a melancholy crush

moving

"Are you sure it's safe there? You know, his rat doggo might eat you alive," Vincent said over the phone as Zak's car went over a bump.
"Dude, I feel like he's trying to move the punching bag with my Minecraft face on right now."
Zak could hear Vincent chuckling.
"He's going to mistake you for the punching bag," he said, earning a laugh from Zak.
"I feel like I should be scared," he muttered into the phone.
"Or maybe he will mistake you for a muffin."
"No! I don't want to be a muffin, he's gonna eat me! a6d help!"

User has joined your channel.

"Skeppy!"
"Oh, hey, Bad," Vincent said as he petted his fluffball of a cat. Zak was extremely taken aback; he wasn't expecting to hear Darryl's voice just yet.
"Skeppy? Are you on your way?" the man asked, accidentally completely ignoring Vincent.
"Y-Yeah, I think I'm almost there actually," Zak responded as he peeked his head out the car window. Darryl's dog was yapping in the background.
"Are you abusing your dogs again?" Vincent grinned.
"Oh my goodness, no! I do not abuse my dogs!" Darryl yelled. Immediately, Zak burst into a fit of giggles.
"Bruh moment," he managed to say between laughs.
"What?" asked Vincent.
"I think I can hear Bad screaming from here." He threw himself back into the car's seat and laughed so much he could barely breathe.
"Wait, really?" Darryl asked with a laugh.
"I hear it! I hear your rat barking! Dude!"
Zak couldn't contain his excitement – he had to leave the teamspeak.
"Bad, quick! Go hug your boyfriend!" Vincent shouted before also disconnecting from the channel.
"He's not my boyfriend!" the man screamed at his phone screen. His eyes then rapidly darted up. Crap. He was stood on the front garden with his dog, and if Skeppy had heard him shouting about how he doesn't abuse his dogs, then there's no doubt he would've heard that, too.

His dog only yapped even more, jumping up at the fence and barking louder once a generic white car pulled up on the road. He freaked. Zak? Was this really Zak? The window rolled down to reveal the boy himself, excitedly grinning like a puppy. The man grew flustered at the sight of such a sweet muffin. He also momentarily forgot about the angry yapping dog at his ankles. Zak was so handsome... He was really the cutest.

"Bad!" the boy excitedly let out, slamming the car door behind him. Darryl blinked. 

"Zak?" he muttered nervously, his heart racing. He picked his yapping rat up from his feet and clumsily opened the gate for him. Zak had his sleeved hand covering his grinning mouth so shyly, giggling under his breath.

"D-Did a6d say something about boyfriends?" he managed to let out between his laughs, before stepping forwards, gently grabbing Darryl's arm and pulling him into a hug (the dog involved, too). Oh my goodness. Darryl could not hide his flustered expression at all. Hesitantly, he wrapped his free arm around the boy while his dog jumped up to Zak's shoulders, a wide smile unwillingly plastered on his face.

"He was annoying me," Darryl said. Zak giggled. 

"You're annoyed by everything," he mentioned, pulling away from the hug and grabbing the tiny dog which was now crawling all over him. 

"No, I am not!" 

Zak looked up from the dog to meet his eyes. He couldn't help but grin once more, placing the dog back on the ground and shutting the gate behind him.

"If you say so." He then looked back down to the enthusiastic tiny dog jumping up at him. "What's its name?"

Darryl followed his gaze. "Rat."

"Rat? That's its name?"

"I guess?" he spoke with an awkward smile. 

"It's... a suitable name."

"Oh, Skeppy, do you want me to help you with your stuff?" Darryl randomly asked as he eyed the car in front of him. He then acknowledged somebody in the driver's seat. "Who's that driving? Is she your friend?"

"Oh, yeah, it's Hanna. Is it fine if she helps us with some stuff?" Zak asked, glancing at the girl and then back at Darryl. 

"Sure, that's no problem." A girl. He gulped, naturally glaring at her through the window. She took no notice; she just casually got out of the car and made her way to the boot to get Zak's stuff.

"She's gonna help me set up my PC and all that stuff while you show me around if that's okay?"

Darryl nodded.

"Wait, let me get my suitcase," Zak quickly said before rushing to grab his stuff from his seat. Darryl shuffled nervously. His dog lost interest and ran back indoors. "Okay, I'm ready." 

Zak's hand brushed against his own as they walked through the house.