Thirty Days ✔

14 | COMMUOVERE

commuovere (verb)

to stir, to touch, to move to tears.

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Zero was seated on Chase's couch after having finished eating. He was currently staring at the wall with a thousand thoughts swarming around in his mind. He was nervous, to say the least. He was silently wishing that the ground beneath him would give way to a giant man-hole which would swallow him completely. 

Chase wasn't meant to find out. Nobody was meant to find out. 

Suddenly, the door swung open. Zero inhaled sharply and waited for the door to shut. He proceeded to stare at the wall ahead of him, not uttering a single word. 

He heard Chase remove his shoes before setting a plastic bag aside. Chase proceeded to remove his coat and hung it on his coat rack before making his way over to Zero. 

He sat beside him, clasping his hands on his lap, finding his feet more interesting than anything else in the room. He didn't know how to approach Zero about his self-harm scars. He didn't know if he even could.

"So.. uh- how was breakfast?" he questioned. The awkwardness in the atmosphere was almost palpable. 

"It was good," Zero stated bluntly. 

Chase was surprised by his calm demeanour. Even in a situation like this, he was pretending to be unfazed. Pretending. He was so good at that - which was why the possibility of Zero being suicidal had completely slipped off from everyone's minds. He always seemed so happy and radiant - and in all honesty, Chase felt silly for having believed that if someone was suicidal, they would show it. 

"So.. you like my cooking skills, huh?" Chase said, attempting to lighten up the mood.

"I'm not going to answer that, I don't want to inflate your ego," Zero said with a small grin. Now, Chase noticed how it didn't reach his eyes - and he slapped himself inwardly for never having realized before. 

"I kind of need the ego booster right now," Chase said, forcing a chuckle. 

"Me too," Zero sighed softly.

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