Chapter Text
“Do you want to skip Prom?” The words come out of his mouth before he can even think.
Prom is this weekend and usually, Sunny wouldn’t care. Prom is basically a bunch of hormonal teenagers stuffed into a poorly decorated gymnasium and frankly, Sunny wants nothing to do with it.
However, his friends are planning to go—for some unfathomable reason—and Kel had already bought tickets for all of them to go, and then some. Sunny can only assume that Kel wants to go since his basketball team will go, and Aubrey will go to spend time with the Hooligans. Sunny doesn’t want to refuse Kel’s tickets—he’s seen those prices and he doesn’t want that to go to waste—but he’d also rather be anywhere else other than Prom.
This whole week, since Kel has announced that he bought them all already, Sunny has been dreading it. Even now, as he pokes around his half-frozen school lunch salad, he can’t seem to get the thought out of his mind. He knows everyone says it’s the best night of your teenage life, but he really doubts it’s as good as the TV shows make it out to be.
Surely Sunny can’t be the only one who thinks this way in their friend group. He wonders if Basil thinks the same way. Or if he’s just as excited for Prom as the rest of their friends seem to be—Sunny wouldn’t blame him if that’s the case, maybe Sunny himself is just a pessimist at the end of the day.
Basil is sitting next to him at one of the circle tables in the high school’s cafeteria. He’s still in the middle of sipping on his boxed apple juice when the question slips out of Sunny’s mouth, causing him to look wide-eyed at the younger boy.
He sets the juice box down before looking back at Sunny with confused eyes and slightly furrowed brows. “B-but Kel already bought the tickets for all of us,” he reasons, raising his voice just enough to be heard over the noise of the bustling cafeteria.
“Yeah, we’ll still use them,” Sunny answers, mindlessly pushing around his salad once again without breaking eye contact. “We just… won’t be there.”
He gets that that could still be a waste of tickets to others, but Sunny figures they could simply put it to use in their own way. That is, if Basil is on board with the suggestion.
He knows the staff speak against leaving the gymnasium during Prom, seeing as they aren’t able to supervise kids if they simply start wandering mindlessly through the school, so yeah, they would undoubtedly get in trouble. That’s if they get caught. ‘They’ as in Sunny and Basil. This idea would never come into fruition without Basil’s company. Sunny isn’t that dumb enough to wander off into the school on his own.
But he was hoping he and Basil could be dumb together.
Basil seems to process the intention behind his words, his teeth softly digging into his bottom lip as he does so.
It doesn’t take him very long though. In the next second, Basil’s eyes light up with understanding, and Sunny wouldn’t be surprised if a lightbulb had suddenly appeared above his head.
“Oh! Let’s break into the gardens!” He suggests with such strong excitement that the words almost flew right by Sunny’s head. “I swear, they always keep that place locked and only allow student council in there! We should absolutely break in, I bet it looks amazing at night!” Basil taps his chin, thinking, “Hm, I could ask Aubrey for a bobby pin, that could work…”
Sunny blinks back at him, simply stunned. He wasn’t expecting Basil to be so eager to break the rules. Maybe he and their friends have been a negative influence on Basil over the years…
Basil finally notices his best friend’s shocked expression and rushes to correct himself, “U-uh, unless you wanted to do something else, wh-which is totally fine—!”
“N-no, I was just surprised,” he clarifies. “I didn’t think you’d be so eager, I thought you’d say something like ‘Sunny, what are you planning?! You know we could get caught! Yadda yadda…’” He imitates Basil’s voice in a shrill, high-pitched tone, which Basil doesn’t take too kindly towards, judging by his jaw-slacked reaction.
“I-I don’t sound like that!” Basil retorts with a pout (cute). “A-and I’m not exactly pumped about staying in a crowded, dirty gym for Prom…”
Sunny’s glad he’s not the only one.
“Didn’t know you were an advocate for breaking and entering, Basil.”
“I-I’m not—! Well… maybe just this once.” He mutters under his breath, “And it’s not really breaking and entering if we’re already in the building…”
Sunny hums in agreement as he stabs a flimsy piece of lettuce from his salad. Basil has a point, though he doubts administration would be as receptive to that reasoning. He pops the lettuce into his mouth and instantly regrets the cold, plastic-like sensation that fills his tongue. Yuck.
He pushes the rest of his lunch tray away from him. No thanks, he’s lost his appetite.
“So that means you’re on board?” Sunny asks, pushing the thought of his distasteful salad aside.
“Of course! Spending time with you is way better than spending time at some silly Prom,” Basil says with a laugh, not noticing how his comment makes Sunny’s chest squeeze with this odd sense of longing. “B-but… how will we skip? It’s not like the teachers will just let us walk out of the gym.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t worry, I have something in mind.”
. . .
Prom arrived sooner than expected. The days in between passed by in a blur, as if he blinked and suddenly found himself standing at the entrance to the gymnasium. It’s a long line that curves around the side of the building where they steadily let students inside, checking one ticket at a time. They’re sure taking their time with it, making everyone else wait in the cold, late winter air. Sunny’s just glad they’re not the poor saps at the very back of the line—and he’s really glad it didn’t snow this week.
Sunny’s suit doesn’t do much to protect him from the frigid weather either. It’s not one of his own, but one of Hero’s old clothes—one of the few that he left behind before going to college. Kel assured Hero wouldn’t mind Sunny borrowing it, seeing as all of Sunny’s formalwear don’t fit him anymore (for obvious reasons).
The shirt and pants fit him surprisingly well, though the jacket is about two sizes too big on him. His fingertips barely poke out from the sleeves. Kel couldn’t stop laughing at how engulfed he looked when he tried it on…
He’d say his friends are dressed much better than he is. Kel is wearing a suit as well, with an orange dress shirt and a blue tie—he recognizes it from the portrait hanging in the Cisneros’ household. Aubrey is wearing a pastel pink off-shoulder dress that she had made herself in her fashion design class—how she isn’t freezing cold right now, Sunny has no idea.
Lastly, Basil. He’s wearing the simplest out of all of them—not that that’s a bad thing. Beige dress pants paired with a light blue dress shirt and a cute little bowtie tied around his collar.
Sunny thinks he looks the best dressed out of all of them, but he’s probably just biased.
Just then, Kel groans loudly, stretching his arms high above him as he tries to peek over the heads in front of them in line. “Jeez, what’s taking them so long?! All the fun stuff is gonna happen without us!” He complains.
“Calm down, Kel. We’re almost there already,” Aubrey snaps back. “Try standing for half an hour in heels and then you can complain.”
“Well, you’re the one who decided to wear heels today so you’ve got no one to blame but yourself!” Kel quips back. “And my shoes are just as uncomfortable!”
“Kel, you’re wearing sneakers. That’s nothing like heels!”
“They’re old sneakers! And the soles are so thin I can practically feel the cracks on the ground with my feet!”
“Okay, first off, gross—”
“Gross? You’re the one who wanted to talk about feet!”
“I didn’t want to talk about feet! I was talking about shoes, Kel!”
Sunny decides to tune out the rest of their argument. For his own sanity and safety.
His single eye makes its way over to Basil instead, watching stray strands of his honey hair wave in the slight breeze. He’s still observing Aubrey and Kel’s fight from the sidelines, an embarrassed yet amused expression on his face. Seeing them banter like this again certainly is a nostalgic sight.
Though Sunny can’t help but notice how Basil’s hands clutch his arms, wrapping around himself tightly. There’s a slight tremor to his figure. Ah, Basil must be freezing from waiting here for so long.
Soon enough, Basil notices Sunny’s stare and meets him back with a bashful smile. “They seem to find anything to argue about, huh?” He remarks with a light laugh, clearly referring to the bickering duo in front of them. Yet Sunny can’t get his mind off of how much Basil is shivering.
“You cold?” Sunny asks.
“H-hm?” Basil looks down at his arms, as if he’s just now realizing he’s been hugging himself for warmth. “O-oh, just a bit. M-maybe I should’ve brought a jacket,” he says sheepishly.
Without a second thought, Sunny shrugs off his jacket and unceremoniously plops it down around Basil’s shoulders instead. A tinge of regret fills him when he’s immediately hit with cold air from the loss of the jacket, but it hurts less than seeing Basil shivering beside him.
“W-wait, Sunny, you don’t—i-it’s really fine—” He protests as Sunny pats down the jacket so that it wraps around him properly. Unsurprisingly, the jacket just swallows Basil up even more, appearing like a little kid getting ready for his first snowy day. But Sunny thinks it looks cute on him.
…It’s okay if he thinks that it looks… cute on Basil , right?
(Because he, unfortunately, believes Basil looks very cute.)
(Not that it’s a bad thing.)
(But not that he’d ever say it out loud either.)
“Warmer, right?”
Basil snuggles further into the warmth of the oversized jacket, his tremors having noticeably calmed. “Y-yeah. But, um, aren’t you going to get cold, Sunny?”
Going to? He already is.
Sunny shakes his head, trying his best to look unbothered. “I’m fine,” he assures. “I’m not that cold.” He is extremely cold. But if it’s for Basil, then it’s okay.
Basil, however, is not convinced. He huffs, already taking the jacket off of him. He gives it back to Sunny as a bundle in his hands. “Sunny, you should keep it on instead.”
Sunny takes it, only to drape it back over Basil’s shoulders again. “You need it more,” he insists.
Basil takes it off again. “It was yours first.”
Sunny puts it back on Basil. “I want you to wear it.”
“Sunny, you’ll be cold without it!”
“You were literally shivering just earlier.”
“But you’ll be shivering even more!”
“Basil, just take the jacket please—”
“What are you two doing?”
The two friends turn their heads to the confused Aubrey standing in front of them. It’s only then that Sunny realizes the awkward position they're in—he and Basil each hold onto one sleeve of the jacket, as if they’re playing some game of tug-of-war.
“H-huh?!” Basil squeaks out, staring at Aubrey wide-eyed.
The girl just sighs. Far ahead of them, Sunny can see Kel walking ahead with the rest of the moving line. “C’mon, you’re holding up the line,” she nods at the people waiting behind them before going over to where Kel is standing by the entrance.
“You can finish your tug-of-war somewhere warmer!” The brunet yells out to them.
A sudden heat overwhelms Sunny’s face. Taking a quick glance at Basil confirms that he’s feeling the same way as well. He doesn’t dare look behind him, already sure of all the frustrated stares they’re getting. Sunny lets go of the jacket, and Basil drapes it over his arm before they both wordlessly walk ahead to register their tickets and enter the much warmer gymnasium.
The difference is like night and day once Sunny steps over onto that shiny, linoleum gym floor. The room is darkly-lit, the main source of light being the LEDs near the DJ’s table—which, he has realized, is just a teacher sitting in a plastic chair next to a laptop connected to the speakers by a long wire.
The indoor basketball court has been turned into the designated dance floor. Clusters of students are gathered around there, and though many don’t seem to be dancing, people look to be having fun chatting anyways.
There are balloons, streamers, and other decorations you’d usually see at Prom. Nothing that seems to be put together for any rhyme or reason, but only put up to make the place look nicer than what it really is—an old, stuffy, brick-walled gym. Tables of food and drinks are lined against the wall by the entrance, but they’re all just bought from Othermart, which is blatantly clear by the packaging they’re still in.
Sunny has only just got here, but he can’t wait to get out.
Aubrey and Kel are waiting for them by the bleachers when they enter. Thankfully, it appears their earlier argument has abated.
“There you guys are,” Aubrey remarks, standing up. “Thought you guys were gonna ditch us.”
‘Not yet, at least.’ Sunny thinks to himself.
“C’mon, they’re too nice to even think about doing that, Aubrey!” Kel defends for their sakes (even though Aubrey is completely right, in a way).
“I know,” Aubrey says with a slight smile, before immediately quipping back at Kel. “Though you did basically drag them over here by buying them tickets.”
Kel gapes at her, getting up from the bleachers to have that height dominance in the argument. “Don’t forget that I got you a ticket as well!”
“Which I gave to Kim, since I already bought my own before you gave me that.”
“What?! Why didn’t you tell me?! I could’ve refunded that! Kim can buy her own ticket anyways!”
“Oh, hey, is that…?” Aubrey peeks over Kel’s shoulder, pointing somewhere at something behind him. “Oh, would you look at that? There’s Kim!”—Sunny doesn’t even see Kim out there—“Well, I better meet up with her soo…”
Kel follows her finger, but, obviously, doesn’t see the Kim she speaks of. He scratches his head. “Huh? I don’t see Kim—Hey!”
Aubrey quickly bolts the other direction while Kel’s back is turned, disappearing into the sea of teens on the dance floor. She moves so fast that Sunny and Basil aren’t even able to do anything before she’s already gone—not that they would do anything since they’re just bystanders in this banter of theirs. Kel grumbles, realizing he’s been tricked.
“I-it’s okay, Kel!” Basil reassures. “I’m sure Aubrey had good intentions, a-and at least the ticket doesn’t go to wa—”
“There she is!” Kel points at the head of bright pink hair amidst the mass of students on the dance floor. “Can’t trick me this time, Aubrey!” He runs full speed into the crowd, and soon enough he squeezes past the surrounding bodies and disappears as well.
Now, it’s just the two of them. Sunny and Basil. Standing awkwardly, out of place, on the sidelines as they watch everyone else enjoy their Prom.
He knew it’d end like this sooner or later, but admittedly, that was faster than he expected.
“Ah…” Basil sighs out, startled by Kel’s sudden exit.
Kel was definitely the most excited for Prom out of all of them—it’s the perfect atmosphere for an outgoing extrovert like him. Aubrey was right earlier—if it weren’t for Kel, he and Basil wouldn’t have even thought of coming here. Sunny is still wondering if showing up here was a good or bad idea.
He supposes that it depends on how this plan plays out next.
“S-so, what was this plan you had in mind?” His blond friend asks, right on cue. “You still haven’t told me.”
“Oh, right.”
If Sunny has to be honest, his plan is… lackluster at best. The idea is straightforward: bribe Mikhael into creating a distraction to distract the teachers, giving him and Basil enough time to leave through one of the exits undetected. Why Mikhael? Well, he’s the only person Sunny knows that is loud
enough to attract attention and would be easily swayed by bribery. Sounds like it would be easy enough, but any misstep could foil them—whether that be a teacher noticing them or Mikhael simply not falling for the bribe. It’s a gamble—their fate at this Prom is in the hands of an egotistical teenager wearing a blond wig.
What a depressing thought.
Basil looks up at him expectantly with the slightest tilt of his head, interested in hearing the plan he’s concocted. He finds him staring back at his sapphire eyes for a little too long—a little too intensely. It takes an unexpected amount of force to tear his gaze away.
“I’ll tell you after we get out of here,” Sunny promises as he tries to spot Mikhael’s tacky blond hair in the crowds. Ah, there— off to the side of the dance floor, standing by the seats, he talks to a group of girls. He probably paid them to act interested in what he has to say. “Just stay right there,” he tells Basil, about to head towards Mikhael’s direction.
“Oh, so now you’re leaving me too,” Basil says quite nonchalantly.
“O-of course not! I-I’ll be quick, I just—!”
Basil giggles at how frantic Sunny became. Sunny’s worried face quickly dissipates into one red and flushed. “I know. I’m just messing with you, Sunny.” What a tease. “Don’t keep me waiting,” he says in a cheeky, singsong voice.
Sunny exhales an amused breath. Trust him, he wants this ordeal to be over and done with as fast as possible. “Don’t miss me too much,” he quips back.
As each step brings him closer and closer to Mikhael, dread begins pooling in Sunny’s gut. Even as he watches him from here, each obnoxious and fake hair flip he does and each exaggerated pose he makes simply tells Sunny loud and clear that this interaction will not go as smoothly as he had hoped. Though, he feels more bad for the girls that are forced to listen to his monologues if anything.
Mikhael is turned away from him as he approaches, causing Sunny to tap his shoulder to gain his attention. “Mikhael—”
Mikhael instantly whirls around, an offended expression on his half-hidden face—Sunny narrowly spots the group of girls hurriedly running off as soon as the boy’s back is turned. Lucky. “Who?!” Mikhael gasps incredulously. “You must be very mistaken, friend of Aubrey! For I am the one, and the only, MAVER—!”
Sunny rolls his eye. “Okay,” he shoves a twenty dollar bill in his face to shut him up. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Oh? What do you propose?”
“Cause a distraction to get all the teachers’ attention. I’ll pay you.”
“Hmph.” Mikhael snatches up the bill from Sunny’s grasp, stretching it out and examining it closely as if he suspects it to be a fake. “Just this measly twenty dollars?”
Sunny nods.
He can sense Mikhael’s raised brow from underneath the wig. “Can I ask why?”
“I’m not paying you to know. I’m just paying you to do it.”
“Oh, you naive child. It’ll take a little more than that for me to do your bidding.”
“Twenty dollars is more than enough,” Sunny insists.
“Are you kidding?!” Mikhael exclaims, breaking character. “I could get in trouble with my parents because of this, at least make it worth it!” He extends his hand out, demanding more payment.
Sunny would’ve chuckled at the plea if he wasn’t so desperate to leave this gym. So, begrudgingly, he pulls out a single dollar from his pocket and slams it down onto Mikhael’s open palm.
“More.”
He rolls his eye, fishing out his wallet now to give the faux-blond another dollar.
“Just twenty-two?!” Mikhael shakes his head indignantly. “More.”
Sunny groans, carding back through his wallet. This guy is going to suck away what’s left of his allowance. He hands him a five dollar bill this time, hoping that twenty-seven will be enough.
Mikhael inspects the sum of cash with a quirked brow. Unfortunately, Sunny can already tell he still isn’t satisfied. “Well, might as well just round it up now, right? More.”
“That’s all the cash I have on me.”
“I take coins.”
Sunny sighs deeply. He briefly glances over his shoulder to Basil, who’s still waiting by the bleachers. Basil looks back at him, quizzically watching Sunny and Mikhael’s transaction from afar. He already knows the blond will be upset at him after this—throwing away his money so recklessly like this—but it’ll be worth it. There’s no price too high if it means being able to leave this stupid Prom with Basil.
Ugh, still, future Sunny will probably regret this.
He picks out the pile of coins gathering in the bottom of his wallet and drops them down onto Mikhael’s palm—though he was half-tempted to just throw them at him.
“That’s everything,” he says, holding his wallet upside down as proof.
“Hmmmm,” Mikhael hums obnoxiously, stuffing the coins into his pocket and flipping through the bills of cash. He has this satisfied smirk on his face. Clearly, he’s more happy about taking all of Sunny’s money instead of the actual sum he’s collected. “This will suffice.” He pockets the rest of the money and, without another word, walks off to the tables that hold all of the foods and drinks.
Oh. No signal, no plan, no questions? He’s just going right for it… Great. Sunny better hurry then.
Sunny rushes back to the bleachers, easily spotting Basil waiting for him there.
“What was that about?” Basil asks once Sunny slows to a stop beside him.
He looks back at Mikhael nearing closer to the groups of tables. “Just watch.”
Once he says that, Mikhael, quite unceremoniously, pushes over the largest table. It falls down with a crash, the various food and drinks tumbling down to the dirty gym floor. Sunny can clearly see how everyone in the gym flinches from the sudden commotion, stopping whatever they were doing to stare at Mikhael, who stands in the center of it all. Good to know that Mikhael didn’t flake out on him last minute.
Beside him, Basil looks just as confused and shocked as everyone else appears to be.
Teachers begin marching over to ground zero, wading through the crowds that have gathered by the scene of the crime. It’s hard to see through the people, but it looks like Mikhael is already executing his escape plan and trying to lose the irate teachers in the crowd.
Basil’s eyes, wide and alarmed, flit over to Sunny, then to the commotion, and then back to Sunny again. “Wh-what did you—?”
“Come on,” Sunny whispers to him.
He pulls Basil by the hand, weaving through the crowds of confused teens and making a beeline for one of the now unattended exits. Amidst the chatter and ruckus, they push open the door and slip into the hallways in the school. It’s much darker here than in the gym, and much quieter too. All the noise of the music and students are now muffled through the walls. Sunny has never roamed the halls after school hours before. It’s surreal to see it so quiet when he has become so used to students milling about during passing periods. Though, the atmosphere feels soothing, somehow.
Sunny looks back at Basil and raises his hands up. “Tada,” he says.
Basil is speechless at first. He spins around slowly, taking in the surroundings, as if he doesn’t fully believe they’ve escaped Prom. He smiles wide, “So that was your plan.”
“Genius, right?” Sunny begins walking down the hall toward the direction of the school gardens.
Basil catches up and walks beside him. “And you had Mikhael do that? H-how did you even convince Mikhael to do something like… that?”
“I have a way with… words…?”
Basil laughs. “Oh, definitely.”
Sunny lightly elbows the other boy’s side. “What matters is that it worked,” he insists, ignoring the teases—and his own warm face. “and we can finally break into the gardens like you’ve always wanted to.”
Basil gasps in delight like he just now remembered the purpose of their rendezvous. “Let’s hurry then! Come on, Sunny!!”
“W-wait, Basil—!”
Basil takes his hand and tugs him along as they sprint down the halls. Their footsteps echo through the empty walls as lockers and classroom doors seem to fly past them. The gardens are in a pretty obvious spot so it doesn’t take too long to locate it. The entrance to them is right by the student council meeting room. A locked glass door prevents the rest of the students from entering, but still allows them to peer through the pane and view the plants from afar—or in Basil’s case, taunt him with the sight. Sure, they could have tried entering the gardens from the outside, but it’s surrounded by tall fences on all other sides, and Sunny has never been the most athletic person out there.
Clearly, by the way he’s now panting for air once they’ve finally reached the gardens’ entrance.
“Did… d-did we r-really have… to… run…?”
“Nope!” His friend replies in a chipper tone.
As Sunny tries to catch his breath, Basil goes over to the door’s lock. He pulls a bobby pin out of his pocket—seems like he really did ask Aubrey for one—and shoves it into the keyhole, wriggling it around until the lock twists. And it does—suspiciously quickly, as well.
“Got it!” Basil announces as he swings the door open.
“And where did you learn how to do that?”
“Uh…” Basil looks like a deer in headlights, “beginner’s luck?”
Sunny is doubtful, but he’s willing to look past it for now.
“What matters is that it worked,” Basil repeats Sunny’s words from earlier.
“Copycat.”
Basil simply giggles in response and takes the first step into the gardens. The area is expansive, larger than what it seems through the door. There’s a small fountain in the center that has certainly seen better days, surrounded by grass, plants, and filled flower beds. The full moon above them makes all the plants look as if they’re glowing—like this isn’t a school garden, but instead a hidden clearing of a dense forest. They seem to be well-cared for, all things considered.
“They have flowers here! I can’t believe they were hiding these from us the whole time.” Basil has a point. Seriously, why have a school garden if you’re going to hide it from the majority of the school?
Basil kneels down next to one of the flower beds. This one has pink flowers with petals as thin as paper overlapping one another and forming a precise circle. There are a lot of them here, all bunched up nicely in their own individual groups of the flower bed.
“These are begonias. Pretty, right?”
“Yeah…” Sunny kneels down as well. “What do begonias represent?”
“Good communication and connection,” Basil answers easily. He glances at Sunny with a smile—his teeth aren’t as crooked as they used to be, but Sunny can’t help but adore them all the same. “Kinda like what we have, hehe,” he adds. “Though, pink begonias specifically represent love.”
Kinda like what we have.
Sunny watches Basil gaze down at the flowers with this look of pure awe and adoration. He can’t help but find him mesmerizing. The details of his face have long been etched into Sunny’s memories, but it’s like every time he sees him now, there’s new aspects he hasn’t seen before—small, tiny details that went unnoticed by his observant eye. The small crease in the corner of his eyes when he smiles; that slightly chipped tooth that’s only seen when he smiles and certainly wasn’t there before when they were younger; that single stray strand of hair that peeks out from his bangs; his freckles reaching all the way back to his ears.
All these little things, the imperfections, the details, something about them makes Sunny yearn more and more. So much so that he thinks it would bring him pain to look away from Basil now. It’s a silly thought to have—that it’s dumb to have a feeling that affects him so intensely, but this feeling is the truth.
There’s just something. Something about Basil. Something about his gentle nature. Something about his perseverance. Something about his kindness. Something about his smile, eyes, hair, hands, face, laugh, voice. Something. Something that has Sunny desperate. Something that has Sunny yearning, longing, falling further and further. Something that has Sunny unable to look away, and, God, he never wants to look away.
There’s something about it that’s so scary—but in a way that’s thrilling. He’s awaiting the inevitable drop, the adrenaline pumping through his body. It makes his heart ache, but in the way that he needs more of the pain—to know that he’s alive and breathing.
There’s something about Basil.
Basil, the gardener.
Basil, the optimist.
Basil, his best friend.
But, in the end, it’s always been Basil.
And, in the end, Sunny yearns for him a lot more than he’d like to admit.
Basil looks up at him, brows quirked in confusion yet unable to hide the playful smile growing on his face. He nudges Sunny’s side gently. “What’s with that look? What are you thinking about?”
So much, he initially plans to say, too much. All of it and everything. Everything, so much, yet way too little at the same time, he would further explain. You. You and everything you love. You and everything you are. Your smile, your hair, your eyes, your hands, your laugh, your voice. You. I’m thinking about you, he would confess, breathless.
And I can’t stop thinking about you, he would say.
“I love you,” Sunny says instead.
…
The realization is gradual, like time has slowed for them and them only. Sunny doesn’t even realize his own words until he sees Basil’s eyes widen—glowing sapphire. His heart is pounding—he thinks, faintly—the rush of blood pumping in his ears. The adrenaline, the thrill, the fear.
Basil’s voice comes out fearful, a single breath, “You… love me?”
“I…” I can’t take my eyes off you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t dream of a me without you. I… “I think I’m in love with you.”
Basil just stares at him, wide-eyed, his mouth slightly open like he wants to say something, but he’s frozen. The panic quickly starts to settle in, and Sunny finds himself overwhelmed with regret. He’s been too rash. He got lost in his thoughts again. What was he thinking? He really thought he could spout out his feelings and expect everything to turn out okay?
Is… Is this okay?
The rest of Sunny’s composure collapses once he sees the drops of tears run down Basil’s face.
“B-Basil, I’m so sorry, I—” Sunny instinctively reaches over to wipe away the tears from Basil’s still-frozen face, as if his efforts could help stop his silent cries. “I-I shouldn’t have… I-I wasn’t th-thinking—”
“Is it true?” His voice is like the breeze, soft and curious, but it’s warm—alive. He places a hand on top of Sunny’s, pulling him out of his panic. There’s a smile on Basil’s face, though so faint that if Sunny were to blink, he’s afraid he’d miss it. “Is… i-is it true?”
“Yeah,” Sunny’s voice is shaking. The fear is overwhelming now that the adrenaline is fading. No more buffer to numb the aching pain of his confession. He dares to swipe away another runaway tear from Basil’s face with his thumb. “…I want it to be.”
And he knows it to be. Aching and bleeding all the same.
Basil’s growing smile betrays the tears that continue falling from his eyes. “Am I dreaming…?” He utters in disbelief, “I must be d-dreaming, I…”
“No,” Sunny says. “No, this is real. No more dreams.”
Sunny is sick of dreaming—sick of tricking himself into a false reality. This is real. This is his life.
He’s not throwing that away.
“B-but… I-I… Why me…?”
“Why wouldn’t it be you?” Sunny asks back without hesitation. “Who else would it have been? It’s you. It’s always been you. It will never not be you, Basil.” He swallows down the fear, the pain. “Be… B-because I…” And embraces reality. “I love you.”
Basil doesn’t say anything—in disbelief, confusion, fear, Sunny doesn’t know. The silence seems to pick at him, chipping away at his resolve.
Sunny feels dread pooling in his stomach. “Basi—?”
“Y-you look really good in that suit.”
…
Huh?
“…Huh?”
Basil visibly gulps, and holds onto Sunny’s hand tightly. “I-I didn’t say it earlier ‘cause, y-you know, that would probably b-be weird, just saying that to you out of nowhere—b-but it’s true! I know it’s not your suit, b-but you still look good in it. Like really good, like ‘I don’t even know what to do with myself’ type of good. A-and that’s weird, right? That’s not normal feelings to have about your best friend, right? But it’s there—it’s always there. Like I just can’t stop looking at you, but you know, that’s kinda creepy, Basil, you should stop that—but I can’t. Because then you do these things. Like that time you got me that bunny on Valentine’s Day. You were just s-so determined and happy and all just so I could have a gift on Valentine’s Day and I was p-pretty messed up for the rest of the week—messed up in a good way, like ‘oh, I really really do like you’ type of messed up. And then I named the b-bunny Petunia—that’s cute, right?”
“Ba—”
“But then there was more, like when I was sick that one time and you turned off my alarm so you could cover my shift at Fix-It without me knowing, and you still let me keep the money from that sh-shift—it doesn’t seem like a lot but it was everything for me. A-and then even today when you gave me your jacket even though you were clearly cold yourself, and that plus the suit—oh my god, your suit, Sunny—and you know, we’re almost adults now. I shouldn’t be having so many issues with these butterflies and feelings and everything, but it’s you, and I just feel like time stops when it’s you. I feel like I can’t breathe anymore when it’s you. I feel like I’m dreaming when it’s you—but I’m not dreaming. This is real. This is very, very real and—a-and…”
Basil’s words trail off, and all his features relax as if he’s been suddenly caught in a daze. As if he’s unable to look away from Sunny or else this reality will fade into a dream. Beneath Sunny’s palm where it’s still holding the side of Basil’s face, he can feel the tears begin to dry. The only evidence of his cries now being his slightly puffy eyes. His breathing eventually evens out after his rampant confession, yet all the words are still replaying in Sunny’s mind—digesting them. Confronting him with the fact that Basil feels the adrenaline too—the thrill, the fear, the ache.
And that this is okay.
“...I-is this real?” Basil whispers, like a secret passed between closed lips.
Sunny inches closer—slowly, giving Basil every chance to push Sunny away. He doesn’t.
Sunny moves closer, closer —so close that he can feel Basil’s breaths dance across his skin; so close that he could count each and every freckle on his cheeks if he so desired; so close that he can feel the ache in his chest, urging more, more, more.
He holds Basil’s face with his hands—his whole world in his very palms. He doesn’t look away from him, not for a second. He wants to etch this very moment into his brain—refusing himself to forget. But, when it comes to Basil, how could he ever forget?
Tilting his head just slightly, Sunny gives the faintest, miniscule nod. His voice brushes against Basil’s lips, “I can prove it.”
He watches Basil’s eyes briefly flit down toward Sunny’s lips. Realization seems to blossom within them, and he adores the small smile that appears on his face soon after.
“…Okay,” Basil breathes as he closes the gap.
It starts off slow, shy—the gentlest brush of lips. Sunny watches Basil’s eyes flutter closed, his arms reaching up to lie across Sunny’s shoulders, pulling him closer, closer. Basil sighs into it, body resting against his. Time stops right then—just for them, and only them.
Basil’s lips are inexplicably soft, a clear contrast from Sunny’s own chapped ones. He’s become drunk from it, growing this insatiable urge for more. He’s losing himself from it, slowly— slowly— every thought in his mind fading until it’s only the sensation of Basil’s lips on his that he’s able to think about. Slowly, slowly, forgetting every detail of their surroundings in place of Basil’s soothing touch on his skin. Slowly, he loses himself.
And he lets it happen, smiling into the kiss as he sinks further in.
His body moves on its own as his mind strays away. His hands reach for those honey strands, mindlessly twirling the locks between his fingers as if he’s done it his whole life. He relishes in the way the arms around him tighten ever so slightly, a silent plea for more. He tilts his head further, his tongue lightly grazing against those pillowy lips.
It’s… sweet?
Basil is immediately receptive, letting out the softest sigh. It sends Sunny’s face alight—his skin burning, aflame. He’s drunk on it—on Basil. Desperately ill, inexplicably feverish. He’s gone insane, lost his mind. He’s sinking—drowning, further, further, further. More, more, more.
Sunny wouldn’t want it any other way.
He shifts his legs slightly without breaking away, maneuvering himself to lean down into the kiss from above. His whole body is abuzz with desperation. Basil simply makes him so, so desperate. Sunny is weak in his arms. Yearning helplessly for contact—for honey hair and sapphire eyes. He becomes a fool when he thinks of that freckled face, impetuous yet frozen at the slightest glance. He loses himself—over and over and over.
And he always finds himself back at Basil’s side.
He doesn’t want it to end—selfishly, desperately. He wants this moment to last an eternity. Perpetual bliss. He’d accept being drunk forever, ill and feverish, drowning eternally. He’d accept it all if it means Basil will be all he ever knows. He wants to sink. He wants to become breathless…
…Until he’s actually breathless, and breaks away in an instant. Like a sudden snap of fingers, and he’s broken from a trance. His hands are still wandering through Basil’s hair as he gulps in air. Maybe he’d find it embarrassing, how winded he’s become, but it’s hard to focus on that when Basil giggles once they part, and it sounds like the songs of angels.
And maybe he finds himself entranced by it a lot more than he’d like to admit.
Basil’s hand cradles his cheek, and Sunny leans into it, relishing in the warmth. His thumb briefly caresses his cheek, and Sunny wants to melt. “You’re right, this is real,” he says, voice hushed, and a smile lighting up his bewitching face. “You’re good at this.”
Somehow. Despite it all.
“I-I didn’t know you wore lip balm…” Sunny says, recalling that sweet taste still lingering on his tongue.
Basil turns a bit red. “J-just for the occasion. Polly insisted I should freshen up a bit…”
“What is it?”
“Strawberry.”
“...It’s sweet.”
Basil blinks. “Oh. Then…” he tries to lean closer again with a shaky, bashful smile, “w-would you like another taste?”
Sunny laughs, a short exhale of air. “You suck at flirting,” he says and leans in for more before Basil can reply.
He savors the soft kiss, the taste of those strawberry lips, when a yell suddenly echoes through the halls beyond the garden’s entrance: “Hey! Is someone here?! You’re not supposed to be out in the halls!”
The two boys abruptly break away, both turning their attention to the noise. One of the school staff must be patrolling the halls. They’ve probably already seen the garden door now wide open. Sunny and Basil are only a step away from being caught.
“Sh-shit…” Sunny curses beneath his breath.
“Over here!” Basil whisper-shouts, pulling Sunny by the hand to the opposite side of the gardens where the tall fences surround them. There are piles of fertilizer and soil bags that Sunny had somehow not noticed earlier.
Basil, who is already formulating their escape, arranges the large bags to make some sort of makeshift staircase for them to step up. Oh. That’s what they’re doing. They’re going over the fence to escape. Oh, he was really hoping they wouldn’t have to climb that.
“It’s okay! I’ll boost you up!” Basil reassures him, as if he had sensed his worries. He stands by the fence, his hands clasped together to secure Sunny’s footing.
Swallowing down his fears, Sunny steps up the soil bags and places his foot onto Basil’s hands. Basil is clearly stronger than he looks, since he’s able to boost Sunny up. Sunny catches the top of the fence and hoists himself the rest of the way. But just as he swings one of his legs over, someone rushes into the garden’s entrance.
“Hey! You kids aren’t supposed to be here!” A staff member is already stomping towards them.
Basil quickly climbs up the soil bags. Leaning down, Sunny reaches for Basil’s hand and helps pull him up as the blond climbs up the fence. They both fall down at the other side of the fence, just narrowly avoiding the staff member.
The fall is ungraceful—especially for Sunny, who ended up breaking Basil’s own fall. Ow…
“Ugh…” Sunny groans, moving to sit up. Basil gets to his feet and helps Sunny stand, already apologizing profusely for falling on top of him.
“S-sorry! B-but… hey, what matters is that it worked, right?”
Sunny can’t help but laugh. “Right.”
“Hey!!” The staff member hits the fence from the other side. “You two get back here!”
Basil grips Sunny’s hand tightly. “Run?”
Sunny nods. “Run.”
They both run from the school premises, hand-in-hand, until they make it to the sidewalk in front of the building. Sunny’s panting, about to fall to his knees. God, he isn’t sure when is the last time he’s run that fast. Beside him, Basil is laughing, unbridled and careless. He watches his eyes shut tightly, the creases in the corners of his eyes forming. And it sounds like the songs of angels—a breath of fresh air.
And Sunny wants to kiss him. Desperately.
He cups Basil’s face in his palms—his whole world in his hands—and kisses him. The taste of strawberry blossoms on his tongue. It’s sweet. The sweetest relief Sunny’s ever going to bask in. When they separate, it takes everything in Sunny’s power not to lose himself in Basil’s embrace again.
“So…” Basil says, “Stay over at my place?”
“God, I thought you’d never ask.”
They stroll down the sidewalk towards their neighborhood, hands interlocked, basking in the nighttime breeze. The moon shines from overhead. Basil nudges Sunny’s side—the lightest push.
“Sunny?”
He turns to him. “Hm?”
Basil smiles, and Sunny falls in love all over again.
“I love you too.”