The Gang and their Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week.

by Finntastic_Wonderboy

Summary:

(This Work has been discontinued)

Ponyboy is a wreck. He lost his scholarship and had to move home. Now that he’s disappointed his brothers, he can’t live with himself, and he’s turned to the devil’s drink. The only one who can help is a familiar dark-haired stranger.

Meanwhile, Steve is getting cabin fever from his repetitive schedule. So he conjures up a great idea to take his girlfriend and best friend on a week-long road trip.

Dallas and Two-bit play detective to help out Darry and Tim with the overwhelming stress of what happened to their little brothers.

OR

Ponyboy hooks up with Curly after dropping out of college and finds out he carries more baggage than he wants to deal with. Meanwhile, Steve convinced Evie and Soda to go on a roadtrip and Dallas and Two-Bit play good cop bad cop while Tim and Darry become worry warts. Also Johnny's here too.

Notes:

I AM STILL UPLOADING LOVE IS STRANGE I JUST WANT TO DO THIS TOO

Chapter 1: The Not-so Stranger Danger

His fingers drummed against the plastic cup in his hand, he was bored, the only thing slightly entertaining him was the music and chatter of select people around him. His eyes were focused on the amber liquid sloshing around in that red solo cup. The lighting was dim, leading to a softer environment, one that probably got most people eager to talk to strangers, find out their life story. Ponyboy just wasn’t like that.

His eyes drifted up to the crowd briefly, a small frown permanently engraved on his features. It goes without saying that he regrets letting Dallas drag him here, because the moment he turned around to get a drink the older boy was gone. It was pretty common that he’d just bring Ponyboy to these events and then desert him for some broad or whoever he wanted to pursue that night. Dallas Winston wasn’t picky on gender.

He raised the glass silently, tipping it back as he drank large gulps. He moved for the first time in a bit, his awkward lanky limbs taking him to the table where a bunch of different types of liquor resided. Ponyboy couldn’t say he was picky on what he drank, he just wanted to get drunk, go home and pass out on the couch. He mixed a bunch of liquor together, not really caring to read anything other than the percentages on the bottles, it seems like a potent mixture of vodka, whiskey and potentially tequila. Regardless, down the hatch it went---.

“Hey, baby Curtis.” Ponyboy jumped, quickly breathing down the burning alcohol and having a coughing fit as he gave a slight side-ways glance to the man who just appeared beside him. “Man, you alright? Didn’t mean to scare you that bad, honest.”

Ponyboy cleared his throat roughly, trying to get rid of the burning need to cough up his lungs some more. “M’alright. No worries--” another cough. He took another small sip, finally conquering the coughing fit before fully facing the man beside him. He was a tall, lean teenager who looked like the model JD kind of guy that’d be in movies and such. He looked a lot like Tim Shepard, and for a moment Ponyboy had an issue putting a name to the face in front of him. Then it hit him like a brick.

Curly

“So uh, what’cha drinkin’?” The dark-haired boy tilted his head, his dark blue eyes almost piercing right through Ponyboy. 

“I, uh-- I think it’s like vodka and whiskey.” The smaller male glanced down at his cup before placing it on the table beside him and turning his gaze to the on-going party for a moment. He hadn’t seen Curly in a couple years, not since he dropped out of highschool, anyway. It seemed the youngest Shepard was so eager to get out of what he considered to be the worst place on earth that he didn’t even think twice about dropping out in Junior year.

He grew a lot in that short period of time, the scar that traced from his temple to his chin seemed to fade a lot, and he grew into his features a lot. He now started dressing in clothes that seemed a size too small for him just to accentuate the muscles that he had managed to obtain. 

“Sounds wild.” Curly’s lips curled into a crooked grin, one that was endlessly grim and bitter, like Dally’s. “Surprised to see you here. Thought you went to college and became too big of a fish for our little pond.” Ponyboy just swallowed thickly, a hand flying to his pocket to check if the back of cigarettes he had were still there. He cleared his throat. “I’m gonna head outside, you wanna come?” He asked, already pulling out the pack of cigarettes.

The only thing that the other male did was shrug, his grin not faltering. “Sure.”

The air was kind of frigid, the brunette thanking his brother mentally for forcing him to wear a jacket. He quietly lit the cigarette and took a long drag, placing his drink down on the steps and coming to rest beside it. Curly didn’t smoke much, some weird part of him remembered that, and he felt kind of bad for lighting one in front of him, but in the end it didn’t matter. He just reached down and took another sip of his drink, wincing at a new salty, maybe even bitter taste. 

It took him a minute but he realized that it was sort of his turn to talk, but as he went to open his mouth Curly beat him to it. “So, you gonna tell me why you aren’t in college? Or you gonna avoid it again?” There was no heat to his voice, and the soft look in his dark blue eyes made a small wave of warmth flush up to his ears.

“Gosh, you’re persistent, huh?” He chuckled softly, shifting a hand through his auburn hair, trying to fix the strands that had fallen into his face. He wasn’t exactly looking his best right now, Dally gave him little to no warning before dragging him out of the house. 

Curly’s grin only grew wider and he propped up his elbow on his knee, leaning his head against his palm. “I try.” 

Ponyboy shook his head, giving it a good long thought before deciding on his answer. “I lost my scholarship.” He shrugged slightly. He didn’t fight as hard as he could’ve when it came to his grades, giving up before he decided that it didn’t matter anymore.

“Jeez, I bet Darry right flipped his lid when he heard that.” A small snicker left Curly’s lips and Ponyboy knew it wasn’t because he was trying to poke fun at the situation, but more to aleviate the tension.

“Yeah, he wasn’t the happiest.”

“You working now?”

“Hm? Oh, nah, not yet.” 

There was silence and Ponyboy took another sip of his drink, licking his lips to clear the alcohol from them. He didn’t say anything for a second, nearly forgetting that he was supposed to be having a conversation with someone right now.

“You look good.” That comment made the younger male’s ears burn and he swallowed thickly, unable to come to terms with the fact that Curly Shepard had said that to him.

“Yeah, thanks. You too.” He murmured, fidgeting with the cigarette in his hand for a second, watching the embers burn, ticking down the time until it was burned down to the filter.

“You wanna get out of here?” 

“Huh?”

Ponyboy’s eyes were wide, he swallowed thickly, his breath hitching nervously. He hadn’t expected Curly to come onto him this strong, nonetheless come onto him at all. Frankly, he was shocked. The taller boy was interested in him? Had it always been that way?

Curly just leaned in closer, his hand coming to rest on Ponyboy’s thigh. The younger boy went to move back a little, trying to put space between their faces, only to find that he was right against the railing.

“Do. You. Want. To. Get. Out. Of. Here? ” 

He repeated himself and the other boy found himself nodding, and Curly just smiled, backing off slightly and standing up. 

“C’mon.” He nodded towards the street, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaving Ponyboy stunned for just a moment, as he swiftly left the property.

It took a moment but Ponyboy was following behind soon after, chugging the rest of his drink and racing to join the catlike JD.

---

 

He hadn’t remembered being as tired as he was the moment he laid on the bed, his back against the mattress and Curly was all over him. The entire walk moment he was recounting every memory he shared with the other male, it all finally clicked when he realized that Curly was always trying to get his attention one way or another. He had just thought it was him being an asshole, but as it turns out it was preteen Curly’s way of flirting.

Ponyboy was pleasantly surprised at how soft the dark-haired boy’s lips were. His hands skimmed over his shoulders, tracing the muscles gently before dragging them down his shoulder blades and back. 

His whole body felt heavy as the greaser’s head ducked and buried itself into his neck. His hand quickly flew up to his head, his fingers tangling into his dark close as he fought to stay awake. 

Was he always this drowsy?

Apparently so, because he had practically forgotten where he was until Curly was trying to undo the buttons of his jeans, kissing down his stomach at the same time. He couldn’t keep his eyes open, and god did he try. 

But in the end he lost,

”You’re so much fun, Pone.”  

That amused chuckle was the last thing he heard before everything faded away. The world was completely black.

 

---

 

The Dx was fairly quiet. Steve was in the garage, working on one of those nice cars that Soc’s brought by sometimes, while Sodapop was stuck manning the counter.

He was distracted by some magazine, flipping through celebrity gossip and propaganda that he didn’t really bother to care too much about. He was just counting down the minutes until the end of his shift. 

The bell to the door rang and he heard a familiar grunt. 

“We ought to do somethin’ fun sometime.” Steve wiped his hands on the rag he had previously stuffed in his back pocket, leaning against the counter waiting for Soda to lower the magazine.

“Yeah? Like what?” He scoffed, refusing to look at his best friend, waiting to see how long it would take for him to get sick of it.

“I dunno, like a road trip or something.” There was a pause, and Soda bit his lip to hide the grin slowly growing on his face. Steve has this thing where he can’t stand when people refuse to make eye contact or show any actual form of listening. Sodapop thinks it’s one of the funniest things in the world. The tension was high, the dark-golden haired boy held his breath. It was like teasing a cat, waiting for it to pounce. He let out a dismissive hum before Steve lunged over the counter, ripping the magazine from his hands and growling at him. 

“Would you quit it with that?”

Sodapop couldn’t help but smile, watching his best friend get so worked up over literally nothing. “I don’t understand why it bugs you so much” He snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You fucking suck.”

“Oh grow up, will ya?”

There was a brief silence before Sodapop spoke again. “As you were saying…” He made a gesture with his hand, hoping to get Steve back on his train of thoughts. He gave up the fight as soon as it started.

Steve on the other hand was glancing at his reflection, fixing the complicated swirls in which he styles his dark hair into. “Oh yeah, we should do something. Maybe drag Evie along.” He hums. 

“Sure. We’re not doing a road trip, though, I hate those damn things.” 

“What’s your problem? What’d they ever do to you?” The dark-haired greaser turns to Soda in a huff, his eyebrows drawing together.

“Too much sitting. Plus I think we’d end up hating each other by the end of it.”

“That’s why we bring Evie” 

“Not happening, tuff guy.” Soda cocks an eyebrow and Steve scrunches his face at him. 

“They clearly dropped you on your head as a kid.” Steve huffed, shooting his best friend a glare. Soda just switched eyebrows, raising the other one this time and trying to fight the smile growing on his face. 

“Quit it.”

“Quit what?” 

“Quit that.”

“What am I doing, Stevie?” 

“You know exactly what you’re doing you--” He raises the rolled up magazine, ready to strike, but he’s cut off by the bell from the door ringing and a girl with brunette hair walks in. Soda could only laugh as he steps away from where Steve is to move toward the register. 

“Hey, Evie, your boyfriend wants to do a roadtrip, tell him it’s a bad idea.”

“Steve, it’s a bad idea.” 

“You chose him over me ?” Steve bats his eyelashes, feigning innocence, as if he didn’t just try to hit his friend with a magazine. 

“He’s vicious, he’s got a weapon. He attacks one more time and you’ll have to put him down.” Soda snickered, ringing up the items the girl placed on the counter.

“I do not .” He gasped a hand flying to his chest as if he was personally offended by that. 

“Yeah? You read the magazine all rolled up like that?” Soda shot back and Evie chuckled softly.

“You better believe it's Pepsi-Cola.” 

Soda shook his head, combing back his dark golden blonde hair with his fingers. “Your total is sixty cents.” He hummed, opening the cash register and exchanging the money, skillfully ignoring whatever Steve was plotting. “Here’s your change, Evie--” Suddenly, he was whipped in his cheek and he whipped around to see his best friend holding the magazine with a big grin on his face. He slammed the change onto the counter before managing to rip the magazine from his hands.

He pondered for a split second on how to bug his friend in the easiest but most efficient way possible. He tossed the magazine aside before ruffling the thick dark hair his best friend had just meticulously styled. When he was finally swatted away he grinned at the scowl on Steve’s face.

“Get back to whatever greasy hole you crawled out of, before I deck you in the nose.” He tried to mimic the Socs who had bugged them a few years ago. Soda pointed to the door, acting like his friend was some sort of guilty dog, he could hear Evie giggling in the background.

“Alright, alright, I’m going. Just make sure you take off your rings before you punch me next time, Mr. Big Bad soc.” Steve shakes his head, snickering as he heads back to the garage, finally deciding to do his job.

“We’re going on that road trip whether you like it or not, Sodapop.” He calls over his shoulder before closing the door shut. Soda just shook his head, waving off Evie before returning to his position before. Doing absolutely nothing.

Chapter 2: Darry is Losing His Patience

Summary:

Ponyboy wakes up with a bad hangover, has to escape his (almost) one-night stand, and now has to deal with his brother's lecture. This is all not very good for his hangover.

Every limb felt like it was weighing him down, and for a moment, Ponboy believed he was truly gone as if the heavens had heard his wishes and taken him away at last. Until finally, he could open his eyes.

The apartment around him was relatively unfamiliar, and less of an apartment and more of a studio. He remembered vaguely what happened before last night and hurriedly checked his own body. He didn’t necessarily feel violated in any sort of way, nor did he feel as if something of his was missing. Curly wasn’t the type of guy to do that, he knew that deep down, but sometimes people advert your expectations.

He relaxed against the sheets and took a long, deep breath. In the distance, he could hear the shower running. He assumed the youngest Shepard sibling had places to be, and that he ought to get out of here real soon.

The blankets were pushed aside and he cringed at the realization that he slept in the uncomfortable denim. He got up, still feeling woozy and tired, but determined to get home before Darry made it a big deal. The older boy had probably already made it to work and he hoped Sodapop would try and cover him, say he stayed over at friends or something—really anything—to save him from a lecture when he got home. 

Walking out of the bedroom door he glanced over to the end of the hallway, a specific door caught his eye. It wasn’t the bathroom door, because the shower was coming from the other way, but the light was on. As far as he knew, and he didn’t know a lot, Curly didn’t have any roommates. The kitchen and living room looked like it was just one person, but that door made him curious. He stepped closer, wanting to know more, to explore this mystery ahead of him. He reached out tentatively for the doorknob, ready to twist it when a door behind him swung open.

“Pony?” The blonde instinctively froze, unsure of what to do. He had been so wrapped up in the riddle that was the looming presence of this door that he forgot to listen for the running water. “What are you doing over there?” He turned around and met those dark blue eyes that seemed to know every thought that ran through his head with just a singular glance. Curly’s voice had a harsh edge to it, and it made the hairs on the back of the younger boy’s neck stand up.

“I was just… looking for the bathroom,” Ponyboy choked out, trying to make a sorry attempt at an excuse. Apparently, it was a better attempt than he thought because Curly seemed to buy it. His eyes softened and he nodded slowly. 

“Yeah, sorry, I’m a bad host.” This time Curly gave the blonde a grin which he could only return sheepishly. “Do you still need in?” He asks taking a step away from the bathroom door. Ponyboy only shakes his head, his ears reddening when he realizes the man in front of him is only in a towel. Small drops of water still clung to his lean muscles, Ponyboy’s eyes rake down his body and he pushed a few damp curls out of his face. It only took a moment before the blonde realised he was staring, way too long. 

“No—” he started, but it just came out as a croak. He cleared his throat. “It's alright, my brothers are waiting for me at home. I gotta get back.” He swallows thickly, praying that Curly couldn't pick up on the obvious signs that he was so tense. 

The only thing that left the taller male's mouth was a soft scoff. Ponyboy felt hot everywhere. “Aw, really? So soon? We couldn’t even get to the good part because you fell asleep on me.” There was a tinge of something interesting under Curly’s voice, potentially sickeningly sweet, and mocking, as if he had something to hide. That made Ponyboy want to recoil and hide, just staring into the cavernous mouth of the beast, but in this case, the beast was just some stupid asshole from his high school that he should have long forgotten. Yet, that man found a way under his skin.

“I got work.” Ponyboy croaked, wanting to slap himself for how weak his voice sounded coming out of his mouth. The whole room felt dizzying—it wasn’t spinning or anything but Ponyboy felt as if he could fall over any second. He reckons that has something to do with the alcohol. 

At the party, he couldn't really get a good look at Curly; it was dim, and the light seemed to melt into his features, casting long shadows and obscuring his face. He used to have an issue even remembering what the youngest Shepard sibling looked like, but now he can't get it out of his head, it's like the image is pounding, throbbing into his mind, burned into the back of his eyes like a nasty scar, relenting and permanent. He briefly fears that he might never forget the persistent image of Curly Shepard again— especially the picture of him hovering above the blonde with a big, roguish grin on his face.

“Well, don’t let me stop you, gotta keep that hard-working, Curtis status up.” The other boy snorted, pushing past Ponyboy, and that interaction burned the blonde. He didn’t understand why. Curly hadn't actually changed much. He used to be an awkward-looking kid with lanky limbs that he didn't know how to control and a messed-up brain that made him feel that he needed to do something crazy to be recognized—the time he fell off a telephone pole came to mind. He just looked like a bigger version of himself, and that thought was kind of comforting to Ponyboy, even as he discreetly slipped out of the apartment. 

The hallway outside was run down and pretty tattered-looking, but really, it was no different from anything else on the east side. The yellowish-beige wallpaper was torn and peeling, the carpet looked like it had a bad disease and the whole place smelled like stale cigarettes and dust. Clearly, Curly didn’t care about where he lived, like a lot of greasers, a roof and a bed were enough. It made sense, but honestly, Ponyboy couldn’t bear to live in a place so void of warmth. 

The sunlight outside was blinding, and he had only two things on his mind at this point: How he could stop Darry from yelling at him, and the best, most effective, cure for a hangover. The walk home was long and the only thing to think about was the man he had just spent his night with. He tried distracting himself, he really did, but after one drag of a cigarette made sour bile crawl up the fleshy insides of his throat and his head only throb and ache worse, he promptly gave up and decided that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to indulge in those thoughts.

Although the walk was quiet, the house was not, especially once he stepped inside.

---

The chaos was inevitable. As teenage boys turn into the early stages of men they don’t really lose that childish lilt to them. This was true for everyone—well, everyone except Darrel Curtis. Growing up faster than most boys meant that he skipped that sweet transitional stage from teenager to adult where he could just relax, try and figure things out and hope they could work out in the long run. Instead, Darrel had to just know how everything worked, to just pick up where his parents left off. Needless to say, he hasn’t known a day of peace since he was nineteen years old.

It’s well after four right now, and he’s downright pulling his hair out. His youngest brother is missing and hasn’t been home for nearly twenty-four hours. If this were Sodapop, he wouldn’t fret so much. Soda could handle himself, he could use his head and keep his mouth shut—even if most days it feels like he can’t—but this wasn’t Soda who had just fallen off of the face of the earth. This was Ponyboy. Ponyboy who had lost his scholarship because he was careless. Ponyboy, who has practically been drinking himself to death at nineteen. Ponyboy, who could be anywhere in this godforsaken town, drunk, passed out, or even worse…

“Pony still ain’t home yet?” A softer, gentler voice calls out to him. There’s a hand on his shoulder, one that makes him glance up from the paper he’s trying so hard to focus on, despite his intense worry that’s just barely managing to hide itself and not explode in an unbridled fit of rage. He only grunted in response, disapproving and uneasy. “I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for him, yeah? I gotta head off to work anyway.” Darrel just grunted again, acknowledging his brother’s statement. It was truly a mystery how Sodapop seemed to understand what he said without any words actually leaving his mouth. 

The hand on his shoulder left, and Darrel was back into that article he was unsuccessfully trying to read. “Heya, Dal. Beer’s is under the sink.”

Dally snorted. “Hiding it from the kid again?”

“Nah, dipshit, they’re just keeping it there for fun.” As expected, Steve answered for Soda.

“Steve, we gotta go.” There was a scoff, the front door closing and then the house was relatively quiet again.

For a moment, Darrel just wrote that off as nothing. Then it dawned on him. 

Dally was with Ponyboy last night.

He was up immediately, not wanting to let this get away from him. “Where the hell did you lose my brother this time, Winston?” Darrel asked, glaring at the lanky male who was crouched down, shuffling through the cabinet under the sink. 

Dally paused, thinking for a moment. “Shit, I guess I saw him leave with Tim’s little brother—fuck, I could never remember that brat’s name…”

“Curly?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Dally popped open his can of beer, taking a long sip. 

Darrel on the other hand had his jaw set tight, he didn’t like the idea of those two hanging out. Curly had always been rougher than Ponyboy needed to be. Darrel didn’t let them hang out for good reasons, Cury has been in the reformatory more times than he could count on both his hands.

“Reckon Tim’ll have seen him?” He asked, hoping for a positive response. 

“Nah, Curly’s made it big with the drug money. Got his own place. Fully moved out of the Shephard house and such.”

That made the older boy’s heart rate skyrocket. 

Drugs?

He knew Ponyboy had been spiralling a little, but alcohol and cigarettes were one thing, the kind of stuff Shephard dealt with was another. The moment Ponyboy said he’d be coming back home he had made a deal with Tim that his gang wouldn’t sell to Ponyboy just to prevent him from doing such a thing. Curly didn’t seem to get the memo. 

“He’s a big boy, Darry, he can handle himself.” 

Darrel didn’t think so.

The front door creaked open. Like a bird of prey, Darrel’s gaze glanced over to the noise, only to find his little brother looking worse for wear slowly trudging through the living room. “Where the hell have you been?” The older boy couldn’t help himself, he was quickly eating up the short distance between them, determined to get to the bottom of this.

Ponyboy couldn’t even spare him a glance. He seemed to know he was in trouble because he took a seat on the couch, clutching his head. “Darry, could you just, tone it down for a bit..” His voice was horse and weak, and that happened to just make Darrel more upset.

“Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been about you?”

“Darry, just shh…”

“No, I’m serious. Where the fuck were you?”

Ponyboy peaked from behind his hands, before slowly dragging them away from his own face, leaning back against the couch. “I found Curly Shephard. We hung out.”

“Oh, yeah? You two just ‘hung out’, huh?” The fire burning in Darrel’s chest seemed to have started to make a life of its own and was coming out in his tone. “Do you expect me to just believe that?” 

The younger blonde paused for a second. “What..?” He tried to hold eye contact, his brother could tell, but his head ended up lulling to the side, becoming practically useless at staying upright. 

“Are you high?” 

“What?” By the looks of it, Ponyboy was pretty alarmed. 

“You heard me.”

“No, Darry, I’m not—” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I’m tired.” His voice was strained, even as he tried his best to smooth it out and make it believable. Darrel just wasn’t buying it.

“That’s believable.” He scoffed, sarcasm lacing his tone.

“Listen, I’m an adult. I don’t need you to fuss over me like this.” Ponyboy finally started to raise his voice, but it seemed like it hurt, and that gave his brother a little bit of satisfaction.

“An adult under my house. Where I pay the bills.” Darrel corrects, refusing to back down from this argument. 

“Okay, fine!” His younger brother groans, the small amount of fight he had in his body, completely gone, and the darker-haired male was more worried than angry at Ponyboy’s state right now. “I’m high, whatever you want to believe! Just let me shower and go to bed. I’ll be out of your hair.” 

“Fine. Go.” Darrel’s voice was still stern and serious, but he was backing down a little bit, watching his brother stumble into the bathroom with a bit of concern in his eyes. Not that Ponyboy ever noticed. 

But of course, he never noticed the smaller things like that.

Notes:

Chat tbh I forgot that this existed and I got lazy about it towards the end but I've been posting on tiktok @finnster3000 I made a little animatic of ponyboy running away, so THAT's pretty cool

ANYWAY NEW CHAPTER OF LOVE IS STRANGE IS NEXT !!!!!

Chapter 3: A Quick Update

Summary:

Rip

So funny story, actually, I literally hate the premise of this story and I never really had a plan for it so I'm gonna drop it. I do have plans to revive it in a different way and take some of the elements into the new story, but I don't actually know if that will go anywhere, but you will get to see this story end sometime if that other one actually drops. I wanted to just quietly revamp this one but then I thought maybe someone who read it really likes the chapters and wants to keep revisting them or smt?? idk, but like sorry to the people who actually read this, and wanted more. I appreciate all the support on this book, but it lowk feels like something a guy who likes "edgy humor would write" and, lemme tell you, i am NOT okay with that. So, i'm leaving behind the 13yr old "i watch gore for fun" premise and probably taking the new book in a different direction (with a better title) 

 

Rip "The Gang and their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week," 😭🙏

 

Notes:

Soda and Steve's conversation is HEAVILY inspired by a actual conversation between me and my super amazing gorgeous funny talented wonderful best friend !!