.* ~. *. 'Your problems aren't a burden, they don't define who you are.'. *. ~. *. ~. *
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Enjoy your fluff- you've earned it after last chapter! Love ya <3 ~ Owl
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-Darryl's POV-
The past few hours have been a total nightmare. I was a sobbing mess earlier as I carried Zak to the infirmary. The nurse in there who I thankfully get on really well with was so kind to me. She even gave me a hug I looked so awful. The rusted mirror caught my reflection when I was in there.
I looked a total mess.
I claimed that I was in the bathroom with Zak when he tripped and hit his head. Luckily, the nurse examined him to find that he had a nasty scrape to his forehead, but nothing serious.
She was going to check the rest of Zak for sprains or fractures as well, but I made up some lame excuse about Zak being really uncomfortable with people. I'm not completely wrong.
So this brings me to now. Just gone 4pm, in my apartment with Zak lying on my bed. Still unconscious, he's not woken up once in the three hours he's been out. I'm still crying, tears flooding silently down my cheeks. I have no idea what happened in there. If Zak collapsed, if Vincent pushed him. If he pushed him I swear I-
I'm so glad I went, I can't imagine what would've happened if I hadn't. Things could've ended a lot worse. I had to practically beg the nurse to not call an ambulance. They would certainly check Zak for other injuries, and they'd see the scars, and it'd cause so many more problems.
He didn't need that stress, not after what's already happened.
Moping in the bathroom isn't going to do anything. I walk back out into the main area of the apartment, brightening the lights against the ever darkening sky outside. My stomach growls in protest. I didn't even eat earlier, I've been so scared. Sighing heavily, I grab a cup of pot noodles out of the fridge and head to my room.
Zak's lying in the middle of my double bed, face contorted slightly in pain. It breaks my heart to see him so hurt. He doesn't deserve this, he already deals with too much.
I still can't believe what I heard earlier. Self-harm, but why? There's got to be more. Vincent mentioned something about Zak's parents, but I don't know what. I don't even know if I'll tell Zak what I heard when I wake up, I don't know what to say.
Zak shifts slightly. He reaches out a weak arm, holding it in midair as if he's trying to grab something. "Darryl..." he mumbles, still trying to clutch at nothing. My noodles are disgusting, so I set them down on the side.
I walk over to Zak, holding out my hand in front of his outstretched one. "Hi muffin, how're you feeling?" Zak clutches my hand, pulling it towards him.
His eyes are barely open, drowsiness still weighing down his eyelids. He says nothing, pulling me closer until my legs hit into the side of the bed. "Need anything muffin?" I ask quietly. His grip tightens. "Stay..." he mumbles, tugging on my arm once more. "Stay."
"Ok. I'll stay."
Zak moves closer to the wall, clutching his head with his spare hand. I lay in the bed beside him, gently resting his head on my chest. He sighs quietly as I run a hand through his raven hair, still clutching my other hand. "That better mini muffin?" Zak buries his face in my hoodie. "Mhm."
My cheeks heat deeply, turning a dark shade of red. I'm laying like this with my friend.
Oh but it feels so right though.
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.
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-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.
Did I do something wrong?
I huff into the pillows at his sudden absence. I've not let anyone hug me in a very long time. I was never one for human contact, but I feel so cold with him gone.
Thankfully, he returns a few minutes later with a first aid kit. He pulls the chair out from under his desk and positions it next to the bed. I sit up on the edge of the bed to face him.
Darryl sighs at the floor before moving his chair back under his desk. "You should really be leaning against something" he says, pushing me gently back towards the wall. I shuffle over and lean my head against the wall. Darryl perches on the edge of the bed, wrapping his legs under him as he opens the first aid kit.
"So, how much to you remember Zak?" he asks, avoiding my eyes. There's trembling in his voice ask he asks, like he's afraid to know the answer. "Not much" I huff. "I passed out in the bathroom and got this big ass cut through my head."
"Language muffin. At least you remember something. Anything else?"
I squint at him. "Wait how do you know? I was there with Vincent. And where did Vincent go? And what am I doing here!" I end up yelling as I realise how much I don't know. Darryl's expression saddens as he cups my cheek with one hand, placing a pillow behind my head with the other. He seems to be arguing with himself on what to say.
Either that or the wall behind me suddenly became very interesting for no apparent reason.
"Vincent ran away" he sighs. "You're here because I didn't think you'd want to be kept in the infirmary. You were there originally, but there were other people there, so I took you back here. You've been here ever since."
"Oh." Is all I can mutter. He's still avoiding my first question.
"And how did you find this out Darryl?"
His hand freezes in midair between us. He moves the other from my cheek, placing them both in his lap. His gaze drops to the floor. "You see Zak..." he chokes out. "It's a long story..." I just stare at him.
"Well I'm presuming I'm gonna be here for a while, so go ahead" I answer quietly. Darryl scrunches his face anxiously.
"Well um..." He takes my arm, trying to unwrap the bandages to replace them. I pull it away. "What Darryl?" I ask probably a bit sterner than I ought to.
"Well-"
"What?!"
"VINCENT KIDNAPPED ME" he yells quickly, covering his mouth with his hands after realising what he's said.
I'm in shock. "Um- what?!" That makes no sense. What does he mean, kidnapped?
"When we were coming back from baseball practice he knocked me out and took me back to Zelkam's room and asked me about Saturday night and he tied up my wrists which is why they are bandaged and he made me swear not to tell anyone or he'd tell everyone you're secret" he blurts really quickly.
Darryl closes his eyes for a few seconds, sighing deeply. "So I followed you to the bathrooms as I suspected he'd do the same to you." The sadness and guilt in his voice shows he regrets it.
I try to back away further into the wall regardless. After realising I can't, I slide off the end of the bed. My body is so weak still, and I end up falling over almost instantly. Darryl lunges across the room and catches me just before I hit the ground. I shuffle away from him, backing into the bedroom door.
I feel betrayed. I don't know why and I don't know who by.
I'm not thinking straight.
Not betrayed, Zak. Terrified.
Terrified that he knows. He knows even more now. Vincent knows, and so does he. He didn't trust me handling it myself, so he spied on me and now he knows. He knows more than he already did.
I back up right against the door, slamming it behind me, accidentally shutting myself in. My vision blurs at the sudden movement, and I tuck my legs into my chest. "Zak I-" Darryl begins.
"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! You didn't trust me! You weren't supposed to know!"
"Zak I didn't want to find out like this, but I swear, I only followed you incase anything happened to you, which it did!"
He walks towards me, crouching in front of me and reaching out a hand. I hit it away, throwing my arms up in front of me.
"Stop it!" Tears flood my face again. "Stop. Just stop." Darryl looks hurt but obeys, shuffling away from me a metre or so. "I can't believe you'd do that!" I'm not even sure what I'm yelling. My voice cracks from my crying.
Darryl watches me sadly, with what looks like pity. "Look Zak." His emerald eyes soften. "I know I shouldn't have done that, but I just couldn't trust Vincent, not after what happened to me. I'm sorry if you don't want to talk to me anymore, I know what I did was wrong. I'll get the principle to find you a new tutor." Tears build up in his eyes. "But please, at least let me change your bandages before you go. I care about you a lot alright."
I feel a pang if guilt ring through me. I realise I have no reason to be mad at him at all. He's only trying to look out for me.
I'm mad at myself for letting people find out. I'm mad that I couldn't keep it a secret, that I had to pour my feelings to someone and I've payed the price.
I'm so fucking stupid.
A small smile appears on my face as I wipe my tears away. "I'm sorry Darryl. I'm not mad at you at all. You're only trying to look out for me." A small smile appears on Darryl's lips, but he stares at the floor. "I'm just mad at myself for letting people find out. I've known you for just over a week and you already know."
Darryl's eyes look up to match my own. "I feel like I've known you so much longer though. Thank you, for everything you do for me. I bring you so many problems and you're always so eager to help me, so thank you."
Darryl slowly stands up, shuffling towards me and picking me up bridal style. I let him, leaning into his chest as he carries me back to the bed and lays me down on it. He fumbles awkwardly with the first aid kit. "That's ok muffin."
He smiles sweetly at me as the tears slowly stop. "And thank you. I was so lonely before you came. You bring so much happiness into my life, even if you don't realise it." He pulls out a roll of bandages, wrapping and unwrapping it around his fingers.
"Your problems aren't a burden, they don't define who you are. I love Zak for him being Zak, regardless of his problems."
Darryl looks at me impatiently as I'm still swatting away his hands. "Now can I please take care of you?"
"You seem desperate."
"I wanna help."
"Yeah, fine." I pull my arms back, folding them in my lap. "Go ahead, but I have a question." My face heats even before asking. "Can we go back to how we were when I woke up? It's just that it was really calm and um-"
Those green eyes light up. "Sure muffin! I happened to quite enjoy it too."
"Clearly. You wouldn't let go of me."
Darryl's face heats brighter than mine. "I didn't mean to! I uh- oh my goodness this is so embarrassing..."
"Hah. Blushboyhalo."
"Oh you are not starting that again! Dave and George were bad enough with the ones they came up with! You're trying to embarrass me."
"Oh, if it's that embarrassing then I guess we won't."
"Hey! No c'mon Zak that's not fair!"
"I was just kidding Blushboyhalo."
"You ragamuffin."
"Hah. That's a new one."