Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Holy shit, the world is gonna end . I think to myself after reading the headline being shown on the news. “Scientists say that there is nothing we can do,” said the news anchorman, “And they say, at this speed, the meteor will hit the Earth in around ten days.” 10 days? I froze, That’s so little time . Suddenly I hear screaming and loud noises from outside my apartment. I rush to my window to see what was happening.

I see people running through the streets, breaking into buildings, all the things I’ve seen people do in apocalypse movies. Suddenly I hear a knock on my door. I felt my stomach drop. “Who’s out there?” I grab the nearest thing I could find, my alarm clock, “I’m armed!” I yell out. Silence. I wearily walk toward the door, alarm clock in hand.

I gently open the door. There was no one there. I poke my head out the door to look around, I see people running down the stairs. I don’t know what to do. Oh god, what do I do? I have ten days left here on Earth, I can do all the things on my bucket list… No, I don’t have the means to do it, and even if I did, the things on my bucket list are kind of bland.

Maybe I can commit crimes… I look at myself in my mirror, how am I supposed to commit crimes like this? That’s also out of the question. I have to do something fulfilling, something that can put me at peace before I inevitably die. But what can I do? My mother is away on a business trip – Oh god, my mother. I quickly try to call her but as soon as I open my phone, I see that she left me a message.

“My dearest Sunny, I’m sure you have heard of the news. I’m sorry I'm not with you there right now to spend the rest of our days together. But know that I am always by your side no matter what, okay? I know that you were never the same after your sister's death but don't let the burden of it pull you down. The world is ending, make the most of it, okay? Maybe you don't have to be alone. Do you remember your friends in Faraway Town? Maybe you can pay them a visit, and hang out with each other one last time. I know all of this is so sudden, but I love you. Remember that, okay? I will always love you, no matter what. Take care, my dear son."

After reading this, I doubt my mom will pick up the phone if I call. Maybe she’s right, I should probably visit my friends in Faraway, but it’s a couple of hours away from here. I can walk all the way there but that will take a lot longer. Maybe for now I need to gather resources for the trip.

I head out of my apartment to head to the nearest convenience store. Unsurprisingly, I see that the nearest store has already been looted. I carefully make my way inside, careful with the glass shards scattered across the floor. Most of the things have already been taken, all except for – tofu… Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. 

I took the tofu and made my way back home. As I make my way back I take a look around and see the buildings that have been scavenged and raided. I just hope that I still have an apartment to come back to.

Luckily, my apartment was still intact when I made my way back. Although, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else in here. I have the whole place to myself… How lonely. Suddenly I feel nostalgic, all the memories of me being isolated from everyone else back in Faraway flood my mind. I felt tears coming out of my eyes, dammit. 

I begin reminiscing about the stuff we did back then. Building that tree house, hanging out in our secret spot – ah, the good ol’ days. Then I begin thinking about my friends, and how I miss them all so much. Then I thought about the last time I saw them… The time I told them the truth…

The memory of that day was fuzzy. It felt like a memory I’ve also repressed because it was too much for me to handle. I remember waking up alone, crying on the bed after everything that happened the day before. I remember seeing all the flowers from everyone I’d helped throughout the days before.

Then I walk out of my room and walk across the hallways of the hospital building. I remember seeing hallucinations of my friends making their way toward the balcony, but I also saw Basil go the opposite way. I made the right choice of following Basil, it’s like what he told me in a dream, “Aubrey, Kel, and Hero are good friends,” he said, “You have to trust that they’ll forgive us.” I remember feeling extremely anxious, waiting outside the door of Basil’s room. I took all the courage I could muster and opened the door. 

There they were, my friends, standing around Basil who was still unconscious in his bed. Kel noticed me first, then Aubrey, then Hero. They looked shocked to see me. “Sunny? What are you doing up?” asked Hero, “You should be resting, what are you doing here?” I just stood there, shaking at the thought of what I was gonna do next.

“I have something to tell you,” I said, surprising everyone how these were the first words I said to them after all these years. Then I told them the truth. I couldn’t see the look on their faces because I was crying, but I was certain they were as well. After telling them all, I wiped my tears. I saw Kel staring right at me, crying. I saw Aubrey looking down at the floor. And Hero—

Hero walked toward me, I anticipated for him to hit me, so I looked down. But I hear the door opening, he just walked away. “Hero!” Kel shouted at him, “Wait, come back!” he ran after his brother. Aubrey looked at me, anger in her eyes. She walked toward me, raised her hand, and – she put her hand down, seemingly frustrated, and walks out as well.

It was just me and Basil left in the room. When he finally woke up, we looked at each other and we just smiled. At that moment, I remember feeling a huge weight lifted from me – from both of us. We knew at that moment that the guilt the both of us have been carrying for all those years was gone, and we didn’t need to hide the truth from anyone anymore.

After that, I had to leave because my mom arrived at the hospital. They gave me an eyepatch that I stopped wearing years after. But I knew that that was probably the last time I would ever see my friends. We left soon after, to Farview City, and we stayed there for all these seven years after telling my friends the truth.

Now here I was, in the middle of the apocalypse, with only ten days left before we all die. As overwhelming as everything is right now, I know I have to remain calm and think about my next steps. Faraway Town is my destination. To ask for forgiveness from each of my friends, that is my goal. When and how I will leave, I do not know.

I take look outside, I don’t see anyone in the streets anymore. I mean it is the middle of the afternoon so the weather must be too hot for people to be bothered to go outside. Suddenly I spot a bicycle in the middle of the street, that’s my ticket out of here. I quickly ran down to pick the bicycle up and bring it into the apartment.

Bringing the bicycle here has left me exhausted, I knew I was in no shape to do anything else. But I must leave early morning tomorrow if I want to make it to Faraway Town in time. That means I have to rest. I took one package of Tofu and began eating some before I sleep. It isn’t much but it’s better than nothing.

It was a long day, the first of ten days we have left on this Earth. Tomorrow, I’ll see my friends again after so long. I really hope they will forgive me but if they don’t, I understand. I should rest now, big day tomorrow. Hopefully, Faraway Town isn’t just a pile of rubble left when I get there. 

Oh who am I kidding, nothing interesting ever happens in Faraway Town, I doubt anything interesting has even happened while I was away either. I lay on my bed, numerous thoughts keeping me awake; numerous questions that I can’t answer just yet. Perhaps some of these questions will be answered tomorrow but for now, good night.

Chapter Text

God, I hate my legs . Why did I leave so early? It’s only been thirty minutes and my legs already hurt from this bike ride. It doesn’t help that I’m wearing a bag filled with a couple of packages of tofu, some clothes, and a medium-sized metal pipe I saw laying on the street that I can use as a weapon, hopefully, I never have to use it.

While I biked along the streets of Farview, I noticed that there were a few people just roaming around. None of them seemed to care that I was just biking along the street, strange. I’m not complaining, at least I’m not being held up at gunpoint or something, even though I am a really easy target. 

Forty-five minutes in, my legs are starting to give up on me, Not now , I thought, I’m not even an hour in . Then I hear honking from behind me, and my stomach drops. I hope they don’t stop by me. I stopped in my tracks, anxious about the vehicle approaching me.

Oh god, it’s slowing down. The vehicle was a black van, you can just imagine the thoughts filling my head seeing it slow down. It stops, I try my best to ignore it by looking at the opposite way. I hear the door slide open, “Where are you off to, boy?” asked a voice from the van. The voice sounded rough, tough, and terrifying. “It’s rude to ignore a question, boy,” they said.

I didn’t have a choice, I turn to see the person asking me. It was a middle-aged man, he looked like he was able to beat me up easily, but I didn’t feel unsafe around him. He looked friendly enough, “Boy?” he asked me. “Oh uh,” I stammer, “I don’t know if I can tell you that,” “Why? I won’t follow you, I have somewhere to go myself,” he said. He looked down at his steering wheel, “I’m trying to make right of something I did wrong…”

Suddenly I empathize with this man, “Me too,” I say to him. His eyes began to shine, “Oh uh… Where are you heading off to then? Maybe I can drop you off,” he offered, “We’re both on a mission then, huh,” he laughs. “Well uh, I’m trying to get to Faraway Town.”

“What?!” he exclaimed, “Faraway? That’s where I’m going, too!” “Wait really?” “Yeah!” he laughs again, “Hop in, boy, I’ll take the both of us there,” I nod and hop in the passenger seat. His van was in pretty good shape, though I noticed that he had a mattress in the back along with some bags.

I’m guessing he noticed me checking out his van, “Yeah, I’m barely scraping by,” he said, “But with the world ending and whatnot, it finally felt like I was on even grounds with everyone else.” I nod, though I didn’t understand. “Welp, we’re off to Faraway!” he said before stepping on the gas. “We’ll be there in two hours tops.”

During the trip, I began to think about what I was going to do when I reached Faraway. But then, I had a horrible thought, Are my friends still even there? Oh god, I didn’t think about that. The realization made me feel uneasy, I’m guessing the man noticed me, “What’s wrong?” I sat up straight, “Nothing, just – anxious, you know.” “Ah, that happens,” he said, “You’re thinking it all out, like “Would they even forgive me after doing what I did to them?” you know.” That sounded eerily relatable, now I want to know this man’s story.

“Welp, we’re here!” he says as he stops the van in front of the entrance to the town. “Sorry but I have to drop you off here,” “Oh that’s fine, I know my way around here anyway,” I make my way out of the van. “Ah, that’s good, it’s been a very long while since I’ve been here,” he says, “Oh okay, good luck with the stuff you need to do, mister,” “Please, call me Vincent,” “I’m Sunny,” “Sunny? That name sounds familiar… Anyway, I have to go now, best of luck to you as well, Sunny!” he said before leaving me by the entrance.

Ah, Faraway, brings back memories. I remember this place like it was yesterday. I make my way through the familiar environment. I notice that some of the houses were a bit torn down but I assume it was the effect of the world ending. But overall, nothing has changed, as I expected.

I began walking down the town, thinking about who I should go to first. I think I may have zoned out because I accidentally bump into someone while I wasn’t paying attention. “Hey watch where you’re going, man,” said the person, “Wait… Sunny?” I looked at them, it was a boy who looked the same age as me, he did look kind of familiar but I can’t put my finger on it.

He gestured toward himself, “It’s me, Mikhael!” suddenly I can see it. “Oh hello, The Maverick,” Mikhael cringed, “Yeah uh – Don’t call me that anymore,” he laughed. “Those days are waaay behind me now. I’m a changed man!” he smiled and I think I believe him. He wasn’t the same annoying and egotistic kid me and Kel had to deal with back then.

“What brings you here?” he asked me. “I’m trying to look for my friends,” I answer, “Do you know if they’re still here?” “Oof, about that,” he says with a sheepish expression and a hint of regret, “Only Kel and Basil are left here.” Damn, I should’ve known, “Ah well then—“ “Why? You came here to see them?” “Yeah,” “Ah, well I highly suggest you visit Basil first.”

I looked at him confused, “Why?” I ask Mikhael, “Well uh, I don’t want to spoil the fun, but you'll be surprised at what he’s been up to,” he says while giggling. Now I’m a little concerned, “Although, maybe that can wait till tomorrow,” he said, “It’s getting pretty late,” I didn’t even notice the sun was setting. The orange sky of Faraway brings back memories.

“You can stay at my place in the meantime,” Mikhael offered, “The apocalypse didn’t affect the town as much as other places I’ve heard on the news. So you’ll be in safe hands!” he grinned cheek to cheek. It feels nice to be welcomed back into town by a familiar face.

We passed by the park and it made me wonder if our secret spot was still there. There weren’t a lot of people outside but I guess it makes sense because it’s starting to get late. The entire walk to Mikhael’s house brought me so much nostalgia, the stars began to decorate the sky – I can see the meteor from here, it’s strangely beautiful to see our impending doom get closer and closer by the day.

We finally reached Mikhael’s place, it appears to be just fine. Before he opened the door, Mikhael said, “Oh uh, just a fair warning, Bowen and Daphne have been a little weird since the news about the meteor,” I didn’t know what that meant so I just assumed it was nothing.

As soon as we entered the house, I could see what was wrong… Piles of bread filled the living room, there were too many to count. I tried to take one because I was tired of eating tofu but Mikhael stopped me, “They’re kind of protective of the bread they’ve baked,” he said. I still don’t know what that meant but I didn’t take a loaf of bread, no matter how much I wanted to take one. 

“You can stay in the twins’ room, they haven’t been sleeping in there since yesterday and I don’t know why,” Mikhael said as he guided me upstairs. However, right before we went up, I saw Bowen and Daphne in their kitchen working on something, they could be baking more bread for some reason.

We made it to the twins’ room and Mikhael ushered me inside. “Feel comfortable, Sunny,” he told me “We’ll be up and about by the morning, we’ll go and see Basil first.” I still don’t know what that’s about but I didn’t argue. I was tired and honestly, their bed was so comfortable I felt like sleeping as soon as I lay on them. 

As I lay on their bed, I think about what I’ll do tomorrow. We’ll see Basil first, then hopefully Kel the same day. What do I say to him? I hope it doesn’t end up being awkward considering we had a big fight when we last saw each other. Oh well, that’s a problem to worry about tomorrow, but for now, good night.

Chapter Text

I love the smell of bread . I woke up to the smell surrounding what felt like the entire house. This made me a lot hungrier than I would like to admit. I make my way downstairs where Mikhael and his parents were preparing breakfast. I didn’t see Bowen and Daphne anywhere but I didn’t worry too much about it.

“Good morning, Sunny!” Mikhael called out, “Mom and Dad cooked some bacon for us. Come on, let’s eat!” I shyly approach the dinner table, “Thanks, Mikhael you know you didn’t have to,” “It’s fine, man,” he said while his mouth was still full of bacon. “So I’m guessing after this,” he kept chewing, “You’re heading to Basil, huh,” I nod, “I’ll come with you. Eat fast because he’s usually busy around this time.”

After eating breakfast, Mikhael excused us to leave and see Basil. His parents just looked worriedly at each other but eventually, let us go. We made our way to Basil’s place, through the streets that weren’t even littered despite the situation we were in. As we made it close, I notice that there was a line forming outside Basil’s house.

“What’s with the line?” I asked Mikhael, “Oh you’ll find out soon enough.” The two of us reached the end of the line but Mikhael continued to the front so I followed him. When we reached the front, the person who was in front began to complain, “Hey buddy,” he said, “You gotta wait in the back, just like everyone else,” the other people in the line agreed with him.

Suddenly the door opened and a teenager walked out holding a brown paper bag. “Okay,” a voice came from inside the house, “Who’s—“ I assume they notice me, “Sunny??” the voice asked. The person came out the door, it was Polly, “Sunny, it is you!” she hugged me, “What brings you here?” she gasped, “You’re not here for –“ Polly hesitated, “You know what, it’s better if you both come inside,” she said as she gestured us to walk inside, “Business is closed for now, everyone, I’m sorry!” she yelled out. The people waiting groaned and proceeded to walk away.

Once we were inside, Polly hugged me, “Oh, how much you’ve grown!” she exclaimed, “What brings you here?” before I could explain, a voice from upstairs was heard, “Polly? Where are the customers?” the voice asked. I stumbled back a little bit after hearing the voice. Then someone walked into the living room, and all I felt was dread and anxiety, it was Basil.

The two of us meet eyes, “SUNNY!” he exclaimed, he ran toward me, and gave me a big hug, “What are you doing here?” “Well I—,“ Suddenly I stopped. I begin to sniff around because something caught my attention. “What’s that smell?” I asked Basil, “Oh uh,” he gave a nervous laugh, “That’s probably the weed…”

“WHAT?” I exclaimed, and suddenly I pieced it together. The line outside, the person with the paper bag, the smell, and the moment outside when Polly mentioned “business”. “Wait… Are you guys –“, “Yeah…” Basil said, “We have had a marijuana business for some time now,” Mikhael gave out a big laugh, “See? Told ya you’d be surprised,” and he was right, I was shocked out of my mind right then.

“I’m guessing you need an explanation,” Basil said, “Yes please,” I replied. Basil chuckled, “Let’s sit down,” the three of us sat down while Polly made her way into the kitchen, “I’ll prepare some snacks for you boys, okay?” she said before walking away. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Basil seemed – different. He doesn’t look insecure anymore, it’s like he changed into a confident person. Part of me was happy for him.

“Okay,” he said, “So uh, where do I even begin?” he chuckled, “Well it was a few years after you left Faraway if I remember correctly. One day, by sheer dumb luck, I accidentally grew marijuana, I don’t even know how it happened and didn’t even notice until a few weeks later. I wanted to remove them from my garden, but given the situation Polly and I were in, I figured I needed the money. So I continued growing them.”

“Why what happened,” I said, “I thought your parents were supporting you abroad.” Basil shrugged, “That’s what we thought as well, but after a while they stopped staying in contact. They left me alone, I was just thankful that Polly decided to stay anyway.” Basil looked at Polly and gave her a big smile, Polly smiled back, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Polly eventually found out about it, but she didn’t stop me. We were desperate to make ends meet. Eventually, we started selling the weed. Made a few good bucks and we were financially stable for a long while.” I still can’t wrap my head around it, my best friend became a drug dealer while I was gone.

“Did you ever get in trouble?” I asked him, “No not really. Someone reported to the police and they came to our house. They asked us a few questions and we complied. They told us that they won’t do anything about us because we were not necessarily causing any trouble. So they essentially left us alone as long as our customers didn’t do anything too drastic,” “And did they?” Basil’s expression turned gloomy. “Well there was one—“

“Oh boys, I made some toast for you guys,” Polly came back with a tray of toast. “Thanks, Polly,” said Basil, Mikhael and I followed suit. We started to eat the toast and man was it good. “Anyways, uh…” Basil said, “That’s pretty much it. We sell weed to people of Faraway. But now that the world is ending, we’re giving each of our customers the weed for free, just to clear up stock.”

I was astonished by how casually Basil just said those words. He has changed. “What about you, Sunny?” he asked me, “How have you been doing?” I proceeded to tell them about my time in Farview City. How I finished high school. How I had to live on my own because my mom had to work abroad. Basil listened carefully, making remarks every time something good happened to me.

I told them how even after I told them the truth about Mari’s death, which surprised Mikhael. Honestly, though, I forgot he was even there. I tried explaining it to him but he stopped me, “It’s between you guys, not me. I don’t need to know everything,” he said. So I continued, I told them that I still thought of Mari over the years of staying in Farview. I told them how much I missed my friends, and I wondered if they ever really forgave me.

Upon hearing that, Basil walked up to me and hugged me, “Oh Sunny,” he told me, “It’s me who should be asking for your forgiveness,” I started to tear up, “But if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have had to frame Mari’s death,” “I could’ve done things differently,” I started to cry.

We were in each other’s arms for a while until Mikhael interrupted, “Well I don’t know what just happened,” he stood up, and Basil and I let go of each other, “But I’m going home before it gets dark.” Mikhael thanked Polly and Basil for accommodating him before leaving.

I forgot that Polly was listening to our entire conversation but she didn’t seem to mind. “Oh, you boys are so sweet,” she said, “I’m sure that whatever you two did, you’ll forgive each other.” Basil and I exchanged looks and smiled. It was like the same smile we shared back in the hospital years ago, I know that we’ll be fine.

We continued to have conversations, sharing stories from the seven years we were apart. We didn’t even notice how much time has passed because Polly surprised us with dinner. “Oh, it’s this late already?” I asked, “Yeah, I guess we lost track of time,” Basil laughed. “Did you have anything else planned for today?” he asked me.

“Well, I did want to visit Kel after visiting you,” I answered him. Suddenly Basil's face dropped, “Oh…” he whispered, he must have noticed me staring because he lightened up, “We can visit him tomorrow, then,” he suggested. I agreed, worried about his initial reaction, but didn’t think much of it.

After we ate dinner, Polly said I can stay in Basil’s grandma’s room while she stays on the couch. I insisted, telling her that I am fine with sleeping on the couch, “Oh you’re so nice, Sunny,” she said, “Okay, I’ll make sure you’re comfortable, though.” She proceeded to walk upstairs to grab some pillows and a blanket.

She came down and gave me the comforters, I thanked her and arranged the couch with the stuff I was given. After that, Polly and Basil wished me goodnight and went upstairs. As I lay on the couch, I think of everything that’s happened today. I learned that Basil and Polly own a Marijuana business and have been running it throughout the years I was gone. I’m still shocked to learn about it but I guess I can’t judge.

Tomorrow, we’ll visit Kel, so naturally, I’m anxious about it. What would he think of me being here? Will he forgive me for what I did to Mari? Many questions that I’ll learn the answers to tomorrow. But I should rest now, that’s the future me’s problem. Good night.

Chapter Text

This brings back memories . As I wake up, I can already smell the pancakes Polly was cooking. I got up from the couch, fixed the bedding, and made my way into the kitchen. Basil was waiting for me, “Good morning, Sunny!” he greeted, “Come, Polly cooks the best pancakes!” “Oh, Basil,” Polly sheepishly said, “They’re like any other pancake in the world.” Basil pouts, “But yours have much more love cooked in them!”

I remember hearing Hero say that about Mari’s cookies. Wait – Hero… “Basil,” I said with a piece of bacon still in my mouth, “Do you have any idea where Hero is?” “Oh… Well uh – No not really. All I know is that he and his mom moved somewhere else for Hero’s college,” “So what about their dad?” “Oh…” Basil put his fork down, “About that…”

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the front door. All of us looked at the door and stood up to see who it was. More loud knocking. We started to get worried about it. We walked closer toward the door, then the knocking stopped. We were all relieved, thankfully nothing happe—

The door burst open and someone rushed in. We didn’t have any time to react but this mysterious person immediately went for Basil. “BASIL!” Polly shouted, the stranger held Basil by his collar and lifted him up. “I THOUGHT WE HAD A DEAL, FLOWER BOY!” the stranger shouted at Basil.

Basil began to panic, “I – I know, Sunny and I were just about to find one!” as soon as the stranger heard my name, they let go of Basil. The stranger turned toward me, I couldn’t believe it, it was Kim. “SUNNY?” she exclaimed, “Is that really you?” I just nervously laughed, “Yeah…” “How you been man?” Still a bit terrified of the situation, we tried catching up with each other.

Eventually, Kim turned back to Basil, “Before I forget,” she said right before lifting Basil again, “WHERE IS IT? YOU PROMISED!” Basil stammers again, “I know!” he said, “I’ve been busy these past few days, especially because of the world ending and whatnot,” “That’s more than enough reason to find one faster!” Kim retorted.

Still confused at this whole ordeal, I politely ask Kim to let go of Basil. She let him go and began to walk away, “You have until this Thursday, okay? I’ll see you in Faraway Church at 2 pm,” she said right before leaving the house. I looked at Basil, demanding an explanation. Basil looked sheepishly, and said, “Well uh… Kim and I are getting married…”

Basil must’ve seen the look of shock on my face, as he quickly asked us to sit down so he can explain. Polly went back into the kitchen to clean up. “Basically, four years ago, Kim paid me a visit with an offer,” Basil started to explain, “The offer was that if we are still single by the age of thirty, we’d get married.”

Millions of questions pop up in my head but only one came through, “Why?” Basil shrugged, “Kim said she doesn’t want to end up alone by then and she thought I was the most suitable partner.” I couldn’t help but grin, “Why did you agree?” Basil must’ve seen the smirk I was showing and started to blush.

“Well uh, I was trying to be nice,” he said sheepishly, “I know what it’s like to be alone and I don’t want Kim to feel the same way,” I smiled harder. Now Basil was flustered, “Look, I never thought of Kim that way!” “I didn’t say that,” now my cheeks hurt from smiling. Basil began to cover his face. I start to laugh at him, but at the same time, I understood.

“Anyway,” he said, “That was a few years ago. But now that the world is ending, Kim visited me and told me that we should get married before it happens.” I nod my head, “So she wants you to find a ring?” “Yes, and she wants it to be a surprise,” “I see…” I tried processing all the information and it’s all overwhelming.

Yesterday I found out that Basil is a drug dealer, and now I’m learning that he’s going to get married soon. Why didn’t any of this happen while I was still here? “So,” Basil broke the silence, “Will you help me find the ring?” he asked me. I thought about it, “Maybe after we visit Kel.” As soon as I said this Basil’s face dropped again, “Oh… Okay, we can do it afterward.”

The two of us got ready to make our way to Kel’s house. As I was packing, I can’t help but think of Basil’s reactions every time I mentioned Kel, did something happen between the two of them? Is this like the photo album all over again? I started to doubt myself if it was a good idea to visit Kel, “Sunny,” Basil crept up behind me, “I’m ready to go, are you?” I nod, “Well, we should get going,” he didn’t sound too excited. Strange.

Chapter Text

I have a bad feeling about this . Basil and I slowly made our way to Kel’s house. I took note of the town and nothing has changed. Basil doesn’t look too excited about going to Kel’s. We passed by Mikhael’s house, it looks like he was panicking about something. I was a little worried about it, but I can’t get distracted now.

“Hey Basil,” I wanted to make conversation, “How long have you been in the uh—“ he stared at me, ”Plant” Business?” Basil gave a nervous smile, “Maybe three or four years now?” he said so nonchalantly, “It’s been a long time since I started.” A question that has been lingering in my mind popped up, “Have you – tried it before?”

Basil blushed, “I did try it once…” he said, “Though I didn’t like the feeling of it so I didn’t continue.” I nod my head. “How did it feel?” I asked him, he shivered, “Awful,” he said with so much distaste, “I found everything funny and I couldn’t stop laughing. Everything felt weird like my senses were heightened…” He cringed. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Would you try it again?” I asked, he shook his head forcefully, “Never again…”

We made it to Kel’s front yard. I notice that Hector wasn’t anywhere to be seen so I wanted to ask, “Hey, where’s Hector?” I turned to Basil, whose face looked grim. His eyes met mine, and without saying a single word I understood.

I took the lead and walked up to the front door while Basil stood a good distance behind me. As I was about to knock, the door flew wide open and I was grabbed and pulled inside. “SUNNY!” Basil yelled out for me, but the door was closed as soon as I was inside. I panicked, trying to free myself from the grasp of my attacker.

“WHO ARE YOU?” the person shouted at me, “WHAT ARE YO—“ they stopped. They let me go and I tried to catch my breath. “SUNNY?” the man asked, it was Kel. He was still tall, maybe taller than before, I can’t tell. He was still wearing orange clothes, but that part of him didn’t change. He still had the same hairstyle after all these years, but I guess it always suited him. 

“Hey, Kel,” I said, “How’ve you been, man? Look at you! I see you’re no longer wearing an eyepatch,” he observed me from head to toe, “Your style of clothing literally has not changed,” I could say the same to him. “You grew, too! That’s good to see. Anyway, what are you doing here?” he asked, “Well uh…”

Suddenly there was a knocking on the door, “Sunny?” Basil’s voice came from outside, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asked. “Oh, can you let him in?” I politely asked Kel, “Oh, for sure!” he smiled as he opened the door. It was unnerving how quickly Kel dropped his smile when he saw Basil.

“What the hell are you doing here,” Kel said in a very threatening tone. Basil straightened up and tried catching a glance at me, “I came here with Sunny,” he said. Kel scoffed, “You think you can just show your face to me after what you’ve done?” Kel snarled. Basil backed off a little bit, “Brother Kel?”

The voice came from upstairs, “Is everything alright?” the voice didn’t sound familiar, but it was a girl’s voice. Could it be? “Oh, good afternoon, Sally!” Kel said with a cheerful tone like he didn’t just threaten Basil. “How was your nap?” Kel asked, “It was okay,” Sally said as she made her way into the living room.

She looked a lot like Kel when we were younger, she also almost has the same hairstyle as him. “Brother Kel, who is that?” she pointed at me, “Oh, that’s my good friend, Sunny,” Kel answered. I gave her a little wave, and she waved back. “Is that Basil?” she asked, “Yeah…” Kel said with a hint of bitterness.

“Anyway,” I intervened, “Can we talk?” Kel smiled wide, “Sure, bud!” We made our way into the kitchen where Sally began to eat her afternoon snacks. “So how have you been, dude?” Kel asked me. “I’ve been alright, it’s been quite the seven years since I left Faraway,” “Yeah, you can say that again.”

“How’s Hero?” I asked, “He’s been doing well. When he graduated from college, he and mom moved to Farpoint City so he could look for a job,” he sounded so happy for Hero I can’t help but smile. We continued catching up, and we reached why I came here.

“Now here I am,” I said, “Trying to ask for forgiveness from each and every one of you so that my conscience can be cleared before the world ends.” Kel just looked at me, “So basically I’m here to ask you, can you forgive me for what I did, Kel?” we both just stared at each other for a short while.

“Forgive you?” he asked, “I forgave you a long time ago, Sunny,” I was surprised. “It was an accident. You two were young and scared. And even if what you guys did,” he eyed Basil, “Was completely messed up, you panicked and it’s not your fault,” “But I pushed Mari down the stairs…” “It was in the heat of the moment,” Kel said apologetically, “We do drastic things when we’re angry, and that’s not your fault.”

“I forgive you and Basil for what you guys did. Don’t be too hard on yourself, Sunny,” he continued, “Mari would have wanted you to forgive yourself and move on. Make new memories, you know. And with how things are going for the world, now is the perfect time to make up and make memories.”

I smiled at Kel, he smiled back. He changed, he didn’t seem like the carefree friend he was back then, he’s more mature now, especially now that he’s raising Sally. “Oh yeah, that reminds me,” I said, “So you raised Sally on your own while your parents were gone with Hero?”

Kel’s smile dropped, “No…” he whispered, “He was here when we were raising Sally,” “Then where is—“ Basil grabbed my arm, and I turned to him to see him shake his head. My stomach dropped. “Oh,” I managed to get out of my mouth, “I’m sorry, Kel…” Kel angrily glared at Basil, “It’s okay,” Kel said, “It’s not you that needs to apologize, anyway.”

Basil stood up and began to back away, “I am sorry, Kel,” he sounded scared. I stood up in front of Basil as Kel rose from his chair. “Brother Kel,” said Sally as she pulled on Kel’s arm, “I thought you already forgave your friend,” she said. This calmed him down, “I’m trying, Sally. It’s just—“ he turned to us, “It’s really difficult to forgive him after what he did.”

I glanced at Basil for an explanation, but he was too scared to say anything. “What happened between you two?” I asked. “It’s—“ Kel looked at me, tears starting to form in his eyes, “Complicated. I don’t think I can talk about it,” Basil held onto my arm, “Do you want me to tell him, Kel?” he asked.

Kel wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded. We sat back down on the kitchen table, “Okay, Sunny,” Basil spoke, “What happened between me and Kel doesn’t necessarily have a direct correlation between him and me. It’s mostly between me and Kel’s dad. You see, Kel’s dad was a customer of mine. A few months ago, he would come by every week to get some weed because, he said so himself, he wanted a way to relax after a long day of work.”

While Basil was explaining, I could see Sally hug his brother to comfort him. “I told him myself that weed might not be the best thing to use to help him but he insisted. I trusted him so I gave him what he needed. He became a regular of mine, and we often chat about how everyone at home was doing. It was fine for a very long time.”

Then Basil’s expression turned somber, “It wasn’t until I noticed that he was starting to come by more frequently. I realized he was getting addicted, so I politely told him that I would stop serving him until he sobers up. And I thought that was the end of it,” Basil’s voice started to tremble.

“A few days later, during the night,” he continued, “Polly and I heard noises coming from downstairs. We investigated it and we saw that the whole living room was a mess. We saw Mr. Rodriguez in the kitchen looking through all the drawers. I told Polly to call the police but Mr. Rodriguez noticed her.

He charged at her, and in a moment of panic, I grabbed the nearest object, my scissors, and—“ Basil started to hyperventilate, “A-and I… I—“ “He stabbed him,” Kel finished for him, “He stabbed my father in the heart. Basil killed my dad.”

I was in pure shock, I knew something bad happened but I didn’t know it was this bad. This was much worse than I imagined. “I didn’t take it well at first,” Kel continued, “The police said it was in self-defense, but I blamed Basil anyway. He was the one that got my dad addicted, he ruined his life, and he was responsible for what happened to Dad!” Kel yelled as he stood up, “I couldn’t forgive him.”

“But brother, you said—“ “I know what I said Sally,” Kel said, “It’s just hard to forgive him just like that.” I thought about what to say next, to console the both of them. I stood up, “I know it has been difficult for the both of you, but you should know it was neither of your faults. What happened to Kel’s dad, how he got addicted, it was his own doing.”

“But I can’t say that Basil is not to be blamed, he should be blamed, but he was just doing his job. I came here looking for forgiveness,” I turned to Basil, “My friend, I know it was traumatizing for you, and I am sure you have tried looking for forgiveness from Kel all this time. And Kel…”

I turned to Kel and I see that he was starting to cry, “Your father loved you,” I said, “He loved both of you so much that he thought he needed a way to cool down from taking care of you guys for so long. The world is ending and we can’t die on bad terms, that’s why I’m here,” I grabbed Basil’s shoulder, “And Basil, maybe the universe wants you to be forgiven as well.”

We smiled at each other, I turned to Kel, whose face was blank. I could feel the tension between them but Kel was just sitting down, staring at the two of us. “Come on, brother,” Sally said, “Make the most of the days we have left.”

After hearing his sister, Kel began to cry. He stood up and walked towards us and hugged us. “I’m sorry for being so hard on you, Basil,” he said through tears, “And Sunny, that was a wonderful speech. Why didn’t you talk like that when you told us about Mari?” Sunny laughed nervously, “Maybe Hero could’ve forgiven you faster.”

I wanted to ask Kel what he meant by that but there was suddenly knocking on the door. Kel wiped his tears, stood in front of us, and told us to be careful. He opened the door, and it was just Mikhael. “Oh hey, Mikhael,” said Kel, “What’s wrong?” “It’s my older siblings, they’ve gone rogue.” The four of us stared at each other, “What do you mean,” I asked, “They’ve stolen everyone’s bread.”

Chapter Text

What the hell is going on ? I was just crying my heart out “forgiving” Basil but now we’re supposed to stop Mikhael’s siblings from stealing bread? “So uh,” said Mikhael, “Can you guys help me stop them?” he asked. Sunny nodded, “Yeah sure,” he said, “I can probably convince the—“ “But!” Basil interrupted, “I still have to find a ring for Kim, remember?”

What? I don’t even wanna know anymore. I just stared at the whole ordeal that was happening in front of my eyes. Sunny thought about it, “Maybe we can split up?” he suggested, “I can go with Mikhael because I can convince Bowen and Daphne. Kel and Basil—“ “And Sally!” Sally cheered. Sunny laughed, “And Sally, of course. They can find the ring for Kim.”

Mikhael glanced at me, looking for an explanation but I just shrugged because I am just as lost as he is. Sunny looked at each of us, “Does that sound good?” he asked. Before any of us could protest, Mikhael grabbed Sunny and ran, “Okay, let’s go!” The both of them ran after the bread thieves.

It was just us three, left in silence. Basil broke the silence, “You’re probably wondering why I need to look for a ring huh?” he asked me, “Yeah,” I answer, “I kind of need to know, anyway if we have to look for the right one,” “Oh…” he probably didn’t expect me to be so calm about this, especially with what just happened earlier.

He proceeded to explain to me the wedding arrangement he and Kim had a few years back. He mentioned the part where the world was ending and I instinctively looked at the meteor, it was strangely beautiful, our impending doom. I must’ve zoned out because Basil tried getting my attention, ‘You still with me, bud?” he asked. I let out a giggle and nodded. “Well, that’s all there is to know, let’s go.”

Basil leads the way while Sally and I follow close behind. “The shooting star is getting bigger, Brother Kel!” Sally said, pointing at the meteor. Basil turned around, I’m guessing he was surprised that Sally called the meteor a shooting star. I’ll tell you later , I mouthed, he nodded. We continued walking.

We passed by the park and the plaza, there weren’t a lot of people outside which was expected, what else would you wanna do when the world ends? This isn’t how I thought my day was gonna go. Helping Basil find a ring for Kim was the last thing I wanted to do. I still can’t forgive him, I know I was crying over him just a while ago but I’m not sure I meant it.

It’s hard, but deep down I want to forgive him. Sunny said that we shouldn’t die on bad terms, and I agree. But how do I forgive someone who killed my father? I don’t know how to do that. Maybe I can forgive Basil the same way I forgave Sunny? But that’s different, right? But they both killed someone…

“Brother Kel?” Sally snapped me back to reality, “Are you okay?” she asked. I smiled at her, “Of course!” I lied. “We’re not too far away,” Basil said, “Just gotta pass by the plaza,” I took a look around and I thought to myself that in a couple of days, all of this will be gone. All the memories we’ve created in this town, all of it would have been for nothing.

We finally made it to the jewelry shop and I was surprised to see the glass windows were still intact, I thought for sure someone would have broken in and stolen everything. We went inside and even more surprisingly, nothing seemed to have been stolen. Necklaces, rings, and bracelets are all safe… At least for now.

“Well,” Basil said, “I’m going to go and find a nice ring.” I nodded, “I’ll stay here to watch over Sally." Basil made his way deeper into the store, which isn’t much because there were just small tables showcasing different jewelry. Sally looks like she is enjoying just watching all the pieces of jewelry.

After a short while, I started to get bored and Basil was taking too long to pick out a ring. I decided to go and help him, “Stay here okay, Sally?” I told my sister, “Try not to break anything,” I let out a laugh. Sally nodded and then immediately snapped back to watching jewelry. Weird. That must be why people say that diamonds are girls’ best friends.

I made my way to Basil. My mind was still full of resentful and negative thoughts but I had to repress them. I have to show that I’m fine, I have to do it for my friends. I’m used to being ignored and having my feelings overlooked. I made it to where Basil was, it looks like he was zoning out.

“Basil?” I called for him, “You found a ring yet?” Basil was surprised to see me. “Oh uh – No, not really,” he said, “Well what did you have in mind?” “Well uh –“ he looks at the rings displayed, “None of them feel like the right one, you know?” “Ah,” I say but in reality, I don’t understand.

“I don’t know why you’re making a big deal about this, man,” I said. Basil looked at me sheepishly, “Well I want the ring to be meaningful, you know,” he said. I smirked, “Meaningful how?” I asked him. He began to blush, and I gave out a big laugh, “Man, you actually like Kim?” Basil started to cover his face.

I gave Basil a pat on the back, “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, dude. I mean it’s great you found love during the end of the world. It’s romantic if you ask me.” Basil just stared at me in some sort of awe, “Don’t feel bad about your feelings, Basil. It’s part of being human, after all.”

Basil smiled at me, “Thanks for that, Kel,” he said, “I didn’t know you had that in you.” That comment kind of hurt, but I played it off. “Yeah, I’m not the dumb annoying friend you know any more,” I said with a huge grin. “You were never dumb, nor annoying, Kel,” he said with a smile.

Basil started to look down, “Kel,” he said and suddenly I felt tense. Please don’t bring it up , “I know we didn’t have time to discuss it earlier,” he said, “But I really am sorry about your dad.” I was angry, but I tried my best to hide it, “I told you, it’s fine,” I lied. “No, it’s not,” Basil replied, “It’s like what I did to Mari… I didn’t think.”

He started to slur his words, “Maybe if I did things differently, no one would have gotten hurt.” I couldn’t do anything but listen, “I was scared your dad would hurt Polly, I knew I couldn’t let her get hurt, I risked my life to try and save my caretaker. But in doing so, I took yours.”

I started to tear up, “I couldn’t help but think I could’ve handled the situation better, I’m really sor—“ I embraced him. “It’s okay,” I said, “I don’t blame you anymore,” I meant it this time. I could feel Basil’s tears run down my shoulder. We stayed like this for a while, in each other’s arms. I don’t know about Basil, but I felt safe.

“Brother Kel?” Sally interrupted our sincere moment, “Do you forgive your friend now?” We let go of each other, “Yeah, Sally,” I said with a big grin, “We’re good now!” We stood up, “So Basil, how about that ring?” Basil nodded, “I have an idea of what to look for, now.” Sally and I followed Basil around interested in the ring he wanted to get.

After what just happened, I felt the weight on my shoulders lifted. The tension between Basil and me was gone. We’re on good terms now, back to being friends. I forgive him, and the hate I felt toward him was gone. I thought about my dad, he’d want me to forgive my friend. I smiled at the thought, I hope he is in as much peace as I am, wherever he is.

Chapter Text

Bread? Really? This wasn’t how I thought the day would go. I’m overwhelmed with the information I learned these past few days. First I learned that Basil is a drug dealer, then I learn that he killed Kel’s dad, and now – Bread thieves. I don’t know where they could be but Mikhael looks like he has an idea.

While we were running, I realized that I left Basil and Kel alone. After what I found out between the two of them, I don’t know if it was a good idea to leave them together… They’ll be fine, I think…

Mikhael stopped outside Othermart. “They must be back in our bakery,” he said, panting after each word. I had to catch my breath, “Why are they stealing bread again?” “It’s for a bizarre reason,” he replied. I wonder how weird it could be. Did they have a vision from a god or something? That would be funny.

“They both shared a dream where a “Bread Deity,” asked them to offer him a thousand loaves of bread to stop the world from ending.” Wow, Mikhael must’ve seen the look on my face, “Yeah, crazy story, I know. They told everyone in the house about their dream.”

“They immediately started to bake so much bread as soon as they shared the news. It was insane, they’d never baked that fast before. I know the dream was total bullshit, but part of me wants it to be true, you know. I don’t want the world to end, I still have so much stuff I want to do.”

This conversation got sad quickly. “I came here to redeem myself,” I told him, “I did something horrible and I want my friends to forgive me,” “All of them?” “Yeah,” “Even Aubrey?” I saw the smirk on Mikhael’s face when he asked that. I felt my ears redden. “I mean yeah…” I tried to play it off, “She was affected by what I did.”

“So she said,” I tensed up, “She told you?” I asked him. “She didn’t give us the details. But from what I’ve heard, you fucked up.” I stared at the ground, “Yeah, I did.” Mikhael leaned on a pole, “She said she lost all feelings for you after what you did,” I stood straight up, and I could feel my whole face redden. “She had feelings for me?!”

Mikhael just smiled at me, “Nope,” he said, “But based on your reaction, I think it’s you that have feelings for her,” he laughed. I started to cover my face from the embarrassment, “Not cool man,” “I don’t hear you denying it,” he said with a giggle. I lightly punch him on the shoulder.

“So are we stopping your siblings or not?” I asked Mikhael. He stretched, “Yeah, let’s go.” We made our way into Othermart, ready to see chaos inside. We were both surprised to see that the place wasn’t completely trashed. Well, there were some missing items from the aisles but that was it.

We went deeper into the store, getting closer to the bakery. That was when we noticed piles of bread in the aisles all leading to the bakery. There were just stacks gradually increasing in size the closer to the bakery we get. We couldn’t see the twins in the bakery aisle. “Maybe they’re inside,” Mikhael said.

We slowly made our way inside, where we could see and hear the twins talking about something. We went in closer, shocked to see the very large pile of bread the twins were standing next to. “Are you sure there is already eight hundred fifty-two bread there?” we could hear Daphne ask Bowen. 

“Yes,” Bowen replied. We inched closer. “I have been keeping track since yesterday,” he continued. Suddenly, they turned around to face us. “Oh hello, little brother,” said Daphne, “Who are you with?” asked Bowen. Suddenly, the twins’ eyes widened, “Sunny Suzuki? Is that really you?” They both rushed toward me.

“It’s been so long,” said Bowen, “What brings you here?” I was surprised but I managed to form my words, “I came here for my friends, but I was brought here to stop you.” The twins proceeded to step away from Mikhael and me. “There is no stopping us,” they both said in unison, which was terrifying.

“Khubz has given us this mission and we will fulfill it,” said Bowen. ““One thousand bread.”” Bowen said in a deep voice, “”That is what I ask of you two.”” Daphne said in the same matter. Then they both spoke in unison again, ““Deliver these to me, and the world shan’t perish.”” Now I’m starting to get freaked out.

However, I held my ground , “Look guys,” I said, “Maybe your sharing a dream about a bread god was simply a coincidence.” “No it was not,” said Daphne, “We were chosen,” Bowen followed up. Still a little terrified, I managed to rebut, “That’s not a good reason to go and steal people’s bread.”

“It is for the greater good of the world,” they both said. I was starting to feel unable, “Look guys, have you heard from “Cubs” –“, “Khubz,” the twins corrected me. “Uh, yeah” I continued, “Have you heard from him since then?” The twins looked at each other, “No,” they answered. “Have you guys shared a dream since then?”

“We have not…” the twins started to look worried. “So maybe,” I said, “It was a one-time thing. One big coincidence on your part.” The twins looked defeated, “But if it was all just a coincidence,” said Bowen, “Are you saying that we cannot stop the world from ending?” I winced, “Unfortunately yeah. But that doesn’t mean that it’s your guys’ fault or anything.”

“The best we can do is make the most of the world. I’d hate for you guys to spend your last days baking and stealing bread.” The twins gave out a big sigh, “You have a good point, Sunny Suzuki,” said Daphne, “We will stop with all the bread shenanigans. We deeply apologize for our actions, we hope you can forgive us,” 

“Don’t sweat it, guys,” I said, “Although you might want to give back everyone’s bread,” “We will,” “Uh, can I have a loaf?” asked Mikhael. The four of us looked at each other, “Come to think of it, I don’t think Bowen and I have eaten since yesterday,” said Daphne. The four of us took some loaves and began to eat. Crisis averted.

Chapter Text

Boy, what a day . Mikhael and I met up with the rest at the park. “About time,” said Kel, “It’s getting pretty late.” We stared at the orange sky, my eyes fixated on the meteor that looked bigger than before. “Really does bring back memories, huh?” Kel asked, “Yeah,” Basil answered. I looked at them, and I no longer felt the tension between them. Maybe they made up .

“Well,” Mikhael broke the silence, “This has been quite the day, huh.” “Tell me about it,” said Sally, who made all of us laugh. “So…” Basil said, “What do you plan on doing next, Sunny?” I honestly didn’t know what to do next, “Well I wanted to visit either Aubrey or Hero but I don’t know where either of them is.”

Mikhael’s face lit up, “Oh you wanna see Aubrey?” he asked, “She’s been staying in Farside Town!” “Farside?”  asked Kel, “That’s not too far away from here! Hero’s staying in Farpoint City which is a bit farther.” I thought about it, “Mikhael,” I said, “Do you know exactly where Aubrey is?” “Uh no,” he answered, “But Kim knows.”

Hearing this, Kel and I smiled at Basil. Basil noticed us and looked annoyed, “Ugh,” he groaned, “Fine, I’ll ask her. Thanks for the help, Mikhael.” Mikhael looked confused but went along with it. “I’m guessing we do this tomorrow,” said Kel, “I can drive us there.”

When Kel said this, everyone else looked surprised, “You know how to drive?” I asked him. “Yeah!” Kel smiled, “My dad taught me,” “Well that makes things easier for us,” I said. Sally pulled on Kel’s arm, “What about me, Brother Kel?” she pleaded. “Oh uh…” This was a problem, I don’t think it’s safe to bring Sally with us.

“You can stay with us, Sally!” Mikhael offered, “My siblings are really good at baking, you can eat all the cake you want!” Sally’s face lit up. “Oooh, can I go Brother Kel? Can I? Can I?” she asked, Kel gave her a big smile, “Of course, you can,” he said. Sally cheered and made her way to Mikhael.

“Well it’s getting pretty late,” said Kel, “We should probably head back home. You can go with Uncle Mikhael, Sally,” Sally cheered again. “Let’s go, Sally,” said Mikhael as he leads Sally back to their house. The three of us followed behind them, and we just started reminiscing on the good ol’ times and talking about how the day just went.

Basil showed me the ring he got for Kim, it was a flower-shaped ring and it looked beautiful. I opened my bag to give the two of them some of the bread the twins baked – or stolen. We continued having a conversation while making our way back to Mikhael’s house.

We finally arrived at Mikhael’s house. Sally ran up to Kel and hugged him, “Good night, Big Brother!” she said, “Good night, Sally,” Kel replied, kissing her on the forehead. “Don’t stay up too late, okay?” Sally just laughed and followed Mikhael into his house. Mikhael waved at us goodbye, and we did the same. “Good night, y’all!” he shouted, “Good luck with tomorrow!”

We continued walking back to Kel’s place, and this time we walked in silence. It really is nostalgic, being back in Faraway with my friends. We made it to Kel’s place, “I’ll prepare dinner,” he said. He made his way into the kitchen to cook, which left me and Basil alone in the living room.

“So you’re going to ask Kim about Aubrey right?” I asked him, “Yeah, I’ll do it tomorrow morning,” he answered, “So we can make our way to Farside right after,” “Sounds good to me.” We both just sat on the couch in silence. 

“Dinner’s ready!” Kel shouted from the kitchen. Basil and I walked inside to see some grilled cheese sandwiches. “Whoa,” Basil said, “These look good, Kel!” Kel just laughed, “Hero taught me how to make the best grilled-cheese sandwiches.” The three of us began to eat and boy were those sandwiches good.

After we were done eating and cleaning up, we made our way into the living room. “Now…” Kel said, “Who wants to sleep in Hero’s bed?” Basil raised his hand so fast that I couldn’t even react. Kel gestured toward the stairs and Basil quickly made his way up. “Alright, Sunny,” Kel turned to me, “Do you wanna sleep in my parents’ room, Sally’s room, the couch, or…” Kel laughs, “Do you want to sleep next to me?”

I realize that Kel was teasing me so I play along. “Sure,” I said. Kel looked dumbfounded, “Wait,” he said, “I was joking,” “I wasn’t,” I replied. I made my way upstairs where Basil was waiting for us. We all entered Kel and Hero’s room and Basil immediately ran and lay on Hero’s bed.

I stood next to Kel’s bed, waiting for him. He looked nervous, “You sure you wanna sleep next to me?” he asked, “I’m fine with sleeping anywhere else. Plus, I’ve been told I snore loud.” I shrugged, “I’m a heavy sleeper,” I said, “I won’t mind.” Kel still looks dumbfounded. “Okay,” he said as he started to get on the bed.

“Hop on! We can cuddle~~” he said jokingly. I called his bluff, lay next to him, and hugged him. I believe he started to blush because I could feel his body temperature rise. He didn’t move, but I kept him in my embrace. Eventually, he put his arms around me as well and started to snore. He always has been a fast sleeper.

As Kel began to doze off and started to snore I thought about what happened today. It’s glad to know that Kel and Basil made up and are friends again. I’m glad the twins stopped what they were doing, I still found the entire ordeal strange though. Tomorrow we’ll see Aubrey, I hope she’s doing well. I felt my ears redden so I took it as a sign to finally go to sleep.

Chapter Text

Morning, already? I woke up in Kel’s bed, looked around, and noticed I was alone. I made my way out of the room and walked downstairs. I could already smell what they were cooking, scrambled eggs. I walked inside the kitchen and saw Kel by the stove.

“Oh, good morning, Sunny!” he greeted, “Good morning, where’s Basil?” I asked him, “Oh, he left earlier to look for Kim. Said he was going to ask her about Aubrey.” We both smiled, I’m guessing Kel knows what I know about Basil and Kim. I can’t believe my best friend is getting married. I hope he’s doing a good job asking Kim for help on where Aubrey is.

Suddenly, there was knocking on the door, “I’ll go get it,” I said. I made my way to the front door and opened it. I was expecting only Basil but I noticed that Kim was there, too. “Hey, Sunny,” said Basil, “Good morning,” he sheepishly said. “The good news is, we know exactly where Aubrey is.”

Kim hit Basil on the shoulder. “And what’s the bad news, huh?” Kim said with an attitude. Basil chuckled nervously, “The better news is,” both of them blushed, “Kim’s going with us. I hope you guys won’t mind.”

“BREAKFAST IS READY!” Kel shouted from the kitchen. The three of us made our way there and Kel was surprised to see Kim. Kel looked at Basil for an explanation, “Kim wants to go with us,” Basil explained, “Why?” Kel asked. “Because,” Kim said, “I wanna see my best friend, okay.”

“Besides, you three won’t even know where to look for her,” she said. Kel shrugged, “Okay then,” he said, “Fine by me.” Kel, Basil, and I sat to eat breakfast. “Come on, Kim, eat with us,” said Basil. Kim shook her head, “I already ate,” she said. 

After breakfast, we went and packed stuff for our trip. I double-checked my bag to see if I was missing something. I still have tofu, some clothes, and the metal pipe I found a few days ago. After finishing, I went outside to see the rest of them setting up in Kel’s SUV. “Dibs on the shotgun seat,” I said, the rest of them groaned.

After all of us were settled in the car, Kel began to drive off. We spent the journey talking about random stuff, jumping from topic to topic. At one point we got political but that conversation died quickly. We reached the topic of the ring Basil got Kim.

“Oh you have the ring?” asked Kim, Basil laughed nervously, “Yeah… You wanna see it?” “NO!” Kim yelled out, she covered her mouth in embarrassment, “I mean – I want it to be a surprise.” Kel and I glanced at each other, smiling at the two lover birds. “Didn’t you say you’d get married on Thursday?” I asked Kim.

After hearing this, Kim punched Basil in the shoulder, “You told them!?” “I – I had to! Did you think that they wouldn’t demand an explanation?” We just laughed at the two arguing, they took notice and went silent. “Aww, it’s fine, you two,” said Kel, “Hey, Basil. Can I be your best man?”

The two of them looked embarrassed, and Kel and I just laughed at them. “Actually Kel,” Basil said sheepishly, “I was thinking that Sunny would be my best man, and you can be the flower boy because it suits you more.” Kel and I looked surprised to hear it. “It would be an honor to be your best man, Basil,” I told him.

The rest of the car ride was done in silence. But it didn’t matter because we arrived in Farside City a few minutes after. It was terrifying, there were so many broken-down cars and broken-in shops. Farside City is what I expected my place to be when the announcement was made. Thank God that this never happened in Farview.

“This place is a wreck,” Basil said, “I hope Aubrey is okay.” We all began to worry about her. A few minutes later, Kim started to point somewhere, “She’s staying in that building.” She pointed to a building a few blocks away. “We’re getting close,” she said, “Try hiding your car somewhere nearby, it might get raided.” 

Kel nodded and parked the car in an alley nearby. The four of us made our way outside the car and got closer to the building. “Right there, in that building. Be careful, let’s try and hide around the debris.” We followed suit, trying our best to hide behind all the debris scattered around.

We made it outside the apartment building but we noticed that the entrance was broken down. Upon seeing this, Kim immediately ran upstairs, “Shit,” she said, “Come on, guys!” she yelled out behind her, “Aubrey might be hurt!” The three of us followed Kim into the building, across the stairs and hallways. 

She was faintly muttering numbers, “143…” she kept repeating under her breath. We reach room 143, and we all stopped in front of the front door. Thankfully it wasn’t broken down. Kim leaned into the door, “I can’t hear anything,” she said. She knocked on the door. No response. “Aubrey?” Kim said out loud, “It’s me, Kim. Your old friends are here, too.” No response, “Oh god, I don’t think she’s he—“

The door flung open and someone jumped into Kim’s arms. It was Aubrey. “KIM!” she shouted as she pulled Kim into a hug, “AUBREY!” Kim shouted back, embracing her back even tighter. She looked different, her hair was no longer pink, it was back to her original dark brown hair. Her style didn’t change, she still looked like she was part of a gang.

She still looked beautiful though, that part of her hasn’t changed. I can’t believe it, all these years I still have a crush on her. There’s no chance she feels the same about me anymore, or at all. Not after what I did. But still, it was so nice to see her. I felt butterflies in my stomach just seeing her again.

Still embracing Kim, she looked up to see the rest of us. “OH MY GOD!” she yelled out. She let go of Kim and hugged me, “Sunny!” I felt my ears begin to redden. She let go of me and turned to the rest, “It’s so good to see you guys!” Then her jolly face turned serious, “Wait, what are you guys doing here?”

She looked around the hall, “Come in,” she ushered us inside. She locked the door behind her. “So,” she said, “Does anyone care to explain what the hell you guys are doing here?” The four of us looked at each other, “This was mostly Sunny’s idea,” Kel said, “He wanted to see you.”

Aubrey started to blush, I began to stammer trying to explain the whole thing. “No, no, no, I—I wanted to see all of you,” I explained. “After I told you guys the truth, I never knew if you guys forgave me or not. That’s why I went out of my way to ask for forgiveness from you guys. With the world ending I wanted to clear my conscience.”

Aubrey just stared at me, “If you don’t forgive me,” I said, “I understand.” Aubrey gestured the rest to sit so it was just me and her standing. Aubrey came closer to me, I felt my heart beating faster than usual. And then—

SLAP! The pain stung, she slapped me and left me speechless. “I should’ve done that before you left,” she said, “You deserve it.” She then pulled me in for another hug. My face was red, I’m not sure if it was because I was blushing, or from the slap – or both. “And of course, I forgive you, you idiot.”

She let me go, “You were young and didn’t know any better,” she proceeded to walk toward Basil, “Although,” she said right before slapping Basil in the face as well, “You’re an even bigger idiot for coming up with that shit.” Kim laughed at Basil. “What the hell did you do to piss her off?” Everyone went silent.

Kim noticed this, “Ah,” she said, “Yeah no, I don’t need to know.” Suddenly an explosion was heard from outside. Everyone checked to see what it was, it looks like it was a power generator that exploded. “Wait, that means—“ Aubrey was cut short by the power outage. She started to close all the blinds, “What is it, Aubrey?” asked Kim, “It’s the Moles.” Everyone else looked at each other, “What are they?” Kim asked. Aubrey grabbed her bat, “A gang set to hunt me down.”

Chapter Text

Well, this is bad . My friends just stared at me in shock, but then again, who wouldn’t be shocked? It’s not every day you just flat-out admit that there’s a gang out to get you. But I should focus, my friends are here, they’re in trouble now. I guess I owe them an explanation first. Fuck, this wasn’t how I thought the day would go.

“Okay,” I said, resting my bat on my shoulder, “A couple of years after I moved here, some people tried recruiting me to join a gang they were in.” Kim looked shocked, “Did you join?” she asked, “No,” I answered, “And I was so polite about it, too.” I sighed, “I guess they didn’t like that I declined their offer.”

“What did they do?” Sunny asked, full of genuine concern. I felt my heart skip a beat after hearing that he was worried about me, but I regained my composure. “They didn’t do much to me. They only gave me minor inconveniences.” “Like what?” asked Kel. “They always ding dong ditch me late at night. What’s worse is that I can’t ignore it because they keep knocking.” 

I walked up to the door and checked the peephole. “There’s a bunch of other small nuisances they did but I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of listing all the things they did that pissed me off.” I walked to my room and carried the box I keep under my bed. I laid out the box in front of my friends.

“What’s this?” asked Basil. I opened the box to reveal different kinds of weapons. My friends looked in awe and concern. “Each of you take one,” I told them, “You’ll need them.” I see Sunny open his bag and pull out a metal pipe, “I already have a weapon,” he said. It surprised me, but I was impressed.

“Nice one, Suzuki,” I said. I noticed that his ears began to redden and I start to blush. Goddammit, I thought I got over my little crush on him. I thought for sure I lost feelings for him when he admitted the truth, but if anything, it made me care for him even more. To carry such a burden for four years… Must’ve felt awful.

Everyone else grabbed a weapon. Kel grabbed a mace, Kim grabbed brass knuckles, and Basil grabbed a knife. “Why do you just have these weapons laying around, Aubrey?” asked Basil. I looked sheepish, “I collect them, okay?” I told him, “I don’t know why I do it. It’s like how some people collect rocks or something.”

Not everyone seemed to want to say anything. I checked the door and peephole again, “I don’t think anyone is coming up here,” I said, “But we don’t have long. Let’s go.” I opened the door and ran across the hall, the rest followed. We eventually made it out of the building and I frantically checked every direction if anyone of the Moles were there.

“Did you guys bring a vehicle?” I asked them, “Yeah, I parked it in a nearby alley,” Kel answered. I didn’t know Kel can drive. It’s a miracle they didn’t crash on the way here. “Good,” I said, “Let’s get out of here.” Kel lead the way, and I was following him. I noticed that Sunny was way behind so I stopped and went closer to him.

He still wasn’t very fit, but that’s what I liked about him. I always thought he would never hurt a single soul. But I guess I was wrong about him for what he did. I can’t help but feel pity, he would have never survived an apocalypse. But I want to make sure he does. From what I gathered, he still has to apologize to Hero, which isn’t an easy thing to do.

“Sunny,” I said, “Are you alright?” He was catching his breath. “I’m fine,” he managed to say, “Go ahead, I’ll be right behind you,” “No way,” I decided I was gonna do something kind of dumb. “Here, hold this,” I said as I hold out my bat. He grabbed it, looking confused. “What do I do with i—“

I carried him, which you’d think would be a hard job to do but he was extremely light. That’s not a good thing but I wasn’t complaining. “Whoa,” I exclaimed, “You’re so light Sunny,” I stared at him as he stared back at me. His soft face, he looked entranced with the way I was carrying him.

I felt my cheeks go red, and I could tell that his were, too. “Just try to catch your breath, okay?” I told him. He nodded softly and he was so cute. Snap out of it . I continued running after the rest, carrying Sunny in my arms. As I was running, I could have sworn I heard Sunny whisper “You’re so strong, Aubrey.” This made me blush even harder, but I continued to run.

He was so light it was worrisome, “Hey Sunny,” I told him, “How are your eating habits? You seem to be very lightweight. Have you been eating well?” he looked embarrassed, I take that he doesn’t eat much. “After we’re done, I’ll cook you up something you’d enjoy,” I smiled at him. “Living alone has taught me how to cook well, you know,” I continued, “You’ll love my cooking.” He just smiled and that made me feel things.

We finally reach the SUV. I put Sunny down, Basil noticed me and smirked at me. I gave him a look and he immediately looked scared. He got in the car, along with Kim. “Can I ride shotgun, Kel?” I asked him, “Yeah, sure, go ahead.” I thanked him and got inside the car.

Kel started the car and began to drive off, “Just follow the path you came from, we have to get out of here before the Moles can catch up,” Kel nodded. I started to overthink. I may have just led my friends to big trouble so I have to think of a way to stop the Moles from getting anywhere near them.

Suddenly, the realization hits me and I facepalmed. “Shit,” I cursed, “What is it, Aubrey?” asked Kim. I shake my head, “It’s Wednesday, isn’t it?” Kim nodded, “Fuck. Yeah now I know why they’re targeting me now out of all times,” “Why?” “Ugh… How could I forget? The stupid Moles have this weekly thing where they try and mess with me as much as they can. Despite already giving me minor inconveniences every other day.”

I scream internally, “Now that it’s the end of the world, they can get away with anything they want. Goddammit, I’m gonna beat the shit out of those guys, I swear to God.” “How many of them are in the gang?” Sunny asked, “Not a lot actually, there’s only like four of them. But man are they annoying as fuck.” Sunny nodded and began to think.

Suddenly, Kel steps on the brake. The car goes to a full stop, and everyone in the backseat recoil forward. “Agh, what the hell, Kel?” I asked. Kel pointed at a hooded figure in front of the car. “Shit,” I exclaimed, “Reverse! Reverse!” I yelled out. But I looked back and see another hooded figure.

“Shit!” I exclaimed, “Everyone, ready your weapons!” the others did what I said. “What do I do?” asked Kel. “When I tell you to, step on the gas,” Kel nodded. I step outside the car, “Aubrey!” Kim yelled out, “What are you doing?” She tried to get out, “No,” I said, “Stay there, I’ll handle these losers.”

The hooded figure in the front began to laugh, “Oh Aubrey,” the voice said, “I see you’ve brought some friends for our final battle.” I felt angry when they brought up my friends, I wasn’t gonna let any of these losers hurt them. “No!” I shouted at the figure, “It’s just us. Leave my friends out of this!”

Then the other hooded figure at the back of the car laughed as well. “Oh, I don’t think so,” the feminine voice said, “Now that they’re here, they will feel our wrath!” They both took off their hoods. The person in front called himself Sprout, the leader of the moles. He wasn’t very intimidating but he’s been known to be very smart. He was fairly short for his age but he has such a high ego.

The person at the back was Sweetie, Sprout’s sister. She’s the more intimidating one due to her size, even if she was the youngest among the two. I readied my bat. “Uh, Aubrey?” Kim said from inside the car, I looked over and saw that she was pointing behind me. I turned to see another Mole.

It was Captain, the quiet one of the group. He wasn’t as big of a threat as the others but I’ve learned not to underestimate him. He was the tallest among the Moles, with a very stoic-like composition. Then another person came up from behind him, who I could only assume was none other than Molly. She was the oldest of the group but isn’t as smart as them. She wasn’t as tall as Captain but she was close. I started to get worried.

“Choose, Aubrey,” said Sprout, “Fight all four of us alone, or fight with your friends.” My blood was boiling, “Don’t listen to them guys!” I shouted at everyone in the car, “I won’t let them hurt you…” I stared at the Moles, ready to beat the crap out of them. Then, they started to pull out their own weapons, if they can even call it that.

Sprout was just holding a big piece of stick, Sweetie was holding a sock with what I could only imagine was full of coins, Captain was holding a handcrafted wooden sword, and Molly was holding a slingshot. This is gonna be so easy , I thought to myself.

I was surprised to see the car door open and see my friends come out one by one, holding their weapons. “What are you guys doing?” I shouted at them, “We’re not gonna let them hurt you, Aubrey,” said Sunny. I felt butterflies in my stomach when he said that. “I can handle them, get back inside,” I retorted. None of them listened as they held their ground.

“I don’t think so, Aubrey,” said Kim, “We’re gonna fight these losers together.” I cursed under my breath, “Fine,” I said, “Show them no mercy…” The four of us readied our weapons while Kel was still in the driver’s seat. I looked over at him and he met my gaze. I nodded and he nodded back. Well… This is going to be a shit show.

Chapter Text

What the fuck? As soon as the Moles saw our weapons, they immediately dropped theirs. “What the hell?!” shouted Sprout, “Why the hell do you have a knife?!” Basil looked embarrassed about it but he stood his ground. “Oh hell nah, you’re gonna kill us!” shouted Sweetie. “Holy shit!” Captain exclaimed,  which surprised me.

“Wait what,” I said out of confusion, “I thought you guys wanted to fight us… Why are you backing down?” Sprout looked offended, “What the hell do you mean, “Why are you backing down?” You guys are carrying actual weapons!” I mean he had a point but so did they… Okay, maybe our weapons were too much.

“Okay, that’s fair,” I said. “Geez, did you think we were gonna kill you or something?” exclaimed Sprout, “We don’t want that in our conscience when the world ends.” This is sooo weird. “So why did you stop us? Why did you ready your weapons?” I asked them. “Well, we just wanted to scare you! We didn’t actually want to hurt you.”

I tilt my head in confusion, “But we won’t let you leave!” exclaimed Sprout, “Not without a fi—uh…” He stopped himself, “Not without… A duel!” he shouted. “What kind of duel?” asked Kim, “One that doesn’t get any of us hurt,” said Molly. “Perhaps,” Captain spoke, “A game of some sort.”

A game? I already knew to volunteer Sunny to play it, unless it was a sports game. “What kind of game are we talking about?” Sunny eagerly asked, I knew it, he so wants to play whatever game they want. The Moles got closer to us and we started to see them more clearly. They were wearing brown robes, like those old-timey monks you’d see in plays.

Captain held out his bag, opened it, and proceeded to take out something. It was – “Monopoly?” asked Sunny, “You want us to play Monopoly?” Captain nodded. He can’t be serious right? “One game of Monopoly,” Captain spoke, “If we win, Aubrey has to join the Moles,” I cringed, “If you win, you can leave Farside and go your merry way.”

The four of us looked at each other, “And what if we refuse to play?” We hear Sprout clearing his throat. We turn to see him near the car near one of the tires. He was holding his stick which we noticed was sharp enough to pierce the tire. I groaned, “Fine,” I said, “Sunny, can you play?” Sunny nodded.

“It’s settled then,” Captain spoke, “We play over there, where the old board game café used to be.” We agreed. As the Moles and my friends were making their way into the café, I stopped by Kel who was fast asleep in the driver’s seat. What an idiot . I woke him up, “Huh, what’s going on?” Kel panicked.

“Kel, you idiot,” I told him, “If you were sleepy you could have told us. We would have crashed if you just fell asleep on the way back to Faraway.” He scoffed, “Nah, we would have been fine,” he yawned. I rolled my eyes, “Well, Sunny and one of the Moles are gonna play Monopoly. You can sleep in the car while waiting, I guess.”

“Sure thing!” he said before passing out. He always was a fast sleeper. I made my way back to the group. I went inside, and I saw that they have already set up the board. Sunny selected the top hat to be his token while Captain chose the wheelbarrow. Basil decided to be the banker and gave the players their money.

I’ve only played Monopoly with my friends a couple of times but I knew how the game works. Sunny always won our games, I don’t know how he does it. But seeing him look serious because my dignity was on the line, I can’t help but blush. I stood to his side and rested my hand on his shoulders, “You got this, Sunny,” I told him. His ears reddened.

The game lasted for what seemed like forever, there were many close calls. So many crucial moments that Sunny just got lucky with. He was the first to own the orange color set and built houses on them soon after. Captain wasn’t so lucky but he remained calm. But we all knew it was a loss for Captain. I almost felt bad.

The game finally ended after three hours. Sunny won, of course. I hugged him after his victory and I was surprised when he reciprocated the hug. That alone gave me butterflies. The Moles groaned in defeat, “Well,” said Sprout, “I guess you win,” he sighed deeply, “You are free to go,” he looked so defeated.

I honestly felt bad for the Moles. They seem to be just a bunch of nerds, they reminded me of the Hooligans, boy I miss those guys. I make my way towards them, “Look guys,” I said, “I’m sorry that I didn’t join your gang. It’s just that, I’m already a part of one.” They looked shocked. “As a matter of fact, I was their leader. So yeah, my loyalty remains in my gang, I’m sorry.”

The Moles looked at each other, “It’s okay, Aubrey,” said Molly, “We just thought you were so cool that we wanted you to be part of our gang.” I smiled at them, “That’s sweet guys,” I said, “But we have to go now,” “No, not really…” I jumped to see Kel right behind me. “Kel? What are you doing here?” Kel rubbed the back of his head, “Well uh, we sort of ran out of gas…”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…” I bolted outside to check the gas tank of the car. “Kel, you fucking idiot, you left the car on for three hours?” I yelled at him. “Oh god, what do we do now?” I covered my face in frustration. I hear footsteps coming in my direction. “It’s okay, Aubrey,” I hear Sunny beside me, patting me on the back.

Again, I felt butterflies, this time they were fluttering so fast. I’ve never felt so vulnerable but I’m glad that Sunny was the one comforting me. He has always understood me the best out of all my friends. Not even Mari knew much about me. It was always Sunny. The boy I had – no – have a crush on. I didn’t realize how lucky and happy I am to see him again after all these years, especially since the world was going to end.

“Oh, Sunny,” I said, my voice faltering from the sudden rush of emotions, “I’m so glad you’re here,” I said right before I embrace him. Again, he embraced me back, “I’m glad to be here. I missed you,” Tears began to form in my eyes, “I missed you, too.” I was overwhelmed by how intimate we’re being right now. I didn’t even care that my other friends and the Moles can see us. All I cared about was this moment.

“Let’s get up,” Sunny said and I followed. I wipe my tears and looked at the rest of the people. They looked sincere, “I’m sorry, Aubrey,” Kel apologized. “It’s okay,” I said, “I’m sorry I overreacted,” “It’s fine, you had every right to react that way.” The five of us looked lost, “Well what now?” asked Kim, “How are we getting back to Faraway?”

“Umm,” Sweetie interrupted, “We can probably help with that.” The Moles came closer to us, “There’s a gas station that is a few blocks away,” said Sprout, “But now might not be the best time to go there.” I didn’t even notice it was getting dark. I stared at the night sky and noticed the meteor shining brightly among the stars. 

“You can stay in our base for the night,” said Sweetie, “It’s a pretty big place, we have no problem accommodating you guys.” I smile at the offer, “Thanks, Sweetie,” I said. I see Sweetie blush, “Don’t worry about it.” All of us gathered near the car. “Is it safe to leave my car here?” Kel asked. Captain nodded, “No one else is left here in Farside City.”

This revelation came as a shock to everyone else, including me. “What?” I asked, “Where did they go?” “Oh, after the initial news of the end of the world, and right after people started to wreak havoc, they decided to wreak havoc somewhere else.” I felt my stomach drop, “Where did they go?” “Farmont City…”

The rest of us just responded with a nod and murmured “Oh ok,” not even worried for the people there. If you knew what we knew about Farmont City, you’d understand why people would want to wreak havoc there. “Okay,” said Sprout, “Now that that’s settled, let’s head over to the Mole Village!”

The walk to their base was bearable though it was pretty tiring at the end. Their base was a literal whole mansion, even I didn’t know about this, “Whose house is this?” I asked. “It belongs to my family,” Captain answered. Not surprising considering this guy was literally the embodiment of an enigma.

“You sure it’s okay for us to stay here?” Basil asked concerningly, “Yeah, don’t worry,” said Molly, “There’s no one here but us.” The five of us were a little weary of staying in a stranger’s mansion. But if they wanted to hurt us, they would have already (Or at least they could try, we can easily take them). 

“Come on in,” Captain gestured to the front door, “There’s plenty of room for everyone.” He wasn’t kidding. For some odd reason, the mansion felt bigger from the inside. Just from the entrance, I could see maybe three or four rooms on the first floor. I bet there’s more above, with grand staircases leading to the second floor.

“Most of us stay at the top floor,” said Sprout, “So you guys can make yourselves comfortable in the ground rooms.” “Sure,” said Sunny, “We can split up into two or three rooms. Me and Kel—“ he looked around, “Hey, where’s Kel?” Suddenly we hear snoring, we turn around to see Kel passed out on the fancy couch.

Sunny sighed, “Well I guess we can split up into two rooms then,” he suggested. “Basil, you and Kim can share a room,” he said in a teasing way. I was just confused and a little bit flustered cause that would mean it would just be me and Sunny in the other room. “Okay then,” Basil said before Kim could respond. Kim was about to say something but Basil covered her mouth as he led them into one of the rooms.

I’m guessing Sunny realizes what he just did when he turned to me. He looked kind of shy and embarrassed, I mean so was I but he looked cuter that way. “So…” I said, “I’m guessing we’re sharing a room?” His ears reddened, “Yeah, I guess so…” Well this is awkward. “Do you have any idea why Basil and Kim have gotten so – close?”

He giggled and that alone made me giddy, “Oh, I can explain it to you when we’re in the room.” Upon saying that, I immediately led Sunny to a room so he can explain but I didn’t realize the implications of my actions till we were inside the room. I noticed there was only one queen-sized bed.

We gazed at each other awkwardly, “We can just sit while I explain about Basil and Kim,” Sunny suggested, “Sounds good.” So we both sat down on the bed and Sunny started to explain how Basil and Kim are supposed to get married tomorrow. I was surprised to hear this, especially considering that back when Kim was with the Hooligans, she hated Basil the most. I guess I should’ve seen the signs, “hate” usually turns to “love”.

While he was explaining, he sounded so cheery and happy about it. I admired him for that because he wasn’t this talkative before. It’s lovely to see him finally get comfortable around people again, especially with me. He must’ve noticed me smiling at him because he begins to stutter, which was cute.

“So yeah, Basil and Kel looked for the ring a couple of days ago. And tomorrow, the two are getting married.” I was giddy hearing the news. Sunny laughed at my reaction and we started to laugh together. Then we just sat there, looking at each other’s eyes. His eyes were always so pretty, even when they lack color.

He must’ve noticed me staring, “Um, Aubrey?” “Yeah?” He stammered, “Oh uh, nothing…” I pouted, “What is it? You can tell me anything, you know,” I assured him. He mustered up the courage and proceeded to talk, “Have you… Uh… Have you been…” Sunny was stuttering trying to find the right words. “Calm down, Sunny,” I comforted him, laying my hand on his lap, “Say it slowly, it’ll help.” Sunny took a deep breath, “Have you been… Seeing anyone?”  

The question caught me off guard, “No not really,” I answered, “How about you? Did you see other girls?” He shook his head, “I never really prioritized it, you know?” I understood. “But—“ he said as he touched my hand, “With the world ending and whatnot,” I felt butterflies in my stomach and my breathing got heavier, “Maybe I can spend the rest of the time left with you?”

We were both red, “Sunny, I—“ I stammered. He let go of my hand, and started to look embarrassed, “I-I’m sorry, I-I shouldn’t have—“ A flash of rejection was on his face and I can feel his hand slowly letting go of mine, my body hated that, so I immediately caught his hand and held it tightly. “It’s fine, Sunny, I’ll be glad to spend the rest of our days together,” I assured him. He smiled, and it felt like his eyes were so full of happiness that they shined, I’d never seen him like this before. We kept gazing at each other and I did not want this moment to end. To spend our last days together means so much to me, I hope it means just as much to him.

“We should rest,” I suggested, “We have a big day to look forward to tomorrow.” Sunny nodded, as he stood up to fix the bed. “You can stay on one side,” he said. “I can put a pillow between us so we don’t accidentally hit each other.” Part of me was disappointed that he wants to divide us but I’m not complaining. I guess he thinks it’s going to be awkward.

“Sounds good,” I proceeded to lay on my side of the bed, facing away from Sunny. I don’t want to make him nervous by having him face me. “Good night, Aubrey,” he said, “Good night, Sunny,” I replied back. “Sweet dreams,” he said as he yawned, “Sweet dreams,” I replied, “Love you,” 

My eyes widened as he said this. I turn to face him, he was already fast asleep. I’m guessing it’s a habit he did when he was little or something, maybe he used to say it to Mari. For whatever reason he said it, and I’m glad he did. “Love you too,” I whispered. I could’ve sworn that his ears turned red. 

Chapter Text

Today’s the day . I woke up earlier than usual, Kim was still asleep next to me, cuddling in my arms. I could only smile as I watch her sleep like a baby. I can’t believe I’m going to get married to her. I feel like the luckiest man alive. Up until now I still don’t know why she wanted to marry me, I thought she hated my guts. 

Before I could overthink, I gently untangled myself from Kim and went outside the room. Kel was still asleep on the couch. I didn’t know where everything else is but I could hear sizzling coming from a room so I went there to check. I peeked my head in the room, I could see one of the Moles cooking breakfast. “Um—hi,” I greeted the Mole. The mole turned to see me, it was the older girl, “Oh hello,” she said.

“Uh, what are you cooking?” I asked her, “Just some sausages,” she answered, “You want anything else?” I shake my head as I got closer to see a better look at what she was cooking. “The name’s Molly, by the way,” she said as she offers me her hand. I shake her hand, “I’m Basil,” “Basil? Like the plant?” I chuckled, “Yeah, like the plant.”

“That’s a cool name. Basil… I suppose it’s one of the nicer-sounding names. Don’t want to be called Parsley or something.” She chuckled and I did the same. She continued cooking while I started to overthink about the wedding. She must’ve noticed, “What’s wrong, Basil?” she asked me. “Oh it’s nothing,” I answered, “Just… Worried.”

“What’s there to worry about?” I looked embarrassed to say it but I mustered up the courage, “Well you see, I’m getting married today.” I winced, anticipating a rude reply. “Oh wow, congrats. What’s so bad about that?” I looked up at her and saw that she had a huge smile on her face.

 “Nothing, I’m happy it’s happening but I’m just nervous. What if I mess up or embarrass myself and her during the wedding?” I started to overthink again, but before I could, Molly patted me on the back. “There’s nothing to be worried about, Basil. From what I’ve seen, you seem like a kind guy. I think you’re a sweet innocent boy just nervous about commitment.” Is that good

If only she knew , I thought to myself. “Besides, marriage is a beautiful thing,” she continued, “It’s even more beautiful now that the world is going to end. Who’s the girl, is it Aubrey?” I shake my head violently, “N-No, it’s my other friend,” “The one with glasses? Yeah, she does look cute,” she chuckled while I blushed.

“Tell you what,” she said, “How would you like for me and the Moles to manage your wedding?” My eyes lit up, “You’d do that for me?” I sheepishly asked. “Yeah, man!” she exclaimed, “Anything for Aubrey’s friend.” I smiled at her. The Moles seem nice enough. I made my way into the living room and sat across from Kel. What a sleepy head .

A few minutes later more people began to wake up and got out of their rooms. I noticed Sunny and Aubrey leave their room, holding each other’s hands. They must’ve noticed me smiling at them because they let go of each other. Then, the Moles from upstairs started coming down.

“Good morning, everyone!” exclaimed the shortest of the group. He noticed Kel who was still asleep on the couch, “Oh, I guess not everyone is awake yet.” Just on cue, he jolted awake, “Huh? What?” he muttered. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, “Good morning, everyone,” he said. Aubrey rolled her eyes and Sunny giggled.

Those two have gotten closer, yesterday I saw Aubrey carrying Sunny and I also saw Sunny comforting Aubrey. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of them being together. They both told me about their crushes on each other when we were little, but I never told the other because I wanted them to work on it on their own. I guess it paid off.

Finally, Kim came out of the room, I walked to her side, “Good morning, Kim,” I told her. She yawned, “Good morning, handsome,” I blushed. She must’ve realized what she said, “Uh I mean—“ Kel laughed out loud that’s really cute!” he exclaimed. Kim started to get angry but I held her and shook my head.

“Well now,” Molly said as she made it out of the kitchen, “Who wants sausages?” She laid the platter on the living room table. There were so many sausages I don’t think we can even finish it. Kel immediately went and ate some, Never mind , I thought, Kel can probably even finish everything on his own .

All of us started to eat, I noticed that Aubrey was feeding Sunny. “You gotta eat more, Sunny,” she told him. I guess everyone noticed this and started smiling at them, but surprisingly enough, they weren’t embarrassed. Aubrey continued to feed him, so we all just continued eating.

Kel noticed Aubrey feeding Sunny, “Why are you feeding Sunny, Aubrey?” he asked in between bites. Aubrey stopped and glared at Kel, “I just want him to eat well,” she told him. “Well he’s not a little kid anymore,” Kel replied, Sunny was about to say something but he stopped himself.

“What is it, Sunny?” Aubrey asked, full of concern, “Do you want me to stop feeding you?” Sunny looked embarrassed but eventually spoke up, “I want you to feed me,” he said, “It makes me feel safe.” Aubrey smiled at him and rubbed his head, “Well if you say so!” she said cheerily. Kel just looked dumbfounded but eventually kept eating.

“So…” Kel said, “Big day isn’t it, Basil?” he had a stupid grin on his face when he said this. I blush, “Why,” the tallest Mole said, “What’s happening today?” Kim and I just looked at each other, I put my hand on her lap, reassuring her that it’s okay to tell them. She sighs, “Basil and I are getting married.”

The Moles look surprised, while Molly just smiled. My friends were also smiling, even Aubrey. I’m guessing Sunny told her about us. “Wow,” said the shortest one, “We can help with that.” Kim’s eyes lit up, “Really? We could use the help, we’ve never done something like this before.”

The Moles put on happy faces, “We’d be happy to be of service!” said the shortest one. “Oh wait,” he said, “Err, we have to introduce ourselves first. My name’s Sprout, the leader of the Moles.” He posed, which received – interesting – reactions. “This is my sister, Sweetie,” she waves her hand at us sheepishly. “This over here is Captain,” he gestured at the tallest Mole, “And the one who made breakfast is Molly.” Molly smiled at all of us, “Hiya, everybody!”

Everyone waved at her, “Well uh,” I began to speak, “I’m Basil,” “Basil?” asked Sprout, “Like the plant?” I giggled, “Yeah, like that plant.” Kim stood up, “The name’s Kim.” “I’m Kel, hello everybody!” Kel said in between bites. Sunny looked shy but eventually spoke, “I’m Sunny,” Aubrey smiled at him, “And you guys already know me,” she said.

“Now that introductions are out of the way,” Sprout rushed to our side, “What’s the plan?” he curiously asked. Kim and I just got flustered because we honestly didn’t plan it out as much. “Well uh,” Kim muttered, “I was just hoping we can get married at a church or something.” “Ah, I see,” Sprout said, “Well we can certainly do that. There’s a church just a few blocks away.”

“Wait,” Aubrey interrupted, “What about the gas for our car? As much as I would want to see my best friend get married, I still want to go back to Faraway.” Kim must’ve felt hurt, but I assured her, “She just wants to get back home,” I told her, “She still cares about you.” Kim pouted but nodded her head, she’s so cute.

“Maybe a separate party could fetch the gas,” Sprout suggested. “Sweetie, you can accompany Aubrey to the gas station.” Sweetie looked shy when she heard that, “O-Okay…” Aubrey shrugged but then she came closer to us.

“I’m sorry I can’t make it to your wedding, Kim,” she told her, “My priorities are getting you guys out of here.” “Don’t worry,” Kim said, “I’ll make sure to attend your and Sunny’s wedding, though,” she said with a smirk. Aubrey looked flustered, her cheeks going red. “I—Touché, Kim…” she said, looking defeated.

“Well Sweetie,” Aubrey said, “Let’s go?” Sweetie was sheepish about it but eventually nodded and followed her. “Well guys,” said Aubrey as she was about to leave, “I’ll see you later, bye!” “Bye Aubrey!” we all said. I looked at Sunny who was clearly upset that he didn’t go with her. “Cheer up, buddy,” I assured him, “She’ll be back. And you two can hold hands as long as you want,” he blushed. They’re so cute.

“Welp, everyone,” Sprout announced, “Let’s head on over to the church!” And so we did. We finished breakfast (Kel finished it for all of us) and made our way out of the mansion. “The church is this way,” Sprout pointed in the general direction, “Follow me!”

We followed Sprout over to the church. The journey there was interesting, the Moles kept talking to each other, I heard them mention Aubrey and Sweetie as they giggled. Kim and I conversed about our wedding, “How do the vows work?” she asked me, “Can we just say anything we want?” “Uh… I think so. As long as it comes from the heart.”

She nodded as she rested her head on my shoulder. This gave me butterflies but all I did was reciprocate the gesture and laid my head on hers. This was nice, I felt at peace and true happiness, and we aren’t even married yet. I’m so excited, I still can’t believe it. I’ve always liked Kim from a distance, even when she was bullying me. But whenever she did, I had a feeling that deep down she cared about me because she always made sure I wasn’t hurt. Looking back at it, maybe she liked me back way before the arrangement.

We finally reached the church, “Well here we are,” said Sprout, “I can be the presider if you guys want.” Kim and I glanced at each other, “Sure,” she said, “Nice. Let’s get set up.” We all went inside the church, it was pretty small. Sprout immediately went to the stand, cycling through pages of the book on it. Captain went to the organ, I’m guessing he was going to play it for the wedding. Molly ushered my friends to take their seats.

“Kim,” Molly called out, “Follow me.” Kim was kind of nervous but I put my hand on hers, “It’s fine,” I assured her, “We can trust them.” She nodded and went to Molly as she lead her outside. Sprout, after leaving the book open on a certain page, got out of the stand and walked toward me.

“Do you have a ring, my friend?” he asked me. I nodded and pulled it out, he looked at it in awe. “That is a nice ring, my friend,” he said as he patted me on the shoulder, “Let’s get you set up, shall we?” he guided me to the front. “Wait over here, okay?” he said before leaving the church.

I looked at Kel and Sunny, who were wearing big smiles. I blushed and looked away, but deep down, I’m glad they were here with me. I’m glad I reconciled with Kel before this, I never thought we would be friends again after what I did. I’m glad Sunny is here as well, his visit was a surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one.

I gestured for Sunny to come up here with me, as he is my best man. He came closer and stood by my side, “I’m happy for you, Basil,” he said, showing a big and genuine smile at me. “Thanks, Sunny,” I told him, resting my hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, Captain started to play the organ. I’m guessing it was Canon in D or something. Then I saw Sprout run through the entrance and went up the stand again. He was gasping for air. He spoke into the mic, “Dear friends, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Kimberly Desoto and Basil Fey in marriage. In the days they have been together, their love and understanding of each other have grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife.”

“May I call up to the stage the best man of the soon-to-be groom,” Sprout called out. Sunny was kind of nervous but I assured him that it’ll be okay. He went to the stand and grabbed the mic. “Uh,” he began to say, “I was honored to be chosen as my best friend’s best man. And honestly, all I can say is that I’m happy for him. I’m happy that he managed to find the love of his life in the apocalypse. It’s honestly so romantic, I’m sure that their love cannot be stopped by the meteor’s impact. Here’s to you, my friend. Love and enjoy the rest of your days with your soon-to-be wife.”

I felt tears coming out of my eyes and I wiped them away. Sunny made his way back to me so I hugged him, “That was a good speech, Sunny” I told him. Sprout continued the ceremony, “Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support; it brings stability to our society. For those who choose to marry, marriage provides an abundance of social benefits, as well as obligations - a social institution of the highest importance.”

This went on for a couple of minutes, Sprout really took his role seriously. Eventually, “Everyone, please sit down as we begin to witness, the bride herself, Kimberly Desoto,” as he said this the entrance door opened wide. I saw her, the love of my life, my soon-to-be wife, my everything. I can’t help but tear up as I see her walk down the aisle with Molly by her side. Our eyes meet and I felt butterflies fluttering intensely in my stomach.

She made it to the stand, and we face each other. Both of us were wearing big smiles all around and I couldn’t be happier. “Do you Basil Fey, take Kimberly Desoto to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” I answered, seeing Kim’s eyes start to tear up. Sprout asked Kim the same question, “I do,” she answered and my tears start to fall. “Kimberly Desoto,” I said, “I offer to you, this ring,” I pulled it out and Kim gasped and covered her mouth. “This ring will symbolize our love for each other, it will forever bloom even after the world comes to an end because my love for you is infinite and invulnerable.” I put the ring on her finger.

“You may now,” Sprout said, “Kiss the bride.” Kim immediately swept me off my feet and caught me, and kissed me on the lips. This must be a dream , I thought to myself. Her lips felt soft and warm, it tasted sweet as well. The kiss felt like it took forever and I never want to let go of it. But we had to eventually.

My friends and the Moles started to cheer, clapping and howling, I even noticed that Aubrey was there by the entrance, cheering for Kim. We kissed again, just a quick smooch. I was so happy, and I can tell that Kim was too. This is the happiest I’ve ever been and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my days with my wife.

Chapter Text

That was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen today. I was honestly so happy for both of them. Seeing my best friend this happy is enough to make me happy. After the reception, Aubrey came to us and showed that she brought a few cans of gas. “This is enough to take us back to Faraway and more,” she said. “When do y’all want to leave?”

The four of us looked at each other, “We’re not much in a hurry,” Kel said, “These Moles seem like fun guys, I kinda wanna stay with em for a while longer. I find that short dude really funny.” Kim lightly hit him on the shoulder, “That’s rude, Kel,” “What? I’m saying he’s a funny dude, what’s wrong with that?” Kim hmphed . 

I was dumbfounded, “What about you guys?” Aubrey asked us, “Yeah, I don’t mind staying a bit longer,” Kim said, “I wanna spend a bit more time here with my husband before coming back home." Aubrey looked flustered, “But I just walked for thirty minutes to get gas,” she said, sounding defeated.

I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder, “And because of that, you need to rest,” I told her, “We can stay a while longer.” This seemed to ease her because she looked at me with comforting eyes and smiled at me, “Thanks Sunny,” she said, “You’re right, we can stay for a bit. There’s plenty of places I want to show you.”

I shook my head, “No more walking for a while, okay?” I told her, “You need to rest, we have loads of time for you to show me around later.” She rested her head on my chest, “Thanks, Sunny,” she said, “You always know what to say.” My ears reddened but I didn’t care, I touched the back of her head and started to caress it.

“So…” Basil interrupted, “When are you guys getting married?” he said with a smirk. “Shut up,” Aubrey and I said in unison. We laughed at the ordeal, “I don’t think they need to get married,” said Kim, “Looks like they’re already so deep in love.” This made us blush but we didn’t let go of each other.

“That’s enough teasing,” said Kel, “Let’s let them be. Besides, Kim and Basil, you still have to go on a honeymoon.” I see both of them get flustered and I just laughed. Suddenly the Moles came closer to us, “Well that was a beautiful ceremony, wasn’t it?” Sprout asked us. He notices Aubrey and me, “You guys down to do one more or something?”

Molly kicked Sprout, “Let them be, man,” she said. Sprout stammered, “I was just joking, geez.” “So…” Molly said, “What do we do now? Y’all wanna head back to base?” I looked at Aubrey, “You guys go on ahead because I think Aubrey is still tired. We’ll catch up with you guys, I remember the way.”

My friends just smiled at us while the Moles looked dumbfounded but they eventually accepted it. “Okay,” said Sprout, “ Just don’t do anything – weird, okay?” he said in a teasing manner. Molly kicked him again, “Ow, stop that!” Sprout exclaimed, “I’m joking!” Soon enough they began to leave which left Aubrey and me alone in the church.

“Sunny?” she asked as she lifted her face from my shirt. “Yeah?” I looked into her eyes, but she avoided eye contact like she was embarrassed or something. “Why are you acting like this to me?” The question caught me off guard, “What do you mean?” “Why are you so nice to me? Why do you comfort me after how I treated you back then?”

“Aubrey,” I said, “You’re my friend, this is what friends do,” Aubrey looked irritated, “Just friends? Friends don’t get this touchy, Sunny.” I start to stammer, “That’s not what I meant! I just –” “I’m teasing, Sunny. After everything that’s happened in the past few days, I thought we’re way past friends.” 

I gulped, “I literally carried you in my arms, Sunny,” she said, “You even said “I love you” to me last night.” I jumped, “I did?” “You don’t remember? I just assumed you used to say that to Mari when you were kids.” I looked embarrassed, “I did, yeah… It was a habit. I haven’t slept on a bed with someone else since Mari…”

“You still miss her, huh?” she asked me, “Every single day,” I admitted. “Well, Sunny, she’d want you to be happy.” “You make me happy,” I unconsciously blurted it, I covered my mouth. Aubrey was surprised to hear that but she just smiled. “Aw, Sunny,” she said, “You make me happy as well, don’t sweat it.”

I gave a nervous chuckle, “Well, I guess that answers your question,” I told her. “What question?” she asked, “When you asked if we were just friends,” I told her. “So what are we, then?” she asked with a smirk. I stuttered “More than friends,” I blurted out, “I like you more than just a friend, Aubrey.”

Her eyes lit up, “Like…” her soft voice barely escaped her mouth, “Like what, then?” I bet my face was fully red from this, “Maybe I like you the way Basil likes Kim.” She blushed harder. “What are you saying, Sunny?” she asked, her smirk growing wider than before, “Do you love me?”

Yes. God yes. I have loved her ever since we were little. I loved how she was always so cheery, so easygoing, so – perfect. But for some reason, I couldn’t speak, my throat felt clogged and I found it hard to breathe. She placed her hand on my cheek, “Sunny,” she said in a soft voice, “What is it?”

“Aubrey, I—“ I began to stutter. I took a deep breath, keeping eye contact with her, “I love you.” Then she pulled me for a kiss. It felt amazing, her lips were welcoming as if they were waiting to meet mine for a long time. We parted lips, panting and feeling each other’s breath on our lips, “I love you too, Sunny,” We kissed again, and this time it felt like it was forever.

***

We left the church and Aubrey started showing me places she used to go to, holding hands along the way. It was surreal, without any people around. It’s like we were the last two people on Earth. It was nice being alone with her – outside that is. I start to blush thinking about what we did in the church. She looked happy, so I’m happy.

We made it to the Moles’ base as it was starting to get dark. We knock on the door and after a while, Molly opens it. “Oh hey, guys!” she greeted us, “Took you long enough. Come on in, I made dinner!” We made our way inside, still holding hands. Our friends see us and greet us, “There they are!” exclaimed Kel, “How was the date?” he teasingly asked.

“Well, Kel,” Aubrey said in a sassy tone, “As a matter of fact, we had a great time. We went around Farside and I showed Sunny around.” “How long did you guys stay in the church for?” Basil asked. I felt our faces turn red, “We didn’t take long,” I said, “Just enough for Aubrey to be ready to walk around,” “Yeah…” Aubrey added.

They looked skeptical but in the end, they left us alone. I noticed that Molly cooked up some soup. “You made this yourself, Molly?” I asked her, she shook her head, “Basil helped.” We looked at Basil and he looked embarrassed, Aubrey grabbed a bowl, got some soup, and tasted it. Her eyes lit up, “It’s really good!” she exclaimed.

Molly laughed and patted Basil on the back, “Told ya, they’d love it! The spices were his idea, he really knew a lot about his plants.” Basil just chuckled, “Aw shucks,” he said, “It’s an average-tasting soup,” “Don’t underestimate yourself, Basil. You’re a married man now, you have to be stronger for your wife,” Molly said before laughing which caused Basil and Kim to blush, “I’m just teasing. Seriously though, don’t think low of yourself.”

Basil smiled at her, “Thanks, Molly.” Kim rubbed her hair, “Yeah, don’t beat yourself up, Basil,” she said, “You’re an excellent cook – I mean your food, not anything else.” Kel began to yawn, “Well, I’m stuffed,” he said as he began to lie down on the couch, “Kel, get a room,” Aubrey told him.

…

Snores . “Oh my god,” Aubrey pinched her nose, “Why do we even bother?” We all just laughed. “Well,” Sprout began to say, “I’m guessing you guys are going back home tomorrow?” “Yeah,” I answered. “There’s still one friend I want to see before the world ends.” Sprout nodded and pat me on the back, “Good luck, my friend.”

Everyone eventually started to head to their rooms, “Good night, everyone!” exclaimed Sprout from the second floor. All of us said our good nights to each other before heading inside our rooms. Aubrey and I proceeded to lie down on the bed because we were both really tired from walking all day.

“Well,” she said, “Today was a good day, huh?” I nodded, “Yeah…” I touched her face, “Wanna make tonight a good one as well?” I teased her. She blushed, “I would love to,” she answered. We cuddled with each other, caressing each other intimately. “Sunny,” she said in a soft voice, “We have a big day tomorrow, let’s not stay up too late, okay?” I giggled, “Sure thing, Auby,” I told her, “Good night, I love you,” she kissed me, “Good night, Sunbun.” And just like that, we doze off, anticipating our return to Faraway tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Where is she? I woke up alone on the bed, surprised that Aubrey wasn’t around. I never took her to be a morning person so I was confused why she was up earlier. I made my way to the living room where I see everyone else eating toast for breakfast.

“Oh, good morning, Sunny!” Kel greeted me, “You gotta wait for your breakfast.” What? Then I see Aubrey come out of the kitchen, holding a tray with a plate on top. “Oh, you’re up,” she said, “I was about to wake you up with breakfast in bed.” I was surprised, to say the least. No one has ever done that to me before and this is just surreal.

She chuckled, and her sweet laughter filled me with joy, “What is it?” she asked me, “I told you I’d cook you up something you’d enjoy.” I blushed at Aubrey’s kind gesture. “I mean you can still…” “What’s that, Sunny? Can you speak up?” I felt embarrassed to speak my mind, but I found the courage to do it. “I can still have breakfast in bed,” I sheepishly said.

Aubrey smiled at me, “Sure,” she said as we both went inside our rooms. The others didn’t say anything, probably out of respect. We closed the door to the room as we made our way to the bed. “Have you eaten breakfast?” I asked Aubrey. She shook her head, “Then come eat with me,” I suggested. “Yeah but…” “Come on, Aubrey, it’s your cooking, come eat with me.”

She eventually agreed as she lay on the bed with me. I looked closer at the breakfast she prepared for me. There were three pieces of steak with sunny side eggs on the side. “I know it isn’t much,” Aubrey said, “But it was all they had so…” “It’s fine,” I assured her, “This is the perfect breakfast. All because I’m with you.”

She blushed, “Oh Sunny…” I kissed her, “Let’s eat shall we?” And together we ate, talking about the day ahead of us while doing so. “So what will you do when we get to Faraway?” Aubrey asked, “Hmm… I probably won’t stay too long because I want to see Hero,” “Ah… Do you know where he is?” “Kel said he was in Farpoint City, along with their mother.”

Aubrey nodded, “What do you plan on telling him?” I thought about it, “I honestly don’t know. I would probably say the same thing I told you, but I don’t know if it will work. Hero might never forgive me for what I did to Mari. But at least I’ll have closure with you guys.” Aubrey held my hand, “Hero will forgive you, I’m sure of it.”

“Thanks, Aubrey,” I said, “I still don’t know how you guys forgave me so easily. I changed our lives in the worst possible way imaginable and you guys are okay with it?” Aubrey held my hand tighter, “Accidents happen, Sunny. I don’t know why you pushed Mari down the stairs, but I know you didn’t mean to. You loved your sister, all of us did.”

“If I’m going to be honest, I found it hard to forgive you at first,” I wasn’t surprised, but I just listened attentively. “You killed Mari, Sunny. That kind of news won’t ever sit right with any of us. But I’m one to talk. I almost killed Basil by pushing him into the lake. Thankfully, he ended up alright. But I never could have forgiven myself.”

She sounded upset so I held her hand, “It’s okay, you don’t have to go on if it hurts you,” I assured her. She shook her head, “No, I have to get this off my chest. I think about it a lot, you know. What would have happened if Basil died in that lake? I wondered if you guys would ever forgive me. Heh, it’s funny. Because that’s exactly what happened to you, Sunny. I don’t know how you could have hidden that from all of us.”

“Yes, you changed our lives but change happens, it’s natural. We learn to accept change, we learn to adapt to it. We all reacted differently when you told us the truth. But in the end, we learned to accept it. It’s better to have heard the truth than going through our lives thinking that it was suicide.” She sounded so sincere that it almost got me in tears.

“But Hero loved Mari, quite possibly more than I did,” I told her, “Am I just supposed to expect him to forgive me just like that?” Aubrey paused for a while contemplating if Hero would ever consider forgiving me and frowned. She took a deep breath,  “Hero is a kind soul. It will take a while for him to forgive but he eventually will. It’s been seven years, Sunny. I’m sure he’s already forgiven you since then.”

“But what if he hasn’t?” I stammered, “What if when I get to him, he won’t forgive me? What if he’s still angry? What if he doesn’t want me around? What if I just remind him of the pain of the loss of Mari?” Aubrey put her head on my chest, “Sunny, you worry too much,” she said, “I’m sorry, I can’t help it.” “It’s fine,” she assured me, “You’ve always been like that, I guess.” She continued to rest her head on my chest, playing with my hair as she does. 

Suddenly there was a knocking on the door. The two of us sat up as the door opened, it was Kel. “Hey guys,” he said, “Basil thinks we should get going, now. Said that Polly’s getting worried about him.” The two of us nodded as we fixed ourselves, getting ready for the trip back to Faraway.

Before we left, the Moles bid their goodbyes. “We are going to miss you,” Sprout said, “It’s a shame we had to meet before the world is about to end, you guys would have been a great addition to the Moles.” We all just nervously laughed.

Molly hugged Basil, “Don’t forget about me, okay?” she said through tears, “I won’t,” Basil said as he reciprocates the hug. Meanwhile, I see Sweetie walk up to Aubrey and talk to her. I didn’t want to snoop or eavesdrop so I went to Captain. “Hey Captain,” I greeted him, “Hello, Sunny.” “We had a good game, didn’t we?” he nodded, “Yes. Although I wasn’t as lucky as you, you were a formidable foe. You are a good sport, Sunny. You take care out there.”

I nodded at him and went with my friends. I saw Sweetie and Aubrey hug which made Sweetie blush hard. Aubrey made her way back to us, “We’re going to miss you guys,” she said as she turned toward them. “Goodbye, friends!” Sprout said, “You stay safe out there!” We all bid our farewells as we got in the car that Kel had spent the last few minutes driving back here. “Buckle up, everyone,” Kel said before driving off.

The trip back was fun. No one rode in the passenger seat. Instead, we rode in the backseats in pairs. “Hey,” Kel called to us in the first few minutes of the trip, “None of y’all better do anything weird there in the back, okay?” We all blushed, “Save your kisses for when we get back home.”

Kel stopped at the gas station where Sweetie and Aubrey got the cans. “I’ll be back,” Kel said, “I’m just gonna get more gas cans just in case.” He went inside the station to grab some. The four of us just sat in silence, clearly sensing the tension in the car. “So,” Kim was the first to break the silence, “How are you guys?”

Aubrey and I just looked at each other, “We’re doing great, Kim,” Aubrey answered, “How about you guys? How does it feel to be husband and wife?” We could tell Basil and her were blushing, “It feels – great… It’s like there’s a whole new meaning to life now that we’re married.” Aww, both of us let out. They started to blush even harder.

Then the back of the SUV flew open, “Hey guys,” said Kel, “I’m just gonna put the cans back here.” He did so, putting around six more cans of gas. Kel closed the back, made his way back to the driver’s seat, and drove off.

We arrived back in Faraway as soon as it was midday. The glaring rays of the sun almost cooked us inside the SUV. As soon as Kel parked in their driveway, all of us immediately stepped out of the car. We were gasping and fanning for air. “Man,” Basil said, “I’m sweating like a pig right now.”

“Let’s go back to your place, Basil,” Kim suggested, “You can look for a fresh pair of clothes. After that, we can head back to my place so I can introduce you to my parents as my lovely husband.” Basil’s face looked like his soul left his body, “W-Wait what…” “Come on, flower boy!” Kim grabbed Basil as she ran to Basil’s place.

“Well that just happened,” Kel said as he began to take his shirt off. Aubrey became flustered, “K-Kel, what are you doing?” “What? It’s really hot, what do you want me to do?” Kel’s physique was a lot better than mine so I wasn’t too bothered when Aubrey was staring… Okay, maybe I was a little bothered.

Aubrey eventually shook her head and faced me, “So Sunny, are you going to change as well?” she held my arm, “Looks like you’re really sweaty.” I blushed at her touch, “Yeah I could use some change of clothes.” Suddenly her face lit up, “Oh, I think my dad left some of his clothes back in my house and I’m pretty sure they fit you.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” I said, trying to sound as relaxed as I can. “Welp,” Kel said as he stretched, “I’m gonna go change and visit Mikhael to fetch Sally. Have fun you guys~~” he teased. He made his way inside his house and left the two of us by his car.

“Well,” Aubrey said, “Let’s go?” She held out her hand. I smiled as I grabbed it and she lead me to her house. We talked about a few topics along the way, our bucket lists, what would we do if the world wasn’t ending, and more stuff like that. I enjoyed talking to Aubrey. It’s like the conversations we would have on the swing set at the park.

We eventually made it to her house. It looked the same, worn-out and kind of antique. There was a van parked on the sidewalk near it but we didn’t mind it. We made our way inside and it didn’t look any different than the last time I was here. It looks like the house was completely abandoned, “Yeah I left Faraway a few days after you did,” Aubrey said, “My mom didn’t care so I didn’t look back.”

I put my hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, Aubrey,” I assured her. She smiled at me, “Thanks, Sunny.” The two of us just stared at each other, sweating so heavily because of the heat. “It’s getting really hot in here, isn’t it?” she said in a very seductive way. She grabbed the bottom of my shirt and pulled up.

She stripped my shirt off revealing my breadstick of a body. “It’s no Kel physique, I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly. “Kel’s body can’t compare to yours, Sunbun,” she said sincerely, “Besides, Kel’s body isn’t as cute as yours~~” She started to kiss me and kissed her back. We began to make out right on the couch.

Our make-out session was cut short when we heard noises from deep inside Aubrey’s house. The both of us immediately got up and grabbed an object to defend ourselves with. Aubrey grabbed a glass bottle and I grabbed a lamp. “Who’s there?” Aubrey shouted in the direction the noise came from.

“Whoa, whoa,” a familiar voice said from the hall, “I’m just snooping around, no need to be hasty.” Then, I felt goosebumps when I realized why the voice sounded familiar. A tall figure came out of the hall, I couldn’t believe it. It was a tall muscular man, I recognized him almost immediately.

He saw Aubrey and me (I didn’t have my shirt on), and he looked surprised, “A-Aubrey?” the man asked as he stared at her, then at me. “Sunny?!” he exclaimed, Aubrey looked at me dumbfounded, “Vincent?” I managed to speak. Aubrey looked shocked, she looked like she’d just seen a ghost. “Dad?!” she exclaimed.

Chapter Text

Okay, what the fuck . How does Sunny know my dad by his name? I’m pretty sure they’ve never met before. “What is going on here?” my dad demanded, “Why don’t you have a shirt on, Sunny?” I led Sunny behind me, in case my dad attacks him. “Look, Dad, I don’t know why you’re here, but you should get out.”

He looked angry, “This is my house!” he yelled at me, “You left!” I retorted. “You left me alone with that horrible excuse of a mom!” His face calmed down, “Oh Aubrey, I-” “I don’t want to hear it,” I interrupted him, “You abandoned me and this house, you don’t get the right to tell us to go away.”

His face turned somber, “Aubrey, I’m sorry. Your mother she-” “I don’t fucking care about what you have to say!” I shouted at him, Sunny held my shoulders. I looked at him, his face was calm and he just nodded. I started to calm down. “What are you doing here anyway?” Dad asked me.

“That’s none of your business,” I told him with so much venom in my words that I know it stung him. “But you’re my daughter,” he said, “It is my business.” I felt angry again but Sunny gripped me tighter, and I calmed down. “Since when did you care, you left on with your happy life. The van outside, is that yours? Good for you, do us all a favor and ride it away from here. You’re good at that.”

Dad looked defeated, but he looked at Sunny. “Are you two…?” I began to blush but I turned to hide it, “None of your business,” I said. Dad raised his hands, “Okay, I don’t want to pry.”

We stood there in silence, the tension building up with each passing second. Sunny broke the silence, “So uh, Vincent,” he said, “What are you doing here?” Dad scratched his head, “I came here looking for Aubrey, to talk to her. I wanted to see my daughter one last time before we all die.”

I scoffed, “So all it took was the world ending to even try and talk to me?” I asked. Dad just bowed his head, “I know. I’m sorry. I should’ve come sooner. But I’m here now. We can talk, right?” So many emotions were filling my head, anger, disgust, and a little bit of sadness. He finally showed up after all these years, even though I thought he would never come back.

“I don’t know, Dad,” I spoke, “It took you eleven years to finally show up again. A lot happened in those eleven years. But right now, I only want to spend more time with my friends. I never thought of seeing you again but here you are. Why are you really here? To ask for forgiveness? Because I can’t forgive you, to be completely honest.”

Dad nodded in despair, “I know you wouldn’t,” he said, “But that’s not why I came here. I came here to tell you that I still love you. I wanted you to hear it from me. I love you, Aubergine. I just thought you should know that before, you know, the world ends and whatnot.” I was shocked, to say the least, but I stayed silent.

“Well I did what I came here to do,” Dad said as he begins to walk toward the front door, “Goodbye, Aubrey and Sunny. You enjoy your remaining days.” Sunny and I just stared at him as he left. Sunny held my hand, “Are you just going to let him go? You don’t want to say anything to him?”

I shook my head. I stared at my dad as he got inside his van. Suddenly, as if I didn’t have control over my body, “WAIT!” I shouted at him. Dad turned to see me running to his van. I reached the passenger seat window, “Why now?” I pleaded, “Why did you have to show up now? You’re so selfish!”

He got out of the car and made his way to me. At this point, I was sobbing but he just hugged me. “Oh, Aubrey…” he said as he patted me on the back. “I didn’t want to remind you of the day I left, I know it must have been painful for you. I’m sorry.” I kept crying and I finally hugged him back.

We stayed like this for a while until I finally regained my composure and started to speak. “Why did you leave, Dad?” I asked, “Why did you leave me with her, she was so horrible.” He kissed the top of my head, “She told me she’d do terrible things to you if I didn’t leave. She didn’t want me around and the last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt.”

“God, she was such a bitch,” I said. This made Dad chuckle, “Yeah… But I’m here now, I came here to see you and how far you’ve come.” He pulled away to look at me, “I’m so proud of you, Aubrey. You’ve grown up to be a strong woman and I can’t be any happier for you.” As he said this, more tears began to form in my eyes.

“And I see you found love, too.” I turned to see Sunny at the front door, wearing Dad’s old clothes. “Yeah,” I said, “How do you know each other?” Dad chuckled lightly, “Well, I picked him up on the road when he told me he was going to Faraway Town.” Suddenly it made sense. “Oh, he didn’t know?” I asked, “No, neither did I, honestly,” “Oh…”

Dad patted me on the back again, “He’s a great guy, Aubrey. From the small talk we had on the trip here, I could tell he was determined to fulfill the mission he had in mind.” I lightly chuckled, “Yeah, he is. I know it’s a bit late and awkward to talk about but when you saw us-” 

He shushed me, “You’re adults now, you’re old enough to make decisions and I can’t stop you.” He put his hand behind his hand, “Though you really could have looked for a room,” “Dad, you trespassed,” “Fair enough.” We both laughed. “Well I should go,” he said, “You still have the whole day to look forward to.”

I nodded my head before I gave him another hug, “I’m going to miss you, Dad.” He hugged me back harder, “I will miss you too, Aubergine. You take care out there, okay?” We let go of each other. He made his way back to his van. He waved goodbye and I did the same. He drove off into the distance, off to leave Faraway.

I turned around to see Sunny right behind me. “Ah!” I exclaimed, “Sunny, don’t scare me like that, jeez.” Sunny giggled, “I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t want to ruin the moment.” I held his hand. “Uh, Aubrey…” he said, “Do you still need to change?” Embarrassed, I quickly ran back into the house, up to my room, and changed clothes.

When I went down, I saw that Basil and Kim were there waiting with Sunny. “Hey Kim,” I greeted, “How did your interaction go?” Kim and Basil blushed, “They were okay with it, a little surprised, but okay with it.” Basil just nodded. “Talk to me about it when we return to Mikhael’s place to see Kel.” The four of us proceeded to walk to Mikhael’s place to see Kel. 

Chapter Text

Oh God, I’m scared . After Kim led me back to my house, Polly came out and hugged me. “Basil!” she said before embracing me, “Thank God you’re safe. Where have you been? You left without telling me your whereabouts. I was really worried.” I gave a nervous chuckle, “Sorry, Polly. Things just happened and I forgot to tell you.”

Polly pouted, “Well in that case, I’m glad you’re here now,” she studied me from head to toe, “You are incredibly sweaty, go change.” I nodded my head and went inside the house. “You can come inside Kim, while you wait for him,” Polly told Kim as I made my way to my room. 

I put on a fresh set of clothes and made my way downstairs. I see Polly and Kim talking to each other when Polly suddenly sees me and runs toward me. I was surprised but she just hugged me, “Why didn’t you tell me you got married?” she exclaimed. I stammered, “I was going to tell you, I just—forgot…”

Polly pouted even harder, “You can’t just keep these things from me, Basil,” “I’m sorry…” Polly patted my head, “It’s okay, I’m happy for you two.” I see Kim blush as Polly says this. “Kim told me you guys were going to her place next so she can introduce you to her family,” Polly said, “Yeah, and I’m kind of nervous.”

Polly gave me a big smile, “Don’t be. They’re going to love you.” I just chuckled nervously, I sure hope Kim’s family is going to accept me. “Well, thank you Polly for accommodating me,” Kim said, “But we have to go now,” “Ah, no worries, Kim. Good luck you two!” Polly shouted at us as Kim pulled me to run away to her house.

As we were running, I had to stop to catch my breath. Kim noticed me behind, “Basil, you okay?” she asked me. “Yeah, I’m okay,” gasping for air each time. “No you are not,” she said as she walked toward me. “Sorry for rushing you,” she said, “I’m just really excited.” I finally caught my breath, “I understand, but there’s no need to hurry.”

Kim embraced me, “Yeah, you’re right…” she said, I could feel my cheeks turn red. “W-We should get going,” I suggested. “Yeah, we’re getting close anyway,” Kim replied. We continued to walk to her house. “Are you nervous, Basil?” Kim asked me, “Very,” I replied. She laughed, “Don’t worry, dude. My family is chill. Though…”

I looked at her, “What is it?” I asked. “It’s Vance that I’m worried about, he’s always been strict with the people I hang out with.” This made me even more nervous than I already am. I remember Vance being the oldest among the Hooligans. He was always intimidating. “As long as you don’t piss him off, you’ll be fine,” Kim told me.

We finally made it to her house. She knocked on the door, and we just stood there anticipating what was to come. The door opened, and it was Kim’s mother, “Oh Kim!” she exclaimed, “Where have you been?” “Hi mom, sorry I left with no notice. This is Basil--” she gestured at me, “He’s my—Uh…”

Kim’s mom raised her eyebrow, “He’s your what?” Kim inhaled sharply, “He’s my husband.” There it was. The three words that I’ve been dreading to hear. Oh, God. She’s probably going to get mad. She’s probably going to— “Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed happily, “She hugged Kim, “I’m so happy for you!”

I was surprised by her reaction, “What is it?” a voice came from inside the house. Suddenly my stomach dropped, it was Vance. Vance saw us but I saw his eyes fixate on Kim’s hand that had the ring on. “You’re married?” he asked with a terrifying tone that made me gulp. “Yes,” Kim said, “Vance, Mom, meet Basil, my husband.”

I thought I would have collapsed on the spot right then. Their eyes were laid on me and I felt their stare piercing through my skin. Thankfully, I remained calm and just smiled at them. Kim hugged my arm, “I wanted you guys to meet him,” she said, “I figured you guys should know about it.”

Her mom just smiled widely at us, “Aww, congratulations guys!” she exclaimed. Vance gave me what I could only imagine was a death stare. “This guy looks familiar,” he said. “He’s Basil, the one kid we used to bully because Aubrey told us to,” Kim said so nonchalantly. 

“Ah, him…” Vance said. He eyed me down from head to toe. “Isn’t he gay?” I blushed when he said this and Kim tried to hold in her laugh. “N-No, I’m not gay,” I told him. “Are you sure? The kid who likes flowers, taking pictures, and you’re saying you’re straight?” he asked me. I began to stutter, “Those are just feminine traits, that doesn’t make me gay.”

He eyed me again, then shrugs, “Aight, fine by me,” he said, “So… What are you guys doing here?” Kim held my hand, “We just wanted to let you guys know that we’re married. I thought that you guys should know.” Kim’s mom just tilted her head, “Aww, well thanks for letting us know, Kim.”

Mrs. Desoto put her arms out, “Come here, my son-in-law!” I reluctantly went closer and hugged Kim’s mom. She let me go and then Vance nudged my shoulder, “Follow me, Basil,” he said. I already had a bad feeling about this.

He lead me into the kitchen, out of earshot of Kim and her mom. “I have something to ask you,” Vance said. I dreaded the question and I was visibly shaking. “Do you love Kim?” He asked me. I felt my face turn red to which he scoffed and then laughed, “Oh you definitely do.” I hid my face in embarrassment.

“I just have one request, Basil,” he said as he leaned closer to my face, “Treat her right, or I’ll beat you up, got that?” I furiously nodded my head to which Vance laughed at me again. “I still think you’re gay though,” he said. I just gave a nervous chuckle as we make our back to the living room.

Kim and her mom were talking by the front door. Kim’s eyes lit up when she saw me and her mom took notice and looked in our direction. “Ah, there they are,” Mrs. Desoto said, “Kim said your friends are waiting, you guys should go.” I nodded and walked over to Kim. “Well, we’ll be off now,” Kim said, “Bye, Mom. Bye, Vance.”

We proceeded to walk out the door, waving back at Mrs. Desoto and Vance. “Well that wasn’t too bad, was it?” Kim asked me. I smiled, “I guess so.” “What did Vance say to you?” she asked me. “He asked me for a favor,” “Which is?” “I can’t tell you through words,” I kissed the top of her forehead, “Only in actions.” Kim blushed, “Oh, you~~” She kissed me on the cheek, “Let’s head on over to Aubrey, shall we?” “Let’s go.” And so we proceeded to make our way to Aubrey’s.

Chapter Text

One more to go . The four of us made it to Mikhael’s place where, coincidentally, we see Kel and Sally walk out the door. He saw us and immediately gave us a big wave. “Heya, guys!” he greeted us. Both of them made their way to us. “So how did everything go?” Aubrey and I stared at each other, “It’s complicated.”

We started to explain what happened at Aubrey’s house. Leaving out… a few details that happened before Aubrey’s dad interrupted us. While we were explaining, Kel kept making exaggerated faces (Or at least they were exaggerated). “Wow, Aubrey,” said Kim, “That must’ve been quite the surprise for you two. I’m glad you handled it well considering what he did to you.”

Aubrey huffed and nodded her head, “Thanks, Kim. It was a surprise to be sure. But I got closure with my father, and I’m satisfied.” She turned her head to face Kim, “How about you guys?” she asked, “How did your family react?” Kim’s face lit up, “They were cool with it, even Vance. Right, Basil?” Basil just nodded and blushed.

We chatted for a while and it was great that everyone was able to complete the things they had to do. After a few minutes, Kel stretched his arms, “Well what now?” Everyone turned to face me. “Oh. Uh… Well, I guess Hero’s the only friend I still haven’t apologized to.” Everyone else nodded. “So we’re heading to Farpoint then?” Kel asked. “Yeah,” “Good, I can bring Sally with me so she could see Hero and Mom.”

“I’ll grab the car, you guys can stay here,” Kel said as he led Sally to us. “Hi, Sally,” said Aubrey as she knelt to her, “How was your stay at Mikhael?” Sally snickered, “I ate lots of cake,” she said, “Don’t tell Kel, though,” she laughed. ”Of course, I won’t tell him,” she winked at her and held her pinky for a promise.  The rest of the gang saw our exchange and laughed.

Eventually, Kel drove up to us, “Hop in fellas, Sally can sit on the passenger seat.” Sally exclaimed as she quickly ran to her seat giggling. ”Why are u laughing huh?” “Nothinggg, it’s a secret” she giggled again, Kel then gave us a suspicious look, which we all avoided  The rest of us sat in the back seats again. “Okay, everyone buckle up,” Kel said, “Next stop, Farpoint City.” He stepped on the gas and quickly drove away from Faraway.

The journey there wasn’t too exciting. We passed by lots of neighborhoods that were pretty run down. But we didn’t see any people along the way, which I don’t know how to feel about. Eventually, Kel had to make a stop in the middle of the highway to refuel. “This won’t take long, fellas!” he said.

Sally was sound asleep in the passenger seat and so were Basil and Kim at the back. Aubrey was starting to doze off so she rested her head on my shoulder. I felt my ears redden but I ignored it and rested my head on hers. As I did this, I also began to fall asleep. When Kel was done he got in the driver’s seat, took a look at everyone asleep, and smiled. He continued driving.

“So Sunny,” Kel said right as my eyes were closing. “What do you plan on saying to Hero?” I thought about it for a while. I honestly don’t know, and I’m terrified because of it. Do you have any advice?” I saw Kel think about it from the driver’s mirror. “Hmm… Well, ever since the truth he didn’t want any reminders of Mari.”

This would’ve surprised me if I didn’t expect it from Hero. “He completely put all of his past behind him, he changed,” Kel continued, “I guess the only reminder of Mari to him was me…” I heard Kel’s voice falter when he said that. “I tried to mend our relationship, he didn’t like how I forgave you and Basil so easily.”

Now I can tell he was holding back tears, “It took some time. Well, a lot of time. But we eventually became closer again.” He looked at me from the mirror and smiled, “We became brothers again.” I smiled back at him. “That’s good to hear,” I told him, trying my best to assure him from here.

“If it took you that long to rekindle your relationship with Hero, I don’t think four days is enough for me.” "Well, four days is all he gets!" Kel said in a joking manner,  we both laughed for a few seconds before silence took over. I guess the reminder of the world ending in four days crept back up to conversation.

Kel turned around and patted my knee, “We’ll be here for you, Sunny. Don’t worry about it, okay?” He went back and continued to drive. “Thanks, Kel,” I told him, “I never really thanked you for getting me out of the house back then. I never would’ve been here if it weren’t for you.”

Kel laughed, “Don’t mention it, pal. I was just as surprised as you are.” We both laughed. I started to yawn and Kel noticed. “Rest up, Sunny,” he told me, “Farpoint is still pretty far away. You guys must be tired from today.” I nodded and leaned my head back on Aubrey’s again. I could feel the sleepiness finally catching up on me as I doze off.

I don’t know how long Kel’s been driving, but it was already getting dark. I opened my eyes to see the car driving past tall buildings. I yawned and Kel took notice, “Oh, you’re up, Sunny. We made it to Farpoint. Hero and Mom aren’t staying too far from the main area. We’ll get there in five or ten minutes.”

I nodded and continued to rest my head on Aubrey’s as she was still asleep. I started to think about how the conversation would go with Hero but suddenly the car stopped and everyone jolted awake. “Agh, what the hell, Kel?” exclaimed Kim. Kel looked back at us, “Sorry guys, there’s a roadblock. We can’t go any further.”

Aubrey looked outside her window to confirm, “Yeah, there are a bunch of wrecked cars blocking the way.” This made everyone feel uneasy, “It’s okay,” said Kel, “I know a place we can stay, we can look for Mom and Hero tomorrow. It’s starting to get dark and we can’t risk it today.” Everyone agreed.

Kel parked his car a little far back from the roadblock to keep it safe. Which meant we had to walk a little more. We followed Kel, who led us to a sketchy part of the city. “Uh Kel, are you sure about this place?” asked Basil. An ominous feeling was in the air that reminded me of something familiar “Yeah, don’t worry, the place we’re going is safe. Hero and I found our own “secret hangout spot” while I would be in the city to visit.”

I still felt uneasy but Kel’s assurance made it better. This assured us so we continued to follow Kel. Eventually, we made it to what appeared to be a dead end between two buildings. That’s when Kel pushed a big sign out of the way to reveal an opening. “In here,” he said as he crawled inside the opening.

We reluctantly followed suit but when we made it to the other side, we were surprised to see a big open area that was decorated with signs and other things you would see on a street. “Whoa, Kel,” Kim exclaimed, “You and Hero decorated this place?” Kel laughed a little, “Yeah,” he said, “It took a lot of visits to make it look like what it is now.”

The place looked comfortable, something I’d expect the brothers to be in and just hang out. “There’s a ton of foams scattered around so just pick one and sleep there, I’ll lay down with Sally over here,” he said as he picked out what looked like the comfiest foam in the place and laid down on it.

“Yeah, this place was special to Hero and me,” Kel started to speak, “He found this place first but he didn’t show it to me until after a few days when he spent some time cleaning the place up.” He continued to arrange the foam beds on the floor. “When he showed it to me, a huge wave of nostalgia hit me, it was like our secret hangout spot all over again.” He chuckled but I could tell there was a bit of bittersweetness in his tone.

“Well, I’m glad you guys found the most convenient place to stay during the apocalypse,” Kim said in a sarcastic but wholesome tone. We all laughed, “This place was our special place and I’m glad I’m able to share it with people that mean a lot to me.” We all gave a big “aww” at Kel. “Pshh, grow up, guys!” he said before laughing.

Kel finally finished setting up the foam beds. “Come here, Sally,” he said. Sally looked reluctant on sharing a bed with Kel, but she eventually made her way to him. Kel patted her head which made Sally laugh. “Good night guys, big day tomorrow,” Kel said before promptly snoring. Sally sat up, “I hate it when he snores this loud,” she said. 

This made all of us laugh, Sally made her way to where Basil and Kim were sitting down, “Can I sleep with you, Uncle Basil?” Basil looked shocked, “Uh I don’t think-” Kim hit his shoulder, “Come on, Basil. She doesn’t like Kel’s snores.” Basil looked hesitant, “Please, Uncle Basil? I don’t snore at loud as Brother Kel. In fact, I don’t snore at all!” This made Basil feel a little better about sharing a bed with Kim and Sally. “Haha, sure Sally, go ahead.”

“Yay!” she exclaimed as she ran over to them. Me and Aubrey just smiled watching this scene unfold. I felt her hand rest on mine so I looked at her. I noticed tears forming in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Aubrey?” She wiped them away, “It’s just that…” she gasped between words, “Four days, Sunny… We only have four days left…”

I held on her hand tighter, “I know. It’s a scary thought. But we have each other, right?” I assured her… But it felt like I was assuring myself. “I know, and I’m thankful for you guys. But it’s still bothering me that we won’t live that long to… I don’t know, long enough to enjoy life?” I understood what she was trying to say.

“I mean yeah… But there’s nothing we can do. The only thing we can do is enjoy the last moments we have. And the best part about it is—“ I kissed her, “We get to do it together.” She smiled at me, “Thanks, Sunny,” she said before kissing me back, “Thanks for choosing to spend your last days with me,” “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

We started to hear everyone else snore, so we decided to head to sleep. “Good night, Aubrey,” I told her, “Good night, Sunny.” And with that, we begin to doze off. But thoughts kept lingering in my mind about Hero. I just hope it all goes well.

Chapter Text

Welp, here goes nothing. I was the last one to wake up because when I did, I saw that everyone was awake and hungry. “Brother Kel,” Sally spoke first, “What are we going to eat?” I looked embarrassed because I had forgotten about it. But luckily for us, Sunny pulled something out of his bag, ‘I have some tofu,” he said, “It isn’t much but I have enough to feed us all.” Thank God for Sunny.

After we ate, I led everyone out of our hangout spot. “Okay,” I said, “Hero isn’t too far off from here but it will be like a ten-minute walk.” Everyone shrugged. “It isn’t that hot anyway,” Aubrey said, “Lead the way, Kel.” And so I did, I led them to Hero’s apartment, where he and our Mom were currently staying. As we were walking I talked about the things Hero and I had been doing whenever I would visit them.

“—And there was this one time where a girl started flirting with Hero,” I said, “He was so flustered but he tried to be polite and declined the girl.” Everyone gave a slight chuckle, “Speaking of which,” Basil said, “Has Hero dated anyone over these past years?” I massaged the back of my head, “I don’t think so…” I answered, “Every time I would bring it up, he said he doesn’t have the time for that type of stuff anymore.”

I think all of us knew that was a lie. Hero still loved Mari, he could never find anyone else that was made for him. I studied Sunny’s expression and I saw regret written all over his face. I sure hope Hero forgives Sunny because the last time we talked about it—

//////////

“This place is looking pretty nice, huh, Hero?” I stared at the new hangout spot we spent days working on. “Yeah, it sure is. We can probably bring friends over here.” My eyes lit up, “Ooh! That’s a great idea, I can invite Basil~~ And Aubrey~~” I jumped in excitement, “And Sunny, too!” 

Hero’s expression turned sour when I mentioned Sunny, but he did his best to hide it. “Oh… Sunny…” he said, “Well, I hope he’s doing okay. I hope he found some peace in his heart after… what he did.” I probably shouldn’t have brought it up because Hero’s voice started to falter.

“Will you forgive him?” I asked. Hero avoided my eyes, which already said enough. “I wish that someday I will… Today is not that day.” I nodded my head, “Mari would want you to forgive him, you know?” He looked me in the eyes and I saw tears forming, “Yeah, I know…” I walked over to him and hugged him. “It will be okay, Hero,” I assured him.

//////////

We made it to Hero’s apartment, thankfully, it was still intact. I led my friends up to Hero’s room. I knocked on the door. “Hero? Mom? It’s me, Kel!” No response. “Hero?” I knocked harder. Still no response. I was getting worried, I knocked even harder, “Mo—”

Suddenly, the door opened slightly. “Kel?” a voice came from inside. Someone peeked through the gap and then the door flew wide open, “Kel!” It was Mom, she jumped at me and hugged me. Her eyes shifted to my sister, “Sally!” She picked her up and embraced her tightly. “What are you guys doing here?” she asked as she saw all of my friends just watching the scene unfold.

“We came here to see Hero,” I answered. “Ah. Well, Hero isn’t here right now,” Mom said, “And to be honest, I do not know where he went.” This made all of us worry, “When did he leave?” “Just last night, while I was asleep. Although…” Mom reached into her pocket, “He left me this,” she handed me a piece of paper.

…

Mom, I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye. I know that with the world ending, I should use the time I have left to spend it all with you. But I have some things to do and promises I have to keep. Do not worry about me, If Kel and Sally visit, tell them I’ll be fine. I love you, Mom. I’ll be seeing you soon.

…

All of us stared in disbelief at Hero’s letter. “Where could he be?” Sunny asked, “What promises did he make?” Everyone turned to me. “Uhh…” I tried my best to recall any sort of promises Hero had made, but I got nothing. “Sorry guys, I don’t remember Hero making a promise to me or anyone he was ever close with.”

Sunny thought hard about it and Aubrey seemed to notice him. “What are you thinking about, Sunny?” He made an audible “Hmm…” and raised a finger. “I have a rough idea where he might have gone,” he said, “I also think I know who he made a promise to.” Mom looked intrigued, “Care to explain, Sunny?”

Sunny shrugged, “I’m just guessing, but he might be back in Faraway.” Everyone looked confused. “Why would he go back there?” Basil asked. “Maybe to meet someone,” Sunny answered, looking deeply at Aubrey, Basil, and me. We all understood what he meant. “Are you sure about that, Sunny?” Aubrey asked. “No. But it is the only thing that makes sense.”

We all thought about it, but eventually, we agreed. “This means we have to go back to Faraway, huh…” I said, sounding a little disappointed about it. “Can Sally stay with me?” Mom asked. “It’s been so long and with only a couple of days left…” Sally went over to her and hugged her. Mom looked at me and beckoned me to her.

I made my way to her and embraced her as well. “I love you, Kel,” she said with a shaky voice. “I’m proud of the man you have become. And I am sure your father is, too.” I could feel the tears creep up but I had to be strong. “I love you too, Mama. I’ll see you again, okay?” I assured her. I’m going back for her, that’s a promise.

I looked over to my friends. “Well, I guess we’re going back now, huh?” I told them. “We didn’t come here for nothing,” Sunny said as she pointed at Mom who was still embracing Sally. “Yeah,” I said, “I guess so.” We made our way outside. “We’re going to have to walk back to the car.” Everyone groaned because the sun was already blazing in the late morning sky. 

It took us a while to get to the car but even then we had to wait a bit more because the inside of the car was burning hot. “While we wait,” Aubrey began to speak, “Sunny. How sure are you that Hero is back in Faraway?” Sunny thought about it. “I’m about 75% sure because if he didn’t go there to visit Mari, he would’ve visited Kel and Sally.”

This made sense. After a while, I checked the inside temperature, it was cool enough now. “Okay everyone, let’s get back to Faraway and hopefully see Hero again.” Everyone hopped in, buckled their seatbelts, and I drove off.

The car ride back was dull, but at one point I noticed Sunny in deep thought staring out the window. “Whatcha thinking about, bud?” I asked him. He shook his head, probably out of his daydreaming, and turned to the rearview mirror. “It’s just that,” he started to speak, “The meteor’s getting really close.”

When he said this, everyone took a good look at it. He wasn’t kidding, It was about half the size of the moon at this point and it was slowly getting bigger. Anxiety crept up to my stomach, only now realizing that the end was near, and it was inevitable.

“Three days…” Kim muttered, “What do we do in those three days?” “We make the most of them,” Basil said. “You’re right... I’ll have you guys, and that should be enough,” Kim said, choking up a bit. “Wow, Kim, I never took you to be so emotional,” Aubrey quipped, which made Kim a little flustered. “You would be too!” Kim exclaimed.

This got the whole car laughing but Kim wasn’t having it. Thankfully Basil assured her and calmed her down. Those two married goofballs, I thought, they were made for each other. Then I started to realize something, I was alone. Sunny has Aubrey and Basil has Kim, but me? I have no one.

Sunny must’ve noticed me from the middle seat. “Is everything alright, Kel?” he asked me. I just put on a smile and nodded my head, “I’m fine, Sunny! Don’t worry about me too much.” “Kel… You know it’s not right to keep thoughts bottled up while the world’s about to end, right?” I sighed.

“I guess I’m feeling… Alone?” I started to speak, “I look at you guys and I see that you have each other. Sure I had Sally to keep me company but I never had someone… special, you know? I guess I’m just jealous, it’s not a big deal.” Everyone looked solemnly at me. “Come on, guys. Why the long faces?”

“Kel…” Basil spoke, “You know we love you, right?” I was taken aback by this statement, “Yeah, but—“ “Isn’t our love enough?” Aubrey chimed in. “Well yeah, of course. I love you guys too, but there’s something different about having a special someone, you know? Much like what you guys have going on right now.”

The rest looked at each other, “Kel, we don’t want you to feel alone during the end of the world,” Sunny said, “Did you have anyone you liked? It’s not too late. Maybe you can find closure with that person before, you know…” I thought about it. Do I like someone? I mean, I didn’t really think about it too much back then. Although…

//////////

I gasped for air, “That was only twenty meters?” I exclaimed, trying to catch my breath. “Yeah,” said Cris, “But you did a good job, just under fifty seconds, that’s not bad for a beginner.” Cris is too humble sometimes. I remember when she first demonstrated she swam across in thirty seconds flat. That’s hella impressive.

“Thanks, Cris,” I said as I carried myself to sit on the edge of the pool. I took a look at Cris in her dark blue swimsuit, paired with her light blue hair. Her color palette was basically screaming “swimmer” out loud. I guess it’s not much to say that she was beautiful the way she was, too. She has that professional swimmer body that would make any guy fold, but did it include me?

I never thought about her that way. She was always a good neighbor and an even greater friend. But what would she be like as a girlfriend? More specifically mine? I started to blush while staring and she took notice, “You alright, Kel?” she asked me, “You’re blushing.” I felt so embarrassed, “Ah it’s nothing, haha…” I lied.

“Hey Cris,” I said. “Yeah?” she asked as she looked into my eyes, her beautiful green eyes mesmerized me so that I forgot what I was about to say. “Uh…” I stammered, “Are you seeing anyone?” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why did I ask her that? She was caught by surprise by my question, “Well no, not really. Why?”

I felt my face turning red, “Well, I just thought that an awesome girl like you would have a boyfriend by now.” I noticed that she started to blush as well, “Oh, that’s flattering, Kel. But uh, I’m not really looking for a relationship right now.” I felt my heart crushed when she said that but I remained cool.

“Bummer, you would make an awesome girlfriend!” I gave her a big smile. She smiled back, “I’ll consider it, Kel.” Wait what? I turned even redder, “Nonono, I didn’t mean it like that!” I waved my hands around like an idiot but Cris just laughed, “I’m teasing, silly,” she said. I sighed in relief, “But I wouldn’t mind if it were you, Kel.” I blushed harder.

//////////

“I guess I liked Cris at one point,” I stated. Everyone almost jumped out of their seats, “Cris?!” Aubrey exclaimed, “You mean your blue-haired neighbor? The one that taught you how to swim?” “I mean yeah,” “Duuuude. She had, like, the biggest crush on you!” I stopped the car dead in its tracks, causing everyone to recoil forward. “WHAT?!”

“Ow,” everyone complained. I apologized and continued, “Aubrey, what do you mean she had a crush on me?” Aubrey was scratching her head, “I meant what I said, idiot. Cris had a crush on you.” Had? Oh man, it was only back then. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. “It’s not my secret to tell.” “But you just told me right now!” “I mean yeah. The world’s going to end, so I might as well throw it out there.”

I gave a big sigh, “I haven’t spoken to her since the news of the end. Is she still even there?” I asked no one in particular, “Will she even remember me?” Suddenly, Sunny’s hand appeared beside me, pointing at something outside the car. “Isn’t that—Her?” I looked to where he was pointing, and holy shit, it was Cris!

Chapter Text

What are the chances? I quickly jumped out of the car and ran towards Cris, waving my hands in the air while shouting her name. She noticed me and I saw her eyes sparkle for a bit. She started to run towards me as well with her arms wide open. She jumped right into my arms which almost knocked me over.

“Kel!” she exclaimed, pressing her head deep into my chest. “Where have you been?” she hit me weakly on the shoulder, pouting as she did. “I had to drive my friends around,” I explained, “How did you know where to find us? And how did you get here alone?” “I asked Mikhael, he told me you guys went to visit Hero. As for getting here, I just kind of… walked.”

I was shocked to hear this. “How long have you been walking for?! You must be tired, come on, get in our car.” “Thanks, Kel, but can I just talk to you alone for a second?” I gulped but tried to remain calm. “Sure… What is it?” “Well, I wanted to tell you this before the world ends and whatnot.” “Uhuh… Cris, you’re red.” She was taken aback by this, “So are you, silly.”

That was true, after what I just heard from Aubrey, I couldn’t help but blush when I saw Cris for the first time after so long. “Well yeah… I didn’t expect you to come all the way here. We haven’t seen each other since the news and I’m glad to see you again.” “T-Thanks, Kel…” she said, still blushing hard. “So what did you want to tell me?” I asked her.

She opened her mouth to say something but hesitated, “You know what, never mind. My legs are killing me right now.” “Let’s head to the car then, my friends are in the back seats, you can ride shotgun.” She nodded her head and held out her hand, “Come on, let’s go!”

I took her hand and made our way to the car. I led her to the passenger seat and opened the door for her, “Wow, very chivalrous of you, Kel~” she said in a teasing way. I just laughed and closed the door for her. I made my way to the driver’s seat and when I opened the door I saw that Cris was talking to my friends.

“I can’t believe you walked all the way here, Cris!” Aubrey exclaimed, “All just to see Kel, too,” she smirked at the both of us. Dammit, Aubrey , I thought. “Well, I mean…” Cris began to speak, “I haven’t seen him since the news broke out about the world ending and I thought I should see him before it happens.”

This made the both of us blush. “Anyways,” I broke the awkward tension, “Glad to see you again, Cris. We’re going to head back to Faraway now to see Hero.” “Speaking of Hero,” Cris spoke, “Doesn’t he own a blue Civic?” I nodded my head, “Yeah, why?” “Well, I saw one pass by while I was walking last night. He must’ve not recognized me.”

“Then we still have time to catch up with him,” I said before slamming my foot on the gas pedal. Everyone recoiled back but Cris just laughed which made my stomach drop. Not sure if it was from the adrenaline or something else… Anyway, it wouldn’t take too long before we made it back to Faraway.

…

It was in the middle of the afternoon when everyone started to fall asleep. Well… everyone but Cris. I noticed she was just spacing out. “Aren’t you tired, Cris?” I asked her. She shook her head, “I can’t sleep for some reason. I feel – excited? I don’t know, I’m just not tired.” I nodded my head. I thought about what she was about to say to me earlier. But I didn’t want to pry.

“Hey Kel,” Cris spoke, “Since the world is gonna end and stuff…” “Yeah?” “Do you – maybe – wanna go for one last swim at Faraway Beach?” “I would love to, Cris. I miss hanging out with you!” She blushed, “Me too, Kel.” Then we sat in silence for a moment only for her to break the silence again.

“Hey, Kel.” “Yeah?” “You know what – never mind…” “Cris…” I said with a hint of concern, “You’re like one of my best friends. You know you can tell me anything, right?” She turned away from me, “Yeah, I know… But it’s a little embarrassing to say.” “I won’t judge, I promise,” I assured her. “Okay, promise you won’t laugh?” “Promise.”

She took a deep breath, “I have liked you for the longest time now…” I swear all of the blood in my body rushed to my face. “Oh…” was all that I could think of saying. Cris covered her face but eventually just sighed, “I told ya it’s embarrassing…” “Nonono,” I blabbered out, “I get it… I think… I feel the same…”

I felt a punch on my shoulder which almost made me swerve in the road, “Ow!” I exclaimed, “What was that for?” “Stop playing with me, Kel!” she retorted, “It’s not funny. I know you’re a bully and all but… Wow…” I felt my cheeks go red, “I—I’m not… joking…” I tried to say but it only came out as a whisper. 

“What did you say?” she asked, “I couldn’t hear you.” I had trouble finding the right words, “I said I—I’m not joking about what I said.” In the corner of my eye I saw that she was blushing so she looked away. “I think I like you too, Cris…” I told her, “Maybe for longer than I realized.” She punched me again, “Ow! What was that fo—” Then I felt a peck on my cheek.

I had to take my eyes off the road to see Cris, whose face was just as red as mine. We made eye contact for a second until I had to keep my eyes on the road again. “Cris… I—” I stammered. “I’m sorry, that was too bold of me,” Cris shyly responded. “Nonono,” I blabbered again, “I—I don’t mind,” I assured her.

“It’s fine Kel,” she said, “You don’t have to lie to m—” I interrupted her by kissing her cheek in return. “There,” I said with my face completely red, “Now we’re even.” I saw her smiling which sent butterflies in my stomach. Maybe I won’t be so alone now , I thought to myself as I saw the “WELCOME TO FARAWAY” sign a few blocks away from now.

Chapter Text

We’re here already? It didn’t feel like a long time since we picked up Cris right outside of Farpoint City. I noticed that Kel was smiling really hard as he stared at Cris in silence. Cris was smiling too… What did I miss? As much as I didn’t want to interrupt this solemn moment between the two, I had to ask.

“Are we already there?” I asked which surprised the two. “Oh, good afternoon, Sunny! Yeah, we just got back to my house, and look—“ he pointed at a blue Civic that was parked right outside, “You were right, Hero went back here!” I didn’t know if I should be excited or not. I had this very uneasy feeling in my stomach – until it started to grumble.

Kel took notice of this, “Oh, you hungry, Sunny?” he asked, “We can go inside the house! If Hero’s there, he can help cook food for us.” As he said this, everyone else slowly started to wake up from their nap. Aubrey in particular stretched her arms out, letting out a huge grunt from her. “We’re – yawn – already here?” she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

“Yep. And I think Hero is here as well. His car is parked right there,” Kel spoke, “Come on everyone, you guys must be hungry. Let’s head inside the house so we can eat.” Everyone made their way out of the car, stretching our entire bodies when we got out. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked to see it was Aubrey.

“You feeling alright, Sunny?” she asked with concern in her voice, “Are you nervous?” I let out a soft giggle, “I’m very nervous. I haven’t seen Hero in a long time, and honestly, I don’t know if he wants to see me,” I admitted. Aubrey pulled me in for a hug, “You’ll be fine, Sunny. We’ll be here in case anything happens.” “Thanks, Aubrey.” “Anytime, Sunbun.”

When everyone got settled we started to make our way into Kel’s house. We noticed the door was slightly ajar so we figured Hero was inside. Kel opened the door. “Hero?” his voice echoed in the house. But soon after, we smelled something that made our mouths water. “Is that–“ Kel sniffed, “The smell of hotdogs?” 

We all made our way into the kitchen where we saw a whole platter of hotdogs on the table. “Did Hero cook this?” Kel asked, “I’m gonna try to find him, see if he’s still here.” Kel made his way out of the kitchen, shouting for Hero as he did. Cris followed him, leaving the four of us at the kitchen table.

“So do we just – dig in?” Kim asked, obviously tempted to eat what seemed to be freshly cooked hotdogs. “Let’s wait for the others,” Basil suggested. “Nah,” Aubrey said as she grabbed a hotdog and ate it. We all just followed suit because we were so hungry. “He’s not here,” we heard Kel say from outside the room.

Kel walked in on us with our mouths full of hotdogs, “Wow, you guys are really hungry huh?” he showed us that goofy smile he always used to show. “Leave some for Cris and me. Hero’s not in the house so he probably went somewhere else if I have to guess.” The rest of us just nodded. Cris and Kel eventually joined us eating the hotdogs.

After a few minutes, we were all done eating. We didn’t even notice it was late in the afternoon, nearing sunset. “We have to find Hero before it gets dark,” Kel suggested. “Where could he have possibly gone?” I had a gut feeling I knew where he was, but I could be wrong. “Why don’t we split up?” I proposed.

“Kel and Cris can try looking in my house, specifically the treehouse in the backyard. Basil and Kim can try going to the secret hang-out spot. And Aubrey and I can check the cemetery.” Everyone seemed to collectively agree with the plan. “Alright, let everyone else know if you find him, alright?” Kel spoke, “I want to see my brother again.”

After getting each other’s contact info, we split off to try to find Hero. Along the way, Aubrey and I just walked in silence. I was still very nervous, there was still this uneasy feeling in my stomach. Aubrey must’ve noticed. “It’s okay, Sunny,” she reassured me, “Hero won’t hurt you.” “I know he won’t, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

She bowed her head solemnly, “Look Sunny, as I’ve said before, Hero is a kind soul. He will push himself to forgive you because that’s what Mari would want him to do.” I dwelled on the thought of it. I hoped that Hero would forgive me, or at least say that he doesn’t hate me. I could accept Hero’s unwillingness to forgive me but I didn’t think I could bear him hating my guts.

“Well, we’re here,” Aubrey announced. We were right outside the church, standing in front of the tall doors. She opened them and we made our way inside. The church was silent. There weren’t even ambient noises, it was like I had gone deaf. “Quite the memory we share from this place, huh?” Aubrey spoke.

I cringed remembering the fight we had here seven years ago. I never wanted to hurt her, but Kel did most of the fighting for me. I just kept bandaging him until she eventually gave up. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Aubrey, back then.” I apologized, “Huh, but you didn’t do anything? You only stabbed me after not seeing me for four years but besides that…” She let out a giggle.

“If anything, I should be the one to apologize. I overreacted even though you guys only wanted to talk. I was a real piece of shit back then. Sorry about that, Sunny.” I just patted her shoulder, “It’s okay Aubrey, we were young and didn’t know any better. Besides…” A smile crept up on my face, “I didn’t mind getting beaten up by you.”

Aubrey lightly punched me in the shoulder. “Sunny!” she exclaimed, “I swear you turn into a completely different person when you’re in a church.” I just laughed, “I’m teasing, Aubrey. I’m just trying to loosen up before confronting Hero.” She just nodded. We made our way to the back door which led to the cemetery. I stopped a few feet away from it, trembling.

Aubrey took notice so she walked up to me and held my hand, “It’ll be okay, Sunny,” she reassured me, “I’ll be here.” I shook off the anxiety that had been bottling up inside me and took a deep breath. “Steady your heartbeat” , I remembered, “Don’t be afraid. It’s not as scary as you think.” We gently opened the door…

Chapter Text

This might be a bad idea , I thought as I finished writing the note for Mom. I kept thinking about it; owing my old friends a visit before the world ends. I instinctively looked outside the window. The meteor really was getting close. Maybe that was just what I needed to solidify my plans. I would go back to Faraway to at least see Kel and Sally again.

Perhaps I could try looking for the others when I get there. It had been so long. I had never really kept in contact with the rest of them. Would they still even be there? I was not so sure. Basil and Aubrey, maybe… Sunny… Oh God, Sunny…

//////////

“W-What…” I trembled after hearing the truth about Mari. Tears were falling. I had just shed more tears here than when I had heard about Mari’s death. After all these years… She hadn’t… I was so frustrated that I began to walk out of the room. Sunny bowed his head but I just walked past him. I angrily opened the door. “Hero!” Kel shouted after me, “Wait, come back!”

I made it outside and only then did I start to sob. I was broken, kneeling on the floor, gripping my chest through my shirt. My cries echoed through the hospital walls. Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be alright, Hero,” Kel reassured me. No, it won’t be , I thought, Not after this truth .

“L-Let’s just go, Hero,” Kel insisted, “We all need time to process this.” That was true. We started to walk down the hall when I heard the door to Basil’s hospital room open. I looked behind with teary eyes to see Aubrey with a frustrated look on her face. We made eye contact for a second but she broke it by looking down. Kel and I made our way out of the hospital…

//////////

The memory still felt fresh, even after all these years. I never confronted Sunny about it because he moved when he left the hospital. That was so selfish of him; to drop the news that was shocking only to leave us, without giving us the chance to ask questions. He had kept that secret for years, too. How could he live with that? After what they did…

If I ever saw Sunny again, I would confront him about it, if I didn’t beat the crap out of him first. I put the pen down, tucking the note on my mom’s bedside cabinet. I kissed her on the forehead, convincing myself that this was the last time I saw her. I felt tears forming in my eyes so I wiped them off.

I made my way out of the apartment and walked to the car. It was close to midnight so I stared at the night sky. The meteor was almost as bright as the moon. Three days left , I thought to myself, I’ll see you soon, Mari . I started the car and drove my way around the city because I remembered there was a barricade at the main entrance.

It would be a quick detour, I could probably make my way to Faraway in the morning at this rate so I didn’t have to worry. Fifteen minutes had passed and I made it past the barricade onto the main road. This would be a quiet ride back home so I played some tunes. I needed something to keep me awake until I got back to the town.

“ If the world was ending, you’d come over, right? ”

The lyrics really hit close to home. That was what I was doing at that time, coming back to my hometown since the world was ending. I was in the middle of the highway when I noticed someone walking by the side of the road. It appeared that she was a woman with blue hair. My instinct told me to ask if she needed help but I had to hold back, I couldn’t afford any more detours. So I just drove past her. She did look familiar but I shook off the thought.

I continued my journey back to Faraway. Thirty minutes had passed and I felt so drowsy, maybe I should’ve gotten some sleep before I drove. I slapped myself in the face, turning the music up louder to distract me from sleeping, but it wasn’t working. Eventually, I gave in and just stopped on the side of the road. I sighed before I reclined my seat and slept.

***

I woke up to the sound of my stomach grumbling. I had to get to Faraway before I would pass out from starvation. With no second thought, I drove off. It was very early in the morning, the sun was barely out and it felt calming. I enjoyed this. This feeling of solitude. But I snapped back to reality when my stomach grumbled louder.

***

It was midday when I got back to our place. It didn’t look like anyone was home though… I had to check. I parked my car and used the spare keys to open the door. “Hello?” my voice echoed throughout the house, “Kel? Sally? Is anyone here?” Silence. My stomach grumbled once more and I had enough of it.

I made my way into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Hotdogs. Perfect. I fired up the stove and prepped the hotdogs. I had pretty much perfected the method of cooking the best hotdogs. Those online cooking lessons and cookbooks had helped. Even the smell of them alone could saturate my hunger. They were that good.

I didn’t even notice I cooked up all the hotdogs. Oh well, more for later. I ate some of them and just walked around the house. Reminiscing on memories of this place brought me to tears. I wondered where Kel and Sally had gone. I hoped they were safe.

Eventually, I got bored and decided to walk around the town for a while. It brought more memories and nostalgia but this time, I felt at ease. Seeing all the familiar houses and establishments, I couldn’t help but feel glad that I was back. Then it hit me, the one place I hadn’t checked yet.

I stopped right outside of it. The religious statues stared at me with judgment in their lifeless eyes. I contemplated going in. I was scared. It felt like something was clamping on my neck. It felt like my chest was going to explode. But I persisted, Mari was waiting for me. I had to visit her at least one last time before I would see her in the afterlife.

I opened the doors to the church, closing them as I went into the building. It was so silent inside that it was deafening. I continued to walk toward the door to the cemetery. I braced myself for what could happen next. I gently opened the door.

The early afternoon blaze struck my eyes and touched my skin. My eyes had to adjust but eventually, I had a good look at the outside. Barren, which was to be expected, though I couldn’t help but feel like something was watching me. I shook it off, convincing myself it was only because I was in a cemetery. 

I made my way to Mari’s grave. “ Our Dearest Mari. The Sun shined brighter when she was here. ” I choked back a sob and knelt down in front of her grave. “Hey Mari,” I spoke, “I’m sorry I haven’t visited you. I think I was still being selfish. I made it back home to see Kel and Sally again but there’s no one home.”

“After I heard the truth about your death, a part of me was relieved. Because all that time I blamed myself. I thought I did something wrong which led you to do what you allegedly did. But when I learned the truth, I felt a great weight being lifted off my shoulders. I miss you more than ever, Mari. I hope I get to see you soon.”

I started to cry in front of her grave. Finally coming to terms with what really happened to her. I stayed there crying until my eyes began to hurt. I loved Mari. When she passed away, I never tried looking for other girls. None of them could ever be like Mari, which I guess was too naïve for me to think. 

I thought about the truth for a while. What would I say to Sunny if I saw him again? I know Mari would want me to forgive him. I couldn’t imagine all the burden he had to carry for all those years. I gasped for air as I finally gathered myself up. Suddenly I heard something creak over the distance. “Hero?” a voice spoke from the church door. 

Chapter Text

Oh God, he was here . “Hero?” Aubrey spoke up first. There he was, he had grown taller since I’d last seen him. He was kneeling in front of Mari’s grave and it looked like he was crying. He wiped his face, looking surprised to see us. “Aubrey… Sunny?” he faltered, “What are you doing here?”

“We came to see you, Hero,” Aubrey answered, keeping me behind her, “We thought you could be here. I’ll tell the others…” She pulled out her phone but Hero shouted, “No! Wait…” Then, he felt a bit embarrassed about his sudden exclamation, and continued normally,  “C-Can we just talk for a while? Without the others? I have a few things I want to say to Sunny…”

I tensed up but Aubrey held my hand. I stared into her eyes. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’ll be here in case anything happens. Trust me.” I nodded my head. I started to make my way to Hero, who looked like he was going to cry. When I was at arm’s length from him he lunged forward at me.

“SUNNY!” Aubrey called out, probably running at us but then I felt Hero’s arms around me. I could hear him crying on my shoulders, he was trying to speak but I couldn’t understand. I was so overwhelmed that I began to tear up, too. “I’m s-so sorry, S-Sunny…” he finally uttered. We stayed like that for a moment.

Seeming to finally regain his composure, he let go of me. “I shouldn’t have hated you for so long…” Hearing that kind of hurt me inside but I remained neutral. “You took responsibility, at the very least,” he continued to say, “You could’ve done so many things differently and things could have changed but… You were kids… You were scared and- and, I know you didn’t mean to kill Mari.”

When he said those words, I broke down. “Hero loved Mari,” the words Omori told me have come to haunt me again, “He loved her, and you killed her.” It was too much, “I’m sorry… Hero…” I said in between sobs, “I’m sorry… I’m really sorry…” The more I apologized the more the truth hurt me. Mari was gone, and it was all my fault.

I felt arms around me again, but this time it was Aubrey. “It’s okay, Sunny,” she reassured me, “We forgive you. Right, Hero?” I held back my tears to face Hero. He looked miserable but eventually, he shook it off, gathered himself, and tried to smile. “Of course,” he answered, “I forgive you, Sunny…”

“N-No, Hero…” I said, “I know you don’t forgive me.” “Sunny!” Aubrey exclaimed but I held her hand tightly, “I know you say you forgive me but your heart is telling you not to. I understand, Hero. I expected this.” Hero just looked at me with a disappointed face, letting me spill it all out. “I knew you could never forgive me, and I can accept that. But I just need you to know that I regret doing what I did. I never meant for all those things to happen. I’m really sorry, Hero.”

After I was done, Hero just stood there in silence. “Hero?” Aubrey pleaded, “Won’t you say something?” Hero remained silent. We just stood there waiting for his response. He shook his head as he tried to walk past us, “I think—I think I need more time…” he muttered under his breath. Aubrey looked angry, she grabbed a pebble and threw it at Hero.

“Seven years!” Aubrey yelled out as Hero turned to see what hit him. “Seven years, Hero! You had seven years and you still haven’t forgiven Sunny? Our friend?” Hero looked angry but Aubrey just continued, “He’s hurt, Hero. He’s been hurting for so long and the least we can do is to just—“

“What? To forgive him?” Hero yelled back, “I’ve tried to, Aubrey. I really did but—“ He kicked the ground in frustration, “A confession that big… You don’t know how many nights I’ve spent thinking about it. How many nights have I cried when I realized that Mari never killed herself? She died, not because of that, but because of YOU!” he angrily pointed at me.

Aubrey hid me behind her as Hero walked closer to us. “Hero… Sunny said he regrets it…” she tried to defend me. “What good does it do, Aubrey? It doesn’t bring her back!” Hero yelled out in frustration, “She’s gone! I used to accept that she was gone when she killed herself but ever since Sunny confessed the truth I—“ Hero started to choke up.

Aubrey slowly walked toward him trying to reach out her hand to comfort him, “Hero, it’s oka—“ “NO IT’S NOT!” Hero screamed as he slapped Aubrey’s hand away. She let out an audible gasp and she sounded hurt. I didn’t know what came over me but I immediately ran toward them and pushed Hero away.

When I did that, he stumbled backward and lost his balance. He fell and hit his head on a gravestone. “Hero?” Aubrey realized, “HERO!” she quickly ran over to him but I just stood there, shocked. “You did it again,” I could hear Omori’s voice taunting me in my head, “Once a murderer, always a murderer.”

I began to panic. I was hyperventilating as I just watched Aubrey checking up on Hero, she was panicking too. “Sunny!” she called out, “C-Call the others!” I tried to remain calm as I called Kel. The beeping of the phone echoed in my head, it sounded like the noise was surrounding me and it was loud. Very, very loud.

Eventually, Kel picked up the phone, “Hey Sunny! We didn’t find Hero here in the secret hangout spot. Did you guys find him?” he asked. “I- I-“ I stuttered, “Sunny? Is everything okay?” Suddenly Aubrey shouted loud enough for Kel to hear her, “KEL!” “Is that Aubrey? Sunny, what’s going on?” I put the phone on speaker. 

“Aubrey? What’s going on? Did you guys find Hero?” Kel asked. “Yes, but something went wrong, we need you guys here, now!” Aubrey ordered, “O-Okay, I’ll tell the rest. Stay right there, guys!” Kel ended the call. I was still in shock as to what I just did but I mustered up the courage to walk over to them.

“Is—Is he alright?” I asked Aubrey. She nodded and said, “He’s still breathing. He’s just knocked out.” Tears start to form in my eyes. I did it again… I hurt someone I loved… Aubrey noticed me starting to cry. “Sunny,” she said as she embraced me, “It’ll be okay. Hero will be fine. I promise I’ll explain to them what happened, okay?”

I still felt guilty. I still hurt my friend. “Whatever you try to do,” I heard Omori say, “You will only end up hurting the people you care for.” No. I could be better than that. “Sunny?” Aubrey asked, “Are you okay?” I shook my head, tears started to fall from my eyes. She hugged me once again, “I don’t know why this keeps happening to you, Sunny,” she told me, “You don’t deserve to go through these harsh things.”

“I-I’m sorry, Aubrey,” I said in between sobs, “I hurt someone again.” “Nonsense, you tried to help me. I have to thank you for that. But Hero…” She looked over at him still lying on the ground. “I should probably get him to sit up,” she said as she carried Hero and made him lean on the gravestone.

Suddenly, the church door flew open, and out came the rest of my friends. “Sunny! Aubrey!” Basil yelled out to us, “Is that—Hero?” He noticed Hero, who was unconscious on a gravestone. “What the hell happened, Aubrey?” Kim demanded, “Did you knock him out or something?” Aubrey looked at me, concern visible in her eyes, and sighed, “You guys might wanna sit down for this one…”

Chapter Text

Am-Am I dead? I looked around me and all I saw was a white void. “You’re here,” a voice came from behind me. I didn’t turn back, that voice… It couldn’t be… I turned around and suddenly a huge wave of emotions washed over me. It was her. It was- “Mari!” I cried out as I leaped to hug her. This must be a dream , I thought...

I stopped the hug to take a good look at Mari. She still looked the same as when we had last seen her. Her hair was still long and she was wearing a white dress. She looked beautiful. Well, she was always beautiful. She must’ve noticed me staring because she started to smirk, “Like what you see, Hero?” I started to get flustered.

“I-I didn’t mean to stare,” I explained, “Sorry…” She just let out a soft laugh, “Don’t be, Hero. I’m just teasing. It’s really good to see you again.” That was an understatement. I started to tear up, “I-I missed you, Mari!” I cried as I hugged her again. I missed her. I missed the warmth and safety I had felt every time I would embrace her.

“Aww Hero,” she said, “I’ve missed you too!” she smiled and it was like falling in love with her all over again. I kept crying, and she continued to caress my head. I must’ve been crying for a long while because Mari let out a playful giggle, “I’ve never seen you cry this much before,” she said. If only she knew what I had spent my time doing when she had passed away.

Eventually, I took hold of myself and stopped sobbing. “I’m guessing you have questions,” she told me. “Yeah… Quite a lot of them to be honest,” I replied, “Where do I even start?” Mari just smiled softly at me, “Take your time, Hero.” I pondered on it. I eventually decided to address the elephant in the room, “Am I dead?”

Mari just stared at me, still smiling. She put a finger on her chin, thinking about the answer. “Well…” she started to speak, “You’re not dead… But you’re not alive either.” I was confused, “So where am I?” Mari looked around, “You’re in a space that’s just white… I guess we’re in Whitespace?” 

Whitespace… It’s got a ring to it. “Well if I’m not dead, why are you here?” I asked, hoping I didn’t offend her. She pouted, “That’s kind of rude, Hero…” “I’m sorry, Mari.” “But that’s a good question. Hmm…” She thought about it again. “I guess I’m still looking out for you guys, no matter where you might be.”

I smiled, that does sound like something Mari would say. “Second,” I spoke, trying my best to be careful with what I say next. “Did it hurt?” She tilted her head, “What?” I gulped but continued asking her, “Did it hurt when Sunny…” She still looked confused. “Never mind…” I sighed, “How long have you been here?”

Mari pondered on the question again, “I guess I’ve been here for as long as I can remember. Though, I don’t really have a solid grasp on how time works here.” I understood. After all, there’s nothing here but an empty white void. “How are you feeling?” I asked her. She smiled, “I’m doing great now that you’re here, Hero.”

I was about to get emotional again but I composed myself. I put up a smile, “I’m glad I got to see you again, Mari.” She put her hand on my cheek, “I’m glad you’re here, Hero.” My smile grew wider, emotions still bottling up inside of me. “What happens next?” I asked her. She shrugged, “I’m guessing you have a choice.”

“A choice? What can I do?” I asked, fearing the answer to my question. “If I have to guess,” Mari spoke, “You can either stay here or you can leave.” I stood up, “B-But, I don’t wanna leave you.” Mari just smiled, “I know you don’t, Hero. That’s why I said you have a choice.” I thought about it deeply. To stay with Mari… Or come back to my friends…

“What about you? What happens if I leave? Will you be alone here?” I asked her. “Oh, Hero~~ Always thinking of others before yourself~~” she teased, “If I have to guess, I’ll go wherever I’m needed.” “So you won’t be alone?” “Nope.” This put me at ease for a bit. “Mari… What do I even do if I go back?” 

She pondered on the question again. “I think you should do what your heart tells you.” I sighed, “But my heart is full of anger and resentment. And it all leads to your little brother.” I winced when I said that, eyeing Mari to see her reaction, she remained neutral so I kept going, “You’re here because of Sunny. So am I. He hurt the both of us so—“

“Hero! You know that Sunny never meant to hurt us. It was partially my fault for what happened to me…” I looked shocked to hear this, “What do you mean? How is it your fault?” Mari sighed, “Look Hero, I’m not the perfect big sister that I appear to be. Deep down, I want things to go a certain way, my way.”

“And sometimes I get carried away. I push people and things to get the results I want and, well—Sunny experienced that firsthand.” She started to look sad so I put my hand on her shoulder, “What did you do?” I asked her. She tried for a smile but I knew she was hurt, “I would push him to be better. Every. Single. Time. And I guess the pressure got to him…”

“The day of the recital, he threw his violin down the stairs. I was so… furious that I-I got so mad at him, I scolded him but he didn’t say anything. He tried to walk away, and I blocked him but then he—“ her voice started to falter. “I know that Sunny didn’t mean to do what he did. We were both at fault…”

“When I… passed away I would show up in his dreams. Begging him to forgive himself so my soul can rest. One faithful day, the day he was going to move from Faraway, he found the courage to tell you guys the truth. Part of me was happy for him, the way he took responsibility for his actions.” Mari just smiled reminiscing on the past.

“I don’t know what happened to you, Hero.” She told me, “But I hope you can forgive Sunny for what he did to both of us. And just for the record, I’ve forgiven him the day it all happened. You should too. At least your soul can find peace in the afterlife.” I started to tear up so I hugged her again.

“Oh Hero, you’ve always been clingy.” She let go of me, “But you should make your decision, Hero.” I thought about it. “Mari…” I spoke. “Yeah?” “If I leave, will I see you again?” “Of course! I’ll always be there for you guys, wherever you might be.” I smiled at her answer. It’s settled, then.

“Okay, Mari, I wish to leave and return to my friends,” I told her. She smiled at me, “Good choice, Hero…” I felt my body slowly fade into nothing. I started to hear noises coming from everywhere. “I’ll see you soon, Mari…” I told her as my vision began to become blurry. I slowly started to see just darkness…

***

“What do we do?” a voice came from what I assume was behind me. “What if he doesn’t wake up?” the voice sounded familiar… “K-Kel?” I asked as loud as I could mutter. I finally had vision, I was still in the cemetery, leaning on a gravestone. I tried to get up but I didn’t feel strong enough. 

“Hero!” Kel shouted out. I looked behind me to see more people around. But before I could see how many were there, Kel ran toward me and embraced me. “You’re okay!” he cried out loud. I patted his back, “Yeah… I’m okay.” I finally found the strength to stand up. I patted down any dirt I had gotten on me while I had been unconscious and took a good look at everyone.

Sunny and Aubrey were there, but so were Basil, Kim, and— “Cris?” I asked out loud. “Hi Hero,” she responded shyly. “I don’t know if you knew this but you kind of drove past me somewhere along Farpoint City.” The realization hit me so hard that I facepalmed, “Oh, it was you! My bad, Cris.” She just laughed it out.

“Hero?” Aubrey asked, keeping Sunny by her side, “Are-Are you okay?” she asked with so much concern in her voice. I walked towards them, making it known that I meant no harm. I reached them, knelt, and motioned Aubrey to move away from Sunny. She trusted that I would not hurt him.

I embraced Sunny, to which he started to embrace me back, crying as he did. “It’s okay, Sunny. I understand the guilt you must feel, but you should remember that Mari would want you to forgive yourself. You’ll forgive yourself, won’t you, Sunny?” He managed a weak nod, “And as for me, I’ll be fine. And if anything, I should apologize for shouting. I wasn’t thinking.” His sobs got quieter. “And Sunny?” he looked up at me, finally noticing that I was being genuine with my words. “I forgive you.”

Chapter Text

I did it . Hero’s words echoed in my mind. They forgave me. All of them forgave me. I have finished my mission and the world hasn’t ended yet. Now what do I do? I did everything I wanted to do. I looked up at the sky. The meteor was illuminating the twilight. After tonight, we’ll only have two days left. What the hell do we do until then?

“Um guys,” Kel broke the silence, “It’s getting late, we should head back.” Everyone looked up at the sky. Aubrey held my hand tightly, “It’s so close…” she said, her voice trembling as she spoke. I firmed my grip, “We have each other,” I assured her. “Where do we go?” Basil asked. We kind of just stared at each other.

“Kim can stay at my place,” Basil suggested, “Polly wants to talk to her.” “I can stay with Hero and Kel,” Cris spoke out, “I have some things I want to tell them.” That leaves me and Aubrey, “Sunny can come with me to my house,” Aubrey suggested. Everyone just nodded their heads. “Can I say something to everyone before we leave?” Hero asked us.

Everyone turned to him as he composed himself. “Look guys,” he started to speak, “I know it’s been a rough week for everyone here. And we’re scared of what’s to come. But let’s not let the impending doom stop us from enjoying the time we have left. So I suggest this: We try our best to enjoy the day tomorrow. You can play arcade games in Hobbeez, go out for a walk in the park… Just enjoy ourselves, okay?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. “But on the last day,” he continued, “Let’s meet up again. I don’t know where yet but we’ll figure it out when the time comes. Does that sound good to everyone?” Everyone agreed with Hero’s plan. “So I guess we should go back and rest now. Big day’s coming up, right?” Hero let out a playful giggle that eased everyone.

“Hey, Sunny,” Hero called out, “You take care okay?” I smiled at him and nodded. Everyone started to make their way out of the cemetery. Aubrey and I were a little bit behind. Before we made it back to the church Aubrey pulled me aside. “Hey Sunny,” she sheepishly said, “I know I said that I would take you back to my place but it hasn’t really been in the nicest condition since we were last there.”

“So I was hoping that maybe we can stay somewhere else?” I pondered on her question, “But where can we stay? I don’t even know if my house is tidy. Heck, I don’t even know if it’s unlocked.” Aubrey pouted. “Aubrey, what if we just clean your place up instead? That way, we can just stay there instead of looking someplace else.”

“That’s a good idea, Sunny,” she said, “But are you sure you want to? It’s getting pretty late and you must be tired and—“ “Sunny! Aubrey! You guys good over there?” Kel shouted from inside the church followed by an audible slap. Silence. “Sorry for yelling!” he yelled out again followed by another slap.

“Yeah,” I said audibly, “We’ll be out in a minute.” I faced Aubrey again, “It’ll be fine, Aubrey. I don’t mind at all because I’ll be with you.” This made the both of us blush a little bit, “Oh, you,” she said as she pushed me gently, “Fine. My place it is then.” We held each other’s hands as we made our way out of the cemetery.

***

The walk back to Aubrey’s house was a quiet and serene moment we needed after everything that’s happened so far. We stopped by the front of her house and watched the rest continue down the road to theirs. “Bye Sunny! Bye Aubrey!” they all bid us farewell as we waved back at them, heading inside Aubrey’s house.

Her living room was in the same condition as when we were last here. I almost forgot that Vincent had come here before. “I’ll go check mom’s bedroom to see how much of a mess it’s in,” Aubrey told me, “I’ll be right back.” She went off while I stood in place. I took a look around and I noticed how eerily “clean” everything was.

Then I heard Aubrey gasp from the corridor. I rushed to see what happened to her but was a little confused to see her covering her mouth as she stared into her mom’s room. “Aubrey?” I called out to her, “What’s wrong?” I walked towards her, and only then did I notice that her mom’s room was tidy.

“Whoa, how is it so clean?” I asked her, “I- I don’t know… I could’ve sworn it wasn’t like this when we were last here.” I noticed something else, “What’s that?” I pointed at a note on the bed. “This is weird…” she muttered. I walked into the room to grab the note. I glanced at it, my eyes widened when I read the first few words. “It’s from your dad.”

“What?!” she exclaimed. She rushed toward me and grabbed the note from my hand.

“Aubergine, I know this might confuse you but I went back to check up on you but you weren’t here. I hope you’re safe wherever you are- if you even find this letter. I cleaned up the whole house like we used to when you were little. I miss those times. If you ever find this letter just remember that I love you. Even when I wasn’t with you, I still loved you. Be happy, okay, Aubrey?”

I noticed her voice was trembling while she was reading the note, “You okay, Aubrey?” I asked her. She wiped her tears, “I’m happy, Sunny,” she answered, smiling widely at me, “I wish Dad knew that.” I patted her on the back, “He does,” I told her. “Well,” she motioned toward the bed, “I’m tired, Sunny. I know you are too, so let’s just head to bed, okay?”

I agreed and we both dropped on the bed. “So what do you plan on doing tomorrow?” she asked me, “Y’know. Hero said we should enjoy our day tomorrow. What do you have in mind?” I thought about it, then an idea came up. “Well, we could just stop by the park, sit on the swings and just talk like old times.”

Aubrey smiled at the thought, “That sounds lovely, Sunny.” I gave a slight chuckle, “It isn’t much but it will mean a lot for the both of us.” “You’re right,” she yawned, “Welp, I’m beaten. I’m gonna sleep now, Sunny. Good night.”

“Good night,” I replied.

“Sweet dreams,” she said. I was taken aback but I smiled warmly.

“Sweet dreams,” I replied.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you, too,” I replied.

Tomorrow will be a good day.

Chapter Text

I was a little scared when Basil said Polly wanted to talk to me. I knew that Polly took her job as Basil’s caretaker very seriously. However, it wasn’t the first time I talked one-on-one with her. There was some time after Mr. Rodriguez’s unfortunate passing that I visited Basil to check up on him. It wasn’t too surprising that Basil wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.

//////////

“Hello?” I called out as I knocked on their front door, “Basil? Are you there?” I was worried. I just heard about the news about Mr. Rodriguez the other day and I wanted to make sure Basil was okay. I heard footsteps from the other side of the door. “Basil? It’s me, Kim. I know we haven’t really talked in a while but I wanted to see-“

The door opened and I was surprised to see that it was Polly. “Hello, Kim,” she greeted with an endearing smile, “Unfortunately, Basil locked himself in his room.” This sent me into a quick panic, “Is he okay?!” I exclaimed a bit before biting my tongue and fixing myself for my reaction. Sally just held her gaze, “He’ll be fine. We learned our lesson the last time he locked himself in his room. He can’t harm himself this time around.”

I remembered Aubrey telling me about that incident. Sunny and Basil got into some sort of fight which led to Sunny losing an eye. I still couldn’t believe that Basil could do something as violent as that. From that day I stopped underestimating Basil. I would be extra careful with him whenever Aubrey was around.

I guess when Aubrey rekindled her friendship with Basil, and he started to hang out more often with the Hooligans, I started to appreciate Basil as a person. Part of me was still guilty of bullying him all those years. Maybe it was that guilt that kind of led me to develop feelings for him. The longer I knew him, the more I fell in love with him.

But I have to shake those thoughts off, Polly was standing right in front of me. “Can I come in?” I politely asked. Polly directed me to their kitchen table and I followed her. “Do you want tea?” she asked me. “Yeah, if it’s not a problem. I’m kind of thirsty.” “How come?” “Oh, uh…” How do I explain that I ran all the way here after hearing the news?

“It was pretty hot outside,” I explained. It was technically true. “I see. Well, I’ll make some iced tea for us then,” Polly said before walking to the kitchen. A few minutes went by and tea was ready. Polly poured me a glass and sat in front of me. “So Kim, how have you been?” “I’m doing fine actually. I just heard from my brother about… what happened a few days ago. So I wanted to check up on Basil.”

Polly smirked, “That’s really nice of you, Kim. But Basil might not be ready to talk to anyone right now. But I assure you, he’s in good hands. He’ll turn up sooner or later.” I smiled at her. Polly was always like the mother Basil never had but completely deserved. “Well, thanks for the tea, Polly. I should head back home. My brother and I had something planned today.” “How is he?”

I paused, “Hmm?” Polly giggled, “How’s your brother? I heard he’s working at Fix-It nowadays.” “Oh yeah, he says he’s lucky to have a job so simple. He just reorganizes the different tools and materials all day.” “That’s nice. How about you?” I tensed up, “Hmm?” Polly just smiled again, “Have you found a job yet?”

She must’ve noticed the way I tried to hide in embarrassment. “Oh I’m sorry to pry, Kim,” she said apologetically. “Nonono,” I panicked, “Err, I mean. It’s fine. I’m still trying to look for a good-paying job but I don’t think that Faraway has all the opportunities I’m looking for.” Polly nodded her head. “That’s true. But if you do end up moving somewhere else, Basil might be a little upset.”

I felt my heart flutter and my cheeks turning red. “Err… What do you mean?” I sheepishly asked. Polly laughed, “Oh I’m just teasing, Kim. You can always keep in contact with him when you move out.” She smirked at me. In panic, I tried to get up from my seat but I accidentally knocked over my glass of tea on the table.

“Oh, I am so sorry!” I mustered out as I went to clean it up. “It’s fine, Kim,” Polly said in such a calming tone which eased me. “I’ll clean it up, you should probably go now, shouldn’t you? Your brother must be looking for you by now.” I gulped, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry you have to clean up my mess, Polly.” “Oh, it’s fine. Goodbye, Kim.”

//////////

Now here we are. Sitting at the same table months later. Once again, face to face with Polly. “Hi, Kim,” she greeted with a warm smile. I still felt a little uneasy, facing Polly again after all this time. Basil wanted to make salad for us to eat so he had to go outside to grab some herbs and vegetables. This left Polly and I alone in the house.

“How have you guys been?” Polly asked, “It seemed like you guys have been on quite the adventure these past few days. I’m glad you all made it back home safe. When Basil didn’t text me for a while I started to get worried but then-“ she smirked, pointing at my finger with Basil’s flower-shaped ring.

I blushed hard and Polly must’ve noticed because she started to softly giggle. “Don’t be ashamed, Kim,” she reassured me, “I’m happy for you two. I’ve never seen Basil so giddy and happy in a long time. I’d like to thank you for that.” I just let out a nervous chuckle. “Oh, it’s nothing,” I said, “Basil has always been like that.”

“That’s true,” Polly confirmed, “But he’s happier when he’s with you. That’s all I’ve always wanted for him.” I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Suddenly, the backyard door flew open and Basil walked inside with different vegetables in his basket. Polly stood up, “Oh let me get that for you, Basil,” she said.

Basil just chuckled, “It’s fine, Polly. I got thi-“ he almost tripped if it weren’t for Polly catching him. “Uhuh,” Polly teased, “Come on Basil, I can make the salad for you guys. I remember that you said you wanted to do something with Kim in your room.” As Polly said this, I tensed up and stared at Basil, who just nervously chuckled.

“What is it, Basil?” I asked him, feeling my cheeks redden at the implication of Polly’s comment. He waved the awkwardness away. “I-It’s nothing,” he stammered, “We can do it later.” “You guys can do it now,” Polly insisted, “I know how tired you guys will be after doing what you have to in your room, Basil.”

If my cheeks weren’t red, they definitely were now. What do they mean? What are we going to do? I’m nervous, scared, and- intrigued. I shook off the thought. “O-Okay…” Basil confided. He walked over to me and held my hand. “Let’s go, Kim…” he said as he led me upstairs. My heart was beating fast.

He opened the door to his room and made me sit on his bed. “O-Okay, Kim,” he stammered, “This isn’t something I’m really used to but-“ I held his hand, “It’s okay, Basil,” I assured him, “Let’s- Let’s just get it over with, eh?” My cheeks were burning and my body felt hot. “O-Okay…” he surrendered as he turned back.

I inched closer toward him as I closed my eyes and leaned in for a kiss. But then I noticed something… A certain smell… I opened my eyes to see Basil look confused by what I was doing. “Uh, Kim?” he asked, “What are you doing?” Only then did I notice what he was holding. “B-Basil!?” I exclaimed, “Why do you have that?”

He just tilted his head in confusion, “You’ve tried this before right?” he asked, “I wanted to try it with you.” I was shocked. Basil wanted to try weed with me. “I mean, yeah,” I explained, “But this is all so sudden. I’m just confused.” Basil bowed his head, “O-Oh…” he sheepishly replied, “I-I guess we don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

I grabbed his hand that was holding the bag of weed. “I didn’t mean it like that, silly,” I explained, “I’m just surprised you trust me enough to help you through the whole thing.” “Well, of course, Kim. I love you.” I tensed up and blushed at this comment, “Basil… grumble grumble …” He kissed me on the cheek.

“So you still want to try it?” he asked me. “Of course. I’ll make sure you’ll be safe.” I answered.

Chapter Text

Kel really does snore loudly . I woke up to the sound of Kel not being able to breathe properly. Hero was kind enough to offer his bed for me to sleep on while he slept on their couch downstairs. Maybe he knew better than to sleep in a room with Kel. I sat up on the bed, eyeing Kel as he continued to dream vividly – and loudly.

I stretched my arms and stood up. I think it’s a perfect day for a morning jog. Then I stared out the open window. The meteor was inching closer the more I stared at it. It was a half bigger than the moon, I guess we’re all in for it now. I picked up my bag, left their bedroom, and went downstairs. When I exited the hallway I saw Hero putting on some running shoes.

“Good morning, Hero,” I greeted. Hero looked at me and smiled. “Good morning, Cris,” he replied, “I’m just going out for a jog, wanna join me?” I nodded my head, “I was about to go for a jog myself but sure. It’s always nice having someone to talk to while jogging.” “Perfect! Do you have the right shoes to jog?” I nodded my head as I pulled out my bag.

I took out my favorite pair of running shoes and put them on. “I’m ready!” I exclaimed. Hero let out a soft giggle, “Alright, let’s go!” I followed Hero out the door. “What path do you usually take when you go out for a jog?” Hero asked me. I explained my usual path around Faraway. Going around the neighborhood houses, then the park, then the plaza, and right around.

“Cool, I’ll just follow your lead then,” Hero said, “It’s been a while since I’ve been here after all.” I just smiled at him, “Sure thing, Hero. Let’s go!” We headed out into the streets. We caught up with each other’s lives. I learned about Hero’s time out in Farpoint City. He explained how he worked as a nurse for a while until he realized that the job wasn’t for him.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he explained, “I loved helping people. But it was exhausting, and I realized I enjoyed serving the patients food rather than treating them.” I smiled at the thought, I’ve always heard from Kel that Hero’s cooking was to die for. I’ve been aching to try it ever since Kel mentioned it and it feels like now’s the perfect opportunity to ask.

“Hey Hero,” I said, “I heard from Kel that your cooking is really good.” Hero looked embarrassed, “Oh. Everyone who knows me says that. They’re just exaggerating.” I hmphed, “Sure, dude. Everyone keeps saying you’re humble about it so I don’t know who to believe.” Hero just laughed. “Tell you what, I’ll cook something up when we return to my place.” I cheered, “Looking forward to it.”

***

“So Cris, what about we talk about something else?” Hero spoke out, we’ve already made it to the plaza and were taking a short break before heading all the way back. “What is it?” I asked him. He just smirked, “What’s going on with you and Kel?” he asked. I felt my cheeks get flustered, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.

Hero just laughed, “So my assumption was right then.” He said with a hint of accomplishment, “Good for you guys. Always thought Kel needed someone to balance out his ecstatic nature.” I didn’t dare to face Hero, “I-I mean… Yeah, when he’s around me he usually calms down.” “That’s a superpower I wish I always had, Cris.”

I laughed at his comment and finally turned to face him. “How about you, Hero?” I asked him, “How have you been in that category?” Hero lost the smile he was wearing but quickly smiled again when he noticed my reaction. “Well uh- I haven’t had time to go out and find someone. I didn’t really think about it all that much.”

I somehow knew he was lying. I remember Kel talking to me about what happened to Hero when Mari died. They were so in love with each other that by losing Mari, Hero lost his other half. He loved Mari so much he could never love someone else the same way. “It’s okay, Hero,” I assured him, “Let’s head back now, shall we? You have breakfast to cook.” Hero laughed, “I guess I do.”

***

When we arrived back at Hero’s place, Kel was outside the house doing some stretches. He noticed us and waved his arms around. “Good morning, guys!” he greeted, “I was wondering where you guys went.” “We just went out for a jog, that’s all,” I explained, “I was half expecting you to still be asleep.” “You kidding? And miss out on this beautiful morning sky?” I looked up, the sky was a bit redder than usual.

We all stood there in silence, knowing the implication of such a phenomenon. “Well,” Hero broke the silence, “I’m going to cook us breakfast. Cris said she wanted to try out my cooking.” Kel looked so surprised, “Aw yeah! You’re gonna love his cooking, Cris. They’re literally to die for.” Kel’s expression looked like he was imagining my reaction to Hero’s food. “I’ll go ahead and cook some breakfast now.” Hero said before walking inside.

“Hey Kel,” I spoke out, “I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out for a swim at the beach today. Y’know, like how we used to.” Kel looked so excited and happy, “Oh for sure! I missed swimming with you, Cris. Your skills always impressed me.” I blushed at his response. It’s scary how Kel’s compliments always manage to get me acting like this.

“Well, let’s head inside and ask Hero if I could take us to the beach.” I nodded my head. We made our way into their house and just talked some more. Catching up and reminiscing on old times. When Hero was done cooking breakfast and we started to eat, I was amazed by how good it was, “Wow Hero,” I exclaimed, “They really weren’t kidding. This food is to die for!” Hero laughed, “Glad you guys like it.”

“Hey Hero,” Kel said while he had his mouth full of food, “I was wondering if it was okay if Cris and I could go to the beach and go out for a swim like we used to.” Hero looked suspiciously at me, “Just the two of you?” he asked. Kel almost choked, “I mean, if you want you could join us.” Hero just giggled, “I’m teasing. Sure, yeah. You guys could go, I wanted to visit Mikhael’s place because I heard they were having trouble with something.”

“Cool!” Kel exclaimed as he kept feasting on his plate. Oh, Kel… He doesn’t even realize just how big of a deal just us two swimming together is. Part of the reason I admire him is his nonchalant nature. Everything to him is just something fun to experience. He must’ve noticed me staring at him. “What’s wrong Cris?” he asked me, “Can’t finish your breakfast?” his smile grew wide, “I can finish it all up for you if you want!”

I just laughed at him. “Nothing, Kel. I’m just concerned about the speed at which you eat. It’s like you’re just inhaling the food. I’d encourage you to slow down.” Kel just looked dumbfounded. He eventually smiled back at me, “Well if it makes you feel less concerned...” “Nono, feel free. It’s- It’s kinda cute seeing you eat like that.”

His face got flushed and he just stared at his food. I love seeing him all flustered. “I’m teasing, Kel,” I assured him, “Sorry if I made it awkward.” All this time, I forgot that Hero was sitting right next to us, just watching the whole scene occur. He cleared his throat, “Well, I’m stuffed. Take care and have fun on your beach adventure, you two.” He smiled at us, “I’m going to head over to Mikhael’s place. See you guys!”

Hero got up and left. Kel was still eating his breakfast. Does he not get full? “Kel,” I spoke out, “Don’t eat too much or you’ll get a cramp when we swim.” He sat still, realizing that I was being serious. He gulped down his last bite. “You’re right,” he said, “Welp. I’m ready to go if you are!” he smiled. I just shook my head at his silliness.

***

Afterward, we packed our stuff and made our way to the beach. The trip to the beach wasn’t too interesting. We already exhausted our social battery talking during breakfast. But it was nice traveling in silence, taking in the – err – view of Faraway. I leaned on the passenger seat, aching to move my body. I guess you could say that my body was yearning for the sea. But that sounds stupid.

“I can’t wait to swim with you, Cris,” Kel said out of nowhere, “It’s like my body is – what’s the word? Begging for the sea?” My eyes widened at the parallelism of it all, “Wow. That sounded stupid,” Kel continued, “My bad.” I disagreed, “No, I- I get it.” Kel looked at me, noticed my timid expression, and smiled wide.

We eventually made it to the beach. It wasn’t a surprise to see that it was empty. Though it looked like some people were here not too long ago. Kel and I changed into our swimsuits and met up by the shore. He just put on orange swimming trunks (of course it’s orange) and I just put on the swimsuit I’ve been using since I started swimming professionally a few years ago.

“Do you not have any other swimsuit, Cris?” Kel asked. I blushed, I did bring something different but I wasn’t sure if it was—appropriate for this occasion. “Well…” I spoke out, “I do have something…” “Cool, you should wear that instead!” my body froze up, “A-Are you sure? It’s kind of awkward if I’m going to be honest…”

Kel just looked dumbfounded, “We’re just swimming?” he spoke out, “I don’t know what the big deal is.” I sighed in defeat, “Okay,” I said, “But you better not make things awkward, okay?” Kel just shrugged, “Okay… You’re acting really weird, Cris.” I hit him on the shoulder, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I went to the changing room and put on my bikini. I felt exposed and a little embarrassed, usually, I would never even think about wearing a bikini out in public. However, it will just be me and Kel. But I don’t know if that’s any better. I trust Kel not to make my swimwear a big deal. I made my way out of the changing room and the cool breeze of the beach made my body shudder. I made my way back to the shore where Kel was waiting.

Kel noticed me almost immediately. I saw him recoil a bit at the sight of me. He composed himself almost immediately and tried to act casual. I walked closer to him and he began to speak, “So uh… That’s what you meant.” I felt my cheeks flush at that comment and I looked away. He shook his hands in front and shook his head, “No no no!” he stammered, “I didn’t mean that it was bad. It’s cool. It’s really cool. It’s uh—“

I finally burst out laughing, “I get it, Kel,” I spoke out, “You’re just not used to seeing me like this.”

“I sure hope I do.”

“What?”

“What?” 

I was taken aback. Did Kel… Did he just..? I smirked, “Wow. I did not expect that from you, Kelsey.” Kel looked flustered. “It came out wrong, I- I’m sorry. That was probably weird of me.” “Kel…” I held his wrists, “It’s fine. Don’t beat yourself up 'cause you were staring, I understand.” Kel just chuckled a bit. “I guess you’re right. Sorry for making a big deal about it.” I laughed, “It’s fine, Kel.”

We just sort of stared at each other. It was silent. But it was a comfortable silence. “So…” Kel broke the silence, “Shall we go for a swim?” I nodded my head. I began to run toward the water, “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” I shouted out. Kel laughed as he ran at me. We jumped into the sea, immediately splashing each other with water.

“Ow!” Kel exclaimed, “You hit me right in the eye!” Concerned, I inched closer toward him but as soon I was inches away he splashed me straight in the face. “Kel!” I gasped, “You jerk!” I splashed right back at him. “I’m your jerk though, right?” he blurted it out. Again, I was taken aback, “I- I uh-“ Kel laughed, “Gotcha! I’m teasing, Cris, you’re so fun to tease!”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you staring, Kelsey.” I rebutted. His face reddened, “I uh-“ I splashed him again, “Now we’re even.” He smiled and we just started to float on our backs. “I’m glad I got to see you again, Cris,” Kel said out loud. “Me too, Kel,” I responded. Again, we floated in silence. I could get used to this.

Chapter Text

What could go wrong? Cris and I stumbled across Mikhael during our morning jog and he was surprised to see me. We made small talk and eventually, he asked me something I considered to be odd and specific, “Can you help my siblings bake some baklava?” I was surprised since baklava is an incredibly difficult dessert to bake.

I thought about it, and considering I had nothing else to do that day, I figured why not? “Sure,” I replied, “I can help after our jog.” Mikhael looked happy, “Thanks, Hero! My siblings are currently doing their ‘baking bucket list’ and they’re having trouble with baklava. So help from a profound chef like yourself would be greatly appreciated!”

I laughed, “It’s no problem, Mikhael. I’m glad to help Daphne and Bowen out, it gives me a chance to know them better.” “Thanks a lot, Hero,” Mikhael said, “Well I’m heading back now, I just got some ingredients for the twins from the store. Bye Hero! Bye Cris!” he yelled out as he began to speed walk back to his place.

“Well, that was – something,” Cris admitted, “Looks like you’re gonna be busy for today, Hero.” I sighed. “It’s fine,” I answered, “It’s not like I have anything else to do today.” Cris laughed, “Well, shall we continue?” she asked. I nodded and started to move forward, “Yes, we shall.”

***

When we arrived back home Kel was waiting for us outside. We talked for a bit until I had to excuse myself to cook breakfast. Not too long after, the two went inside the house to eat. Kel asked if he and Cris could go to the beach. I was intrigued. Was this Cris’s plan? I’d sure love to see how this played out so I allowed them.

“Well,” I said out loud after having to hear an awkward exchange from the two, “I’m stuffed. Take care and have fun on your beach adventure, you two. I’m going to head over to Mikhael’s place. See you guys!” I got up and went into the living room to grab some stuff. Once ready, I headed out of the house and onto Mikhael’s place.

I didn’t like having to walk again after jogging just a while ago. I also didn’t like how eerily red the sky looked. It was strange because I didn't feel scared. I felt – relieved? Knowing that it would all be over and I got to see Mari again just made me want the meteor to hit faster. I was in disbelief when I realized how messed up my thoughts were. I had to distract myself.

I finally reached Mikhael’s place. I rang their doorbell and waited for a response. Even just from standing outside the door, I could smell that they had baked a bunch of stuff. I was impressed they had the motivation to bake as much. I always preferred cooking big meals rather than baking pastries. But I had to help them with their baking bucket list.

Someone opened the door and it was Mikhael. “Oh hello, Hero!” he greeted, “You’re just in time, Daphne and Bowen were just about to start baking baklava. Come in!” I went inside and gosh there were a lot of pastries around. There were loads of bread just scattered around the house. I sure hoped they wouldn't eat those.

I went inside their kitchen where the twins laid down the needed recipes. Mikhael cleared his throat which got the twins’ attention. Their eyes lit up, “Hero!” they both exclaimed in unison, “You actually made it.” It was eerie the way they were in sync. It’s probably a twin thing or something.

“Hey guys,” I greeted back, “I see you already have the ingredients ready.” The twins nodded. “We will certainly need your help,” Daphne said. “It is the first time we wanted to bake something this difficult to make. But with you, it will be easier,” Bowen added. I gave a nervous chuckle, “I can’t be too sure the baklava we’ll make will be any good, but we’re going to try our very best, okay?”

The twins nodded. “Come, let us split the work so we can finish it faster,” Daphne suggested. We all divided the work, I was in charge of making the phyllo pastry while Daphne crushed some walnuts and combined other spices, and Bowen prepared the syrup. It was a long process of creating the phyllo for me so when the twins were done with their part, they helped me with the phyllo.

Then it was time to assemble the baklava. I remember that we had to alternate layers of phyllo and butter fourteen times, add the walnuts, and alternate layers again. It took a while but eventually, we were ready to put it in the oven. While we waited, I tried to start a conversation with the twins because I remember being good friends with them when we were younger.

“How was it staying in Farpoint, Hero?” Bowen asked. “It was okay,” I answered, “I had more opportunities to work there and I was a nurse for a while. Eventually, I got too exhausted and resorted to working in a well-known restaurant there.” The twins listened attentively… too attentively. It kind of creeped me out, the way their blank faces just stared at me while I talked.

“That’s good to hear, Hero,” Daphne said, “You found your purpose during your time in that city. Meanwhile, my brother and I are still burdened to bake for our family business. It is not that we hate baking, it is just that we have grown tired of the mundane cycle.” I nodded my head, that was what I felt while I had been a nurse.

“Did you guys ever want to do something else other than baking?” I asked them. The twins glanced at each other. “What do you mean?” they asked in unison. Again, it creeped me out, but I reiterated what I said. “I mean, did you guys ever have something you’ve always wanted to do besides baking?”

The twins looked confused and then shook their heads. “Throughout our lives, we have only learned how to bake. We did not have time to do any other activity.” “But the world is ending. You guys have got to have an actual bucket list other than just baking certain pastries, right?” I asked with a hint of concern.

The twins just looked more and more sad. “I’m afraid we do not, Hero,” Bowen replied, “What else is more to life than baking?” Daphne wondered. “Many things actually,” I answered. “You could learn how to ride a bike, or learn to dance, or maybe even learn how to-“ “Dance?” the twins uttered in unison.

Oh boy . “Yeah,” I nervously answered, “You guys never danced before?” the twins shook their heads. “Not even during prom?” I asked. Again, they shook their heads. “We did not go to prom,” Daphne said. “We were baking bread.” I facepalmed, “But you’ve heard of music before, right?”

The twins nodded, “We listen to this astounding artist called Doja Cat.”

…

What? “Doja Cat?” I asked for clarification. “Yes. You know, the woman who sang Paint the Town Red, Get Into It, and-“ “Yeah I know her. But… really?” The twins glanced at each other. “Yeah. We love her work,” Bowen responded. “Her lyrics are so profound,” Daphne added. They have got to be joking, right? Doja Cat is the last artist I expected the twins to listen to. Eventually, I sighed and went along with it.

“Okay. You guys listen to Doja Cat. Have you danced to any of her songs before?” I can’t believe I’m asking this. The twins shook their heads. But then Daphne raised her finger, hesitated, and put it back down. I noticed this and called her out, “What is it, Daphne?” She hesitated again but eventually came clean.

“Hero,” she started to speak, “Sometimes when I listen to her songs, I have this urge to move around. Is that normal?” I nodded, “Yeah, that urge you felt was the urge to dance.” “I have also felt the same,” Bowen added. Well, this was not how I expected this day to go. “Well, it’s settled,” I said, “You guys are going to dance to Doja Cat songs so you will know how it feels.” The twins nodded. “Okay, Hero,” they spoke in unison.

***

I still couldn’t believe I was doing this. I finished setting up the speaker in the twins’ room. They were just sitting up straight on their bed, observing me. “So… you guys ready?” The twins stared at each other, looked at me, and nodded. “Okay, I’m going to play a song now.” I pressed the button and Woman started to play.

Right off the start, I noticed Daphne tapping her feet to the beat of the song and Bowen was slightly moving his hands. I stood up and beckoned them to stand up as well. They were hesitant but eventually stood up. When the lyrics started to play, I bopped my head. The twins followed suit. I felt embarrassed but it had been a while since I had danced and this could be my last chance to do so.

I started to move my body to the song and the twins just eyed me. Their stares were creeping me out so I beckoned them again, “Come on, guys, dance!” I said to them as I danced without care anymore. The sudden rush of energy accompanied by the upbeat song felt rejuvenating. Suddenly, the twins started to dance along with me.

Bowen was moving his arms around and Daphne performed what was almost like a shuffle with her feet. I danced harder and so did they. I noticed the twins were smiling, they seemed to be enjoying this bizarre scene going on in their room. Three grown adults dancing to Doja Cat. This is what the end of the world does to you.

Eventually, the song ended and we were breathing heavily, tired from the extraneous activity we just performed. “That felt nice,” Bowen said, Daphne laughed and nodded her head, “I agree, that felt good.” We all just laughed. “So, how was your first dance?” I asked them with a smile. “We really enjoyed it!” the twins said in unison.

Then a thought just popped into my head. “Oh no…” I muttered. The twins looked confused, “What is wrong, Hero?” Daphne asked. “The baklava!” I exclaimed. Suddenly, all of us looked shocked and rushed downstairs. My stomach dropped when I saw the smoke coming out of the oven. “We overbaked the baklava…” Bowen said with disappointment.

We turned off the oven and took out the burnt baklava. “This is unfortunate,” Daphne muttered. Then, to my surprise, they just laughed. I stared in confusion. “Well, since we failed to bake baklava, I guess this gives us more time to dance, huh?” Daphne said with a big smile on her face. I laughed at her comment and nodded my head.

“I guess so,” I said. We went back up to their room, played another Doja Cat song, and danced again. It felt great dancing after years without it. Dancing with the twins somehow made the experience better because they did not know how to dance. But that’s okay, they both seem to be enjoying themselves.

I expected the day to go differently than this but it beat the boring process of baking. I wished Mari was here, we would dance sometimes when we were little, and I had learned the dance moves I was doing today from her. I miss her. I looked outside and the afternoon rays of the sun were shining bright. Today was a good day.

Chapter Text

The sense of doom wasn’t really dawning on me until I saw the sky look red. All of this couldn’t have been for nothing, right? I mean, my friends found their way back to me… Sunny was looking for me … I turned to see that he was still asleep. I remember back then Mari would say that Sunny slept like a cat and I wholeheartedly agree with her now.

I didn’t want to disturb him so I got out of bed. I was about to make my way to the kitchen when I remembered that I didn’t have any food to prepare. That would be a problem. I figured I should ask for some food from the brothers, but Basil’s house was much closer. It had been a while since I had seen Polly so I was looking forward to that.

I got ready to head out and ask Polly for some supplies. As I walked across the street, I saw Hero and Cris jog toward the park. Guess I wasn’t the only one who woke up early. I arrived at the doorstep of Basil’s house and knocked on the door.

…

I knocked again.

…

A little concerned, I tried to see if the door was unlocked, and to my surprise, it was. I quietly opened the door, careful to see if anyone else had intruded. I didn’t see anyone so I lowered my guard. Suddenly I heard a crashing noise from down the hall. I carefully made my way there, scared that someone might have gotten hurt.

As I walked through the hall I could hear faint laughter. It sounded like Basil and Kim. I walked toward the room and their laughter grew louder. Wait… what’s that smell? I thought as I peeked through the slightly opened door to see what was happening.

Wait… are they? I double-checked to see if my eyes were deceiving me, and they definitely were not. Basil and Kim were smoking weed. I wanted to interrupt and get an explanation from them but I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I recoiled and instinctively slapped the hand that just touched me.

I was surprised to see that it was Polly, who was holding a finger at her lips. I stayed silent and she gave me a sweet smile. She gestured for me to follow her somewhere else, and so I did. She led me to the living room couch and beckoned me to sit. “Sorry for barging in, Polly. I thought someone broke into the house because I noticed that the door was unlocked.”

Polly just laughed, “It’s okay, Aubrey. I was just in the garden, tending Basil’s plants.” “About Basil…” Polly laughed again, “Yeah it was all his idea. He thought that was the best way to spend his and Kim’s remaining days. I don’t know how he came up with it.” I remembered hearing from Kim a long time ago that Basil was selling weed. I never thought he would use it.

I guess Polly noticed my confused look and changed the subject, “So what brings you here?” I gulped and answered her, “I realized I didn’t have any food back at home and was wondering if I could have a little bit for me and Sunny to eat.” Polly nodded her head, “Of course. You can pick from the assortment of vegetables we have growing in the garden, or if you want, you can pick some meals in our fridge.”

I looked sheepishly at their fridge. I didn’t care about eating greens for breakfast but I didn’t know if Sunny would like them. “I could use some veggies for a salad,” I said, “Maybe I could look for something in the fridge that Sunny will definitely eat if that’s alright.” “Sure thing, come on, I’ll help you pick them out from the backyard.”

I followed Polly outside where we looked for vegetables in the best condition. I settled for cabbage, carrots, and lettuce; basic ingredients for a salad. After we were done picking them out, we went back inside where Polly had me choose something from their fridge. I scanned through the different food looking for something Sunny would eat. My eyes closed in on some meatloaf.

“I’ll take some meatloaf if you don’t mind, Polly,” I told her. She nodded and grabbed the container, then handed it to me. “Don’t worry about giving the container back,” she said as she giggled. I thanked her and prepared the things I was going to bring back to my house. “Hey Aubrey,” Polly started to speak, “I know it’s quite the topic to talk about but—“

I braced myself. “What are your plans today?” she asked, “If I remember correctly, the meteor is bound to hit in less than two days now.” I shuddered at the thought, “I don’t know but Sunny wanted us to go to the park swings and just talk, like how we used to.” Polly smiled warmly. “That’s sweet, a bit of nostalgia for your last moments here.”

I nodded. “Well you better get going now to prepare your breakfast,” Polly said. “You’re right. Bye Polly, thanks again for the food.” “You’re welcome.” We bid farewell and I made my way back to my house. I brought some extra veggies in case Sunny wanted some, but if he wouldn’t, I’d just finish everything myself. I made it back home. It seemed that Sunny was still asleep so I went and made our first meal of the day.

***

Sunny woke up just as I was done preparing our meals. “Good morning, Aubrey,” he greeted me with his morning voice. It surprised me to hear his voice go that deep. “Good morning, Sunny. I made us breakfast.” I gave him a warm smile. He rubbed his eyes and came closer to see the food I made.

“Is that meatloaf?” he asked. I nodded my head and handed him the plate. He grabbed it and took a good sniff of it. “Did you get this from Basil?” His question left me shocked. “How did you know?” “I remember eating these before. Couldn’t forget the unique smell of these meatloafs.” “Huh… That’s interesting.”

Sunny took a seat next to the kitchen table and began to eat. I took my freshly tossed salad and sat in front of him. We both ate in silence for a bit. “How is it?” “Really good. Thanks for breakfast, Aubrey.” “Don’t worry about it, Sunny. Figured we could use a full meal before we head on to the park.”

He smiled at me. I always loved it when he smiled. His usual neutral expression did intimidate me before we became close. Eventually, I learned that he was more than his stoic nature seemed to indicate, and I appreciated that particular side I had discovered about him.

We continued to eat in silence. When we were both done, I noticed that Sunny was blankly staring somewhere behind me. I knew this was normal from all the time I’d spent with him in the past. He just daydreamed from time to time. I had always wondered what went on in his head all the time.

I stood up to clean the table but Sunny didn’t keep his eyes off the wall. Silly guy… After I was done washing the dishes I poked Sunny’s shoulder. This made him flinch and made me giggle at his reaction. “What’s on your mind, Sunbun?” I asked him. I noticed his ears turned red when I called him that.

“N-Nothing…” he muttered. “I’ve known you long enough to know that something is bothering you, Sunny.” I told him, “You know you can tell me, right? It’s not right to keep those thoughts to yourself when now might be the last time you can talk about it.” He looked embarrassed by my advice. “C-Can we save it for the swings?”

I smiled. “Sure thing, Sunny. When do you want to go?” He glanced outside and his eyes widened when he saw the red sky. “Can we go now?” he asked. I nodded my head. “Let me freshen up first, okay? You should, too.” I excused myself to go into my room.

I grabbed some clothes to change into and went downstairs. I saw that Sunny was looking at me as I climbed down the attic. He was standing outside the bathroom and was also holding some clothes to change into. He must’ve noticed me smirking at him because he turned away, his cheeks a bit flushed. I walked towards him to open the bathroom door. Right before I closed it, I gave him a wink.

***

After some time we finally went out of the house and made our way to the park. Again, we just walked in silence, though I had a feeling that we were just saving up topics to talk about on the swings. He held onto my arm which I found cute. “Awfully clingier than usual today, aren’t we?” I teased him.

He didn’t say anything but he just pushed his face deeper into my arm. “You’re so cute, Sunbun.” I teased him again but then he finally responded, “Not cuter than you, Auby.” I was taken aback but then I just laughed. “Aww. Thanks, Sunny. We’re getting close, you got a lot you want to talk about?” I felt his head nod on my arm.

We made it to the park, and it was empty of course. We made our way to the swings, I sat on the right swing, as I always have. When the both of us were sitting down, we enjoyed the silence right before Sunny did something I didn’t expect him to do – he started crying.

It took me by surprise so I immediately stood up and walked over to comfort him. “What’s wrong, Sunny?” I asked him with concern in my voice. He regained his composure after a while and started to speak clearly. “It’s just that… I feel like nothing changed.” “What do you mean?” “It was all for nothing.” “What?” “All of this… my efforts to find everyone and ask for forgiveness.”

I was confused. “But you did it, right? You completed that mission.” He nodded, “But for what? I feel selfish if that was the only reason I came looking for you guys. But I always have been selfish.” “Hey! No talking like that. You are not selfish. What you did – Your efforts to find us and look for forgiveness. It’s one of the bravest things you could have done, okay?”

I sighed. “At least you actually took your time to look for all of us,” I admitted, “When I heard the world was going to end, I didn’t even bother coming back to Faraway. I just assumed everyone would forget about me, and that I wouldn’t see my friends again. But to my surprise, you guys were knocking on my door.”

Sunny looked at me with teary eyes when he noticed my voice was trembling. “You remembered me, Sunny. You! Out of all people. I’m thankful for that. You made me realize that I still mattered to someone. I mattered to you, Sunny.” I had tears in my eyes when I said that and when I did, Sunny got up to hug me.

“You always mattered, Aubrey,” he said, “Never think that you didn’t.” I embraced him back. “Thank you, Sunny. But it also applies to you, too. You’re not selfish for wanting to be forgiven. You brought everyone back together, Sunny. Without you, we wouldn’t have gotten closure with everyone.”

Sunny smiled. God, he really should have smiled more. “Well now that we’ve got the heavy things out of the way. What do you want to talk about now?” I asked him. He stared into the sky as he pushed himself on the swing. “Remember that time when Kel got Hero in trouble for stealing his parents’ money for Orange Joe?” I laughed remembering the incident. 

***

“Where do you want to eat, Sunny?” I asked him. “Let’s head on over to Mikhael’s place,” Sunny said. “He was the first one to welcome me to Faraway when I returned. I feel like I owe him a visit.” That was admirable. “Sure thing!” I affirmed. We made our way to Mikhael’s place. Our conversation on the swing still lingered in the conversation we were having on the way.

When we arrived we noticed that there was music playing inside the house. Sunny and I just shared glances. We knocked on the door and when no one answered after some time, we tried opening the door. The door was unlocked… and what we saw just confused us even more.

Hero and the twins were dancing to – Doja Cat? They didn’t even notice the two of us just staring at them. The song ended a few seconds later and Hero was trying to catch his breath, and that was when he noticed us. His face flushed red, “Uhh, it’s not what it looks like guys!” he stammered. Sunny and I just laughed. Will this day get any weirder?

Chapter Text

What a day this has been. After poking fun of Hero for dancing with the twins, we made our way back to their house where Kel and Cris were chatting on the couch. “Oh hey, guys!” Kel greeted us. Hero was the first to speak up about the two of them, “How was the beach, you two?” The two of them blushed. “I-It was – Okay, I guess,” Cris answered.

“Oh, you guys went to the beach?” Aubrey asked them. “Yeah!” Kel answered delightfully, “We had so much fun! We swam until we both got cramps,” he winced, “That didn’t sound as fun as I thought it would…” The three of us just smiled at them. “Well, I’m glad you guys had fun!” Hero cheerfully told them.

Aubrey and I shared a knowing glance. “We’re glad you had fun too, Hero!” Aubrey teased him. He immediately got flustered, “C-Come on, guys!” Kel jumped up from his seat. “Oooh, what happened?” he demanded. Hero covered his face from embarrassment. “Well~~ If you have to know, Kel. Your dear brother, Hero, over here—“

Suddenly, Aubrey was interrupted by knocking on the door. Hero took this opportunity to open the door. “Oh hey, Basil and Kim. Are you guys okay?” He sounded concerned so I moved closer to see a better look at the newlyweds. They looked – Tired. “We’re fine, Hero,” Kim answered. “You guys look like you were awake for more than eight hours.”

The two of them glanced at each other. Hero gasped, “You were awake for more than eight hours?!” Basil waved his hands in front of him, “W-Well, we didn’t just stay awake doing nothing…” Kim hit Basil on the shoulder. “I-I mean… We just talked all night, that’s all!” Basil stammered. “Uhuh,” Hero said, who clearly didn’t believe them.

Kel came to us and looked surprised. He noticed how they looked and asked them, “Were you guys smoking weed?” Hero was taken aback by this question. “Where did you guys get weed from?!” he demanded. “O-Oh…” Basil muttered, “You didn’t know?” “Know what?” “That I sold weed…” Hero paused.

…

“WHAT?”

***

After Basil explained his history of selling weed, and the unfortunate passing of Mr. Rodriguez, Hero looked so distraught. “I’m so sorry, Hero,” Basil’s voice shook, “I thought you knew all along and just didn’t confront me.” Hero just shook his head. “I’m not mad at you for killing my dad, Basil. Although, unfortunately, he passed, it’s not your fault. You were protecting Polly.”

Basil just stared at the floor as Kim rubbed his back. “We can’t linger on this topic for long, okay?” Hero said, “I am upset about this news, but I can’t let it ruin today. We have to move on and not let the past come back to haunt us.” We all nodded. “What do we do now?” Cris asked. Hero pondered on the question. “Do you guys want to go to our secret hangout spot?” he asked.

Kel’s eyes lit up, Aubrey gripped my arm, and the rest just looked excited. “I’m guessing that’s a yes. We can spend the rest of the day there before we rest.” All of us agreed and got ready for the hangout spot. After we were all set and done, we made our way there. We all engaged in separate conversations on the way there.

When we arrived at the entrance to our spot, the warm breeze made me feel a little uneasy. Aubrey noticed, “Are you okay, Sunny?” she asked, “It looked like you’d just seen a ghost.” I brushed it off, “Just felt nostalgic.” Aubrey eyed me, “If you say so. Come on, the others might be waiting.”

We made our way through the trees and I finally saw our secret hangout spot after so long. The statue in the middle had become overgrown with moss and the lake looked dirty. “I guess we’re not swimming,” Kel joked. We all walked to the exact spot we went to all the time. “Really brings back tons of memories, huh…” Hero voiced out.

The rest of the day, we just spent around there. We all took turns talking to one another. Of course, I talked to Aubrey first. Then I talked to Kel…

“Hey, Kel.” I greeted him. He smiled widely, “Hey, Sunny! What is it?” I hesitated, I don’t think I’ve had a deep conversation with Kel before. “I just want to thank you for bringing me out of my house seven years ago. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had this amazing adventure with you guys.” Kel hugged me tightly, “Aww, Sunny~~ I’m glad you got out of your shell and improved as a person.” His comment made me smile. I hugged him right back.

After a while, I talked to Basil next. “Hey, Basil.” “Hey, Sunny.” “How did your day go?” “It was great!” “I bet. Smoking weed with Kim and all that.” He looked embarrassed. “I’m just messing with you. I’m glad you had fun. _{Even though there were other ways to do that}.” “What was that?” “Nothing…” Basil looked skeptical. 

“Hey, Sunny.” He spoke, “I know Hero said not to let the past haunt us. But I just want to say that I’m really sorry for what happened all those years ago. You’ve said that you forgive me but I don’t know if I’d forgiven myself. It’s been really difficult for me to move on, but I’ve been trying for so long. Sunny… I’m glad we made it this far.” I smiled warmly at him, the same way I did seven years ago after telling everyone the truth.

There was one more person I’ve yet to talk to, Hero. He was busy talking to Aubrey so I figured I’d wait till they were done. I sat down under a tree and closed my eyes for a bit. But I quickly dozed off because of how tired I was for today. I didn’t even notice that the sun was setting until Hero woke me up from my nap.

He was smiling at me, “Hey, Sunny. The rest already went back and Aubrey’s waiting for you at her house. She said she hoped you wouldn’t mind.” A little confused, I just nodded. “Come on, let’s walk back home together.” He stood and held his hand out to me. I held it and he pulled me up so I could stand.

“You must have been having quite the dream to sleep that hard.” He said, “Kel was laughing and shouting all over the place. Cris had to scold him so he would be quieter.” I laughed at the thought. “Let’s go?” he asked me. “Sure.”

After we made it past the trees and into the park, we started to talk about our day. We continued our conversation on the way back to our houses. Eventually, we reached the topic I wanted to talk to him about before I fell asleep.

“Sunny, I just want to remind you that Mari would want you to forgive yourself and that she loved you.” I smiled at the sentiment, “I’m slowly getting there.” Hero giggled before saying, “Well you better hurry up, we have less than a day.” The joke also got me a good chuckle. “Thanks, Hero. But I still do want to apologize. I can’t imagine what you were thinking all that time when Mari died. I know none of it was your fault but Mari forgives you, too. Not for the things that you did, but the things you failed to do.”

Hero looked pensive, “I guess you’re right, Sunny,” he said, “I should’ve been there for all of us, whether Mari’s death was an accident or not. We were young and we needed each other. I kind of regretted that part. But now we’re here and – well – I feel fulfilled.”

Fulfilled . The word echoed in my mind. “I think I am, too,” I said, “I came back looking for forgiveness and I got it. I can’t be any more satisfied. I’m glad we’re all here.” Hero smiled, “You brought us back together, Sunny. And I’m so glad you did.” We made it to Hero’s street. “Well, this is my stop. Good night, Sunny. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Hero started to walk over to his house, but I called out to him. He turned around. “Can we meet up at Mari’s grave tomorrow, Hero?” He thought about it and then nodded his head. “I’ll tell the others about it,” he said. After that, I continued down the street, all the way back to Aubrey’s house.

I went inside the house where Aubrey was passed out on the couch. I didn’t want to disturb her so I just made my way into our room. I lay flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and contemplating on what happened today. Then the reality dawned on me, tomorrow was our last day. One more day. But at that moment… I felt fulfilled.

Chapter Text

Reality has finally settled. I woke up full of dread. It’s real. It’s close. The world was going to end. I jolted up from the bed just thinking about it. I was too terrified to look outside the window but the sudden opening of the door averted my gaze from it. “Sunny?” Aubrey asked, holding a tray of food. “Are you okay?”

I felt like screaming but I handled myself. “I’m just… scared.” Aubrey gave a light-hearted smile. “I know… we all are. But…” her voice started shaking, “We have each other, right? Everything will be okay.” I could sense she was about to break down so I got up from the bed to comfort her. She put the tray down and pulled me in for a hug.

She was sobbing in my arms and tears were falling from my eyes as well. “I’m scared, too, Sunny,” she said through shaky breaths, “I don’t know what to do anymore.” I hugged her tighter. I didn’t know what to answer because I was just as hopeless and clueless. We just stayed in each other’s embrace.

My stomach began to grumble. “Oh, I almost forgot to give you breakfast,” Aubrey said as she picked up the tray. “Thought you’d want to have your favorite meal today.” She lifted the cover to reveal a well-done steak. “Thank you, Aubrey,” I said, “But you should treat yourself, too.” A slight smile crept up on her face, “I knew that.”

She handed me the tray before getting out of the room. She re-entered the room holding a watermelon. “Turns out Basil was growing some other fruits in their back garden and was kind enough to give me one,” Aubrey explained. “That’s nice. I guess we both could enjoy our favorite meals together.” She smiled warmly at me. We sat on the bed and began to eat our food.

***

When we were done eating, we got ready to meet up with the others. We stepped outside the house and noticed how terrifyingly close the meteor was. “It looks like it’s gonna land in any second now,” Aubrey exclaimed. We held each other’s hands as we stared into the sky. Suddenly we heard a voice calling out to us from behind.

“Aubrey! Sunny!” It was Kim and Basil. “The meteor looks pretty cool, right?” Kim exclaimed. Basil just looked embarrassed about Kim’s reaction to the whole situation. Aubrey and I shared the same reaction. Kim took notice, “Aww, not you guys too! I already poked fun at Basil for not realizing how awesome the end of the world would be.”

“Look, I know it sucks that we’re all gonna die and all that. But come on! The last time a meteor killed everything on this planet was back when dinosaurs were still around. Who knows? Maybe evolution or whatever will do its thing and we’ll reincarnate back into bacteria again. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Everyone else just shared concerned glances. Kim just grumbled, “You guys are no fun at all.” Basil just rubbed her shoulder, “It’s fine, guys. Kim is just coping. She’s just as scared as we are.” “No, I’m not!” “OH MY GOD! THE METEOR JUST LANDED!” Kim let out a painful scream and Basil just laughed at her.

This got a laugh out of Aubrey and me as well. Kim punched Basil on the arm. “It’s not funny, Basil!” she exclaimed. “I thought it was, you sounded so excited about it, didn’t you?” Kim grumbled again, “Alright fine. Can we just go?” “Shouldn’t we wait for the others, though?” Aubrey asked. “She’s right,” I confirmed. The four of us walked up the street to meet up with them.

We sat on the sidewalk and engaged in short conversations here and there while we waited for the brothers and Cris. “Guys,” I spoke out after a short period of silence, “What do you guys think will happen when we die?” Everyone looked appalled at my question. “I think we’ll all be reincarnated into fish again,” Kim answered. We all laughed.

“Hmm…” Basil pondered, “I think, whatever happens, we’ll make it back to each other.” “Aww~~” we all exclaimed. Basil covered his face, “I thought we were taking this seriously.” “We are, silly,” Aubrey replied. Basil pouted, “What about you, Aubrey? What’s your idea of the afterlife?” Aubrey thought hard about her answer.

“When we die, I think we’ll wake up to some random dude taking off our VR headsets and asking how the simulation was.” We all stared at her in disbelief. She burst out laughing, “Haha! You guys should see the look on your faces. I got you good.” She cleared her throat, “But honestly, I think we’ll be safe wherever we end up. Maybe we’ll find each other, maybe we won’t. But we’ll be happy.”

Everyone nodded their heads. “What about you, Sunny?” Aubrey asked me, “I’m interested in your answer. You’ve always been the creative one in the group.” I blushed at the comment, “I – My answer’s not as creative as you think it is.” “We still wanna know,” Kim chimed in. I hesitated but eventually shared my thoughts.

“I think we’ll all wake up in our own little white space,” I started to explain. “It’s like a place where we’re all safe from negative thoughts and emotions. But there will always be a white door, waiting to be opened. The door will lead you to a place where you will find all your friends. So the end is not really the end. It’s the start of something better.”

Everyone looked at me with star-struck eyes. “That sounds wonderful, Sunny,” Aubrey said with astonishment in her voice. “I hope your answer is the right one.” I laughed at the sentiment. “Hey guys!” Kel’s voice surprised us as they started to make their way to us. “Wow. You guys look surprisingly calm even though the meteor looks twice the size of the sun.” Cris punched him, “That’s not funny, Kel.”

Kel apologized, “Just wanted to light up the mood.” “I don’t think the mood could get any lighter than this, little brother,” Hero said. “Well, you guys ready to go?” The rest of us stood up and fixed ourselves. “Yep. Let’s not keep Mari waiting.” I said. We made our way to the church to visit Mari one last time.

When we arrived at the cemetery, we began to feel the air heating up. We paid no attention to it as Hero laid out a picnic mat next to Mari’s grave. We all sat down and began to engage in our last conversations. When we all ran out of topics to talk about, we just sat in silence, sweating from the rising heat of the meteor.

“I guess this is it, huh guys?” Cris spoke out, “I’m glad I got to spend the rest of my days with you all. It has been a fun and memorable experience.” “Yeah… I’m glad I got to see you again, Cris,” Kel replied. We all smiled at the two of them.

“Sunny,” Hero began to speak, “I want to thank you again for bringing the group back together. Along with a few more people to join the squad.” We all laughed. “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have had closure with each other. With the world ending and all that, I’m glad we all figured things out and ended on good terms.”

Aubrey leaned on my shoulder and put her hand on top of mine, “Wanna say something, Sunny?” I gulped. I did want to say a few things. I mustered up the courage to speak up. “So… I know I was the catalyst who brought everyone back together. But if it weren’t for your guys’ help, I wouldn’t have found everyone I cared about again.”

Everyone smiled at me. “Thank you, guys, for making the last days of my life so memorable and special. I love you guys.” “AWW!” Kel exclaimed, “GROUP HUG!” Everyone huddled together for one big embrace. We stayed like that for a while even when the heat was unbearable. But we didn’t dare move. I noticed that we were all tearing up.

“I love you guys,” all of us told one another. We all noticed a huge flash of light shine in the distance, followed by a thundering boom. We all embraced each other harder and I whispered to myself, “See you soon, Mari.”

Chapter Text

I didn’t know whether I was dead or dreaming, but I knew this wasn’t my first time here. Nothing was illuminating the room anymore, ever since I destroyed the black light bulb. I could hear a distant melody echoing around the place. It was the same melody I had to live with for four years during my isolation.

The atmosphere was just as I remembered it to be; suffocating if you stayed long enough. I noticed that my laptop, journal, and box of tissues were still there. Then I heard a meow coming from beside me, I turned to see that it was my beloved cat.

“Hello, Mewo,” I greeted her. “It’s been so long, hasn’t it?” 

She purred as I pet her soft black coat, and a smile crept up on my face.

“It has been…” a voice came from behind me. I sat still, worried that my mind was playing tricks on me. Tears started to form in my eyes. I knew that voice. 

“M-Mari?” I muttered as I slowly turned to look behind me. I heard that recognizable giggle I still remembered clearly. 

It all came back quickly, the memories, the moments, her voice, her scent, and as I turned, there she was. Wearing the white dress I’d last seen her in, my sister.

“Hi, Sunny…” she greeted as she tilted her head and smiled so warmly.

I immediately ran towards her and embraced her. I tried to form words but I couldn’t stop crying. 

“It’s okay little brother,” she said as she caressed my hair. “Or should I say – older brother?” she joked but this only made me cry harder.

“Aww, Sunny~~ You’re crying as hard as Hero was when he saw me.”

I paused when I realized what she had said. I gathered myself. “W-Wait… Hero? You saw him?” I asked her. 

She smiled and nodded, “I think it was a few days ago? I haven’t seen him yet since then.” I tried to process what she meant. “But don’t worry, Sunny. I’m sure he’s fine. I’m sure all of our friends are fine.”

I still felt a little uneasy, and Mari noticed. “Sunny… Everything will be okay. I’ve seen what you’ve done these past days and I’m so proud of you.” She touched my cheek, comforting me with her loving smile. “You brought everyone back together. And you brought them all back to me . Even when I was gone, you still thought about me.”

I hugged her again. “I always thought about you…” I told her.

“Well, I’m here now, Sunny… And I’m sure our friends are waiting for us.”

I was surprised to hear the last part. “Where are they?” I asked her.

She pointed behind me where a tall white door was suddenly staring right at me. Mewo meowed at me again, seemingly asking me, “Waiting for something to happen?”

“And Sunny…” she said warmly, “I hope you know that I forgive you. I hope you’ve forgiven yourself, too.”

I thought about it. All the time I spent looking for forgiveness from my friends, I was also trying to find peace within myself. At that time, though, when I saw my sister again after so long, I believed I had forgiven myself.

“To be honest, Sunny. It feels like I should be the one to say sorry.” I tried to speak out but she shushed me. “I pushed you too hard. I was aiming for perfection and you were caught in the crossfire. I’m sorry, Sunny. Things could have been different.”

I squeezed her hand. “It’s okay, Mari. We’re together again, now. We both deserve this.”

“That’s true,” she said, “Well. Let’s not keep our friends waiting, shall we?”

I felt relieved that I would be able to see my friends again. But then a thought came to my mind. “Does this mean that the world did end and we’re all…” I told Mari.

She nodded. “But the end is not the end, right?” I stared at her in disbelief. “It’s the start of something better.” I smiled at the sentiment.

“Mari…”

“Yeah, Sunny?” 

“I’m glad you’re here.” She smiled warmly at me.

“I’ve always been there for you, Sunny. I’ve always been by your side.” 

I rested my head on her shoulder. “Thanks, Mari.” She giggled. We finally made it in front of the door. I gripped her hand tighter as chills crept up on me.

“You nervous?” she asked me. “A little…” “Don’t be, silly… Everyone would be glad to see you. It’s not like it’s been a long time since they’d last seen you.” I laughed a bit.

“I guess you’re right. It will be a bit easier with you here.” She pinched my cheek.

“Ow!” I exclaimed.

“You’re so cute when you’re being sappy.”

I grumbled. “Can we go now?” 

“Haha. Sure, let’s go.” 

I pushed the door open…

THE END