the breakup [skephalo]

[7] Chirping Birds

a/n: honestly, y'all can picture darryl as tall as you want! just know that he's taller than zak, that's all that's really important. honestly idk what height he is so i just went off of tommy's video

also that's my favorite piece of fan art ever^

trigger warnings: strong language, a bit of angst

THE BREAKUP, ch. 7
Darryl woke up the next morning when the sunlight shown through the windows. He was a pretty light sleeper so the birds chirping often stirred him awake at around 7am. He looked over to see that Zak had fallen asleep on the mattress, cuddling the creeper plushie as always. George was resting peacefully on the beanbag chair, while Jacob was passed out next to Darryl, even though the bed was a bit small.

Darryl picked up his phone and saw a bunch of missed calls from Brianna. He rubbed his eyes and called her back, wondering why she would be trying to come in contact with him.

Brianna picked up immediately. "DARRYL! Have you seen the fucking Sommer High tea page?!" She exclaimed on the other end.

Darryl flinched at her energy and panic. "That's quite strong language so early in the morning," He commented lazily. "And no, I really haven't. Why?"

"Zak was fucking outed."

Darryl sat up quickly, suddenly feeling very awake. "Wait, what? What do you mean? Like he's gay?" He asked in a worried voice.

Brianna's end of the phone emitted a small grunt. "Apparently he told Alice he's bi," She explained to him. "Why the fuck would she out somebody? That's just fucked up."

Darryl didn't really care about Brianna's potty mouth anymore. He was too busy staring at Zak's peaceful sleeping form. He knew that as soon as the boy woke up, his life would become way more stressful than it already was. He hoped Zak was having a good dream.

"Everything is messed up," Darryl pointed out. "This whole situation. I don't know what happened to Alice after the breakup but she just became a horrible person."

"She's a bitch, that's what she is."

Darryl sighed, not really wanting to insult Alice behind her back, but it was getting pretty hard not to. "Hey Brianna, do you want to come over to my house today? I can send you the address, I think Zak needs as much emotional support as he can get."

Brianna ended up agreeing and told him she'd be over later. George had woken up from his long slumber. He looked over sleepily at Darryl, who tried his best to smile, but it was very hard for him since he knew the situation at hand.

Jacob was woken up by Darryl explaining the situation to George, who was now looking very scared for Zak. "I can't believe she would do that," George had murmured.

Jacob ran his fingers through his own hair. "Zak's bi?" He asked Darryl in surprise.

Darryl shrugged. "Whether he is or not, people are believing it. There's lots of comments saying stuff like 'that's why he cuffs his jeans' and stuff."

"This is really bad," George whispered.

Around an hour later, Zak had stirred awake. He sat up in his mattress and yawned, looking over to see his three friends staring back at him. The short boy raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked in confusion. "Did I snore or something?"

"Nah, Darryl's the one that snores," Jacob replied.

Darryl looked over at his friend in surprise. "Wait a minute~"

George disregarded Darryl's words. "How did you sleep?" He questioned Skeppy gently.

Zak made a 'pfft' sound. "I slept pretty good." He ruffled his own hair as if it were to fix it. He looked back at his three friends again and furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you guys staring at me like I just died?"

Jacob rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "You should check the Sommer High tea account," He said sheepishly.

Zak stared at them for a few moments before opening up his phone. Darryl watched as he tapped the pink and orange app, opening Instagram and searching up the tea page. When he finally found it he tapped the most recent post and read it to himself.

Darryl bit his lip as he watched Zak's face fall. The boy went silent and he seemed to reread it, his eyes bouncing back to the top of his screen and slowly dragging his gaze downwards. Eventually Zak set his phone in his lap and stared at the wall, seeming to process his own thoughts.

After a couple of minutes, George spoke up. "Are you okay Skeppy?" He asked the boy softly.

Zak dug his fingers into the sheets on the mattress before shaking his head no. He rubbed his face with his hands and stared at his own lap for a moment. He was trying so hard not to cry. He knew that if he talked the tears would just overflow out of his eyes.

Darryl moved from the bed onto the mattress next to his friend. He placed his hand on the back of Zak's neck, slightly massaging it in an attempt to be comforting. From where he was sitting, Darryl saw a tear fall from Zak's eye and land on his lap.

Darryl frowned and he felt like he just got punched in the stomach. He moved his hand from the back of his neck to his head, guiding his face towards his own shoulders. Zak ended up burrowing his face in the crook of Darryl's neck and let out a single sob.

George's lip quivered at the sight and looked out the window just so he wouldn't start crying himself. He knew that having another person cry would only make things worse for the boy. Jacob was just staring off into space, probably feeling horrible for his outed friend.

Darryl shifted Zak's body so the shorter boy was straddling his lap, making it more comfortable for him while his face stayed pressed between Darryl's head and shoulder. Darryl's neck felt wet from Zak's hot tears soaking into his skin. The taller rubbed Skeppy's back to try and relax the kid more.

Around then was when Brianna showed up. She busted into Darryl's room, holding a cute stylish bag in her hands. "Self care, bitch!" She exclaimed to announce her entrance. George couldn't help but give a small smile to the girl.

Zak didn't even falter from his position. Every time he let out a sob, his small body shuddered slightly. Darryl would shush him every time and would murmur things like "It will be okay."

Brianna's eyes softened at the sight. Then her eyes hardened again. "I'm going to throw hands at that bitch when she comes to school on Monday."

Jacob smirked at that. Brianna got into lots of fights with other girls, so he knew she was being serious when she said that. Darryl was appalled by the idea. "No!" He scolded. "Creating more conflict will only make things worse."

"I don't fucking care, she deserves it," Brianna muttered as she walked over to Darryl's bed and set the bag down.

After a half an hour, Zak finally retracted himself from Darryl's neck and got off of the older boy. Zak was still sniffling but he seemed to be recovering from the initial shock. By that time, Brianna had taken out all of the self-care items she had brought.

The first thing Brianna did was throw Zak a water bottle. Although he was still upset, his quick reflexes kicked in and his hands shot up and caught it. "Stay hydrated, crying drains your body," She ordered.

Brianna then look around at everyone else. "Actually, that's the first step to self care," She declared, then continued to toss water bottles at the other three boys. She opened a water bottle for herself.

Brianna looked around the room to see that the boys were following her directions, taking sips out of the bottles. She smiled. "Let's get this started."

~

a/n: this chapter was lowkey angsty but also wholesome in a way?

i've fallen in love with the song "boys will be bugs" ahhh