【𝗕𝗔𝗗 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚.】
𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

[edited; 3833 words.]

Darryl (1 new message ◦ 1 hour ago)
Zak is fine, he was at the
dorm. He said he'll explain
the situation to you and
< Mega tomorrow.

aight, ty for letting
me kno. is everything
fine doe? :/ >

< Yeah, don't worry.

uh, aight then,
stay safe <3 >

Tucking his phone back in his jeans' pockets, Harvey let out a frustrated sigh.

The unusual cold and calm wind hit his face and exposed ankles, making him shiver slightly.

"Today was a mess," he murmured to himself, his eyes pointed in front of him as he carefully walked down the busy street.

The Sophomore kicked a rock that was sitting on the sidewalk, frowning embittered as he thought back at the events that had place at Mega's apartment.

'I still can't believe he lied to me...' his dull eyes narrowed, the light in them faded slightly.

He scoffed as his head shook energetically in an a poor attempt to push away any thought related to his dearest friend, increasing his pace.

Conversely, no matter how hard he tried, his mind kept slipping back at the message displayed on Mega's computer. Privacy was something Harvey never ever disrespected, but after reading Vincent's name, adrenaline took over.

It wasn't hard for him to access onto his Telegram account, since the security code was the usual.

Remembering every single word written in that text, Harvey's expression shifted once again onto a pained one. Vincent was confirming the point of encounter and time, and on top of that, he was talking in plural.

Mega was going to meet Vincent and someone else that same night, and Harvey couldn't help but get hit by a wave of terror and uneasiness everytime the thought crossed his mind.

He was angry at him for lying multiple times, despite giving him multiple opportunities to confess, or at least get help.

Harvey hated that side of his best friend from the start, the liar one. Always in use as a self defense to protect his feelings, thoughts and emotions.

The worst part of it was that Mega had no problems to take advantage of it, and put it in use for futile reasons such as that one.

At first, Harvey thought Mega got threatened and had no choices but accept to meet Vincent and the other mysterious person, but after observing his reactions, it was clear he was the one who planned it.

On top of that, he felt like nothing was going to be the same after that meeting had place. Mega wasn't going to be the same Mega, their friendship was going to be built over lies and distrust, and their friendship was most likely going to turn onto a simple acquaintance.

"Ugh." Harvey stopped his walk, pressing both his hands against his ears. "Shut, the fuck, up. It's going to be okay."

A single, small, lie. It's all it takes.
No matter if it's to protect someone or yourself.

One single lie can ruin everything.

He groaned again, closing his eyes shut, "Stop thinking, dumb brain," his fingers tangled in his raven hair that pressed against his skull, "Please."

Feeling those types of emotions towards a friend and not his parents, was uncomfortably unusual for him. Especially if it was Mega, the boy he cared the most about.

Once again, he let out a frustrated groan, forcing himself to restart walking, heading towards home.

Seeing his parents was the last thing he needed, and the likelihood of them not being mad at him because of any stupid and negligible reason was nil.

Since when Harvey got close again with Mega and Zak, his motivation and energy had dropped drastically and exhaustion dragged him down in that dark hole he always tried his best to stay away from. He wasn't regretting any of the time spent with his two friends at all, he was just emotionally and physically drained.

Simply, he convinced himself that his only purpose was to help others and make them happy, foolishly starting to neglect his own well-being.

And after all, nobody really asked him how he felt. No one cared much about him, but he couldn't help but care about others.

Both Zak's and Mega's situation were way worse than his, he felt obligated to keep on hiding his true self, and his problems from them.

Actually, it was the first time Harvey built such a strong friendship with someone. He was way too used to being called a friend only when others needed help.

And for once, he was actually called a friend from both Mega and Zak, and he was more than grateful.

Eventually, the short boy was looking at his home in the distance getting closer. Trying his best to suppress that growing and suffocating hole in his chest, he took another deep breath.

The fancy black car of his parents was parked right outside the house, and only sight of it made Harvey guts twist.

He felt nauseated thanks to his anxiety, but he kept on walking and stepped up the stairs that led to the front door of the house, avoiding a few steps as usual.

His eyes stayed glued on the wooden door as he stood in front of it, studying the noises coming from inside. He could clearly hear their voices on the other side.

Sighing at the confirmation of his parents being home, Harvey made his entrance, opening and closing the door as silently as possible—hoping for a stealthy entrance.

Unfortunately, his mother was already standing behind him, causing him to flinch as soon as he turned away from the door.

"Where were you, young man." the intimidating woman asked, her arms crossed under her chest.

Harvey's heart dropped at her disappointed glare, and couldn't help but insult himself mentally for not letting her know about him staying at his best friend's house.

"Hi, mom," he sighed, biting the inside of his cheek. "I was over at Mega's."

"Oh, God. Of course you were." she scoffed, rolling her eyes with a disgusted grimace, "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from those people?! They're going to drag you down to their same level."

Every word that came out of his mother mouth did nothing but make the short boy more and more irritated. She was pulling the string, already dangerously close to its breaking point.

"Again with this bullshit? They're just normal people with less luck and instruction than us, mom!" he promptly talked back, frowning at her.

"Don't even try to give that attitude to your own mother."

A tall man walked in from another room, fixing his black tie. Only then Harvey noticed the fancy outfits the two adults were wearing, and this time were his eyes the one shining with disappointment.

"Are you two seriously goin' out again?!"

"Don't try to change topic, Harvey." the father severely recommended, his hand stopped on his tie as he gave more importance on showing off his angry glare.

"You're letting them ruin you." the mother continued her complaints, narrowing her eyes.

Speechless, Harvey's eyes darted from his father to the woman, "What?! How?!"

"Miss Davis called today." she stated.

The Sophomore swallowed anxiously, he felt more than stupid for trusting a teacher. That situation was predictable and avoidable.

He already knew what she told them, however, her mother started listing the flaws as she counted them on her fingers, "Not turning in your homework and projects in time or at all, always late, never paying attention... Basically, she let us know how undisciplined you are."

"And— Are you're seriously ditching?" the father added, his eyes met his son's.

Harvey couldn't deal with the amount of disappointment in his glare, so his glance drifted elsewhere.

"You're delusional, Harvey. I didn't expect all of this from you." the woman continued, but she didn't stop there, "Your grades dropped! I never saw such miserable grades!"

"Wh— What?!" the short boy shook his head, on the edge, "What are you talking about?! I literally have three B's!"

Crossing his arms above his chest as his glare full of disappointment and anger studied his son head to foot, the man shook his head slowly, "For me, a B is failing grade."

"Well, not for me!" Harvey spat in his defense, defiantly looking back onto his eyes.

Having none of the Sophomore attitude, the mother stepped back onto the conversation, "Harvey! Watch your attitude, young man!"

The son bit down on the inside of his lower lip, trying his best to calm himself down. Those hurtful words flowing out of his parents mouth caused a lump in his throat, a lump he—as much as he tried— could never figure out how to swallow. 

"You better start taking your meds again, Harvey. I'm not going to repeat this again, you've been warned." the deep and intimidating voice of the father made his heart drop.

"I'm perfectly fine without 'em." the short boy stated, his eyes unable to detach from the carpeted ground.

After a deep sigh of exhaustion, the mother untangled her arms, then placing her hands on her sides as a worried expression took over the disappointment.

"Harvey, please. We already talked about this." she reminded, her voice oddly softer than before.

On the other hand, his father angry attitude didn't change at all and carelessly pressed on him with a severe voice, "You need them and you will take them."

"I don't and I won't!" Harvey persisted, clenching his teeth. He was a little too close from losing it, but he fought against himself to keep it together.

"You're sick and—"

There it was. The word.

"Y'know what? You're right." he spat, narrowing his dull eyes. "I'm sick of this shit!" With no hesitation, he made his way through his parents, slamming his shoulders against theirs body that blocked his way.

Harvey ran upstairs and despite slightly tripping on the last steps, he didn't stop. Muffled screams came from downstairs, but the same peak of anger and adrenaline that made is body shiver, deaden any type of noise. After slamming the door of his room close, he simply stood there, not knowing how to feel and what to think.

Actually, as soon as the anger faded, he wasn't even able to tell if he felt anything at all.

That scary numbness took over once again, and exhaustion made his body ache.

He closed his eyes and let himself fall backwards. His body slightly bounced at the impact with the bed, and then sank into the puffy eiderdown.

In that moment of vulnerability, Harvey knew he didn't have enough forced to deal with his spiraling thoughts and messy headset, thereby, his hand instinctively reached for his phone.

The faint brightness of the device lit up his emotionless face that was hiding in the scant source of light in the dark room. Words swiftly took form as his thumbs wearily tapped on the keyboard displayed on the screen.

He stared at the message he typed, reading it over and over again. Of course, the short boy felt stupid.

No matter what, he was always running away from his problems—smiling and joking around, hoping for them to resolve themselves by doing absolutely nothing.

He pressed the paper plane icon, sending the message.

hi sry for bothering already,
could i sleep over tonite? pls >

What Mega was doing kept taking over his mind, the worst scenarios caused by his choice spiraling onto a deadly trap that kept him unfocused from reality. Knowing he was still in time to stop his dearest friend to ruin his only friendships, kept building up some sort of hope in Harvey. 

< What? Fr?

He sighed, there was no way Mega wouldn't get mad.

yeah.. >

< why though? sup?

my parents are at another
dinner again, and im just not
in the mood to stay alone ig >

< fair enough

< let me ask my mother, brb

ty dude >

Harvey lazily rolled on his side as he impatiently waited for the response.

< She's at the phone. Come over 
anyway, I'll figure out an excuse

tysm mega n sorry for
causing you troubles >

< Whatever dude. For how much of
a fucking idiot u are, I might enjoy
pulling all nighters with you

<3 >

< are you sure thats the only reason, though? i mean, is everything okay back home?

The unusual question caused a frown on the raven haired boy's face. Everything was extremely off that day, it made him feel out of place.

yeah, why would i even lie to you? >

As he pressed the paper plane icon to send the message, realization hit him. His lips parted, and a sort of panic made his body shiver.

Harvey was constantly blaming Mega for being a liar when the one constantly lying in the first place was himself.

< Yeah, you're right

He still couldn't actually process it.

No one truly knew Harvey real self, not even the closest person he had by his side. He was so terrified of the judgement and unacceptance that he kept creating a new and different personalities for one and all, so that everyone would like him.

aight ill be there in five >

To be fair, even Harvey himself didn't know who he was anymore. It got lost over the years of pretending to be someone he wasn't, just to please others and, somehow, himself.

< Sick 

Another wave of unusual anger hit him, overcoming the stationary numbness. He hated that day with all his heart and soul, everything was going wrong.

Clenching his teeth in a poor attempt to gather himself together, Harvey pushed himself off the now messy sheets of the bed. He stood still for a couple of seconds, trying to recollect his spiraling thoughts.

In a matter of minutes, the cold wind was once again slamming against his face as he ran down the streets that led to Mega's building. He pushed himself to run as fast as possible, to a point where his lungs hurt, hoping for it to help release the anger that kept growing inside of him despite his incapacity to think straight.

Jumping up the steps of one the last flight of stairs left, Harvey stopped running and grasped the handrail as he leaned on his knees, breathless.

He gulped anxiously looking up to the few steps remaining and as soon as he caught his breath back, he walked up to the floor where his friend apartment was

Unexpectedly, Mega was waiting outside for him, leaning against the door with his arm crossed over his chest. Come as no surprise, he was mad.

Forcing a grin and raising two finger guns, Harvey approached the shorter boy, getting a pissed glare in exchange.

«I repeat: you're a fucking idiot.» his phone read out as he narrowed his eyes.

"Yep, I know..." the Asian boy shrugged off, following Mega inside his apartment.

«My mother is gonna kill the both of us. You know that, right?»

In response, he scoffed, "I rather get killed twice by her and take all the blame than let you get in trouble. So, dont worry about it."

The shorter boy abruptly halted, causing a near collision with his friend.
He shook his head as he turned towards Harvey, an eyebrow raised and a light imprint hinting a smile formed on his green balaclava.

«It's incredible how you haven't change a single bit from last year.»

"Yeah," he breathed, "Certain things never change." The boy who craved change more than anyone else whispered as a reminder to himself.

Darryl spent the whole afternoon trying his best to make Zak feel better, or at least trying to distract him from what was actually happening. The Junior didn't need to explain anything to him since he got summoned as well and had to talk to the principal right after Zak had.

He felt anything but pleasant feelings towards what he had heard from the woman but for that moment, that became just a repressed memory as Darryl convinced Zak to bring him to his special place, so they could pass their last night together in the best way possible.

He wanted to see a smile on Zak's perfect face; a smile he craved to adore.

The strap of his guitar case somehow kept sliding off the blonde boy's shoulder. It tore annoyingly to the point in which he gave up and brought his free hand to hold it in place. The other hand was being hold by Zak as they walked on the side of the empty street.

The night was slowly falling upon the two boys, casting shadows behind their footsteps. Darryl loved everything about this quiet moment—tightening his hold on Zak's soft hand. 

Both of the boys were silent, but they were drowning in the overwhelming amount of undesired thoughts spiraling in their heads.

Darryl sighed silently, his glance finally detaching from the cemented floor and onto the short boy walking alongside him, "How are you feeling?" he dared to question.

Without the slightest change of expression, Zak limited himself to reply with a simple shrug as he kept his eyes glued on the road.

Arching both of his eyebrows, the blonde boy slightly squeezed his hand again, once again not receiving a reaction from him. Normally he would feel hurt, but he understood what was going on in Zak's head.

What the lawyer and the principal decided to do was the worst choice they could take in that moment. He didn't expect it, especially coming from an understanding person like Callahan, the one that once said that he wanted the best for Zak.

Taking away the only trustable person that supported and loved the Junior, was the last thing he needed.

Hearing him sigh wearely, Darryl looked back at him again. He looked clearly drained, his energies and motivation to keep fighting for getting better vanished in a matter of hours.

Zak squeezed his hand back and his blank expression finally shifted into a small, pained frown as realization hit him again. He still couldn't process that from the day after, simple gestures such as holding Darryl hand or even just being with him, were going to be severely forbidden. 

The blonde boy caressed the back of his hand with his thumb, plated on his lips was a reassuring and loving smile, "Hey, it's going to be okay. I promise."

"How..?" he questioned, his eyes still refusing to look at him.

"Mh?"

"How's it gonna be okay?"

The answer didn't come immediately as Zak's simple question managed to mess up Darryl's mind, "I don't know yet, but it will."

A scoff replied to his statement, "I'm tired of this," the short boy started, shaking his head. "One day you're feeling finally good, thinking 'Damn, it's finally over. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna get better.', and boom. The day after everything comes back stronger than ever, destroying everything again." he spat, pronouncing the last word with pure hatred.

Stopping their pace, Darryl carefully cupped Zak's face, meeting his eyes for the first time since that morning. Seeing the same emptiness he saw the first time he met Zak felt like a stab right in his chest.

"Stop it," he pleaded. The short boy didn't have the chance to realize how tired he looked until then. "Please. We'll find a way, I promise."

The short boy blinked wearely, then slowly nodded. That was enough for Darryl, and after placing a kiss on his forehead, he let his face go and restarted walking.

This time it was Zak who was the one searching for the other's hand, and they both hold each other tightly, afraid to let go. Afraid of what letting go would've meant.

The only audible noises were their shoes stepping on the ground full of rock now that they stopped following the empty road, and in the distance, the calming sound of the waves caught Darryl's attention.

Noticing his expression changing out of the corner of his eye, Zak smiled lightly, "We're almost there."

An excited grin grew on the blonde boy's lips as the sound got louder as they cotinued walking.
The sea surrounded by rocks soon became visible and without hesitation, the short boy lead Darryl up to one of the black stones right above the water.

"Here we are." Zak sighed, looking at the horizon.

"Wow," the other murmured in awe, "I haven't seen the sea in years..."

The raven haired boy smiled slightly, then sat down. Darryl joined him after taking off his guitar case and left it on the ground beside him, then pulled Zak as close as possible.

"Thank you for bringing me here, little muffin."

His smile grew wider, "Can you sing me something?"

"Sure!"

Letting himself get cradled by the calming and sweet melodies of Darryl's voice, guitar chords and the waves, Zak mind kept wandering around.

"What if it'll never be over?" he suddenly asked, continuing what he started earlier.

The blonde boy stopped playing, placing a hand against the strings of the instrument, then looking down at Zak.

"What if this loop of up and downs will last forever." he continued.

Concern took over Darryl once again and tangling his fingers in his raven hair, he murmured a "If we stop fighting, we'll never know."

Zak stayed silent for a moment, then dared to ask another question, "Where's the sun you talked about, Darryl? I've been waiting for this storm to end, but it's only getting worse."

"It's gonna take a while. Be patient, okay?" he murmured, his fingers still running through his dark hair. "You'll get there."

"I don't know..." the other sighed, pulling himself closer to Darryl. "I'm so lost."

"You're lost? Where are you trying to go?"

Zak frowned at that unexpected question.

"I don't even know..."

"If you don't know where you're going, how can you be lost?" the blonde boy asked, shooting him a glance.

"Well... 'cause I don't know where I am, y'know?"

"And that's not necessarily a bad thing." he continued, smiling softly. "That's completely okay. We don't know where we're going, sometimes, and often we end up in the best places because it."

Silence towered over Darryl's words for a good moment before Zak was able to gather his thoughts together and form a response.

"Yeah but, like... How does this even work? Shouldn't I know where I'm going?"

Darryl smiled at him, "Knowing it sure makes it seem reassuring, but often it's not how it works. Life is and will always be an unpredictable mess, but why not embrace that and see where it leads you."

Not expecting a single word of his, Zak sighed silently, "What if I don't want to keep going? What if I'm done with not having happiness last?"

Darryl was the one struggling to think about a reply.

"There's always a reason to keep going." he smiled again, this time visibly tired. "Take a breather, but don't stop. Ever."

"What if I lose the few only reasons that stop me from giving up?"

With no hesitation, Darryl pulled Zak as close as possible, his arms wrapping his small body.

"Before stopping... Think about it; is it worth it?" he sighed, "Is it worth throwing away everything you've fought for?" receiving nothing but silence in response, he added one last thing in a whisper, "You haven't been through all of this for nothing, Zak."

The short boy knew how right Darryl was, but he couldn't help but overthink. Zak's life was worthless, he held not a single goal, not the slightest dream, and there clearly was no future ahead of him.

And for how stupid it could be, Zak knew he had actually been through all of that for nothing.

"I guess you're right." he simply murmured.

"Zak?" Darryl called soon afterwards.

"Mmm?"

"Can you promise me something?" 

Zak turned on the other side so he could face him, "Depends on what that is."

Hesitating slightly, the blonde boy swallowed anxiously.

"I know everything is falling apart once again but... Promise me you will fight and stay a little longer, please."

A long and intense stare into each other's eyes followed Darryl's words.

"Yeah, I promise." Zak lied.

wasn't this chapter just amazing? -mar <3