Ride with you

8

Darryl sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, wondering where he could start. "Well... I guess I should give you a little information about the city in the first place..." Zak sat up and scotched closer to Darryl, acting as if he was a kid about to be told his favourite bedtime story. "You see, in the city, there's this thing called... matchmaking. When you turn 16 you get matched with someone of the opposite sex and you start a family..." Zak raised an eyebrow, "Really? You have to stay with the same person for the rest of your life... but you don't get to choose them?"
"Yep,"
"Oh," Zak stayed quiet, trying to process what Darryl had told him. "No wonder you left, sounds miserable,"
"Yeah, but a lot of people manage to make it through..." Zak smiled and stood up, reaching for Darryl to help him up, "I don't get why they see you as a criminal anyway, I mean you just left!" Darryl chuckled and pulled himself up, "Yeah..." his stomach churned in discomfort as he forced himself to keep his feelings to himself. He desperately wanted to share everything with Zak, but he feared that Zak would leave him. He didn't want to trauma dump on someone who has only known him for about a week. "So did you get matched with a pretty girl?" Zak smirked, Darryl rolled his eyes and grinned, "That's beside the point, Zak! Anyway, I left the day I supposed to be officially matched with her..." Zak ruffled Darryls hair and gave him a sympathetic smile, "Well, you can tell me anything,"
"I want to,"
"I won't mind,"
"I want to believe you,"
"And then maybe we can help each other with our troubles,"
"Please, I need you,"
"And become... closer..."
"Zak, I want you."

Thoughts spun around Darryls head as he was trying to process the words he had just thought, "I want you. I need you." Darryls chest began to feel heavy as worry settled in. Darryl quickly stood up, "I, uh, need to go do something..." Zak raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"
"Um... I need to go..." Zak nodded, "Alright, give me a holler if you need any help," he smirked and Darryl became flustered, "I'll be fine..."

He didn't need to, he just needed an excuse to get away from him so he could think. "What am I thinking? I've only known him for about a week!" He stopped walking and sat down on a log when he was out of sight from the small flower field. "I can't do this..." He placed his hands on his head and sighed, tears began to sting his eyes. "I'm a mess... I tried to teach myself not to fall for anyone but I can't even manage that." A single droplet rolled down his cheek and onto his hand, he lifted it and investigated the wet patch. "Great... now I'm crying over a stupid boy. A stupid... stupid... boy..." he trailed off. He shook his head and leant against his arms, "No... I'm the stupid one. Zak's perfect..."

***

Zak sighed and sat dow, picking at the grass near his feet. Thoughts began to spiral around his head. "Why did I say that? I probably scared him off..." Zak groaned and stood up, kicking a small stone sitting next to him. "For fucks sakes Darryl... why do you make me feel like this?" He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "May as well just push it to the back of my mind...". A gentle blush spread across his face as the thought of being with Darryl entered his mind. He smiled then shook his head, "No... he's probably straight...".

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned to see Darryl standing amongst the flowers, his cheeks were the colour of roses but his eyes looked red and sore. "So, what's the plan for today? Apart from lying in the flowers of course..."
"Don't you enjoy my company?" Zak smirked and Darryl blushed. "Of course I do! It's just, shouldn't we be productive?" Zak thought for a second, "Well we have enough food for the next day or two from that hinagio and we could easily find some water. Plus we have good shelter!" Darryl thought for a moment, "Well... I need more clothing..." Zak chuckled as a thought crossed his mind, "Ya know. You could just live with those?"
"No, I can't! What if it rips?"
"Then just run around nude. It's just you and me after all." Darryl turned completely red and froze, "ZAK! NO!" Zak fell over in a fit of laughter, Darryl still completely red. "That's it, Zak!" Darryl ran up to him and grabbed him by the waist. Zak tried to stop laughing so he could let out a sentence but ended up just talking between his giggles. "What are you doing, Darry?"
"That's such a stupid nickname," Darryl smirked as he lifted Zak, bridal style. "Ahh! No! What are you doing?"
"Tell me, where's the nearest lake?"
"Darry! No!"
"That's it!" Darryl evened out Zak's weight on his arms and began to run across the field, Zak yelped and wrapped his arms around Darryls neck, burying his head in his chest. Darryl kept running until he heard the sound of running water, "oh your in for it."