"Smooth Criminal" - A Dariush x Gabriel story

Zakkiyah

After the haunted house incident, Gabriel was sat on the couch within his apartment, staring at the ceiling with a deep sigh as he lay there in an intense thought. His dark locks of hair dipping into his chestnut eyes before he snatched his phone from the coffee table, opening it, scrolling his notes before he found a number he didn't recognize that was saved recently, he arched a brow and sat up, dialing the number, holding it to his ear in anticipation.

"Hello? What do you want?"

"Who is this...?"

"You called me."

"Um my name is Gabriel, this number was saved in my notes so—"

A sigh interrupted him, he held his head.

"It's Zakkiyah. We met at that horror shit show in the county"

The feminine voice spoke from the other end, a flood of memories crashed into him and he flopped back down on the couch.

"Yeah I remember"

"So have you told him?"

"Who?"

Gabriel played dumb.

"That poor excuse of a black teenager you like"

Was her sarcastic and blunt response, Gabriel couldn't help but snicker slightly. He smiled into the phone before frowning slightly.

"No of course not, why would I do that?"

"Because you like him"

Zakkiyah responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No I mean why would I do that now?"

"Are you not ready?"

"Of course not!"

"Why?"

Gabriel paused, he didn't exactly have an answer for that, why hadn't he told Dariush how he feels? Maybe it was fear of rejection? Yeah that had to be it. He decided to give the blunt girl that response instead of the knowing realization in the back of his head.

"Because I'll get rejected obviously, he's so straight, you saw how he was looking at your sister"

"Yeah but you clearly didn't see how he was looking at you, he's a DL"

Gabriel arched a brow.

"DL?"

"Yeah a DL, a down low, you know what I mean"

"Ohhh"

Gabriel gaped before shaking his head and sitting up, headed towards his bedroom. He placed the phone on speaker and set it down on the bed as he lowered himself to his knees and begun going through some things under his bed.

"What are you doing?"

Zakkiyah called from the phone. Gabriel jumped, hitting his head on the bed and groaning before sliding out and sitting up, sliding the phone closer to him before going back under.

"Looking for a box of pictures"

"So instead of talking to him, you're going to stare at pictures like a creep?"

Gabriel scoffed and sighed.

"Not of Dariush, of me and my mom"

There was a pause on the other side.

"What happened to her?"

Zakkiyah's voice was softer.

"More like what happened to me."

"Oh, one of those types."

Gabriel simply hummed a yes into the phone as he pulled out an old shoe box and opened it, finding all the old pictures of him and his mom, smiling softly at them.

"Listen Gaybriel. You can't hold on to the past, sometimes you have to let go and move forward, even if that means letting go of people. You don't deserve to be held back by anyone and now that I think about it, you were like famous, enjoy yourself and most importantly, tell the damn truth."

Zakkiah lectured. Gabriel listened intently, holding back the tears and immediately putting the box away and standing up with the phone, exiting the bedroom and moving to the kitchen.

"Zakkiyah. Thank You"