EDIT: If you got the notification twice or read it before it got unpublished, it was because I wrote half of this on my laptop and it didn't save so I unpublished and rewrote some things!! For some reason some people got to see the full chapter while others only saw half. Rechecking on the story I can only see half of the story too so I'm rewriting some of it since I don't remember what I wrote word for word. (You don't have to reread this if you got to see the full thing!! Just a small announcement about my upcoming book at the end)
~Zak's POV~
February!
February was a very eventful month for me and Darryl. Prom was this week, Darryl was getting adopted next week, Valentines was always next week, and I plan on going on lots of dates with Darryl this month.
Prom was on a Saturday. Today was Friday. It was tomorrow. I've never had the experience to go to prom with a partner or spend Valentines with. I wanted to make this month special for the both of us. We've been dating for four months now - almost five.
After everything, the best thing I could do was try to be the best boyfriend I could be. I was still unsure if Darryl was aloud back at my house, so playing it safe, I decided to drive with Clay after school to our destination. It was less of a date and more of a favor, but together we were planning on moving some things from the orphanage to the mansion. Still though, it would be fun helping out my boyfriend.
After school, Clay dropped Sam home and drove Darryl, George, Ant and I to the orphanage. There we loaded a few boxes of valuables into the trunk. The rest would be moved by a U-Haul. Packing the stuff, I was finally able to see the living conditions Darryl and Ant have lived under. All the kids had shared a room, some mattresses worn out, some in mediocre condition.
Three bathrooms, one with a shower and two others. One with toilets and toilets only and one with a mix of toilets of urinals. There was a playground at the back of the building. Hopscotch, hula hoops, jump ropes, chunks of chalk, and a centered basketball court seemed to be the activities of entertainment.
A nursery and a dining room were the last two rooms Clay, George and I were introduced to. We barely visited the nursery. It was a boring room anyways. Just a couple babies in cribs and a changing station. Not much to do. The dining room seemed to be under renovation. I assumed they were just tidying the room up. Scraps of paint started to peel from unfixed walls. The tables needed to be upgraded to.
"You should donate," I joke, nudging George with my elbow as we wait for Ant and Darryl to come back with their boxes.
"Mm," his mouth hums out. "I know you'll only think of me as a heartless creature, evil enough to not help these poor kids and you'll guilt trip me until the day I die if I don't."
I laugh, his answer not confirming anything. Clay seemed to be amused too. "What does that mean?" Clay laughs.
"Ehh. I'll think about it," his response fuels our laughs. A few minutes after waiting in the misty winds, Darryl and Ant return with a few cardboard boxes. In hand, Ant even had a duffel bag. As we watch them approach, a small girl with her hair in two pretty bows that wrapped her hair into pigtails, ran up to Daryl and hugged her arms around his torso. Startled, Darryl yelps and almost drops a box.
He turns his head and faces his head downwards to face the child. Her head is buried, her expression unknown. She seemed to be young, no older than 9. Ant watched next to me, laughing awkwardly at his struggling brother. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, his gentle tone causing my heart to tingle a familiar feeling.
"I don't want you to leave," the small girl cries.
Darryl lets out a small, baffled laugh. "I'm not going anywhere. Not right now at least," he says, mumbling the last parts. "I'm still going to be here for a little over a week. That's a long time, y'know! I'm just going to be out for a bit and after I come back, we can talk, 'kay?"
The girl unlatches her arms from Darryl, nodding in between sniffles and rubbing an eye at a time. Naturally, Darryl and Ant walk away towards me, Clay, and George. Car unlocks the trunk opening it up and giving space for the items. Stuffing the trunk, George unlocks the door and enters the passengers seat and buckles up.
I help my boyfriend unpack as Clay gets ready to drive to the mansion. Once done, Darryl, Ant and I climb into the backseats. Along the trip, darryl would mostly stare out the window blankly. The only times he would seem interested in anything in general would be when I call out his name to make sure he was fine. He seemed to be focused on something but I couldn't tell what.
Arriving to the mansion, everyone held something to help move in. George called his parents to tell them what we were up to and FaceTimed through some of it. Ant had the least to carry, seeing as he was the youngest out of us.
Most of the things we did was just basic house chores. I helped prep Darryl's new room while Clay and George helped Ant. Darryl and I had hung some wall decor that he couldn't keep at the orphanage. We changed the bed sheets to a prettier set of covers that Darryl appealed to more.
It felt so natural talking to him yet something felt off. My brain was a little more fuzzy, though the way I talked was the same.
Deep in the conversation, Darryl laughs, I don't remember why but he does. "Thank you. Thank you for helping me. I'm really excited to move in," he says.
I smile at his gratefulness and continue to help. "No problem. Just doing what good boyfriends do."
He giggles again, giving me a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you. You are a good boyfriend," his smile widens. We giggle dumbly, forgetting about our chores. "Hey," he says gingerly. "Do you think my parents would accept me if they knew?"
His expression shifts, yippee to a more nervous, vulnerable one. My smile comes with a huff as I gently cup a side of his face. "George's parents - your parents, they're very accepting. They've loved you since you were introduced to them. I'm sure they'll love you no matter who you love."
A smile reappears on his face. It stays, even when we continue to work on the room. Once finished, the room looked more fitting for Darryl. We hear a knock and a call from George come from he other side. "Hey, do you guys want to eat?"
Darryl and I share a look before he nods to no one. "Mhm, sure!" We walk out the door together and walk downstairs behind George.
We meet Ant and Clay, scooping spoons of Mac and Cheese into bowls. I do the same, grabbing two bowls. One for me, one for Darryl. I grabbed both of us generous amounts. I grab our utensils and walk with Darryl to the pool area. Together we sat, dipping our feet into the pool. He later his head on my shoulder as I wrapped an arm around him.
Ant comes out, holding his food too. Chewing, he notices Darryl and I and knows. "What? When did this happen?" He asks in a teasing yet curious tone.
Darryl seems to be tired, barely answering. Just a careless shrug and nod as he continues to kick small ripples into the water. Clay and George are the last to arrive. They take seats into two sun chairs that sat close together.
"Are you excited?" I ask Darryl, gripping him tighter and closer to me. "For your new home and your new parents?"
He lefts out a heavy sigh while shrugging again. "I am, just scared about how they would react when they find out I left and wasn't coming back. A bittersweet feeling really," by 'they' I assumed he meant the kids at the orphanage.
I knew Darryl was excited, happy for himself. Though he was such an sympathetic person. I knew he would beat himself up about leaving. Especially for being such a role model to the kids. Ant on the other hand, Ant seemed to be ecstatic. Going from an orphan to a son of a millionaire would be a dream come true. I knew he was thinking about the hefty will that George's parents would be leaving them.
After we finished eating we had all decided it was best to head home. We all said our goodbyes to George. Clay drove the four of us to the orphanage where we dropped off Ant and Darryl. The ride there was silent, our ears only picked up the heavy rustle of wind blowing outside of the car.
Once we made it, Ant went in before the two of us, giving Darryl and I time to talk. "Today was fun. I loved spending time with you," I bubble.
Darryl smiles a toothy smile that made my brain fog. "I had fun spendings time with you too."
We stood there, smiling like two dumb idiots, staring at each other without saying another word. The silence was comforting. I did end up speaking up, just to break the tension. "Just be excited to move in. The kids will be fine. They'll be happy for you."
Our stare breaks, Darryl let's out a huff, a huff of relief. "I know. Just feel a little bad."
I laugh, caressing his cheek and leaving one last kiss on it. "I'll see you tomorrow."
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Thank you for reading part 44 :)
Feel free to give suggestions and vote if you enjoyed!
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Next chapter will be the last :o
Little info about this book and the next:
The next book will be a little less fluffy than this one but no one will have any mental disorders or things like that. (There will still be triggers but they won't because of any mental health issues so keep that in mind when seeing what triggers may be in the story)
Near the end of this story, I tried to give some of the chapters energy that I got from songs like:
Telephones - VACATIONS
I'd Walk Around Your Mind - Vashti Bunyan
A Shitty Gay Song About You - Smoothboi Ezra
And a few more :D
The next book (the name will be 'craze') is based off/semi-inspired by songs like:
Yr the Best! - carpetgarden
Training Wheels - Melanie Martinez
Characters that I have planned for the next book are:
BBH/Darryl
Skeppy/Zak
Antfrost/Ant(hony)
Punz/Luke
Awesamdude/Sam
Quackity/Alex
Spifey/Geo
Vurb (might use arran but I might not)
The dteam + Karl will also be characters but not as big as characters as the ones listed above :]
This chapter was originally going to be an arcade date chapter with Clay tagging along and third wheeling but i reseted it to be what it was now since I've never been to an arcade and didn't know what write. (That was a draft and was never published so no one missed anything)
That's all for now!!