Love Better Left Unspoken [SKEPHALO]

--6--

Darryl

TW: Mentions of Death

Since Zak had shown up, the night had begun smooth, although painfully formal and even slightly awkward. There was nothing too important he felt he had to note...until they'd been alone, in the soft, warm silence of a summer night. Darryl could hear crickets chirping as Zak too a small inhale before beginning to speak.

"Being so...rich and...I don't know, fancy schmancy, whatever you'd call it," Zak began, waving his hand toward Darryl absentmindedly. Darryl snorted, knowing quite well that Zak had no idea what he was talking about. "Did you ever...expect this is what would be your fate?" Zak pointed to himself with a self-loathing expression.

Darryl frowned. "What do you mean?"

Zak paused, stalling in his steps to sit on a nearby park bench, Darryl taking a seat about half a foot away from him. "I just mean. Did you ever expect you'd be forced to marry a...lowly, poor, not very fancy at all man?" Zak ended his sentence with a laugh, but it was clear just how self conscious the thought made him. Darryl sighed sympathetically, taking a moment to convince himself to move before placing his hand on Zak's shoulder.

Zak jumped, surprised by the contact, and he frowned as if contemplating moving away; but he stayed put in the end. "Zak, you're not just a...lowly, poor, not very fancy at all man," Darryl repeated Zak's previous words, attempting to get the other boy to look at him. Zak remained staring at his feet, shifting uncomfortably. "You seem like someone I'd really like to get to know. And trust me, I didn't expect to want to get to know the person I'd have to marry," Darryl finished sincerely, a small smile pulling at his lips.

Zak finally turned to look at him, seeming assured by the words, before his expression morphed into one of confusion. "You knew you'd be forced to marry?"

Darryl nodded, pulling his hand away from Zak's shoulder as he practically shut in on himself. "I uh...I always knew there was a lot resting on my shoulders after..." He trailed off, shrugging. Now it was Zak's turn to put his hand on Darryl's shoulder, rubbing his thumb over his skin comfortingly. "Look, I know I was...very rude to you when we first met, and I apologize but. You can tell me," Zak whispered soothingly, his voice strangely soft despite his very loud personality.

Darryl sighed, his eyes falling shut as he thought it over. "My sister." His voice was rough, as if he'd coughed the words out rather than said them. "She passed away when I was 10. She was older than me by 6 years," Darryl said, chewing on his lip in an attempt to keep from crying and utterly embarrassing himself in front of Zak.

"She had tuberculosis, really bad. Me and her have- had- always been really close, she was my big sister but she was my...she was my best friend," Darryl muttered, leaning into the warm press of Zak's hand on his shoulder. "I really loved her. She was my role model, she was always so strong and brave no matter how hard her life got and she was always there for me."

Darryl squeezed his eyes shut even tighter, but it wasn't enough to stop a few tears from slipping out, causing Zak to hug Darryl close to him. Darryl wasn't quite sure when he began bonding with Zak, but it had certainly happened at some point because he had never felt so safe telling this story. 

"She got sick really fast. It was so sudden, so quick, there was barely time to do anything about it before she was critical." Darryl whispered into Zak's shoulder, his tears making small, dark puddles against the cloth. A breeze blew by, unseasonably cold, and Darryl curled into Zak even more. "I just...I really thought she'd make it. She was like a super hero to me, like she was invincible or something." Darryl laughed, but there was only grief in the tone of it, making it sound more like a wail or a cry for help. And maybe that's exactly what it was.

"But she didn't. She died. She died so young, Zak. She never got to grow up." Darryl let out a soft sob, and Zak ran his fingers through the taller boy's hair, whispering soft reassurances. "Ever since then, everything was up to me in the family. I love my parents, trust me, I do, but it's not the same without my big sister to help me. I have so many family duties to carry out and so many responsibilities and nobody to support me."

It seemed as if Darryl was done pouring out his feelings, instead taking to just sobbing against Zak. Zak stayed silence for a few minutes, just running his hands through Darryl's hair and rubbing his back, before finally speaking. "She would be so unbelievably proud of you. I know it," Zak whispered, and Darryl sniffled, listening intently. 

"All you've shown me so far is how much more mature and how much smarter you are than me," Zak admitted shamefully. "Even when I was mean to you, you were kind to me. You're so good at keeping your cool and upholding all the responsibilities you have. You're a saint, Darryl."

Darryl remained quiet for a few seconds, rubbing his eyes and then rubbing his nose, carefully pulling away from Zak with one last sniff. Zak wondered for just a moment if he did something wrong, before Darryl looked up at him.

His eyes were puffy, still slightly tearful. His whole face was red with pale tear tracks contrasting his pink skin, but there was a smile on his face. "Thank you."

Zak blushed, blinking. "It was nothing, I-"

"No, Zak. Thank you so...so much."

"Of course."

And they sat there that night, silent, sitting on a park bench in the middle of July. The sky was clear, perfectly cloudless and casting pale moonlight onto every object it could touch. Darryl reached out and took Zak's hand, entwining their fingers.

Zak didn't pull away.