Love Better Left Unspoken [SKEPHALO]

--1--

Zak 

"I can't believe you would do this!" He exclaimed, his hands tangled in his wild raven black hair. Zak's father held out his hands, attempting a calming gesture, but it only managed to make Zak angrier. "I told you both," he began, removing his hands from his hair as he schooled his expression to look more calm, "That I don't want to marry anybody that I don't know. You're my parents, you've known that since I was born!" 

His mother glanced at his father guiltily for a moment before turning back to her son. "Zak, darling, they have a very high social reputation, we needed this for family exposure..." She trailed off, as if realizing just how selfish that truly seemed. "I really hope you understand, dear, I didn't do this to hurt you." She reaches out to grab his hand, but he jerks his hand away from her grasp as soon as she touches his skin. His eyes glare intensely at her, nothing but rage visible in his expression. She steps back, hurt.

"Now, young man, you be respectful to your mother!" His father shouts, stomping his foot hard against the wooded floor of Zak's bedroom. Zak visibly startles, but takes it in stride. "Why should I respect her when she didn't respect me? I wanted to...find my soulmate, fall in love...be happy." His voice cracks with the weight of the emotion, tears welling up in his eyes. He furiously wipes them away, not wanting to show any weakness, especially in front of his father. "You both took that away."

His father opens his mouth to yell again, but his mother takes a couple steps forward instead, her hand over her heart. "Zak, just calm yourself. You can still love this man, he seems very sweet and kind. His parents are lovely people, they've done many wonderful things for people in need and such. You'll be very pleased to meet them," She tried to assure him. Zak just scoffed, holding back a roll of eyes in order not to get shouted at by his father...again. "I could never love someone that I was forced to be with."

His parents remained annoyingly silent for a few seconds, the air tense and heavy in the thick of the quiet. Zak crossed his arms protectively over his chest, stepping away from them. He didn't dare speak, not when he was so unsure of the control he had over his own mouth. Eventually, after what felt like centuries, his mother spoke. "You'll be meeting him on Saturday afternoon, it will be a dinner between our two families. You'll be given a couple months to get to know each other and then we'll expect you two to marry." His father left the room as soon as his mother finished speaking, grumbling under his breath. His mother hovered for a couple seconds. "I'm sorry," she said, before she hurried out of the room. Only then did Zak let his tears fall.

Darryl

"What's his name again?" Darryl asked, excitement coursing through his veins as he examined himself in his newly tailored suit. The small, deep red neck tie was a bit tight, but not painfully. His suit was black, with long sides but tightly trimmed sleeves, it was held together in the middle with black buttons. His pants were red and black checkered, loosely hanging onto his legs. He hoped it would impress his husband-to-be. 

"Zak," His mother repeated, a fond smile pulling at her lips. Darryl smiled softly, the name repeating over and over in his head. Although he had never met or even heard of this boy before tonight, somehow his name still made his heart race. Darryl hadn't been as excited about the news at first...but he hoped maybe it would finally be his chance to get the romance he had always dreamed of. 

Nobody had ever shown interest in him before this, not like that at least, even though he deeply wished someone would. That's why his family had taken this deal in the first place. They had to get their son married off as quickly as possible in order to keep the family reputation in order. He understood it, even if it was a bit unfair. They all had responsibilities and his family had to take care of each other, however possible.

He looked himself up and down one more time, nodding in satisfaction. "I just hope he likes me, and that I like him...though I'm sure I'll like him just fine," he adds with a childish giggle. His mother laughs, tapping him on the nose gently with the tip of her index finger. "You've always been quite a dreamer," she says, her voice kind, but Darryl isn't quite sure what to think of that statement.

He just hopes this 'Zak' takes this as well as he did.