the way dinner was with your parents was like this: a creaky table with your brother's initials carved into and yours joining soon enough with a switchblade; chairs that were older than the house all settled in together, dishes that had once been just for marriage cobbled together with whatever your parents could afford after so many years of you and your brothers breaking them.

being soulmates isn't everything it's cracked up to be when you're aware of every previous life at some point, and it's really not all it's cracked up to be when you're aware that your soulmate doesn't always pick you. ponyboy curtis knows this first hand.

ponyboy curtis was born with magic: the ability to bring back the dead. it isn't all it's cracked up to be. alternatively: five attempts at resurrection as performed by ponyboy curtis.

ponyboy and dallas are connected by a scar, and that's the most he can hope for.

"i ain't been here a damn week and you just broke into my house, dally? you couldn't wait for a call?" ponyboy returns home, and finds dallas has beaten him to the punch.