Chapter Text
July 20th. Sunny’s seventeenth birthday, a day circled in red on Basil’s calendar.
He had secretly hoped Sunny would come to see him and the rest of his old friends. At least, a few weeks ago. As he thought about it, he couldn’t help but dream up the many possibilities for this fateful reunion. But the more he dreamed, the more it began to take over his thoughts. After awhile, he’d planned out a perfect day for Sunny, the rest of his old friends, and him. Breakfast at Kel and Hero’s in the morning, Gino’s at noon, and a lovely lakeside picnic that evening to round it all off. They would muse about their lives, talk of forgiveness, and maybe even Sunny would finally...
It was a fairytale finish. A perfect end, the final denouement, total catharsis. In a long sweeping trance, Basil made every preparation he could and eagerly counted down every single day until it would finally happen. The wait was unbearable, but the days seemed to swiftly slide by at the same time. At long last, all would be well and he would finally be able to truly move on. Everything would finally be okay.
It was the night of the nineteenth that Basil had a moment of lucidity.
He opened his flip phone and looked back at texts to Sunny. The last time they had even said anything to each other was last November. On top of that, wasn’t Hero back in college for extra summer classes? And then, it made sense.
Basil had planned nothing. The entire theoretical birthday party tomorrow was just that, theoretical. It started with an offhanded thought, it grew into a dream, and in the haze of fantasizing, Basil had forgotten that he hadn’t even invited Sunny back to Faraway Town. Nothing was really happening tomorrow, he’d just deluded himself into thinking otherwise. This is real life, no way out, nothing ever changes. How could be so unfathomably stupid? This is what he gets for thinking anything at all would ever be ok! He caught himself.
He stared at the ceiling, then at a nearby planter holding some white tulips, then the calendar. Every day had been crossed off but the next. His bed was comfortably warm, despite the thick swampy humidity outside. Thinking back to the garden earlier that day, he remarked to himself how the atmosphere outside had a consistency of overcooked clam chowder. The way the air conditioning felt later that day was indescribable. It’s a miracle that the house's AC had almost never had any sorts of big problems, especially none owing to the plants. Maybe that in itself had something to do with the plants.
And in an instant, Basil had grounded himself.
It was a technique taught to him in therapy. If he ever found himself spiraling, he would stop to find things around him that are real, and it would effectively slow down his thoughts. It seemed to be working just fine, but how was he supposed to know if he didn’t stay on top of it? Well, that’s what Polly is for. She had always made certain that he had keeping up with his therapist's points of advice and applying what he was meant to be learning. In the first few instances she had guided him through it, but as time ticked on and the frequency of breakdowns finally began to taper off, she gradually let him float on his own. Then, he remembered.
Alone with his thoughts yet again, with bruises still remaining from the fight. As much as he hated to think it and despite holding it back as much as he could, the idea slowly seeped in. What if that day in the hospital had gone different? What if the logical thing had happened, and none of them ever wanted to see him or Sunny ever again? Why didn’t they just abandon the two of them like they should have? What if Hero or Aubrey or maybe even Kel decided to get violent? What if Sunny had-
Calendar.
Watering can, photo album, duckfoot ivy.
The ivy had been trained around the door frame, and by the looks of it, it was about three fourths of the way around. Keeping that stuff growing in the right direction had been a herculean task, it’s surprising that it wasn’t all ripped down that night when Sunny- Nope. It had survived faithfully, and it would probably be finished growing around the time school started back up.
Basil refocused himself. Despite what he had just thought, that terrible scene in the hospital he had just dreamt up was certainly not what happened that day. While it definitely didn’t go perfectly swimmingly, it seemed as if Sunny had at the very least forgiven himself, if not Basil. He noted that despite things not immediately getting better, he hadn’t seen a single Something since Sunny spoke his truth.
Polly had just finished cleaning up from dinner when Basil walked into the living room.
“Hi Polly.”
“Uh, hi Basil, you’re usually just in your room around this time.”
“...”
“So, do you need anything?”
Basil described the past few minutes to Polly. How the thoughts came, how he’d caught himself mid-spiral, and what he’d done to slow down his train of thought and think logically. It wasn’t just ignoring the thoughts, it was cleverly confronting them. He had managed to do it all completely on his own. In the moments that followed, Basil didn’t think he had ever seen Polly look so excited, or proud, or both.
Basil blinked and sat up in bed.
It was a nice thought, but there was another task at hand. What was it? His mind had been wandering yet again. He hated randomly forgetting things. Something tomorrow. His eyes fell on the calendar. July 20th, Sunny’s birthday. Oh yeah, that’s what it was.
Sunny won’t be here tomorrow, and there’s no reason to think he will be. Oh well. Maybe he should at least celebrate somehow, just seeing how much he’s sunk into the otherwise unimportant date already. It doesn’t have to be huge, just some extra thing to acknowledge it. Probably just ordering something big from Gino’s, maybe planting some new tulip bulbs. Basil eyed the white tulips again. Planting them somewhere important, perhaps? Somewhere in the park? The lake? The treehouse? Gotta think bigger than that. Heck, maybe he could make a daytrip and deliver them to Sunny, he’d just need Polly’s car and-
What?
Basil barely had the nerve to drive, let alone steal Polly’s car keys. What the hell was he thinking? He stopped for a second. Really, what the hell was he thinking? This day isn’t really amazingly important anyway, but really it is! He couldn’t just forget Sunny like that, not after Sunny did what he could to not leave him. Everything has to be okay, and Sunny is exactly what is necessary for that. In fact, had Sunny not come into his room that night, he almost certainly would have taken his garden shears and...
“NO! NOT RIGHT NOW!”
Basil cupped his hands over his mouth, realizing he had accidentally vocalized his thoughts. Very loudly too.
“Basil? Are you alright?”
Crap. Now Polly’s awake.
“Basil?”
“Yes! Um, yes. I am alright.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I am. Sorry for waking you up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Polly calmly replied. “What happened anyway? Bad dream?”
“Thankfully not. I just kinda got lost in thought then thought out loud. Analysis paralysis, I guess you could say?”
“Okay, good. Just one question. Are you in danger?”
“No, I am not.”
Man, what a euphemism.
“Alright.” Polly exhaled. “Just wanted to make sure.”
“Again, sorry for waking you up.”
“Oh don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it at all. You can never be too careful, right?”
“I’ll try not to uhh...” Basil yawned. “...Freak you out again.”
A small grin escaped Polly. “Alright, see you in the morning.”
“Good night.”
Realizing he was now thinking straight again, even if temporarily, Basil made good of his time. If he wanted to prevent himself from spiraling for a third time tonight, the best course of action would be just going to sleep then and there. He could and should think harder about this all in the morning. While yes it might be ignoring pressing thoughts, the other option is spiraling again. He needed more self control, he rationalized, and so he sunk back into his bed. After all, it was ultimately impulsive snap decisions that led to- Nope, not now.
With that, Basil let himself rest. He’d need as much of it as he could get for tomorrow. Why? He was unsure, but something inside told him he probably needed it. But why? Enough talking, head voice! Time to sleep.
* * * *
Basil woke up at 9, but only decided to leave his bed a half hour later. He grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and picked up the tea kettle to find that it was half full. It seemed that Polly had woken up a few hours earlier and made some, leaving a little bit in the pot for him. It had long since cooled off by the time he’d woken up, but no matter. He switched the stove on and began reheating it. It had barely been a minute since the kettle began heating up when Basil noticed the strong scent. Mint? Yep, mint tea. Good choice, Polly.
Mint. It tends to invade other plants near it, better go check the garden and make sure it’s not. Basil peeled the orange and picked up a watering can to make his morning rounds. There wasn’t much to report; most plants were making good progress, the mint was, surprisingly enough, staying where it needed to be, the tomatoes were faltering a bit but it’s probably nothing to really worry about. Basil picked up a smaller can and worked his way back inside. He broke a tiny bit of sweat, but it wasn’t nearly as bad outside as it had been the day before. He moved from the flower flooded shelf near the door to the hanging ferns to the bonsai sapling to the out-of-season poinsettias to the little planter box with the tulips-
Oh, right. That was today, wasn’t it?
Basil splashed the white flowers with the remaining water, rushed back to the garden shed, tossed the watering can inside and slammed the door, sprinted back to the front door, dove into his bed and snatched his phone, and typed and typed and-
9:55 AM Basil >> Happy Birthday Sunny!!! I hope that today goes good and that your life is getting better! We really miss you here in Faraway Town!
9:55 AM Basil >> If you get your schedule in order some time, you should really come visit us! Wed love to see you and really miss you!!!
Basil’s heart smashed against his chest. How could he have just forgotten like that? How could he ever make this up to himself? How is anything at all going to be okay at this rate?
9:59 AM Sunny >> Thanks
His train of thought, running off the rails, had screeched to a stop.
For one, this certainly wouldn’t help Sunny ever want to see him or any of his old friends again. But seeing how things have been, even over a year after that unforgettable hour in Silva Memorial Hospital, maybe that’s for the better.
Over a year ago. Certainly not a nice thing to think about.
Basil lamented how even after all this time, he still wasn’t better. He might not have been a total nervous wreck anymore, but he was still having flashbacks, still experiencing spirals, and worst of all, was nearly as attached to Sunny as he during that terrible weekend where everything came to a head. What had all that therapy even been for anyway? At least now Polly knew more unwanted details about him. He should have never said a thing. Why did he ever breathe a single word to the nurses about wanting to-
Breathe.
The alarm clock on the bedside table read 10:07. A small sliver of sun shone through the window onto the bookshelf. A string of photos hanging from clothespins adorned the nearby wall. He had made a habit of taking more photos again, this time trying to find new friends to fill them with. On the edge of the string sat one he had taken with Polly, a notably rare occurrence.
Polly. Ever since starting therapy, Basil did have to talk to her a lot more than usual. But as a result, Polly finally seemed to loosen up a tiny bit. She was more eager to talk, she didn’t look constantly tensed and worried like she once did, and even her cooking seemed to improve. Maybe everything isn’t perfectly okay, but it would be foolish to say things hadn’t at least gotten better.
Standing up from his bed, the white tulips caught Basil’s eye again. He figured he could still find something to do with them for today, it was Sunny’s birthday after all. Something special was in line and he thought about it a tiny bit, but he wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything rash. He decided he would make the decision later once he had a clearer head.
* * * *
The sun was beginning to set, but that was certainly not about to mark the end of Basil’s day. Right before dinner, he had finalized his simple plan. Get out of the house, get to the lake in the woods, find a spot that would get a lot of sun, pray the soil was right for it, and plant the white tulips by the lakeside. He and Sunny had countless memories there, good and bad and everything in between, so it would only be appropriate. It wouldn’t be too crazy either, just get in, plant the tulips, and get out. And even once he was finished he would no longer have the risk of looking at the flowers and spiraling, it was a win-win situation.
The only issue is that there might be people at the lake during the day, and he wanted nothing less than to have to explain everything to complete strangers. Which would lead to having to sneak out at night. But the problem with that is that Polly sleeps with both eyes open and Basil had never once snuck out anyway, so getting caught certainly wouldn’t be fun. On top of that, he’d explained to her some time ago how the tulips reminded him of Sunny, and so not only could he get caught sneaking out at night, but with something that Polly knew reminded him of his object of obsession. There’d be no explaining his way out of that one, so the only option was heading out long, long after Polly was certainly asleep.
After dinner, the preparations began. Basil had moved the tulips into a slightly smaller planter, one that could be easily carried by hand. In a small backpack was packed a small plastic bag filled with some of the tulips’ former dirt, taking the luck factor out of finding a planting spot with good soil, and a small spade. Basil reminisced how for a long time after coming home from the hospital, he wasn’t allowed anywhere near the majority of his tools, and for good reasons. While that did mean most of the heavy stuff was relegated to Polly, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat disconnected from the garden for those few months. Of course as time went on and he started to build back trust he could use them again, finally pulling him back in. He still wasn’t sure what exactly happened to those garden shears, but it’s not like he really wanted to know in the first place.
And finally, the unfortunate key ingredient: an energy drink from the vending machine at the park. Basil couldn’t trust himself to stay fully awake and aware the whole time without something like it, and Polly would be suspicious if Basil was making tea with caffeine this late at night. Of course she would be even more suspicious if she saw him bringing home that black-and-green can of spicy corn syrup, but she didn’t and that’s all that matters here.
He took the first sip. It had a sensation similar to drinking a box of thumb tacks, he nearly coughed it all out in the first half second. The flavor was simply not describable, outside of it being the least natural thing he’d ever tasted. Putting the can down, he felt much more awake already. Would he even need the whole can? Probably not. Hopefully not.
Basil sat on the bed reading a book, but his attention was all on the clock. About two hours had passed since dinner, and Polly seemed to be in bed at this point. Whether or not she was really asleep was indeterminable, so Basil waited and waited. And waited. Maybe another sip of the energy drink would help time pass a bit faster.
It was 11:11. Woo. Make a wish. Basil had gotten lost in the book and only noticed when that time struck. That hour had passed mercifully fast, although he wasn’t sure if that was owed to the book or the energy drink. Regardless, now was finally looking to be a good time to get moving. He slid on his backpack, took one last sip from that cursed can, and picked up the planter.
The door cracked open, and the very first thing to enter his mind was that the hinges probably hadn’t been oiled in years. He ever so slightly pushed the door forward. Another inch, minimal noise, still seemingly in the clear. Another inch, and another, and another, and another, until finally he had made enough space for him, the planter, and his backpack to fit through. The only door left now would thankfully be the front door. The floor below cried out as he stepped forward.
Basil froze.
He gripped both the doorknob and the planter box unnaturally hard. Any motion, any shifting of weight, could become an unfortunate alarm clock for Polly.
Basil waited, and heard nothing.
He remembered a trick that Aubrey had taught him many years ago. If he stood on the floorboards near the walls, then they wouldn't creak nearly as much. Gradually he began to shift his weight back from the telltale board, and eventually replaced his foot right up against the wall. Making no sound, he moved his other foot, keeping impeccable balance all the while.
Reaching the main room, he plotted out an escape route. Hug the walls on the side of the kitchen to the front door, open it with the care put into the previous door, and he’d be home free.
Silently, he stalked across the kitchen, around the dining table, and finally to the welcome mat. This time, barring a single lock which made a concerning but ultimately survivable noise, the door gave much less trouble. Finally outside, Basil closed the door behind him and was on his way. Curse this old decaying house!
Basil could count on his fingers the number of times he’d been out alone at night. Even today, especially today, everything around him seemed to have come to a complete, peaceful stop. Faraway isn’t a particularly bustling town in the first place, but this was still beyond anything he had experienced in the past. He noted his surroundings to himself as he approached the town center, the park, and the hidden trail to the lake.
There wasn’t anything to be particularly scared of in the woods, the most dangerous thing would probably be accidentally startling a fox or a deer buck. He took in the sweeping sound that the uncountable number of crickets and cicadas made around him, the sound of his own footsteps crunching the occasional stick or leaf, and...
...something else?
It didn’t sound dangerous, but it certainly didn’t sound natural. It wasn't just a passing noise either, it continued to drone on after it first caught his ear. Basil’s footsteps slowed as he peered into the distance. As he looked forward, another strange sight.
Through the trees, right about where the lake should be, an orange point of light.
Against his better judgement, decided to investigate. Maybe that hobo from town started a fire and abandoned it. Doesn’t he know how dangerous that is? Maybe it’s just some hikers and they’re being responsible Maybe-
Splash.
Basil’s thought process was interrupted, he stopped in his tracks. Someone was definitely there, would it be worth explaining the tulips to them? Not thinking, Basil started forward again, the point of light drawing nearer. He reached the barriers at the head of the trail, which had been utterly ineffective at keeping him or anyone else away from that lake. Then in the distance, the thing which had made that sound rose out of the water. An unnaturally large figure. It’s hair covered it’s face. It seemed to be slowly growing out from deep beneath, revealing an inhuman tallness. Then, a moonbeam struck the creature, beholding it's true identity.
Charlene?
What on earth was Charlene doing here? He always thought her parents were a lot stricter about these kinds of things. But that’s never stopped her and her friend group before, wherever they went, she went. Another figure appeared, walking from the fire to the lake.
Silently, Basil stepped further forward.
A boombox was blaring music nearby. It wasn’t nearly enough to be louder than another voice coming from nearby the fire. Mikhail, unmistakably. Close by against the orange backdrop sat a streak of pink, flanked by other unfortunately familiar faces. Then, it all made sense.
Basil froze.
There’d be no telling what they’d do to him if they caught him. There weren’t other people around, they probably, no, definitely remembered what happened at the lake just over a year ago, the worst would most certainly be assumed. Basil locked up tighter. If he ran he might get caught or might lose the tulips, but every second he stood there was another risk of being noticed. What was he to do? How would he possibly defend himself should the worst happen? Do they all know the truth? They must have all learned the truth.
In utter panic, Basil stood paralyzed. He couldn’t even will himself to move his eyes. It felt like an eternity as he waited, listening to the boombox and indecipherable campfire chatter, watching the hooligans move between the fire and the water.
As time passed, he felt that he was finally in the clear to escape unnoticed. He took a deep breath in as he began to turn away. He lifted his foot and took a step, adjusted his grip on the planter, and-
“HEY! BASIL!”
A voice called out.
“HOW’D YOU GET HERE DUDE?”
...
Kel?