This chapter is going to be more lighter than the last one💖😅😅
Hope you enjoy the story so far!
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"What are you doing here?" was the first thing Darius asked when he saw Edalyn at his front door.
School had ended two hours ago, and since then Darius had drowned himself in self-pity. He had taken off his school uniform and replaced it with purple pajamas and a purple bathrobe.
The reason was simple: Alador had been avoiding Darius all day. No matter when. After the last lesson of abominations, Darius had wanted to talk to him, but Alador had simply sprinted out of the classroom when he noticed Darius looking in his direction.
And Darius might be many things, but he was far from being an idiot. He understood when someone wanted nothing to do with him. He got the message.
"That's no way to greet the savior of your love life- "Eda's voice trailed off as she looked closely at Darius, "Who are you and what have you done with Darius?"
"What do you want, Eda? "Darius was really too exhausted for that. He just wanted to crawl back into his bed and continue spooning his ice cream.
"No, you're not getting off that easy! The real Darius would never wear something like ... THAT!"Eda laughed. She pulled out her penstagram scroll and snapped a photo. "Maybe sometime in the future I'll have to blackmail you with this . Who knows."
Normally, Darius cared about his image, but somehow it felt like everything was pointless without Alador. So why should he still care about something like that anymore.
"Are you done?" groaned Darius, "I've got like twenty more romantic comedies to bawl my eyes out to, so- "
"Oh don't be such a drama queen. "Eda said, pushing past Darius and into the house.
"Some would call that breaking in. "Darius grumbled, but didn't stop her as she pulled him with her towards his room.
"Rainstorm will be here in a minute, too. They have a surprise for you. "Eda told him excitedly and pushed open the door to Darius' room, "Oh Goops! What the heck happened today."
Darius' room was just a pile of ice cream packages and tissues scattered all over the place.
Eda turned around with a serious face. "Tell me right now what happened today! And if you don't want to talk to me, please talk to Raine! Or I could call Lilith! But you need to talk to someone about this, goops. You're just a shadow of your normal self. And your normal self is anything but normal when it comes to a clean room or environment."
Darius sighed heavily and flopped down on his bed. Now that Eda had brought it up, all those negative feelings he had been suppressing all this time by not thinking about it and not letting anyone talk about it came to the surface again.
Not even his family had asked about it, but that was because Darius had totally burst into tears when his mom had asked, "How was school, sweetheart?"
Whenever he thought about everything, there was this image of Alador in his mind's eye and he had to suppress reaching for the nearest tissue and crying again. He had cried more today alone than he had in a long time and his head was already hurting from it and the skin under his eyes was so dry that it stung every time he blinked.
"Alador hates me, Eda," he began, feeling the pressure of new tears on his eyes, "He hates me, I'm sure of it."
"Hey," Eda's voice was soft now and she sat down next to him on the bed to put an arm around his shoulders, "what makes you think he hates you?"
Darius avoided her gaze as he tried to gain control over his tears, but it was useless. The first tear ran down his cheek. "He ignored me. All day long. Why else would he do that?"
Eda lightly stroked his shoulder with her thumb, a worried expression on her face. "I still think you two should talk about everything. There's no point in you hiding here and eating more ice cream than any witch can handle. If you don't sort things out now, you'll regret it forever!"
Darius sighed, "All right. But if- "
An astonished gasp from the direction of the door caught their attention.
In the doorway stood Raine, still in their school uniform, looking at Darius in horror. Then their eyes wandered to Eda: "Is that really Darius?"
Darius groaned in frustration. "You two are really made for each other."
"True, " Raine grinned and walked over to them. They crouched a bit in front of Darius and looked him in the eye, "but so are you and Alador."
"For that, Alador would have to like me in the first place!" Darius crossed his arms and muttered, "You're acting like he proposed to me or something. You have no proof that Alador even likes me."
"Goops, the way Alador looks at you, that's not how you look at someone you don't like. That's not even the way you look at someone you see as a friend. That's the way you look at someone you love with all your heart and being. "Eda's voice sounded serious now, and Darius wasn't sure he'd ever seen such an honest expression on her face. After all, he was talking about none other than Edalyn Clawthorne here.
"Eda is right," Raine interjected, "if Alador doesn't see what a great guy you are when he's always staring at you like that, I don't know whats wrong with his eyes. Don't beat yourself up, but be confident, after all you are great."
"Wow, "Eda grinned, "Rainstorm I'm already getting a little jealous over here."
"You two are so cute it's almost disgusting. "Darius muttered, trying as best he could to hide the feelings he was getting about this. Could he and Alador possibly become like that someday? Could they talk openly in front of other people about how much they liked each other, or that they were together?
Would he also be able to give Alador a cute nickname? Something that was better than just calling him 'Al'. Something that went with his sweet nature and his beautiful laugh?
Would it be possible for him to confess so openly to Alador how great he thought he was, like Eda and Raine did all the time?
Then Eda suddenly snapped her fingers in front of his nose. "Eda to Darius. Are you still with us, goops?"
Raine chuckled. "He's probably planning his wedding right now."
Darius gave them both an annoyed look before taking a deep breath and asking, "So, what now?"
"I have a surprise for you, as I'm sure Eda has already let you know. "Raine said, "Tomorrow afternoon you and I will head to the best tailor shop in all of Bonesborough. I have to pick up my dress for grom and you can have a perfect suit cut for you."
Darius' spirits lifted almost immediately at the hope of a visit to the tailor. Thats exactly what he needs right now. Clothes were the other love of his life besides Alador and, almost like Alador, cheered him up pretty much all the time.
Darius nodded.
"And you will ask him tomorrow during the day if he wants to go with you, that way we can prevent him from making other plans that evening," Raine explained.
"Even though we know you'd rather ask him later," Eda added, giving him a gentle squeeze before taking her arm off his shoulders.
"Thanks guys," Darius said a little embarrassed, "I- well- I don't know where I would be without you two."
And that was true. In the months when Alador had become more and more distant and Odalia had started doing more with her friends from the oracle track, the two of them had been there for him more than anyone else. Darius couldn't even imagine how lonely he would feel without them. They had gotten him through an incredibly difficult time, and now they were helping him with this problem as well. Darius felt that you probably couldn't have better friends than Edalyn Clawthorne and Raine Whispers.
"Without us," Raine said, "you would probably still be well dressed, but your love life would have been hopelessly lost."
Eda giggled, to which Darius rolled his eyes.
"I take it all back." he said with a fond smile, "you guys are insufferable!"
"We love you too goops. "Eda giggled and once again poked her elbow into his side.
And that made Darius laugh as well.