pushes Ponyboy’s hotdog closer to him, completely untouched meanwhile Soda and Darry have already started on theirs. “Eat” Soda says and Ponyboy does.
“Steve is real excited to see you” Darry says, hoping the mention of his best friend will get that upset look off of Soda’s face.
“You’re still friends?” Soda asks. “Did you get to stay around here?”
Darry winces. “Yeah- yeah for the most part. I got placed in a group home deep on the east side. Twobit is around a lot too.”
Soda runs his fingers through Ponyboy’s hair. “You still talk to Paul?”
Darry takes a deep breath “Sometimes, here and there I guess…. There’s two others in our group now, Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade… Johnny is around your age Pony, I think you’ll like him.” Ponyboy looks up but not at Darry, he looks up to Soda who shakes his head, immediately Pony goes back to eating. “You don’t talk anymore?” Darry teases gently but shifts back when Soda glares at him.
“He talks just fine, just got nothin to say.”
Darry holds his hands up “I was teasing Soda.”
They finish their meal in silence, Darry talks just a little about the plan, three more weeks of visits, a home visit and then he’ll be good to take them in, but the tension from earlier never seems to completely disappear. Darry is almost glad when Oscar says it’s time for them to go. Almost that is until he watches the way Soda tenses and Ponyboy buries himself deeper into his brothers side. Soda shifts, taking off Darry’s jacket but Darry shakes his head taking a step back.
“Keep it. I have others.”
Soda shakes his head, holding out the jacket. “I don’t need it.”
“You need it to get back to the house at least. You can always bring it back next week.” Darry says, keeping his hands firmly in his pockets.
Soda hesitates for only a moment before wrapping himself back up in the jacket, pulling Ponyboy close. “We’ll see you next week?”
“Promise.” Darry replies.