the outsiders imagines || 1965

the beast; darry

"Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope for who could ever learn to love a beast? "

—

for on the 243 day of his 19th year, he was stricken of the news that his parents had passed. the force of the train that had impacted their car and their bodies had taken the life straight out of them. cast to raise his brothers alone, he felt washed up only at 19. if it were not for the help of her, he would have been lost by now, maybe even dead.

when she had heard the news, she rushed over as fast as she could. on her way she stopped to pick up some roses. belle had known darry for as long as she could remember and with her raw beauty and kindness, she had him wrapped around her finger. for he had loved her since they were only children. he watched her blossom like a flower among their years of friendship. he watched belle blossom more and more in her gorgeous looks, after all her name meant beauty.

the whole world seemed to be upset the day his parents had passed, for the clouds were ever gray and the sky let out tears of sadness. belle had rushed home from college to come and comfort darry in his time of need. she approached the door with sad eyes, roses in hand. she knocked three times only to find a drunk and depressed darry to come to the door, beer in hand.

"darry, i'm so sorry they left this way. i brought you roses, maybe they can help?"

he glanced at her small frame, looking her up and down with his icy, blue eyes. when he turned to leave her without saying a word she grasped out her hand only to caress his arm. he turned around and looked at her and yanked his arm away.

"darry, please. just wait. maybe i can come inside and we can talk? i know what you're going through but getting drunk isn't going to help you. you have responsibilities now. you got two boys in there who need you more than ever and i'll even stay to help because i love you."

when she had finished talking, tears were streaming down her face and her right hand clutched the roses. darry had stopped in place, almost as if he was frozen. she hoped and prayed that her words impacted his impaired brain.

"you can't help me. no one can. i'm a beast. i'm a loose cannon, one blow away from going off. i can't take care of these kids and your god damn roses aren't going to help the fact that i'm only a kid. damnit belle, don't you get it? i'm to young for this. your roses won't help me raise those kids. your roses won't help me be a parent. and most of all your roses won't help my fucking dead parents come back. i-i think that you should go now."

she put his slurred words together but she wasn't going to give up on him just yet. he was her soulmate, her best friend, her lover. she called after him as he turned to walk away.

"darry wait!"

and with that he turned around and took one more sip out of his practically empty beer bottle and chucked it at her small frame. missing her by just an inch, she got the hint. she carefully placed the roses and their doorstep and turned to leave the small porch in the pouring rain. she gave his beastly figure one last glance, before running off in the rain.