Chapter Text
Sunny stepped out of the house and suddenly realized, he didn’t really know where to go. The Sun wasn’t even up yet but the sky was already painted light blue, waiting for its appearance. Birds were singing with all their heart. It was still so strange for Sunny to just be able to hear them in person. To feel the light breeze on his skin and smell the fresh air of a summer morning. He spent so much time inside before, it still felt surreal.
A shiver ran down his spine from the chilly air but he still walked down the lawn, randomly choosing a street to head to. He still had problems with crowds. After being alone for so long, it felt overwhelming. Now he had the hope it’ll get better but he still had a long road until then. But he just couldn’t say no to the lovely summer days outside. Morning walks were a compromise he made with himself.
He took streets after streets. The world still was mostly asleep, only birds watched his steps curiously as the world slowly turned brighter. He watched the leaves of trees dancing with the breeze, watched the windows of houses looking at the road with an empty gaze, watched the neat gardens and the flower beds. A very familiar flower bed, he realized. He didn’t notice he took the road to Basil’s house.
His relationship with his old friends was… Complicated. He was ready for their anger after his confession. But it didn’t hurt any less. Kel was the easiest one, it took only a couple of days before he gave a call to Sunny. They met a few times since then and maybe it wasn’t exactly the same, Sunny hoped they were getting there. Sunny hoping something, anything… That was a strange feeling as well. Aubrey didn’t really talk to him yet but she wasn’t as hard on them as before. She stopped bullying Basil completely but she still mostly avoided them. Sunny could understand she needed the space. Sunny was most concerned about Hero, and he was right, after the confession the boy looked at him like he was ready to throw him out off a window… Or push him down the stairs. Sunny honestly wasn’t sure if Hero will ever forgive him.
But at least he could say he was on good terms with Basil again. Of course it wasn’t the same either, they had too many scars and too many things they didn’t know how to talk about when they clearly needed to. Not like either of them were particularly good with words. But they were very good at sitting side by side reading or watching random shows on TV. And they were good at showing appreciation and care through their actions. Though Sunny thought he still had much to learn in that field from Basil. But maybe he had the time now.
"Sunny?"
Sunny raised his head. Basil stood in the doorway, a little hesitating. The circles under his eyes were still way too dark. But then he glanced down at Sunny’s T-shirt and all his hesitation was replaced by slight annoyance mixed with worry.
"You’re walking around in a T-shirt at this hour? What do you think you’re doing?"
Before Sunny could say anything Basil stepped back to the hall, quickly grabbing a light coat from the hanger. Sunny recognized it was Basil’s own green coat he wore on rainy days. Basil was next to him in seconds, draping the coat over Sunny’s shoulders. His hair was still tousled from sleep and he wore the sweatpants and T-shirt he usually wore in bed. But at least he had a jumper on as well, Sunny noticed. Good.
"You should take better care of yourself," said Basil, fumbling with the zipper of the coat. "Why are you up so early anyway?"
"Why are you?" Asked Sunny back instead and his heart sank a little at seeing Basil’s face fall.
"Well… I… I didn’t… Sleep well," admitted Basil, averting his gaze.
"Nightmares?" Asked Sunny quietly.
Basil still had frequent nightmares about what happened. With Mari and lately, with Sunny’s eye. Sunny accepted his apology a thousand times but it didn’t stop Basil from feeling guilty. Not like Sunny didn’t understand it. He had his own sleepless nights as well. Basil slowly nodded in the end, keeping his gaze on the pavement. He never liked asking for help. Becoming an inconvenience. Like Sunny would ever think of him as such.
"A morning walk?" Asked Sunny instead, standing from one leg to the other.
"…Yeah. Yeah, that might be good," admitted Basil in the end and gave Sunny a little smile. Sunny tried his best to reciprocate.
They chose a direction at random, setting off to a journey before the world’ll wake up. Maybe neither of them were particularly good with words. But they didn’t need to be when their presence in itself was enough.