Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...

Sunny had never been more sure of anything in his life.

Just a few weeks after turning 25, he found himself traveling back to Faraway Town. He nodded off to sleep back and forth in the backseat of Hero’s car, thankful that his sister and her fiance were available to pick him up from the airport that evening, in the midst of all their planning. The ride was over two hours long–they had long exhausted the conversation of catching up and how “grown” Sunny looked since they had last seen him. Now Mari and Hero were busting out cheesy love songs from their wedding playlist, lost in love as Sunny tried to stay awake in the back.

He kept his eyes steady on the horizon, not wanting to get car sick. The car approached the Faraway town sign, the small population size graffitied over. He was back home.

Sunny’s homecoming was marked by the special event of Hero and Mari’s destination wedding. The group were to meet up the day before in Faraway Town at Hero and Mari’s house for a get-together party before departing the next morning over to the island. There, they’d spend 6 days, 5 nights on the island, preparing for the wedding and celebrating their time together. Guests and relatives would arrive the day before the wedding was set.

Sunny was excited to see everyone again. After years of busying himself in a different state, different city far away, he was ready to come back and catch up.

And most of all, he was looking forward to seeing Basil again.

Sunny didn’t know where they stood.

The last time they spoke for more than just a few messages was nearly a year ago. Sure, Sunny was busy most of the time; his kind of lifestyle required him to be on the go and finding time to text was hard enough as is, or to find any break. By the time he got home, he was ready to sink into his bed and pass out. But after a year of breaking into the business, he felt like he got a hold of a system that helped him have a healthier work-life situation. That problem was done, now he had another. He was having a hard time with Basil not responding. Or responding dryly.

Perhaps Basil had gotten busy with his job as well.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure he’s busier than ever now…” the radio drowned out Mari’s voice. He couldn’t quite catch her last words. He supposed they didn’t matter.

His eyes returned back to the road. The familiar shops and buildings shortly rode in. Faraway Town seemed ageless, stuck in a period of time. He wondered if anything had changed since he last visited.

They passed Basil’s old house on the way to Mari and Hero’s place. A lone woman stood outside, watering the plants in the front yard. A stranger. Basil had moved out shortly after he gained independence as an adult, but Sunny had never asked him where he moved to in the small town. An apartment complex? Did he split rent with other housemates?

The car came to a stop in their driveway. Hero and Mari opened up their car doors and stretched outside, their tense muscles bunched up after the long drive. Sunny opened up his own door and allowed the light in. It was a clear, blue day. The perfect day for his confession.

Sunny was tired of the light flirting and teasing back and forth with Basil. After high school, things had sped up between the two. They were like a fire waiting to happen, he always thought. All they needed was a spark. They had already basically confessed to each other, but when life got in the way, messages and calls got spaced further and further apart. They had jobs. Responsibilities. Sunny thought he tried his best to keep up with Basil, but he had to admit… he did slack a little from time to time.

But now he was ready to make this official. He wanted Basil in his life, not just as a friend, but a partner. His life was ready for him.

Sunny fully stretched out his arms above him as they entered the house. The cozy three bedroom, two bathroom space smelled exactly like he thought it would: Mari’s home-baked cookies. He was sure she had baked a fresh batch for this evening before they set off to pick him up. Everything was neat and tidy, most likely due to Hero. He always had structure in any place he took part in. The furniture was bursting with color, yet pulled together like a warm sunset. In the living room hung a large frame, painted by Mari herself. She had discovered the new hobby during her college years as a way to unwind. She had once told Sunny that she felt free in art, a space at times more welcoming than some of her music hobbies.

Sunny was amazed they had a house in general. In this economy, who could afford to buy a house, or even find one reasonable enough? Hero’s doctor's money came in plenty for that and the destination wedding. Mari loved to tease him about this, sometimes joking that he was her sugar daddy.

Mari moved to show Sunny the guest bedroom up the stairs and across from the landing. It was a quiet space. The room was stripped of most of a personality with just the essentials needed.

“Sorry, I haven’t had the time to decorate this spot more yet,” Mari explained as Hero walked up behind them with more of Sunny’s bags. Sunny shook his head and settled into the room. This was perfect for now.

Before they parted to pick up some food for the group meetup later in the night, Mari gave Sunny’s cheek a gentle squeeze. He felt 12 all over again, his older sister doting on him.

“Glad you’re home, Sunny,” she said, closing the door behind her.

Sunny was glad to be back home. Tonight was the night everything would finally begin.

He was going to fan that spark into a flame.

Sunny unpacked his essentials first. He pulled out his laptop from its case and booted it up on the bed. He wanted to check some work emails in the meantime, just to make sure no one had urgently asked him for additional info or to notify him about a fuckup. He pulled out his phone as he typed in the pin code and waited. He pulled up his messages from earlier.

His text message to Basil was still marked as unread. They had the option to show when they read their messages and his latest ones from the day before and today were still unmarked. Perhaps he had turned off the option? Probably just busy with work. Basil was as much of a workaholic as he was.

The first to arrive was Kel.

He looked as if he had run home, quickly changed, and then sprinted over, even though his car sat in the road against the sidewalk outside.

“Sunny, my man! It’s been forever!” Kel pulled him into a bear hug, nearly knocking over the man with his strength. He had only built up more muscle since they last met. Sunny swore Kel was tall enough to touch the chandelier in the entryway.

Kel smelled of sweat. He had just finished practicing with some local kids in the park, he explained. He had been coaching them for a while after highschool. It was a nice way of getting involved with the community and the youth in town.

He was one of the good kinds of coaches, Sunny thought. Those kids were lucky to have someone like Kel in their lives. He offered an ear after developing more of a relationship with the kids. Whether it was just some trivial drama going on at school, homework issues, or a more serious matter happening at home.

“I’m thinking of going back to school and getting the credits needed to become a teacher,” Kel said as they wandered over to the kitchen. Hero had instructed Kel via text to start setting out some of the appetizers. He was over regularly, so he knew where everything lay in the kitchen.

“That would be pretty cool,” Sunny replied, taking a bowl that Kel held out. He had never pictured Kel in such a profession, but it did seem to fit him. Over the years, their own friendship had deepened beyond the superficial. Sunny knew Kel was more than met the eye.

Shortly after they set out the snacks, another knock came to the door. This time it was the hosts, back with the catered food from Gino’s.

“Pizza!!!” Kel cheered, aiming for the pizza boxes in Mari’s hands and sweeping them over to the kitchen island.

“Thanks for helping set up, guys,” Hero said, walking over and placing the sides down. The house began to smell of the restaurant. “We would have been back earlier, but there was a line when we arrived. Miss Candace was at the front of the line, arguing with the poor worker about how they got her order all wrong. They needed to get a manager and yadda, yadda… you know how she is.”

Mari groaned, opening up a box with wings and taking a small bite. She gently swatted Kel’s hand away as he reached over. “Nope, bride privileges. You have to wait until everyone’s here.”

“Aww, that’s not fair,” Kel sulked. She just shrugged and turned to Hero.

He shrugged as well. “Whatever Mari says this week, goes.”

“Happy wife, happy life~” Mari cajoled in a sing-song voice, planting a kiss on her husband-to-be’s cheek. “Thanks, hubby.”

Hero blushed a smart red. Kel and Sunny jokingly made sickened facial expressions at each other. Their siblings were so cheesy. Then came another knock at the door.

“I’m here, bitches!”

The door opened to reveal Aubrey, as beautiful as ever, holding a short crate stocked with wine. Mari greeted her at the door, giving her a huge hug and complimenting her style as always.

“Aaaand I brought the party!” she announced, setting the wine bottle crate down on the kitchen counter.

“Ew, wine,” Kel grimaced. Where was the hard alcohol?

“Ew, Kel,” Aubrey retorted, sticking a childish tongue out at him. She glanced over at the near silent man to the side and accepted him into an embrace. “Sunny! Finally! How long has it been?”

“A long time,” he said softly, comforted by Aubrey’s hug. He had missed his friend’s hugs. He didn’t know how lonely city life really was.

Aubrey pulled away and began to chatter with Mari about the upcoming days. Was she ready? How did Hero and her feel? If she needed anything, as maid of honor, she was on it!

The discussion moved onto Mari’s bachelorette party as they began to gather around the food, picking up plates and making a short line around the set food. He learned that Kim, Aubrey’s girlfriend since high school, was actually a pro in casinos and gambled professionally. She was able to maneuver them through the time. Then that conversation moved onto Mari’s lingerie shower, which Sunny didn’t even know was a thing–why would you want relatives and friends to gift you lingerie??? Thanks grandma, I bet this racy babydoll dress will finally get you a great granddaughter–

He shook his head and wandered away from the two with Hero and Kel. They sat over by the living room couch. Hero made sure to bring over coasters and napkins in case of spillage.

“Did you have a bachelor party?” Sunny asked, remembering that he never received an invitation for one. He didn’t take it personally. He was happy enough to be named one of the groomsmen.

“Right,” Hero laughed, covering his mouth with a napkin. “So, Mari wanted me to go out and everything…”

“Which would have been so cool! How rare is it that your partner gives you permission to go to a strip club, and even says she wants you to get a private dance and everything? She told us she would supply us with ones, Sunny–!”

Hero ignored Kel’s outburst. “But I was never comfortable with the idea. I don’t like this idea that I’m suddenly going to be ‘imprisoned’ for the rest of my life with just ‘one woman.’ I’m happy to be with Mari. Hell, blessed, even. Also, I didn’t have the time for an all-out weekend. Things have been crazy over at the hospital. I’m surprised I was still able to pull through with time for the wedding and honeymoon after.”

“Is Hero being all cheesy over here about not having a bachelor party?” Mari asked as she wandered over with Aubrey. She sat by her fiance, giving him a slight nudge with her elbow. “I kept telling him, I was okay with whatever, even a private stripper or someone fake-kidnapping him!”

“Iiiin the end, I just wanted something nice and simple,” Hero explained, blushing again as Mari giggled beside him. God, her giggles were so cute. “I ended up hosting a game night with Kel and a few college friends here at the house, just shortly after we bought it, actually.”

Kel nodded, midbite in his three meat pizza slice. “It’s crazy how Dungeons and Dragons is actually kinda cool! Now we do weekly sessions here! Oh, and there’s this game called Betrayal at Apartment–”

“Betrayal at House–”
“On the Hill! It’s pretty spooky. I didn’t know board games could be that fun. The explanation of the rules is boring, but if you can skip through that, you’re in for a good time.”

Hero just laughed at his brother’s amusement. Well, now he had an entire group to play DnD with. He did enjoy being a game master.

“Ah, I married such a nerd,” Mari teased.

“Says the girl who secretly enjoys doing the crossword every d–”
“Shush!”

Their three friends watched as Mari and Hero teased each other. It was finally happening. The match made in heaven, after all these years, was finally getting married. And they were all here to witness it. It was just like old times.

Well, almost everyone–

Sunny sipped on his soda. “So, where’s Basil? Is he just arriving a little later in the night?”

Almost at once, everyone stopped eating and paused. Mari held a confused look on her face.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Sunny shook his head and lowered his drink. Told him what? “I haven’t seen him in a while, and I didn’t see him when we arrived…”

Aubrey, closest to Sunny, turned to face him. “Wait, you mean you don’t know?”

He shook his head again. He wasn’t sure how to read his friend’s expressions. What did everyone know that he didn’t?

“Basil’s on vacation with his girlfriend. We’ll be meeting them at the island tomorrow night.”

Chapter Text

Sunny’s head felt like a pile of bricks the next morning. The weight only pulled down more when he stood up and shuffled his way over to the bathroom to wash up. The pain was centered behind his eyes and around his temples. He did not get a good night’s rest last night.

After the reveal last night, his friends were awkward for a while when they realized that Sunny hadn’t known this entire time. Thankfully, he hadn’t mentioned the fact that he was planning on confessing, so he was able to feign a cool enough response. They didn’t have to rush to comfort him.

“Y-Yeah, I’m sure he just forgot to tell me. He sees you guys all the time, and I live in the city, so…”

He rubbed at his eyes, trying to wipe off the blurriness in his vision. He hated sleeping with a sleeping mask and ear buds, but sometimes it was the only way to sleep. He avoided drinks that night and took a sleeping pill later when no one was watching. He could tell the panic was going to set in as soon as he entered his room alone. The sleeping mask helped keep light out and the ear plugs helped with the noises. He used to find it so easy to slip into sleep to avoid his problems. Now it was the opposite.

As Sunny got ready upstairs, Hero was downstairs, ready, packed, and dressed for the airport. He donned his special apron from Mari, a soft beige apron that said “Kiss the Cook” in red font on the front. He tossed around the chorizo in the pan, watching out for the sizzling and adjusting the temperature on the stove. He smiled at his work as he pulled out a comal to heat up some flour tortillas. Everyone would appreciate a good chorizo breakfast burrito on this early flight over.

He could hear his fiancee upstairs, turning off the shower and stepping out, humming a tune. Another reason to smile. She loved to sing in the shower and was probably humming to keep mind of Sunny still possibly being asleep.

Outside, the street was still dark. The sun hadn’t welcomed the new day yet. Early commuters headed to work on the deserted and quiet roads. Soon enough, the house would be lit up with more visitors, Kel and Aubrey parking their cars in their driveway so they could carpool together. Daily parking at the airport was an unnecessary cost to worry about. Aubrey would cheer as she caught a whiff of Hero’s signature breakfast burritos and hurriedly snatch two for the ride over. Kel would walk in with his standard Orange Joe, a strange drink he hadn’t dropped since childhood. Everyone thought that once he grew up, he’d realize how disgusting the mix was, but it stayed a staple in his early morning routine.

“The perfect hangover cure too,” he tried to convince them. Everyone else just shook their heads and declined the invitation. Kel shrugged and headed to the fridge to top off his coffee with more juice.

At 4 on the dot, the five headed outside with their luggage. Hero locked the door behind himself and shook the handle, double checking himself. Kel offered to help Aubrey and Mari with their luggages. Sunny dragged his carry on and one checked bag to the back and shivered. He hated the weather once the summer mornings started to get colder. He had worn a light jacket because he remembered that airports could get cold, but the thin material wasn’t enough for him at the moment.

Everyone made idle chat on the ride over. But before they knew it, everyone was asleep in their seats as Mari drove the rest of the way. She liked having the driver’s role and being in control, so she didn’t mind being the only one awake. And as much as Hero would twitch when she would drive up close to another person’s bumper or turn quickly, she was a good driver. Better than he was, especially at night. He was okay with being the passenger princess this time.

Mari smiled as she glanced up at the rearview mirror, looking at the peaceful faces of her friends. Hero rested his head against his hand. Aubrey slumped against Sunny’s shoulder. In turn, Sunny slumped against Kel’s. And Kel leaned his head against the cool window next to him, his soft breaths creating condensation.

Mari was happy to be creating these memories with everyone back home.

Now Sunny sat at their second gate. Curse the airport chairs. Why did they have to have uncomfortable arm rests and make it impossible for anyone to lie down and get a little sleep in? Their layover was over an hour long and after reaching the gate, everyone scattered to various stops. Mari went off with Hero to pick up some medicine for an incoming headache. Kel went to go find a place that served more than just breakfast.

Aubrey approached Sunny from behind, two hot cups of coffee in her hands. She offered him a small smile, showing her teeth. “Starbucks? I thought you’d like a little caffeine right now.”

He smiled back and accepted the coffee. “Thanks.”

She nodded and sat beside him. She pulled out her charging cord and leaned behind them to charge her phone in the port. Sunny didn’t budge as she leaned against him for support. His feelings had long ago faded, mutual with Aubrey. They felt most comfortable in this platonic state of their friendship.

Aubrey moved back and watched as Sunny checked his message log with Basil. He was scrolling down from the past year.

She sighed and opened up her phone. “They started dating eight months ago, if that offers any insight.”

Eight months ago? Sunny scrolled back to November and December of last year. Sure enough, his messages since then had become less frequent and shorter. Almost impersonal. How had he not seen this before? Was he too busy with his own work to see that his friend was pulling away from him on purpose?

His headache was coming back. His eyes glossed over as he scrolled back down.

He felt dazed. Almost in a fog. Yesterday, everything had been so clear. He would confess again to Basil and ask him to be his boyfriend, his partner. They’d talk things out. Rekindle. And celebrate their friends’ love while being in love.

Now… he had more questions than answers.

“Maybe,” Aubrey started, almost softly. “Maybe he was too scared to tell you about it.”

His finger paused on his screen. His coffee sat hot in his hand. He continued to let it burn.

“Did… Did something happen between you two over the past year?” she asked, looking at Sunny. Her eyes scanned his. His mouth started to open, but… what would he say? Where would he start?

His friends knew they liked each other. They teased the two about it constantly. And when they did finally tell each other, their friends gave them space for their relationship to grow. Mari didn’t want to pry, even though she was eager for the text of when they’d become official. But whenever she brought Basil up, Sunny would be too busy to talk about the status of their relationship.

Great, we’re doing great. I’m really busy with work and starting up and Basil’s busy with his own stuff, so we’re just going with the flow right now.

It’s going well. We try to talk whenever we’re available. It’s hard to match up schedules, but we’ll make time eventually.

When can I visit next? I’m not too sure, I’m working on this project and they’re really pressuring us to produce quickly… I’d love to see everyone, yeah, but you know how it is…

Oh yeah, I think Basil’s doing okay. I haven’t talked to him in a bit. But no news is good news, right?

After a while, they learned to stop pressing. Well at least, they stopped asking him. He wasn’t sure if they still asked Basil. Based on Aubrey’s response, they didn’t.

“No, nothing happened,” Sunny finally responded. Things just kind of… slowed down.

The island was beautiful. Quiet and quaint. The flora and fauna were beautiful and covered every inch of the area. They arrived by boat and were escorted to their private villa by people from the company that Hero and Mari had gotten a hold of for this trip. The manager was kind enough and greeted them personally, talking about the place, the history of the island, and the few shops and stores near the area. They had a private beach on their side and a guard house next to the white villa, which Sunny and Mari’s parents would later occupy once they arrived for the rehearsal dinner.

Mari and Hero got first dibs on rooms. They chose one of the two master suites upstairs. Aubrey took the other one for when her girlfriend arrived. Kel and Sunny stuck by themselves, though Kel joked that his bed wouldn’t be so lonely if he could find some to help him keep the bed warm later, lucky lady or man.

Sunny laughed and shook his head. He chose the room beside Kel’s, but now regretted it a little after his comment. He didn’t want to overhear anything if he did find someone during the party. He prayed the villa’s walls were thick.

They had settled on unpacking and meeting back up at the front in half an hour. Just half an hour? Sunny thought. He dropped his luggage on the ground and looked at the bed. After a night with little sleep and a long flight, a nap sounded good.

So the raven-haired man lay in the comfy bed, not caring about checking the sheets beforehand. If Mari and Hero had spent so much on the private villa, he was sure the owners had cleaned everything beforehand. The white pillows were cool and soft–he pulled them closer to himself. One to hold onto and one to rest his head on. He closed his eyes. Normally, he would imagine himself hugging Basil. But now, that felt odd. Basil had a girlfriend.

He let go of the pillow, but then realized he was uncomfortable.

..

He could hold onto the pillow and not pretend it was Basil.
Right?

..

Okay. Maybe not. What was the harm in pretending?

An hour later, Sunny’s eyes fluttered open. The bright light from the large window facing the ocean nearly blinded him. At least his headache was gone again.

Instead, his mouth felt dry and chalky. He needed to find some water.

He walked downstairs, trying to find the kitchen. When he called out for someone, he realized how silent the villa was. At a table near the stairs, he found a note from Mari.

Hey, Sunny! We saw you were taking a nap and decided to let you sleep in a little more! When you wake up, meet us just right outside at the beach! Dress to be ready to swim! - Love, your sister, Mari

After finally finding a cold water bottle in the fridge, Sunny headed back to his room to change. A simple gray tee and black shorts were fine. He slipped a pair of black flip flops on and wandered over to the area.

Mari was right. The beach was just a short walk away from the villa. It was private and quiet, save for the sound of his four friends.

Kel spotted him first.

“Sunny!” he yelled, pausing from swimming and waving his hands. “Get in! The water feels great!”

Mari and Aubrey laid on lounge chairs next to the waves, taking in the sunlight. Mari wore a white rib wrapped bikini swimsuit set with the words “bride” behind the bikini bottom. A gift from Aubrey, Mari later told Hero when she caught him looking at the word.

Aubrey lounged in her own red swimsuit set. Her bikini top had frills on the bottom trim. The bottoms were a simple red with ribbons tying the sides.

Hero and Kel had already shed their shirts and were in the water.

Mari waved over at her brother as he wandered over to them. She lifted her sunglasses up and looked him up and down.

“Why are you still wearing your shirt? Aren’t you going to swim too?” she asked.

“I don’t want to blind everyone,” he joked, pulling up another one of the chairs provided to the side. “That, or reveal that I’m a vampire.”

Mari rolled her eyes as Aubrey laughed. “Are you glittery just like Edward from Twilight?”

He nodded and leaned back as well. He would join the two in the water soon enough. For now, he had barely woken up. It wasn’t the best idea to head straight into a physical activity.

The island breeze felt nice. He pulled out his phone, checking to see if he had a signal. Great, he saw three bars on the upper right corner. But still no response from Basil.

As if reading his mind, Mari pulled out her own phone. “Basil said they’d be here around 7ish? Before sunset. And they’ll be messaging me when they head over on the boat too. We’ll probably get ready for dinner beforehand and eat together tonight. The private villa chef said he’d make something fancy for tonight, isn’t that great?”

“We’ve even got our own chef?” Aubrey asked, shocked. She would always be confused by the lives of “rich” people.

Mari nodded and laughed. “Hero was a little upset that he wouldn’t be cooking for us, but I told him this would be a complete break. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to be busy with wedding stuff anyways. The wedding coordinator, Cris, said she’d meet us tomorrow.”

Sunny almost wanted to ask who Basil was bringing over. No matter who it was though, it would still sting, he figured. He felt a little bitter that Mari had let him bring a plus one, especially if they had only been dating for eight months, couldn’t she have come later like Kim–

No, he was going to be happy for Basil. Even if he was confused at why he got snubbed, he was happy that Basil was happy.

He was happy that Basil was happy.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach. Eventually, Kel did drag Sunny over to the water. It was cool and distracted him from the thoughts in his head. Sometimes, when having a panic attack, Sunny would hop into a cold shower. This had the same effect. He was able to focus on the moment, his phone laying on the chair and far away.

As if they regressed back to their childhood days, Aubrey and Kel ended up getting into a sand fight, swearing that the other had started it first.

“I didn’t start it, but I’ll definitely be the one to finish it!” Aubrey yelled, dunking a bucket full of sand on Kel’s head. He screamed at Hero for help, claiming he was blinded and needed backup.

“Yeah… I think I’m good,” Hero muttered, much too busy resting his head on his fiancee’s soft and warm lap. Mari giggled and ran her fingers through his hair, shaking off the sand.

“SUNNY!!!! HELP ME!!! WE ARE AT WAR!!!”

Sunny merely looked up from his book. Aubrey raised her eyebrows at him. He looked back down.

“Nah, I’m good too.”

“AAAhahhhhhhh!!!”

After the big sand fight, the group took turns with a short sandcastle-building contest. Hero claimed that this would be a good way for Aubrey and Kel to settle their dispute. Kel walked off to find sticks for the tops of his castle and Aubrey went ahead and “accidentally” spilled water down on one of his towers. Sunny carved out a large moat around his castle. Hero watched him.

“Heh, that’s a large moat. Where’s the drawbridge?”

“No drawbridge. No visitors allowed,” he responded, walking over to begin filling his bucket up. As he filled up his bucket, Mari began to frantically search around her castle. What’s wrong? Hero asked. She responded that her necklace had gone missing, but surely had just fallen in the area. Or maybe it was still inside, and she took it off in precaution.

“It’ll be fine,” she soothed Hero, returning back to building her castle. He nodded and reassured her back.

Before long, the sun began to tug its way down the sky. The competition ended in a tie between Sunny’s impressive moat and Hero’s castle that you could peer inside to. Around 6, they headed back inside to shower and prepare for the night. They decided to dress up a little for the occasion.

They returned back downstairs and to the dining room, looking as if they hadn’t been playing around outside just an hour ago. Sunny adjusted his white dress shirt. Even though he knew Basil was arriving with a date, his appearance still mattered. If he looked his best, he’d feel his best? Kind of like what Kel always said: When I flex, I feel my best? He blushed as he fixed his collar again.

Mari walked in pinning her black bangs back with a golden bobby pin. Her white dress clung tight to her figure. Would she be wearing white all week? Sunny wondered.

“So I got the message while I was getting ready. They should be here soon. Around 7:30.”

Hero nodded and moved his napkin and silverware again. It felt odd sitting at the table and being served. The private villa chef had insisted he didn’t need any help and ushered him out. Mari even put up a paper on the door that read: “No Heros allowed.”

Kel sipped on the wine, only because Aubrey convinced him it was a light one. His face proved otherwise. He reached for his water glass instead.

Soon, there was a knock at the front door, not too far from the large dining room.

“That’s Basil!” Mari excitedly got up, setting her napkin down on the table and getting up. Hero shortly followed her.

Sunny took a sip out of his wine glass and strained his ears to hear. If he could recognize the feminine voice, maybe this would all make more sense. Or maybe it would make the punch softer to handle.

He heard laughter and talking. Basil’s soft voice. It sounded the same as ever, back when they had time to facetime and call each other on the phone. He remembered the few times they stayed up all night talking, one of them falling asleep on the other–

“They’re finally here!” Mari announced as they walked into the doorway, finally in their view. “Thanks for coming, guys! We’re so glad you’re here!”

Sunny nearly dropped his glass as Basil stepped into frame. His mouth opened to a small “o” and dropped as soon as he saw the woman hand in hand with his crush–Mincy. She wore a light blue cardigan over her dress. She smiled at everyone and waved, reintroducing herself. Then, she lifted her right hand to adjust her glasses, and Sunny saw it, he swore he saw the glint in the light–

Mincy had an engagement ring on her ring finger, right hand.

He dropped his glass.

Chapter Text

Sunny dropped his glass.

The sound of the glass falling onto the table was enough to knock everyone from greeting Mincy to having all eyes on Sunny. He blinked for a beat before reaching for a napkin, immediately blotting his pants and the tablecloth. Hero jumped in, sitting beside him and helping him with the fabric.

“Are you okay?”
Sunny scrambled for a believable excuse. “Yes, sorry. I felt a bug on my hand and reacted, sorry.”

Hero’s hand twitched as he began to look around. A spider?

“No, no, like a big… fly, or something,” he explained, taking one last napkin to try to wipe his shirt. Great, now he had a big stain just by his waist. He waved off Hero, assuring them he was fine and was just being a klutz today. Something about still waking up from earlier.

Mari nodded and took this opportunity to usher Mincy and Basil further in. Sunny stood up, taking the chance to pull the chair to the right of him open for Basil. He worked on unbuttoning his collared shirt–at least he had a blank, normal tee underneath so he wouldn’t have to sit with the stained one all night.

Basil quickly drew his eyes away from Sunny’s chest and walked towards Mari as she gestured to the chair beside Hero and drew a chair open beside her own seat for Mincy. Sunny stood for a moment longer with his shirt now open. Mincy and Basil took their seats, Mincy opening her bag and dropping something inside. Sunny’s hands rested on the chair he had pulled aside. Aubrey, who sat in front of him, looked up at him expectantly.

“O-Oh, right,” he stuttered out, sitting back down on his chair. He was confused. Why had Mari sat them down away from him? Mincy, he could understand, but Basil? Hadn’t he spent the last 24 hours subtly hinting to her that he wanted to talk to Basil and that they hadn’t spoken in so long?

He reached for his wine glass and replaced the drink, taking a long sip to calm his nerves. Hero sat in between him and Basil on the same side. He couldn’t even get a good look at Basil.

“They should be bringing over appetizers soon,” Mari said, taking her own seat in front of Hero and smiling at them all. “I’m so glad everyone is finally here!”

“Thanks again for inviting us,” Mincy said, pushing her glasses back up. Sunny watched her hand move up her face, but this time, there was no glint of light. No ring. Her other hand rose to pat down her hair, messy from the wind from the boat ride. No ring there either.

Had he panicked and imagined a ring on her right hand?

Soon, the private chef and his assistant came out with their appetizers and plates to share. The food was delectable. If it had been any other time, Sunny would be remarking on the food just like Kel was (and Aubrey was nudging him to slow down and share with the rest of them), but his eyes kept bouncing over to Mincy. She was quiet at first, shyly smiling and laughing along with the group’s jokes. She kept sneaking glances over at Basil for comfort. What face did he make back at her to make her feel at ease?

Sunny set down his bread and reached for his wine glass again. It was empty. He reached over and served himself again.

“So, how was your vacation?”
“Yes, how was Italy?”

Finally a topic Sunny was interested in.

Mincy covered her mouth as she responded. The sous chef reappeared, setting up a short table to begin serving everyone the entrees.

“It was just great, really. Venice during this time of year is beautiful,” she said, wiping her hands on the napkin on her lap. Damn. She had great table manners as well. He couldn’t see any crumbs on her face, even though they were almost all done with one of the first appetizers.

And Venice? Basil had told him before how he longed to visit Italy. He had thought he would venture to the area with him first, but looked like he took Mincy instead.

That made sense. Basil could take his girlfriend to special places. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted. Italy did not belong to the two of them.

Sunny nursed his drink as they began to describe their sightseeing spots. Basil began to open up and excitedly talk about the scenery, diving into the details just like old Basil would. Sunny craned his neck to try to see his lit up face. But he had no such luck. All he could see was Hero biting down on his food and he didn’t want to seem too obvious on what he was trying to do, so he leaned back.

He refilled his glass. He was only one-third of the way done with his food. His stomach began to feel warm and fuzzy.

“So, Mincy, what was that ring you had on earlier?” Kel asked, mouth wide open with food.

Basil nearly choked on his drink and Mincy froze still. “R-Ring?”

Mari and Hero shared glances.

“Yeah, I could be wrong, but I saw a ring on your finger…” he continued.

Mincy turned to bring out her purse, slowly taking out the ring from a pocket. “S-Sorry, you took me by surprise. I meant to take it off after we docked the boat, but Basil was so excited to enter. W-We didn’t want to take any of the light away from you, Hero and Mari.”

Mari quickly shook her head, confused but happy for the two. “No, don’t apologize! We are celebrating love after all, no matter what it is! Is that a promise ring, or–”

“It’s an engagement ring,” Mincy replied, slipping the ring back onto her ring finger. Everyone turned quiet for the second time that night.

“E-Engagement ring?” Sunny spoke for the first time that night.

“You’re–you’re not joking?” Aubrey asked, despite knowing how insensitive she sounded. They had only been dating for eight months, of course everyone would respond to this bombshell of news. “Mincy, are you pregnant–”

“Oh my god, Aubrey. You can’t just ask–”
“What? We’re all wondering about it.”

Basil tensed up. Sunny shot a look over at his partner. He couldn’t see Basil, but he could see Mincy’s flushed expression. Oh god, was it true?

He could barely imagine Basil being intimate with someone else, much less a woman. The fact that he had a girlfriend, pardon, a fiance, was already wild news. Now his mind was beginning to fill of images of Mincy and Basil tangled under the covers–

Sunny reached for his wine glass and shot the drink back down. Fuck his life.

Basil quickly shook his head. “N-No! She’s not pregnant!”

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief in their heads. Well, if she wasn’t pregnant, what was rushing their relationship?

“So… you’re engaged?” Hero asked and turned to Basil as he nodded hesitantly. He didn’t want to make Basil’s fiance feel uncomfortable or make a bad impression of the group. Mincy, not reading the room, smiled and nodded as well.

“It happened over our vacation.”

Everyone tried to be happy for the pair. Here they were celebrating Hero and Mari getting married, something a long time coming, and now they were to celebrate Basil finding the love of his life in under a year. They were in shock.

Mari’s smile thinned, but she shook the feeling away. It was an instinctive feeling to be protective over her friends, but Basil was an adult. If they wanted to get married, she would support him. “What was it like? The engagement, I mean.”

“Honestly, it was sudden,” Mincy confessed, pushing aside her food. “I didn’t even have a ring or anything planned. We were on a gondola ride, going under a bridge, talking about our futures and what we wanted in the next few years.”

As she continued, Aubrey turned and tried to meet Sunny’s eyes. He was too busy drinking to spot him looking her way.

“I-I was talking about how I wanted to open up a flower shop with some of the money my grandmother left me,” Basil explained.

“And I asked Basil if he ever thought of having a family, or if he ever wanted to marry. He said yes, in time, and asked me what I wanted in the next five years.”

Sunny’s throat burned. He didn’t want to hear any more of this. He wanted out.

“I told him, it didn’t matter where I was in five years. I’d follow him wherever. As long as I had him by my side, I would be fine.”

Sunny looked up in time to see the soft, endearing look in Mincy’s eyes as she gazed at Basil. “And that’s when I decided, why wait five years? Why wait one more? This was the perfect moment. I proposed to Basil right then and there.”

He was hoping that the fact that Basil hadn’t been the one to initiate the proposal would bring relief to him. It didn’t. Because Basil had still agreed. He still said yes.

Sunny rose from his chair, pushing it a little aggressively. “S-Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom.”

As he walked out, Mari’s eyes followed his figure. He couldn’t pull himself to look at Basil. He imagined if he did, he’d see his face full of bliss, talking about their magical engagement. Mincy was beginning to show her engagement ring around, talking about how they picked out rings while still at Venice, going for an alternative gem instead of a diamond.

He left without congratulations. It hurt him too much to even try to pretend to lie to them. He headed straight for the bathroom down the hallway, locking the door behind him.

He only needed a moment.
He slid his back against the door, sitting down on the cold ground.
Just a moment as his world came crashing down around him.

When he returned, the plates were cleared and readied for dessert. Mari asked if they could give them a quick moment as a few of them took a short bathroom break. Hero stood and walked over, leaving an empty spot between Basil and Sunny.

Here was his chance to open up a conversation with Basil.

Sunny turned to face the blonde. Everyone else was immersed in a different conversation.

“Basil.”

The mere mention of his name coming from his voice caused Basil to jump. Shakingly, he held his wine glass, refusing to meet eyes with Sunny.

“How have you been?” he asked, studying the boy. Why was he so tense? He was asking such a simple question, something they asked each other millions of times before.

“I-I’ve been good…” Basil drew out. His eyes still didn’t meet Sunny’s.

Sunny’s lips pursed into a frown. “Did you see my last messages I sent you?”

It felt like his phone suddenly became red hot in his pocket. Basil shifted in his seat and offered a fake smile and laugh. “Y-Yeah! You know, service has been so spotty since we went to Italy. You know how it is…”

Sunny nodded. Of course. They had been in another country entirely. He didn’t know what the service was like. Basil’s service had been acting up over the past year. Perhaps he needed to switch phone carriers.

Basil took one more shaking sip of wine before setting it down.

“Ah. Well, we should catch up sometime while we’re here.”

Basil nodded, wanting to end the conversation already. He was just happy that Mincy wasn’t there to see his face. She would have asked him what was wrong, she was good at reading his expressions.

Meanwhile, Sunny wasn’t so confident. He had a clue, but after being apart from his friend for so long and only contacting him by messages, he couldn’t read his face. Only that he seemed avoidant. As for why, he didn’t know. He couldn’t dare to ask him why. This was not the place or time.

Not to mention, the room had begun to sway more. Sunny was on his fifth drink and unsure of his senses. He nursed his drink in the awkward silence as they waited for the return of everyone and the display of dessert. He hoped it was something rich that could eat up the alcohol in his system.

When the chefs came by with cheesecake, Mari shared a concerned look with Hero. She had noticed that Sunny kept refilling his glass and was becoming unstable with his movements, even laughing harder than normal at Kel’s jokes.

She raised her eyebrows at him and glanced at Sunny. Hero nodded and moved into action.

“Hey buddy, do you think you might want to slow down?” Hero asked him, quietly enough so the others wouldn’t hear. Sunny shook his head, already into his sixth drink.

He let it go with a loud satisfied sigh. Definitely not the usual intact Sunny he normally was. “Nah, I’m just excited that everyone’s here. There’s so much love in this room!”

Sarcasm dripped from his words. He wiped at his lips and went to down the drink. Anything to tame the beast of feelings inside of him. He knew alcohol was a depressant and wouldn’t help in the long term, but it was one of the easiest vices to deal with harsh truths, especially on lonely nights. Drinking in front of friends, he could pretend it was for the social atmosphere.

Mari frowned, but covered it up quickly. She’d speak to him later. “Anyways, about tomorrow. Hero and I will be meeting up with Cris, our wedding coordinator. While we’re meeting, you all can go out to the town and have fun out and about. We’ll be stuck talking about all the boring wedding details,” she joked, secretly excited to steam out the details and see their plans come to fruition.

“If you need any help with the cake tasting, I’m there!” Kel offered, finishing up the last of his cheesecake.

“Kel, the cake tasting was months ago,” Aubrey said, rolling her eyes. “What did you two go with anyways?”

Mari laughed. “We went with something a little complicated, but still classic, since Hero kept tasting them and changing his mind. What was the name of it?”

“A marble white chocolate cake with cannoli filling and white buttercream frosting,” Hero said, smiling at his final decision. The raspberry lemon poppyseed cake had been a close second.

“Sounds like a good choice!”

Mincy shared glances with Basil as the conversation moved onto other details, like flowers and decorations. “You know, we’re planning to have a long engagement, but I’m excited for whenever this will be us, Basil.”

Basil looked up at Mincy, spotting how gentle her eyes felt on Hero and Mari. That’s what she wanted. That’s the kind of love she deserved.

Mincy outstretched her hand over the table, gently grabbing Basil’s hand. He tightened up at first, not used to showing affection around his friends, but eased as she pressed her thumb gently into his palm in a calming motion.

“Honestly, we don’t even need the biggest of weddings. As long as it’s with you, I’ll be happy.”

Her smile was too pure to respond in any other way but to agree. Their group of friends drew out an “aww” for the two. Even Mari shared a loving look with Hero. She had been afraid of them rushing into things, but so what if other people’s relationship timelines were different? Once you were in love, love followed no rules, no time.

Sunny didn’t know how to feel about this display of affection. He felt sick to his stomach. Here it was coming up again. Word vomit. The need to say something, anything, to make this all stop–

He stood up abruptly, aggressively pushing his chair. “I-I need to–”

He couldn’t say it. Not here. Not now. Think of Mari. Think of Hero. This is their time. Think of Basil. Think of how happy he is.

Hero came to his rescue. He stood up next to Sunny. “Go to the bathroom? You seem a little unsteady, let me lead you over.”

Hero took one of Sunny’s arms and allowed him to lean against his taller figure. The two walked over to the dark hallway, Sunny stumbling along the way. He felt 12 all over again with Hero’s big brother persona coming up.

“I think you might want to head to bed early,” he said, checking Sunny’s face. “Do you need to stop by the bathroom at all?”

Sunny shook his head and hung it low. He could almost cry at how gentle Hero was being with him. He didn’t deserve this. Hero should have been worrying about wedding stuff, not about his brother-in-law drinking himself in sorrow.

“S-Sorry,” he drew out as Hero took them to Sunny’s room. He dropped Sunny over to his bed and helped him undo the blankets to cover himself. Hero just shook his head, giving him his signature smile.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re family now, right?”

Family. He was gaining two brothers out of this marriage.

“I…I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.”

Sunny continued down the thought, not realizing he was still speaking. His friends were too good for him. Of course he had done something to screw up the friendship with Basil. If only he knew what, he could change himself to be a better person for Basil, maybe someone who would eventually love him again…

“Basil…”

He could barely feel the warm tears falling down his cheeks.

Hero stood by Sunny’s bedside table, turning on the bedside lamp. He listened to Sunny ramble, quiet.

“Sunny–”

Sunny stopped mid-ramble, his eyes heavy and dropping with the need for sleep. “Hm?”

“I…” he wasn’t sure if he could continue. “I don’t know what’s going on with Basil, but just wait. Hear him out. H-He asked Mari earlier if he could be seated away from you tonight, and I don’t know why, but I’m sure he has his reasons. Wait to hear him out, okay? You always have tomorrow. You two have always been able to work through anything.”

Sleep hit him sooner than he wanted. Hero’s frame disappeared with the click of the door closing. He held onto that thought as his consciousness drifted.

Basil requested to be seated away from him?

His dreams were of no relief to him.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Sunny woke up with a hangover.

Sleeping in had become a habit, apparently. The clock above the dresser in front of the bed read 10:21 AM. Why the hosts decided to place an analog clock right in front of a bed for people to read rather than a digital one, he didn’t know.

Remnants of the night before kept flashing before his eyes. The headache behind his eyes reminded him of how he forgot to drink water in between drinks of wine. Even being wine drunk had its consequences.

After throwing on a new shirt and slipping on some shorts, he trudged over to the kitchen. Aubrey and Kel stood by one of the counters, Kel looking over her shoulder.

He searched through the cabinets as the two talked.

“Oh my god, I didn’t know you were so cheesy in love,” Kel snickered as Aubrey quickly tried to swipe away Kim’s notification. In her haste, she had accidentally tapped on the badge and brought the messenger app, showing that the two had shared many emojis while saying good morning to each other.

“I hope you have a great day, I miss you so much, love bug–”
“Kel! Oh my god, stop!”

Sunny finally found a box of cereal in the pantry. Something with lots of sugar and easy enough to eat in minutes.

“Hey, SunSun!” Kel yelled out as Aubrey slid her phone into her pocket. “You’re up!”

“Yeah, sorry,” he said, his voice harsh like gravel. He rubbed his eyes as he searched for a bowl and milk. “I didn’t mean to sleep in. Where is everybody?”

“Oh, Mari and Hero left a while ago to meet up with Cris. She’s cute! And really energetic about her job,” he said, laughing as she recalled how excited she was to see the happy pair again.

“They followed her to go work out the last details with her at her office,” Aubrey further explained, smiling at Sunny. She glanced at his bowl of cereal. “Just cereal for breakfast?”

“Yeah, it’s quick and easy. Don’t wanna bother the chef, wherever he is,” Sunny said.

“I get what you mean. I feel awkward having someone cater to me too. I just asked him to make some scrambled eggs and toast and Kel over here requested a whole feast for 20 people…”

Kel laughed as Aubrey shot him a glare. At least he ate it all.

“And Basil and Mincy went out to get breakfast. They mentioned something about looking up a cafe around the area and wanting to try out their menu. We wanted to wait until you got up.”

So that’s where the pair was. Sunny had thought they were still in their room, or off at the beach somewhere. Basil was always an early riser. Sunny would sometimes miss his early messages and respond back at a time where he was busy. He’d only get up early when work required him to.

Sunny merely nodded and looked down at his bowl of cereal. Hero’s confession ran through his head.

“I don’t know what’s going on with Basil, but just wait. Hear him out. H-He asked Mari earlier if he could be seated away from you tonight, and I don’t know why, but I’m sure he has his reasons. Wait to hear him out, okay? You always have tomorrow. You two have always been able to work through anything.”

Kel smiled at him as he looked back up, taking a spoonful of cereal. “Just let us know when you’re ready and we can head over!”

As the three of them walked into town, they caught up more about their lives.

Aubrey bragged about her girlfriend working towards being a lawyer. Kim had taken the bar in July and was awaiting the results. With her and Kim living together and Kim still pursuing her education, Aubrey had to work more hours to help make ends meet, but she was glad to see Kim passionate about something.

“I was thinking of getting a tattoo, even,” she grinned, showing her teeth and pointing to her sleeve. “Something that says ‘My girl’s a lawyer.’”

After high school, Kim had reached out to Aubrey and offered for her to move in together. Aubrey jumped at the opportunity to get out of her household and room with a friend. They started with a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment until they finally confessed their feelings to each other. When that lease was up, they switched to a one bedroom to save extra money. Aubrey completed an associate’s degree at the local community college for some education credits. She was now working as a paraprofessional teacher’s assistant and picking up extra shifts like yard duty and longer hours. She liked working with the kids there. They all called her Ms. Aub (the only people allowed to call her that and not get a punch) and showered her with drawings every day.

Aubrey had been one of the first people to speak to Kel about the idea of expanding into education. She could see (as clueless as he was, she said), how good he was with kids and talked to him about the elementary school she worked at. He had come by a few times the past school year to help out and get a feel of the classroom.

Once they entered the square, live music played around them followed with the sounds of other tourists and locals shopping for the day. The music was soft, an afterthought. No one was in a rush. Everyone slowly walked in and out of stores, enjoying their time.

Kel pointed to a candy shop. Their first stop.

By then, Sunny’s hangover was still present, but receding. He was glad the day was a calm one that didn’t require much focus.

Even though he had eaten a sugary breakfast just an hour before, the candy looked appetizing. He wondered how candy shops made their rows and rows of sugar look so appealing.

“Imagine looking at this place with a kid’s eyes,” Aubrey said, standing and scanning the store. “Kim and Vance would like this place. I’ll have to show her when she comes.”

Right. These next days would be the only time Sunny would get the attention of his two friends, unfiltered. Once more guests arrived, their time and energy would be driven away, Aubrey with her girlfriend and Kel with any person who drew his interest.

He should appreciate the time he had with them.

Next, they went to a boutique. Aubrey began to gush over the clothes, sighing that she only regretted that Mari wasn’t there with her to squeal and pick out pieces. Kel and Sunny aimlessly wandered around until they found a stand with outlandish earrings and sunglasses. They tried on different pairs until Aubrey approached them with a bag of clothing she had just bought.

“I swear, we can’t take you two out anywhere,” she muttered, shaking her head as Sunny looked at her with star sunglasses and Kel with circle glitter frames.

It was nice, taking a moment not to think about Basil. He tried his best not to search for the blonde in every space they entered. Turning when he thought he heard his voice.

He wanted to give his attention to Kel and Aubrey. He could sort the rest out later.

Lunchtime approached. There were several food trucks parked along the main square, hoisting their menus and prices in front of everyone’s faces as they walked through, forcing them to smell their delicious food and make a stop. The three of them split to different places, not being able to agree on one type of cuisine. When Sunny walked back, he spotted tables set aside for eating and headed over. As he looked under the umbrellas, he spotted a familiar couple. He decided to join them.

“Hey guys, I saw Mincy and Basil. Should we sit with them?”

“Sounds like a great idea!” Kel followed Sunny’s direction as Aubrey tried to juggle her plate of food, napkin, and soda. She was unsure, but followed the two. She could tell by Basil’s surprised look on his face that he had not been expecting the group.

“Basil! Mincy!” Kel announced, setting down his carton by Mincy. “We meet again!”

Sunny quickly sat down on the open spot on the bench next to Basil. He pretended he didn’t see as the boy scooted an inch away from him.

“O-Oh, hey, Sunny! Aubrey, and Kel…” Basil stuttered out, looking over at Mincy as she smiled warmly at them.

“Sorry if we’re interrupting,” Aubrey said, coming over and taking up another spot by Kel. “We just haven’t seen you two since this morning so we thought we’d say hello.”

“Of course! Have you three been having fun?” Mincy asked, scooting over to make more room.

“Aubrey got so much candy for her lovebu–”

A quick punch in the gut shut Kel up for the next few minutes. He gasped out one of his asada fries and clutched his stomach. “Not… deserved…”

“We’ve been having a lot of fun. Sunny’s really good at looking at the details of everything and found some pretty cool stuff for us to take as souvenirs,” Aubrey said, wiping her hands clean. Sunny held up a bag with trinkets, most notably a fridge magnet with a terrible pun about the name of the island.

“Haha, Basil’s kind of the same! He found me this cute charm bracelet earlier. It’s got different charms to symbolize art.” Mincy held out her arm, showing the bracelet to the group.

Sunny’s stomach burned with jealousy. Of course Basil would gift his partner something thoughtful like that. That was the kind of person he was as a friend. He could only imagine how lucky he’d be to be his significant other.

He bit that thought down and turned to Basil.

“So you’ve been having fun?” he asked him. Basil, caught off guard, didn’t have anywhere else to look.

“O-Oh, yeah! It’s been nice to look at all these stores…”

Sunny pointed to his own tote bag and a material sticking out. “Did you get some clothes too?”

Mincy perked up. “Yes! Basil found this dorky shirt at a boutique. I think it looks kind of odd, but he says he likes it, so he went ahead and bought it.”

“Can I see?” Sunny asked and Basil hesitantly grabbed his tote bag from under the table.

“S-Sure. It really is dorky, though.”

Basil opened up the bag between them and lifted up the shirt. It was a simple collared shirt, a light cream color with a scallop collar. It held a light design of tiny, little tulips throughout the material. This was Basil’s kind of style.

Sunny gingerly held the shirt, admiring the tulips. Surely Basil remembered what they stood for. Or was it a coincidence? He looked up and met the blonde’s eyes.

“I think it’d look great on you,” Sunny said softly, drawing a slight blush from Basil. For the smallest second, he could see the boy untangle, let his guard down–

“T-Thanks.”

Sunny nodded and returned the shirt to the bag. He had made Basil blush. Or was he still uncomfortable with compliments altogether?

He sipped at his drink, trying to understand.

The group continued to talk about what they had bought and the scenery of the island. Basil actually began to divulge into the history of the island, hitting some key points that the manager had told them yesterday, but bringing up details.

“Whoa, how do you know so much, Basil?” Kel asked him as he pointed out some of the flora around them.

Basil smiled. “As soon as Hero and Mari told us where their wedding was going to be, I looked up the island. I even found a pretty informational documentary about the place!”

Sunny burst into a smile as Aubrey laughed and kicked Basil’s feet under the table. “That’s Basil for you! If we have any questions, we’ll come to you.”

Basil blushed at the compliment and nodded. Sunny could tell he appreciated someone noting his effort. This was Basil. The Basil he had always known.

Or at least, the Basil he thought he knew until two days ago.

He watched the blonde wrap up his napkins and set them down on his own plate. Where was the Basil he knew? Was he still there? And if so, what made him put up this front?

After the group finished their food and tossed away their trash, Sunny brought up his idea. They had a few hours left before returning to the villa, where Mari said they’d meet everyone again for a more casual dinner that night. It was now or never.

He spoke up as Kel stretched out his arms. “Hey, why don’t we stick together for the last few hours?”

Everyone looked at each other, all agreeing but one person.

“Oh, you know, I-I don’t know, we’ve already looked at everything, I think…”

Mincy interrupted her fiance and pointed over to the street with art exhibits and paintings. “We haven’t gone down that section yet, though. Have you guys?”

They shook their heads. That decided it. Sunny grabbed Basil’s tote bag from under the table and handed it to him. “Great. Why don’t we check it out together?”

Basil cautiously took the bag, thanking Sunny quietly.

He would try to get a moment alone with Basil. He’d confront him and ask what this was really all about.

Basil couldn’t avoid the truth forever.

Turned out that Basil could avoid the truth for another day.
The five stuck together at each spot. The art exhibits were quiet as people observed the work and art made by the people of the island. There wasn’t much leeway to whisper to Basil that he’d like to speak to him privately.

If anything, Sunny made progress with lightening up Basil’s mood around him. They seemed to have the same opinion over each work, oohing and aahing at the same pieces and stopping to admire things that the others walked ahead of.

Sunny pointed to a piece of art at the last stop. A field of sunflowers. Basil’s gaze gravitated towards the art no matter where they roamed in the room. Sunny read aloud the description to the side, remarking on the materials used.

“It’s beautiful,” Basil whispered as their friends walked outside of the building and stood at the doorway.

“It makes me think of you,” Sunny said, not stopping himself.

Basil paused, pursing his lips but unable to contain his smile. They stood in front of the vibrant yellow canvas for some time. “Thank you, Sunny.”

“Do you want it?” he asked, looking closer for the price. There, above the description in tiny lettering. Basil leaned in, gasping at the price.

“O-Oh, no. That’s way too much. I mean, it’s beautiful, and the artist deserves every penny, b-but you know, where would I even keep it? And we’re all the way out here too…”

Basil turned to meet their friends. “C’mon, let’s go back with the others. At least we got to see these great pieces!”

“Excuse me? Can I buy this?”

Basil stopped in his tracks as the shopkeeper ushered over to Sunny, who pointed to the piece on the wall. The two spoke about the piece for a moment and Basil stood, not wanting to turn around. Who was he getting it for? He guessed that Sunny liked it as much as he did…

He turned as Sunny walked over to the register and pulled out his card. He wanted to stop his friend and pull him back outside. What was he doing?

“Y-You’re buying it?”
“For you,” Sunny responded as the shopkeeper began to wrap up the piece.

Before he could refuse, the transaction went through and Sunny removed his card. They thanked the man and took the bag, which was rather heavy. The artist had used masonite instead of canvas for the oil paints. Sunny handed it over to Basil, taking his tote bag in exchange.

Basil said nothing as they walked outside and met up with their friends. He let the crisp island breeze cool his cheeks down as they walked, no one mentioning the new bag in his hands.

As they walked behind the others, Basil met Sunny’s eyes for one of the first times.

“Thanks, Sunny.”

Sunny paused as he took in his tender expression, a blush of his own coming up. He wanted to spill it all at that moment. All of his love for Basil. Everything he had planned to say the days before.

Instead, he just nodded and moved them forward. “Of course.”

Later that evening, after dining together as seven, the group scattered around the villa. Aubrey, Hero, and Mari sat at a small bar in the corner of the main room. Sunny sat behind them, looking at a book he had picked out earlier that day. They were going over logistics and timing of the wedding ceremony, reception, and rehearsal dinner. Apparently some relatives and guests had suddenly sprung up that they were bringing a plus one, or were arriving a little later due to storms blowing across the coast.

Hero scratched at his hair, frustrated. “So, if my Tia Maria brings one more person… what does that put our number at again?”

He glanced at Aubrey, so was texting back Kim, her little notebook keeping tally astray. She looked up at his eyes. “Oh, uh, sorry, I lost count.”

Hero deflated onto the bar table, avoiding their drink glasses and resting his head on the cool marble. “We’ll never work this out.”

Mari sighed and nodded over at Aubrey. “Thanks, Aubrey. We can work this out tomorrow.”

Aubrey took her leave and walked back over to her own room to start a call with Kim. Mari placed her hands on Hero’s shoulders, working at some of his knots. He sat up and closed his eyes in bliss.

“Hey, let’s put a pin to this,” she said. “We can always work it out tomorrow. It doesn’t need to get done today. Why don’t you go upstairs and enjoy a warm bath in that huge tub? With the jets?”

Hero smiled at the thought of the hot water working away his nerves. He opened his eyes. “Mhm. With you?”

Mari smiled as her eyes gleamed with a look he knew well. “I’ll be up there soon. Let me just wrap this up.”

Sunny coughed, making his presence known to the two lovers as Hero walked back upstairs to start the bath. He stood up, closing his book and walking over to Mari. She took a big drink out of her glass and began to pick up their glasses before Sunny approached her.

“Hey, do you have a moment?”
She smiled and set down the glasses again. “I always have time for my little brother.”

Sunny pulled up at the bar stool that Hero had just sat in. He eyed the drinks at the opposite side and shook his head. No drinks that night.

“So first, sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to drink so much. I hope I didn’t dampen the mood.”

Mari shook her head and waved off his apology. “Don’t worry about it, Sunny. I know emotions are kind of high right now. And we haven’t seen each other in so long. No one noticed. Did Kel and Aubrey bring up anything today?”

He shook his head. He could tell Aubrey was keeping an eye on him and Basil, but she didn’t say why.

“Well, there you go. But if there is something that is worrying you, you can be open to us. If it’s not to me, then to the others. Hero, Kel, Aubrey, or Basil.”

Basil.
Sunny sat up in his stool.

“Well, there is one thing that’s been on my mind today.”

Mari ran a finger on the rim of her glass, looking up when feeling Sunny’s eyes on her. “Hm?”

He braced himself as he thought of how to pose the question.

“When Hero took me back to my room last night, well, I was so out of it that I’m not sure if I imagined it, but he said… he said that Basil asked you two to seat him away from me? Is that true?”

Mari stayed quiet. Hero hadn’t told her this. They had agreed not to bring it up.
Her brother watched her with expectant eyes.

What would she say?

Chapter Text

“When Hero took me back to my room last night, well, I was so out of it that I’m not sure if I imagined it, but he said… he said that Basil asked you two to seat him away from me? Is that true?”

Mari stayed quiet. Hero hadn’t told her this. They had agreed not to bring it up.
Her brother watched her with expectant eyes.

What would she say?

“It’s probably not true, huh?” Mari’s silence unsettled him, caused him to stumble with his words. “I-I mean, why would Basil ask for something like that? I must have drank a lot..”

Why was he asking this? Did he really want to know the answer why? He knew the answer already. Sunny cursed at himself. He just didn’t want to face it the truth–

“Oh, did he say that?” Mari said, chuckling under her breath and running a hand over her bangs. She fidgeted, drinking the last sip of the alcohol in her drink to buy her some time.

She would need this to lie to Sunny’s face.

She faced Sunny and softly grabbed his hand. “I think Hero’s just tightly wound right now. He’s got wedding jitters and probably misinterpreted something said. I mean, why would Basil ask us for something like that?”

She was right. Why would Basil ask Mari and Hero to be placed away from Sunny?

Sunny felt that he had made progress with Basil earlier that day. It was most likely all in his mind. It was his worst enemy, after all. And after his world being turned upside down with the news of Basil in a relationship and then him in a serious commitment, of course his mind would jump to the darkest conclusion.

Sunny nodded, letting Mari keep her hand on his. He hadn’t noticed that it was shaking. The warmth from her palm was relaxing, coaxing him to believe her words. “Y-You must be right…”

“I am,” she said firmly. She squeezed his hand. “Trust me, everything’s okay.”

With that, Mari suggested for Sunny to get a good night’s rest and left her brother at the bar counter, heading upstairs to her fiance. She hated the entire situation. If she could have, she would have told him the truth.

But the truth was, even Mari and Hero didn’t know why Basil had requested such a thing.

“C-Can you make sure we sit apart? At least for the first night? There’s… It’s complicated. I can’t explain right now. But I will speak to him about it. It’s just… right now, I need my space. I’ll tell him in time. Just give me time.”

She brought out her phone from her pocket and texted Hero, stopping at the top of the stairs. The bubble bath would have to wait. She sent out the text and walked back downstairs, towards Basil’s room.

Basil sat alone in his room, sitting on his bed when a knock came at the door.

“Come in,” he called out loud, brushing his wet hair. He had just showered after the long day and was relishing in his clean scent. His bedroom window was open, letting in the cool night breeze and the gentle scent coming from the beach waves. Everything was perfect.

He glanced at the masonite canvas on the ground in front of him. At least, almost everything was.

Mari entered the room, quietly closing the door behind herself. She smiled at the sight of the painting. “Hey. Nice painting.”

“Thanks,” Basil said. He paused before adding the next detail. “Sunny got it for me today.”

This seemed to change Mari’s expression. Slightly, for she shifted it back into a smile. “That’s very nice of him. All those sunflowers remind me of you.”

She walked over and sat next to him on his bed. He wasn’t uncomfortable with this gesture. Basil had always looked up to Mari as a big sister. That’s what she was to all of them. And being an only child with estranged parents, Basil welcomed in this “found family” even more.

Her presence was comforting. He could tell she had something to talk about, though. She could never really hide her emotions well from him.

“Hey, so,” she began, tracing her finger over a knitted pattern on his comforter. “About what you said the other day…”

Basil looked down at his lap. He lay the brush down. It had been a hard conversation to have with Hero and Mari over facetime. He had called them on the premise that he had a huge favor to ask. At that moment, Mincy was in the shower and Basil was walking back to his own hotel room. Even after getting engaged, he wasn’t comfortable with sleeping in the same bed as her and had asked for separate rooms. Basil answered the call back to see the two of them walking out of Gino’s, grabbing the food for their party that night.

“Hey, Basil! What’s up?”

They were so cheerful, smiling at him with such kind eyes. He hated what he was about to ask.

Basil nodded. “I-I know. It was such a weird thing for me to ask. Sorry for putting you in an odd position.”

Mari shook her head. “That’s fine. You didn’t put us in an odd position. The only thing I’m worried about is…”

She bit down on her lower lip. “Sunny knows. Or at least, he’s starting to wonder. I think he knows something is up, and he asked to speak to me tonight. He seems really worried, Basil.”

Sunny was worried?

He hadn’t stopped to think how this was affecting Sunny. Basil had been so caught up in his own emotions the past few days that it was difficult to think straight. First, this whirlwind of an engagement, coming to celebrate his friend’s weddings, and reuniting with his crush from childhood…

She could tell this hurt Basil. She moved her hand over and scooted closer to him. “Hey. I only bring this up because I’m worried about you two. I know you said you’d explain, but I’m just concerned. Is something going on?”

Basil gripped his bamboo brush handle in his hands. The question he had been avoiding all this time.

Is something going on?

Basil had been distracting himself with Mincy since they arrived. Today, straight after waking up, he walked over to Mincy’s room and asked her if she wanted to go eat breakfast out instead of at the villa, to avoid seeing Sunny that morning. He made sure to avoid the populated areas in the square, in case they were to bump into him. Then, at lunch, when he spotted them anyways, his heart leapt to his throat. Even at dinner, with some of the tension gone between them, he could still feel Sunny’s eyes on him. Those dark eyes, piercing through him, knowing what he felt inside…

Mari pressed a hand onto his. Basil stopped. He didn’t know he had been shaking, his breathing becoming erratic. He looked up at her and her worried expression.

“You don’t have to tell me now,” she assured him. “Just know that we’re here for you, Basil. Whatever it is, I’m not going to judge you. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

She had to admit, the past 48 hours had been filled with emotions. Everyone back together, all secluded in an island after years apart. Even the dynamics between her, Hero, Aubrey, and Kel were different, although they saw each other semi-regularly. She hadn’t seen Basil in weeks. She’d text him asking how he was and would receive short replies, letting her know he was doing great, just tired and busy. He’d always add his little flower emoji, or a smiley face. But something in his tone seemed forced.

She put it off as her reading into things too much.

She squeezed his hand and he squeezed it back in return. A comforting gesture.

“It’s just… really hard, Mari,” Basil said, his voice breaking down as he spoke. He sniffled as he caught his breath, feeling the tears about to fall from the brim.

God, she felt like a jerk, coming up to Basil so late at night and pressing him about the issue. She swept him into a hug, squeezing his petite body against hers as he began to shake with sobs. “Hey now, it’s okay. Everything’s okay, Basil. And if everything’s not okay right now, it means it’s not the end. It will be okay.”

He could only nod as his sobs racked his body with pain. His emotions built up behind a dam, nearing the top, and Mari’s question had poked a hole through its most vulnerable area. They were bound to release some time. And when the floodgates opened, there was no holding them back.

Who knew how long he had been holding this in?

Basil tortured himself with the same questions over and over again, day by day. It was a never-ending cycle, something he had been born with. He had tried to manage his anxiety and depression throughout his adolescence. He knew it was something he’d have to navigate through his entire life with. There was no cure. He had gotten better with it, but over the past years, there had been something pressing him tightly in a chokehold, a question that ran through his head late at night.

He thought of the stranger who visited him in these times.

You’re unlovable, Basil. You’ve always been unlovable. Your mom and dad don’t even give you the time of day.
Why do you think he hasn’t responded to you? Do you think you’re anyone’s priority? He didn’t change his mind all those years ago, what makes you think he takes any of this seriously? If he wanted this, where is he? Why isn’t he here? Why do you feel so unloved?
You’re lying to yourself again. What are you running from? What are you so afraid of? You know what you feel deep inside. You’re just a coward, like always. If you’re going to live this life of lies, might as well ki-

He wasn’t sure if this stranger was friend or foe. He told the harshest truths, things that Basil still refused to embrace. It was alarming how sharply his words hurt, almost as if he knew deep down that the stranger knew best. Was he saying these things to protect him? Or did they only make sense because he felt so helpless in his situation?

Basil sat there in Mari’s arms for what felt like hours. By the time his eyes were dried, her sleeve was wet with his tears. He wiped at his mouth and nose and turned away, too afraid to look at her eyes. He knew what he would see if he looked up, exactly what he saw that day.

The kindest of eyes. He didn’t deserve such compassion. Not when he had dug himself into this grave.

“Thank you, M-Mari,” he whispered, his breath still uneven. He began to focus his attention on his breathing, holding in for 5 seconds, letting go for six, and pulling back in for more. She pulled away to give him more space.

“Of course, Basil. Always.”

Once the breathing exercise began to calm his heart rate, he continued. “I’ll tell Sunny about this all soon. I just-I just need more time. I’m sorry for putting you in the middle of this, and for hurting Sunny inadvertently like this, but it’s something hard to talk about. But something that needs to be done.”

“I understand,” she said. “And especially with being engaged recently too. There’s all these emotions and thoughts going through your head right now, I imagine.”

She was more correct than she thought. And in ways she couldn’t imagine.

Basil merely nodded.

“Can I be honest with you?” she asked, her voice softening. She took his silence as permission to continue. “Are you okay with this? This seems… a little rushed. From what I know, you two were together for eight months? I’m not judging you, and I think Mincy’s a wonderful girl, but I just want to know if you’re truly fine with all of this.”

Basil breathed out through his nose. He cracked a small smile. “Yeah, I figured you guys would think that. I can understand it, honestly. It does seem kind of sudden. Like Mincy said yesterday, it was totally unplanned. Even right now, I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

He wasn’t sure how he wanted his friends to react to the news. He didn’t want them to know at all, at least, not yet. That’s why he had asked Mincy to hide her ring when they arrived. He wanted this time to be spent being distracted by Hero and Mari’s wedding. And when they got home, when things settled down, he could consider the logistics of everything. But now, everyone knew. It seemed too real. He’d wake up and think about the fact that he was an engaged man.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about it. That was the best way to put it.

“I didn’t think I’d be the kind of person to get engaged so quickly either,” he said, his voice dying out in volume. “I guess when it’s time, you just know.”

He seemed unconvinced with his answer, but Mari didn’t press further. His eyes looked tired from the crying. It was now past midnight. She should leave him to rest up for the next day, she thought.

“Right. I understand that feeling. It’s how Hero and I felt too,” she said, offering him a tiny smile. She patted his back and rose up from her spot on the bed. “Well, I still give you two my best wishes and if you need any help with wedding planning, hit me or Aubrey up. She’s strangely good with all this planning.”

Basil laughed and nodded, standing up as well. He returned his brush back over to the side table. His hair was dry by now. Mari waved him goodnight at the door and closed it again behind her.

Basil walked over to his open window, looking down at the beach from his view. The villa was uphill from the beach, showing a view of the sandy beach shore from up above. He saw a dark figure walking around, kicking up the sand. He could hear a soft song playing, too quietly for him to pick up the lyrics or recognize the song. The voice was singing along.

It was Sunny, out on a midnight walk. Clearing his thoughts.

Basil leaned against the window, watching the ravenette.

Did he make the right decision?

Only time would tell.

Basil closed the window and drew the blinds.

Chapter Text

Day Three, Day before Rehearsal Dinner

The next day was filled with more purpose.

Sunny awoke on time. This was their third day on the island, two more days before the wedding. Tomorrow evening, relatives and guests would be arriving for the rehearsal dinner and the next day, the wedding ceremony and reception was to take place. Today was the last day to work out the kinks before everyone would arrive. The last day before it all became real.

He woke up with resolve. He would find out today.

By mid afternoon, everyone was being sent to attend to tasks and errands through Cris’s guidance. And if they tried to give her any sass or complain, Aubrey was right behind her, barking orders to keep this a well-oiled machine. She was taking her role as maid of honor seriously.

Sunny waved at Cris at the entryway. He had just gotten back from helping some men unload boxes of decorations near the back of the house. Cris was storing them there for the day and would begin her work early tomorrow.

“Sunny!” Cris smiled as she spotted him again. The two had known each other briefly through school and were acquaintances. It was actually one of the reasons why Cris was hired for the position–she had lived in Faraway Town for a few years before moving to a bigger city to join and train for their competitive swimming and diving team. She continued that for years, letting it carry her through college on scholarship and paying for her main major: business. She had found her way to this island, created her own business in the wedding industry, and watched it blossom. When she learned through social media that Mari and Hero, the it couple of Faraway Town, had gotten engaged, she reached out and offered her services at a discount. She was in a grade level below them and knew Basil, Sunny, and Aubrey through classes. The others she met for the first time that week.

Cris and Kel hit it off, not to anyone’s surprise. If she had any downtime, she promised him a short date by the ocean before they headed back home. Their outgoing personalities were a great match for each other and they were able to talk at length about their respective sporty lifestyles.

“Run, eat, sleep, repeat?” Sunny whispered underneath his breath as he looked at the sticker on her laptop. He shivered. Basil, who stood next to him, awaiting his own directions, laughed.

Cris looked down at her clipboard. She was in the middle of taking count of the flowers for the day. The main florist was attending to each centerpiece, making sure the quality of each piece was fine. Cris kept counting over and over, but came below the number they had agreed on previously. Perhaps the floral shop had forgotten a batch of flowers.

“Hmm, I think I have a job for you two,” she brought up, looking up at the pair. They fidgeted under her stare. The two of them? Together?

Basil glanced around the room. Crap. The others were out in their respective errands. Maybe if he could buy them some time, Kel would show back up, or he could slip into the kitchen and convince the chef to come out and help…

“The flowers they forgot would be too much for one person to bring back over here, so why not choose the childhood friends to go get it for me? This is perfect!”

She handed Basil a slip of information with her contact information, order number, and what was missing. She began to fill Sunny in with the details and let him know that if anything went wrong, he could have the shop call her to sort out the issue. They were a family-owned business and knew her well, having done business with her for a while, so they shouldn’t give them any hassle. Sunny nodded along to the information, a giddy feeling growing in his chest at the opportunity appearing ahead of him. Basil folded the paper in his hands, shaking. He was about to be alone with Sunny. What would they talk about? He remembered his talk with Mari the previous night. She said Sunny was becoming aware of the situation.

What would he ask Basil?

Basil nearly jumped as someone tapped his shoulder softly. He turned, it was only Sunny.

“Ready?”
“Y-Yeah, let’s go.”

The clouds moved low to the ground as the two walked over to the town again. Having gone to the square the day before, they anticipated a fifteen minute walk to the shop. The day was more humid than the past two days. Usually the weather was bright and sunny, filling up the island with warmth, the cool breeze coming in around six or seven, setting them in for a cool night. But now, Basil shivered slightly at the weird wind coursing through.

His phone buzzed in his hand. It was Mincy. She had just gotten back to the villa. Basil cursed. If he had just waited a few more minutes, walked a little slower, she would have been sent with them.

Sunny noticed the blonde shivering. He shrugged off his dark blue cardigan and offered it to his friend.

“Cold?” he asked.

The material felt soft against Basil’s arm. It was a kind gesture, a friendly gesture only, Basil told himself. But he couldn’t bring himself to accept it. Something about wearing Sunny’s cardigan, about smelling his scent on him…

“I-I’m good,” he lied, forcing his shivering to stop. “We’re almost there anyway. The buildings should block some of this wind.”

Sunny withdrew his cardigan. He didn’t put it back on, just in case Basil changed his mind. He normally would eagerly accept his jacket, it was odd.

The first eight minutes of the walk were quiet with small comments here and there. They were trying to get a feel for each other, testing to see where their walls were.

“This island sure is pretty…”
“Yeah, Mari’s always had really good taste. I can’t believe she’s finally getting married.”
“How’s she been recently?”

“Mari?” Sunny looked over at Basil, who nodded.
“Mhm.”

“Oh, alright, I guess.”
Basil gestured with his hands. “She hasn’t been nervous or frustrated over all this?”

Sunny took a moment to respond, really thinking it through. “Well, I guess I haven’t asked her.”

To this, Basil laughed in shock and nudged his friend. “Sunny, you’re her brother! You can’t tell if she’s been overwhelmed? You’re the closest to her beside Hero.”

“Oh. Well, I haven’t been here for that long,” Sunny mused. Basil was right. He had been so absorbed with his own problems that he kept ignoring the big reason they were all here for. Basil noted the small frown on his face.

“I don’t blame you. That’s how Mari is and has always been,” he reassured him. “She doesn’t want us to worry about her, so she usually hides this stuff from us.”

Sunny nodded, still feeling selfish. A few more minutes of silence enveloped them until they came upon some colorful yellow and pink flowers along the path. Basil stopped them, leaning down to examine the clusters.

“These are called lantanas. To me, the tiny flowers are so colorful that it looks like a cluster of colors, like a mini firework or something. You’re not supposed to touch them, especially if your skin is sensitive to irritation. In warm climates like this, they’re known to bloom nearly year-round.”

Sunny leaned down, careful not to get too close. They were beautiful. If they weren’t toxic, he would suggest for Basil to slide one behind his ear. He examined his empty hair, noting that he had no flower clip as usual.

“Was Venice beautiful too?” Sunny asked, standing back up and moving them along. Basil didn’t see his expression as he caught up from behind.

“It was! I took so many photos of the plants there. And some of the streets, just because they looked so scenic in the evening.”

“That’s great. I’m glad you had a great time, Basil.” When Basil caught up in speed, he saw the smile on Sunny’s face. It was genuine. The other day his initial reaction had been jealousy that the blonde went with someone else, but now, he was just happy that Basil was happy.

“Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I’ll show you some pictures another time.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah.”

The two kept quiet as they both raced to find another subject to keep talking. They didn’t want the conversation to end. The town was nearing.

“I remember you saying you always wanted to go.”

Basil was shocked that he remembered. “O-Oh, yeah. I brought it up to Mincy before too, and she surprised me with tickets a few months ago.”
“Wow.”

Basil smiled and rubbed the back of his head with a hand. “Y-Yeah, it was a grand gesture. I told her she didn’t have to, and I paid her back for the tickets…”

Sunny turned to him as they walked. “She seems to really care for you.”

Basil held his gaze, wondering if there was anything behind that statement. Sunny continued, turning back forward.

“I’m glad you have someone like that.”

Was it harder to say that, or harder to take it in?

Basil cleared his throat. “What about you? A-Are you seeing anyone, Sunny?”

Sunny shook his head and Basil rushed to try not to make the conversation uncomfortable.

“Ah, well, I-I hope you find someone soon too!”

Sunny shrugged again with an indifferent look on his face. “I don’t know. I’m for one guy and one guy alone. So for now, I don’t really care about dating anyone else.”

He said this so casually, it almost felt cold, empty. It stung inside. Basil didn’t ask who this “one person” was.

I’m for one guy, and one guy alone.

He hoped not.

Sunny felt a raindrop on his nose as they approached the town. He blinked at the odd sensation, but ignored it. Maybe he imagined it.

They stood in front of the floral shop, Basil checking the name in the note Cris had handed them.

“Petals By the Beach,” he read aloud. “Cute name.”

They entered the shop, armed with Cris’s order information.

The exchange was pleasant and quick.

“I’m glad that went smoothly,” Basil breathed out, holding a few bouquets of white roses while Sunny held a crate full of centerpieces to adorn the sweetheart table. Sunny nodded as they walked back through the doors. Basil was distracted with talking, not noticing as Sunny came to a quick stop by the store’s awning.

“I’m always worried about any interactions with service workers. I don’t want to come off as a jerk, so I’m always super nice and tend to be a pushover, heh. Most of the time, I just let mistakes slide by. But this time it’s important, it is Mari and Hero’s wedding after all. And they were so nice about it…”

Basil bumped into Sunny’s back, confused. “Sunny?”

Sunny lifted up a free hand from below the flowers. “It’s raining.”

The sprinkle from earlier was a precursor for the pouring rain in front of them.

If either of them had checked the weather news for the island, they would have known of the rainstorm approaching in the afternoon, extending to the late afternoon. Basil and Sunny’s phones buzzed as they simultaneously received a message from Cris.

“Hey! Totally forgot to tell you two, sometimes storms blow in during the summer! There’s one coming today, it might have been a good idea to bring an umbrella, haha… but for now, the priority is the flowers! The petals are weak, so don’t expose them to the rain and take your time coming back!”

“Cris…” Basil whined. He couldn’t blame her. She had a million things running through her head. Informing two adults about the obvious weather around them was not in her top priorities.

“What do we do now?” Basil asked, moving to stand by Sunny’s side. He bit his lip, worried as the rain began to pour down harder with time. Sunny looked over to their side, to a shop still covered by the same awning. A coffee shop.

He nudged his friend with his arm. “Down for some coffee? We can keep refuge in there until the storm blows over.”

Basil glanced over at the cafe windows facing the street. A hot cup of coffee sounded nice in this weather.

A soft, sweet chime rang as the pair entered the coffee shop. The employee up front greeted them warmly as they walked up to the chalkboard menu above the counter.

Basil settled for a mocha latte and Sunny asked for an affogato, craving something sweet while wanting coffee in his system.

They took their treats over to a table by the window, to watch the rain. Basil set aside the large bunch of flowers underneath the table, between their legs. He was careful not to ruffle up the leaves or petals as he set them down.

Sunny dug his spoon into the ice-cream, scooping up some of the espresso. He lifted the spoon up to his lips and took his first bite. He closed his eyes as he murmured, savoring the delight. Basil chuckled and sipped his mocha latte. It was just the right amount of sweet. He smiled at his drink and Sunny’s adorable expression.

The silence between them spread, covering them like a blanket. Sunny wanted to rip it off. Things were improving, but their conversations would slowly lose speed. Neither of them knew how to keep them going. It had never been like this before. What was stopping them now?

“I missed this.”

His sudden statement confused Basil. He was watching the rain begin to puddle on the cobblestone outside.

“Hm?” he asked absentmindedly.

“Talking to you.”

This called his attention. Basil looked at him with a different expression. There was a shift in tone. “You could have talked to me before, you know.”

“I did,” Sunny said. “Well, I tried. When I could.”

“Hm.”

Was Sunny imagining it, or was Basil giving him an attitude? He was no stranger to Basil’s passive aggressive anger, but this felt colder, detached. Sunny set down his spoon and leaned in as Basil looked back outside, placing his chin on his hand.

He continued to press. “Basil, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?” His eyes stayed glued outside. It pissed Sunny off. Here he was, trying to talk to him and he was making it harder than it needed to be.

“I know something’s off between us. It has been, for a while,” Sunny said. “We haven’t talked much, and the next time I see you, you’re in a relationship? And engaged?”

Basil said nothing. Sunny reached further, grabbing a hold of Basil’s arm. Basil flinched and pulled away, as if burned. He glared at Sunny with an icy expression he had never received before. It made him pull back, hurt.

“I-I just… I’m confused. Why didn’t you tell me? What happened between us? I feel like you kept dodging me. Why’d we stop talking?”

Basil scoffed. All warmth in his voice was gone. His eyes were cold and the corners of his mouth set deep. “Are you serious?”

“Excuse me?” Sunny was confused. Where was the miscommunication coming from?

Basil shook his head to himself, almost laughing. If Sunny was playing up this naivety, he was a good actor. “You seriously don’t know why I stopped talking to you?”

“No. If I knew, do you think I’d be asking you–”

“Just think, Sunny.” The bluntness in his voice stopped him. Basil leaned forward on the table, keeping his glare tight. He couldn’t believe Sunny was making him say it.

“I told you I loved you. You told me you did too. You lied.”

Sunny watched as Basil’s eyes began to tear up, silent. His lips trembled. Sunny was cruel, making him relive the memory. Why was he bringing this all back up?

“Sunny, I-I told you I loved you, and… nothing ever happened. You left me hanging. I wasn’t going to be waiting around for you to make up your mind.”

Chapter Text

Text message: Two and a half years ago, text message from Basil:

Good morning, Sunshine! Hah, it still feels a little odd calling you that, even after everything we talked about last night.. ^////^
Well, I know you have a busy day today, so I’ll leave you be, but let me know when we can talk more about “us,” whenever you can! I love you, and I hope you have a great day! <3
Ahh, that feels so crazy to say, but it makes me so happy! <3 <3

Present Day
Sunny watched as Basil’s eyes began to tear up, silent. His lips trembled. Sunny was cruel, making him relive the memory. Why was he bringing this all back up?

“Sunny, I-I told you I loved you, and… nothing ever happened. You left me hanging. I wasn’t going to be waiting around for you to make up your mind.”

The rain outside pounded harder than ever.

“I… I did that?”

Sunny sat in their silence, dumbfounded. Was it really like that? How oblivious had he been the past few years?

Basil nodded gravely, now looking down at the table. “You confessed to me two and a half years ago, I remember it clearly. And you kept saying we would talk it out, define what we really were, but you kept dodging me, Sunny. It was work, stress, life in the city, and any excuse you could find. You hardly made time for me. Do you know how frustrating that was?”

Sunny sat silent. He knew he had been busy around that time, chasing a promotion after getting out of college, but… surely he had reached out to Basil for a time that they could define what they were? He knew they never made it official or called each other their boyfriends, but wasn’t that just because it was awkward? Basil knew how he felt, right? Right?

Basil swallowed hard, continuing. “I wasn’t sure if your feelings had faded. Or if y-you, had maybe just said that out of passion, but didn’t truly mean it. And maybe that’s why you didn’t carry through with your promises? I kept questioning myself…”

His promises of coming to visit. Having to leave early to meet work deadlines. Committing to facetimes and calls at least every week, which then turned to every two weeks, then every month…

It was hard to sit still. Sunny’s heart felt like it was beating uncontrollably, too fast for him to breathe. He pressed a finger against his wrist, feeling his pace quicken as it all began to dawn on him. The lies he had told himself, that Basil understood, that Basil would wait, because that’s what Basil always did..

“And… Mincy?” Sunny choked out, staring down at his lap.

Basil nodded. “In college as you know, I got close to Mincy. When she moved back into town, she confessed to me. I told her no, at first. I had you in mind. But nothing was happening. After months of no contact from you, I decided to take her offer up on a date. Just one date, I told myself. And we…”

He felt so bad for saying this. “Mincy and I had so much fun, Sunny. We went on date after date, and it felt so casual and freeing. So… unlike what I was experiencing with you, wondering when you would respond, overthinking your tone in messages, asking myself what I was doing to make you avoid me.”

Basil wanted Sunny to look up at him. He wanted to apologize for his own part in it. But Sunny wouldn’t look up. His shoulders sat rigid, his breathing irregular.
“I gave her a chance,” he said. “We began dating shortly after.”

Basil continued to explain their relationship, but Sunny was gone. He couldn’t hear any of his words. Everything he thought of the past two years broke under the weight of the truth. Everything wasn’t okay. He had been selfish. Sunny had only thought of himself, and here were the consequences. Basil’s feelings for him had faded. He was in love with Mincy. And worst of all, worst of all–

Sunny looked up, interrupting Basil mid sentence. “Do you hate me?”

Basil paused, taken aback by the question. He frowned, sad to see the wild look in Sunny’s eyes. A pleading look.

“No. Not really,” he said. “I just feel… confused. Hurt, still. I never got any closure. That’s why I’ve been trying to avoid you these past few days. These feelings are all still raw and open and I didn’t know how to talk to you about it all.”

Basil didn’t hate him. He felt the tiniest slight of weight off his shoulders at this thought.

But that still didn’t mean that he hadn’t hurt his best friend, his crush, beyond repair. He had destroyed any chance of their relationship and damaged their friendship.
“No, I understand,” Sunny whispered.

By now, Basil’s coffee was cold. Sunny’s affogato had completely melted into the espresso shot. The cafe’s music played dully in the background, the yellow lights from above shining dimly on them. The sound of rain outside lightened.

Sunny shuddered as a chill passed through him. His lips felt dry, his throat felt hollow. “Basil, I’m sorry. I…I didn’t know. I honestly didn’t know.”

It sounded pathetic. He knew Basil wouldn’t believe it. But he had to say it.

“Heh, I guess that’s just you being you, Sunny,” Basil sighed, a sad smile on his face. “I can’t blame you for not reading my mind. I just wish everything had been much more clear for the two of us. I wish we would have told each other when our feelings faded away, or when we decided it wasn’t worth waiting for.”

But I never decided that, Sunny thought. I wanted you, Basil. I still do.

“I–”

Sunny stopped himself. He couldn’t say what he wanted to say. It was selfish of him to put his feelings back on Basil again. What? To bring it all back up? And then what?

What about Mincy? The fact that Basil no longer had feelings for him?

Worst case scenario, he’d confess, scare Basil away or mislead him into thinking he was still playing around, and strain their friendship to the point of breaking.

A world without Basil…

No.

No, Sunny thought, his shoulders shaking again. Never. What would he do without him?

Sunny drew out a breath. It took everything inside him not to burst down crying in front of the blonde. If he did that, he’d only continue showing just how selfish he was.

He couldn’t lose Basil for good.

“Friends?” Sunny asked weakly, looking up at Basil’s face. Basil looked back at him. He looked more tired than ever. Was this what the kind of way he looked at Sunny now? Tired, after chasing him for all these years? What else has he been blind to?

Basil smiled and extended his hand. “Friends. We have to work on some things, and talk too, but later. For now, we’re here at Mari and Hero’s wedding. Let’s just focus on that and have fun with everyone.”
Sunny nodded in agreement, looking at Basil’s outstretched hand, but keeping his hands to himself. He couldn’t take the peace offering. He didn’t deserve any gentle touch from Basil.

That, and he knew it would tear him down further.

Sunlight began to shine down on Basil’s face. Basil blinked back the light, turning to the window. Sunny turned as well, realizing the clouds were parting.

It was time to go.

Back at the villa, Cris was gone. The others were relaxing in their rooms or around the area for the night. Basil and Sunny had arrived fairly late, having been stuck taking shelter from the rain for a while. The walk back was quieter. Basil thought it would be less tense since he finally opened up to Sunny, but the ravenette only responded shortly, giving him a fake smile at his jokes here and there. When they arrived at the villa, Sunny sped up the stairs without a goodbye. He itched to get away from Basil.

This was what Basil wanted.

This was what Basil wanted.

He had to respect that, Sunny told himself.

Put yourself in his shoes, Sunny. He told you he loved you and you never fully reciprocated it. You thought Basil would wait for you, you assumed it, because Basil had always done everything he could for you. Ever since they were children, Sunny knew there was an imbalance between them. They both cared for each other deeply, that was true, but it was always Basil giving more, Basil sacrificing himself and his time.

And he was a fool to expect this to be permanent.

He wanted to punch his past self. Sunny dug his nails into his arms as he walked up the stairs, trying to calm his breathing down. It felt good to inflict pain on himself. He deserved it. God, he deserved all this pain right now.

Who knew how much pain Basil had been in?

His legs took him upstairs, to Mari’s room. He could hear a pair of voices from the outside as his hand touched the knob. Sunny hesitated, flinching at the thought of being seen with tears. Before he could enter, he had to pull himself together.

Another long, deep breath. Get it together.

Sunny opened the door wide to see Mari, dressed in her wedding dress with Aubrey right behind her, tying the last knots to her corset. It was a gorgeous, white off the shoulder lace dress with a sweetheart neckline. The lace extended down to the ground of the ball gown. Aubrey waved at Sunny at his entrance, then bent down to fix the train before stepping back.

All at once, nothing mattered. His sister turned away from the mirror and to the arrival in surprise. Hero? She dropped her tense shoulders as soon as she realized it was just Sunny.

“Sunny, hi–” Her smile fell as she saw him begin to tear up.

“Sunny, what’s wrong?” she asked, walking up to him. Even Aubrey was concerned. She stopped what she was doing and turned to her friend.

“Nothing, nothing at all. You just look so beautiful,” Sunny sniffled, closing the door behind him and walking up to his sister for a hug. “I’m so happy for you, Mari.”

He pulled her into a tight embrace, watching out for her train and sniffling as he felt her arms connect around him, pulling her in deeper and to nestle his head into her shoulder. This is what he needed right now.

Mari squeezed her brother in her arms, sensing that something was off, but not questioning it. There would be time for that later. She smiled into his embrace, softly running one hand over his head as he continued to cry into her shoulder.

“Thank you, Sunny.”

And that he could do. Be happy for others. At the expense of his own self.

Sunny could do that pretty well.

Chapter Text

Day Four, Day of Rehearsal Dinner

Sunny sat in a church pew.

Friends and family sat in the rows behind and in front of him. He was in the church in Faraway Town, with its three big glass windows up front by the podium and piano. It was decorated for a special event. There were mason jars of flowers by the end of each pew. Flower petals strewn down the red carpet leading up ahead. Mari sat by the piano, playing a song he knew well in his heart…

He squinted his eyes to get a better look at the two up front. The light from the glass windows shined down on two individuals, a blonde and a lady with black hair. Basil and Mincy.

Mincy’s wedding dress looked gorgeous on her. His friends stood on the sidelines, serving as groomsmen and bridesmaids. Why wasn’t he up there?

Basil held hands with his bride as the priest spoke, looking at her with loving eyes, eyes that used to look at him like that….

“Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

“I-”

A hand clamped down over his mouth, forcing him back to his seat. He looked down, tearing at the hand. Who did it belong to? No one sat next to him–the hand glowed red, pulling him down to the pew as other hands appeared to clamp down over his legs and arms.

Up ahead, the ceremony script continued. Basil and Mincy stood facing each other, smiling as the congregation cheered for the couple.

“Now introducing, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Fey!”

He screamed into the hand, but no sound came out. Everyone clapped as Basil swept his new bride off her feet and leaned her down for a dramatic kiss.

No, this couldn’t be happening. Why did he let it come to this? Why didn’t he say anything before? Now it was too late, it was too late–

Sunny awoke sweating in his bed, the covers splayed out halfway over the bed. His hair was a mess. His head ached from the inconsistent sleep. Throughout the night, he woke up every few hours from vivid dream after vivid dream. Each was a nightmare, playing out the worst of his fears. The last one seemed so realistic, he swore he could still feel those red hands restraining his mouth closed.

He lifted his fingers up to his lips absentmindedly before looking at the time.

There was no time to worry over dreams. He was needed in the real world, and soon.

The more days they spent on the island, the quicker they passed by. By the fourth day, everyone seemed to know each other’s schedules and go through a routine. Cris was up and early at the villa, coming in and out with her staff as they began to decorate the outside for the big rehearsal dinner. The actual ceremony would be out by the beach the next day. Today was to thank everyone who made this possible, family and friends alike. Mari and Sunny’s parents were flying over that day along with Hero’s parents.

Mari had gone with a simple theme. A lush entryway on the walk up to the private villa, simple white and red roses in each centerpiece of the long rectangular tables. It was a mix of modern and romantic–Hero had insisted for her to plan the wedding of her dreams, but she nudged him enough to get actual opinions out, and he had plenty of good ideas. It wasn’t that he was lazy, he told her. The wedding of his dreams was already going to happen: he was going to marry her.

After some cheesiness and kisses back and forth, they settled on a beautiful white tablecloth for the rehearsal dinner, a soft blue table runner across each, and matching white tableware and silver chargers with embossed designs.

Cris was in the middle of assigning two people where to place poles so they could string lights for the outside. It was still summer, so the sun stayed out for longer, but they would soon need lights for the long night.

Sunny and Basil interacted here and there through the day. Basil was more open than he had been the past few days, relieved that they cleared the air between them. Now, without all that to worry about, Sunny could notice him and Mincy becoming more affectionate around each other. Sunny sat by an outside table, snacking on some extra cut up fruit. The rest had been placed in a deep freezer inside, stored for the night ahead of them.

He picked up a small halved strawberry, plopping it into his mouth and narrowing his eyes as Mincy pulled Basil along by hand and pointed to each small detail Hero and Mari incorporated in their decorating. Basil was smiling, following along as she pulled him from spot to spot.

He was wearing the tulip shirt.

Sunny bit down on a piece of watermelon, surprised at its juiciness. It dripped down his chin quickly, almost getting on one of the white tablecloths.

“Shit, shit!” he cursed, lifting his bowl up to his chin to catch the juice and turning around. Back inside he would go. As he wiped off the excess juice from his face, he bumped into Aubrey, who was going through some boxes by the entryway. She yelped in surprise and turned to find him still rubbing the napkin over his face.

She laughed and eased up, “Oh, it’s just you, Sunny! God, you scared me.”

He lowered the napkin, looking down at the boxes. “Are you looking for something? Anything I can help with?”

“You wouldn’t have happened to see Mari’s necklace anywhere, right?” she asked as she continued to search through the current box below her. She was pulling out things one by one, making sure she hadn’t missed anything. Sunny peered inside.

“Her necklace? Oh, the one that Hero gave her when they first began dating?”

“Yeah., the one she lost the first day here. I was trying to remember where she had been that day, and recalled that she shifted through some of these boxes that night. I know she said it’s no big deal, but I can’t help but feel as the maid of honor that I can do this task as well.”

She cursed as she reached the bottom of the box, still finding no necklace. “What time is it?”

Sunny brought out his phone from his back pocket and read it out loud. She cursed aloud again.

“Shit. I have to start getting ready,” she said, blowing her bangs out of her face. She needed to touch up her makeup after running around the villa. She curled her hair for the day as well, but was still unsure what to do with her bangs that weren’t quite long enough to be tucked behind her ears. “I’ve got to change into my dress and find those heels I swore I double checked when I was packing…”

Aubrey stood up with a sigh and looked over at Sunny who held a now pink napkin in his hand. “You look nice. Guys have it easy.”

She laughed to herself as Sunny leaned down and helped her start putting everything back in the boxes and over against a wall. They would move it back to its proper place later.

As they moved, she continued to unravel around him. “You know, I’m kind of nervous about seeing Kim again tonight. I’m excited, it’s nothing bad! I guess, just seeing this start to come together, hearing about Basil’s proposal… I’ve been thinking more about the future with Kim…”

“Oh?” Sunny stacked a box on top of another. He had never heard of this from Aubrey. She shyly smiled and tried to tuck her bangs back behind her ears again.

“Yeah. I don’t know. I was never that kind of girl that dreamt of her dream wedding. Heck, up until my highschool years, I always thought I was only going to marry a guy. Then Kim and I started to get closer and closer, and… here we are. Of course, she’s busy finishing up her stuff, and we would need to set aside money if we wanted something, probably nothing as extravagant as this, but…”

She gestured to all the boxes and the empty villa entryway.

“This morning, after our call, I tested something out,” she began. Sunny noted that her cheeks began to redden.
“I called her my ‘wife’ out loud. It felt… really nice,” Aubrey blushed, a rare sight to see. “We’re basically already married. We live together and spend almost every hour out of work together. I guess I’m just scared that we’ve never talked about the next step together.”

She looked outside at Basil and Mincy through the window. “Is it really easy to just spontaneously propose?”

He followed her gaze at the two love birds. Was it?

“I don’t know,” he responded quietly.

“I don’t know either,” she sighed. “But that’s something for Future Aubrey to deal with. For now, I’m Maid of Honor Aubrey, and I’ve got some other things to do!”

She stretched out her arms over her head and brought them back down, quickly giving Sunny a smack on the back that nearly knocked him over. “Nice chat, SunSun! I’ll catch you around later!”

With that, she walked upstairs over to her room. Sunny stood by the window, watching Basil for a moment longer.

Telling someone you loved them was no easy feat. So telling someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them with legal obligations tied as well, he figured that would be even harder?

He wondered how it happened. What Basil’s face looked like as Mincy turned to him and proposed the question. Did he smile and pull her into a tight embrace, yelling “yes” over and over? Was he hesitant, but let a smile break through his face as he pushed past his worries?

Either way, he had said yes. They were tied together now. Within the next year or two, he’d be attending their wedding, assuming that they were comfortable with a former crush/partner (could he really call himself an ex?) being in attendance.

He paused. Did Mincy know that they used to love each other?

As he walked outside, he turned to Mincy on his way over. Basil was checking his phone for a signal and Mincy stood to his side, patiently waiting. She felt eyes on her and turned back, looking directly at Sunny.

Was that a look of anger on her face? A glare?

Sunny turned away before he could find out, walking the opposite direction. Perhaps he was imagining it.

Later, Sunny and Kel sat on Hero’s bed, watching as the man stood in front of a tall mirror and combed through his hair again.

“I don’t know guys, something still looks off…”

Hero ran his fingers through his hair again, sighing and pulling out the dry shampoo. After running his hands and comb over his scalp again and again, he began to risk it looking greasy. This was his 50th try at nailing down his hairstyle. He couldn’t get this one strand of hair to sit right. Hero was convinced that if he didn’t fix it, everyone would notice and point it out all night, drawing attention away from their special occasion.

“I’ve got it this time,” he muttered under his breath, pulling the can away from his head and spraying from a distance.

Kel groaned again and turned his body into mush, pulling himself down from the edge of the bed to the ground. “Duuuuude! It looked good the past 20 times! You’re fine!”

Hero turned with an even more worried look. “So all thirty attempts before that were that bad?”

“Oh my god,” Kel groaned, nudging the boy next to him. “Sunny, knock some sense into him!”

“It does look good, Hero,” Sunny tried.

“Even this part?” He pointed to a spot in the back of his hair.

He took a moment to answer. “Yeah… that looks okay.”

“Okay? I can’t just look ‘okay’ for Mari!”

Sunny and Kel groaned again as Hero began to examine his hair in the mirror again. They were back to square one. Hero had texted them earlier asking them to come up and help him prepare. When Sunny finally arrived, Kel was bringing over the last of the hair supplies over to the counter as Hero muttered to himself.

Now he was doing it again. “I just can’t believe this is happening. This is finally all happening. Mom and Dad just told me they landed and will be heading over soon. Oh my god, do we have enough chairs? Is Mom going to freak over the drink choices?”

He turned to his brother and his friend. “Did anyone happen to go gluten-free or vegan since we last sent the invitations??”

Sunny shook his head as Kel stood up and took his brother’s shoulders in his hands.

“Bro, everything is fine! Isn’t this the bride’s job, freaking out last minute?”

“Well, that’s a very outdated way to look at it–”

Kel shook his brother. “Look! You two love each other, right?”

“Well, yeah, that’s why I’m marrying her…” Hero said, not used to being the one to be consoled. The roles were reversed.

“Then there you have it!” Kel said. “As long as the love is there, you don’t have anything to worry about. Mari loves you like crazy, and she has since day one. We all see how much you two love each other. You two have been our definitions of soulmates, literally a match made in heaven.”

“Kel…”

“Don’t stress about the wedding stuff. Mari would have still said yes if you proposed with a Ring Pop. Granted, as long as it was blue raspberry flavor. She would even marry you if you told her you didn’t want a big wedding and instead wanted to make an appointment at the county clerk to get married that day. Right, Sunny?”

The two turned their heads to the quiet ravenette on the bed.

Sunny nodded. This sister was very much head over heels over Hero since the day they met.

Hero sighed as Kel let go of his shoulders. “Thanks, guys. I guess I’m just getting too into my head about all of this. I just want it to be perfect, for Mari’s sake.”

“We get it,” Sunny said, standing up from his spot.

“But you don’t have to do that all alone,” Kel said, standing by Sunny as Hero fixed up his hair one last time. “You’ve got us! Trust in us sometimes!”

Hero smiled at them and laid his comb down by a table. “You’re right. Thanks, Kel. Sunny. I think I’ve got it from here. I’ll meet you two downstairs in a few.”

As they walked back downstairs to allow Hero to finish up, Kel and Sunny talked to each other about the upcoming night.

“Everybody’s in love, huh?” Kel laughed. “Don’t worry, Sunny! We can be each other’s wingmen–just say the word and I’ll be there to talk you up!”

Sunny paused as they reached the foot of the stairs. “Thanks, but I’m good. How’s it going with Cris, by the way?”

“Good! She’s pretty cool. I haven’t gotten to talk to her much today though, she’s busy with work. I think she’ll be here for the rehearsal dinner to talk details about the ceremony and reception tomorrow, but I don’t want to bug her too much. I’ll look into talking to her after tomorrow finishes.”

Kel drummed his fingers against the railing of the stairs. It was dark inside now and they didn’t bother to turn the lights on. People had begun arriving, but were staying outside for the most part. The only hallway lit up was the ones leading to the guest bathrooms.

Sunny was still thinking of what Kel had told Hero. Everyone except for him seemed to be in a relationship that was budding or growing into fruition. He felt happy for his friends, but at the same time, lonely.

Before the cold feeling could settle in, Kel must have noticed his change in demeanor, as he placed an arm around Sunny.

“So, I guess this makes us brothers, huh?”
“Hm?”
“Brothers-in-law! We’re family now!”

A brother. Two brothers. Sunny thought about that for a moment. He wasn’t losing Mari as a sister, his family was gaining more people. He looked up at the brunette.

“Well, you guys always were, honestly. I’m so glad I met you all back then. Hero found the love of his life, and we formed this close group of friends! Heh, I know you’ll be back to your city life after this like normal, but try to keep up with us over here too! Everyone misses you. I miss you, too.”

“Yeah,” Sunny began as Kel dropped his arm. “The past few years have been crazy and gone by so fast; I haven’t had a chance to really think about them until this trip, honestly. I’ve been thinking about ever since I moved away from Faraway Town for good, and I don’t… I don’t like what I’ve uncovered.”

Kel quieted and looked at Sunny as he continued. The space was clear. No one else could hear. “I’ve been reflecting on my actions, and I think I’ve been acting so selfishly. I only thought of myself and my goals for so long, I forgot about you guys…”

“Hey, hey! It’s fine, Sunny. We understand. Or at least, I did. You were out there pursuing your dreams. Who would want to stop you from doing that?” Kel reassured him. But Sunny shook his head.

“It’s not that. I should have kept in better contact with you all. I could have visited more, or at least reached out to text or call you guys. There’s so much that has happened since I’ve gone, I feel so distant from everyone now.”

Sunny turned his back against the railing. “I don’t say this to pity myself. It’s just something that’s come up, and every day I feel like I’m learning so much more about you guys that I would have known if I had just shown up.”

Kel sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I know, we’re all grown up. Mari and Hero getting married, Kim and Aubrey staying strong through these years, me with my regular old shenanigans, and now Basil with Mincy.”

Sunny laughed bitterly under his breath. “Yeah, Basil really threw me for a loop.”

Kel glanced over at him, noticing the bitter tone. “What ever happened to you two? Last I knew, you two were head over heels in love with each other. But I never saw you two actually get together.”

“Me. I’m what happened.”

There, at the bottom of the stairs in the dark villa, Sunny opened up to Kel about the past few days. All the way up until the conversation from the previous day. He spoke about his original plan and how it was all thrown to the wall when Basil and Mincy walked in with their engagement news.

It felt weird to confide in someone about matters of the heart. He half-worried that if he spoke to anyone, they would judge him for it. Or would feel forced to side with either Basil or him.

Kel shook his head, taking in the information. “I see. Damn, Sunny, that’s rough. You two never talked it out in all these years?”

“No, the most we talked was yesterday, when we went to grab those flowers. I’m afraid to talk more about it. It’s the wrong place and wrong time. That, and I don’t want to disrespect his relationship with Mincy.”

“How would that be disrespectful?”

This threw Sunny for a loop.

“How would it not? Basil’s in a committed relationship, and I go up and try to make moves on him with his fiancee being here?”

Kel shook his hands, trying to get his point across. “No, no. I’m not saying you need to go out there and make him cheat on Mincy. None of us would want that. I love you two, and she seems like a great girl, so even I don’t want her to get mixed up in all of this.”

He cleared his throat as he thought of his next words.

“But I think you can be honest about your feelings. Don’t apply any pressure on Basil to respond, or try to persuade him to change his mind on Mincy. Just give him your truth and let him make his decision. You aren’t actively trying to break up their relationship–think of it as an act of self care.”

Sunny took in his words. Kel was right. If he wasn’t trying to persuade Basil or manipulate him, and just told him his feelings, maybe it would help him move on.

He finally spoke. “That… kind of makes sense.”

“Of course it does! I’m kind of a love aficionado, if you didn’t know! Aubrey and I have a secret hobby of watching romcoms together–” he clamped down his hand over his mouth. “Shit, she told me not to tell anyone that. Don’t tell her I said that.”

Sunny burst into real laughter, shaking his head. “Your secret is safe with me. I won’t bring it up to her.”

“Great! Thanks.”

Sunny shook his head. “No, thank you, Kel. Thanks for hearing me out.”

“Of course, anytime, Sunny. We’re brothers now, okay?”

Sunny turned as Kel brought up a fist, just like all those years ago.

“Brothers?”
“Brothers.”

He lifted his own hand up, bumping their fists together and laughing at the silly gesture.

Kel slapped the railing and began walking down the hallway. “I’m going to freshen up–I think I hear more people coming over and if mom sees that my tie isn’t perfectly in place, she’ll freak. See ya downstairs in a few!”

Sunny waved bye to Kel after they walked down the same hallway into separate rooms.

Around 15 minutes later, he left his room. He noticed the door closed and light on in Kel’s room. He was still getting ready.

Sunny walked outside slowly. He wasn’t needed immediately as people began to arrive on the island, so he was able to freshen up himself. It was less awkward to walk down there when there were more people to mingle around. If he was one of the first, he’d have to greet every guest as they appeared. They’d most likely ask him questions about life in the city and he wasn’t in the mood to participate in small talk with others.

He grabbed a drink offered by a waiter walking around, thanking him and chugging down the wine in one swift movement. He didn’t expect to make the same mistake as the first night, but he needed to get these nervous jitters out of his stomach.

To his left, Mincy was standing by a seat and talking to Kim, who was seated by others. Sunny furrowed his brow as he scanned for the blonde around the crowd. Where was Basil? And if Kim was here now, where was Aubrey?

He figured if he looked long enough, he’d find the two.

About ten minutes later, Kel appeared from the villa, heading over to greet his parents and sister. Sure enough, his mother still found something else to nitpick. Kel laughed as he found an excuse to tear away from them and wander over to the snack table. Mari was walking around, rather feverishly, when she grabbed Sunny by the arm and pulled him along. He nearly spilled his glass over in surprise.

“Mari–”

Mari quickly sidestepped a couple and grabbed onto Kel’s arm, pulling him along too.

“Sunny, Kel, come over here.”
“One second, I wanna get some of these shrimp–”
“NOW.”

She snatched the two over to a corner of the villa, hidden behind a pillar where no one could see them or hear them. The sun had already begun to set and the shadows were growing long on the ground. Mari’s face was clouded with anger. Kel and Sunny swallowed hard—were they in trouble? It felt like they were twelve all over again, getting caught sneaking out to go to Hobeez.

Mari’s question confused them so much she had to ask again.

“Where the hell is Hero?”

Kel and Sunny looked at each other, confused. Hero? Surely he had been in the crowd already–

Mari stepped even closer to them, closing in the distance. “I’ve been standing out here for the past half hour or longer, greeting everyone in and taking them to their spots and Hero told me 40 minutes ago that he was going to meet me here. I had Aubrey do a quick check of the room, bathrooms, and she’s checking every room in the villa right now, but says she hasn’t seen anything. Where. Is. Hero?”

Kel spoke up. “We just saw him a bit ago! We were with him as he was fixing his hair, he was kind of freaking out–”

Sunny nudged Kel harshly on the side. “We’ll find him. Leave it to us.”

There was no need to distress Mari even more. Surely it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe Hero had locked himself in the room. Or had sprayed so much hairspray that he accidentally knocked himself out. Maybe he accidentally charmed a staff member so much and was too nice to ask them to let him go.

Mari gave them an unsure look, but agreed. “Okay. I’ll leave it up to you guys. Please find him.”

Kel and Sunny nodded as she stepped back into the light. She paused for a moment before turning around.

“Oh, and when you see Hero, tell him he better have a good excuse for this.”

She stormed off, quickly changing her expression to be the perfect host as the others went in for their search. Kel and Sunny stared at each other for a moment, stunned by the news.

Where had Hero gone?

Chapter Text

Day 4, Rehearsal Dinner, Night

The night took a turn for the worse.

Family and friends were gathered by the tables now, drinking and chatting about their travel over and how beautiful the island was. Talk of the bride and groom, how it was a long time coming, and positive comments about the relationship in general.

But for Kel and Sunny, Mari’s words had sent them into a panic. They raced to think of where had not been searched yet–the outside of the villa.

They cut through the shrubs and rounded the corner of the villa. Being in such a rush, Sunny didn’t notice the sound of ruffling of leaves from the other side before he bumped into a familiar blonde. The two collided face first, their cheeks smushing each other roughly and sending them to the ground on opposite sides.

“Ow–!”
“What the– oh, Sunny!”

Sunny rubbed at his cheek, looking up at Aubrey in her glittery dress and Basil now on the ground, also rubbing his wound.

“Aubrey? Basil?” he asked aloud as Kel helped him to his feet. Aubrey balanced herself properly on the front of her heels as she helped Basil up as well.

“Kel? Sunny?” Basil asked, still in Aubrey’s arms. The four blinked at each other, surprised to have bumped into each other within minutes. Kel and Sunny hadn’t known that Basil was searching with Aubrey. They expected her to still be inside the villa, searching one of the many rooms.

“I-I joined the search with Aubrey when I was coming back from the bathroom. She filled me in on what was going on, and I got worried,” Basil explained. He rubbed his hand on his arm, soothing a chill down. It was cold in the back of the villa, especially where there was no light to shine down on them.

Aubrey shared a grateful look with Basil. Unfortunately, neither of them had been able to find a trace of Hero within that time. She returned her eyes back to Kel and Basil. They could tell she was stressed too, her chest rose and fell with a frantic breath. “When did you two last see Hero?”

“We last spoke to him right before the rehearsal dinner began,” Sunny said. “We were helping him with his hair. He was kind of… freaking out.”

Aubrey groaned and placed a hand on her forehead. She could tell something like this was building up, but none of them thought that he would get cold feet and ditch Mari the night before their big day.

“And you two?” Kel asked.

“Since the daytime,” Basil said.

Aubrey nodded and dropped her hand. “Same here. I’ve been too busy elsewhere. I’ve been keeping an eye on Mari more, sorry.”

Kel shook his head. “Nah, it’s no one’s fault. I thought I was keeping up with him pretty well too. I thought what Sunny and I told him earlier helped, but I guess something else, or someone else, must have freaked him out.”

The sound of music started from the front of the villa. Things were starting up over there. They needed to move quickly.

It made sense to consider the details. Basil asked, “What did you three talk about?”

“Hero was fretting about the little details of the dinner. Like, his hair. And something about people making the spontaneous life choice to become gluten-free.”

Aubrey and Basil exchanged confused glances. Hero must have really been out of it.“Ohkay…”

“Yeah,” Kel exchanged, shrugging. “He kept saying that he couldn’t believe that it was all finally happening. How he wanted this to be perfect for Mari over and over.”

The group of four sighed as they tried to piece it altogether. It didn't make sense.

Aubrey bit at her lip. “Strange, so why would he leave Mari alone like this?”

They considered this. Kel was the first to speak.

“That’s what we’re wondering too. I told him that everything would turn out fine as long as he remembered that he and Mari love each other. I kinda got all sappy with him…”

“Must be because those mov–” Aubrey stopped herself, a small blush running across her cheeks. “I mean, good. Good that you calmed him down. Now we can try to think of where else he could be.”

Basil didn’t catch the start of the sentence, too busy thinking of her question. He kept looking around the area around them, looking for any clues.

“Well, we checked inside the villa and just finished checking the outskirts of it. He’s not at the dinner, or Mari would have texted us. Could he have gone into town?” Kel offered.

“Probably not. Most shops have closed for tonight,” Sunny piped in. “And he couldn’t have ditched the island, there’s no boat back here until tomorrow morning. The last one brought the guests over.”

It all clicked for Basil at that moment. He gasped audibly, drawing their attention.

“Wait, I just remembered. I did see him, when I was headed to the bathroom,” he began. “He had come out of his room and headed down over to the kitchen, and I heard him talking with a staff member. About what, I don’t know. I was just walking by, not thinking much of it. When I came out, he was gone and Aubrey was looking around.”

“That quickly? If he had only been gone for a few minutes, why would Aubrey have been searching for him already?” Kel asked.

Basil rubbed his head with embarrassment. “I was in there for a while. Those crab rangoons did not agree with me.”

“Ooh. I’ll avoid those.”

Sunny looked up at the blonde, who was messing with the hem of his tulip shirt. He knew of Basil’s stomach issues, but they usually arose during high-anxiety moments. What was he anxious about? He had seemed so calm during the day.

Aubrey groaned out loud again, covering her head in her hands. “God! Where could he have gone?”

By then, they had stood there for around eight minutes, not making any progress.

Aubrey shook her head, trying to clear herself of the anger and worry clouding her mind. It was easy to get lost to these rising feelings. She had to use logic, she reminded herself. “Okay, standing here isn’t helping. Let’s split up again and try to cover more ground.”

“Right,” Basil assured her, placing a delicate hand on her bare shoulder. “Two of us can start walking into town, maybe Hero took a walk for a breather and got lost, or fell or something. And the other two can go to the beach.”

“The beach? That’s a pretty big search area, and it’s already dark out.” Sunny was worried about the dark water and the huge, open space.

“When the two people finish by the town, they can come over and look by the beach as well,” Basil explained.

“Sounds good to me.” Aubrey nodded with Kel. Sunny looked at the two, and then nodded along with Basil.

He began to pick his partner. “Okay, so Basil–”

But Aubrey was quick to cut him off. “Sunny, you come with me. Kel and Basil, you two stick together. Make sure Kel doesn’t fall into any poisonous flowers or anything.”

She began to walk Sunny over to the front of the villa again, sticking a tongue out at Kel as he threw his hands up.

“Hey, I’m not that stupid!”
“Yeah, yeah, thank me later when Bagel saves you from trying to eat a glowing mushroom or something.”
“Whoa, are there things like that?”

Basil laughed and directed Kel over to the path to their left, leading them to town. They pulled out their phones and turned on their flashlights.

“You coming?”

Sunny turned from the two, nodding and pulling out his own phone for light.

Sunny wasn’t complaining about searching with Aubrey, but rather the quickness she had separated the two, as if she knew what he was going to say.

The two were walking around the beach now, shoeless. Aubrey’s heels sat by Sunny’s shoes. She lifted up her dress with a hand, using the other for her phone. Sunny folded the ends of his pants up and placed his socks with his shoes as well. They’d have to deal with sandy feet for the rest of the night, but that was the least of their worries. If they were able to find Hero, nothing else would matter.

Sunny didn’t feel any anger towards Hero. Rather, just plain confusion. He knew Mari and Hero had their arguments here and there. Any relationship did. He admired the way they resolved their conflicts. Sometimes he questioned if he placed their relationship on a pedestal.

If Hero had been drastic enough to leave last minute, was that a sign that not all was as it seemed?

Nothing these days made any sense to him. Sunny wondered where the disconnect had begun.

“Hey.”

Aubrey’s voice shook him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see her pointing her flashlight still around, looking. They had stopped calling Hero’s name earlier, afraid that the party could overhear them from a distance.

She continued talking as she kept searching. “I overheard you and Kel talking inside the villa. I had gone inside to get my gift of candies for Kim. I was starting to walk downstairs when I heard you two below, having an intense conversation. I didn’t want to interrupt so I just kind of… stayed still.”

Sunny stopped in his tracks. She had heard it all? He was sure there was no one in the villa. Aubrey must have stayed upstairs in the landing until they walked back to their own bedrooms.

Sunny took a deep breath as he kept walking beside her. “...How much did you hear?”

“Basically all of it. What happened between you and Basil yesterday, and then what Kel suggested you do.”

Darn it. He hoped she had walked in on the ending.

“Oh.”

He didn’t know what else to say. In the dark, he couldn’t tell her expression. She was facing away from the moonlight, shadows covering her face.

“Are you?”
“Huh?”
“Are you going to tell Basil your feelings?”

Sunny stopped again, looking down at the ground. “I… I don’t know. But I think it’s the right thing to do. I was against it, and I still kind of am, but Kel did bring up a good point. Maybe this is what I need to move on, so I can have closure.”

“So you’re doing this for yourself?”

There was a hint of disappointment in her tone. This snapped his head up. “Excuse me?”

Aubrey sighed. She stood in front of him. Sunny watched as she lowered her shoulders. But she continued to face away.

“Sunny. I don’t think this is a good idea. Yes, what Kel brought up is true. Even if you tell Basil your feelings, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to break it up with Mincy, or that he is emotionally cheating on her. But think it through. You’re going to tell him, and then what?”

Aubrey turned around, the left half of her face lit up with blue moonlight. He could tell her face was not angry, but sad. Worried.

“You’ll get closure, you’ll move on, but what about Basil? Did you think about the wounds you would reopen by doing that?”

He supposed he hadn’t thought it through. Not fully. It had been less than two hours since the conversation, and he hadn’t let his mind explore the idea of confessing to Basil ever since he heard of Mincy. He didn’t want to disrespect her.

Aubrey dropped the hand holding her flashlight down. She looked down at the ground. “You haven’t been here for a while, Sunny, but I have. Basil has seemed happy in this relationship. And I saw him when he was down, like really down. You weren’t there to witness that. I tried to get him out as much as possible, but nothing really worked too well until he gave Mincy a try. Since then, yeah, he’s still struggled, but he’s been doing better and making progress.”

It was so quiet, they could hear the waves lapping at the shore.

“What I’m saying is that… when you tell Basil that you have feelings for him, if you do… you’re going to be ready for the consequences. What if that spirals Basil into another depression? What if Mincy knows about this and is also hurt? And even if that all works out, I doubt she would be comfortable knowing that her partner’s closest friend has had feelings for him and accosted him with those said feelings. Sure, Kel said you’re not pressuring Basil to do anything. But it still feels slimy, doesn’t it? Kind of like you’re going behind her back?”

It did feel slimy. Wrong, almost. And he couldn’t pinpoint why. Sunny had never been the kind to be confrontational. Even though his friends knew him as blunt and honest, especially in his quips, he didn’t like to challenge anyone. He never saw himself as brave, and that was a characteristic he still lacked now.

It had taken him a long time to draw up the courage to decide that he was going to face Basil when going back home. The idea of coming back and pretending that nothing was wrong was appealing. He wanted Basil to take the lead. He wanted someone else to do the talking for him. Sunny had always had that in his sister–he hadn’t had much practice standing up for himself and what he really wanted.

“I… I haven’t even thought that far…” he whispered. But did that mean that he couldn’t tell his truth?

Aubrey sighed and turned to face the waves. She bit her lip, considering what she was about to say. This next thing–she didn’t want Sunny to misinterpret it, but it was the only way to be honest.

“And… And Sunny, there’s one thing that worries me more,” she said. “The likely possibility that… say, Basil does leave Mincy for you.”

She turned to look straight at his eyes. “Are you ready for that commitment? To uproot your life for Basil? You live in the city. You have a stable job there. Heck, it’s been hard for any of us to pull you from there, even Mari and Basil. Or are you going to force Basil to uproot his life for you?”

When you left, Sunny, life moved on. Time didn’t stop because you left Faraway Town. We’ve grown into different people since you left. We still love you, and we’re all still close friends, but you weren’t there to see the changes in Basil.”

They locked eyes for a minute, neither of them dropping their gaze. Sunny could see that she was worried for the best for everyone. It was out of love. This was not a threat.

She reached out to touch his arm, her fingers gently touching his white sleeve. “I just want you to really think about your decision. If you tell Basil, you’ll need to take responsibility for your words and what they do to Basil. Think about the gravity of the situation.”

Sunny pursed his lips. The one thing he didn’t doubt, in any of this, were his feelings for Basil. His love was true.

But could that be enough?

He opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the sound of a beeping noise nearing them. Aubrey and Sunny looked behind themselves, seeing a red light in the distance. They strained their eyes, Aubrey calling out to the figure by the sound.

“Hero? Is that you?”

The figure waved his hand and began walking closer to them.

It was Hero, walking across the sand with a metal detector.

“Oh, hey guys!” Hero cheerfully greeted them as they ran the short distance over to him. He stood on top of a small hill, one hand filled with items and the other carrying a clanky metal detector.

“Don’t you ‘hey guys’ us!” Aubrey yelled, coming up and smacking his free arm with an open hand. Hero yelped and rubbed at the spot.

“Ow! What’s wrong?”

Aubrey grabbed a hold of his shoulders. “Hero! It’s now nearly an hour since the rehearsal dinner has started and you’re out here like a lunatic on the beach with a freaking metal detector! What the fuck!”

She looked into his eyes as it began to dawn on him.

“An hour?” he asked, almost as if she was wrong. When she didn’t budge, the panic settled into his face. “Oh my GOD– WHY DID NO ONE COME GET ME MARI MUST BE SO UPSET WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I TELL HER OH FUC–”

He struggled in her arms, dropping the metal detector and looking up towards the direction of the villa. Sunny walked over with Aubrey, in case she needed help holding onto him. She squeezed at his shoulders, drawing his attention back to her.

“Shh!! They’ll hear you out here and come over panicked!” she whispered. “Breathe in, breathe out. Sunny, show him one of your therapy techniques or something!”

Sunny looked at her oddly, but followed suit. What, just because he was in therapy– oh well, she was right. She had probably seen him calm himself like that throughout the trip. He instructed Hero to focus on his breathing, drawing in a breath for 5, holding for 5, and letting go for 6. They continued like this for a few moments before Hero had calmed down enough to be able to answer their questions.

Aubrey let go of his shoulders. “Okay, so why the hell were you out here?”

“This.” He lifted up his hand, opening it to show them what was inside. “Not the other cool stuff I found, which I’ll show you all later, but the necklace. Mari lost it on her first day here.”

Mari’s silver necklace glinted in the moonlight. Hero closed his fist and placed the items in his pocket.

“She tried to play it off like it didn’t matter, but I walked into her crying over it one night. She rubbed her eyes and tried to play it off, but later I could hear her crying in the shower. She didn’t want to talk about it, but I could see her reaching for the necklace each day. She was also trying to look around everywhere when she had the chance, which was hardly ever.”

This began to soften at Aubrey’s heart. She wasn’t on the attack anymore. Now she felt bad that they had doubted Hero from the beginning.

Hero ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “I know it sounds stupid, and I swear I didn’t mean to stay out here that long, but once I got going thinking about how much it meant to her, I kind of just kept going… I just found it a bit ago, as you two walked over. When it comes to Mari, I kind of lose myself…”

Aubrey broke into a chuckle. “God. You guys are so cheesy.”

With Hero found and the mystery solved, the air felt much lighter. Hero still held a frown on his face, so Aubrey loudly smacked his back as she began walking in the direction of the villa. It was time for them to report back to Mari. Sunny had pulled out his phone, starting to text his sister of the revelation.

“Ugh, thank God everything’s okay. You didn’t run off, you didn’t get cold feet and decide that you didn’t want to go through with the wedding–”

“Wait, is that what she thinks?” Hero stopped her, not even caring about the hard smack. He looked back at Sunny, who couldn’t do anything but nod.

He responded. “Well, she kind of sent us all to look for you. We didn’t know what you were thinking or where you were, and the last person to see you was me and Kel, oh and Basil, who saw you talking to someone.”

“Oh, I had overheard the private chef talking about how he has a metal detector and likes to comb around the beach as a hobby. So I thought I could borrow it, whip it out and get it done in a few minutes. A few minutes turned to an hour…”

Hero hung his head and sighed again. He felt like such an idiot. He couldn’t tell if all this work would work against him now.

“God, I’m such an idiot. Okay, let’s head back. I’ve got to make this up to her. I hope she’ll understand.”

Sunny placed a hand on his shoulder as he walked ahead of him. He sent out the short message to Mari, that they were headed back.

“Don’t worry. Something tells me when she sees the necklace, she’ll understand.”

They took the rest of the walk to reassure and hype Hero up as he worked up the nerve to see Mari again. Mari had only been angry a few times before, at least around the group, but Sunny and Hero knew that once you unlocked the fury of Mari, you were in for a blunt force of rage and cold words.

As they walked, Aubrey took the liberty of messaging Kel and Basil to head back to the villa. They had barely arrived at the town, but just as they guessed, all the shops were closed and only a few lights were on.

Sunny and Aubrey patted Hero’s back as they led him over to the side of the villa so he could meet Mari away from the eyes of the guests. Mari had asked them to be seated as the waiters began taking wine over to the tables. The more drinks she served them, she figured, the less they asked for details of the groom.

Mari stood against a pillar, her arms crossed her chest. Even with a furious look on her face, she looked beautiful, thought Hero. A scary beauty. As she heard their footsteps, her face lightened for a second at seeing her groom dressed so handsomely, but then back to displeasure as she recalled the last hour.

She walked up to Hero in the shadows.

“Henry David DeSoto. Where the hell have you been?” she spat out, keeping her voice low.

Aubrey and Sunny attempted to intervene. “Listen, Mari, he can explain–”

Mari threw up an arm, glaring down at Hero. She dropped her hand and brought it to his chest, poking his chest. “Like hell he can! You better have a good excuse for this. I’ve been here for over an hour, greeting everyone without my groom right beside me. Do you know what question everyone’s been asking? ‘Oh, where’s Henry at? Where’s the handsome groom?’ I’ll have you know the bathroom excuse can only last for so long. After half an hour, I told your grandma you had explosive diarrhea and shat your pants and had to go put your pants in the wash. So yeah. Have fun talking to her about your bowels tonight.”

“Mari–”
“What?!”
“This is why I was out there.”

Mari looked down as Hero reached into his pocket and brought out her necklace. It was still intact. He had cleaned out the sand as they walked over, and nothing was damaged. Mari looked up at him, shocked.

She looked over at Aubrey and Sunny, just now realizing that Sunny was holding a metal detector. It all made sense.

Mari threw her hands around Hero, nearly knocking him to the ground by the force of her hug. He laughed and pulled her in, reveling in the smell of her sweet perfume. Hero could feel as she sniffled into his shoulder, giving out a happy cry. He knew her makeup would rub off, but he didn’t care. Her embrace was all he wanted. They closed their eyes as they sank into each other.

“You big dummy.” Mari said, lifting her head and looking up at him with teary eyes. “I told you it didn’t matter.”

It was his turn to poke her forehead. “And clearly it did. I can read through you, Mari Suzuki. I know this necklace meant a lot to you. I’d be upset if it didn’t.”

He undid the clasp and lifted it up, offering to place it on her. She turned around and lifted up her hair. He placed the front of the necklace on her collarbone and brought back the chain to the back, his breath softly falling on her neck as he snapped the clasp securely behind her. She dropped her loose hair back down and turned around, bringing him into a deep kiss that erased the past hour between them.

“I love you.”
“I love you too.”

Aubrey and Sunny watched the warm exchange. Basil and Kel walked up as the two exchanged “I love you”s, smiling at the turn of events.

“The OTP is back!” Kel cheered, drawing Hero and Mari to stop kissing for a moment and laugh.

Hero wiped at his own tears, smiling and looking at Mari. “Well, we should probably head back to our party, huh? Someone has to talk to grandma about her grandson’s bowel issues, clearly.”

Mari threw her head back as she laughed out loud and squeezed him again. “Sorry about that! You did deserve it, though.”

“Much deserved,” he agreed, keeping his hand around her waist and leaning down to rub away her tears. “I’ll never do that again. Next time, I’ll tell you where I’m going, or what I’m doing.”

“Agreed.”

The rest of the night went smoothly.

As the six of them returned, they were met with questions, but were able to lie themselves back without drawing too much questions or curiosity.

Sunny continued to sneak glances at Basil throughout the night. And he swore, those exchanges were returned. He could feel Basil’s eyes watching him throughout the night.

Why had he worn the tulip shirt? Was there still a hidden meaning behind the flower Basil had told him represented Sunny? One birthday, Basil gifted Sunny with a pot of white tulips, included with a card. It was before they had confessed to each other, but they were on the brink of their unsaid feelings for each other. He had picked out a sweet card, something you would gift your significant other on their birthday. And when he signed his name, he wrote, “My dearest, Sunny,” with the comma after ‘dearest.”

As he laughed and spoke with his friends and their significant others, he could feel his eyes on him. When Sunny cracked jokes, it was Basil who laughed the hardest, and the longest. They sat next to each other, and he couldn’t help but feel jolts of happiness as Basil playfully hit his arm at his jokes as he laughed. His skin felt on fire any time Basil touched him. It had always been like this.

Sunny looked over at Mincy, wondering what she took from the situation. But nothing seemed off. Her glare from earlier had gone, and she was smiling and in conversation with Aubrey and Kim.

The happy couple seemed blissfully in love. Mari wore the necklace on her neck with pride, talking with everyone about the details of the wedding and how Cris had taken on the task of wedding planning so seriously and well. Everyone agreed, the location and the scenery seemed out of a fairytale.

Sunny was happiest to see his sister’s face lighten up with genuine smiles throughout the night. Was this what love looked like? Was this how others saw him when he was with Basil?

He smiled so much that night, his cheeks hurt.

Sunny was not afraid of love, he had decided long ago. Seeing Mari and Hero, he yearned to find someone like that for himself. The thought of soulmates, or twin flames, was enticing. He found comfort in thinking that it was Basil.

All signs pointed to Basil. Whenever Sunny looked at him for even a moment, there was a thundering feeling in his heart, gripped with love. It was terrifying, this deep love that had a fierce hold on him, body, soul, and mind, but it was also what kept him going. Through all those nights working late at work, meeting deadlines, or pushing through projects, it was the warmth of his memories with Basil that gave him tranquility. Knowing that Basil was waiting for him, that he was building a future for the two of them, that he would just have to wait a little longer…

Basil gestured to Sunny’s glass, offering to pour him some more wine. Sunny nodded and brought over his glass goblet to the blonde. He poured generously, accidentally spilling some wine on the stem and Sunny’s hand.

“Oops,” Basil said, taking a napkin and rushing to clean Sunny’s hand. Sunny let go of the stem and Basil grabbed his hand tenderly, cleaning in between the fingers before the wine got sticky. He quieted at the motion, his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he felt Basil’s gentle touch.

A few seconds later, Basil let go of his hand and smiled at him. “Sorry, I get a little clumsy when tipsy. You should probably serve yourself next time.”

Sunny looked up at Basil. His eyes glistened with joy at him, his cheeks a soft pink from being wine drunk. There was something special about this boy, and he had known it ever since they met. Sunny had never been more sure of anything in his life.

It was decided. He would tell Basil. Tonight.

The night continued for the two. They sat talking, catching up about their lives as the people around them dwindled. Mari and Hero had begun to show people their accommodations and direct them back over to the guard house or to where in town their lodging was located. Mincy tapped Basil’s shoulder as she left, telling the two goodnight as she was heading in for a shower before heading to sleep.

Sunny looked at the back of her figure as she walked away. He wondered if they were staying in the same room. He had just assumed they were, considering that they were engaged already. But when she referred to the room, she had referred to it as ‘hers.'

As the staff began to clean up around them, Sunny suggested they take a walk out by the beach, to sober up a little for the night and feel the nice breeze from the ocean.

They held their shoes and socks in their hands as they walked alongside each other, shooting the breeze.

Basil couldn’t hold his liquor down as well as Sunny did. When Sunny got drunk the first night, it had taken him several glasses of wine to get there. Meanwhile, Basil only had two glasses and kept accidentally bumping into Sunny. He was grateful Sunny was there to keep him up and away from the water.

Sunny, on the other hand, was conscious of each point of contact. He felt as their knuckles brushed against each other as they walked side by side. The sand felt cool and nice under their feet. A nice contrast to his warm cheeks.

“Hey, can I tell you something?” Sunny asked, stopping them along a big rock. Basil continued to hum quietly to himself, but nodded.

He was unsure how to phrase it. He didn’t want to make a pass at him, but the moment presented itself so clearly. Basil rested himself against the rock, looking up at Sunny with his pretty blue eyes, glowing more in the moonlight.

“What’s up, Sunsun?”

His old nickname. Sunny’s heart squeezed as Basil moved his own bangs back to get a good look at Sunny. “Is something wrong?”

“I just…”

It took all his willpower not to lean into Basil’s perfect face and kiss him. To close the distance between the two, place his hand on the rock next to his side, and lean in and take his lips again. They had only kissed a few times before, after confessing, but even those small kisses lit a fire inside him.

Sunny wanted to burn alive again.

“Basil, I think… no, not I think, but I know.”

Basil cocked his head in confusion as Sunny continued, sighing and taking a step further. The waves crashed gently behind him as the shadow of Sunny fell on Basil’s figure.

“I can’t keep this from you any longer. Basil, I love you. I still do.”

It was as if all at once, Basil sobered up as a feeling of doom hit his stomach. His eyes grew wide, his face looking at Sunny with terror.

“Y-You what?”

Sunny backed away, confused by the reaction. “I-I just said-”

“Oh my god, is that what you two were talking about?” Basil asked, drawing his eyebrows down in worry. “What the fuck, Sunny? What the actual fuck?!”

Sunny was bewildered. Out of every possibility he had taken into account, Basil yelling at him like this was not expected. He drew his hands up in defense. Had he misheard?

Basil started again, shaking his head in disbelief. “I overheard your conversation, just like Aubrey! Not all of it, but the ending. I was confused on what you two were talking about. Some small part of me hoped--I mean, thought--that you were talking about the two of us, but I didn't think you were gong to bring this all back up! I thought you had more sense than that, I thought you agreed we were aiming to focus on our friendship–!”

The world began to spin around Sunny again as he stepped further back. Basil had overheard too?

“Before I went to the bathroom, I went to my room to get my lapel pin. When I walked back to the bathroom by the doors, I heard you two by the stairs.”

“...Just give him your truth and let him make his decision. You aren’t actively trying to break up their relationship–think of it as an act of self care.”

Sunny took in his words. Kel was right. If he wasn’t trying to persuade Basil or manipulate him, and just told him his feelings, maybe it would help him move on.

He finally spoke. “That… kind of makes sense.”

“Of course it does! I’m kind of a love aficionado, if you didn’t know! Aubrey and I have a secret hobby of watching romcoms together–” he clamped down his hand over his mouth. “Shit, she told me not to tell anyone that. Don’t tell her I said that.”

“So… you heard…”

Basil looked at him with such disdain, it burned.

“Yes. I heard. But I didn’t think you were going to try it all over again. After everything that happened the first time?” His voice wavered as he tried to stand up from the rock, but stumbled. Sunny reached over to help the boy up, and Basil seemingly flinched from his touch. They met eyes. His dark black eyes pouring into his electrifying blue ones.

It was all going by too fast.

Basil’s lower lip wobbled, threatening to let out a cry as Sunny held on. “What are you doing, Sunny? Why are you doing this to me again?”

“Please, just let me explain,” Sunny whispered, racing to get his words out. “After this, if you hate me, if you want to yell me, you can, but–”

“But what?!” Basil yelled out. He tore his arm away from Sunny and glared up at him. “You had years to tell me how you felt, Sunny! Why is it now that you decide to, when I finally built a happy life for myself, when I was so close to getting over you?!”

His words held so much contempt for the boy, so much built up resentment. He thought he felt it all yesterday at the coffee shop. But here, with nothing but nature surrounding them, Sunny could feel the palpable pain Basil was in.

“Why do these things always have to be on your terms? Do you know how much it wrecks a person to get rejected over and over again every time they try to bid your attention and time?” he continued, thrusting out an arm. “How dejected I felt when you prioritized work over me? Canceled or shortened your visits at Faraway Town? The late texts? The bland, short responses? What kind of message do you think that gave me?”

“Basil–!”

“I thought you didn’t love me! I thought you were just saying that to get my hopes up, and you were so caught up in this web of lies, that–t-that, you tried to let me down easy by ignoring me! What was I supposed to think, Sunny?! You don’t treat someone you love like that! You don’t!”

By then, Basil was full-on sobbing, hiccupping over his words. His sobs racked his body, his drunkenness only heightening the feelings washing over him. It was happening all over again. He couldn’t believe how callous Sunny was, how selfish, how–

“I didn't know I came off that way, Basil!” Sunny pleaded, trying to get closer to the blonde. “I was distracted, trying to work on myself, trying to build up a future for us, but--But now that I know how it came off, I regret every second of it! This, and you opening up my eyes the other day, has helped me realize just how selfish I’ve been over these past few years! But I want to change!”

He stepped forward to grab Basil’s hand, but Basil pulled it away from him, glaring at his dark eyes.

“Well good for you for gaining some fucking empathy for others through our little talk!” Basil spat out. “It took me suffering for you to realize that you were hurting me beyond repair?! Why don't you open your eyes for once Sunny, and see that there are others around you than just yourself?”

Sunny pulled back his hand, holding it against his chest. “You know more than anyone else how much I care about everyone. And damn if I'm not the best at showing it, and sometimes I make mistakes, but no one's perfect--”

“And you don’t think I was dealing with a lot too?” Basil argued. “News flash, Sunny: you’re not the only one with fucking problems. You’re not the only one going through shit! And still I wanted to make us work. So what was the difference between us? Can you tell me that? If you really loved me, why weren’t you trying like I was? I wasn't asking for you to move over and forget your dreams. I was just asking for a bit of your time, and you--you...”

Sunny was filled with shame; nothing made sense. He was only making it worse.
How? Why wasn’t it working? If he could just tell Basil how much he loved him, if only he could convince him--

“I… I–” Sunny’s voice dropped, weak as he began to let tears fall down his face. “Basil, I did love you. I-I do love you. I promise. I swear, please let me prove it to you–”

Basil cut him off with no remorse. “You had your chance to, years ago. It’s gone now. I don't believe you anymore. I can't.”

“Please, I promise–”

“Promise?” Basil laughed at the word. He glowered at Sunny, stepping up to him now. “Don’t fucking waste your breath, Sunny. Your words fall on dead ground. There’s nothing between us that can grow any longer. And if you want to keep up with this delusion, if you want to dig the knife in deeper–”

Sunny couldn’t hold it in anymore. He fell to Basil’s feet on his knees, grabbing at his feet and crying out.

“BASIL, I SWEAR I FUCKING LOVE YOU! I FUCKED UP, I KNOW I DID, AND I CAN NEVER TAKE THAT BACK AND–”

“NO, SUNNY!” Basil yelled, pulling his feet away. He ran back, a few meters away from him, turning back with a scowl. “Y-You can’t do this to someone! You had a chance, Sunny, and you fucking blew it! It’s gone! I don’t… I don’t love you anymore! Not like I did back then!”

“That’s wrong!” Sunny shouted, coming up on one knee. “I know you love me too! I know you do, I can feel it! If not, what was all that this afternoon–”

Basil felt like Sunny just slapped him in the face. "What was all of what?"

Sunny looked up at Basil. "Even you can't deny it. I know you still feel something for me, Basil Fey." He could feel a sob coming out as he hung his head back down, trying to keep his composure. "What I feel for you has never died. I've thought about you every day since I met you. Not a day has gone by where my heart doesn't beat like crazy whenever I think of you. Are you telling me... that you don't feel the same?"

His voice was shriveled, pathetic. He closed his eyes. Sunny paused as another sob came out, throwing him into a coughing fit. His chest hurt. His eyes burned. It was cold. He wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Basil looked back down at Sunny as he cried into his hands. He shook his own head over and over, denying the words coming out of his mouth. It couldn't be true. It couldn't. Because if Sunny really did love him, if he was coming back in to try to take him back--

“It's not true."

"Basil, it is--"

"It's not! It can't be true, Sunny!" Basil yelled out, starting to full on cry as his heart began to beat out of his chest. He felt delirious, and the drinks from the evening weren't helping. Basil didn't care if he was drunk, he'd walk back to the villa by himself--he couldn't stand to be around Sunny any longer.

"Basil, wait!" Sunny looked up and tried to get back up to his feet, but he was too slow. He slipped on the sand and fell down again. Basil took one last look at him before turning back, biting down on his own lip.

"I’m leaving. If you really care for me at all, prove it to me by letting me go. Let me be happy. I can be happy with Mincy.”

This couldn't be the end of the conversation. Sunny pushed himself up with his arms. He had planned it all out. This wasn't where the night would end. “Please don’t go…”

Basil paused his footsteps, but didn't dare to look back. “Let me go, Sunny. It’s done. It’s been done for a long time now.”

With that, Basil bit down on his last tears and walked ahead, ignoring the voice in his head to turn around. If he did, he would have seen Sunny tearing at the sand, bawling into his hands. The sand seeped through his fingers no matter how hard he tried to hold on, unobtainable.

The stars above, numerous and out of reach, looked down on him.

He let out an animalistic cry, grieving his loss of his first and only love.

Basil headed to the bathroom to wipe at his face before heading to his bedroom. The lights were off everywhere else. Everyone was asleep by then. He wondered if any of them could hear the loud sounds coming from the beach.

He walked down the hallway to his own room, shocked to find the door opened. Placing a palm on the top, he pushed it open to find Mincy sitting on his bed, biting at her nails.
“Mincy?”

This brought her head over to the person by the doorway. She frowned, dropping her hands to her lap.

Basil moved to walk to the opposite side of the bed. “It’s late already. We have to get up early for tomorrow–”

“Where were you?”

He stopped by the bedside table. Why was she here? His blood ran cold as her eyes searched his face, staying on his red eyes.

“Huh?” he tried to play dumb. Mincy was not having it. She sat to face him.

“I sat here for the past half hour, probably longer now, waiting for you to come back to your room,” she said. “I don’t know what you think I am, Basil Fey, but I’m not stupid. I’m offended that you think I wouldn’t see how weird you’ve been since we flew back home and got here.”

Basil dropped his hands to his side. The night wasn’t over.

“What’s going on? No more pretending. Tell me what’s been going on with you and Sunny.”

Chapter Text

Had Sunny been able to accurately convey his feelings to Basil?

A part of him still wanted to try again, to rephrase his poor choice of words. Perhaps, with the morning came a sense of clarity. They had been drinking as well, so the words hadn’t flowed as smoothly as he wanted them to. He thought about this the next morning, meandering through the villa, looking for extra tasks that Cris needs help with. But of course, she had hired help on the day of. She assured him to enjoy himself and leave the work up to her now.

So, instead of distracting himself, he was now in his own bedroom, messing his hands through his hair and trying to shake the thoughts from within.

The inside of his mouth tasted bitter. He had skipped out on breakfast, not wanting to bump into Basil and Mincy and show his shameful face around the two. Instead, after speaking with Cris, he grabbed a banana from the breakfast nook and retreated to his room.

If he could just tell Basil how he felt, if he could just–

Then what?

Sunny sat back on the edge of his bed, turning to look at the tie sitting on his bed. The same questions ran through his mind over and over again, with no new solution. Wasn’t that what someone had called insanity?

Then he could magically convince Basil to love him again? To leave Mincy, fly back with him to Faraway Town, and live happily ever after?

No.

The problem was, Basil didn’t believe him last night. Or at least, he wasn’t letting himself believe.

Could someone love two people at once? No, he thought. At least, not equally. Back when he was younger, he was able to decipher his attraction for Aubrey quicker than his feelings for Basil. But after a short time, he realized it was only because she was conventionally attractive to him. No, the real person who made him light up inside was Basil all along.

Now as for Basil, had he developed real feelings for Mincy in Sunny’s absence? It wasn’t a preposterous thought. It happened all the time, on the silver screen and in real life. Love was a fleeting thing and who was he to try to define what “true” love was.

He groaned inwardly and lied back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was now 12:45 PM. The wedding photographer would be there at 1:30PM, thirty minutes before Mari and her bridal party would be ready. Then, soon enough the pictures would begin. First of the bridal party, then of Mari, then shortly afterward, pictures of the First Look.

It was an interesting concept Mari had brought up to him on the phone months ago. She squealed as she talked to him about the idea. It was a one-on-one session where the two partners would get a private chance to see each other before the ceremony. Mari talked for nearly twenty minutes about the intimate moment.

Sunny wondered what it would feel like, seeing Basil in an alternate timeline, as his groom. Turning around the pillar, to the other side of the wall, or letting down his hands, and seeing the blonde in his bridal suit. To see him shyly smiling up at him, eyes twinkling up at him in embarrassment and joy.

The deep panging in his chest from last night returned. It did no good to lay there and yearn for the boy.

Sunny heaved himself up by his arms, pulling at the tie and placing it over his shoulder. He’d work it around his neck on his way over to one of the spare rooms, where Hero was getting ready as Mari, Basil, and Aubrey took up the main room.

As he walked across the hallway, he spotted Aubrey and a flash of blonde up ahead and pressed himself up against the wall, trying to hide in the shadows. As soon as he had done that, he inwardly slapped himself for being so rash. Who was he hiding from?

But still, from his angle, he could see the two rush over to Basil’s room, the opposite side of the villa. Sunny had never asked which room he had chosen, and had never seen him walk into it, but figured he had chosen the sunniest room with the biggest windows on the first floor.

He could hear some noises coming from the room as the two ran in, with Aubrey hurriedly slamming the door behind them. Fortunately for Sunny, the door had bounced back before it locked, leaving a sliver open enough for someone to hear their conversation.

It was bad to eavesdrop. Sunny knew this. But why did it look like Basil was crying? He rose from the hallway and turned around, looking to see if there was anyone nearby. Clearly from his conversation with Kel the other night, he needed to double check his surroundings.

The coast was clear. Sunny slowly took his time to walk over to the next hallway, making sure his footsteps were as quiet as possible. As he reached a foot away from the door, he stopped and paused to listen. There was sniffling, and Aubrey trying to give comforting words to Basil.

“I-It’s just too much right now, all of this–”

“I know, I know, Basil. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now.”

Guilt began to crawl up Sunny’s throat again. Aubrey had warned him of this. And now here she was, trying to clean up his mess after his tipsy, ill-placed confession the night prior. He ran a hand over his hair and cursed silently. Why had he decided to confess the day before the wedding?

“Breathe. It’s okay, you’re okay,” Aubrey said again, seeming to lead Basil through some grounding techniques as his breathing became erratic.

It was too hard to hear. This was all because of him. Sunny took a step forward in the opposite direction, ready to head away, until he heard Basil’s voice.

“I feel like the worst person on the planet, I really do, Aubrey.”

“Basil.”

Basil’s voice came more loudly this time. “I am! After everything that’s happened to me in the past 24 hours, I think I deserve it all, I honestly do.”

Basil breathed out a cry, trying to suck it in but failing. “All of this because I was trying to avoid my problems. I just wanted to be happy, Aubrey. I thought I was finally happy when I was with Sunny, but then things got confusing a-and, and I should have talked to him, I should have confronted him or something, but instead I chose to just pretend and try to move on.”

Sunny couldn’t see inside, but could hear Basil crying as Aubrey tried to soothe him. He imagined she was probably sitting next to him with a reassuring hand on him. “You were in a hard spot, Basil. Give yourself some grace.”

Basil shook his head even as Aubrey squeezed his hand. It was hard to give himself grace, to be kind to himself, when the stakes were so high now. He was reaping what he sowed, he thought.

“Regardless, now I’ve got myself in this pit. I’m the one that dug it. And worse, I’ve included two people that I love dearly,” Basil sobbed. “I know you guys don’t know her that well, but Mincy was a godsend to me. I view her as close as I view all of you, and we grew close to each other quickly in college. And now, I’ve got her in all of this mess when all she wanted was love, b-but I couldn’t, I can’t–”

Sunny pressed himself up against the wall as Basil continued to cry, though his sobs were muffled by the sound of tissues. He cleared his nose into a tissue and reached over as Aubrey passed him another. It pained him to hear Basil in such a rough state. Seeing him so disheveled last night had been hard enough. He had nightmare after nightmare last night imagining the scene replay itself again and again.

After a few minutes, Basil had regained himself enough to continue. “And there’s Sunny too. I said such horrible things to him last night, things I didn’t even mean.”

Sunny’s breathing seemed to stop as he heard his name.

“I’m upset with him, of course I am. I have been ever since he decided to seemingly ghost me. But I also know that I was part of the problem. The door to communication was open for both of us, and some of the things I told him last night were unfair. After knowing Sunny for years, knowing the mental health struggles he’s been through, how hard it is for him to understand people and some social situations, and how much time he’s been working to make a new start in the city–god, I’m such an idiot.”

No, no, he was not an idiot. Sunny wanted to walk right in there and tell him the same thing he had said last night, that it had all been his fault. But he knew it was best to remain in his spot.

“Basil, stop saying that,” Aubrey said and released his hand to turn his head towards her. “You and Sunny will talk about it later. You two will work it out. You always do.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Basil squeaked, looking at her with tearful eyes. He couldn’t believe that Sunny would speak to him, much less hold a difficult conversation with him again after last night.

Aubrey dropped her hand. “Well, if he doesn’t, I’ll give him some little convincing with my tactics.”

This brought some laughter from the two, as Aubrey was obviously talking about her intimidation techniques. Sunny shivered slightly, recalling the seemingly cold eyes she had given him last night when warning him about confessing to Basil. And even before then, once Aubrey had started growing up as a teen, it was always frightening whenever Kel managed to work up her anger or when he slipped up and said some insensitive comment towards her. Yes, she could easily convince him to talk to Basil again.

Aubrey laughed as she spoke. “But seriously, Basil. He loves you to death. He’ll hear you out. I promise you.”

Her words were soft. Basil wanted to believe them.

“Do you really believe that?” he whispered, looking back down at his lap. Aubrey nodded.

“That he’ll listen to you? Yes. It might take some time, but he will. Probably not today, or a while from now, but I think that’s for the better for the both of you.”

When he stayed quiet for a few seconds, Aubrey poked Basil’s side.

“...and the other part,” he muttered, not wanting to look up at her. He couldn’t dare to repeat the question.

“Oh.”

Sunny could feel his heart beating out of his chest. It was hard to hear Basil’s soft voice through the pounding.

Aubrey paused to consider this. She didn’t want to complicate anything. But Basil was asking her opinion.

“Sunny’s a lot of things. Dense. Sometimes naive. The baby of the group, really. At times, selfish, yeah. Gets ahead of himself and forgets about the bigger picture, or gets lost in his own reality.”

Thanks, Aubrey, Sunny thought, but she continued.

“But also, he’s incredibly kind. And thoughtful. And honestly, ever since you two were kids, I knew he had special feelings for you.”

She shifted on the bed, causing light noise from the bedsheets.

“I actually had a tiny bit of a crush on him when we were younger, did I ever tell you that?” Basil looked up at her in surprise. She waved it off. “But I got over it quickly, because I saw the way he looked at you when I first introduced you to the group. After that, you two were inseparable.” She laughed. “No hard feelings, it was a tiny crush. And I was happier to see you two grow so close, and how you helped coax him out of his shell more than any of us could.”

It was Aubrey’s turn to look down at her own lap. She smoothed a hand over her pink dress.

“So yes, I don’t think Sunny is lying when he says he loves you. I warned him against telling you. I didn’t want either of you to get hurt, or Mincy either. I still don’t. But you know Sunny, he’s going to do whatever he wants to do,” she said, waving away her hand and rolling her eyes. “But no matter what he told you last night, and whatever he feels, what matters are your feelings, Basil. And how you deal with them. People are going to be hurt in the end. They already are, from what you told me this morning as we were getting ready. But whatever decision you make, you’re going to have to live with it forever. Make sure it’s something you won’t regret.”

For a beat, the two were quiet. There was some more shuffling, perhaps from a hug exchanged.

“Thanks, Aubrey.”

“Of course.”

Aubrey broke the hug, pulling back to start standing up. “I’m going to go get you some water and look for some concealer to help you cover up your redness around your face. Then, we’re going to put this subject to rest, help Mari get finished before she starts wondering what’s taking us so long, and have a fun time today, okay?”

Basil smiled, rubbing at his eyes and nodding. “Okay, that sounds good.”

Before he could move out of the way, Aubrey swung open the door and walked out, this time tightly closing the door behind her. Sunny stood up straight, trying to turn away as if he had been walking away, but Aubrey quickly caught a hold of his shirt and dragged him feet away from the door.

“What the hell were you doing, Sunny?” she whispered, trying not to be overheard by Basil. If he learned that Sunny had been eavesdropping–

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to, I swear!” Sunny whispered, wincing as Aubrey gave his collar another yank before letting him go.

“You’re a horrible liar,” she cursed, shaking her head. “God, as if we needed more drama for the day.”

As soon as she saw the look on Sunny’s face, she sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not mad at you.”

He looked up at her and she frowned. “Okay, I am, a little. I told you this would happen. But, I’m not mad at you for confessing to him. You’re your own person and I’m sure you put some thought behind it.”

He expected that. Sunny was grateful to have her support, even in this muddled situation.

“Do you intend to see this through, no matter the outcome?” she asked, her voice slow and steady. Sunny looked up at her, matching her gaze. He nodded firmly. He had never been more sure of anything in his life.

“God, I hope so.” Aubrey sighed, letting her shoulders fall and turning around to head to the kitchen. As she turned to start walking, he could see a small hint of a smile on her face. “I’m cheering you on, okay? But don’t tell anyone that.”

Shooting him a small wave, she headed over to get the glass of water. Sunny straightened out his collar and looked back over to the spare room, where Kel and Hero were finishing up getting ready. The wedding photographer would be there soon. He looked back at the door of Basil’s room.

There was a wedding taking place today, in just a few hours. And he needed to be present for it. Right now, what Basil needed was space.

Sunny headed over to Kel and Hero.

The ceremony was to start at five p.m. At least, that’s what the invitation stated.

In reality, no wedding ceremony ever started on time. By 5:05, guests were still walking over to sit down in the seats placed for them on the beach. Hero and Mari had chosen not to go with assigned seating for the ceremony and reception, and placed a sign ahead of the seats asking both families to intermingle and not sit on separate sides.

Standing closer to the shore, but still a considerable distance from the water, were Hero and his groomsmen, Kel and Sunny, along with the officiant. They had walked in earlier. Hero had opted for a dark navy blue suit paired with a dark black bowtie for himself, while Sunny and Kel wore identical-colored suits and black ties tucked in.

Kel patted his brother’s back as he fidgeted with the notch lapel on his suit, making sure the lines were neat and straight even though they had carefully steamed and ironed it that morning. They shared a glance, smiling at each other as Hero dropped his hands back down. Right. No worrying over the small details.

Instead, he held his hands in front of him, looking ahead as the crowd settled into their seats. Sunny stared blankly ahead, watching the rows fill up with familiar and unfamiliar faces, but happy faces all the same. Everyone was here to celebrate Mari and Hero.

Being at the beach again unnerved him. If it wasn’t for the occasion, he’d avoid the spot altogether for the rest of the trip. But this was for Mari. Whatever happened last night, he could put it aside for half an hour for his sister and brother-in-law’s happiness.

The music began to change into a softer song as the Seating of Mothers began, and Sunny smiled at his mother as she was led up between the division of chairs. Her light blush dress complimented the colors of the wedding and brought a lively color to her face. She smiled back up at Sunny, tearing up at the sight of the three boys by the floral arch. No, not boys anymore, she told herself. Grown men now.

They had changed the typical arrangement of the ceremony to one they felt more comfortable with. Hero’s mother was accompanied by her husband, and right after the two were seated in the front, Mari’s mother was led up by a male relative.

When she sat down, the guests looked amongst themselves. The music came to a slow stop. Then, the beginning notes of “Butterfly Waltz” came through the musicians in the back.

It was a song Mari had found years ago. She always had a soft spot for waltzes, and after doing a duet of this song with Sunny, using the piano and violin respectively, she had fallen in love with the song even more. Hero had made sure to note down the song and bring it up again the night he proposed. Each time it was brought into her life, it held a new, deeper meaning.

The first to appear was Aubrey, maid of honor. She wore a romantic, pressed petal chiffon dress, the same dress Sunny had seen her in earlier. The pink of the dress seemed to complement her hair color. The sleeves were draped across, showing off her shoulders as the pleated dress came up to above her waist. A few seconds later came the next in the bridal party: Basil. He had only caught a glimpse of his look, but wasn’t prepared for when the blonde came into view.

In style with Mari’s chosen color, Basil wore a slim fit wool notched lapel suit in the color pressed petal. And in accordance to Basil’s usual style, he wore a light rose floral tie with minimal design. Aubrey and Basil smiled as the guests laid their eyes on the two. Basil smiled nervously, not used to so many eyes on him, especially in a pink suit, but stared ahead at Aubrey who led them up on the opposite side of the groomsmen. They stood diagonal to each other, just like Kel and Sunny. Hero stood in front with the officiant, eagerly awaiting the next person. He had bawled like a baby during the First Look photos, but was sure enough to cry again, he thought.

But though everyone’s eyes traced back to the hill the two had just come from, Sunny’s eyes stayed glued onto Basil. The color of the suit matched the blush remaining on his cheeks. Unaware of being watched, he fidgeted with his blonde bangs while holding the flowers in his other hand. When he finally felt someone staring, he looked up at Sunny.

His blush deepened to a darker pink.

So much was unsaid between them. Drowned out with the growing piano and violin, the two searched each other’s eyes, asking a million questions about last night. To Sunny’s surprise, there was no hatred behind those stunning blue eyes, contrasting with all the pink around him. No disdain, no anger, not like the glowing eyes from the night previous.

Sunny watched as Basil gently pressed his lips, mouthing something: “I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry?

What was Basil sorry for?

The music came flooding back into his head as it reached its peak, snapping his head back up to the front.

As if the tears in the crowd hadn’t already started, the sight of Mari and her father soon appeared above the hill as the music came to a still as only the violin played. The piano player raised their hands off the keys for a moment, smiling up at the bride as her face appeared.

The guests stood up in progression, turning back towards them with gasps and tearful eyes at the beautiful sight. It was Mari, in her white wedding gown. Sunny inwardly gasped as he saw his sister. He had seen her the previous night, when he walked in on Aubrey and her trying the dress on, but the complete look threw him off even more. He choked back a happy cry, smiling widely at her as their father led them down the white path, careful to watch for her dress.

Beside him was Hero, a shocked, crying mess as he beamed at his bride to be. There she was. For him, there had never been anyone or anything more beautiful in the world.

The tears wouldn’t stop coming. Hell, he didn’t care who was staring, or if one of the photographers was taking picture after picture.

His dream come true walked under the first floral arch, her father in hand. Mari locked eyes with the man as soon as they came closer, smiling up at him and mouthing something to him that Sunny couldn’t make out. Hero broke out into a smile, rubbing some of his tears away and showing her that those were tears of happiness, of pure joy.

Mari glanced over at her father, who stood tall and proud as they slowly advanced, but inside was tearing up. As they reached the edge of the seats, she reached over to wipe away a stray tear and gave him a soft look, whispering something as the officiant proceeded with asking who was “giving away” the bride.

Sunny wiped at his own eyes, just now noticing the sniffling mess that Kel was.

“Sunny, can I borrow one of your tissues?” Kel whispered, hiccuping as he tried to keep in more tears. He knew the boy always kept a small pair of tissues in his pocket, and expected this day to be no different. Sunny chuckled and reached into his pocket, retrieving a small packet of tissues. He handed one to Kel, who took it quickly and turned his head back to vehemently sneeze into the tiny tissue. To the side of them, Aubrey laughed at the sight, appreciative from the break of tears that started once she saw Hero take Mari’s hand up to the stage. Basil shook his head and smiled, looking at his friends before looking back down at the main couple.

Hero and Mari stood in front of everyone, holding hands, as if in their own world.

“I love you,” Mari mouthed as the officiant took his place again.

“I love you too,” Hero whispered, raising a hand up to caress her cheek lovingly.

So began the ceremony. Sticking with a secular wedding, Mari and Hero continued on with the typical timeline after the procession. The officiant began his invocation, thanking the guests for being there to celebrate this special memory for the lovely couple. Then, he introduced Hero and Mari, stating that even though he had only known them from when they arrived at the island and through email correspondence previously, he could tell how much the couple loved each other and what kindred souls they were. A match made in heaven.

Then, came the script.

“We are gathered here today to unite Henry David DeSoto and Mari Suzuki in the bonds of matrimony. If anyone can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

A flashback of the nightmare from earlier in the week flashed through Sunny’s mind. He paused to remind himself of where he was. No one spoke a word. The officiant continued.

The speech was beautiful, lyrical. The minutes seemed to pass by quickly. Sunny had never been to a wedding before, so he hadn’t expected the ceremony to go through so fast. Mari had worked through the script with him before the rehearsal dinner, but his mind had been so distracted that he missed how quickly they went from procession to vows.

The officiant spoke to Hero first. “Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer ‘I do.’”

Hero smiled at his bride, his heart already knowing the answer. “I do.”

The officiant turned to Mari next.

“Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer ‘I do.’”

“I do,” Mari replied, smiling back at Hero. Two small words. But they meant everything.

Now, the officiant held open their book, reading aloud to Hero and Mari as Kel stepped back from presenting them the gold bands.

“The rings you are about to place on each other’s fingers are symbols of your love. They will remind you of the eternal love that you have for one another.”

Henry David DeSoto, please place the ring that you have in your hands on Mari Suzuki’s finger and repeat after me.”

With shaking hands, Hero took a gentle hold of Mari’s hand and repeated after the officiant.

“As this ring encircles your finger… from this moment forward… so will my love forever encircle you. You will never walk alone… my heart will be your shelter, my arms will be your home. We will walk through life as partners and best friends. I promise to do my best to love, cherish, and accept you, just the way you are. I give you my heart until the end of time. I have no greater gift to give.”

After the last word, he slid the gold ring onto her left right finger. Mari’s face flushed with warmth at the feeling of the ring sliding above the engagement ring.

“Now, Mari Suzuki, please place the ring that you hold on Henry David DeSoto’s finger and repeat after me.”

Mari took a gentle hold of Hero’s hand, looking up into his eyes as she repeated the same words before slipping the gold band around his left ring finger. As she finished, the two interlocked their hands, their happiness radiating between the two.

“By the power vested in me by the beautiful state of XXXX, in the presence of friends and family, I now pronounce you married. You may now kiss.”

And with that, Hero gently pulled Mari forward, wrapping an arm around her waist and lowering her into a slight dip as they shared a deep kiss in front of everyone. The crowd cheered and whooped for the happy couple, with the bridal party and groomsmen behind them clapping and cheering alongside. Mari’s cheeks flushed red as Hero brought her back up, grinning at her breathless look. There were rare moments when he was able to make her blush, and he relished in each one of those moments.

Moving further back, the officiant lifted up his arms as Mari and Hero turned to face everyone. “Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to present for the first time, the DeSoto-Suzukis!”

The clapping and heartful cheers continued as music began to play again. Mari held onto her dress with one hand, her other arm looped around Hero’s as the two began to walk down, waving and smiling at the guests down the aisle. The photographers swooped in just in time, making sure to snap shots of the couple as they walked through.

Following shortly after came Aubrey and Basil, Aubrey cheering with her hands filled with two bouquets and Basil laughing at the sight of Kel behind them, yelling at the top of his lungs. Sunny laughed alongside them, right behind Basil as they walked through the floral arches. He looked over at his parents in their seating as they stood, then turned back around as he felt eyes on him again.

When he faced forward, he met Basil’s. His blue eyes widened in panic of being caught, but softened as Sunny smiled at him. Basil smiled back before turning to face back forward.

They were now headed to the seated area for the reception, for drinks, food, and dancing. Cocktail hour ran for the first two hours. Cris walked around the place, making sure the last utensils and napkin rings were in place just as the happy couple walked in.

The ceremony was over with. Hero and Mari were pulled aside to sign the official marriage license with the officiant, giving each other a tight hug right afterward.

Aubrey stopped by for Kim, wrapping her up into a tight hug and spinning her around, even in her tight dress. Kim bloomed in a dark red, but laughed and embraced her lover the same, happy that Aubrey was in such good spirits.

Mincy stayed back, speaking with another guest at the ceremony as everyone walked their way over. Basil, to his surprise, stuck beside him and Kel, looking back at Mincy and unsure of what to do.

“Well, I’m starving!” Kel announced, patting Sunny’s back and thrusting him forward. “Are you ready to grub? Let’s get in line before everyone else gets here!”

Different music, a standard wedding playlist, began to play from the speakers set up as the stringed lights around the outside area came on as the sun began to lower in the sky. Sunny looked over at Basil one more time before seeing Mincy catch up with him.

He turned away before being caught. He had told Basil how he felt. After his conversation with Aubrey, it was clear the feelings went through.

Now it was up to Basil to decide the next step.

Chapter Text

As Kel and Sunny arrived to the food, they quickly realized that it was all still sealed and packaged. Workers were placing it altogether, prepping the cutlery and dishes for when dinner would soon begin. Aubrey had to walk over to them to remind Kel that dinner wasn’t until after the sunset pictures, which were happening in a few minutes after Hero and Mari finished signing.

“Come on, we can’t have you getting your suit dirty before the pictures!” She picked at a piece of fluff on his dark suit jacket, which he was surprised she noticed. It was as if the schedule of the day had vanished from Sunny’s mind, although Mari had made sure to send a copy to them all and talked about it the day before.

Aubrey dragged the two idiots over to a table where Mincy and Basil sat, also waiting for the pictures. The two stopped speaking as the others came by, looking up at the others with a nervous smile. Sunny was the first to sit down, making sure to sit away from Basil out of respect for the two. He wasn’t sure what Basil had told him during the ceremony, but he wasn’t about to get too cozy after everything that happened between them.

“If we’re not able to eat yet, can I at least get a drink?” Kel whined, looking over at the bartender section where cocktail hour had begun. The bartender was pouring drinks for the guests who had to wait for the photos. At least they had gotten the majority of the photos done before the ceremony. The dinner was set to begin in around an hour.

Kim, who came walking up just a moment ago, gave Aubrey a look, to which she sighed at. She waved him off. “Sure.”

“You know, a drink sounds really good right now,” Kim offered, nudging Aubrey. “Yeah?”

“Do you want a drink too?” Basil asked Mincy, who paused to think.

“Sure, why not?” she said.
“The usual?”

She nodded. So they knew their favorite alcoholic drinks too, Sunny thought, watching the blonde walk away and leave the two at the table along with Aubrey and Kim. Well, of course she would.

As it began to dawn on them that they were alone, Sunny shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. Here he sat with Basil’s fiance, and he had just confessed to Basil the night before. Should he pull out his phone, walk over to get a drink as well, or stay put? Mincy decided to break the silence.

“Ha, we’ve been on this island for five days, but this is the first time we’re talking to each other, huh? It’s kind of silly,” Mincy said, laughing lightly and offering a smile. Sunny took the smile as a sign of ease, helping to break the ice.

“Yeah, sorry,” he responded, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s been pretty crazy around here.”

“Of course! It is your sister’s wedding, after all,” Mincy empathized, nodding to herself. She grabbed one of the napkins to place on her lap. She began to fidget with it, folding it into an intricate pattern. “How do you feel?”

“Huh?”
“About Mari getting married, I mean.”

“Oh.” Her question had thrown him off. He wasn’t sure if she knew about the night before and hated his guts right now. If she did, she was doing a stand up job at hiding it. “I guess… Overall, I’m very happy for her. Hero and Mari have been together for so long, it’s hard to think of one of them without thinking of the other. They’ve been a staple in our lives for so long that this all feels normal, but kind of surreal that it’s finally happening?”

She smiled and nodded again. “That makes sense. So they’ve been together since you guys were kids, right?”

“Yeah. They officially started dating just a few years after meeting, when my dad was okay with Mari dating after Hero proved himself, and after some more coaxing from Mari.”

“Oh my god, that’s cute.”

It felt pleasant talking to her. There was no anger behind her tone, nor was she forcing herself to speak to him. If he had known it was this easy to speak to her, he would have attempted to earlier. Or, if they were in different circumstances.

“I’m really happy for them,” Mincy said, breaking his thought once again and turning her head. Mari and Hero were walking back from signing the official papers, hand in hand. Her voice took on a softer tone as she looked at them. “They look like the real deal–that’s the kind of love we all strive for.”

Sunny nodded. It wasn’t a surprise that other people could see just how genuinely Hero and Mari loved each other. But not all relationships were like that, he knew. She had mentioned their relationship and how she wanted one just like it multiple times throughout the trip.

He looked over at the girl. There was a hint of sadness to her–he could see her lips turned slightly downward. As beautiful as she looked, put together with her half up hair do and soft gray dress, he could notice the wear around her eyes. She looked tired. He felt sorry for her.

He wanted to extend the same courtesy.

“How have you been doing, Mincy?”

“Me?” she asked. She straightened up. “Oh, um… I’ve had better days. But I’m getting through it.”

Sunny wanted to ask what exactly she meant, but knew it wasn’t his place. And she didn’t offer any explanation. Instead, he returned his eyes over to his group of friends, who now stood in the front of the line and were asking for drinks.

“Basil seems very happy with you.”

This brought her interest. “You think so?”

Both their eyes were on the blonde now, as he leaned against the counter. What was going through her mind, Sunny didn’t know.

He continued. “Basil and I have been close ever since we were kids. Unfortunately, we haven’t spoken as much over the past years, but I’m glad he found you during that time.”

Sunny bit his lip. It hurt to admit, but he was glad Basil hadn’t been alone. “He seems to light up around you. Thank you for being there for him.”

Mincy glanced over at Sunny, partly in shock. “Of course.”

She wanted to say more, but instead turned as Aubrey, Kim, Kel, and Basil began to walk back. “Basil means a lot to you too, huh?”

Was this a loaded question? No. There had been nothing in the short conversation with Mincy to prove that anything she was asking was with ill-intent, or to try to shift into something serious.

So he answered honestly. “Yes, he does.”

Basil came back directly to the table, offering Mincy the drink before explaining where he was about to head over to. She nodded and stayed sitting, waving him off as Aubrey called out for Sunny with her drink in hand.

“Sunny! It’s time to take the sunset pictures before it gets too dark!”

“I’ll be there!” Sunny responded, standing up from his seat. But before he left, he turned to Mincy, who was taking her first sip. “You’ve got to come too.”

“Huh? But I’m not part of the bridal party or group–”

“No, but you’re an important part of Basil’s life. And anyone Basil loves, we love too. Come on, you’ve got to be part of the memories.” He said this with finality, gesturing with his head and walking over. Mincy thought it over for a second before standing up, taking her drink alongside her.

As the two approached the rest of the group and the photographer, Mari looked over at the new addition. “Oh, Mincy?”

Sunny was quick to explain. “I brought her so she can take some couple photos with Basil, and maybe we can do one big group one with everyone’s partners? So Aubrey can bring Kim over too?”

Aubrey grinned, thankful for the idea. She had been thinking of it as well, but didn’t want to ask in case it went against Mari and Hero’s wishes.

“The more the merrier!” Mari agreed, turning to Hero, who nodded as well.

As Aubrey went off to get Kim, Mincy rejoined Basil by his side, the two shyly smiling at each other.

“Alright! Let’s start off with pictures of the couple and then we’ll do pairs and a group one!”

Back from the photo shoot, the party had livened up as everyone had more drinks in their system. People were chatting loudly around the set up tables, enjoying the cocktail hour. The eight of them walked back up the steps to hear everyone clapping and cheering for them again. Someone passed Mari and Hero a drink, to which Mari eagerly accepted and Hero quickly tipped back and swallowed whole. Mari stared with her mouth agape, giggling at this side of Hero. He extended the empty glass back to the guest and wrapped his arms around Mari, carrying her up despite the weight of the train of the dress.

“Everyone!” he yelled out, twirling her around as she laughed, trying not to spill the drink. “This is my beautiful wife!!!”

Everyone cheered once more as Mari wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hero, you can put me down now, silly!”

Hero smiled up at his bride and obliged, letting her down, but not without a deep kiss that raised a few whistles and applause. As the two love birds teased each other, the rest of the group found their way back to their seats, close to the sweetheart table. Kel grabbed one of the empty glasses on the table and clinked a spoon against it to get everyone’s attention.

“Welcome toast!”

“Oh, right,” Mari said, breaking off their kiss to lead them over to their designated table. She lifted up her glass and stood beside Hero, who smiled as everyone quieted for their first toast.

“Everyone, thank you for coming to join us on this special day!” Hero announced, hands gesturing out to the entire space. “And I mean everyone–I know destination weddings aren’t the easiest to make it to, but we appreciate every sacrifice you’ve made to be here today and we are forever grateful for the role each and every one of you has played in our lives.”

He turned to his bride, glowing. “I knew I was going to marry Mari the day I met her.”

Awws arised from the crowd.

“And today, she’s blessed me as the luckiest man alive. So now, I want to spread that happiness to everyone here today! Thank you for joining us on this wonderful occasion!”

Hero’s father stood up, lifting up this glass. “To Mari and Hero!”

Everyone joined in. “To Mari and Hero!”

“Cheers!” Mari yelled out, finally taking a drink of her wine and then leaning in to give Hero a rose kiss. As the two moved behind the table, waiters and staff came out, beginning to serve out the dinner and bringing more wine to tables. Aubrey and Kim sat next to each other, holding hands as they waited for everyone to be served. Kel and Sunny sat beside each other, in front of the couple. Basil and Mincy sat on opposite sides, Basil beside Kel, and Mincy beside Aubrey, but no one seemed to notice or mind.

After a few minutes of drinks and a few mouthfuls of food, the floor was opened for toasts. Cris moved away from the mic she finished setting up, testing it lightly and giving a thumbs up to Kel. Kel buttoned up his suit jacket and straightened his tie, smiling as he walked up to the stand.

“Since we’re opening the floor up to toast, as the brother of the groom, I talked him into letting me go first,” Kel began, appreciating the laughter as he pointed over at Hero. He turned over to Mari and Sunny.

“Mari, Sunny, I remember the day we met the two of you. We had just moved over to our new house, which just happened to be right next to yours. Mom and Dad sent us outside to play because we were making too much noise, and to our surprise, we found some more kids our age in our neighborhood!”

Kel cleared his throat, pointing over at Sunny now. “Sunny, you’ve been my bro since that day. You’ve been there for me through hard times and you’ve always listened to me no matter what dumb shit I had to say. I love you, man.”

His voice broke and Sunny smiled warmly at his friends.

“Are you crying?” Aubrey yelled out, bringing back laughter as Kel wiped at his eyes.

“I’m not crying! I swear!”

Kel laughed and turned over back to the sweetheart table. “And Mari. I could tell how Hero felt about you since the first day we met. I remember going back home that afternoon for dinner and Hero was smiling ear to ear. Even while we were eating! It was pretty creepy!”

Hero’s parents laughed and nodded as everyone cracked up again.

“I remember Mom asking what made him so happy and all he could do was blush, but he couldn’t stop smiling all night, even as we went to bed. And since that day, I’ve never seen him happier than how he is with you.”

Mari teared up, grabbing Hero’s hand and smiling at him. Kel wrapped up the speech, smiling at the two.

“I’m grateful that you two came into our lives. You two are like the mom and dad of the group. I’m glad of the people you two have grown into, and how you two support each other through thick and thin. Tonight’s all about you two. A match made in heaven! Mari and Hero!”

They all cheered once again. Kel walked back down to their table, taking his seat back next to Sunny, who got up to give him a hug.

“Great speech, Kel.”
“Thanks, Sunny.”

The two broke their hug and sat back down, Kel eager to finally eat. Nothing could tear him away from the plate in front of him now. As Kel wolfed down his meal (and part of Sunny’s leftovers after asking the boy, “Are you gonna finish that?”), other guests came up to give their toasts. Aubrey came up later, getting teary-eyed herself as she spoke about Mari being like the sister she never had, and how grateful she was to see her own found family all together again for this beautiful day. Their parents respectively came up, giving their respects to the couple and nothing but praises. When they sat back down, Hero and Mari’s fathers wrapped themselves in a tight embrace and Mari looked away in embarrassment as they drunkenly teared up, speaking to each other. Basil went up as well, much to Sunny’s surprise. He shared a poem he wrote for the two. Ever the eloquent Basil, his words were written and lyrical–and caused everyone to cry by the ending. He folded his paper again and smiled at the two, taking his seat back down.

As the night continued, Sunny wondered if he himself should get up for a toast. He wasn’t a man of many words. And Mari had told him there was no pressure, that he could if he wanted to.

What else was there to say? He wondered as he drank his second glass of wine, trying to keep the drinking light that night. As he set the drink back down, he glanced over at the love birds, finally getting to speak to each other and eat as the toasts winded down. Everything had been said. He agreed, and resolved to speak to the two privately, congratulating them again.

After dinner came the dancing. There was an open spot away from the beach, on sturdy ground, for people to dance. The first dance was saved for Hero and Mari. As the two swayed to their first song, Sunny leaned against the table. Despite everything that had happened over the week, the smile from earlier had not budged. He truly felt at peace with the moment.

He looked over at Basil, who was also looking at the pairing. Kel had gotten up to talk to Cris, so the seat in between them was empty. Basil looked over at him and smiled.

“I’m so happy for them,” he said, his eyes returning back to Hero and Mari. Sunny’s eyes followed his.

“I am too.”

Yes, he was at peace with the decision. And whatever made Basil happy, he would accept.

Later, after the bride and groom were able to dance with their parents, Mari and Hero were led over to the cake to initiate the cake cutting. Although Kel had eaten most of the table’s leftovers, he was fighting back drool just by looking at the tiered cake. Mari had told Hero before that if he dared to dunk her head into the cake, she would grab one of the tiered cakes and smash it into his face, so he knew better as they held the knife, carefully guiding it for the first slice. Instead of his custom, the mordida, he took a light fingerful of icing and offered it to Mari. She smiled and accepted, gently licking the icing and closing her eyes in delight at the taste. She picked off a tiny piece with her hands, lifting it up to his lips to eat. The inside was just as good as the outside.

After all the cake eating came the bouquet toss. Whoever wanted to join came back to the dance floor, some eager to grab the bouquet, and some purposely staying in the back or the sides to avoid the flowers.

“C’mon, Kim!”
“Why are you so serious about this?” Kim laughed, being dragged by her girlfriend to the dead center. Aubrey took a wide stance, ready to elbow someone if needed. Sunny just laughed and shook his head, recalling what Aubrey had told him before.

“Ready?” Mari yelled out, turning around. She stood on a platform beside Cris. She lifted up the flowers over her head, teasing the throw. “One… Two…”

“Three!”

The bouquet soared into the air. The front part of the group tried to jump up, but it was too far away. Aubrey shoved the person aside of her as the people in back moved backward, giving space for Kim. It was headed right to Mincy or Kim, who stood right next to each other. Aubrey turned around, hoping with everything in her heart that it would fall into her outward hands. It was just a symbol, a dumb one at that, she thought, but god, did she want it to come true.

Mincy and Kim leaned forward as the bouquet came towards them. The seconds seemed to slow down. And at the last minute, Mincy brought her hands down and allowed Kim to sweep the flowers into her hands. The people around her cheered as she weakly raised up her prize.

Aubrey stood, stunned, as her friends came to her side.

“You know what to do now, Aubrey!” Mari teased her, watching as the pinkette turned red. Her girlfriend smiled widely at her, her eyes twinkling with a new light.

And with those festivities done, the floor was finally opened for everyone to dance. The speaker volume was raised as more people poured out from their seats. The lights above them twinkled, giving more than enough light for the entire area. The breeze coming in from the ocean was nice and warm that night and jackets were left by chairs.

Sunny found himself in a conversation with Sally, who was now a young preteen. She was talking to him about how Mari looked just like a princess. It was odd to him how she had grown up over the years–he could still recall the day she was born and seeing her toddle around the DeSoto household.

After she walked away to remeet with her parents, Sunny observed the dance floor. Mincy and Basil were towards the edge, dancing slowly to the song. They weren’t close in proximity, but still held hands. Mincy’s eyes shimmered with the light directly above them, laughing as Basil said something.

Sunny wondered what Basil said. He wondered what Basil was like around her, and what kind of conversations they had. Clearly, she was indeed someone near and dear to his heart. Even he had to admit that if they met when they were younger, they would have developed a close bond quickly. Maybe all that Sunny had on her was timing–that he was there “first.”

But now, it didn’t matter who was first. They were both there. And Mincy had been there when he wasn’t.

He tore his eyes away from the pair. He had spoken to Mincy more throughout the party since she had sat in front of him. She was kind. Funny. Intelligent. Artsy. Open-minded. A perfect match for the blonde. If they weren’t in this situation, he could have easily found himself becoming close friends with her as well. And maybe he still could.

Even if Basil chose her, he could work to accept it. It would take time and it would hurt, no doubt, but he could do it.

“You owe me for this.”

Aubrey had said that to Sunny a couple minutes ago, leaving him confused in his seat. Nothing had happened, so he wondered if she had too much to drink and was about to look for Kim when Aubrey came walking back.

“Hey, wha–”

“Come on,” she said, taking his hand and leading him to the dance floor.

“I don’t want to dance,” he tried to say, but she continued to pull his hand over. She had a strong grip; he couldn’t just let go.

“You will,” she assured him.

She paused as she came to her destination, pushing him forward before he could ask anything else. He bumped into someone and apologized, turning from Aubrey as she ran off, seeming to grab Mincy’s attention and take her elsewhere.

Had she tired of seeing him sitting around instead of dancing? He was quite happy talking to people–

“Sunny?”

Sunny turned to the person beside him, looking at Basil, who was now rubbing his arm. “B-Basil?”

So this was her doing. Basil stood alone, away from his dance partner.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Sunny quickly offered, shaking his head at Aubrey. What was she expecting out of this?

“Ah, don’t worry, it’s fine…”

The current song began to end, leading way into the next song. It was a Mari and Hero classic, one they loved to listen to in the kitchen as they cooked and baked goods for the group when they were younger. “Hello Stranger” by Barbara Lewis.

Basil and Sunny met eyes as the first line was sung:

“Hello, stranger…
It seems so good to see you back again.”

Sunny offered his hand before he even knew what his body was doing. Basil looked at it, hesitant. The night before flashed through his head.

“Just a dance. That’s all I’m asking for,” Sunny said, pressing his lips. He swallowed, afraid of the rejection.

Thankfully, Basil accepted and took his hand. He took a step closer, shyly placing his hand on Sunny’s shoulder and holding onto the other. Sunny swallowed again, hovering his hand on Basil’s waist before gently placing his palm against his suit jacket material.

“How long has it been?
Oo, it seems like a mighty long time.”

The two began to slowly sway to the soft, R&B song, keeping their eyes on each other. There was so much Sunny wanted to say. But his mouth remained closed, taking in the moment. This could very well be the last time he’d have a moment like this with Basil.

“Oh, I’m so glad
You stopped by to say hello to me.
Remember that’s the way it used to be?
Oo, it seems like a mighty long time.”

He recalled the first time they danced together, back in high school. It was offered as a joke, since the two were the last two sitting at their table at prom. The others were up and dancing with their dates. Sunny and Basil had decided to go as “friends,” although the tension growing between the two was palpable by that time.

Basil’s hand shook in Sunny’s the first time they danced, just like it did now. He remembered how soft his lips looked that night and how his eyes glowed even more under the dark blue lighting. Sunny remembered going back home, wishing he had kissed him then and there.

Their first kiss didn’t happen for another few months. At a sleepover, before the two went off to college after summer, they decided to indulge in their childhood habits and went all out with snacks, games, and even building a fort with blankets in the living room. Everyone was asleep by that point and the only noise came from the tv, which was still playing a sci-fi thriller, but neither boy was paying attention. Instead, their hands were interlocked underneath the blankets, with Basil’s head leaning against Sunny’s shoulder.

“Are you still watching?” Basil quietly asked as they heard the cicadas outside. Sunny shook his head. The blonde laughed. Sunny joined in, turning to look at his friend as he lifted his head.

“We can turn it off,” Sunny offered, taking the remote and turning off the tv set. The house was once again silent. The living room was dark with only moonlight streaming from the nearby windows. In the dark, it felt like they were closer.

He couldn’t remember who leaned in first. All he could remember was taking Basil’s lips to his own and closing his eyes in deep bliss. It was both their first kiss, and although it was clumsy, there was so much feeling behind it. They broke apart, taking a moment to breathe before leaning back in.

All these memories and more ran through Sunny’s mind. He wondered if Basil still remembered them too, or if they had all been replaced.

“Oh, if you’re not gonna stay,
Please don’t tease me,
Like you did before.
Because I still love you so.
Although, it seems like a mighty long time.”

“Basil.”
“Hm?”

Sunny squeezed his hand. He needed courage. “Whatever you decide, if you decide anything, I want you to know that I’ll accept it. I’m sorry for how I acted earlier, and how I brought this up to you, especially at the worst time. I’m sorry for that, and I’m sorry to Mincy too, for all of this. If that’s who makes you happy, then I’m happy too.”

Basil stayed quiet, observing Sunny’s eyes. Everything in him wanted to doubt, but there was no more fight inside him.

“And…” Sunny continued as the song came to a close. “And, if I am… if I am the one…”

They came to a still.

“I want you to know that I meant everything I said. I love you, Basil.”

“I’m so happy
That you’re here at last…”

“Sunny–”

Basil’s sentence broke as the music came to a complete stop and they heard a gasp from the side. They both quickly turned to the noise, finding Mincy by the tables closest to the dance floor, tearfully watching the two. She said nothing before she ran to the back, letting out a cry.

“Mincy!” Basil yelled, letting go of Sunny’s hand and running towards her.

Sunny stood in his spot as the next song played, his arms to his side.

There.

There was his answer.

Half an hour later, there was still no sight of Mincy or Basil. The night was nearing an end. Sunny sat by himself as the party began to die down. It was late at night now.

His glass sat next to him at the table, empty. But he was done drinking his sorrows away. He had allowed himself only a few drinks, and after the dance with Basil, he felt cold and sober. It had stung, but once he finally walked away from his spot, he sat down away from the others to pull himself together.

Now, Mari approached him with a smile.

“Hey, little brother.”

He smiled up at her, trying to straighten up in his seat and offering her the same smile. “Hey, big sister.”

She took the seat next to him. Mari looked him up and down with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Sunny shrugged and looked over at the dance floor. “I’m really happy for you two tonight. Don’t worry about me.”

She watched him with her dark eyes as he refused to look at her. “Thank you, Sunny. But I can tell from a mile away that something’s bothering you.”

He sighed. There was no use to it anymore.

“Is it wrong to tell someone how you feel?” Sunny asked, looking over at Aubrey and Kim as they danced to the upbeat song.

“No, not necessarily,” Mari said, reaching out her hand to his arm. “Why?”

He lowered his eyes to the ground. He could feel the tears coming.

He spoke barely above a whisper. “Even if they’re already in a committed relationship?”

“Oh, Sunny.”

Mari scooted her chair closer to her brother, taking his hand in hers as he finally let the tears fall.

“It hurts,” Sunny said. “I-I got my answer and… it’s hard to swallow. But I can accept it, because Basil’s happy, and that’s all I want for him.”

All she could do was hold his hand. There was nothing anyone could say to heal his heart. Sunny knew this would take time. A long time.

So they held hands. She soothed him as his tears came to a still, letting him rest his head against her shoulder, letting him know that everything would be okay. Mari pressed her thumb against his palm, rubbing the spot gently as he finally began to quiet down. She was in no hurry.

When they had been still for a bit longer, she nudged his hand up, beginning to stand up. “C’mon, let’s go dance together. I know there’s a lot going through that head right now, but I think a little distraction right now would do you good. Is that okay?”

Sunny nodded, moving his head and standing up with his sister, still holding her hand as she led him over back to the dance floor. It was cooler outside now and he realized as they stood in front of each other that she had Hero’s jacket on over her shoulders. He could see the wet spot he had left from his tears.

Sunny smiled at the thought of Hero taking care of his sister with even the smallest of details. “I really am happy for you, Mari. You’ve found your soulmate.”

“Thank you, Sunny,” Mari said, smiling warmly at him. The last few songs were slower, quieter. “I hope you find the same happiness one day too.”

“I will,” he reassured her. “I will.”

Chapter Text

The Next Day

Kel, Aubrey, Kim, Basil and I were on the boat back to the mainland late the next morning. Most of the guests had left earlier in the morning. Some were staying for a while longer.

I looked back at the island as the boat continued on. A dark cloud hung low over the island, moving slow. It seemed to have saved most of the bad weather until after the wedding, which Mari and Hero were thankful for. When we had left the villa with our luggage, the air was muggy and humid, with a storm apparent to be arriving by noon.

I turned back. Next to me was Basil. He sat silent, clinging to a blanket. Despite the warm weather, the cooler winds from the sea seemed to be too much for him. He shivered and kept his eyes on the waves.

Aubrey had asked earlier where Mincy was. Basil had told us, albeit nervously, that she left early. At that time, we were in a rush to gather our stuff, so we didn’t continue to press.

I offered my own blanket to the boy now. Basil blinked twice, barely recognizing the blanket in front of his face and turning to me.

“Take it. I don’t really need it. I have this jacket on,” I said, shrugging and leaving the blanket on his lap. Hesitantly, he picked it up and looked at me as if I’d reconsider.

“Thanks, Sunny,” he whispered, opening up the blanket and placing it over his shoulders. Even as he spoke low, I could notice the other’s eyes on us.

Basil and Mincy had never returned back to the party that night, at least not to my knowledge. Everyone else was busy. Aubrey with Kim, Kel with Cris (thank goodness the walls blocked some noises), and Hero and Mari left earlier to head over to their honeymoon. I retreated back to my room as soon as the cleanup crew arrived.

I didn’t have to say anything for my friends to know that something was up between the two of us.

“Basil,” Aubrey started, still holding onto the hand of her girlfriend. Kim was nodded off by then, soothed by the waves. Kel matched her eyes, shifting slightly in his seat. “Is… Is everything okay with Mincy?”

Basil sighed. He knew his friends would ask.

“I don’t mean to pry…”

“No, it’s fine,” Basil said. “Thank you actually, for asking.”

He took a breath as he considered how to respond. His nose was pink against the biting winds, lips chapped. The dark circles under his eyes were further emphasized.

“We’re both in a rough spot right now, truthfully. But she’ll be fine. And I’ll be fine too. We spoke about some stuff that we kept pushing off and…”

All of us sat in silence as Basil paused to draw out the next words, nothing but water hitting the boat.

“...and, we decided to separate. The engagement’s off. We’ve broken up.”

Here I was at the airport again, for the third time that week.

The first time, I was naive, eager to begin my new life with Basil.

The second time, I sat through most of it in silence, trying to take in the new information of Basil and his partner.

And now, I sat next to Basil, knowing I may or may not have been complicit in breaking off his serious relationship.

We both opted for a spot by the wall, trying to charge up our devices. It was evident that both of us had forgotten to charge up the night before leaving. Obviously we were busy with other matters. Kel sat in front of us, saving a spot for Aubrey and Kim as they wandered off to get breakfast food before Aubrey started feeling her hanger trickle in.

I was scrolling through my phone, checking my emails as Basil spoke up.

“Back to work, huh?”

I brought down my phone and locked it, setting all my attention on the blonde. “Nah. I was paranoid that I had some emails waiting for me, but I still have the rest of the week off. I’m glad no one’s heckled me.”

Basil nodded, turning his attention back to his laptop. I could see him scrolling through different websites, checking multiple things. “Lucky you.”

“And you?” I asked, watching as he placed his laptop away. “Back to the normal world after we land in Faraway Town?”

He nodded, bringing his knees up to his chin. He wore soft, gray sweatpants and a dark blue sweater, easy to pull on and off depending on the temperature of the airport or airplane. Basil raised his hand up to his eyes, still rubbing away some of the tiredness.

“Yeah. I get half a day of rest after we land, then it’s back to work, and I have some logistics to figure out the next day…”

He wavered at the end of his sentence, unsure. He rubbed his eyes again and sighed. “A lot to deal with.”

“I can imagine,” I said, trying to think of what to say. He had shared his news with us on the boat, but no details. I eyed the bright lights of the stores near the gates. There was a sign pointing to the right, signifying that more restaurants were further down. It gave me an idea.

I shifted my weight forward, pushing myself up with my arms. “Hey Kel, would you mind watching our stuff?”

Kel jerked his head up in my direction, ripping off his ear bud from his ear. “Huh? Oh, yeah! Go ahead!”

I turned to look down at Basil, who merely looked at me in confusion. “I think coffee sounds like a good idea. Want to join me?

Basil considered his choices. If there was anything that hadn’t changed about him, it was his obsession with coffee. It wasn’t a coincidence that we had nestled into that coffee shop earlier this week. Bribing him with some caffeine was the easiest way to get him alone.

After a moment, he pushed himself up as well, nodding.

“Yeah, coffee sounds great, actually.”

We stood behind the counter along with others, waiting for our orders. Basil didn’t play with his order. He listed each detail to the exact, ordering the biggest size possible. I guess he was a regular at Starbucks now, which wasn’t a surprise.

He shrugged at my surprise as we stood by the wall. “There’s one in Faraway Town now, inside Othermart. It’s pretty convenient to stop there for a ‘breakfast pick me up’ before heading to work.”

I had gone for a similar drink in size. Something hot that could help alert my senses–I hadn’t been able to sleep much the night before either. My body was working on three hours of sleep, and being beside Basil had always made me relaxed and calm, like it knew I was safe. A nap felt like a good idea, but it would have to wait until we boarded the plane.

“That’s surprising,” I said, pausing to think. “It always felt weird coming back to Faraway Town and seeing something new each time.”

“Well, when you did visit, a lot of time had passed already,” Basil muttered. His eyes widened as he realized what he said, quickly jumping to try to apologize. “Sorry! That slipped out!”

I laughed, rubbing my neck. “Don’t worry, I deserve it. I hardly visited; of course it was going to change.”

Basil still felt bad, sighing and looking at me with that cute apologetic look. How could anyone not forgive him, even when snappy? “Sorry, you know that I’m kind of grumpy in the mornings. It kind of slipped out.”

“Don’t talk to Basil until he gets his coffee–noted,” I joked, walking up as our names were called. I grabbed his cup and turned around, offering it to him. He eagerly lifted the cup to his lips, taking a sip and closing his eyes in bliss.

“Mhm. Perfect.”

“Good,” I said. I gently placed a hand on his back, guiding him to move forward as the worker called another person’s name. “Want to sit down for a moment before returning back?”

It felt like Basil tensed at my hand, but if he was uncomfortable, he didn’t say anything. He just shook his head, walking ahead but not too far ahead from my hand.

We settled at an empty gate that had just finished boarding. I wanted us to get some time alone, both to enjoy the drinks before walking all the way back, and so I could talk to Basil by himself. If there was anything this week had taught me, it was just how selfish I could be in love. Perhaps that was both a good and bad thing. As Basil continued to happily drink his coffee with his small smile, I smiled to myself at the adorable view. Who wouldn’t want this all to themselves?

Noticing my eyes on him, Basil cleared his throat. “Listen, I really am sorry for that comment. It’s not really how I feel. I mean, yes, I’m still upset at everything that’s happened between us, but it’s not like I don’t completely understand your side of things.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m the one that’s sorry. I should expect some of these comments from you, and anything else you’d like to air out. All these years, I didn’t stop to consider how my actions were affecting you and I want you to open my eyes to that. Of course, only if you want to share.”

He only nodded, still unsure. Even through all the years of knowing each other, I had only seen passive aggressive Basil come out a few times, and he always apologized profusely afterwards. I always deserved it and wished he would be more honest with me.

As I was thinking this, Basil set down his cup. “God, Sunny, we’ve dug ourselves into a hole, haven’t we?”

“Well, if we dug it together, doesn’t that mean we’re both in it?” I offered, trying to keep it light. He laughed lightly, but shook his head.

“Ha, true, I guess.”

I set my own cup down. “I didn’t mean to cause all of this drama. I really do mean what I said last night, about overstepping your boundaries and Mincy’s. I really hope she doesn’t hate me after seeing us dance last night. I didn’t have any bad intentions, but I realize no matter the intentions, the effect and pain still matters.”

“She isn’t mad at you.”

Perhaps he was trying to be sensitive to my feelings. “No?”

But he shook his head again.

“No. Not really. Nor at me.” Basil rubbed at his hand, a nervous tendency for when he was anxious. “I think this would make more sense if I told you about the conversation we had after you confessed to me, the night of the rehearsal dinner.”

“Where were you?”

He stopped by the bedside table. Why was she here? His blood ran cold as her eyes searched his face, staying on his red eyes.

“Huh?” he tried to play dumb. Mincy was not having it. She sat to face him.

“I sat here for the past half hour, probably longer now, waiting for you to come back to your room,” she said. “I don’t know what you think I am, Basil Fey, but I’m not stupid. I’m offended that you think I wouldn’t see how weird you’ve been since we flew back home and got here.”

Basil dropped his hands to his side. The night wasn’t over.

“What’s going on? No more pretending. Tell me what’s been going on with you and Sunny.”

It was the hardest conversation to have. Basil thought this was impossible, having just had his heart torn out by his first love minutes ago. He had trouble standing still as his mind tried to wrap around Mincy’s words.

“Something has felt off… for a while now. I never wanted to admit it to myself, but I think you felt it too.”

She looked up at the blonde, her eyes soft. “Honestly, ever since we started dating. I thought you were just shy at first, but even after some time, you always held back. As friends, we were open about everything. But now, in a relationship, you felt so detached. I know not everyone likes physical affection, and that’s perfectly fine, but it felt… almost forced, or calculated any time you did. That, or entirely friendly and platonic. Not to say you were a horrible boyfriend, you were far from that, but…”

Mincy’s voice wavered as she continued. “And it only got worse when I started to spend some nights and days over at your place. We would be in the same place, maybe even in the same room, but there was no spark there. It almost felt… like we were just roommates.”

She shook her head as her hands came up to her face, trying to wipe at the falling tears. Basil rushed to her side, concerned. He grabbed one of her hands gently, frowning at her.

“Mincy, how come you’ve never told me this?” he asked, gently wiping away the new tears.

She laughed, coming out as a half sob. “Me? How come you never did? It was obvious Basil, but it was terrifying to bring up. You understand that, right?”

She was right. Whenever she had hinted at feeling lonely, or at what her love languages were, it was easy for Basil to make excuses. But they were both aware there was an elephant in the room. What Mincy didn’t know was the name of that elephant.

She took a hold of his hand, looking into his eyes. “Just be honest with me, tell me what’s going on.”

Basil’s eyes stared into hers in fear, but she didn’t waver. She opened her lips again, whispering. “Please.”

And so he did. She knew previously about Sunny, and their almost-relationship, but she hadn’t known how the timelines clashed. And least of all, she didn’t know how prevalent his feelings still were.

He told her why. Why he would make excuses. How easy it was to camouflage. Stress, he would tell her. Anxiety flare ups. His first real relationship. Wanting to take it slow. And in a way, he could tell that she could recognize the hesitance inside herself as well.

And why did he keep this up?

He loved her. He did. At the end of the day, Basil loved Mincy.

But… not in the way she wanted.

He thought he could make it work. They made each other so happy in all the other ways, maybe if he could keep pushing, maybe if they were in the right scenario, he could see himself falling for the girl. And after they began, it was hard to stop. He was there, they were still together, and he could keep pushing through for her. He could tell how much she wanted it. It made him want it too.
But as well-intentioned as it was, at the end of the day, he was still hurting someone he loved. Someone so selfless, kind, and loving. It was the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. Insanity.

There were tears. Lots of them. Just holding onto each other tightly, afraid of everything this conversation was bringing out. It had been wounded so tightly inside him, and now it was out, now it was all out, and the marks of it burned on his skin.

At one point, two hours in, she asked Basil, “What are you thinking about?”

He was staring at himself in the mirror. This shaken, petite, man sat on the bed, red eyes and all. Hair disheveled. Wear all around his face.

Who was this person? Who had he forced himself to be after all these years?

“I don’t know,” he croaked out, his voice hoarse from crying. He tore his eyes away, looking to see Mincy in the same state.

“Basil, do you see yourself happy with me?” she asked, dropping her hands to her lap.

He frowned, trying to sort her question out. “What do you mean? Of course–”

She cut him off. “If you were to think of 5 years from now, would you be happy with me?”

He thought about this. Five years from now, where would he be?

Where would he want to be?

There was a part of him that wanted to fix everything. They had made it this far. He could keep going. If she let him, he could continue pretending for years and years–

“I-I…”

But the words failed him. He couldn’t even attempt to say it.

So she spoke for him. “We need to separate.”

She held his hands tenderly as she said this. Basil stared at her in shock, shaking his head.

“What? N-No, we don’t–”

She squeezed his hands, pleading with him. “Yes, Basil. We do. For the better of both of us.”

Even through these hard truths, she was kind. Loving. Basil had never felt unconditional love like that before.

They both deserved to love and be loved. Everything Basil had been doing was to avoid that outcome. He had never stepped into this relationship with the intention of breaking up, or even breaking her heart. But he couldn’t give her 100%. And she couldn’t give him 100%.

All they knew was, it wasn’t working. And she was strong enough to say:

“You need to be happy. Even if it means us walking away from this. And… and… I need to be happy too. And Basil…”

He could tell how much it broke her to say this. “I’m not happy, Basil.”

She knew he would never have that courage. She recognized that. That’s why she was the one to say it. Their next conversations were real, realer than anything they had ever discussed in their years of knowing each other. Nothing was left untouched, no stone unturned.

And by the end, even though they were a sobbing mess all over again, they could breathe.

Mincy could breathe again.

Basil could breathe again.

By the time Basil finished his story, our drinks were empty. We sat at the table as people began to fill up the section, getting ready to board their gate.
Basil sighed again, and this time I could see the weight fall off his shoulders. “I’m incredibly grateful to Mincy for saying the words I couldn’t say. Because honestly… I would have kept trying and trying until I could no longer.”
I stayed silent, taking in his words. My hands stayed on my lap, gripping my hands tightly as he recounted the night prior. I felt ashamed. Ashamed of everything that had unraveled over the past week, and ashamed of how I had treated someone so kind and selfless. Someone, who even at the last moment, still did what she thought was best for Basil despite her own feelings.

I was grateful for her. God, I would forever be grateful to her.

Basil continued, bringing up the other question. “Last night, when she walked back over to see us dancing… it was too much for her. That’s why she left. Even though we had broken up, we agreed not to tell anyone until after the wedding.”

I ran back inside to console her and was able to speak to her. She didn’t feel betrayed. She explained that, despite what we spoke about before, how I still had feelings for you, to see it in person was too much. It was too soon. It made everything real for her. I mean, we had only broken up the night before, for god’s sake–”

I shook my head. “God, Basil, I’m sorry–”

“No, don’t be. Again, she wasn’t mad at you or me,” Basil assured him. “We talked it out, and she was fine after. We left on good terms before she left early this morning. She was able to change her flight time, so she took the opportunity.”

I nodded, looking away. It all made sense now. How awkward they had been acting the day of the wedding, and how I misunderstood the situation.

Basil brought his hands up to the table, lightly touching the edge of his cup. I could tell he was thinking over his next words. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to interrupt his train of thought even though my own hands felt clammy.

“Listen,” he said, pausing again before continuing. “This is going to take some time to process. A long time, I think. Even if I’ve come to realize that my feelings for Mincy are strictly platonic, it still hurts to know that I deeply hurt someone I love. And that she, one of my closest friends, won’t be in my life like how I imagined her to be.”

As I looked back up at him, I could see his hands shaking again, afraid to say what he wanted to say next. “A-As much as I’m ashamed of myself for this, as much as I fought this back…”

He gripped the cup to steady his nerves. “Sunny, I still have feelings for you too. I have. All this time.”

Again, it felt like the room shifted around me. But this time, the fog had lifted. The daze was gone.

It was all clear. Basil kept speaking, and even though my brain heard the words, my heart dropped everything it had been holding back this week. I blinked back the tears, suddenly rising up to stand. It was happening. It was finally happening.

“What those feelings are, what they mean, or even how strong they are… I don’t know yet. And… Sunny, are you okay?”

Basil had stopped talking, reaching over to touch my arm as I began to cry into my hands. I shook my head, trying to speak, but the words couldn’t come. The happiness was too much to contain.

“Sunny?” he asked again. Now he was really starting to worry him. He stood up and walked over to my side.

When I didn’t respond, he moved to pull down my hands to see, but not before I rushed into him and brought him into a tight embrace. I smiled into his shoulder, still crying, unable to hold it back any longer. “Yes, I’m fine, Basil. Better than I’ve been in a long time, honestly.”

I could feel his hands just inches from my waist, still taking in my rash move. But then, I could feel his muscles slacken and his arms squeeze my back. He breathed into my own shoulder. I swore I heard a sniffle.

I continued, speaking into his soft sweater. “I know you need time to figure this all out. A-And I know you’re in no place to hop back into another relationship. That would be disgusting of me to suggest, and disrespectful to Mincy.”

So I pulled back, getting a good look at his teary face. “But if you decide at the end of all this that you still want to give me, no, us, a try, I’ll be there. And I’ll work to show you each and every day just how deeply, irrevocably in love I am with you. I want you, Basil Fey. That’s never changed.”

Basil swallowed hard, looking at me with those same vulnerable blue eyes as two nights ago. But this time, I think he began to believe it.

“I’ll wait for as long as I need to. I’ll wait forever for you.”

So we held each other there, by the gate, searching each other’s eyes, wanting, just purely wanting, for all of it to come together.

I had never been more sure of anything in my life. Basil was worth waiting for.

Chapter Text

A few months after the wedding, much to everyone’s surprise, Sunny showed up at Faraway Town with a condensed version of his possessions all locked up inside a UHaul. He told no one of this major life decision. One day he lived hours away, the next he was renting a house on the south side of town.

He had actually worked out the logistics before the wedding. When planning to talk to Basil again, he had planned on either uprooting himself and moving back to Faraway Town, or asking Basil if he wanted to come live in the same city. But after everything that had happened that week, Sunny knew he had to move over. Sunny wanted to show Basil how committed he was to this.

So while it was a slow process, he showed up. He reached out to talk and hang out with Basil every other day. They worked on rebuilding that trust in each other. They rekindled their friendship, and in time, when Basil gave the green light, they worked on their romantic feelings towards each other.

When Basil first agreed to a date, Sunny went all out. Too bad that mother nature worked against him on the day he planned a picnic for the two with week-long storms. The next time, the fancy restaurant he had reserved a table for was surprisingly closed due to an emergency and no one to cover. And a week later, when he attended a gardening class with the blonde, he managed to cut himself severely with a tool, forcing them to visit the ER.

“It feels like the world is playing a cruel joke on me…” Sunny said as they walked out, his right hand now bandaged tightly with stitches underneath. He was thankful for the painkillers. The throbbing was gone.

Basil laughed, walking the ravenette over to his car. “I’ll drive,” he offered, taking the keys from Sunny’s pocket and opening up the passenger’s side.

The two slid into the dark car. It was nighttime already. The class had begun in the afternoon and the wait in the ER took a while. The black sky contrasted against the overhead lights from the parking lot of the hospital. It felt disorienting slipping from rooms with bright fluorescent lights to the cold night.

Sunny sneaked a peak of the time as Basil started up the car. 10:22 PM.

“Oh god, now it’s too late to do anything else,” he cursed, grabbing his seatbelt with his left hand and struggling to place it in the buckle. As if he hadn’t experienced enough bad luck that day, the belt snapped back up to his face, hitting his cheek.

“Ouch, be careful, Sunny,” Basil said, reaching over and clicking Sunny’s seat belt in. Sunny sat still as the blonde grabbed the belt and looked for the hole in the dark. It felt nice having him so close to him again.

After hearing the “click,” Basil leaned back and looked up at Sunny, gingerly rubbing his cheek with a hand. It was cold, but Sunny didn’t mind. “You’re just getting beat up today, huh?”

He usually didn’t like sympathy from others, but it felt nice to be consoled by Basil. “Yeah. I guess.”

Basil cracked a small smile as a blush settled onto Sunny’s cheeks. “Why are you trying this hard for a first date anyways? I told you anything would be fine.”

Sunny looked directly at him. “Because this means everything to me.”

The forwardness of his statement shocked the blonde into turning red. Sunny sighed and leaned back against his seat, closing his eyes.

“I know it sounds stupid, but I wanted everything to be perfect. I feel like you deserve the best, and only the best. And then all this happens,” he grumbled, weakly lifting up his right hand. “I just want you to enjoy yourself.”

“Hey, I am enjoying myself,” Basil said, reaching his hand down to grab Sunny’s other hand. It was a touch they hadn’t shared yet, and it grabbed his attention immediately. “As long as I’m with you, no matter what we’re doing, I’ll be happy.”

Time seemed to pass as the two looked at each other in the quiet car, the warm air slowly blowing in. Sunny tried to calm down the beating in his ears–Basil looked too cute not to kiss in this situation. His electrifying blue eyes stared intently at him.

“R-Really?” he stuttered out, still holding onto his hand. Basil squeezed it once with a nod.

“Yes. Heck, it’s not too late tonight,” he began, looking at the time as well. “Neither of us have any plans tomorrow, right? The night doesn’t have to end here.”

“But most everywhere is closed.” He was honestly fine sitting in the car like this for longer, feeling Basil’s thumb gently running against his palm.

“Hm,” he mused. “Well, that’s true. But how about if you came over?”

As soon as Basil said this, the two were back to blushing tomato mode. Going over to Basil’s house, late at night? Alone, with Basil?

“I-I-I mean, if you’re comfortable with that!” he quickly spat out, letting go of Sunny’s hand. “T-To watch a movie!”

Right, movie. Sunny quickly nodded, turning his head to face forward, lest he was tempted again to kiss him even more now. “Y-Yeah, a movie sounds good.”

Basil did the same, grabbing a hold of the steering wheel and nodding. He pressed down on the brake and moved the car into drive, pulling them out of the parking lot. They kept the warm air going on through the quiet ride over, trying to convince themselves that that was why their faces felt so warm.

After that date came many more. The “curse,” as Sunny put it, was lifted. They hung out almost every day. They celebrated the fancier dates with no bumps along the road. It was like they had picked up right from where they had last left off. As if no time had passed at all.

Sunny wondered where they would have been at that point if he hadn’t originally neglected his relationship with Basil. Married, perhaps? Engaged? He contemplated this as Basil trimmed their pothos in their house, gathering the collectings to propagate later. He turned around to Sunny and smiled to show him a giant leaf that covered 3/4ths of his face. Sunny smiled back and peeled himself off the couch, pulling his arms around Basil and nuzzling his face into his cheek, getting a squeal from the blonde.

It was no use throwing himself down these hypothetical situations anymore. He had Basil now, and that’s what was important. They took the big jump to living together after six months of dating. By that point, it was more conventional and affordable than splitting up their time between two houses.

And while out celebrating their one-year anniversary, they happened to be seated next to someone very familiar.

“Oh my god, oh my god, don’t turn around, but it’s Mincy,” Basil whispered out to Sunny in a panic as the girl walked over to a table near theirs. There was a gentleman already seated and finishing up his food. Sunny and Basil had just been seated and were perusing the menu when she had wandered back to her table.

Sunny turned around, much to the dismay of his boyfriend. When his eyes met Mincy’s, he couldn’t do anything else but awkwardly say hello.

“M-Mincy, hey!” he blurted out, turning back around as Basil kicked his chin underneath the table. What was he supposed to do? They were literally seated a few feet away from each other.

Basil uneasily smiled up at his ex, pulling at the napkin at his lap. “Y-Yeah, hi, Mincy! What brings you here?”

Mincy smiled brightly at the two, not noticing their awkward demeanor, or not caring. “Hey, you two!”

She stopped by her table, pointing over to the man sitting. “Mikhael, this is Sunny and Basil! Remember them?”

Sunny nearly spat out his drink. Both of their heads whipped as they took another look at Mikhael.

“Mikhael?!” Basil’s voice squeaked, causing him to cough to clear his throat. “Y-You look different.”

It was true. The former blonde had gone back to his brunette hair and looked unorthodox in dressy clothes. He flashed them the same old smile.

“Hiya, guys! I didn’t see you there!”

Sunny was still trying to grasp just how many years had passed since he last saw the boy. When he last spoke with him, he was still going by “The Maverick.” And to see that he was now out on a date with Mincy…

“Oh!” Mikhael yelled out as it finally hit him. “Are you two on a date too? I never knew you two got together! Congrats!”

Mincy sighed, but laughed. “I told you about it a few months ago, Mikhael. Remember?”

“Oh, I guess I was thinking of a different Basil and Sunny.”

Basil laughed uncomfortably, but was thankful that there was no tension present in the room. He had let Mincy know when he got together with Sunny previously. He didn’t want to bump into her in public and have her learn that way. She congratulated them. And she told him that she actually had begun to see someone as well, but never mentioned whom.

“Well, congrats to the two of you as well,” Basil said, smiling at the two as Mikhael began to stand up. “Are you celebrating something special?”

“Yeah,” Mincy said, looking over at Mikhael with pink cheeks. “Mikhael actually proposed to me just a few days ago. We’ve both been so busy that we haven’t been able to fully celebrate it yet.”

Sunny struggled to find words as bomb after bomb was dropped on them. What next, that they had a little baby Mikhael on the way??

“That’s great!” Basil said, smiling genuinely now. “I’m happy for the two of you!”

He looked over at Sunny, forcing him to dumbly nod and agree. It was a shock, but seeing the two beaming at each other was sweet. “Yeah, congrats you two. That’s crazy.”

Mikhael shrugged and laughed. “Well, when you know it’s right, you know.”

Basil watched as he held onto Mincy’s hand, pulling it up to his lips to give it a gentle kiss. She giggled and blushed more, nudging her glasses back up with her free hand.

He was happy for her. This is what she deserved all this time. And to think that only a few years ago, neither of them would have thought they’d be here today.

Mincy smiled back down at the two as Mikhael finished gathering his wallet and jacket. “It was nice seeing you two. Stop by sometime so we can all catch up, okay?”

Basil nodded in agreement. It would be nice to catch up after all this time.

Mikhael took his bride’s hand again and waved them off as he walked behind her. “And expect an invitation for the wedding too!”

After the two had exited, Basil and Sunny looked back at each other, bursting into laughter at the absurdity of it all. Just then, a waitress walked by, leaving their requested drinks at their table.

“Do you two need more time to order?”

“Yes, please,” Basil said, thanking her for the drink and laughing along with Sunny as he shook his head and reopened his menu. “I… never pictured those two in a million years.”

“I know. But good for them, right?” Sunny said. “They seem happy.”

He reached over to hold his lover’s hand on top of the table. Basil warmly smiled back and interlocked their fingers.

Time came and went.

On their third-year anniversary, Basil rushed to smooth down his hair in his car after he found parking by the restaurant. He had been at work earlier, he wasn’t able to get the day off, and as soon as he got off he was in a race against traffic to meet Sunny for dinner at their designated spot. Normally, Sunny would wait until Basil had arrived home so the two could drive over together. But he had insisted that they meet there separately, as he had an appointment earlier.

As he walked into the interior entryway, he smoothed out his own button down shirt. He had rolled up the sleeves to his elbows earlier and was fixing the fold to look better. With no time between work and the drive, he had dressed up with what he intended to wear for the dinner that morning.

And Basil was also a little upset at the lack of messages from Sunny throughout the day. They seemed more sparse than normal. Was his appointment earlier serious? He kept dodging questions and giving vague answers when Basil asked about it. Maybe he’d talk about it during their dinner tonight.

Needless to say, Basil was not expecting the sight before him as he was led to a long table in the back of the restaurant.

There sat his friends, Mari, Hero, Kim, Aubrey, and their respective partners, Cris, Kel’s long distance girlfriend, and Kim, Aubrey’s wife. And at the edge sat Sunny, all dressed up and perfect as ever. He stood and turned as his friends cheered, greeting the boy with open arms.

“I-I didn’t know you guys were all coming to dinner,” Basil said, taking in his embrace with Sunny. He eased into the hug, breathing in the ravenette’s cologne and appreciating feeling his tight hold.

“Sorry, it was a secret,” Sunny whispered, giving Basil a light kiss as he pulled away. “Forgive me?”

“Of course,” Basil responded, booping his lover’s nose playfully and taking his hand to rejoin him at the table.

With the last member there, the group began to place in their orders. Basil excitedly chatted with everyone, surprised that Sunny had been able to coordinate getting everyone there with all their busy schedules. They were all catching up, laughing amongst each other just like good old times. The atmosphere was amazing, as well as the sight. They had a great view of the city from their table and the lights inside were dim with live music playing further back. It felt more intimate.

Basil couldn’t keep his smile all throughout dinner. It couldn’t get any better than this. He smiled as he looked over at Sunny, squeezing his hand and whispering, “Thank you.”

Sunny smiled back just as Kel began to clink his spoon against his glass. They were halfway through their dinner. “Looks like it’s time for the toast!”

“Toast?” Basil asked, wondering as he saw a few of his friends begin to pull out their phones for their cameras. He looked at his partner, who looked at Mari. She nodded at him, giving him the boost of courage he needed.

Sunny cleared his throat and drew back his chair, bringing everyone’s attention over. “Thank you guys for coming together on this special day. Today marks three years together with Basil. And to have you all here as well means so much to me, to both of us. I hope we all continue to stay just as close, if not closer as the time passes us by.”

Everyone cheered and clapped, and Sunny’s cheeks began to warm up as he continued. He turned to Basil now, gently grabbing a hold of his hand. “And for Basil…”

Basil tensed up in his seat, surprised as he realized everyone’s cameras on him. Was it happening? Was it finally happening?

Sunny squeezed on tight to his hand. “Basil, getting to know you has made me the happiest person in the world. And getting to spend these past three years together, when that’s all I’ve wanted since we were young…”

Basil bit back tears as Sunny’s voice broke. He squeezed his hand again. “These past three years have been a blessing. I’m forever grateful you gave me another chance to prove myself to you and I’m dedicated to show you that same kind of commitment for the rest of our lives. I’m ready to take care of you, cherish you, and love you like you deserve to be loved.”

He took a pause as he let go of Basil’s hand and reached into his pocket, standing up to kneel down in front of the boy. He gasped as he opened up the box in front of his eyes. Inside was a dark engagement ring.

“I promise to love you all my life, with everything I have, and everything I am,” Sunny said, pursing his lips and taking a deep breath. “Basil Fey, will you let me be your one and only? Will you marry me?”

The tears could stay back no longer. Sunny looked up at him, hands shaking as he bore his soul out to him. Again, he was afraid of rejection. But this time was different.
This time, Basil nodded enthusiastically, gasping for air as he smiled and nodded. “Yes. Oh my god, yes.”

He laughed as everyone began to cheer, extending his own shaking hand out for Sunny to place the dark ring on. “Yes, Sunny, forever yes!”

Sunny slid the ring through his ring finger and pulled him into another deep hug, laughing out with joy. They pulled back again and shared a kiss, a deeper one this time, barely able to contain their smiles. The sounds of their friends fell to deaf ears as they hugged each other tightly, soaking in the now.

Years would pass and they would change, nothing stays the same forever. But they were sure that no matter what obstacle came their way, no matter the time that passed, this, what they held between them, was forever.

They were certain of that.

The End.