The illustrator, The writer || Skephalo FF

Chapter 9

The date went well as hoped, the weekend- almost- perfect and Zak and Darryl were just laying in bed together. Zak snuggled into Darryl's arms tightly, Darryl running his hand through the younger's fluffy black hair as they thought in the silence. Their minds both in different places but their body, heart and emotions all together as one sentimental being.

"Zak?" Darryl cut into the thick silence of the night, waiting for a hum or nod in reply before continuing, "Thank you for staying with me."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Zak mumbled back through the warmth of the older's chest, hiding his slight blush between the fabric.

"I- I guess I've never really had much going on in my life and you helped me experience more than I deserve. I feel like you'd leave me any second if I don't make things perfect," Darryl began to ramble, moving to lay on his stomach as Zak sat up to readjust himself.

"You... you really think I'd leave you if things weren't perfect?"

"Kinda- Yeah."

Zak sighed gently, analysing the others face. His eyes shut peacefully yet his lips trembling, not enough to notice at first glance though. Zak let out a small giggle, making the other boy's eyes open as he sat up to make sure the boy was okay, "You know, Darryl, I was scared you'd leave me. But after I told you about my eating disorder, my parents, my issues, I felt like if you accepted me for all that then there was no reason you would leave me... So why don't you fully trust me? Is there something you're hiding?"

There was a room of silence beside the slight hum of the radiator and the glow of the city lights outside the window, dimly hitting the curtains. The air had suddenly gotten chillier or was that just Darryl's body? Zak didn't understand, he thought everything was ok... was it not? Maybe they were both just overthinking it but Zak's heart and brain weren't cooperating as he tried to figure what it was that was upsetting Darryl.

"I do trust you, I really do... I just- I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you yet."

Zak nodded in understanding, staring at the slightly glowing curtains in thought, "I don't want to be left in the dark for too long, ok?"

"Alright, babe, let's get to sleep for now, okay?"

"Yeah."

Zak smiles at the others cute grin, pulling him into a passionate kiss before laying on the others chest.

"I love you, Darryl."

"I love you too, Zak, more than you love me."

"Impossible," Zak giggled before yawning and closing his eyes, letting sleep take over his body as he lay in the safe arms of his lover.

-=-

Zak woke up to an empty bed and stretched for a minute or two before realising it was a Monday and checking the time on his phone... 06:15am... so where was Darryl? The raven-haired teen huffed for a second before standing up and going to search around the boy's dormitory, not really finding anything. He moved back to he bedroom that he had previously slept in and searched for a clue as to where Darryl had disappeared to so early in the morning. He looked around the desk but only found a few papers, Darryl's laptop and a photograph as well as a few pens scattered on some books.

Hazel eyes moved back to the papers as the states logo was printed on top of the first sheet. His tanned hand reached towards the sheet with curiosity and he pulled it closer so he could read it.

Eyes widened and fingers trembled as he read the haunting words on the page, a receipt at the bottom, and lay on the desk, underneath where the sheet used to be- a ticket lay.
The boy shook slightly, his eyes watering as he dropped the sheet to the floor and speed-walked out the room and down towards his own dorm.

As he opened the door to his dormitory, he bit his lip to hold in a sob, a few stray tears finding their way down his cheeks as he shut the door behind him. His room was untouched and slightly dusty from the non-use of it. He had spent too much time with Darryl, relied on him too much. But he loved him- needed him, why was this going so wrong? The weekend had been so perfect and now Darryl had to betray him like this... Take his heart and leave him in the dust. He slapped his head with both hands in attempt to get a grip on reality as he sat down on his couch, he deserved this. He shouldn't have even tried to get into such a perfect boy's life, he knew it would only ruin the boy's reputations anyways. Zak let out a small sigh of sorrow as he pulled out some clothes to wear, not really caring what he looked like as he grabbed some ripped black jeans and a soft, fluffy, pastel-blue hoodie as well as some white trainers, he quickly got changed and grabbed his backpack as well as his dorm keys and phone and left the dorm quickly. He moved towards the main building of the school, heading in a certain direction. As he reached his destination, he reread the sign other and other again, reconsidering his actions  as he lifted his hand to knock and dropped it to his side. God, why was this so hard?

"Zak?"

"Ah!" The boy screamed, flinching at the short yell of his name before realising it was the principal and apologising profusely, "Oh! I'm sorry, Miss! You scared me."

"Don't worry about it, Zak. What did you need?" She spoke as she unlocked her office door and welcomed him in.

"Huh?"

"You were stood outside my office door, looking rather confused with yourself, what's going on?" She spoke softly, smiling reassuringly at the young teen.

"I- Right! I wanted to talk to you about my mom," Zak spoke confidently, sitting down in front of the shocked principal. Her mouth was in an 'o' shape before quickly shutting as she nodded in thought. Zak never really talked about his mom, she was never the caring type up until recently so when he got overwhelmed by her he'd just shut her out and any news of her, he would ignore.

"Go on then, what's up?" She smiled softly, hoping the boy wouldn't back away now, this was a big achievement for the both of them.

"She came in awhile ago, asking about my eating disorder, r-right?" Zak spoke and the principal softly nodded for him to continue, "Anyways, I filled up the food diary and I think that it's safe to say I've fully recovered! Along with that news, I'd um- I'd like you to call her for me and tell her to come visit again. I've realised how selfish I was when she came last time and uh- I think it'd be nice if I spent c-christmas with her?"

Everything was silent, a stern-look from the principal forced Zak to be nervous and anxious before feeling relieved that the principal gave him a somewhat cheeky yet reassuring grin.

"Of course I will! I'm glad to hear you're ready to forgive her."

"Yeah..."

"Something else seems to be bothering you, Zak?" She spoke kindly, wanting the boy to be as open and comfortable as possible. She believed a school environment should be a place where you can freely talk and do what you want as long as it's not disrespectful or an annoyance.

"Oh, it's nothing," Zak mumbled before speaking louder for his final question, "Has- Uh, has Darryl taken an extended leave?"

The teacher thought for a second before shaking her head, "Not that I'm aware of, why?"

"Ah it's nothing, one of his friends just told me a really mean joke or something," Zak lies quickly, standing up to take his leave, "Have a good day, ma'am."

"You too?"

As the door shut and the room went silent the teacher lay her head in her hands as she took the call, his mom would be delighted.