Random Imagines - Requests closed

Darry Curtis - Coping Mechanism ⚠️(🦋?) GN

Darry Curtis x Gender Neutral Reader

Angst, Hurt/Comfort.

Trigger Warning: Implied body dysmorphia, depression/feeling of worthlessness. Angst. Reader seeing themselves as "ugly" or "chubby". If any of these are triggering for you then I would not recommend reading this.

am I projecting a little bit/getting into my feels for this one shot? Yep, absolutely. But I need comfort and I need it now so y'all get to suffer through it with me. I wrote this like last night/this morning  at literally 1 in the morning soooo :)

There were many, many things y/n admired about Darry Curtis.

His hugs, his laugh, the way his muscles poked out of the tight shirts he wore. The way his greased-up bangs would fall in front of his face, or how his tongue would poke out slightly whenever he was really focused on something. From the "Good morning, sweetheart" to the "will ya tell the boys to quiet down? I'm tryna read the paper."

Though it seemed that the line between "admiration" and "jealousy", was beginning to blur.

Darry was the strongest man Y/n had ever met. Working two jobs, taking care of 2 kid-brothers, rent, meals, all by the age of 20. He'd lost both his parents, given up on his dreams and his childhood, but still somehow managed to keep it up. Everyday.

Which made it truly stand out, how pathetic Y/n truly was.

They had loving parents who raised them to the best of their abilities, a good education, and the average childhood.

Always having a roof over their head, food on the dinner table, and friends who cared for them. They had all they needed.

So why the hell, were they so close to breaking down?

How come anytime they looked in the mirror, the skin on their bones turned to blubber, spilling over the hem of their jeans. The bumps on their face brightening to the shade of a ripened apple, their hair getting greasy and flat only a day after showering.

Textbooks and homework packets piled into a school bag, stretching the straps and pulling on shoulders.

They had no right. Loving parents, loving friends, loving boyfriend.

They had.

No right.

The room was lonely, no one else but the h/c in the Curtis household. Sodapop and Darry had left for work hours ago, Ponyboy stuck in school. Y/n had skipped. Pathetic.

Buried under layers of blankets, wrapped in the cozy material they lay with their cheek pressed into the pillow. It was another "low" day, that's what they had begun calling it. "Low" days and "high" days, self explanatory.

This day in particular, it was called "low" cause that's how the skin of their belly felt, drooping off their body. That's how their energy was, as well as motivation.

Taking a glance at the clock across the room, y/n watched the hands ticking slowly.

'16 more minutes...'

...

A couple more ticking noises. They check again.

'15...'

Much like a dog awaiting its owner, y/n lay impatiently waiting for the eldest Curtis brother to arrive. It was his bed that they were all tangled in, his house. Only thing missing was him.

...

14 more minutes.

With an exasperated groan, they turn away from the clock. Maybe if they didn't watch, it would happen faster.

Minutes slowly pass by, y/n's eyelids drooping to a close. A suppressed yawn rumbled in their chest, dragging them closer to sleep until a familiar sound traveled through the house.

A front door rattling against a door frame, heavy boots creaking the floor boards. Y/n turns to the clock once more.

4:00 sharp.

Darry, instead of going straight to his room as y/n hoped, walks toward the shared bathroom in the house. Running water is the next sound that y/n recognizes, the tall man sighing in relief as hot water crashes onto his sweaty body.

He tiredly washes himself, removing the dirt and grime that covered his skin. Grease slipped from his hair, letting it go flat in the small tub as muddy brown water circled the drain. Drops of water settled into the crevices of his muscles, staying there even after he turned off the water and stepped out of the tub.

Quiet hums fill the air, following him through the hallway and down to where his impatient lover awaited him.

He wasn't expecting to see the bundle of blankets on his bed, let alone a face sticking out of them. "Y/n? Why aren't you at school."

Y/n takes a moment to answer, admiring the man's figure through half lidded eyes. "Didn't feel like it..." they grumble, and he sighs.

"Ya can't keep missing school like this..." he scolds, pulling a stray shirt over his head. Y/n groans. "Can ya really consider it school, when you've already graduated?"

"They're extra classes, and they'll help you get a job one day." Darry responds, pulling on a fresh pair of boxers. Y/n doesn't answer, turning their head away from him.

Pathetic, pathetic...

The lack of response doesn't go unnoticed, the brunette glancing at his bed through his now free strands of hair. Another sigh escapes him.

He didn't mean to sound condescending, truly. To him it seemed nothing less than logical to work as hard as possible, sometimes clouding his judgement towards y/n's lazier coping mechanisms.

They were still undeniably perfect, in his eyes. The body they saw as "odd" or "underwhelmingly too much" was like a beautifully sculpted statue of h/c and s/c colors, to him. Though he had no idea how to share that with them, he knew it was true.

Through closed eyes, y/n hears the padding of feet approaching the bed, feeling someone hover above their figure.

Opening their eyes just a little, the pair's eyes meet. "Move over."

The h/c does as told, rolling to the side, allowing Darry to slip under the covers and join them. His arms wrap around their tired body quickly, skin pressed against each other's while the droplets of water cool y/n's body down significantly, and the warmth of their body heating the brunettes'.

Darry rests his forehead against the hair on y/n's head, trapping said person in his toned arms. His hands run down their sides, settling on their hip, though his thumb continues to trace lines up and down y/n's skin.

Immediately a strong sense of comfort overwhelms them, the moment they'd been waiting for since he left that morning finally coming to embrace them.

"Go to bed, sweetheart. I ain't going nowhere.."