Metanoia.「skephalo」

34 | It's not all a bed of roses.

That Sunday wasn't going as Zak expected.

Naturally, he was over the moon either way. Having Darryl back with him was more than enough.
However, he just couldn't bear some of his unusual and rough actions.

The days before, continuous expectations and scenarios about how having Darryl back to his side would be, kept spiraling in his head all day and night long; and now, he couldn't help but be disappointed in his dreamlike expectations.

Even those small actions Darryl used to do changed, and so did the delicacy and attention in his motions.

It was almost surreal, but Zak tried his best to convince himself it was normal, and that sooner or later things would get back as they used to be.

But, yet again, he couldn't help but be scared if not terrified, of having lost the awesome connection he used to have with Darryl.

After the Senior asked him if he needed help with his studies, Zak decided to let him know about his school situation, about how he got suspended and about how he didn't know if it would damage in any way his Junior year.
Furthermore, he still had no idea when he would have permission to frequent his classes normally.

The younger boy felt foolish for expecting an understanding and supportive reaction from Darryl.

All he got was him demonstrating his disappointment towards Zak by scolding him, something he didn't anticipate.

Those emerald eyes were delivering the same disappointment he saw some nights before, the one of his relapse.

It hurt way more than expected.

The last thing Zak wanted was to argue, especially with him, so he simply forced himself to nod in defeat at the scolding words flowing out of Darryl's mouth.

They sure had happy and cuddly moments through the night before and the day, but there was that something clearly off which led the two to get into unnecessary discussions multiple times.

The worst part was that the probabilities Darryl realized how odd the situation between them was, were really low.

And for the umpteenth time, Zak found himself forfeited in his thoughts as he stared at an inexistent nothing in front of him.
His head cradled in the palm of his hand, as his elbow rested on the kitchen counter where school papers were scattered across.

A groan escaped his mouth at his phone vibrating on the opposite side of the worktop as it snapped him back to reality, making him flinch lightly.

He stretched his arm out reaching for the device, immediately alerting Darryl who coughed at his action, causing to Zak to instantly halt his motion.

"Zak, you spaced out so much... And now you're letting yourself get distracted by your phone? Please, you promised you'd try to study at least a little bit." the older sighed, closing the biology book he was paying full attention to seconds before.

"I did!" he rebutted, straightening up his posture. A frown made his way on his face as he glared at Darryl. "You know I'm not good at these things! I just can't stay focused this long."

The older boy studied him for a moment, and his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Yeah, sorry." he then mumbled after that moment of silence, then a smile grew on his lips, surprising Zak. "I'm still proud of you, you muffin. You did a good job."

And at that comment, the raven-haired couldn't help but smile like an idiot. A happy one, obviously.

"Here." Darryl placed his hand on the phone, sliding it towards him.