Chapter Text
Sunny woke abruptly to the sound of his mother knocking on his door, "Sunny, dear, it's time to get up." She said. Sunny sat up, giving a small ruffle to his black hair. He got off his bed, walking to his desk, and opening his laptop. After the move, Sunny began attending online classes and also bought himself a phone. Sunny checked his phone, seeing a few messages from his friends, Kel and Basil. Basil's message read; "Good morning, Sunny! I hope you're doing well! Thank goodness it's Friday, hm? I've prepared something special for you for when I see you. It's a super-secret surprise! Like a housewarming gift! Anyways I hope you do good in your online classes today! We can talk later!" this message brought a soft smile to Sunny's face as he clicked over to Kel's message. "HEY SUNNY! HERO WANTED ME TO ASK IF WE COULD DRIVE OVER AND SPEND A FEW NIGHTS OVER THERE FOR THE WEEKEND! AUBREY, BASIL, AND US ALL HAVE PERMISSION, YOU JUST NEED TO ASK YOUR MOM! hehe" Sunny hummed, looking at his laptop then back at his phone to send his mother a message. "can my friends come over?" was the simple message sent to the woman that rested only a few feet from his room. Sunny jolted as his door opened, "You know you can always come out of your room and talk to me like a normal human being, right, Sunny?" his mom said with a small grin on her face. Sunny turned around in his chair, facing her. "Mmm," managed to be the boy's only response, his eyes glanced away from his mother. "did they want to spend the night?" Sunny's mom asked, to which Sunny nodded. "clean your room up a bit, and tell them I won't be cooking." his mother replied. Sunny nodded, turning back to his phone and forwarding the message to his friends, "you can come over, the food's on you though." turning his phone over and setting it on his desk, Sunny's attention shifted to his laptop as he pulled out a notebook used for his schoolwork.
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Hours passed and Sunny's classes were complete for the week, the boy closed his notebook and laptop, tidying his desk up a bit in preparations for his sleepover. Kel had texted him, simply about a new flavor of "Joe" soda. "You'll probably like this one, it's APPLE Joe! The refreshing taste of apple juice with the bitter taste of coffee!" sounds disgusting, was Sunny's first thought. However, knowing Kel, Sunny would have to try it first before voicing his opinion. Sunny slipped his phone into his pocket, walking to his room's bathroom, and turning on the light. The boy looked into the mirror, slightly relieved that he'd no longer see anything strange behind him. Sunny's attention went to his hair, which had slightly grown within the months he'd been in this new home of his. He stared down into the sink, his hands beginning to tremble as he thought about the last time his hair had grown out. "you look so much like her now..." his mother's voice echoed in his ears, Sunny gasped, looking up into the mirror again and suddenly being in his old home at that exact moment. His mother played with his hair, which had grown beyond shoulder length. "Don't you think it's time for a haircut?" She asked, a pair of scissors in her hands as she yanked at the young boy's hair. The scissors cut and cut, hair fell into the sink and Sunny couldn't even tell when it was over. Snapping back to reality, Sunny grabbed at his hair, gasping as he'd found himself back in the present. He placed his hands back on the sink, glancing at them, trying to find any cuts as he'd sustained many back then. He quickly pulled out his phone as he felt it vibrating, a video call incoming from Kel. Sunny answered, seeing Kel in Hero's passenger seat along with Aubrey and Basil in the back seats. "HI SUNNY!!" Kel practically screamed, showing the camera to Aubrey and Basil. "WE'RE ON THE WAY TO YOUR HOUSE!" Kel said. Sunny smiled, he'd truly been looking forward to their arrival. "WHOA!" Kel exclaimed, surprised to see Sunny smile. "Look, guys! Sunny's--- oof." As Kel turned to the backseat, he'd dropped his phone on the car floor. "Nice going, Kel!" Aubrey yelled. "Kel! Be careful, don't lean over the seats like that!" Hero yelled. "Especially while I'm driving!" he yelled. "I dropped my phone somewhere! Aubrey, can you check by your feet?" Kel asked.
Sunny set his phone on his desk and tidied up some more while listening to the commotion over the video call. Sunny checked under his bed, his breaths getting slightly uneasy as he'd made a discovery. A violin case from his birthday a few months ago. Sunny still hasn't played it, he could never bring himself to. No matter how much his mother yelled at him. Over and Over, time and time again, Sunny would always find his mother spewing that same phrase "Why can't you be more like Mari?" ...."HEY SUNNY! I STILL CAN'T FIND MY PHONE BUT WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Kel shouted, snapping Sunny back to his senses, the boy quickly lifted his head, bumping it on his bed frame. "ah-" Sunny rubbed the sudden wound on his head, getting up and walking over to his phone. "O...Okay.." Sunny replied faintly, though not expecting anyone to hear him before he hung up.
Sunny inched out of his room, cautious at first as he passed his mother's room. "Whatcha sneaking around for, Sunny?" She chirped. Sunny froze, backing up to face his mother in the doorway. "I...just wanted to meet them at the door...outside..." Sunny mumbled. "You don't have to sneak out to it, Silly." His mother laughed. Sunny looked away, fidgeting with his hands. "I-I wasn't trying to..." He said softly. "Okay.." Sunny's mother looked back to her nightstand. "Look at this cute photo I found earlier while unpacking some of the boxes upstairs." She said, turning back to Sunny with a smile. "I should...go outside an--" "Oh come on, it'll only be a moment!" His mother said, motioning him over. Sunny sighed, knowing there was no point in going back and forth with her. Walking over to his mother, Sunny glanced at the photo and his suspicion was correct about the contents of the photo. It was of him and Mari. Another sigh escaped Sunny's lips as he could hear his mother subtly whimper, she was crying. Sunny was suddenly alerted by the sound of the doorbell, followed by a pounding at the door. "They're here.." Sunny felt a smile creep onto his face as he went to exit his mother's room. As he stared down the hallway towards the front door, his sight seemed to blur as gravity seemed to shift at his feet. His stomach turned as he fell to his knees, a familiar feeling he'd experienced before when he saw...it. Something. But why would he be panicking now? Everything was going to be okay now, right? Sunny looked down, closing his eyes. "stop it, stop it. stop." Sunny repeated quietly to himself, the sound of the doorbell continued in the background. "SUNNY OPEN THE DOOR!" Sunny's mother yelled.
Sunny inhaled deeply, feeling as if he'd just been underwater as he opened his eyes and stumbled to his feet to answer the door. There he saw his friends. Kel was held in a headlock by Hero while being lectured for repeatedly ringing the doorbell. Basil stood behind Aubrey, he seemed to be holding something behind him. "SUNNY!" Kel cheered. Sunny waved slightly, allowing his friends to enter. "We have to go straight to my room," Sunny instructed as the group walked to his room, Sunny had noticed his mother had closed her room door. Hero looked to the right of Sunny's room, seeing a square on the ceiling, the attic door. "hey Sunny," he spoke. Sunny walked over to Hero, looking at the door to the attic. "Have you been up there yet?" he asked with a smile. Sunny shook his head. "My mom put a bunch of boxes up there when we first moved in, I think it's Mari's old stuff." Sunny said, returning to the rest of the group that was in his room. "right.." Hero hummed. "Nice place, Sunny!" Kel said. "Thank you," Sunny replied. "h-Here, Sunny. It's still a baby flower but one day...with enough care, it'll become a big daffodil." Basil smiled, handing Sunny a potted plant. Sunny stared down at the pot, he felt a warm feeling in his chest as he set the pot down on his desk. "Thank you...I'll take good care of it..." Sunny said. Lucky for him, taking care of a plant was on his bucket list for this year, per the orders of his therapist. Sunny reached into a drawer and pulled out a notebook, crossing out the notation with a pen. A satisfied smile was on Sunny's face as he turned back to his friends, "oh.." Sunny's smile faded. "Was...there something you guys wanted to do..?" he asked. "aww, why'd you stop smiling?" Kel asked. "h-huh..?" Sunny blinked. Kel got up from Sunny's bed and spun Sunny around so he was facing his long mirror in the corner of his room. "Smile!" Kel chirped, using his fingers to lift the ends of Sunny's mouth to force him to smile. "Kel, stop it, if Sunny doesn't want to smile then he--" Hero's lecture was cut off as Sunny suddenly started to laugh. A joyous laugh, something his friends hadn't heard in such a long time. "Heh...eh eh.." Aubrey even brought herself to let out a small giggle, followed by Hero and Kel. Basil smiled warmly and began to laugh. "Oh, that reminds me, Kel, run to the car and get the snacks, will ya?" Hero asked his younger brother. "Sure! Sunny, you have GOT to try the new apple joe." Kel said, rushing out of the home to retrieve the snacks. "it's not good." both Aubrey and Hero said. Sunny's face scrunched up with slight disgust, "oh.." he mumbled. "An old radio..?" Hero questioned, grabbing said radio from off of Sunny's desk. "Does it work?" Hero asked, turning the knobs until the speakers began to emit sound. "Oh!" Hero chirped, making Sunny laugh a bit. The front door had opened once again, Kel had returned with a few plastic bags in hand.
He ushered into the room, setting the bags down. "here, here, here." Kel rummaged through the bags and found the can of soda he was looking for and handed it to Sunny. "Try it," he said, his smile as bright as the sun. Sunny looked at the can, then back at Kel. His face still scrunched up with disgust and discomfort. "He can try it later, Kel. Maybe he's not thirsty right now." Hero said. Sunny set the can down on his desk, kneeling to the bags and rummaging through them. "One of those bags should be filled with groceries for dinner. I figured your mom would let us use the kitchen...right?" Hero asked. "...." Sunny paused, looking away. He really didn't want to ask her. "It should be fine." He said, continuing to look through the bags for something else to eat. "...sorry, I-I didn't..think about it..I should've just gotten snacks.." Hero said, he knew how Sunny's mother was, he used to be with Mari after all, so he knew exactly how she could be. "I said it should be fine, I'll take care of whatever after you guys leave," Sunny said. Hero felt a pit of guilt in his stomach, Sunny meant that he'd endure any punishment that came his way. "chips." Sunny said as he'd finally found a bag of chips. "aw yeah! Those are my favorite! Are there any more of those in there?" Kel asked, now also looking through the bag. "Don't eat them all in one day, Kel," Aubrey said. "I only had one bag and that was in the car!" Kel said. "Yeah but I know you and you'll eat the entire thing of snacks before anyone else gets any!" Aubrey said. "Nuh-uh!" Kel barked. Sunny took a seat beside Basil on his bed, putting a few chips into his mouth before looking over to Basil and meeting his gaze. Sunny offered the bag of chips to Basil, just in case the boy next to him wanted some. "Ah, no thanks.." Basil smiled. "I ate before I came," he said. "Huh..?" Kel looked away from the grocery bags and at something else that piqued his interest, from underneath Sunny's bed. "Oh hey! Wow, Sunny, do you still play the violin?" Kel asked, grabbing the violin case from under his bed. Sunny looked to Kel, dropping the bag of chips. "I-I..." Sunny grew nervous. "Kel! Quit snooping. For goodness sake, if Sunny wanted you to see that thing, it wouldn't be under his bed." Aubrey said. Kel looked to Sunny, for clarification. To which Sunny just looked away. "Oh...oh man, I'm sorry.." Kel put the violin case back. Silence overcame the group for a moment until the sound of subtle growling could be heard. "What...was that?" Kel asked. Basil grabbed his stomach, his face turning red. "O-Okay...m-maybe I didn't eat before I came.." He laughed nervously, making the other few friends laugh as well. "Since you aren't digging any snacks.." Hero hummed. "I suppose I could start dinner." He said, looking at Sunny. Sunny nodded, "I'll come and help." He said, smiling just a little. "OO OO, ME TOO!!" Kel said, quickly getting up. "Aubrey, Basil, would you two like to help as well?" Hero asked. "Ugh, I guess.." Aubrey replied. Basil nodded in agreement. "This is going to be the best sleepover ever!" Kel cheered.