Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sunny, how could you?!”

“!! M-Mari, I-”

“They worked so hard to get you that violin!!”

“I know, but-”

“And our recital is soon! You know that!”

“I know that too, but can we just talk about this later? I need to clean up-”

“No! We need to talk about this now!”

“Mari, get out of my way.”

“Sunny, we need to talk about this!”

“Please, I need to-”

“You can later!!”

“Mari. Let. Me! THROUGH!”

“SUNNY!!!

“Wait- MARI!!!”

. . .

“M...Mari…?”

. . .

“M...Mari...wake up...please…!”

. . .

“Mari, this isn’t funny..!!”

. . .

“N...no...nononononono…!! MOM!!! DAD!!! SOMEONE!!! HELP!!!”

…
..
.

Sirens.
That’s all he could hear.
Sirens.
Sirens and voices.

But…
None of them were hers.

That’s when he knew…

She was gone.
Really, really gone.

…
..
.

“Sunny...do you want to go see her…?”

“...I...I don’t know if she wants to see me…”

“It was an accident, sweetie...if she were here, I know she’d forgive you...besides, we’re moving soon, right…? She’d want to see you one more time before we leave...”

“...yeah...okay...I’m ready…”

…
..
.

“Sunny...moved...?”

“Yeah...he did…I saw his car drive away…”

“And...he didn’t tell us…?”

“...y’know what? Good.”

“Wh- Aubrey!!”

“I’m telling the truth, Kel!! You know what he did, we all do!!”

“I know, but...he’s still our friend…!”

“If he was, he wouldn’t have done what he did!!”

“....”

“A-Aubrey…”

“...I’ll see you two tomorrow...Kel, tell Hero I’ll come to see him soon…Basil, say hey to Polly for me…”

…
..
.

Four years later…

“Are you all packed?”

“Yep. Most everything is in the moving truck.”

“Good! Let’s get going!”

“Alright.”

…

“Hey, mom...?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you think...everything will be okay…?”

“Huh? Of course I do! Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know, I’m just nervous…”

“Oh, sweetheart...those are just moving jitters. I promise that everything is going to be okay. Alright?”

“...okay..!”

…
..
.

A new car drove into Faraway Town, followed by a moving truck. It was rare to see someone moving in when it came to such a sleepy town, so most everyone was curious to see who was moving in.

The car pulled up to a house with a “SOLD” sign hammered into the lawn up front. Brakes clicked, doors open, boxes were carried into the house. With the removal of the sign and the departure of the moving truck, it almost seemed back to normal, save a few boxes near the open garage.

“Hey mom! I’m gonna go on a quick walk, get some air!” He called out, picking up some house keys and tossing them into the air once before catching them and putting them into his pocket.

“Alright! Can you take the shopping list and go to the Othermart as well? We need groceries, and I’m going to start unpacking the kitchen first!”

“Gotcha. I’ll be home soon.” He picked up a list, gave his mom a quick kiss on the forehead, then went on his way.

Taking a deep breath, he left the house. “Alright, you got this...it’s gonna be okay. Let’s do this, Sunny.”

Chapter Text

…

“Kel! Kel! Wake up!”

Ugh...who was calling for him? It felt too early. The voice wasn't too clear yet.

He tried to focus on the voice, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

“Kel!”

Oh, it’s just his mom.

“Mmmm...mom…? What time is it?” He sat up, rubbing his eyes and letting out a wide yawn.

His mother sighed and walked over to the blinds, tugging them open. Kel hissed a bit, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight. “It’s 11 AM, niño. You missed breakfast!”

That seemed to wake him up immediately, eyes snapping open. “Wait, I did?! Moooom! Why didn’t you-”

“I would have woken you up, but your brother insisted I let you sleep! Something about you two staying up to play games late last night.”

Oh, that’s right...Hero had come home from college yesterday to stay for the summer. As a celebration, Kel convinced him to play some video games for a while.

“Right...forgot about that..”

“You’re lucky he saved you food! Now, get ready and go to eat! I heard someone was moving into town this morning, you and Hero should go say hello!”

Kel got out of bed, brushing his hair down with his hands and walking over to his dresser. Opening it up, he grabbed one of his basketball shirts and a pair of shorts. “Alright! I’ll be down soon!”

His mom nodded and left the room. “And hurry up!” She called as the door shut.

“I will!” Kel shouted back. Changing as quickly as he could and combing his hair with his fingers once more, he rushed downstairs and slid into the kitchen.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” Hero teased, finishing up the dishes.

“Morning Hero!” Kel grinned, sitting at the counter where a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast sat. He began to scarf it down as Hero poured a glass of juice and set it down near him.

“Mom told you about the new people moving in, right?”

“Yeah! Which house did they take?” Kel quipped, voice muffled through his mouth full of food. “One of the ones near the plaza?”

“No, actually…” Hero considered the question for a second but gave Kel the answer he wanted. “They moved into Sunny’s old house.”

Kel choked on the gulp of juice he had just taken. He spit back into the cup and began coughing, putting a hand to his chest.

Hero jumped and rushed to help Kel, thumping his back a bit and handing him a napkin. “Are you okay?!”

Kel coughed into the napkin and wiped the leftover juice from his mouth, nodding. “I-I’m fine, just...wasn’t expecting that. Nobody’s moved into Sunny’s house for four years, aha! Who would be moving in now?”

“I dunno...maybe that’s why mom wanted us to see?” His older brother shrugged. “...should we call Basil and Aubrey?”

Kel hesitated but nodded. “Yeah...we should. They should know too!” He smiled.

“Alright then! I’ll call Basil, you get Aubrey. Okay?”

“Sir yes sir!” Kel saluted, finishing up his toast and putting his dish in the sink.

“Ah, don’t ‘sir yes sir’ me until you clean that plate!” He deflated as his brother gave him a quick order.

“Sir yes sir…” Kel whined, turning the sink on and washing his dish.

Hero pulled out his phone and called Basil as Kel finished cleaning his plate and put it on the drying rack. Once that was done, he wiped his hands on his basketball shorts and grabbed a phone. Scrolling through his contacts, he pressed a familiar number and put the phone to his ear.

It rang 3 times before-

“What do you want, Kel?” A familiar female voice barked on the other end.

“Heeeeey Aubs!” Kel cheered happily.

“Don’t call me Aubs.”

“Gotcha Aubs!”

“Ughhhh-”

“So, anyways! Didja hear someone moved in?”

“Wait, deadass?”

“Yeah! Mom told me and Hero! We’re gonna go scope the place out, say hi! Do ya wanna come with? We’re inviting Basil too!”

“Why should I come?”

“Becaaaaaaause...friendship?”

“Seriously?”

“I’ll buy you a few slices from Gino’s!”

“...I’m holding your ass to that. I’ll be over in 5.”

Kel cheered again. “Bet! See ya soon!”

“Yeah yeah.” A click sounded in his ear and he moved his phone back to his pocket.

He looked at Hero. “Good news! Aubrey is coming!”

“Oh, good! Basil is coming too!” Hero smiled.

Kel grinned back, excited. “Awesome! Bad news! You owe Aubrey a few slices from Gino’s!”

Hero’s smile fell. “...did you make one of those promises you can’t keep again?” He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

“Uhhh...maybe?”

“...fine.”

“You’re the best! I owe ya one!”

“Yeah, you owe me money for that pizza!”

“Oh, come onnnn, Hero! Help a brother out here! There’s gotta be something - anything! - else I can do!”

“I mean, you coooould do my chores…”

“Okay, anything but that!”

The banter continued for quite a few minutes until a knock sounded on the door, making both brothers jump as they snapped out of their conversation.

“Ah, that must be Basil!” Hero smiled, pocketing his own phone.

Kel perked up and rushed to answer the door, sliding out of the kitchen exactly how he slid in. With a few quick steps and the click of a lock, the door opened to reveal a familiar face.

“Basil! Ya made it, buddy!” A bright smile spread across Kel’s face.

Basil smiled shyly back, messing with the hem of his tank top. “Yep! I-I’m here!” The short blond was almost as anxious as always…

But he was getting better, Kel noted.

“Alright! We have three-quarters of the gang all together! All we gotta do now is wait for Aubrey!” He cheered, throwing an arm around Basil happily.

Hero nodded with a soft smile. “Got it.”

“R-right!” Basil stuttered out.

Kel smiled. The atmosphere in the house was cheery, and that made him cheery. He was glad that everything was going pretty well! He knew that today would be a good day!

…
..
.

Today wasn’t a very good day.

Chapter Text

Today wasn’t a very good day.

She slept past her alarm, her mom was still fixated on that damn TV(although that wasn’t too much of a change), and a few of the nails on her bat turned out to be broken.

Yeah. Today wasn’t a very good day.

Aubrey sighed, brushing her hair and putting her headband on. At least she’d be able to see her friends today, she thought.

They were kind of a weird group. With Aubrey’s short fuse, Basil’s anxiety, Kel’s energy, and Hero’s mild personality, the mix seemed...odd, to say the least. But that didn’t mean they didn’t get along well.

Aubrey climbed down her ladder and trotted down the stairs, slinging her bat over her shoulder. “Ma, I’m heading out.” She spoke to the living room.

. . .

The girl grimaced at the silence. “...alright then…” She left, shutting the door behind her.

With a sigh, Aubrey began to walk to Kel’s house. The walk was peaceful, which she was grateful for. It let her push down her walls, if only for a little bit. She felt her face and shoulders relax as she listened to the sounds all around her.

Birds chirping.

Leaves rustling.

The occasional car passing.

It was relaxing. She liked it.

…

That peace ended as soon as she got to Kel’s house.

With a single knock on the door, it was thrown open and the loud voice of one of her friends rang out in her ears.

“Aubrey! You’re finally here!” Kel cheered, grinning brightly. “Took you long enough!”

“The main character is always late.” Aubrey countered, leaving her bat outside and sliding past Kel as she walked into the house. “I’m the last one here, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, aha..!” Basil laughed a bit.

“Hey, Basil.” Aubrey greeted, sitting on the edge of the couch. “Where’s Hero?”

“Bathroom!” Kel quipped, putting his shoes on. “He’ll be out in a minute though, we can go see these new people soon!”

“New people...doesn’t happen too much around here, huh?” The pink-haired girl stretched. “Usually people only come on vacation. Which house did they move into?”

Kel tensed a little, making Aubrey and Basil look at him. He cleared his throat a bit, standing up once he finished tying his shoes.

Aubrey’s eyes narrowed a bit. He knew something...and from the way he acted, it wasn’t something very good.

“Kel? What’s...is something wrong?” Basil asked, tilting his head worriedly.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong!” Kel quipped, scratching the back of his neck. “Which house they moved into...well, uh...you see…”

Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Come on, Kel. Spit it out. You talk a bunch all the time and yet you can’t now?”

“I can speak!” Kel said defensively. “It’s just…” He licked his lips a bit, then let out a sigh. “They moved into Sunny’s house.”

…

What?

“What?” Aubrey asked, voice terse.

“Sunny’s...Sunny’s house…?” Basil repeated, in shock.

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s him! If it was him, wouldn’t he have come to see us?” Kel quickly fell into a ramble, trying to keep the two calm.

Aubrey felt her nails dig into her palms. How did she not notice? His house was right next to Kel’s. How did she not notice the missing “FOR SALE” sign? And now that she thought back on it, she could have sworn she saw a cardboard box nearby...

She grit her teeth but forced herself to calm down. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be him. It can’t be him. She couldn’t face him again. Not after what he did.

“Y-yeah...yeah, it shouldn’t be…” Basil trailed off, spacing out a bit.

Aubrey noticed and picked up a couch cushion, throwing it at Basil. He yelped, stumbling a bit and snapping out of his spacey mindstate.

“You just said it yourself, dumbass. It’s not him.” She waved her hand around. “Why would he move back after, what, four years? I’m sure it’s just some randos who - for some weird reason - wanted to live in a sleepy-ass town.”

Basil was a bit shocked by her words but shook his shoulders a bit as if shaky away the thoughts. “Right…! I’m sure it’s just someone else..!”

“Exactly.” Aubrey gave a quick nod, crossing her arms.

“Yeah..! Yeah!” Kel grinned again. “Everything's gonna be fine! Maybe we’ll make friends with them, even!”

Basil smiled softly. “Yeah..!”

The three teens heard a door open and Hero walked out of the bathroom, stretching. “Ah, Aubrey! You’re here!” He smiled at the girl.

Aubrey waved. “Yep, I’m here. We all ready to head out? I wanna get this over with and get some pizza.”

Hero chuckled and nodded, going and slipping his shoes on. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re all ready.”

“Nice! Let’s go!” Kel cheered, opening the door and running outside.

“Kel, c-calm down!” Basil called out as he rushed after him.

Aubrey rolled her eyes as Hero chuckled, the two following the boys and closing the door behind them.

The four started to walk over to the house next door. As soon as they made it past the treeline…

The door opened.

A boy walked out of the house. Basil saw him first and gasped, quickly pushing the group behind some trees.

Kel yelped. “Hey! What was that f-”

Basil quickly cut Kel off, shushing him quietly.

Aubrey raised an eyebrow, confused and worried. Who was the boy that made Basil freak out so badly?

“Basil, what’s wrong?” Hero whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I-it’s just...he’s...just...s-see for yourself…” The blond whispered back, pointing at the boy. His hand was a bit shaky, showing how nervous he was.

The other three glanced at each other but looked at the boy.

They could see his hair was a shade of purple, and he had dark eyes. He seemed familiar, but Aubrey couldn’t put her finger on it.

Kel’s eyes narrowed, then went wide. “No way…is that…?”

Hero slapped a hand over his mouth, gasping under it.

Aubrey tensed a bit at their reactions and tried to look closer.

He started walking away from his house, getting into a clearer view.

...that’s when it clicked.

Aubrey’s eyes widened.
She felt pain in her mouth.
She was biting her tongue.

It was him…

Sunny. He was back.
…

Yeah. Today wasn’t a good day at all.

Chapter Text

Oh.

Oh no.

This is bad.

Very, very bad.

His eyes went wide when he saw the boy leave his house. He recognized him. Remembered him. Even if he looked different, even with the dyed hair, the added height, the healthier build, the new style, he knew who he was.

Sunny. He was here again.

Basil quickly pushed the other three behind the trees, ignoring the protests they gave.

“Hey! What was that f-” He cut Kel off, shushing him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aubrey raise an eyebrow, but couldn’t bring himself to face her. Oh god, what would she think when she saw Sunny? Would she get mad? How would the others react? What was he going to do?-

He felt a hand being gently placed on his shoulder, the contact grounding him. Basil’s eyes trailed up the arm to the shoulder, neck, all the way to the face connected to it. Hero’s eyes were full of concern, eyebrows furrowed. “Basil, what’s wrong?” He whispered.

“I-it’s just...he’s...just...s-see for yourself…” Basil whimpered, shakily pointing at Sunny. The other three looked in the direction he was pointing in.

It was silent for a few seconds...then Kel spoke, voice full of shock. “No way...is that…?”

He heard Hero let out a muffled gasp. Aubrey was silent and still, which worried Basil more. What was she thinking? What was she going to do? He didn’t know what would happen...

Sunny had already locked the front door behind him and was walking away from the house, hands in his pockets. His body language was relaxed, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Basil wishes he could feel that way. He didn’t like the stress that was weighing him down right now.

The four waited until he was far enough from them, then quickly started whispering to each other.

“What do we do?!” Kel asked, panicked. He was fidgeting with the hem of his jersey, picking at the threads.

“Okay, first, calm down..!” Hero spoke. “Panicking won’t do us very good if we’re trying to figure out what to do. Besides, there’s no need for it! We know Sunny, it’s not like he’s some stranger.”

Basil heard Aubrey snort a bit at Hero’s words, but stayed silent nonetheless.

“But it’s been four years...” Basil said quietly. He felt himself starting to shake from the anxiety of his old friend being back in town, if he could even be called a friend.

“I know it has, but he’s still Sunny. Like you’re still Basil, and I’m still Hero.” The oldest stated calmly, watching Sunny walk down the street.

Basil bit his tongue, wanting to say something but holding himself back. He glanced up at Kel, who was chewing his lip nervously. The tall boy took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah...yeah, you’re right…” He murmured, but Basil could hear the edge of hesitation.

Hero pat Kel’s shoulder. “Let’s just go say hi, alright? It won’t be that bad, just a quick greeting.”

“Alright…!” Kel smiled at his brother. “Just a hello won’t hurt..!”

Basil hesitated, but nodded. “R...right…” He glanced at Aubrey. “Are you coming, Aubrey…?”

Aubrey was still and silent for a second, but sighed. “Fine, whatever. If everyone else is going.” She spat, gritting her teeth when she finished speaking.

Basil gulped a bit at the sharp tone of her words, giving her some distance. She was basically oozing poison, but followed the three as they left the trees and went in the direction Sunny walked.

The group was silent, plenty of tension in the air as they walked. Basil glanced up and saw Sunny about to turn the corner. Hero seemed to notice as well, because he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, “Sunny!”

The boy turned around, an eyebrow raised. His eyes landed on the four and went wide. “Guys? Is that you?” He asked, walking back to get closer.

Hero nodded with a smile. “Yep, it’s us! It’s been so long!”

“It has.” Sunny smiled softly back, rubbing the back of his neck. “How’ve you all been?”

“We’ve been good..!” Kel chirped, Hero nodding in agreement.

“I’m glad.”

God, Basil was tense. He felt like a wound-up spring, messing with his hands when Sunny made eye contact with him. “Hey, Basil.”

Basil jumped a bit, but waved. “H-hey, Sunny…!” He forced a little smile, although he felt it waver. He couldn’t do this, but he had to. Just a little while longer. Let Hero do the talking, and he could go home faster.

He heard footsteps from behind him as Aubrey walked forward. Her eyes were hidden by her hair and the shadow they cast, but Basil could tell something was wrong. He just didn’t know what.

Sunny’s eyes shifted to Aubrey. “Oh, hi Aubrey. How’ve you-”

Everything happened so fast after that.

Aubrey made a sudden move. A loud thud cut Sunny off.
Kel gasped. Hero cried out.
Sunny’s head snapped to the side. His body followed.
Basil’s eyes went wide.

Aubrey had punched Sunny straight in the jaw.

Chapter Text

“Oh, hi Aubrey. How’ve you-”

A loud thud cut Sunny off.

Hero heard himself cry out in shock, watching Sunny stumble backward as he held his jaw.

Aubrey straightened up, glaring at Sunny. “You...don’t you DARE talk to me like we’re friends, you bastard.” She spat at him.

Sunny’s eyes were wide as he looked up at her. “Aubrey, what are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about?? What am I talking about?! You know what happened!” She snarled, getting closer to him.

Hero snapped out of his shock and he quickly stepped between the two. “Now hold on Aubrey, I’m sure we can talk about-”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Hero!” Aubrey snapped at the older boy, making him gulp a bit. “He hurt all of us and just left!”

“He only moved away…! But what matters is that he’s back, right?” Hero tried to reason.

“No! He should have just stayed away, especially after what he did! He’s not our friend, he threw away that title ever since the day he left!” The girl clenched her fists, poison dripping from her words. “He never tried to talk about what he did, he never contacted us, he never even said goodbye!” She straightened up, glaring at Sunny. “He’s not our friend. Not after he took Mari away and left.”

Hero flinched at her harsh words, knowing they were half true. “Aubrey, you and I both know you don’t mean that.”

“Of course I do! Why do you think I said it?! It’s the truth, Hero, and we all know it!” Aubrey burst out, waving her hands around wildly. “I’m tired of acting like it’s not!”

Basil shrunk back at Aubrey’s outburst. “Aubrey-”

“NO!” She all but shouted.

Silence spread across the five, the boys shocked.

Aubrey’s chest was heaving, but she took a deep breath. “No.” She turned around and began to walk away. “I’m done with this. Come to me when you’re down for acknowledging the truth.”

The boys were all silent, watching her walk away. As soon as she disappeared from sight, they snapped out of it.

Basil glanced at the other three, shaking. He squeaked and then ran off.

“Crap- Basil!” Kel called out, running after him.

Hero gulped a bit, glancing at Sunny. He was rubbing his jaw a bit with a wince, the spot where he had gotten punched an angry red and starting to swell. “Sunny...she hit you hard, didn’t sh-”

“Don’t…” Hero took a step back at the sudden word. Sunny sighed, looking at Hero. “Just...go check on the others, okay?” He smiled softly, although it was shaky. “I’ll see you around. We can talk later.” There was something in his eyes that Hero saw...they were clouded over, guilt sparking in them.

Hero was hesitant, but nodded. “Alright...I’ll come to visit soon…!”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Hero smiled, then went after Kel and Basil. So many thoughts were weighing down his mind…

He was still confused and in shock about what had just happened. Aubrey’s sudden outburst, the silence she brought with it, the look in Sunny’s eyes…

But what shocked him most was that he couldn’t argue against Aubrey’s words. He knew what she said wasn’t true, couldn’t be true, but he just...couldn’t say anything. The words were stuck in his throat.

He decided he’d talk to her about it soon.

…
…
…

He finally caught up to Kel and Basil, the former trying to calm down the latter on the steps of Basil’s house.

“W-what do we do?! Aubrey looked so angry, and she hit Sunny, and-and he’s back in town!! Oh god, he’s back in town!!” Basil rambled, tugging at his hair.

“Basil, calm down, it’s gonna be okay..! Just take some deep breaths, we’re gonna be fine!” Kel tried to pacify him, rubbing his back.

Basil flinched away from the touch, trembling. “I-I...I don’t…I can’t…”

Kel looked up at Hero, eyes desperate and full of worry.

Hero gulped a bit, but went closer and kneeled in front of Basil. “Hey, hey Basil…! Can you look at me..?”

Basil looked up, chest heaving and tears welling up in his eyes. “H...Hero…”

“Hey there...! It’s me..!” Hero smiled softly at him. “I need you to take some deep breaths for me, okay? We’ll do it together, alright?”

Basil hiccuped, but nodded. Hero began to guide him through deep breaths, helping him calm down. Kel simply watched the two, messing with the edge of his jersey. And, after a while, Basil’s breathing started to steady, his shaking fading until it was a little shiver every once in a while.

“That’s it...there we go...can I hug you? Are you alright with that?” Hero asked Basil quietly.

Basil gulped a bit. “Y...yeah...I’m okay with that…”

Hero gently hugged Basil, rubbing his back. “Are you feeling better now..?”

“Yeah...thanks, Hero…”

“No problem...let’s get you inside...Kel, can you pick him up?”

Kel jolted at his name being called, but nodded, gently picking Basil up. “Is Polly home?”

“No...I don’t think so...she told me she was going to run errands before she left…” Basil whispered, leaning against Kel’s chest.

Hero thought a bit. He didn’t want to leave Basil alone, especially after everything that had happened…

“Then...how about we stay with you? Until Polly gets back.” Hero offered, opening the door to the house.

“...yeah...I’d like that…” Basil smiled weakly at the offer.

Hero smiled back. “Alright then. Let’s chill out on the couch!”

Kel nodded with a grin, walking over to the couch with Basil still in his arms. Hero followed and laid down first, letting both Kel and Basil rest on top of him. After pulling a blanket over the three of them and shifting around a bit to get comfortable, the exhaustion caused by the weight of today’s events slowly pulled them to sleep.

Chapter Text

She couldn’t believe this.

She couldn’t fucking believe this.

How dare he show up again?

The fucking audacity he has to have to come back after four years and act like nothing changed.

Like he knew them.

Like they were still friends.

Aubrey was storming off to her house, still pissed. Her knuckles ached from the punch she threw a few minutes ago, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t care less.

Red spots dotted her vision, ringing piercing her ears. But she could do nothing to stop it. All she could do was make it home and go to her room.

Before she went to her room, she skirted over to the “kitchen” and grabbed a bag of lettuce from the fridge. A grimace formed on her lips when she felt the warmth of the vegetables. She’d have to save up to repair the fridge, she thought to herself. Walking over to the sink, she washed a few leaves of lettuce and put them in a bowl.

With a few long strides and a quick climb, she made it to her room and walked over to the pen her bunny was held in. “Hey Bun-Bun. I brought you a snack. I’ll bring you some more hay and grass and shit later, but I hope this is okay for now.” She heard the words leave her mouth, but didn’t feel herself speak.

She placed a few of the lettuce pieces into the pen, watching as Bun-Bun padded over and started to nibble on the greens. A small smile forced its way onto her face before fading away as the angry feelings bubble up inside her again.

Gritting her teeth, she stalked over to her bed and fell onto it. She plugged her headphones into her phone and put them on, opening Spotify and hitting play on one of her playlists.

Music started to blast in her ears but quickly became background noise as she spaced out, letting the vibrations from the beat and headphones ground her. Her anger washed away with the flow of the lyrics, replaced with a numbness that, over the years, had become both her friend and her worst nightmare.

She didn’t care at the moment though. The numb feeling was better than the red-hot anger she had felt, the anger that burned her and anyone around her alive. She usually embraced it, anything was better than the numbness. Anything was better than feeling like she was spectating someone in first person, like a video game.

But for now?

She let the numb feeling take over, letting music vibrate in her ears as she slowly fell asleep.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since they found out Sunny was back in town and the…”incident”.

Hero was worried about everyone involved. Basil seemed more panicky, Kel was struggling to stay positive, Aubrey was still upset…

And Sunny. He didn’t see Sunny at all for the past few days. Hero felt the thought weigh down his heart and mind. He didn’t know what to do…

What would Mari think?-

“Hero?”

Hero jolted, looking up. His mother was leaning against the doorway, eyebrows furrowed in worry. “Oh, hey mom..! What’s up? You seem worried.”

“What’s up?” She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. “Hero, you’ve been washing the same plate for five minutes.”

Hero nearly dropped the plate he was holding and shut the water off. He sighed and put the plate on the drying rack, shaking the water off his hands. “Sorry, mom…”

“It’s okay, don’t worry. But tell me…” She walked closer and gently put a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong? You look like you're giving yourself grey hairs, worrying so much.” She joked a bit.

Hero chuckled softly. “It’s nothing. Just...you remember Sunny, right?” His mother nodded. “Well...he’s back. And Kel, Basil, and Aubrey aren’t too happy about it…” Hero began to explain what had happened.

As he spilled out the story, his mother listened while guiding him to the living room and sitting him down on the couch.

By the time he finished, his mother had him sitting on the couch, a hand on top of his own.

“-and now everyone is upset, and I don’t know what to do…” Hero sighed, running his free hand through his hair to push it out of his face.

His mother sat there, thinking for a moment. “...well...you get to work, mijo.”

Hero made a noise of confusion. “Get to work? What do you mean?”

“Work on helping them. You take care of yourself, of course, don’t forget it. But...you make an effort to help them. If you do, then they will too. Just...make at least a bit of an effort. Alright, Hero?”

Hero mulled over her words. Make an effort...alright. He can do that. He nodded to her with a soft smile. “Okay.”

His mother smiled back and gently cupped his cheek. “That’s my boy. Do your best, alright? I’ll be right behind you.”

Hero leaned into the touch, putting his hand over hers. “Thank you, mom.”

She gently rubbed his cheek with her thumb. “Don’t thank me, mijo. Now, you go get some sleep, okay? You can work tomorrow.”

Hero looked out the window. It was already dark out. How long had they been sitting? He couldn’t remember. “Right. Good night, mom! I love you!” He stood up, cracking his back.

His mother stood up with him, gently kissing his cheek. “I love you too, Hero.”

Hero smiled, then went upstairs, yawning. The exhaustion of worrying for the past few days caught up to him fast, and he barely had time to do his nightly routine before flopping onto his bed and passing out immediately.

…
..
…

The next day, Hero woke up with determination flooding his body. He was ready to get the day started, to make an effort. For himself. For his brother, and for Basil and Aubrey. For Sunny. For Mari.

After getting up and ready, he made his way downstairs and out of the house. It was a pretty nice day outside, the town felt alive. From the people walking around to the cars passing up the street to the wind rustling the leaves. Hero smiled as he walked to the house next door.

He made it to the house and went to knock...but hesitated. What if this was a bad idea? Don’t get him wrong, he did want to help, but if things went south…

He quickly shook his head. No, he couldn’t think like that. He had to do this, had to do what he could.

Shaking the negative thoughts from his head, he knocked on the door.

...he heard a dull thud and pained yelp, both of which made him wince at the volume of the noises. The lock clicked open and Sunny was standing at the door, hair a mess and rubbing his shoulder a bit.

“How can I-” He cut himself off when he saw the older boy. “Oh! Hey Hero..! What’s up?”

Hero smiled at him. “I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out for a bit, or if you needed any help!” With a glance behind Sunny, Hero heard himself chuckle. “And no offense, but it looks like you do.” He spoke, scanning over the boxes and other things scattered all around.

Sunny’s face flushed a bit and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah...we’ve been unpacking other things first. The living room wasn’t exactly a necessity, so we’ve left it for last.”

Hero shrugged. “Makes sense. Want some help organizing the living room? I heard you trip, it can't be fun to get all bruised up every time you walk through the room.”

Sunny smiled softly. “Help would be nice, yeah. C’mon in.” He walked over to the living room boxes, Hero following him.

The two fell into a (mostly) comfortable silence as they began to work on setting up the living room, moving things around and unpacking boxes. It was pretty nice, Hero thought to himself. He still felt that tension in the air, but it was lighter than before. He was glad that it was.

After a while of hard work, the two managed to get the living room fully set up, to Sunny’s relief. He flopped onto the couch immediately once they were done. “I’m exhausted...I can’t even imagine how long that would have taken without help. Thanks, Hero.”

Hero chuckled and sat next to him. “No problem, Sunny.”

The two sat there for a while, silence filling the room again. Hero stared up at the ceiling, listening to a faint ringing in his ears, unsure of what else to do.

The ringing was starting to grow loud in volume when-

“Hey, Hero?”

Hero jolted and looked down at Sunny. The boy had sat up, messing with his hands and staring at the floor. He seemed nervous about something…

Hero sat up as well, eyebrows furrowing. “Yeah? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong! I just...well…” Sunny trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. He seemed hesitant to say what he wanted to say.

Hero noticed and gently put a hand on his shoulder. “Sunny. Look at me.”

Sunny flinched a bit but looked up at Hero. His eyes were full of hesitation and anxiety. Hero made a note of it, worried about what Sunny wanted to say.

Hero smiled softly at him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be scared, just tell me what you want to say. I won’t be mad or anything, I promise.”

“...really..?” Sunny whispered, still messing with his hands.

For the first time in years, Hero saw a side of Sunny that made him upset: a scared kid, unable to sit still due to the nerves within him that were going crazy. Hero hated seeing Sunny like this, especially because of himself. He couldn’t bear knowing that he was the cause of the anxiety running through Sunny’s veins.

He knew Mari would have been upset about it too.

Hero gently patted his shoulder. “Really.” Even if it was just a single word, Hero knew he meant it with his whole heart.

With that, Hero saw Sunny relax a bit. “...alright.” Sunny took a deep breath, trying to stay still and be serious about what he wanted to stay.

Hero’s hand moved from Sunny’s shoulder as the younger boy gathered his thoughts. Sunny looked up, making solid eye contact with Hero. “I’m sorry.”

The older boy blanched at the sudden words. “Huh…?”

“I’m sorry, Hero. For what I did four years ago. It was just...words can’t describe how awful it was. And I know that it’s fucked up of me to just show up out of nowhere after years. You don’t have to forgive me, but I-” Sunny’s voice cracked and he gulped to steady it. “I just thought you should know. I wanted to talk to you before, but...y’know.” He made a gesture to his face. “But...yeah. Sorries can’t fix what I did, I know that...but I still want to say that I’m sorry.” He quickly lowered his head, staring at his lap.

Hero was silent, processing what Sunny just said. He...apologized. And it wasn’t half-assed like the way Kel apologized after stealing some of his food, no. Hero heard the way Sunny’s voice shook, the way it was raw with emotion, the rasp it had as if he was just crying his body dry.

'You don’t have to forgive me.' Sunny had said. Did...did Hero want to forgive him?

He felt a small - tiny, even - part of him try and scream no, he didn’t. That he was the cause of so much pain and tension in their lives. That he took Mari away from them all.

The rest of him immediately threw those thoughts aside.

Of course he wanted to forgive Sunny. He was Hero’s friend, his family. No matter what happened, no matter how much time had passed.

And he knew Mari would have wanted it too.

Hero took a deep breath to steel himself, then opened his mouth. When those faithful four words flowed from his mouth, he knew he meant them. With his whole mind, body, and soul.

“I forgive you, Sunny.”

Chapter Text

“I forgive you, Sunny.”

Sunny’s head snapped up as his eyes widened. Hero was looking at him with a soft smile, eyes full of genuine emotions. A noise of disbelief slipped out of Sunny’s mouth. He was so sure that Hero would reject his apology, that he would leave the house immediately, that he would be as angry as Aubrey, or as scared as Basil, or as hesitant as Kel-

A small chuckle snapped Sunny out of his thoughts as a hand gently rubbed his shoulder. “You sound like you don’t believe me. You’re the one that asked for forgiveness, yeah?” Hero asked, a gently teasing tone in his voice.

“I-I know that, but...you just...so fast...and I don’t…” Sunny’s voice was fading in and out, his brain short-circuiting and in overdrive so badly he could barely speak.

Hero’s eyes softened and he gently moved his hand from Sunny’s shoulder to his hand. “Sunny…” He sighed a bit. “Alright. I won’t lie to you. What you did...hurt. A lot.” Sunny flinched a bit but nodded. He knew that it did. The anger Aubrey radiated when they first reunited told him that. The fear and anxiety in Basil’s eyes did too, along with the tension he noticed in Kel.

“But getting hurt is part of life. Sometimes that hurt is too great to forgive, and that’s alright. And sometimes, even if the hurt isn’t as big, people still may not forgive it. That’s okay too. Others take time to forgive. You have to remember to give them the time they need. But...you’re my friend, Sunny. Hell, my family. What you did hurt, yes, but I know you didn’t mean to. So...I forgive you, Sunny.”

Sunny was still trying to process his words when Hero delivered the killing blow.

“Plus...it’s what Mari would have wanted. For us to forgive and to be close again.”

That shattered Sunny like a glass being dropped, and he immediately broke down sobbing.
-------------
Hero gasped silently when Sunny started to cry, presumably from his words. He felt his heart clench at the broken sobs that left the younger boy’s mouth, at the salty tears that left wet stains on his face.

“Oh, Sunny…” Hero whispered, then hugged Sunny gently. This just caused him to cry more and immediately cling to Hero. He rubbed Sunny’s back gently, running his other hand through his hair.

Sunny forced himself to choke down his crying for a minute to talk. “I-I’d trade places with her i-if I could,” He hiccuped. “In a heartbeat.” The sobs he held back forced their way back out of his throat and he couldn’t speak without being cut off by himself.

Hero teared up at his words and held him a bit tighter, a bit closer. “I know.” He whispered again. “I would too. But...we can’t. We have people that need us. You have your mom. I have my own mom too, and my dad and Sally and Kel. Plus...she’d want us to be here. To be healing, to be making an effort. Like you’re doing right now. She’d be so proud of you, Sunny.”

A heartbreaking cry escaped Sunny’s lips and Hero immediately went to comfort him again, but tears of his own started to leak from his eyes. He felt himself shake with a silent sob, and that was it.

The two boys sat there on the couch, clinging to each other and crying. Crying for the time that had passed, for the people they had lost or hurt, for the grief and fear and anger they had felt. They cried for the pain they suffered through, the pain their friends suffered through as well, and the burdens they all struggled to carry. For the memories they had, the promises they kept, the mistakes they made. They cried all the tears they had been crying for the past four years and then some.

They cried until they couldn’t cry anymore.

Until Hero had calmed down and Sunny had passed out.

Hero sniffled a bit as he picked Sunny up gently and took him to his room. He placed the younger boy on the bed and tucked him in. “I’ll see you soon, Sunny.” He murmured, voice hoarse from the sobs that had torn through his throat.

He made a quick stop at the bathroom, where splashed his face with water and gave himself a good look in the mirror.

His eyes were puffy and red, his hair a mess, his clothes were wrinkled. He could have sworn he saw a few graying hairs here and there on his head.

He smiled softly at his reflection and chuckled weakly. “I look like shit.”

He felt like it too.

But it felt good, for some reason. To be able to look at himself after letting out a lot of feelings he didn’t even know how he held in his body. To take in the toll it left, the wounds it tore in his mind.

He knew those wounds would heal with time. Maybe that’s why it felt good. To know time would do its job, help them along while they did their best to heal.

He dragged himself out of the house (making sure he locked the door with the spare key, of course), and walked back to his own home.

As soon as he opened the door, he spotted his mother and Sally sitting on the couch. “Hey there mom. I’m home.”

“Ah, welcome home, Hero! It’s been a few hours, you missed lunch-” She cut herself off when she looked up and saw the state he was in. “Mijo! You look like a mess, what happened?! Are you okay?!”

Hero smiled at her. “I’m fine, mom. Just...made an effort, is all.”

Chapter Text

…
“Sunny! Wake up!”

The boy opened his eyes, trying to blink the sleep from them. He let out a tired hum, sitting up. “Huh…? What’s up..?”

His older sister smiled at him. “C’mon, get ready! We’re meeting the others at the park today, right?”

Sunny snapped out of his sleepy state. “That’s today?”

Mari laughed. “Yes, it’s today! Now hurry, we don’t want to keep them waiting!”

He went to get up but stopped. “Wait...weren’t we meeting in the afternoon? If I just woke up then-”

“It’s afternoon, Sunshine,” She cut him off. “You slept in!”

Sunny quickly launched himself out of bed, just barely missing Mari. The girl laughed again as she watched her little brother scramble to grab a change of clothes and rush to the bathroom.

“I’ll be right down!” He all but screeched and the door to the bathroom slammed shut.

Mari shook her head with a chuckle and stood up, straightening her shirt and walking out of her room. She went downstairs and to the kitchen where she had left a picnic basket mostly-packed. Continuing to put the finishing touches on it and smiling when she was satisfied, she closed the basket and clipped it shut.

She looked out the window, sighing a bit. But it wasn’t a sigh that held anything negative. No no, it was a sigh of contentment. It was a good day, the sun shining brightly. Summer would be in full swing soon, Mari felt it in the air. It vibrated with life that spring had given everyone a sudden and intense burst of.

She heard running footsteps tumble down the stairs, and Sunny appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, clothes changed but hair a mess. “Ready.”

Mari laughed and walked over to him. “Not yet you aren’t, mister!” She started to brush his hair down with her fingers. “Don’t get me wrong, it was a good choice. Bold, but good.” She teased a bit. Sunny smiled, letting her fix his hair. “But I think Hero would fix it before I did if he saw you with your fabulous hair, and we both know his papa bird brain would take over. He’d be messing with your hair for hours.”

Sunny snorted and started to laugh. Mari laughed with him as she finished fixing his hair. “Alright, let’s go!” She picked up the picnic basket.

Sunny nodded as he went and put his sneakers on. Mari slipped her flats on and held a hand out to Sunny. “Ready?”

Sunny took her hand, opening the door with his other hand. “Ready.”

The two walked into the daylight and life of the town, the door shutting behind them.

…

A sister and a brother walk to find their friends.
Not a care in the world.
Content.
Happy.
Together.

Chapter Text

Sunny’s eyes opened as he snapped out of his sleep. He wasn’t too surprised at the dream he had, he had a few like them before: memories from way back when.

He didn’t mind the dreams too much, it was nice to remember those things. But...there was one thing he didn’t like about dreaming: it hurt. To remember her, to think about all the memories they made and listen to the what-ifs that whispered to him from the back of his mind-

Sunny sat up and shook his head as if trying to clear it. “None of that...not today.” He muttered to himself, getting to his feet.

He didn’t need his brain to be sending him into a bad mood. There were important things he needed to do today, and he needed to be at his best.

With a quick breath, he grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom to get himself ready. He did his morning routine, spacing out a bit as he did.

It had been around a week since Hero had come over and he apologized. The older boy was so quick to forgive him, which still sent Sunny for a bit of a loop. He was still grateful, though. Hero had given Sunny his forgiveness so quickly, and it gave him hope. Hope that things would be okay.

It wouldn’t be easy, though. And he knew that it would be a while until things would be okay again.

But he still held onto that hope.

Sunny finished getting ready and went downstairs. His nose caught a whiff of something from the kitchen and he went towards it curiously.

His mother was in front of the stove, humming along to some music playing on a radio she had. Sunny had seen the radio for most of his life, she loved it. He learned to love it as well. Whenever the radio was gone, or not even playing, the whole house felt odd.

Sunny walked more into view, waving. “Hey mom.”

His mom looked up. “Good morning, Sunny!” She smiled. “I made pancakes!”

He perked up. “Really?”

She nodded and handed him a plate, making sure the cooking pancakes didn’t burn with her free hand. “The cooked ones are in the microwave, and the syrup is on the counter.”

Sunny smiled. “Thanks, mom. You’re the best.” He gave her a quick side hug, then went to get food.

She chuckled a bit, flipping the pancake over. “It’s not a problem, dear. Now, you seem in a good mood! Any plans to be excited for today?”

Sunny put some pancakes on his plate, drizzling them with syrup. “Yeah...kinda.” He put the plate down and grabbed a fork and a knife. “I’m gonna ask Kel if he wants to hang out today.”

“Kel...oh, I remember him! That boy next door, right?” She put the other pancakes on a plate of her own and turned the stove off. “The one you had a crush on, yes?~" Her eyebrows wiggle teasingly.

Sunny nearly choked on his pancakes. "M-mom! C'mon!"

She laughed over his coughs and protests. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! He was such a nice boy, though." She sat next to him.

He nodded, pushing around his pancakes a bit. "Yeah...he was."

His mom smiled softly, then began to hum along to the radio as the two began to eat together. The air was full of peace as they had breakfast. Sunny was relieved everything was peaceful. It helped him gather his thoughts and think about what he was going to do.

His plan obviously had a base to it: apologize to Kel. But he had to figure out how he was going to do that. He needed to find an excuse to get Kel by himself so the two could talk and Sunny could properly apologize.

Asking him to hang out was obvious. Where to though...Hobbeez, maybe? To make it seem more like a casual hangout?

Then there was making plans for how Kel would react. Angry? Maybe. Upset? Most likely. He didn't know whether the apology would even be accepted or not.

But that didn't matter. He had to try anyway. It was important. His friends deserved apologies, they deserved closure. If they didn't accept, he'd understand. In fact, he half-expected they would reject his apology. Then again, Hero had accepted it...

"Sunny?"

Sunny jolted and looked up. His mother's eyebrows were furrowed with worry. "You spaced out for a bit there. Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm...I'm okay mom. Just thinking a bit. Don't worry, okay?" He smiled softly.

"If you say so...but you know you can tell me if anything is wrong, right?"

"I know, mom."

...

"Hey, mom?"

"Yes, Sunny?"

"Thank you. For...for everything."

She smiled gently and cupped his cheek with her hand. "Oh, Sunny...you don't have to thank me. Okay?"

He leaned into her touch. "Okay...just thought you should know I'm grateful."

"I know, dear." She hugged him. "I know."

...
...
...

A while later, Sunny had finished his breakfast and was now walking to the house next door. He was shaking his hands out nervously but he tried to keep his nerves under control.

This was okay. This was fine! He was fine. It was going to be fine. All he had to do was apologize to one of his former best friends after ghosting for four years!

He made it to Kel's front door and stopped, thinking back to his attempts at reassuring himself.

...he groaned and buried his face in his hands, realizing how idiotic that sounded. What was he doing? How was he going to do this, would Kel even want to see him?!

He tried taking deep breaths, shaking out his hands again to calm himself. Okay. One step at a time. First step: knock on the door.

With a slight moment of hesitation, he raised his fist and knocked on the door twice.

...god, he really hoped things would go well.

He heard some muffled calls from inside, along with fast footsteps. The lock on the door clicked and opened to reveal-

Kel straightened out his shirt. "Hel-" He tensed up when he saw who was there. "S-Sunny! Hey..!" He gulped a bit. "What're you, uh...what're you doing here?"

Sunny's mind drew a blank when he saw Kel. He knew he'd seen the boy before, but that was just a quick moment.

He'd grown taller, his hair longer, and his body more built. He had a few scars from small scratches he'd sustained over the years and a few bandaids on new ones. His skin was a bit darker with a tan he'd gained from being outside so much, and his eyes were the same brown Sunny recognized from four years ago, although now they held hesitation and worry.

Sunny seemed to have been quiet for too long because Kel spoke again. "Uhhh...Sunny?"

He was suddenly shoved into action, and his mouth moved before his brain could catch up.

"Do you wanna go on a date with me?"

Chapter Text

“Do you wanna go on a date with me?”

Kel basically short-circuited at the question. What did he ask? Did...did he want to go on a date? And with Sunny? What even brought Sunny here in the first place?-

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Sunny curse. “Fuck- That’s not what I- Shit, I meant to ask if you wanted to hang out! Not-not go on a date, a hangout! Haha, yeah!” Sunny was waving his hands around nervously, laughing as he did.

…oh.

That…made more sense. A date after four years of nothing? That would be weird.

But still...a random hangout was weird too. Why did he want to hang out all of a sudden? Did he want something? Or did he just want to hang out?

Kel quickly blinked a few times, as if that would help clear his head. He couldn’t overthink things, not now. The atmosphere was awkward enough as is, he couldn’t let his silence make it heavier.

He cleared his throat a bit before slightly forcing a smile onto his face. “Yeah...yeah, sure..! Lemme just get my shoes!” He cursed in his head for his hesitant tone.

Sunny’s own awkward smile wavered a bit (was that guilt sparking behind his eyes?), but he quickly steeled himself. “Yeah, okay..! I’ll wait.”

Kel nodded and ducked back inside, grabbing his shoes and slipping them on quickly. He saw his hands shaking a bit and quickly scrubbed them against his thighs as if trying to scrub the anxiousness he felt away.

This was going to be fine. It was gonna be okay! He was just going to hang out with Sunny!...who left...for four years...without any sort of contact...and just appeared out of nowhere...only to be decked by Aubrey…

...

Kel quietly groaned, burying his face into his hands. He was so fucking screwed.

...
...
...

A few minutes passed, and Kel was shutting the door behind him, shoes on and ready to roll.

Sunny looked up. “Ready?” Kel nodded and they began to walk away from the house.

Silence filled the air, and not a comfortable one. Kel felt the tension in the air, weighing them down and blocking their vocal chords. He tugged on the collar of his jersey a bit, as if that would ease the tightness in his throat.

It didn’t. Goddamnit.

Before Kel could mentally curse out his lungs for not being able to inhale enough air, Sunny cleared his throat a bit. The taller boy jolted and looked at him. He was rubbing the back of his neck, staring at the ground. “So, I was thinking, maybe we could go to Hobbeez? LIke old times.”

Kel swallowed down the lump in his throat and smiled. “Yeah, sure..! I haven’t been to Hobbeez a lot lately anyways, I was focused on school before summer started.”

Sunny nodded with a gentle smile. “Understandable. Let’s go.”

And so, the two began their walk towards the plaza. They both tried to spark up conversation, but it always trailed off before they could get too far.

Kel sighed a bit when another failed conversation stopped. He could barely take this, his hands starting to twist together during the walk. There was too much tension, it was awful. He always hated tension, doing his best to avoid in many situations.

He decided to let his eyes start to wander as they walked across the street to the park to try and focus on anything but how tense they were. They landed on passing cars, swaying trees, flying birds…

And eventually lingered on Sunny.

The boy was staring at the ground, hands in his pockets. He was wearing a simple white shirt with a short-sleeved black jacket over it, along with torn jeans and sneakers. He also had a few accessories on him: hair clips pinning his hair out of his eyes, headphones resting around his neck, joined by a few necklaces, and…were those piercings?

His style had changed quite a bit from when they were kids: it was a ways away from the sweater vests, collared shirts, and shorts he used to wear a bunch. Like a breath of fresh air, sort of…but it also showed how much they’d all changed over the years. The thought made Kel pinch himself a bit, trying to focus on something else.

That wasn’t the only thing that had changed. He seemed less skinny and taller, although he was still shorter than Kel, Aubrey, and Hero. His eyes held a bit more life in them, although they also held something that Kel couldn’t put his finger on. And his hair…

His hair was a nice purple color, a bit dark due to his natural black hair.

“You dyed your hair.” Kel blurted out before he could stop himself.

Sunny jolted and looked up at him while he mentally kicked himself. “Oh, yeah. I did. When I was 15, I managed to convince my mom to let me.” He reached up and lightly tugged on a strand. “Does it look good? I always got a few weird looks in the city.”

“Yeah, it does!” Kel rushed to say, walking up to Hobbeez and holding the door open for Sunny.

The shorter boy smiled softly and walked in, turning around so he was walking backwards to face Kel. “You think so?”

Kel nodded, following him inside and letting the door close. “Yeah! Though, I didn't expect you to be the one to dye your hair. When we were kids, you didn’t seem too interested in it.”

Sunny shrugged. “I guess it was kinda an impulse decision? I don’t regret it though.” He smiled.

Kel smiled softly back. “That’s good. I mean, dying your hair is a pretty big decision, yeah?”

Sunny chuckled. “Guess so. You’ve ever thought of dying your hair?”

Kel shrugged. “A few times. Can’t pick a color though.” He grinned. “Maybe orange?”

Sunny laughed and nodded. “You’d look good with orange hair. I can help you dye it, if you ever want to.”

Oh.

Oh, that was unexpected.

He sounded so…sincere. Kel didn’t think this was an actual thing they might do.

He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to dye his hair a few times. He’d just…never taken the leap.

But…if he was offering…

Kel smiled softly. “I’d like that. I’ll hit you up if I ever decide to, okay?”

Sunny perked up and nodded as his smile grew. “Okay. Now, let’s explore, yeah?”

Kel nodded and the two went over to one side of the store. It had undergone some renovations over the years, becoming larger and holding more items.

The two chatted a bit as they explored the store, the tension in the air slowly giving in. It was still there, in their awkward pauses and odd smiles and hesitancy to speak, but there was less of it.

It was a small step, but Kel couldn’t have been more relieved.

Chapter Text

Sunny was freaking the fuck out.

Not only did he slip up and call their hangout a date (which, by the way, nice going vocal cords), he offered to help Kel dye his hair if he ever wanted to. And he accepted.

This was going way better than he had expected it to, but that didn’t stop Sunny from internally flipping out. Luckily, on the outside, he was calmly thumbing through a comic book with Kel observing over his shoulder.

“I nearly forgot Captain Spaceboy existed...it’s still publishing?”

“Yep! They’re getting better and better. We’ve gotta get you caught up one of these days, a lot of them were released!”

Sunny glanced at Kel out of the corner of his eye, smiling. “That would be cool. I remember loving these when we were younger.”

Kel let out a laugh. “Loving them? Dude, you were practically living off them! You’d always pull us to Hobbeez at the end of the day when a new one was launched.”

Sunny chuckled a little bit. “I did, didn’t I?” He put the book back on the shelf...right after he fumbled with it for five seconds straight. Quickly (and carefully) setting the book down, he followed Kel as the taller boy ducked into the other aisles of the store.

He felt himself slow to a stop before he could go after Kel, standing between two shelves. With a quick glance down at his shaking hands, he began to go through a breathing routine his therapist had taught him.

Inhale for four counts.

Hold for seven.

Exhale for eight.

He went through the loop a few times and shook his hands out as he did so, mentally hyping himself up.

‘Okay Sunny, calm down...you’re gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay! You just have to find a good time to bring it up and apologize. That’s it.’ Sunny shook his head vigorously, as if that would clear the slowly bubbling panic and anxieties in his mind, then went after Kel-

“Sunny?-”

The shorter one bumped into something and stumbled back, letting out a little noise of shock. Kel had come back from around the corner, searching for him, and slammed into Sunny in the process.

The brunette yelped and quickly grabbed his hand to stop him from falling. “Ack- Sorry, sorry!!” Kel pulled him onto his feet, eyebrows furrowed with worry. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m alright! Just caught a little off guard.” Sunny smiled softly. “Are you? I didn’t see you there…”

“Yeah, I’m all good!” Kel grinned back. “Glad I caught you when I did.”

Suddenly, Sunny was very aware of Kel’s hand in his own and the small space of the aisle they were in together-

He gently pulled his hand away and took a step back before his brain shorted out, rubbing the back of his neck. Nope nope nope, he couldn’t have that. Sunny needed to focus on the task at hand. “Same here...that could’ve ended bad.”

Kel nodded, cracking his knuckles (making a sound that shouldn’t have had Sunny flinching like it did). “Yeah…”

And just like that, the awkwardness was back. God, this fucking sucked, why did he have to be a nervous teenager? Why couldn’t he just be calm and say what he wanted to say?

After a few more moments of silence, Kel cleared his throat. “So, there’s a music section I wanted to show you..! Follow me.” He smiled sheepishly and went the way he appeared from.

Sunny jolted, but quickly gathered himself and followed Kel deeper into the store. The taller boy led him to a section full of CDs and vinyls along with different music players, both on display and able to be used. It was pretty diverse from what Sunny scanned over, holding a variety of music from soundtracks to rock to jazz and more.

“Woah...when did this happen?”

“Like, a year or two ago?” Kel shrugged. “It’s pretty cool! I come here all the time, it’s a nice place to relax.” He walked over to the CDs, flipping through them. “C’mere, check this out!”

Sunny walked towards him, leaning to the side to look around Kel’s arm as the boy plucked out a CD and walked over to a table with a player on it, sitting in one of the seats. He put the CD into the player and pulled out a pair of earbuds, plugging them in and offering one to Sunny.

The shorter boy went closer and took the earbud, putting it in his ear as he sat in the other seat. Kel grinned and put the other in his own ear, then fiddled with the CD player and soon hit play.

It was silent for a moment, then music filled his ear. It wasn’t a song Sunny recognized, but it was pretty nice.

Then, a voice singing in Spanish joined the music. It added to the calming vibes of the song, making Sunny relax and almost slump over onto the table they were sitting at.

With his uncovered ear, he heard Kel chuckle softly. “Nice song, yeah?”

The shorter looked up at the boy in front of him to see Kel smiling softly, tapping the beat of the music onto the table. Sunny smiled back and let out a hum of agreement. “It is. Where’d you find it?”

Kel shrugged. “Mom and dad play music in the house all the time, especially while we were cleaning. I just picked this one up because it played at least once every time their playlists were on.” He looked down at his still tapping fingers, humming along to the song.

Sunny put his head down again. “Well, your parents have pretty good music tastes. I like this one.”

He could basically hear the grin in Kel’s voice when he spoke again. “Yeah? Well, I’ll show you how great my own taste is!…once this song is done, of course”

Sunny laughed, shifting his head so he was smiling up at Kel. “I’m not saying your tastes are bad, Kel. It’s just…your parents’ may be a liiiiittle better.” He teased gently.

The brunette let out a fake-offended huff. “Just hush and listen to the song.”

Sunny chuckled, closing his eyes and just enjoying the song.

God, this was nice. Just sitting here with Kel, listening to music and just basking in his presence. It was calming, relaxing.

Just what he needed to calm down and get himself together to apologize.

Chapter Text

Kel let himself laugh as he walked out of Hobbeez with Sunny. The two had been talking for a few hours while listening to music, and it was awesome. They fell into a sort of rhythm they both forgot they had. It felt nice, Kel mused as the two began to walk away from the plaza.

“Are you down for hanging at the park for a bit?” Sunny asked, putting his hands into his pockets as he looked up at Kel with a tilt to his head.

“Sure!” He grinned. “I’m down for it! It’s pretty much the same, so don’t be too surprised when you remember where stuff is.”

Sunny chuckled. “Good to know.”

The two kept walking together, making small talk as they made their way over to the park. They seemed to have talked themselves out in Hobbeez, Kel thought, because their conversations had slowed to a gentle lull. He didn’t mind though, it was a relaxing time.

Soon, they made it to Faraway Park. Sunny seemed to perk up when he saw the place, eyes filled with excitement and nostalgia. “Woah...you were right, it’s basically the same…” He breathed as he scanned over the area.

Kel grinned. “Told you so!”

Sunny smiled back and went farther into the park, looking around. Kel quietly followed, watching as his old friend took in the sight of such a familiar place. The two walked around silently, a calmness of sorts settling between them.

Then, Sunny spotted something and grinned, then looked at Kel and jerked his head towards the basketball court. “You still play?”

Kel nodded. “I do! I’m on the team in school. Do you play?”

Sunny shrugged, walking over the court and picking up an abandoned basketball. “Kinda. Some kids in my apartment building used to drag me to the park to hang out, and I played once in a while.” He explained, then looked at Kel and tossed him the ball. “Wanna show me what you got?”

Kel caught the ball with a grin, starting to dribble it. “With pleasure. Have a seat, dude, before I knock you off your feet!”

Sunny laughed and sat on the edge of the court, making a motion for Kel to begin.

And so, the two just hung out there for a while, Kel doing tricks and making shots while Sunny cheered him on. They stayed there for a while, messing around as the sun slowly began to set.

Soon, Kel plopped down next to Sunny, sweating and panting a bit. Sunny laughed and cheered for him one last time. “Bravo!”

Kel grinned and gave a fake bow, then flopped onto his back, taking deep breaths. “That…was fun!”

Sunny smiled down at him, then laid down next to Kel. “It looked fun.”

The two just stayed there in silence for a while, watching as the colors in the sky changed to accommodate the sun setting.

“...hey, Kel?”

“Yeah Sunny?”

“I’m sorry.”

…

Kel shot up into a sitting position, twisting his body around to look at Sunny. “What?”

Sunny pushed himself up so he could face Kel, looking him in the eyes. “I…I’m sorry. For everything.”

Kel’s eyes widened and his breath stuttered.

“I…what I did was terrible. I know that now.” Sunny looked down, messing with one of his necklaces. “I just…I left when we all needed each other the most. And after four years, I show up like it’s nothing.” He ran a hand through his hair nervously, his usually smooth hair becoming ruffled up. “It was and still is fucked up of me. You don’t have to forgive me, Kel. I just…you deserve an apology. All of you do.”

Kel’s eyes flicked over Sunny’s face, eyes wide as his mind processed his old friend’s words.

Sunny…was sorry. He apologized.

And Kel wanted to forgive him.

He wanted to forgive him so very badly.

But…

Something stopped him.

Why? Why was he hesitating? There had to be some reason, right? He was fully ready to forgive his best friend but why was he-

…oh.

It clicked.

Kel took a deep breath, staring down at his hands. “…I…I’m not sure if I’m gonna word this right.” He glanced up at Sunny. “So just bear with me, okay?”

Sunny immediately nodded, shifting a bit to get into a more comfortable position despite the tension in his muscles.

Kel’s eyes darted around as he licked his lips, then he looked back at his friend. “Sunny, listen. I…I want to forgive you. Really, I do. I know what happened was an accident, and that you’re really sorry. But…I just…it still hurts. How you just…stopped…talking to us. Y’know? Like, like…you ghosted us. You had our numbers and addresses, but you…never contacted us.”

Kel began to wave his hands around, shaking a bit. “A-and I know it’s stupid! It’s been four years, I should have moved on by now, right? Everyone else has, they’ve dealt with that, so why can’t I? I guess I just…I just can’t. Even if it’s dumb-“

Sunny grabbed Kel’s wrists and held his hands still. “Kel, stop. Just…stop saying that.”

Kel froze, eyes going wide as he looked at Sunny.

“It’s not stupid. Not at all. You’re entitled to how you feel. You shouldn’t invalidate that just because other people feel differently than you.” The shorter boy spoke firmly, eyes full of weight and seriousness. “So no, it’s not dumb. Okay?”

Kel hesitated, but nodded a bit.

“Good.” Sunny was still for a moment, then lowered both of their arms and slipped his hands into Kel’s. “…and…I hear that. Why you’re still hurt. If I was in your position, I would probably be too.” He whispered as he rubbed circles over the back of Kel’s hand with his thumb.

Kel looked down at their hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. “…really…?”

“Really. But I promise Kel, I’m here to stay this time. I’m not leaving you guys. Not again.”

The two made eye contact, silently staring at each other for a few moments.

“…promise?” Kel whispered.

“Promise.” Sunny murmured back.

Kel smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. He immediately reciprocated, wrapping his arms firmly around him. The two sat there for a moment, quiet as the world around them slowly began to wind down.

“…Sunny?”

“Yeah, Kel?”

“I forgive you.”

Kel wasn’t able to see Sunny’s eyes widening. He wasn’t able to see the tears forming in them. But he was able to feel when Sunny hid his face in the top of his head and squeezed him just a little bit tighter.

“…thank you, Kel…”

And so, they stayed there. Trapped in time for just a little while as the world kept turning.

Chapter Text

Hero thought things were starting to look up.

Kel had told him about when their old friend apologized to him in the park the night it happened, a tired and emotional smile on his face. The day after he had looked over at Kel to see him in the living room playing happily with Sally, the both of them grinning and laughing as they played with her toys.

Hero was glad to see his little brother looking better than the past summers he was home, than the Facetime calls they’d have during the school year. He seemed to be more open, his shoulders more relaxed as he walked around with a bounce in his step. The older boy was so happy to see his little brother feeling less like he needed to walk on eggshells around everyone, and more like he could speak his mind again.

Their parents seemed to notice as well, with their dad joking around with Kel more often and their mother commenting on the fact that he seemed brighter again. Kel just smiled and responded with something along the lines of “I’m just happy, mamá !”

Not only that, Sunny was communicating with the two more often. Their house got a few visits from him since the last day they saw each other, and the three even exchanged their new numbers and created a group chat. It was mostly used to check up on each other, exchange memes, or just talk to each other about anything they felt like.

Hero felt like things were starting to look up.

But he remembered there was something he needed to do, and soon.

He took a deep breath, then knocked on the door of the house he was outside of. “...Aubrey?” He called out, jiggling the doorknob and jolting a bit when it nearly fell off as the door opened. “...okay then…not like it’s my first time breaking and entering…” He sarcastically mumbled to himself.

Hero pushed the door open and carefully walked in, looking around.  It was a mess, that much was very clear to see. He nearly kicked over a beer bottle as soon as he walked in, but quickly caught it with the top of his foot before it made a loud noise. With his teeth grit, he picked up the bottle and placed it carefully on a trash pile.

It was even worse the farther he walked into the house, opening up with more space but smelling strongly of garbage. He looked over at the couch and felt his body go rigid. “...Ms. Cadieux?”

Camille Cadieux, Aubrey’s mother, was sitting on the couch, surrounded by beer bottles and a few tipped over wine glasses. She took a sip from the bottle she had been holding, staring blankly at the broken TV and not giving any indication she heard Hero.

Hero’s eyes narrowed, but he immediately looked away. He was never a huge fan of Aubrey’s mother, but kept it to himself since he didn’t want to offend Aubrey (even though he knew she didn’t like her either). His dislike for her grew when Aubrey’s father left, and he started to notice little things about her when they all hung out.

She was getting slightly thinner every time he saw her, as if she didn’t eat much at home. She regularly spaced out, staring at her hands with blank eyes before someone snapped her to her senses. He often caught her muttering about expenses, or looking for odd jobs around town during the school year and working part time during summers. Every time one of them went over to her house, they found her trying her best to clean up inside…

With her mother sitting on the couch, staring at that TV.

And Hero hated it. He felt like he couldn’t do anything, no matter how badly he wanted to.

With a small sigh, he walked into the upstairs hallway and went over to the ladder. He began to climb up it, knocking on the edge of the hole in the ceiling. “Aubrey? Can I come up?”

An apathetic hum rang out from above him and he climbed higher, peeking his head into the room.

It was the same as the last time he saw it: spacious, clean, simple…yet…run down. His heart broke a little every time he saw the conditions Aubrey slept in. It wasn’t as bad as the rest of the house, but it still hurt to see.

He heaved himself up into the room, finally seeing Aubrey. She was laying on her side in bed, one hand holding her phone and the other petting Bun-Bun, who she was curled up around. Hero took a deep breath, then walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. “Hey Aubs. I hope you don’t mind the visit, I wanted to see how you were doing. It’s been a few days since we’ve seen you around, I was worri-”

“Hero.”

Hero jolted and looked at Aubrey, who had put her phone down and was now focusing intently on petting her bunny. “Yeah?”

“Please leave.”

…

“Huh?” Hero was caught off guard.

Aubrey sighed and sat up. “Leave, Hero. Please. I’m asking nicely.” She spoke, a numb sort of calm in her voice as she picked up Bun-Bun and took him back to his cage.

Hero stood up as well, eyebrows furrowing with worry. “But…I just got here. And I wanted to know if you need anything-”

“What I need right now is to be alone,” She interrupted, turning back to him once she put Bun-Bun back in his cage. “Hero, listen. I know you care about me. You care about all of us, and I appreciate it a ton, really. And I appreciate you coming to check on me, too. But….I just want to be by myself right now. Besides, I’m fine, it’s one of those days, y’know? So please…leave.”

…wow. Okay. That…Hero wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. She sounded so…tired. Apathetic. Done.

He felt terrible. It was obvious something was wrong, and she needed support.

But he figured he shouldn’t push his luck.

Hero sighed softly, but gave her a gentle smile. “Alright. I’ll go. But…just remember that we’re here for you, okay? Me, Kel, and Basil are here if you ever need anything. So are the Hooligans.” He began to walk to the ladder, patting her shoulder as she passed him by-

She quickly grabbed his forearm, making him jump. “Aubrey?” He wasn’t nervous, moreso confused. Why would she be stopping him?-

Aubrey yanked him into a squeezing hug, then let him go as soon as she pulled him in. “...thanks Hero.” She muttered, scuffing her shoe against the floor as she kept her eyes down.

Hero quickly rebooted, blinking a few times, then smiled at Aubrey. “Not a problem.” He went over to the ladder and began to climb down. “And remember we’re here for you, no matter what.” He told her before climbing down farther and losing sight of her room.

A few more rungs and Hero carefully jumped the rest of the way down, wincing when the floorboards under him creaked angrily. “I’m too old for that.” He muttered, being careful the rest of his walk through the hallway and out of the house.

Hero was really worried about Aubrey…but he knew the issues that came with forcing someone to talk about something they refused to speak about until they were ready. He almost lost some friends back in high school because they tried to make him talk about Mari. It’s…not as easy to speak out as people make it seem.

He quickly shook his head, as if clearing his mind like an Etch-A-Sketch. With a deep breath (and a silent gag of regret because holy fuck the garbage in this house was overpowering), he left the house.

As he was leaving, Hero glanced around the dirty yard of the house.

…looks like he found a new summer project.

A small smile formed on his face. He’d have to talk to Aubrey about it first, of course, but he still had a glimmer of hope. At least he could help her somehow, and he’d say this was a pretty big step.

He just hoped everything would keep looking up.

Chapter Text

It was almost always a nice day in Faraway Town, Sunny noted as he walked.

He was slowly making his way through town, headphones on and music playing as he walked to Basil’s house. Despite his hesitance, he was determined to apologize to the blond boy.

Sure, his hands were shaking like crazy from where he stuffed them into his pockets, and maybe he felt like he was going to throw up, but who cares? Not him.

“...I need to talk to Lola soon.” Sunny muttered to himself, pulling out his phone to check his calendar and see what day he was set for his bi-weekly therapy session.

He knew the way he was thinking wasn’t right, brushing his own feelings away like he did, but he really couldn’t help it at the moment. His nerves were firing on all cylinders at the mere thought of talking to Basil.

Back before he moved into the city, Sunny and Basil were quite close. Basil always stuck with him, and Sunny didn’t really mind. He loved his friends a ton, but Basil was always the one he would go to when the chaos of the group got too…well, chaotic for him. The boy was like an oasis, a quiet safe space to just escape to for a while.

He knew that Basil was a sensitive and anxious person (not that there was anything wrong with that), so he was extremely nervous as to how the boy took to him moving away all of a sudden.

Before he could explore that thought process any longer, Sunny found himself standing at the door of Basil’s house. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves, then raised his fist and tapped his knuckles against the door.

…a woman opened the door. She was very pretty, with shoulder length brown hair and kind brown eyes. She seemed a bit shocked to see Sunny, but quickly hid it with a smile. “Hello there! Can I help you?”

Sunny, who was caught off guard as well, jolted and cleared his throat slightly. “Ah, yeah,” he began, mentally cursing the light crack of his voice, “I was hoping to see Basil? I’m an old friend of his, see, and I was hoping to talk to him.”

“Oh, of course! Come in, he’s in his room.” The woman moved to the side, letting Sunny slip past her and into the house. “I don’t think I caught your name. I’m Polly, I take care of Basil and his grandmother.”

Sunny smiled softly up at her. “I’m Sunny. It’s nice to meet you, miss.”

Polly smiled back. “Sunny…that’s a wonderful name. Now, right this way!”

Sunny followed the caretaker through the house, letting his eyes wander a bit as they walked. The house was still covered in plants, making his lips quirk up a bit. It looked like Basil still loved to garden…

At least some things stayed the same. The familiarity was nice.

Polly walked over to a door on the far right and knocked on the door. “Basil?” She called out as Sunny came to a stop to the side of her. “Someone’s here to see you!”

…the door opened up to reveal a familiar face: Basil, with his hair held back by a checkered bandana and a watering can in hand. He was dressed in a pastel green t-shirt and some slightly dirt-stained overalls, socks with vine patterns covering his feet. 

Sunny saw an immediate change in the boy when pale blue eyes locked onto him and widened. His muscles tensed up as his entire body straightened, stiff as if he was facing down a wild animal instead of two humans. “O-oh, um…hey Sunny.” Basil greeted and god, even his voice was dripping with anxiety.

Sunny shoved down the thoughts screaming at him to leave Basil alone, let him enjoy the day, act like this never happened- and offered a gentle smile. “Hi Basil.” He glanced at the watering can. “Taking care of the plants?”

Basil nodded a bit, eyes darting to the side as if he couldn’t stand holding eye contact for more than a few seconds. “Yeah…i-it’s watering day, so…yeah…” He murmured quietly.

“Well…maybe I could help? You have a lot of plants around the house, so maybe I could water them with you. U-unless you watered them already!” Sunny rambled a bit, bringing his hands together to twist one of his rings around on his finger. 

The fidgeting, usually comforting, did nothing to help the guilt gnawing at his stomach and clawing up his throat when he saw a flash of fear in Basil’s eyes. He could feel the hesitance lingering around Basil for a moment or two, before he nodded. “S-sure…yeah, sure. I have another watering can here s-somewhere…”

Polly smiled, almost seeming oblivious to the tension if it weren't for the knowing and worried gleam Sunny spotted in her eyes. “Well, you two boys have fun. I need to go grocery shopping, so I’ll be over at the market. Basil, text me if you need anything, alright?”

Basil nodded, smiling softly back at his caretaker. “I will..!”

The woman nodded back in a satisfied manner before running her hand gently over Basil’s bandana, smoothing it out. “I’ll be back soon. It was nice to meet you, Sunny!”

Sunny gave her the most genuine smile he could muster at the moment, which even he knew was a bit pathetic (and he couldn’t even see his own face). “It was nice meeting you too, miss.”

Polly smiled comfortingly back before walking out of the hallway, some rummaging and the opening and closing of the door signaling her departure.

As soon as the door clicked shut in the distance, Sunny felt a blanket of tension in the air so strong he almost staggered. He allowed himself to shift his weight from one foot to the other instead, watching as Basil’s eyes flicked up and down his person quickly before the boy turned around and ventured deeper into his room. 

He grabbed a second watering can from a shelf and walked back over to the doorway, slipping past Sunny. “W-we can fill it up in the kitchen and start watering the plants in the living room.” He spoke, something in his voice almost content and confident as he talked about the care it took to keep his plants in shape.

Sunny snapped out of his frozen state and forced his feet to move, trailing after Basil. He watched as his old friend filled up the watering can and handed it over with a quiet murmur of “careful, it’s a little heavy”, before turning to the living room and got to work watering the flowers there.

Quickly following Basil’s lead, Sunny walked over and started to water the plants next to him. 

It was very quiet in the house, neither one of the boys making the choice to speak up. Basil kept his eyes on the plants in front of him, just barely sparing a glance once in a while to check and make sure Sunny was watering correctly.

Sunny felt himself straighten up a little bit every time Basil’s eyes darted his way, a hint of…something in them. There was something there, something in Basil , Sunny just couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was.

He knew that this was the best chance he could get, that if he could just speak up now and shoot his shot he could start to fix things with the blond boy right next to him, but something stopped him every time he tried to move his lips. It felt like his mouth had been spot welded shut, barely even able to relax from where he had his teeth grit.

Why was this so difficult? He mentally kicked himself, trying to move, say something, anything-

A hand moved into his field of view.

His eyes darted up just in time to see Basil tilt his can up and stop any more water from touching the plant he was watering. He looked over and immediately regretted it when icy blue eyes made contact with his own dark brown ones and pinned him into place. 

“...you don’t want to overwater them.” The blond spoke quietly (almost gently, and if that didn’t make Sunny yearn for the past, for when that tone and those eyes were warm and familiar and kind -), talking for the first time since they got started.

This managed to snap Sunny out of his thoughts and kickstart his brain again. “Oh,” he breathed out, gulping a bit before continuing, “thanks, s-sorry about that, I was just-”

“Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”

Chapter Text

Oh.

Okay.

Ouch.

The question shot through the air like a bullet, and all the while Basil still stared up at him as if he wasn’t holding the gun.

Sunny gawked at him, barely able to process the question. “I…I’m sorry, what?”

“Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”

The second time around didn’t shock Sunny any less. Basil’s usual anxious and soft nature was gone, replaced with something neutral and almost cold. (Sunny remembered when Basil would get like this, when he was upset enough to the point he would completely shut down and just not care-)

(Jeez, what was with him and the nostalgia today? Maybe the flowers were getting to him.)

He quickly snapped back into the present when Basil took the watering can from his hand and put both cans down on the dining room table with a bit of force. “Sunny, please, just…give me an answer.” The blond boy spoke quietly, almost whispering. “I…I’m begging you. Let me understand.”

“...I…” Sunny sighed, walking over to the couch and sitting down. He ran a hand through his hair, wincing slightly when his rings got caught in the strands and carefully pulling his hand out again. “It’s…it might sound weird. And I don't know if you'll like it.”

Basil sat next to him, tugging his bandana off. “We’ve got time.”

Sunny gulped a bit. Okay…there was no time like the present, he supposed.

“...the day we were set to move,” Sunny began quietly, reaching up to mess with one of his chains, “everyone was hurting. The entire town felt like it was sinking, and no matter where I stood, the ground wouldn’t stay still. Our friend, my sister, was gone, and you all were grieving and I was too and I just…I thought saying goodbye would make it worse. I couldn't just dump that onto you all and leave. It would've just been one more nail in the coffin.” 

Once he finished, Basil was silent. Sunny held his tongue, mentally pinching himself for the ill-timed used of the idiom-

“...are you serious?"

Chapter Text

Basil was not a man of violence. This was something everyone knew.

Sunny’s head snapped up as Basil raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You…you can’t be for real.” The blond spoke plainly, eyes narrowing as his insides started to freeze over with anger. 

“What..? Basil, what do you-”

Basil shot to his feet, stalking a few steps away from the boy on his couch, from the squeezing feeling in his chest, from the knots in his stomach and the shaking in his limbs.

He couldn’t believe this.

Now, let’s get one thing straight: Basil hated conflict. Despised it, even. Whenever Kel and Aubrey got into fights, and Hero wasn’t around, Basil would always be the first to try and sooth the tension. He would bring the two to his garden to relax and let them make up on their own, or gather them at Gino’s to sit down and eat some food before talking it out.

Basil was not a man of violence. He was a man of peace.

But right now?

Peace was out the window.

Because-

“What the actual hell , Sunny?”

Sunny’s eyes widened as Basil rounded on him. He saw the confusion and worry in those dark eyes and grit his teeth when a voice in his head told him to shut it down, to step back and sit down, to stop -

No. He…he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop.

He needed to say this. Anger was burning through his veins, clawing at his throat and begging to be let out, to be freed, to be shouted loud enough that the entire town could hear-

Sunny was suddenly in front of him, hands reaching for his arms. “Basil, breathe -”

Basil quickly batted his hands away, taking a deep breath and blinking the spots (and tears) out of his vision as he looked up at Sunny. “I know emotions have always been sort of difficult for you, but you can’t be serious about this, right? I…you…” He took a shuddering breath, turning his back to Sunny and walking towards the dining room table. “Give me a second.”

“Basil, please-”

“No, no !” Basil spun to face Sunny, pointing at him with a sharp glare. “Don’t ‘Basil, please’ me, not right now!” He hissed angrily.

He watched Sunny’s eyes widen, but the boy stepped forward (and if that didn’t almost break Basil, almost made him scream and cry and hug him -) with his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “We can talk about this.”

Basil threw his hands into the air. “What is there to talk about?!” He let them fall back to his sides, curling his hands into fists. “You…you thought that leaving, just, out of nowhere , not even with a goodbye , would be less painful?! Are you kidding?!”

Sunny gulped a bit, but backed down and watched as Basil started to pace back and forth, not that Basil noticed with his gradually tunneling vision. “You didn’t tell us how to contact you, or that you were going to miss us, or even that you were moving in the first place! And it hurt , Sunny! We lost two of our closest friends in one week, one before the other, and it hurt !!”

He stopped in place and spun to face Sunny, vision blurring with tears. “We were all mourning, we were all in pain, and all we had was each other! But you couldn’t even give us that!”

His voice broke and he sobbed, falling to his knees and burying his face in his hands. “And you know what the worst part is?! I can’t even stay mad at you for it !!”

It was silent in the house, aside from Basil’s quiet crying. His body trembled with every silent sob he let out, feeling tears soak his face. “I can’t…I can’t stay mad at you, Sunny.” He whimpered quietly. “I want to be angry with you, I really really do, but I…I can’t. I just can’t and I don’t know why .”

“...Basil…” He felt Sunny’s presence get closer until he was in front of him. Time felt frozen for a moment…

Before Basil felt arms gently wrap around him.

He gasped and snapped his eyes open to see Sunny kneeling in front of him, holding him as if he was something fragile- no. Something…precious.

“...I’m sorry. I’m so…so sorry. I can’t apologize enough.” The purple-haired boy murmured.

More tears welled up in Basil’s eyes before he heaved out a silent sob, quickly jolting forward and clinging to Sunny. And it felt so nice to be in Sunny’s arms again, so warm, so familiar -

He broke.

Basil buried his face into Sunny’s shoulder and let out a loud sob.

He continued to cry as Sunny adjusted their bodies into a more comfortable position. Eventually, Sunny was sitting straight on the ground, hugging Basil in his lap and rubbing his back as he broke down.

“…I’m sorry, Basil…” Sunny murmured, squeezing Basil a bit firmer before relaxing his hold. “You don’t have to forgive me, but I’m so…so sorry for what I did…back then, I was…I was an idiot. But that’s not an excuse. I hurt you, and I hurt our friends, and for that I’m so, so sorry.”

“…I should be mad at you…I want to be mad at you…” Basil gasped out past his sobs, body trembling. “But at the same time, I…I’m so tired…I’m tired of feeling mad. Of trying to stay mad. And I missed you so, so much. I…I accept your apology, but I can’t forgive you. Can’t trust you . Not yet. I…I can’t…I just can’t, Sunny…”

Sunny nodded softly in understanding, rubbing Basil’s back up and down. “It’s okay, I understand…you don’t have to trust me right away. Take as much time as you need, alright?”

Basil hiccuped and nodded, burying his face into Sunny’s shoulder and squeezing the boy a bit tighter. “…alright…t…thank you…”

“You don’t have to thank me, Basil…I’m just…trying to do what’s right. And I want to make it up to you guys, I really do…”

“…just…don’t leave again…not without a warning…okay…?”

Sunny nodded. “Okay…I won’t.”

With that, the two boys just…sat there.

Surrounded by thriving flowers and old memories, basking in the presence of what was once there…

And the very idea of what could be.

Chapter Text

It’s been a long couple of weeks.

That’s what Aubrey was mulling over as she watched the Hooligans mess around. 

They were all hanging out in the park: Kim and Vance were playing tetherball while Angel and Mikhael (“The Maverick!!”) were sitting in the grass as Mikhael told Angel stories of his “adventures”. Charlie was sitting more off to the side, carefully weaving some flowers together.

Aubrey had planted herself under the shade of a tree near the tetherball court, bat resting next to her as she sat with one knee hugged to her chest. Usually she’d be out cheering Kim on or teasing Mikhael, but she just…couldn’t find the energy.

Ever since Sunny moved back into town, her mind was a mess, muddled with flaming anger and numbing static and thoughts and scenarios and “what if”s and-

It was exhausting. Drowning in her own mind.

She let out a soft sigh, letting her forehead fall onto her knee.

It had been so long since she had even thought about Sunny. She was doing so well . 

(That was a lie and she knew it. She sometimes stayed up for days on end because she couldn’t help but wonder what became of their old friend, wonder what might have happened if he came back, what might have happened if he never left-)

But suddenly, he comes waltzing back into her life, into her friends’ lives, without a care in the world.

What would she do if she saw him again? Oh god, what if he tried to talk to her?

She had so many questions for him. Why did he do what he did? Why did he leave? Why didn’t he contact them? Why?

Not for the first time, she wished Mari were still here. Mari would know just what to do, know just how to solve this.

She would probably drag Sunny and Aubrey into the same room by their ears in that motherly manner she always seemed to have, force them to sit on the same couch, then gently guide them through an actual, productive conversation together.

Mari could have gotten Aubrey to listen.

Mari could have gotten Sunny to explain himself.

Mari would have solved this easily.

Aubrey felt the familiar sting of tears nip at her eyes as she curled her hands into fists, letting her nails dig into her palms.

But Mari wasn’t here.

And Aubrey had no idea what to do.

What would happen if she saw Sunny again? Would she feel the same exhaustion she was feeling now, would she let him explain himself and hear him out?

Or would she feel angry again? Would she storm off before he could speak, would she continue to allow her questions to go unanswered? Oh god , would she punch him again?-

“Aubrey?”

Aubrey jolted and quickly looked up to see Kim standing over her, eyebrows furrowed with worry. “O-oh. Hey Kim.” She quickly wiped away the tears that were blurring her vision. “What’s up? I thought you were playing tetherball with Vance.”

She watched Kim’s eyes soften before the brunette sat next to her, stretching her legs out. “I was. But he got tired of me kicking his ass.” She joked a bit, jerking her head towards where a pouty Vance was sitting with Charlie.

Aubrey let herself laugh softly. “Sounds about right.”

“…are you okay?”

Aubrey jolted and looked over at Kim, who was staring at her with concern in her eyes. “Huh?”

“You’ve been, like, moping under this tree ever since we got here. Is something wrong? Are you okay?” Kim clarified, reaching out to put a hand on Aubrey’s upper arm.

Aubrey was silent for a moment, before sighing. “No…I’m not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” Kim asked, voice soft and gentle in a way that made Aubrey want to melt.

“…you remember Sunny?”

Kim raised an eyebrow. “That kinda emo kid you were friends with a while ago? Vaguely, yeah. Why?”

“…he moved back into town a couple weeks ago.”

She heard Kim inhale sharply and chuckled weakly. “Yeah, I know.” A small sigh escaped her lips as she put her head down again. “It’s just…it’s exhausting. I was so angry at him for leaving. You saw how I was back then. But I got better. I met you guys, things mellowed out, and it was fine. Then he just…just comes back into town without a care in the world, and says hi like nothing was wrong?...I punched him, Kim. I was so pissed at the time, but after that I felt nothing . And now it’s all I can think about. Why is he back? What does he want? I’m just…I’m tired, Kim.”

It was silent between the two for a moment, Aubrey listening to the park around her as she waited for something, anything , from the girl next to her. Kim seemed to be turning over her words, hand still on Aubrey’s arm-

“...I think…you need to stop thinking so hard, Aubs.”

Aubrey looked up to see Kim meeting her eyes with a soft look. The hand on her arm trailed down, gently resting on top of her own. “I get you were really close to Mari, I’m really sorry about what happened to her. You have a right to be angry. But putting things on hold and turning everything over in your head forever won’t help. And- And I know it sounds kinda stupid, and totally cheesy and basic, but it’s true. I had to learn the exact same thing. Overthinking and scrutinizing every little detail doesn’t help anything in the long run. You just need to let yourself feel . No thinking, no doubting yourself. Your feelings are valid.”

Aubrey sighed, turning her hand over to interlock her fingers with Kim’s. “I know that, but…it’s hard, you know? I want to stop being angry, to stop thinking about him and just be , but then…then he pops up in my head again and it starts all over again. I hate it.”

Kim let out a soft hum, shifting to lean against Aubrey and squeezing her hand gently. “I know, I know…you need a good distraction, is what you need. Something to do when you start to feel shitty.”

Aubrey snorted, raising an eyebrow. “What, like knitting?”

“Oh, absolutely not. You shouldn’t be trusted with giant needles. You might stab Mikhael or Kel.”

Both girls giggled together and it felt like a weight was easing off of Aubrey’s chest. Being with Kim always figured out a way to give her some sort of reprieve, like the rest of the world didn’t matter as long as the girl was smiling next to her.

Aubrey didn’t notice she was staring at the brunette, but she sure did. “What? Is there something on my face?” Kim asked, sitting up and touching her cheek with a tilted head.

A soft snort shook Aubrey’s shoulders and she shook her head. “No, no you’re fine. I just…I dunno. I really appreciate you. I hope you know that.” She smiled softly, squeezing Kim’s hand. “You’re great to me, and I couldn’t appreciate it more.”

Kim’s face darkened with a blush and she looked to the side, laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. “O-of course. I can’t leave my girl hanging, what kind of person would I be?”

Aubrey’s face felt like it was on fire when she heard the words ‘my girl’, her stomach swooping. “Right, right.” She mumbled, stumbling over her words as she looked to the side as well.

And so, they sat there.

Hands interlocked, watching as time passed by.

Chapter Text

“Guys! Come on, let’s go!”

Aubrey jolted, head snapping down from where she had been watching the clouds with Kim to see Vance waving to them. “Charlie says she’s gotta go soon, her ma needs her to go to the pharmacy!”

Kim perked up. “Plaza trip?”

Aubrey smiled softly, pushing herself to her feet and holding a hand out to Kim. “Seems so. C’mon, let’s move.”

Kim grinned back, grabbing Aubrey’s hand and hauling herself up.

The two went hand in hand to join up with the other Hooligans, the group all chatting and messing around with each other as they began to leave the park all together. 

Angel was retelling Mikhael’s stories (probably with even more embellishments than usual) to Vance, who was half-heartedly nodding along. Charlie gave Audrey and Kim some flower chains she had made, a soft smile on the larger girl’s face as she placed a crown of small daisies on Aubrey’s head, around her bow.

Aubrey reached up, touching one of the daisies with a smile. “Thanks, Charlie. It’s really pretty.”

Charlie’s smile widened just a bit before she nodded and moved to join Angel with Vance and Kim, the latter sibling teasing Mikhael for the extravagant stories. Aubrey absentmindedly noted the matching chain of daisies around her neck, a pop of bright color carefully resting on her dark blue hoodie.

The pink haired girl let out a quiet hum as she followed after the other Hooligans, her hands in her pockets. Her eyes were on the ground as she let herself get lost in her own thoughts.

Kim had told her that she just needed to let herself “feel”. But the last time she had done that, she had socked her former best friend in the jaw and ran away. It wasn't good for her, or Sunny, or anyone . And it was likely her fault, not being able to keep her anger in check, but she just-

She couldn’t help it . There was fire beneath her skin, crackling and snapping, starting as soon as she laid eyes on the boy and growing the longer she looked at him. It itched, and then it burned, and then suddenly she was shouting at her childhood friends like an asshole, with an already-sprouting bruise on Sunny’s jaw.

And that was another thing she had to worry about.

She knew her friends. Knew that Hero was just trying his best to be civil, that Basil had already been insanely anxious, that Kel was nervous as hell to have that conversation.

And she blew up at all of them, making everything so much worse.

It had been a few days since Hero visited her, and since then she was doing her best to avoid the topic of Sunny and their ‘reunion’. It wasn’t hard -- none of the boys brought him up, so she didn’t either.

But she couldn’t help but feel like something was off about that silence. That it was taut, like a rubber band being pulled apart. And if there was one thing she knew about rubber bands, it’s that they snap back. That a finger would shift, the band would slip, and something would go wrong sooner rather than later.

“Aubrey!”

Speaking of snapping.

Aubrey grabbed the wrist of the hand that was snapping in front of her face, eyes trailing up to see Mikhael right in front of her. It was only by how much she had gotten to know him over the years that she knew he was raising an eyebrow underneath his bangs.

“You okay? We’ve been calling you for like, a minute. We’re at the plaza.” Mikhael explained, an undertone of worry in the mostly casual words.

Aubrey simply let out a soft snort, gently pushing his hand away and stuffing her hands into her pockets. “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. I was just lost in my thoughts.”

Mikhael hummed faintly, putting one of his hands on his hips. “If you say so.” He moved to stand beside her, knocking her shoulder with his. “But you know, we’re here for you. If you get too lost in those thoughts.”

Aubrey smiled and nodded. “I know, man. Really, I’m fine. Don’t tell me The Maverick is feeling human emotions?” She teased slightly, elbowing his arm lightly.

Mikhael huffed, immediately squaring his shoulders. “I’m simply making sure that my allies are well and able to battle! For we never know what may be lurking around the dark corners of this simple town!”

Aubrey let out a laugh, throwing her head back as she pulled her hand from her pocket to wrap an arm around Mikhael’s shoulders. “Dude, it’s Faraway. There’s nothing ‘lurking in dark corners’ except us!”

Mikhael let out a considering hum as he reached up to stroke his chin dramatically (a motion that made Aubrey, Vance, and Kim snicker amongst each other). “I suppose that’s true…we do rule the darkest places in town, don’t we?”

Angel grinned brightly, nodding rapidly. “That’s right, Master! We run this place!”

Aubrey raised an amused eyebrow, a smile still on her face. “I don’t know about that, Angel. We don’t run the town, we’re kids.”

Both boys pouted in sync, making Aubrey laugh again as she pulled Mikhael along by the shoulders and moved to follow Charlie. “Alright guys, let’s get to the pharmacy. The faster we go, the faster Charlie’s mom can get her prescription.”

The group walked into the Othermart, Aubrey and Mikhael grabbing Kim and Vance before the two could run off to the candy store (“You guys have to stop stealing the candy!” “One of these days, Miss Candice is actually gonna call the cops on us.”) and heading to the pharmacy.

Charlie slunk over to the medication window, waving happily to the pharmacist behind the counter as the rest of the Hooligans scattered through the pharmacy aisles. Aubrey immediately walked over to the bandages and checked out the bandaids they had, knowing the group was running out (thanks to the scrapes and situations Angel usually found himself in) and she was out of her own supply at home too.

A soft smile tugged on her lips when she saw a box of bunny bandaids, plucking them off the shelf before grabbing a larger box of assorted ones. She peaked around the shelf to see the pharmacist hand Charlie a small bag, saying something to her with a smile.

Charlie nodded back before waving goodbye and turning around to head out. The two girls made eye contact and Charlie gave a soft nod.

Aubrey smiled and nodded back before bringing two fingers to her lips and letting out a whistle. “Guys, time to go!”

The other Hooligans immediately scuttled out of the aisles, meeting up at the exit of the pharmacy. Kim was holding some disinfectant (and thank god for that, Aubrey had forgotten they ran out of that too) and Vance was digging around his pockets for his wallet.

Aubrey shook her head a bit, moving to take the disinfectant. “Don’t worry, I got it.”

Vance’s head snapped up and he raised an eyebrow. “No way. You bought them last time, it’s my turn!”

“Vance, it’s fine! You and I both know this ‘turn’ stuff doesn’t matter.” Aubrey replied, (gently) snatching the bottle of disinfectant from Kim with a smile. “Besides, you can always just pay me back later on.”

Vance’s eyes narrowed slightly. “This feels slightly like extortion. You want Gino’s, don’t you?”

Aubrey shrugged a bit, her smile turning into a grin as she turned to Vance. “I dunno, do I?”

Vance groaned, rolling his eyes and letting his head roll with it. “I swear, it’s like you live there! Everyone in town owes you a slice.”

“It’s not my fault people just keep racking up debt.”

“You sound like a loan shark.”

“Rude.”

Charlie giggled softly as Angel let out a snort, and Aubrey shot him a glare as they walked over to checkout. She dumped the disinfectant and the bandaids on the checkout belt before walking over to the person behind the checkout counter. “Hey Humiya.”

The cashier, an older boy with black hair and slanted, almost closed eyes, smiled at her. “Hi Aubrey! Doing well?”

Aubrey nodded, watching as he scanned the items and tapped around on the POS machine while pulling her wallet out of her pocket. “Yeah, I’m alright. You?”

Humiya shrugged, putting the items in a bag and putting it on the counter. “Eh, fine. Just keeping up with school, trying to graduate. 25 bucks.”

Aubrey dug around her wallet, pulling out a 20 and a 5 dollar bill. “That’s real. You’ve got this though man, you’re doing great.”

Humiya grinned softly as he took the cash and handed over her receipt. “Thanks, Aubrey. Appreciate it.”

Aubrey nodded with a small smile, taking both the receipt and the bag. “Of course. See you around, dude.”

Humiya waved to them as the group left. “See you guys later! Be safe, make good choices!”

“No promises!” Kim called back over her shoulder, making the older boy laugh as they walked out of the Othermart.

Aubrey took a deep breath once they were back outside, slowly blowing it out through her mouth.

Okay. Just relax. Be in the moment. No more thinking about Sunny, or her feelings, or Mari-

“Uh-oh.”

Aubrey’s eyes snapped up when Kim mumbled under her breath.

And, of course, she spoke too soon.

Because she saw Kel, Basil, and Sunny walking through the plaza, chatting together like nothing ever changed.

(The rubber band finally snapped.)

Chapter Text

Her feet were moving before she could realize where she was going.

“So. What’s all this about?”

She barely heard herself. It felt like she was speaking underwater, listening to someone else’s voice instead of hers.

The three boys immediately froze, looking over at Aubrey. She could see Kel’s eyes widen, she could see the way Basil’s shoulders rose…

She could see Sunny’s eyes soften up. It felt like pity.

And she hated pity.

Basil was, surprisingly, the first to step up, taking a breath before speaking. “Aubrey, please, just…just hear us out-”

“No.” Aubrey cut him off, her eyes narrowed as her shaking hands curled into fists, so tight she felt her nails biting into her palms. The pain should have grounded her. It didn’t. “No, I’m not gonna hear anything about… this , Basil.”

“Aubrey-”

“ No , Kel! You know what he did! And yet here you two are, acting all buddy-buddy with him! Like he didn’t leave us for years! Like nothing happened!!”

Her voice was slowly rising in volume, against her will. The fire was back under her skin, itching and crackling and making her want to claw it away-

“That’s not what it’s like!” Basil cut in, his voice pleading.

“Then what is it like?! Huh?! Because it looks to me like you guys are just letting him waltz back in after all this time! Giving him the chance to hurt us again!!”

(She saw Sunny flinch at that one, and something sick in her chest curled up a bit with pride.)

(As soon as she felt it, she wanted to hurl.)

Kel’s eyes widened a bit further before sharpening. “Aubrey, that’s not cool.”

Aubrey scoffed, a sarcastic smile on her face as she felt her ears burning like they always did when she got way too angry for her own good. “Oh, really?! And what he did is?!”

“I’m not saying that!”

“What are you saying, then?!”

“I’m saying to give him a chance!!”

“He had his chance years ago!!”

The air went silent, filled only with Aubrey’s harsh breaths.

“...he had his chance. 4 years ago, he had a chance to make things semi -okay. But he threw it away, and left without a damn word.” She hissed out, her voice quieter now but still venomous. “And I won’t give him another chance to do the same damn thing.”

She turned on her heel and stormed off, leaving her words hanging in the air like barbed wire.

(Her throat felt scratched raw from spitting it out.)

Chapter Text

She watched them from up above.

Fighting. Shouting. Hurting.

It pained her heart.

To see this happening to the ones she loved, the ones she held dear.

To see them hurt.

To see them cry.

To see them drift apart.

She just wanted to see them happy.

Even if she could only watch from up above.

She wished for them to be happy.

That was all she wanted.