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“AUBERGINE, YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!” A womanly voice shouts at her daughter bolting, a glass bottle shatters against the wall as the door is slammed shut.
Rain trickles down from the heavens, soaking the poor pinkette’s hair as she continues to sprint anywhere she can. She’s just a burden on everyone. Dashing up the street to the park until she slips on some mud that covers her clothes and wrecks her hair. She picks back up her teal bow. As she stands back up she reaches for her right arm which had slammed so violently onto the floor.
Slowly she walks over to a tree and sits under it, sobbing. She felt so disgusted with herself, she had been treated like that by so many people. Rain still hit against her skin from between the gaps in the leaves. She tugs at her hair as her blood boils until she hears the sound of droplets trickling against something, looking up she sees a black umbrella and a familiar teen.
“What the hell are you doing here Sunny!?”
“I like walks in the rain… You okay? You’re covered in mud an-“
“I’m fine.” She tries to walk until Sunny stops her, examining her body.
“Bruises, cuts… you really sure you’re okay?”
“Why do you care?”
“Cuz. You’re my friend.”
Aubrey would burst out laughing if she didn’t feel so angry. “Us, friends!? That’s a good one Sunny, I never knew you had a funny bone before now.”
“Is it your parents?”
“Stop prying for information, if you really cared you would’ve been here when I needed you. Everyone would’ve.”
“We were just dealing with what happened to… I’m sorry, it was shitty of me to keep my distance from you. I knew what you were going through and I-“
“IT'S TOO LATE FOR APOLOGIES SUNNY!!”
“…I know.” Sunny looks sad.
“If you really cared you would have stuck with me. You, Kel, Hero, Basil. You all must think you’re so great. I DON’T HAVE WHAT YOU HAVE! …I’m just some fucking nobody, my family is shit, my dad left, you guys left. All the while people thought the world of you, they made sure you were okay after Mari’s death, why couldn’t I get that!?”
“…We should get out of the rain. Come to my house. I’ll make some warm food and get you a change of clothes and a warm bath.”
“Tch. What’s with all this? Are you trying to repent or something?”
“Just view it as you using me then. Do it because I serve a purpose.”
Aubrey huffs, she might as well take advantage of this then if Sunny is telling her to do that much. “So, how’s life in the world of Sunny? After the recital you got popular until you eventually ended up with new people the same way Kel did.”
“…Is that really what you think?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” She scoffs. Sunny ponders something to himself for a few seconds, keeping his composer as they walk forward. “Giving me the silent treatment again? Nothing new I guess.” No matter how much she was berating him, nothing was affecting Sunny.
She watched as the raven-haired boy inserted a key into the handle and twisted it, unlocking the door before stepping inside his home. Closing the umbrella and putting it away before welcoming Aubrey inside. She couldn’t stop thinking about how dark it is inside until he flicks a light switch.
The room still looked the same as she remembered it, couch and tv in the same spot as always, the baby pictures of Sunny on the mantelpiece and more pictures of Sunny’s relatives, she’s pretty sure she’s never seen any of them face to face before. She felt surprised when no one walked into the living room to meet them. “Where are your parents?”
“Ah… right. I guess you don’t know.”
Aubrey can’t help but tilt her head as she waits for him to speak again.
“When Mari’s condition started to get worse dad left… he said he couldn’t bare to be around her as she slowly died. And when she did die… he just didn’t come back.”
“…And your mom?”
“She became a workaholic, I talk to her everyday on the phone and she tells me she transferred money to my account. I can’t actually remember when she last came back to see me.” Sunny lets out a nervous chuckle.
Well fuck, now Aubrey feels terrible for what she said earlier. Both of their fathers left and their mothers are also not much better, one’s a drunk and the others neglectful. “I’m… sorry to hear that.”
Sunny dismissively waves his hand, trying to bury any tension Aubrey may feel. “It’s ok. You should probably get ready for that bath, I’ll grab a spare change of clothes for you as you wait for the water to heat up.”
Aubrey decides it best to leave the room and make her way upstairs, opening up the bathroom door to step inside, turning the faucet. She places a hand in to judge the heat of the water before putting the plug inside. Sunny enters with a pair of spare clothes. “Sorry but they’re mine… Mom gave the rest of Mari’s clothes to a charity.” A white button-up and some jeans she’s never seen Sunny in before are placed on top of a laundry cabinet before he leaves the room.
The warm water soaks into every part of Aubrey’s skin as she stares up at the ceiling. She brought her hands up to wash her face. God, she was going to have to apologise to Sunny after this. Just letting her talk down to him, even suggesting that he was okay with her just ‘using’ him. Ugh.
Changing into Sunny clothes she gets a light scent… grape? Weird. She puts the dirty clothes into the hamper before walking downstairs, smelling fresh food as she enters the kitchen. “What’re you makin?”
“Chilli Con Carne.” Is all he says before continuing to cook, Aubrey leans against the wall and begins to speak again.
“I wanna say sorry again for earlier Sunny, I didn’t know what you were going through.”
“Don’t worry about it.” The same nervous chuckle. “I wasn’t there for you so you don’t need to say sorry.”
Aubrey only sighs. “So… what was it like living in the limelight after your recital?”
“Nothing good.” Sunny instantly sounds tired. “Not much to celebrate when you get told your sister will die soon.”
“…You didn’t know?”
“Not really. I remember when we finished… She said she was so proud of me and she said she loved me so much. She reminded me of that until one day she came up to me and told me she would die soon… apparently she had known since a while before the Christmas I got my violin. She told none of us until her signs got too bad.”
“So then why did you hang around with the popular kids? If you hated being seen the way you were?”
“I was just trying to live out the life she would’ve wanted for me. None of it ever felt real though, I could always tell it was out of pity that my big sister had died more than any actual popularity that I had. They were nice but I moved on quickly, that kind of crowd isn’t my thing…”
“Uh-huh. What about me, Kel, Basil and Hero then?”
“What was I going to return to? Kel got new friends and I felt too afraid to interfere, Basil fell apart with his grandma’s now declining health and wouldn’t let me talk to him and we both know what happened with Hero… I’m happy they managed to get him to come outside again but he looks a lot more sad now. I really wanted to reach out to you but things became different, others described you as a delinquent since you were always around other troublemakers. The new you looked like you didn’t want to have anything to do with the same old me. The pink hair is really nice… makes me happy to know you still love her enough to want to uphold your promise.”
Aubrey did her best to hide her red cheeks at the compliment he made. “Did you at least try to reach out…?”
“I tried… that Kim girl, was it? She told me that I should shove off before you show me ‘what for’. Not the most receptive people but I can tell they care about you.”
“You gleaned that from being shoved to the ground?” Sunny’s nodding makes her chuckle. “You always have been observant I guess.”
“Can you bring some plates to the dining room? Food is ready.”
“Oh. Sure.” Aubrey moves over to one of the cabinets by Sunny, opening it up to take out two plates before heading to another part to take out some forks. She was proud with herself for remembering where everything was, pretty good for a girl who barely steps foot in the kitchen.
Setting up cutlery on the table she watches Sunny walk in, placing down two containers, one with rice and the other the chilli. “Why didn’t you just dump them together?”
“I separate them because that’s what my mom always did, it’s an innate thing.”
“Really, very unlike you to not think things through before you do them. Even if it is programmed into your skull.”
Sunny shrugs. “Maybe.” Sunny puts a large chunk of rice and chilli on his plate, soon digging in. He stares on as Aubrey does the same, except she avoids picking up the kidney beans. “You… don’t like kidney beans?”
“They look weird okay!?”
“They… don’t taste like anything? Kidney beans are really good for you. High in protein, also rich in various minerals, vitamins, fi-“
“If you stop geeking out about kidney beans then I’ll eat em.” Sunny slowly nods from across the table. Aubrey grabs some kidney beans, slamming them onto her plate.
“Just swallow em, don’t even gotta bite em.”
Aubrey begins shaking back and forth, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.
“W-what is it?” Sunny gets a little worried as Aubrey’s shaking hastens.
Aubrey buries her laughter. “Don’t worry about it.” Sunny looks at her confused before he goes back to eating. Soon enough the two had finished, Sunny washed the plates as Aubrey dried everything before putting them away. It felt nice to be in a house where she could actually breathe for once.
Sunny sits down next to Aubrey on the couch as they watch something on tv. It was some show that appealed to kids their age but Sunny didn’t find it that much enjoyable, teenage dances or some kid talking about his summer fling. How drab. Aubrey appeared to be way more invested in it.
“Say, Aubrey, have you ever had any boyfriends?”
“Hmm? Why, you curious?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Nah, any boyfriend I had was short term. I never cared about them enough to open up to those that showed genuine interest and anyone who wanted me for ‘the chase’ gave up quickly. Most people just think I’m some badass toughie they… ugh- don’t wanna talk about it.” Those type of people disgusted her, if she were to start going on about them she would actually throw up.
Sunny can feel his anger rise a little. “Jesus. They sound weird.”
“What about you, any girlfriends?”
“I’m kind of in the same boat as you. I had this one girl who I thought I cared for but in the end I lost feelings I don’t think I even had in the first place, it was superficial. Another girl tried to take advantage of me but I ended it swiftly.”
“Wow. Sounds like we both had pretty shitty partners. …When I was younger I always imagined my first partner just being ‘the one’ and that would be it, my prince that could save me from the shit I was dealing with. I just have far too much baggage and can’t trust anyone enough to share it with them.”
“Hey. You entrusted stuff with me, did you not?”
“Well yeah but…”
“We should continue doing that again. I’m always down to listen to you talk.”
“Pfft. When did you get so smooth?”
“Sorry. It ain’t intentional.”
“It’s fine.” Aubrey picks up the remote and turns the tv off. “Are you willing to listen to me right now?”
Sunny got up from his slanted position on the couch, now sitting upright to listen to Aubrey.
“You and Mari sounded so amazing at the recital, I was so happy the effort you two put in turned out so well. I just thought that everything would be on the up and up… then Mari died and everything became just so much worse. To say I lost everything the day she died would be an understatement. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t mad at you and your family for not telling us what was happening. Then after you seemingly ran away with all your popularity everyone else went their own ways too… and it sucked.”
Sunny only nods at her. A gentle reminder that he's still listening. “That whole ‘Prince Charming’ shit, that was you for me. I just felt like you betrayed me by leaving for other people, your eyes and ears weren’t open for me any longer…”
“I love you too y’know…” he replied, catching Aubrey off guard with how relaxed he spoke. “I wanted to reach out to you, even the new you is so pretty to me… I think that’s why I couldn’t muster feelings for anyone else I was with, because I was still looking towards you. I just wanted to help you no matter what, but I thought you hated me too much by the time I was given an opportunity again… I thought maybe we could never even be friends.”
Weary was an understatement, Aubrey felt drained, holy hell. What a massive door of issues this unlocked. “Well… what now? Like- Where do we go from here?
“…We still need to fix a lot. More importantly, you need to sleep and relax after the rain. They took Mari’s bed out of my room so unfortunately the couch is the most comfortable thing we have unless you wanna take my bed from me.”
“Ah- Okay…” just as Sunny got up to go grab some stuff for Aubrey she grabbed him by the wrist. “If we do fix all… this, do you really think we have a chance?”
“Maybe with a lot of effort. I’m willing to put in the time if you are.” He gives the pinkette a relieving smile as she lets go of him.
“I’m also willing to try…”
“Cool. I’ll go grab your stuff now.”
With that Sunny exited the living room. Giving Aubrey some time alone, the water pitter pattered against the window. She could almost feel the cold wind from outside freeze her face.
…Could things really work between them? It’s very hard to say, especially with how she treated Sunny earlier today. …But, if he believes they can fix it then she was sure as hell going to give it her best attempt too. After they reach out to everyone then maybe they can start pursuing a relationship with one another, starting off light. Very, very light.
Sunny silently enters back into the room, handing the girl a blanket and a pillow. In his left arm was another set he placed on the ground. “Aren’t you going to sleep in your bed?”
“…Thought this might be a good first step.” He replied, pulling the blanket over his body before he looked upwards at the ceiling. Aubrey chuckles before looking down at him.
“Whatever you say, silly…” The pair close their eyes, tomorrow is the beginning of healing. They should stick together, not just because that’s what Mari would’ve wanted but because that’s what they want too. They want to make new memories and be happy together, it may take progress but if they all try their hardest then it’s possible.