Metanoia.「skephalo」

35 | Vulnerable.

As Zak attempted to fix the broken zipper of the black jacket Darryl was wearing, he could hear the keys of Harvey's laptop being rhythmically and loudly pressed from the opposite side of the room.

"If you two don't move, you'll end up being late!" the blonde boy scolded, a severe glare following his warning.

The two Sophomores, Harvey sitting on his knees while Mega sat right beside him with crossed legs, shoot him an amused glance from behind the computer on the small table.

A frustrated groan escaped Zak's mouth as the zipper refused to get back in its place, and overhearing the conversation, he scoffed.

"Psh, how unusual! These two idiots are always late."

«I'm not even gonna try denying the truth.» Mega shrugged, getting pushed friendly by Harvey who got actually offended by Zak's observation.

"Well, at least try not to get there too late, I don't want you two to get in trouble." Darryl pleaded with a small but concerned smile.

In reply, the Asian boy gave him thumbs up, while the other shrugged once again, unbothered.

"Hanya! Finally, I fixed it!" Zak exclaimed triumphantly, finally able to zip close Darryl's jacket.

"Oh! Thank you so much, Zak." the taller thanked, smiling lovingly. He fixed his messy raven hair, and a genuine smile grew on his lips as he stared into his emerald eyes.

Obviously, a robotic voice letting out an «Ew.», had to ruin the moment.

"Mega!" Harvey protested, pushing him once again.

"Psh, idiot. He's just jealous." the Junior teased, grinning as he glared at the mute boy.

"Oh my goodness... Well, time to go!" the older boy blurted out, carefully pushing Zak towards the front door.

"Yeah, we better go. See you at school, bye!" the raven-haired boy greeted, waving at them.

Returning the wave, Harvey chirped a "Bye!", while Mega simply nodded.

After closing the door behind himself, Zak jumped off the stairs, siding Darryl with a wide smile plastered on his face.

Without thinking twice, the shorter boy instinctively reached for his hand, grabbing it with a delicate squeeze.

Trying his best to ignore the apprehensive voices onto his head insisting on how abnormal and embarrassing holding Zak's hand in public would be, Darryl softly tangled his finger with his.

"Harvey told me you stayed up all night..." the blonde boy begun, shooting at Zak a concerned glimpse. "Did you get some sleep?"

"Honestly? Not really." he admitted with a shrug, "But it's okay, I'm fine! Also, I'm glad you slept, your insomnia is improving so much!" a big smile grew on his lips as their glances met.

"I guess..." the other replied, not wanting to bring up the real reason why he got able to get sleep, which was the absence of rest during the duration where he isolated himself.

"I'm glad you're feeling, at least, a little better," Zak added, his eyes sheepishly darting from the cemented ground to the boy with flushed cheeks.

A loving yet insecure smile grew on Darryl's lips as he softly squeezed the shorter boy's hand, not daring to exchange the glance. Zak didn't mind, though, and simply smiled to himself as his eyes trailed back on the ground.

Filling his lungs with the freezing morning air before opening his mouth, Darryl sighed.

"Do you want me to come with you?"