Black Roses {Skephalo}

Day Five

————— 26 days remaining —————
Friday, January 5th, 11:40 pm
Status 1: stage 2 - Valentine
Status 2: stage 2 - Skye

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-Zak's POV-

"Soooo..." I look up from my phone to see Vincent staring at me. "About that midnight coffee shop meeting..." Vincent gets up from the chair in the corner of the room and walks over to me. He grabs my hand, pulling me up from my comfortable place on my bed.

"Why are you so desperate?" I ask, bracing my hand on the wall before I hit my head straight into it. Vincent seems ecstatic, and that's absolutely terrifying to me. Of course he's happy generally, but the wide smile on his face right now gives me chills.

"Because!" He jumps up and down on the spot in excitement, something I never thought I'd see him do. "I'm about to meet my best friend's future boyfriend! Especially now I realise it's really you! God how didn't I recognise you from school instantly?!"

I stare at him, mouth agape as I wonder if he really did just say that. Vincent walks past me into the hallway, snapping his fingers in front of my face as he passes. That takes me out of my daze. "Yes, I did just say that" he smirks, as if reading my mind.

I roll my eyes at him, sticking out my tongue as I gather my things into my rucksack. Darryl's hoodie is among those things, and I'm slightly ashamed to admit I only took it off because I'm returning it to him.

I retrieve the now lonely and still glowing notebook out from under my bed. I've managed to hide it and my hanahaki from Vincent so far, and I don't intend to slip up. Some part of me already knows I will.

The hanahaki is making things more difficult. Not just because of all the blood and flower petals, but my feelings too. I've loved my online best friend, Bad, for over a year.

Then Darryl comes along, and my feelings get messed up. He gives me the same sense of butterflies that Bad does, but not the hanahaki. It doesn't make any sense. So now I'm left to choose between the two of them. So Zak...

Who do you really love?

I sigh heavily, throwing the book and hoodie into my bag. One reminder of Bad, one reminder of Darryl. I can't even answer Vincent truthfully, when the truth is, I don't know the answer myself.

I don't know Zak, I don't know...

~~~

Vincent practically drags me the entire way to the coffee shop, despite not really knowing which direction he's supposed to go in. We take a few wrong turns, causing Vincent to curse rather colourfully each time.

That was the 'challente', I told him. If we're going to the coffee shop, he has to find his way there himself. I refused to even leave my apartment before he handed over his phone incase he tried to use Google Maps.

We took yet another wrong turn, then the coffee shop lights flashed in the distance. They caught Vincent's attention, and he spun me round and dragged me back towards them.

"Haha!" He cheers in victory, punching a fist in the air. "That must be it! I found it!" I turn my attention to the lights ahead and realise it is in fact the coffee shop. "Took you long enough. We've been out here for almost 20 minutes! It's only a 5 minute walk from my apartment."

"Oh shut it lover-boy. Just because you're anxious to see the love of your life again." Vincent turns around for a second to give me a cheeky smile and a wink. "I literally hate you. No embarrassing me." I mutter, stabbing him in the back with my index finder to make sure he's paying attention.