𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 || 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐨

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧.

man, this movie thing was hard.

the two boys were currently leaning back against the headboard of zak's bed with an almost empty bowl of popcorn between them (that zak was proud to say he made himself, even if microwaving popcorn didn't seem like something that took very much effort). zak sat with his legs crossed and the laptop on the bed in front of him, turned slightly so that darryl also had a good view of the screen.

zak didn't understand what was going on at all.

he pointed at the screen. "why would she go in the room? it clearly says on the wall not to go in the room," he said pointedly, shoving a fistful of popcorn into his mouth. "i mean, c'mon, it's… is that blood? it's written on the wall in blood!"

darryl giggled, reaching under zak's arm to grab his own handful of popcorn. "it's parody horror. they're not supposed to be smart. it's funny."

"oh." another handful of popcorn. "well, i have to admit it. it's pretty funny now that i know it's supposed to be a parody."

darryl glanced over at the boy for a moment before returning his gaze to the movie. he laughed softly. "it might've helped if i mentioned that beforehand."

zak looked down at the bowl on the bed and noticed that there was only one small handful of popcorn left. he looked up at darryl and motioned to the bowl, offering the last of the snack to him. darryl asked him if he was sure, and he insisted.

"thank you," he said, grinning. he picked up the bowl and scooped out the rest of the popcorn, making sure to avoid the kernels at the bottom. he popped the handful into his mouth and set the bowl off to the side on the nightstand.

and then he scooted closer to zak, closing the gap where the bowl had previously been.

when their thighs touched, zak let out a shaky breath. he quickly glanced over at the other boy, hoping he didn't notice. thankfully, darryl seemed to be completely engrossed in the film. at one point, darryl shifted. zak's leg suddenly felt cold, and he was almost...sad? but when darryl got comfortable, their thighs pressing together again, that warm feeling that had become awfully familiar to zak over the past few weeks crept up to his cheek. he crossed one arm over his stomach and propped his head up on the other, holding his burning face in his sleeve covered hand.

darryl gave him a sideways glance, noticing the sudden shift in the way he was sitting. "you alright?" he asked.

zak looked at him for a fraction of a second, making eye contact, before quickly looking back at the screen. "yeah," he said, his voice higher pitched than usual and close to cracking.

darryl lifted up his right hand, paused, and went back to resting it on his leg. "okay."

zak noticed, but didn't think anything of it.

they were nearing the end of the movie. or, at least that's what the little red bar showed when zak paused it so darryl could go use the bathroom. he waited patiently for the boy to return, tapping his fingers on his leg. he yawned, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth.

he was tired. he wasn't used to, well, doing much of anything. this was the second movie they had watched, and they had been talking and laughing all night. it was exhausting.

but he'd never had this much fun before.

darryl returned shortly after, and as he sat down on the bed (still awfully close), zak yawned again.

"tired?"

"what? no," he said, laughing quietly. he was. darryl knew it too.

he tried his hardest to finish the movie, but he could barely hold his eyes open. it was barely even six o'clock. he felt himself drifting off, having to snap his eyes open multiple times. oh, come on now. soon enough, the feeling of shutting his eyes grew too appealing, and this time he couldn't open them again. before he knew it, he had slumped over to the side, sleep finally taking him.

darryl felt a weight on his shoulder. he looked down at the boy next to him, whose head was leaning on him. zak's breathing had slowed, and he let out soft breaths through his parted lips. darryl shook his head, failing to suppress the smile that was spreading across his face and the warmth that crawled up his neck and to his cheeks. he sighed softly, reaching out and gently shutting the laptop.

for a moment, he debated putting an arm around the smaller boy, but he shook the thought away. instead, he rested his own head on the other boy's, suddenly fascinated by the wall in front of him.

***

"i fell asleep on him, mom!"

"easy, now," zak's mother said with a laugh. "any louder and you might just wake up the whole neighborhood!"

zak took a deep breath. she had a point. he probably shouldn't get himself worked up before he had to go to school.

it was the morning after. his mom had returned home just after he finished getting ready for school. before he could even stop himself, he was ranting to her about the events of the previous night.

"right, sorry. i just… i -- i don't know. he didn't even freak out about it or anything! i woke up and he was just...sitting there, resting his head on mine!" he was exasperated. "i felt bad, but he didn't even care."

she raised her eyebrows at him, sipping from a cup of coffee.

"but it was nice..." he admitted. she pursed her lips and nodded, as if she was waiting for him to say that. he didn't see. "i just... i don't understand!" he buried his head in his hands for a moment before combing his fingers through his hair. "i don't understand how i can be so scared of someone but also like being around them so much."

it was frustrating. he thought of the way his stomach seemed to tie in knots at the mere thought of speaking to darryl. he thought of the way he enjoyed the boy's presence so much, almost sad to part ways. he thought of how the way darryl said his name made his stomach churn and the way he could hardly even think straight when the two were together. he thought of those many nights where he would stay awake, thinking about the brown haired boy. he'd think about how their friendship came to be and all of the time they'd spent together over the past few weeks. he'd feel like he couldn't possibly bring himself to spend anymore time with the boy, and yet he'd also feel like he couldn't possibly get enough.

he was completely lost. he had no idea as to what could possibly be happening. it made him feel sick.

his mother set her mug of coffee down across from where he was sitting. she leaned on the countertop, looking at him. "you know, i'm starting to think you might like this boy." she's known for a while.

like him? "well, i mean, of course i like him. we're friends."

"no, not like that. you know..." she struggled to find the words to describe what she meant. "as more than friends. like-like him. like...a crush."

"a...crush," he said tentatively.

and it hit him.

did he really...like darryl like that? as more than friends? he's never liked anyone that way before. he's never been interested in girls, or dating, or anything like that. he didn't even want to believe it.

"a c-crush?" he said again.

"of course, only you can decide that for yourself, but from what you've been telling me... it seems like that's the only explanation."

no. no, he couldn't like darryl. not like that. he couldn't...have a crush on darryl. even the thought of it made him feel like crying. it couldn't be happening. they were friends. barely even that. he couldn't.

he let out a shaky breath and looked at the clock on the stove. seven thirty-six.

"i-i have to go." he got up from his chair quickly, pulling his bag over his shoulders, and stumbled toward the front door.

⊱ ────── {⋆❉⋆} ────── ⊰

word count: 1397

sitting in my bed and writing while listening to baby hotline and sipping hawaiian punch should not give me this much deja vu but ok