as long as you care

xv. STOP IT

chapter fifteen,

stop it.

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[unedited] 15.

before the accident (cont.)

trigger warning: domestic abuse and vulgar language/slurs. if any of you are going through anything like this, i give you all my love, and i encourage you to seek help and stay strong. you're worth too much.

thankfully, our bond was too strong to break, so we stayed friends. even through his hard times and mine. he [clay] listened to all of my breakdowns, and i listened to his. he had gotten into some relationships that all ended horribly, so that pain would last for weeks.
insecurities.

zak ran as quickly as he could, and i struggled to keep up, "zak!"

"darryl, we can't slow down!" he exclaimed, "you have to understand, my dad's strict. i can't disobey him! not like last time— i- i can't-"

"you can come to my house!" i huffed, "we don't need to go back!"

"i don't have a choice!" he screamed, his voice growing angry, "you have parents that love you no matter what. your parents don't- they don't- touch you weirdly or.. or call you weird names.. or invade your privacy or.. or.. or maybe you uncomfortable.. you don't go through any of it! you're a ten, darryl, you're on the top! your life is perfect!"

my legs started to grow weaker with every step i took, and along with those steps, my heart did too. his words stabbed through my chests, leaving me speechless.

utterly, and unavoidably, speechless.

"just because i'm a ten doesn't mean my life is perfect. it's far from perfect, actually. i thought you-" i gasped for air, "i thought you knew that?"

"yeah, but it doesn't help when you always talk about your parents! oh, my mom this, or my dad told me this yesterday, i- i don't like hearing that!" he spat, "your dad doesn't force you to kiss him!" he stopped in his tracks, looking at me with terror filled eyes, "you- you didn't hea-"

"what?" i asked, stopping beside him. "k- kiss-?"

"no, stop it.. don't- don't repeat-"

"i can't just forget about something like that, zak!" i explained to him, "touch you weirdly? kiss you? zak, you need to-"

"i don't need to tell you anything!" he screamed, shaking his head furiously and placing his hands over his ears, "stop! please!"

"okay! you don't need to! i won't force you to!" i told him, "you don't need to worry, okay? i won't ask you anything. you don't need to-"

he kept on shaking his head, "i gotta go home." he removed his hands and started running to his house.

my strides were becoming lazy. struggling would be an understatement, but i'd go through the pain for zak. "zak-"

zak quickly stepped in front of his door, banging on the door. he whispered under his breath, "he's gonna kill me, he's gonna kill me.."