All I've Ever Wanted: Ziley Part 7

The next day Zane stayed home from school. His cold progressively got worse over night. He laid in bed and waited for Riley to return from school. He read in bed and sipped at the tea that his mom had left for him before she went off to work. Zane's brother, Tai, who stayed home as well came into Zane's room. Tai was a year younger than Zane. He had a lot of friends but was very quiet. He never really talked or socialized. It was extremely rare for him to voluntarily talk to anyone.

Tai was in much worse shape compared to Zane. Tai always wanted company when he was sick, which was a red flag from the start. Zane placed the book on his dresser and looked up at him. "Something wrong?" he asked. Tai shrugged. Zane could tell he was uncomfortable asking. "Do you wanna sit down?" he asked. Tai nodded and sat next to Zane on the bed. Zane looked at him. "How are you feeling?" he asked. Tai shook his head. "I feel like I got hit by a truck." He said hoarsely. Zane smiled. "You look like it, too." Tai smirked and played with his lip ring.

The two of them chatted for awhile and Tai decided to lay down. "I'm in deep shit," he muttered. Zane looked down at him. "Why do you say that?" he asked. Tai sighed. "I really like this girl." Zane smiled. "God," he laughed, "that's how everything starts." Tai chuckled. "Yeah but the thing is, is that she has a boyfriend." Zane looked at him. "That sucks," he said, "what's her name?" he asked. Tai rested his head on his arms. "Maria," he said quietly. Zane smiled. "Maria Zuopa?" he asked. Tai buried his face in his arms and didn't say a word. Zane laughed. Tai got up from the bed. "I'll try not to think about her too much." He said as he stood up. He looked back at Zane and smiled. He turned around and walked back to his room.

Riley came home and ran into his room breathing heavily. Zane got up. "Riley, what's wrong?" he asked. Riley quickly changed. "Bad day," he stated in between sobs, "I'm going for a run on the beach." Riley ran out of the house so Zane wouldn't have to see him cry. Zane stood in the hallway dumbfounded. Tai walked out of his room. "What was that all about?" he asked. Zane shrugged as his chin began to quiver. Tai looked back at him and hugged him. Zane wrapped his arms around him as tears fell from his eyes. Tai looked at him. "Give him like, 20 minutes," he said, "go look for him after that time span." Zane nodded and wiped his eyes.

After about half-an-hour Zane went to the beach to find Riley sitting on the sand. Zane walked up to him and sat next to him. Riley turned to him. Zane noticed Riley's face was stained with tears. Zane held his hand. "Tell me what happened." He said. Riley sighed. "While you weren't there... Some of the guys and I fought. I beat them... but I still got beat pretty bad. And the names..." Riley trailed off before he cried some more. Zane kissed him on the cheek. "I didn't want you to see me like... this." He stated. Zane looked at him. "You know," he sighed, "stuff like this is only going to make us stronger."