Zak forced his eyes open, confusingly looking around at the unknown surrounding.
Getting sat up helping himself with his forearm, he started studying the room, the familiar and pleasant scent while trying to remember what happened before blacking out.
He looked outside the window that partly hidden by a black curtain, realizing it was still night.

'My head is fucking exploding... did I get drunk or something? I can't remember...' anxiously thought, bringing one hand against the temple.

Instinctively, looking down, Zak realized he wasn't wearing his hoodie, but a black one with red stripes around the borders instead, it was way too big for him.
Noticing that under it there still was his t-shirt, made him freak out, roughly lifting up his sleeves.

"Fuck." swore silently, with clenched teeth.

His wrists were both wrapped into new bandages. He overlaid his arms, bringing the sleeves up till his fingers, covering his face with them right after, trying not to curse loudlym
The scent that unknown hoodie emitted filled his nostrils, worsening the situation as he immediately recognized it.

'Wait... Darryl? What the fuck? Please, don't tell me I did stupid shit with him.'

Repressing the panic, he looked around him, searching for his backpack, not finding it.

'I don't fucking like this.'

His balance wasn't stable, yet, he decided to stand up anyway, staggering toward the open room's door helping himself leaning on the walls.
Peeping his head out before exiting, he saw nothing but a dark, tight hallway.
Taking a deep breath, he walked as fast as his body permitted to towards the other room, who was a small living room, illuminated by the full moon outside the french window, not visible from the room Zak was in before.
In the room, there were two small couch, a TV and a switch on charge, not a single living soul aside him was around.
After wandering around the room in search of his backpack for a pair of minutes, he found it on a table near the entrance of the apartment, his hoodie folded with his phone one it were beside bag.
At the sight of it, a memory of him taking the pill Clay gave him flashed before his eyes, making him flinch.

'Right, the pill... I can't remember because of it?' questioned himself, pulling the bag closer.

He opened the front task, remembering he put the container in there.

'Fuck no.'

It wasn't in there anymore. Panic filled is body.

'Shit, shitshitshit, he knows?! Fuck, he knows way too fucking much!'

Panicking, he backed away from his backpack, ending up hitting with with his foot the umbrella stand, the fall made a loud noise.

"Are you kidding me?!" whispered tight-toothed, anxiously checking around him.

A few moments later, Darryl showed up from the hallway, he didn't look sleepy at all, just worried.

"Zak? Is that you?" whispered, entering in the living room.

The short boy hesitantly slow walked towards the moonlight, revealing himself.

"I- uhm, I-I'm sorry, i didn't mean to wake you up..." murmured, looking down.

"Don't worry, I wasn't even sleeping, little muffin." reassured, smiling softly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good." he lied.

Darryl sighed and got closer to Zak, leaning on hand on his head.

"You have to stop lying, there's nothing to be ashamed of in not being ok." kidly said, softly messing up his hair.

He looked down in discomfort with not knowing what Darryl knew and what not.

"Let's go outside and talk a little." proposed the older boy, leaning the hand that before was on his head on the shoulder.

"Okay." hesitantly replied, not wanting to accept nor refuse.

Darryl headed at the window, silently opening it and getting out on the balcony followed by Zak.
There were two seats and a small table, as it was something the senior or his roommate did often.
The short boy sat down, looking up at the other boy, who smiled at him.

"Wait, I'll be right back." said, getting back in.

Zak moved his eyes on the starred sky upon him, bringing his legs against his chest covering them up with the oversized hoodie he was wearing.
For some reason, Darryl was the only one able to calm his anxieties down. When he was around him, Zak would stop feeling anxious and scared as he would be with anyone else.

'Why didn't I felt this same way with Vincent..?'

"I'm back!" exclaimed the blond boy, getting back outside with two mugs and a plate with two muffins on it, in his hands.

He sat down on the other seat and leaned on the table everything he was carrying, sliding one cup and one muffin towards Zak.
The short boy stared at them, looking then up at him forcing a small smile.

"Thank you." quietly thanked, grabbing the fuming mug.

"You're welcome." replied, smiling and taking a sip from his mug. "Zak, I would never, ever, force you on doing anything you don't want to do or say, but please, could you... tell me where did you take those pills..?"

He stayed silent, tightening the grab on his mug and looking straight in front of him.

"I'm just... worried. Those pills are really dangerous if taken like that. You need a prescription... You could end up feeling really bad because of them..." explained concerned, tilting his head to the side.

Zak took a long deep breath before answering, taking his time.

"I have no money, zero, not even a single cent. I can't afford a prescription, nor the pills themselves. I asked a friend to get them and that's it." he forced himself to explain, aloof, shrugging.

"So you didn't stole them?" the older boy dared to ask.

"I'm not that desperate." murmured, taking a sip of the hot liquid inside his cup.

Darryl took an half relived sigh, but still worried about Zak's conditions.

"You... probably already noticed I medicated your... wrists. I saw blood on your hoodie and-"

"I'm sorry." suddenly said, his voice cracking.

"What? Why?" asked Darryl, with a worried yet confused expression.

"I'm so fucking pathetic. Like, I'm literally the opposite of how people sees me, and I bet you expected me to be way better than this, I'm so sorry I disappointed you too." murmured watching down.

"Zak. What the fudge are you talking about." said, getting off his seat and crouching in front him, meeting his eyes. "Why should I be disappointed? You're an awesome muffin who deserves all the love in this world. Your past doesn't define you. You're present either. Your struggling getting out of this awful situation, I get it, but this does not make you pathetic. At all." he leaned his hands on the short boy's ones, caressing them. "And... you have no idea how much I admire your strength, Zak. You're doing good."

By the time Darryl finished talking, the black haired boy's eyes were already gushing in tears.

"I-I don't get i-it..." sobbed, without breaking eye contact despite he didn't saw nothing but blurry dark colors. "I-it's not fair..."

The blonde boy clenched his teeth, trying his very best not to cry too.
He got up slightly and hugged tightly the short boy, giving him a little kiss on his head before comforting him with caresses.

"I don't get it too, little muffin..." whispered, arching his eyebrows.

Zak arms wrapped around Darryl's torso and tears soaked his hoodie, neither of them wanted to let go.

"I'm s-so tired..."

"Zak, please..." murmured, caressing his head and back. "soon it'll be over..."

The short boy tightened the hug, grasping on his hoodie.

"Keep fighting, please..." begged in a whisper. "do it for me."

Zak took the keys out of his Jean's pocket, tucking one of them in lock, unlocking the front door of his house after waving at Darryl, who drove him there.

After he calmed down from the breakdown he had earlier, the older boy insisted on him resting at his dorm until monday, but he refused, knowing damn well that his father was going to beat the shit out if him anyway.
Hold over was useless, and even Darryl knew it.

Police still didn't inform him about their next moves, he was becoming more and more scared of the consequences on himself with they keeping to play with time.

It was five in the morning, the sun still hadn't arose, the short boy put away the keys back in the pocket, and opened slowly the front door as silent as possible.
Entering home, he repressed the raising panic finding the living room, across the small hallway was, had its light on.

'Fuck, he's up?!' anxiously thought, closing the door behind him.

Slowly walking towards his room, wich was across the small living room that was incorporated with a small chicken without walls so he had to go through it to get to your destination, he felt like drowning, unable to breathe.
The small old television on the ground was on, and it was impossible to tell if there was someone lying down on the couch since it was facing the opposite direction.
Zak entered the living room after trying to understand if his father was there, shaking.
He took long silent steps until arriving right behind the sofa where he stopped, tiptoeing to see if there's was a body on it. There wasn't.

'Shit.'

The short boy catched a movement behind him with the tail of his eye, and violently flinched, about to turn towards it. It was already too late.

"No pleas-"

Zak's head got violently smashed by a broken bottle, who completely shattered at the impact.

Pain filled his body, muscles gave way.

Thud.

'It's over.'

[unedited, 1630 words.]