Chapter Text
“Aubrey…” Sunny mumbled, a lump forming in his throat “Kel… I have to tell you two… s– something.”
Kel and Aubrey both looked at each other before their gaze landed back on the crying boy.
Kel took a careful step forward, looking at him empathetically despite his bright and cheerful nature “You know you can tell us anything…” He placed a hand on Sunny’s shoulder, their gazes met, then, Sunny nodded slowly.
“You know how Mari… she… before the recital…” those words felt impossible to spit out, he kept going anyway.
His two friends nodded, silently waiting for him to keep going.
“Well actually… Mari didn’t h-”
“SUNNYYYYYYY!!!”
an ear piercing scream echoed through the whole house, making Sunny’s ears ring. Kel and Aubrey both raced down the stairs, facing Sunny’s mom who was right in front of the front door.
Aubrey looked away in embarrassment, shit, she forgot she had broken the door, what was Sunny’s mother thinking?
Her eyes flew up, landing on the pair of friends, she took a deep breath.
“Did you, did you two… do that?”
Aubrey nodded apologetically, Kel understood why she screamed at first and sighed, of course Sunny’s mom was bound to notice.
“Thank goodness… I thought my little boy had been harmed or kidnapped or-”
“I’m so sorry, ma’am!” Aubrey interrupted “I– I saw Kel, knocking at the door everyday, and the fact that Sunny was rotting away alone, I– I– I didn’t think and I–” It was Aubrey’s turn to stutter and cry now, facing her pent-up emotions, Sunny’s mother walked up to her and comforted her
“Shh… It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean any harm at all, though… you could have asked me, you know, instead of shooting the door down” she added jokingly
Aubrey chuckled awkwardly “Y– yeah, sorry for this…”
Sunny’s mom shook it off with a kind nod “It’s okay, stop apologizing, don’t worry, really!” She then looked up the staircase “Sunny, come downstairs with your friends, I’m gonna make you all some dinner!”
Seemed like Sunny wasn’t so well hidden after all, not to her own mother’s eyes at least. He hesitantly walked down the stairs, each step taken with a little too much of precaution that made Aubrey confused.
“You sure he’s okay with us staying? I mean we kinda too literally broke inside…” Aubrey mumbled under her breath as she looked at her nervous friend stepping downstairs carefully.
“Just take a seat on the couch, you guys, I’ll call you all when dinner is ready!” Sunny’s mom answered back with a smile before walking toward the kitchen.
~☆~
The clinking sound of plates and silverware mixed with the warm aroma of food filled the room, the friends were called over to take a place around the dinner table.
As the warm hues of the sunset slipped through the curtains, the atmosphere gained a comfortable warmth
“Hey guys!” Kel spoke up “Do you guys remember when we used to hang out in the treehouse all together?”
The nostalgic memories made Aubrey smile “Yeah, all summer long, it was pretty fun, wasn’t it?”
“Mhm! And you would always carry your dumb old stuffed toy around–”
“He’s called Mr Plantegg!” Aubrey interrupted, the usual bickering between the two resumed
Kel giggled “Yeah sure, Aubergine!”
Aubrey’s face flushed in anger and embarrassment at the sudden mention of her old nickname.
“Call me that again and I’ll use your dumb head as a battering ram next time we gotta visit Sunny!” Aubrey pointed a finger at the mocking boy accusatorially, the bickering scene made Sunny smile and laugh a little, drawing everyone’s attention.
“See!” His mother said, nodding in Sunny’s direction “He loves your company, you’re his friends!”
This made both Kel and Aubrey smile, could they pull their friend back above the surface? Make him happy again?
“Say, Sunny, why didn’t you answer the door for all these months?” The only answer he got was Aubrey’s slap on the back of his head “Ow!”
“You know Sunny has been through some really tough times, no need to bring it back up!” She glared at Kel.
Meanwhile, Sunny, who had initially shoved those thoughts away, was flooded back by them.
“Sunny, you okay?”
He looked down, the entire day replaying in his head, flawless memory of his replaying it all like a movie he couldn’t turn off.
“Sunny??”
“Huh?”
Everyone was looking at him empathetically “Oh uh yeah… Sorry… I zoned out a little.”
“Don’t apologize Sunn’, Kel wasn’t thinking straight when he spoke.” Aubrey comforted him
“Hey!” Kel protested before being met with Aubrey’s death glare, forcing him to shut up.
~☆~
“Thank you for the meal!” Kel shouted eagerly, Sunny’s mother smiling back at him “By the way guys, It’s not too late, do y’all wanna go to the park before night falls?”
“Are you crazy? Sunny must be exhausted right now! No, we should probably let him r–”
“I’d like that.” Sunny said, cutting Aubrey off.
“Oh, really? Well, let’s go! Lead the way SunSun’!” Kel happily replied.
And with that, the friends left the house, closing the door behind them (broken lock that did not really help keeping it closed anyway.)
“Oh I hope he will be okay…” Sunny’s mother murmured to herself as she watched Sunny and his friends disappear. “...what am I saying, ‘course he will!”
“But I should get this door fixed otherwise we’re really gonna get robbed or something…”
~☆~
It was a quiet night; the sun had long gone to sleep, the streetlights bathing the neighborhood in a warm atmosphere.
“Kel, Aubrey?”
They both looked at Sunny curiously “Yes, Sunny? What is it?” Aubrey asked,
“Th- thank you…”
“But… For… for what?” She asked, confused; all she and Kel did was destroy a door, barge in his room and drag him out of his house out of nowhere.
“For everything.” Sunny replied earnestly. “You guys have pretty much been here for me, from the beginning. Those picnics, the outings at the park, the summer spent together; and even now after shutting myself off from you all; you pretty much just went: “let’s go get our friend!” Why? No reason.” He then looked up in Kel’s direction “And I’m sorry I didn’t answer the door, or your calls… I’m lucky to call you a friend.”
Sunny’s words flew out of his mouth, straight to his friends’ hearts.
“Aww Sunny… You don’t even have to thank us. It's what friends are for after all – supporting each other no matter what – don’t you ever forget it.” Aubrey replied
“Aubrey is right!” Kel added “Don’t sweat it, buddy!” He hugged both of his friends happily, squeezing them tightly.
“Ugh… Kel, you’re squeezing us…!” Aubrey groaned, trying to escape her friend’s embrace but ultimately giving up.
One group hug later, the friends arrived at the park; as they strolled through, Aubrey stopped and looked toward a pretty familiar place…
What she didn’t notice is Sunny doing the same.
“Uh? Oh yeah the swings! You guys always used to hang out there, jeez, I wonder what you guys were talking about all the time!” Kel added as he saw his friends’ eyes filled with nostalgia just by looking at a simple place like this.
They kept walking around; their eyes landing onto more familiar places: the basket-ball court where Kel used to throw so many shots, the tetherball, the slide, but above it all…
“Wow… So that place still does exist, huh…” Kel whispered in awe
“Of course it still does dumbass, you thought it would disappear over night?” Aubrey replied playfully, Sunny peeking from behind, taking the whole atmosphere in.
“It looks so beautiful, like nothing had ever moved and everything froze in time.” He whispered.
And there it was, the hangout spot, their hangout spot; nothing had changed, nothing had moved: the trees surrounding the place, giving it an intimate, safe feeling, the lake where they used to swim, the lush green grass where their picnics would take place, only now it was basking in the night’s chilly yet strangely comforting atmosphere.
“Right? We’d come here almost every weekend…” Aubrey said, nodding in agreement.
They spent some time there, laying down and talking about pretty much anything; although Sunny did not have much to speak about and was more on the listening side of the conversation, he still enjoyed this peaceful moment.
Kel suddenly sat back up, looking at his watch. “Shit! It’s past 10? Oh my parents are gonna kill me… Well I’ll leave you guys there, see ya!” And with that, Kel bolted away back to his house in a hurry, Aubrey and Sunny both waving at him as he took off.
Aubrey sighed as she laid back down on the grass “Oh well, at least someone’s waiting for him…” She muttered under her breath
Sunny turned to his side, facing Aubrey. “Your parents… Are they still…?”
“Yeah… I- I mean no, not really… My dad left recently and now, I only have my mom left, though I’m not sure I can still call her my mom, she hardly ever cares about me at all now, like everyone else, like I don’t matter…”
“Aubrey?”
“Yes?”
Sunny sits up, looking down at Aubrey, their gazes meeting.
“You matter.”
Aubrey blushed, staring at her friend in disbelief. “What?”
“You matter,” he repeated “To me, to Kel, to Hero, Basil, everyone…”
“But-”
“No buts, Aubrey, whether you like it or not, we love you and we care about you.”
Aubrey tried to hold back her tears, but to no avail.
“Aubrey…” Sunny’s expression softened as he leaned forward and hugged Aubrey.
He held her close to him ; she clung closer to him, seeking comfort.
“I’m sorry you have to deal with this…” Aubrey said between sobs.
“Don’t be sorry, It’s okay to cry…” Sunny replied,
Aubrey looked up at Sunny “Thank you, Sunny…” Before hugging him back “...my best friend.”
That sentence made Sunny blush, heart feeling warm; and that day he made a vow to himself. That no matter what, he would always look after his friends.
~☆~
“Well, I’ll see you… later I guess-”
“Tomorrow?” Sunny replied, taking Aubrey aback.
She looked back at him in disbelief before smiling at him “Yes, to- tomorrow!”
Sunny’s hand left Aubrey’s and with that, he headed back inside his house, before sharing one last glance as the door closed.
Aubrey stayed in front of Sunny’s house for a minute, not for any reason in particular,no one was waiting for her anyway…
But then it hit her.
“Wait…”
Aubrey stared at her hand in utter shock, her face turning red.
“Were we holding hands the whole time?!”
The door leading to the bedroom cracked open, Sunny entered and closed it behind him before collapsing back onto his bed, he wasn’t used to that amount of socializing anymore but it was safe to say he liked it.
He stared at the ceiling of his room, letting himself slip into the arms of Morpheus…
Welcome to WHITE SPACE. You have been living here for as long as you can remember.
WHITE SPACE was a place for Omori to call home, a place where Omori, Sunny’s alter ego would take his place, going on adventures with his friends.
As he looked around, everything seemed normal, sure, the lightbulb seemed to blink abnormally but this surely wasn’t anything to be concerned about; everything, from his tissue box, sketchbook and laptop and even Mewo sat where they have always been.
He then proceeded to walk toward the door.
A white door casts a faint shadow, what would you like to do?
Sunny opened the door
Wait… Sunny?