Chapter Text
"I'm so sorry, Mari..." Aubrey trailed off, curled up against the grave in the rainy night without any regard to the mud. "I'm sorry I'm like this. I act like a child when I'm really nineteen, and I, like, make every single problem all about me, like I have to always be the center of attention, but, like, it feels like nobody cares about me-me."
She stretched out her leg, watching the mud fall onto the surrounding grass with a somber smile. "I never asked to be like this, y'know. My dad would, like; hit my mom too, I never told you that, but she would always go to the bar and stuff to make it stop, so I learned that can make it stop, but you were always there for me to make sure I was okay, so I never had to, but... Well, after you... I couldn't help it. What else was there? I had nobody in the whole entire world there for me, and after Sunny and Basil, it was even worse."
"And I know you said you'd love me forever and ever, but, like," Aubrey looked down at the grass, expression caught between melancholia and anger. "Well, a few months after I told you about... me, you killed yourself. And all my other friends did too, minus one, but it was going on and on and on after that, I'm scared it's all my fault. At church they say people like... me are evil, so I think I caused it. Honestly, I think I should die sometimes so it can all just... stop. It's not like anything will get any better, I'm trapped with everyone who I'm meant to care about, and I can never be happy..."
She stopped talking, imagining Mari there to comfort her, as she always would years ago. "God, I'm pathetic-" Aubrey whispered to herself, trying to stop the imaginary comfort. She glanced up from her self pity for a second and saw someone far away walking towards her, carrying something, likely flowers. "Who the fuck-"
"Aubrey?"
"Kel? Why the hell are you here?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe to put flowers on my dead brother's grave?"
"Right," Aubrey shut up quickly. "So, did you, uhm, hear... anything..."
"No, no, nothing..." He looked away quick.
"Oh, you're a terrible liar. Almost worse than Hero, it must run in the family," Aubrey laughed.
"Did you seriously just throw shade at-" He was cut off by Aubrey laughing even louder. "Whatever. Anyways, I heard most of it."
"Oh..."
"It's fine, I'm not, like, judging you or whatever," He dropped the flowers and sat down like her against the next grave over. "I mean, I would go here every night for weeks after they died, pretending they were alive and talking to them."
"But what about, uhm..."
"What I heard? As if I cared. I never really blamed you, if anything I blamed myself..."
"Oh, really," Aubrey stared incredulously.
"Yeah, like, I let you do all that, and I could've tried to... not... What am I even saying-"
"I get it, don't worry. Sorry, though, for talking so much and acting like a kid and shit, I try not to talk for a reason," She tried to laugh it off.
"It's fine stupid, we're friends, not randoms on the street."
"I guess."
"And don't even think about killing yourself, I'd literally kill you."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," They both started laughing, as if nothing had happened at all.