Chapter Text
Saturday was quickly approaching-- it was the day everyone had planned to meet up at the amusement park in the city a few miles west of Faraway Town, where Sunny had moved last summer. Kel could hardly get to sleep at night, he was so excited. Visits with Sunny were a rare commodity during the school year, and he and Basil were absolutely going to get their money’s worth of it this weekend. Not to mention, he hadn’t seen his brother in a few months, and Aubrey would be taking time out of her busy schedule to join them. It had been ages since he’d gotten to hang out with her since she was always riding around town with the scooter gang, and though he’d never admit it out loud, he kind of missed her.
The idea that he’d see everyone together in one place so soon seemed like sort of a miracle to Kel. He hadn’t been sure everything would work out so well after Sunny’s confession at the hospital, but after a couple months of turmoil even Aubrey had settled back into place, forgiving both Sunny and Basil almost entirely. Sure, things could still be awkward or sad at times, but for the most part everyone got on fine, just like old times!
On Thursday afternoons Sunny’s still unnamed band met for practice at Basil’s place, with Sunny on video call. Kel made sure to show up early as often as he could just to spend a little time talking to Basil, which somehow managed to surprise him every single time. Today was no different. Kel knocked at Basil’s front door, was let in by Polly, and went to find him in his room. Basil didn’t notice Kel was there until Kel rested his chin on Basil’s shoulder, which prompted a yelp, and a nervous, “Oh, Kel… you’re early. Sorry, it just caught me off guard. If I knew you’d be here already I’d have put the cookies in the oven a bit sooner….”
“Aw, that’s alright Basil. It’s better to eat them when Sunny is here anyway so I can brag about how it tastes,” Kel said teasingly, flopping down on the rug by Basil’s bed and staring up at the ceiling. There were a few plants strung up there, and some fairy lights, so Kel had a lot to look at when he was bored.
“Oh, they aren’t anything special haha. Besides when you do that I think it makes Sunny a little annoyed with us, so maybe eat them off camera this time,” Basil said softly. Kel pretended he didn’t hear that part. He liked to see the look on Sunny’s face when he felt like he was missing out on something. It was cute and funny… and last time Kel had gotten to press a cookie up against the screen for Sunny to mock eating-- Basil was freaking out about the crumbs, but Kel cleaned them up after-- which was even cuter and funnier.
For a while now Kel had felt like things couldn’t be better. Basil and Sunny had started dating a couple months after Sunny came clean about Mari, when the two got to talking about everything, a lot, all the time. It was only when Sunny came down to visit recently though that Kel had gotten in on the action. The two invited him out with them and they took a box of Gino’s pizza down to the hidden lake, where Kel admitted he was a bit afraid he’d become a third wheel. To this Basil said, “Ah, don’t worry, it’s like… we’re like a tricycle!”
Everyone was very quiet and red-faced for a minute while Basil slowly processed what he had said, and then he continued, rambling frantically, “Not like… like in a weird way, I don’t know, like I just meant it’s nice when we’re together like this with all of us, and I enjoy…. well, Sunny likes… we both…. think… you’re neat….?”
Sunny face-palmed. Then he took Kel’s hand in one of his own, and Basil’s in the other. It was a silent offering. A confession of sorts. Kel wasn’t the best at picking up social cues, but even he could read the mood when he saw how furiously Basil was blushing on top of getting his hand held.
Ever since then he’d been a part of this relationship. It was a little strange, but Kel had been smitten for longer than he’d really realized with the both of them, so it worked. He was happy. It had been a few years since he’d felt so content.
When band practice finished it was evening, and Kel set off towards home alone with his hands in his pockets. At the crossroads though, when he squinted, he caught sight of Aubrey leaning against the signpost across the street.
They made swift eye contact before Aubrey immediately looked away as Kel noticed her and started yelling, “HEY AUBREYYYYYYY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER THEREEEEE?” Aubrey rolled her eyes and looked back with an annoyed-- but slightly flustered?-- expression on her face.
“None of your damn business Kel, leave me alone.” Aubrey turned on her heel and made a beeline for her house in the distance. She clearly hoped to shake Kel off by fleeing the scene.
But Kel wasn’t so easily deterred. He followed her down the sidewalk as she left, crossing the crosswalk to close in on her from behind. Normally he left Aubrey to herself, but something seemed off about her tonight. He wondered why she was just out here standing by the road when it was getting kind of late. “Aubrey come on, I know we don’t always get along but you don’t have to be all cold with me,” he said, pouting as he speed walked at her side.
“I’m not being cold with you, there’s just nothing to discuss,” she shot back. Kel frowned and reached out, lightly grabbing her shoulder to stop her. Aubrey did stop, but she looked furious. “I said there’s nothing to discuss, Kel!”
“Okay, I really feel like you’re like… lashing out at me or something, and a year ago I probably would have sent that energy right back at you, but things are different now. You don’t have to get all touchy and stuff. You can just tell me what’s going on, yaknow?” Kel struggled to say everything he wanted to. Talking to Aubrey made him a special kind of frustrated.
Aubrey seemed to get it, though. She let out a shaky sigh and plopped down on the curb, patting the ground next to her in reluctant invitation but glaring off into the bushes. Kel cautiously joined her on the curb and waited semi-patiently for her to speak. Finally, she said, “This is gonna sound stupid, but… I was listening to you play.”
He didn’t mean to, but he snorted a little at that. Aubrey flushed bright pink and immediately punched his arm pretty hard in retaliation, grumpily muttering, “Sorry, involuntary reflex.”
Then after a pause, Kel nudged Aubrey with his elbow and asked, “So? How was it?”
Aubrey made a foul expression. “Bad.”
Kel sputtered indignantly, before managing to say, “Hey, we’re just starting out! One day my kazoo will paint these streets with gold!”
Aubrey looked at him blankly as if to say, “sure it will bro” and then stood to leave. Kel hadn’t expected her to run off so quickly, and wondered if there was still something left unsaid. In any case, she seemed embarrassed to have been caught stalking her own friends instead of just asking to come in.
Strangely, he didn’t want the conversation to end like this. He found himself scrambling to find some reason they weren’t done talking, awkwardly standing up and instinctively reaching out towards Aubrey with one hand. She watched him fumble and seemed to take pity on him. Rolling her eyes, she met him halfway, stepping closer to him and taking his outstretched hand. Aubrey muttered, “Is this what you want? You’re being weird.”
“Oh, uh… I guess?” Kel said, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. After a minute of excruciating silence while the two stood there holding hands on the sidewalk, he pulled his hand away and added, “I was just thinking, next time you want to listen in, you can just come inside? I mean, I’m sure Basil wouldn’t mind. Actually he’d probably appreciate having someone to give him feedback on how it sounds.”
Aubrey, noticeably red in the face, considered this briefly. She hesitated before saying, “I don’t know, I was really just passing by. It’s not like I like music or anything.”
Kel stared at her. “You… don’t like music? Who doesn’t like music?”
“I meant-- I meant your music! I don’t like your music, specifically, cuz like I said, it’s bad,” Aubrey amended. She was panicking but it came across as sort of violent.
Kel stared at her more. He waited for her to cool down, then he put his hand under his chin like The Thinker and tried to use his therapist voice. “Now, call me crazy, but it seems to me like maybe you’re using those mean words as a cover for how you truly feel. Is there some reason you don’t want to join us at band practice, Aubrey? There, there… let’s just open our hearts and try to get this all out in the open.”
“Gahhhh, don’t psychoanalyze me,” Aubrey groaned. Kel’s attempts to lighten the mood always fell flat with Aubrey, who would just get mad at him for not taking things seriously. He just wanted to get a laugh out of her.
Even if she wasn’t amused though, it seemed like this time Kel had unintentionally struck gold by being a little too accurate. Maybe it was because it was late, or because of what happened last time someone in their friend group kept the truth under wraps, or maybe she was simply tired of acting tough, but whatever the reason, Aubrey was willing to be a little more open with Kel today than usual. She sheepishly told him, “I don’t know, maybe I’m jealous. You’re all together and I’m like… the single friend. I guess I always pictured something different. I mean, you know how I felt about Sunny when we were younger, everyone does.”
Kel slowly connected the dots. He had forgotten about that, but now it was all coming back. “Oh my god, do you still like him?”
“Ugh, what is this, middle school? I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know if it’s about that only though, actually,” Aubrey said. She sounded tired and unsure of herself.
“Okay. I get it. Wait no I don’t, what is that supposed to mean?”
“I said I don’t know! I mean like it’s not just Sunny--”
“Oh my god, do you like Basil too? Cuz I’m pretty sure Basil’s gay, Aubrey,” Kel gasped, cutting her off. Then he paused and considered it in more depth. “Actually maybe not, I don’t know… we haven’t discussed it, so like he could totally swing both ways I guess. If you want I could wingman for you and ask?”
“What!?” Aubrey was truly flabbergasted that Kel could have made such a gigantic assumption with only half a sentence as his basis. “Look, I don’t even know how I feel! Why are you putting words in my mouth? Also, why are you not bothered by the implications of what you’re saying?”
“Well, I don’t know what else you could have meant. I’m not a mind reader, Aubrey,” Kel huffed, crossing his arms like a kid throwing a tantrum.
“I was going to finish my sentence! You don’t have to be a mind reader, Kel!”
“Well how am I supposed to know that, you women are complicated!” Kel suddenly realized they had gotten pretty up in each other’s business while arguing and stepped backward, face hot with a mix of anger and embarrassment. He remembered what Aubrey had said earlier and asked, “And what did you mean by that, when you asked why I’m not bothered? Bothered by what?”
“Bothered by wingmanning for me to your boyfriend, you absolute dunce!” As soon as she said this, Aubrey seemed to regret being born. She covered her face with her hands. “God, this is so stupid.”
“Aubrey, are you forgetting that I’m literally already the third person in this relationship? It’s not like it’s cheating, you don’t have to be weird about it,” Kel said casually, as if there really wasn’t anything weird about this situation at all. Then realization dawned on his face. “Oh shit, look, we gotta pick this up again tomorrow. It’s so late right now. My mom is going to kill me.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Aubrey replied in a daze. “Wait what? Pick this up again? I never want to talk to you about this again in my life!”
“We’ll see about that tomorrow in the park at five,” Kel said, shooting her cheeky finger guns. “Goodnight, Aubrey.”
And with that, he left Aubrey on the street corner alone, wondering what she’d done to deserve this turn of events.
~~~
The next day, in the park at five, Aubrey sat waiting on the bench near the playground, watching birds pick through the rocks. She wasn’t sure why exactly she’d come. It could be her lingering sense of responsibility, or maybe she was just scared that if she didn’t show, Kel would tell Sunny and Basil all kinds of crazy things about her that may or may not even be true.
Half an hour passed. The birds flew away to rest on the powerlines. Had he forgotten? Aubrey was just about to give up on him showing at all when suddenly he appeared, out of breath and slightly sweaty, making a beeline towards her from the direction of the Othermart. As he ran, he called, “Hey Aubrey! Take this!”
He was referring to a bag of Aubrey’s favorite chocolates. It was Kel’s signature move to skip the apology and try and distract her. It was like some twisted version of “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission” that instead stated “it’s easier to bribe your way out of things than to ask forgiveness.” This time, she took the bait.
“So what exactly did you want to discuss,” she asked, already popping a Snickers in her mouth. Kel joined her on the bench. He reached over to take one of the candies and she swatted his hand away, not even looking down.
“So I asked Basil, and he’s actually not gay, he’s pan, so like. We in there,” Kel said with a grin. Aubrey spat out her chocolate.
“What the fuck, Kel? You didn’t tell him, did you?” She hissed, clutching the bag like she wished it was Kel’s neck.
“No, of course not. I’m not an asshole, Aubrey. So does this mean you do like him?”
“I-- ugh-- I don’t know! I said I don’t know!” Aubrey gripped the bag impossibly harder as she spoke. Kel felt a bit guilty for prodding her like this, but he couldn’t help being curious. It had been a while since something this juicy had fallen into his lap. He decided to be more subtle. Well, as subtle as possible for someone like him.
“Okay, well… are you excited about the amusement park trip tomorrow?”
“What?” Aubrey said, glaring at him suspiciously. “Why are you changing the subject? You’re the one who called me out here just to talk about this!”
“Just answer the question, sheesh,” Kel insisted, leaning back limply into the bench as if he’d died from how annoyed he was.
“Okay, fine. Yeah, I’m pretty excited. You could probably have guessed that. I mean it’ll be the first time I’ve seen Sunny since last summer. Actually, it might be the first time I’ve seen Basil since last summer, even though he lives like, a block away,” Aubrey said uneasily, rambling to fill the unusual silence Kel had left for her. Usually that guy would never shut up. “Do you think he… holds a grudge? I mean, not a grudge per se, just like… does he feel uncomfortable with me after how I treated him back then?”
“Oh yeah, for sure. But I mean, Basil’s uncomfortable with everyone,” Kel mused aloud.
“Wow,” Aubrey said dryly, continually amazed by Kel’s bluntness. “That’s… one way to put it. Maybe I should apologize again. Last time I did, it was through a closed door and he was probably in there having a panic attack with some garden shears, so like. A redo probably wouldn’t hurt.”
“That’s true. I think you like him,” Kel said simply. It took Aubrey by surprise.
“What,” Aubrey yelped. “What do you mean.”
“Dude, I asked you if you were excited to go to an amusement park. What does that have to do with what Basil thought of your apology a year ago?” Kel asked, grinning again. He looked way too smug for Aubrey’s taste. “I stopped talking for like, two minutes, and you just went off. So yeah, I think you like him.”
“I--you… since when are you so smart, ugh,” Aubrey grumbled, complaining under her breath about Kel’s “sneaky underhanded tactics” through a new mouthful of chocolate.
There was heavy silence for a beat, and then Aubrey frowned and asked, “Ok, so what if I like him? What if I like both of them? What then? What happens now?”
“Well… I’ll help you!” Kel stood up so quickly he almost fell over and gave Aubrey an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “Operation Quadricycle! Like, you’re the fourth wheel in our beautiful relationship!!!”
“Operation… Kel that’s just a car,” Aubrey said, confused.
“No, like… a quadricycle. Like, a bike, but it has four wheels. That’s a thing. Look it up.” Kel seemed to suddenly not be all that sure that a quadricycle actually was a thing now that he was being questioned.
“I’m calling bs,” Aubrey announced, whipping out her phone to Google it. She squinted down at the results, seemingly even more confused now that she had. “Okay, so it is a thing, but this doesn’t look like a bike at all. It looks more like… a very fragile carriage?”
Kel leaned onto her shoulder and looked at it as well. “Okay but the parts are like… bike-like. I told you it existed. Operation Quadricycle!”
“Forget that. How are you going to ‘help’ me?” Aubrey tried to focus but found herself thinking a lot about how close Kel’s face still was to hers for seemingly no reason. Her chest felt tight so she did the only reasonable thing she could think of and put her hand smack in the middle of his face and pushed it away.
Kel spoke into her hand, sounding muffled and garbled and making her hand feel damp, which was gross, so she moved it and wiped it on her denim skirt, lip curled back in disgust. “I’ll just wingman for you, the old fashioned way, except like… times two. And also it should be easier cuz I’m dating them. Wait, will that make it harder?”
“Yeah, obviously. What does being a ‘wingman’ even mean?”
“I think it’s just setting up situations for your bro to get laid. Like I could create a diversion at the amusement park so you’re alone with Sunny or Basil, or both of them I guess, but then they might just make out,” Kel explained. Aubrey flicked him for using the phrase “get laid” and he frowned and mumbled about how mean she was.
“How do you even know this will work? Like, what if they don’t like me?” Aubrey said, fidgeting and rubbing her wrist.
“Then they don’t, I guess. But I mean, why not try? Besides I know Sunny at least used to have a thing for you, so it’s definitely not unlikely that he might still feel that way.” Kel smiled at her reassuringly. Or it looked that way. Aubrey didn’t trust it.
“God, I can’t believe things went like this. Before you brought up all this crush business, I was just gonna say that I kinda wanted to join the stupid band,” Aubrey said, letting out a short laugh at the absurdity of it. Kel’s eyes widened into saucers.
“You do? Woah, what instrument? You know you can’t back out now that you’ve said it, right? Come over next Thursday,” Kel gushed, stars in his eyes, shaking Aubrey by her shoulders.
“Kel, stop, jesus christ, I can’t handle two big things at once, we’ll talk about this another time,” Aubrey sputtered, struggling out of his grip and standing to leave. “Are we done here now? Because you showed up late and now it’s practically night time again.”
“Hey, I brought Snickers!” Realization dawned on Kel’s face. “Oh shit, my mom’s gonna kill me.”
And with that, the two parted ways once again, both leaving the park in the direction of their respective houses, and both feeling strangely warm on the inside after spending so much time together for the first time in a while.