Love in Despair ~a Skephalo fanfic~ ✔️

XIII

The limo pulls up into the driveway of a very familiar, very large house. A small smile forms on my face at the sight of my home. We all get out, walking up the large pathway to the well lit house. We walk in, immediately being met with a crowd of well dressed people, some being tributes, most of them being random people.

We all part ways, Niki stopping to talk with the other tributes, Boomer went off to go get us sponsors, and Punz if I'm being honest probably went to go find the alcohol. I wandered into the large dining room. It was a very open, spacious room with only a large table full of food in the middle. I look around, spotting my uncle not to far away.

I have never really had the best relationship with him, but he's all I got so I try to at least get along with him a little. "Bad! Come here!" He yells, motioning for me to come over. I make my way over, dodging people as I go.

As I get closer I spot who he's talking to. Just the person I have been trying to ignore. "You got quite some competition!" Jschlatt nudges me with a laugh. His words were just barely slurred, so I knew what was in the glass he was holding. I look over to the short raven haired boy in front of me, making eye contact.

"This one can really use a bow!" Jschlatt exclaims once again causing Zak to look away from me, bringing his gaze back to my uncle. "I mean, it's not that hard. Just shoot and hope for the best!" Zak jokes, laughing along with my uncle at his own joke. "Why're you being so quiet?" Jschlatt nudges me in the forearm again.

He is right, I haven't said anything this entire time, but that part was intentional. I didn't want to get too attached to Zak, he is good looking and makes my stomach feel a feeling I have never felt before, which is bad. There can only be one winner, which of whom is going to be me. My plan is to stay as far away from him as possible, now and in the arena so I don't have to be the one to go up against him. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do anything to harm him. If anything I feel the need to protect him, but that's not how this works.

"Just- tired, that's all." I mutter, realizing I still haven't answered him. "I guess. Tomorrow's the big day!" He explains happily. I mean, he is the one keeping this going, the one in charge of all of this. I look over to noticed Zak's face has gotten more pale at the mention of tomorrow.

I know he's not as confident as he acts about the games. I started to grow a bit worried about the smaller individual, he really did not look well. "Are you alright, Zak?" I ask him, my voice full of concern. I don't know why I have all of a sudden became sympathetic over him, but I did. "Uh, yeah I'm ok." He nods slightly, bringing his gaze down to the overly fancy tiled floor.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to have to be excused." He apologizes before taking a couple steps past me. "It was an honour talking with you, mayor." He tells Jschlatt before walking off. I watch as he walks upstairs in a rush. I tried to fight the urge to follow him, but failed, quickly sprinting up the stairs. I round the corner, just catching a glimpse of him disappearing into the washroom.

I turned to go back downstairs, but something in my gut was telling me not to. What are you doing? He's probably just using the restroom.
I put my ear up to the door to hear the unexpected, crying. That's when I physically felt my heart break, my chest start to hurt. Hearing him in pain. I don't know what I was doing at the moment, only realizing what I actually did after I softly knocked on the door.

I heard quick sniffling before a voice spoke. "Occupied." His voice was shaky and quick. "Uh, can I come in?" I ask awkwardly. What am I doing? My words were followed by a painfully loud silence. Moments after the door slowly opened to reveal the distressed raven haired boy.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the sight of me, but stepped out of the way anyway. I walk in, quietly taking a seat on the sink as he shut the door once again. "I can't do this." He tells me, voice still shaky. He started pacing around the room with his head in his hands. "I can't kill people." He continues. I knew all I could do was listen. I'm in the same situation too, just very confident, and have no problem with killing, so I can't really relate.

"I-I promised my sister I'll come home. I promised." He sits down on the cold tiled floor, leaning his back against the wall. He lifts his head to rest it against the wall as well, resting his gaze on the ceiling. That's when I catch him on the verge of tears once again. I let out a soft sigh before walking over and sitting next to him against the wall.

"I know this situation isn't the best, but there isn't really a way out of it." I say, keeping my voice quiet and collected.
I would give him some tips, but he's my competition. "From what I've seen you're really good, and a lot of people like you. You're definitely going to get a lot of sponsors." I tell him, keeping my gaze on the boy beside me that still had his head rested against the wall behind us.

"Why does it matter anymore." He retorts, hugging his legs tightly. There was a long duration of silence that was only a bit awkward until I spoke up. "I really wish there was something I could do to help this situation, but sadly I'm in this too." I kept my voice quiet and calm. I wanted to just give him the biggest hug, wrap my arms around him and squeeze his problems away, but we haven't even known each other for a week yet.

After my words were done being processed in his head his stifling stopping, making it completely silent except for the muffled chatter downstairs. He slowly unfolds his legs, not giving me a chance to think before collapsing into my arms. "Thank you." He mumbled into a my shoulder. That made me smile, feeling a warmth I have never felt before. It felt nice. Who am I kidding! The worst that can happen, just happened! What am I going to do- the games are Tomorrow!