Blinding Lights | Skephalo

maybe you can show me how to love

note pictured above is unrelated.

thank you for 200 reads <3

•••

Darryl

"Zak?" Darryl repeated, still not believing that the boy standing in front of him was real.

"Hi, Darryl," Zak responded, shifting his weight between his two feet awkwardly. "Can I come in?"

Struck speechless, Darryl just nodded and stepped aside, closing the door behind Zak after he walks inside their apartment.

"I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I can't—"

"—Why? Why would you just... Leave me here?"

Zak's expression softens. "Darryl, I would never leave you."

"But you did, Zak. It's been three months. I was starting to think... I was starting to believe that you were dead."

"Just listen to me, okay? We don't have a lot of time."

Darryl stops for a moment, resorting to analyzing the boy's appearance. He wore a bright white long-sleeved shirt that looked like it had just been bought, and black jeans. They were a little baggy around the ankles, but Darryl assumes that's just because Zak is short. He could have also lost weight, too; Darryl thought something seemed off about Zak's face and upper body.

"He sent me here," Zak continues, "after you told him you would do anything to get me back."

"Who?"

"The man who kidnapped me. He asked me who would pay the most for my return. I didn't want to tell him it was you, but he forced it out of me."

"I don't have any money," Darryl responded.

"I know, I told him that too. That's why I'm here; he let me come. He said we would have to work for my release, together."

"That's stupid, Zak. Once we do what he wants, what's the point in keeping us alive?"

"Darryl, I don't have any other options. Look— Everyone already thinks I'm dead, and you haven't left the house in months." Zak holds up a flimsy piece of paper with writing scribbled over it. "All we have to do it complete this list, and—"

"—Stop," Darryl interrupts, rubbing his temples in annoyance. "You... You were dead, Zak. For all intents and purposes, I was never going to see you again. You don't even know how hard that was for me. To lose my best friend. And after everything that happened the night you left..."

"I know. And I am so sorry. But right now, I just really need your help. Please. He's going to kill me if I don't do the tasks on this list, Darryl."

The dams behind Darryl's eyes finally break as he begins to sob, the mere sight of Zak completely overwhelming his nervous system. Zak was quick to comfort him, throwing his arms around the sad boy, pulling him into a very-overdue hug. Darryl's tears wet the gemming of Zak's white shirt, turning it a darker gray color. He pulled away.

After a brief moment of silence, Darryl began to speak. "Why did you run outside that night I confessed to you?" He couldn't bring himself to repeat the last words he had said to Zak. It was too painful. Darryl grew dizzy as a memory quickly came back to him.

•••

"You know I can't see you, Darryl," Zak called out from behind the white wall. "And I know you can't see me. I'm starting to give up!"