War of Hearts

(66) A Close-Up

Trigger Warning!!!

This chapter contains heavy dialogue and some mention of suicide. Please proceed with caution.

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The sky roared its thunderous jaws, clouds tinting grey as the wind picks up speed. A low whistle coming from the forest around him has the man pull his hoodie over his head and arms hugging his torso. BadBoyHalo's dull green eyes swept over the tombstone in front of him, jaw gritted in a clench before loudly letting his breath escape his lips.

Raindrops start to fall one by one, light taps echoing amongst the grass and hard stones, slowly coating it in darker shades of grey. Bad sluggishly let his arms fall to his sides; tired eyes getting tired of reading the engraved name so he swiftly changes his view by raising his chin high and eyes up the sky, uncaring if his glasses catch droplets of rain that slowly obscures his vision.

A bitter laugh escaped his lips, shaking his head side-to-side whilst he felt his hair stick to his forehead. Soon, the rain suddenly stopped kissing his face and Bad turned his head to the side to watch his best friend eye the headstone in front of them with an umbrella in hand. Skeppy, with one hand inside his hoodie's pocket and another holding the umbrella over them, shrugged.

"I'm sorry."

Zak commented. Dark brown eyes trained on the stone, aware of the brunette's gaze on him but refused to turn his head in fear of what the other might see on his face. Darryl then took his gaze off the younger man, opting to stare at the same headstone he had been paying respects to when he arrived at the cemetery.

"It's alright, you and Dream were tricked, it wasn't your fault," Bad answered.

Skeppy shook his head, grip tightens over the umbrella as his shoulders tensed. "Still, if I had been there then this wouldn't have happe—"

Bad reached out, cradled his best friend's face in his hand to snap him out of his reverie, "Skeppy." Bad called out with brows furrowed in worry and green eyes left to carefully observe in concern. "It's okay, we're okay. I understood the consequences of my actions, please..."

"Bad..." Zak sniffed his big brown eyes filled with tears as he grasped Darryl's hand in his. "I just don't want you carrying the guilt of his death around like a fucking bag. You don't deserve that burden, you shouldn't– I couldn't–" with a shaky breath, Zak took a sharp inhale and forced his shaking to calm down. Then, in a small pained voice, a tone of a dying whisper, he confessed.

"I didn't want you facing your nightmares again because I was afraid that if you did, you'll be too far gone to save." Zak shut his eyes tight, a sob escaped his lips as he allowed the umbrella to hit the ground leaving both men under the heavy rain's mercy.

The tanned male gripped his best friend's shoulder, curling inwardly on himself as he lets his hands roam from Bad's shoulder's to the elbows before continuing to the lower where his scars, echos of the past, littered all over. Skeppy was afraid. Badly traumatized and in fear at the thought of losing his best friend - the only family he'd ever known - to the limbo of emptiness and depression all over again like he almost did all those years ago before physically dragging Bad along with him to escape the demented experience they had from that previous location. It left Skeppy protective and Bad self-shock. It left both of them in tethered pieces, hoping that with the new environment, they would be able to fix it all over.

And it did, oh gods did it help them for the better? Bad stopped feeling empty and Skeppy was able to rest his mind at ease, knowing that he would be able to sleep at night without the fear of finding his friend's body hanging from the ceiling. He was relieved.