Chapter 13

Darren was always there for his brother Zeno. He might be Zeno's cousin but they were blood after all. Darren was 2 months older than Zeno. But he was still protective over Zeno.

He saw how Zeno isolated himself from everyone because of his dads negligence. That was why he always tried to be there for Zeno. He kept Zeno company whenever he had time. Being of same age and doing everything at almost the same time made it easier for him to do these things.

He was there when Zeno's mom died and he saw Zeno's dad come home drunk and just ignore Zeno. He was there when Zeno was sick. He was adamant on not leaving Zeno alone.

His parents took care of Zeno like they took care of Darren. They tried to give him the familial love he deserved from his dad and mom. They knew they couldn't take place of his parents or fill the void but they tried their best to not let him feel like he had no family despite having one.

Darren's parents were the one who attended Zeno's parents meeting every time. Zeno's dad didn't spare a few seconds to look at Zeno let alone attend a meeting for him at school. Whether it was a school performance or something the parents were needed for, they would attend both Zeno's and Darren's.

Darren understood that Zeno needed love and care from someone. He had no problem in sharing his parents if it meant keeping Zeno happy.

Zeno also tried to be happy around them. Most of the time, he was really happy that he wasn't alone and some people still cared about him. But there were times when he wished he would get love from his dad.

He wasn't as emotionally stable as he made himself to be. A corner of him was really disappointed that his mother was a cheater. Somewhere inside, he knew that his dad was at fault.

But years of ignorance from his dad made him believe that he was the one at fault. That made him stressed. Sometimes, he heard voices in his head saying that he was the reason his mom was no more, that he was the reason his mom cheated, he was the reason his dad was alone. Those voices and thoughts led him to doing self harm.

Yes, Zeno self harms. He has cuts and scars on his thighs and hip where no one can see. He started doing self harm after he turned 14.

It was some words from his dad that led him to this.

It was some days after his 14th birthday. He was alone at home. His dad was at the office as far as he knew. He was in his room studying when he felt thirsty. He wanted to drink some water but the water bottle in his room was empty. He took the bottle and went downstairs to fill it up from the kitchen. After he filled the bottle he was returning to his room while playing with the bottle when the door to their house was slammed open. He was startled and failed to catch the bottle flying in the air. The bottle dropped and fell on the shelf beside him. A ceramic vase from the shelf fell and broke. He looked towards the door to find his dad drunk standing there looking him dead in the eye. The whole house was decorated by his mom. The vase that just broke was one his mom bought herself. His dad looked at him and said "You don't know how to be careful at all. You should just go and disappear. Such a waste of space and air". That was the first time in months that he saw his dad and his dad said some thing to him. But he was shocked at what he heard. Even the maid cleaning the broken vase was shocked. The butler helped Mr. Moretti onto the sofa and signaled the maid to quickly clean up. Then Mr. Butler hastily called Darren's parents and told them what happened. They quickly came. Darren's dad tried to talk to Mr. Moretti while his mom went to Zeno's room to comfort him with Darren. But this incident left a scar on Zeno's heart. That night when everyone left, Zeno took out a paper cutter from his study table and thought of finishing off himself. But he thought of all those people who love him and just light cut himself enough to draw blood. Since then, he continues to do it whenever he needs some mental stress relief.