Replay {Skephalo}

13 | Stay

Zak's eyes close slowly. His face is still knotted in pain, but seems much more relaxed now. I wrap a strand of his black hair around my finger. Wrapping and unwrapping, until eventually I too drift off.

~~~

-Zak's POV-

I wake up in a red room. Red and black, I notice, looking around the room in my tired haze. I can hear soft snoring, and look down to see Darryl.

Darryl. I'm lying in bed, with Darryl.

Whatever.

I can't help but watch Darryl peacefully asleep. He's fallen asleep with his glasses on, which I know is uncommon for him. The rims of his eyes look red and puffy, like he's been crying.

Poor thing.

I try to remember what I'm doing here. This must be Darryl's room, that'd explain all the red and black. We must be in his apartment. The clock on the wall shows it's 5:30pm. I didn't even do afternoon classes today.

Why am I here?

Suddenly a sharp stab of pain shoots through my head, causing me to scream. Now I remember. The conversation with Vincent at lunch. I passed out.

So why am I here?

Arms wrap around me as I clutch my aching head. I'm pulled backwards, leaning into the person hugging me. Darryl. I must've woken him up with my screaming.

Another wave of pain hits and I bite back a second scream, clenching my teeth tightly. Tears form in my eyes as I clench them shut, spilling out down my cheeks. A hand that's not my own wipes them away gently.

"It's ok muffin" Darryl whispers gently. He starts humming that song again, running a hand through my hair. I reach out and grab the other hand, clutching it tightly. It's still bandaged, blood dense in some areas. They've not been changed for some time.

I catch my reflection in the mirror on the other side of the room. A wide plaster wrapped in gauze is on the left side of my forehead, the gauze wrapping several times around my whole head.

I remember hitting my head into the floor right as I passed out, I must've scraped it on one the tiles. There was another, smaller plaster on the left side of my jaw. My jeans were ripped almost completely open at the knees, bandages peeking out form underneath.

I was glad to find I was still wearing Darryl's hoodie, the sleeves rolled up to expose my newly bandaged wrists. Blood seeped through all of my plasters and bandages, but mostly on my wrist and forehead. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my scars were scraped open.

My scars. Vincent knows. He knows, and there's only one explanation as to how he knows.

Zelkam.

My breathing becomes heavy, I can feel myself at the die of a panic attack. He knows.

My hands clench into fists thinking about him, and I accidentally crush Darryl's hand i'd forgotten I was holding. "Ow.." Darryl whines quietly, prying my grip open lightly with his other hand. I let go as soon as I realise. "Oh my god I'm so sorry!" I say in embarrassment.

"It's ok muffin." He turns to face me. "How are you?" I just stare at him. He freezes. "Well this is certainly new." I signal to his hands: one in my hair and one wrapped around my waist. "Oh.. um!" Darryl flushes a deep shade of pink before removing both hands and placing them in his lap.

His gaze drops to the floor in what must be embarrassment. I pout at him, sticking out my bottom lip. "Hey, I didn't say to stop!" I huff to him. Darryl's gaze returns to me as he smiles sweetly, but doesn't move his hands from his lap. He lightly pushes me off of him and walks out.