Chapter Text
Basil sighed, entering the place he once called home. Polly called out to him, welcoming him back from a long day of being bullied at school. He didn't answer. Basil felt that this place was better characterized as somewhere he slept, ate, and tended gently to his plants.
Oh, his plants.
Now, Basil wasn't crazy or anything. Yet when it came to his plants, he was a little...sensitive.
He had always been one to take pride in them, talking about them to people like Aubrey or Sunny way back when. He would spend hours, even days, tending to them, focusing on them, obsessing over them.
Polly thought nothing of it, seeing a young and troubled boy find sanction in a couple of flowers. She would find him carefully embracing one of his plant's soft leaves, still brushing it off.
She would learn, with one night—the one night she didn't knock when she entered his room—that his obsession was abnormal.
"Basil?"
It was an ordinary evening, around the same time when Basil returned home. It was dark, since the house was surrounded by trees and Polly could feel her eyelids growing heavy.
"You missed dinner again, so I brought some for you, if you'd like-" Polly dropped the vegetable stew and tofu, one of Basil's favorites.
"Oh my gosh, Basil. What the hell are you doing?" She asked blatantly, covering her mouth with one of her hands.
The blonde-haired boy turned around, his blue eyes shining under the few slivers of moonlight. He stared at Polly, surrounded by plants and dirt, seemingly in the middle of an act of sadism. "W-Why are you here?"
"For god sakes, I just told you I was bringing you some leftovers," She spoke fluidly, furrowing her eyebrows confusedly. "What are you doing?"
His eyes seemed to glint with sadness, before returning to nonsensical mania. "You weren't supposed to come in," His voice came out broken, a pitch higher than usual. 'Embarrassment?' "Thi-This—it isn't finished yet. P-Please leave.."
Polly's gaze remained locked on Basil's blue eyes. "What the fuck?"
"I..." Tears gathered in his eyes as he looked back between Polly's face of disgust and the beautiful plants he had on the floor. The freshly watered, carefully potted, blooming greenery. "I can't help it." He sniffed, turning away from Polly entirely.
"You can't help what?"
"I-I love them! I l-love my plants," Basil confessed, wiping his tears away as soon as they formed.
The older woman stared, "Yes, Basil, I know." He shook his head, not daring to meet Polly's eyes. "I-I love them like...like..." He paused, chewing the inner flesh of his cheek.
"You love them like what, Basil? You're honestly scaring me," She sighed, her look of anger turning into pity. "Please, just tell me what's going on."
"I love them romantically," Basil finally announced. Polly waited for him to continue, although she could barely believe her own ears. "I love them. I care for them, a-a-and, they're all I have left!" His voice raised, and Polly stepped back, wary of the emotionally unstable teen.
"I j-just can't help it!" His voice broke, and he started crying, letting his hot tears stream down his face. Polly comforted him, walking over to his side and attempting to calm him down. She rubbed circles into his back, whispering things like 'You're gonna be okay', and 'It's alright' until his wails turned into hiccups and sniffles.
"Basil," She broke the silence, her voice low. He looked up at her with worry, his eyes still glazed over and red. "We're going to have to do something about this."
"No! No, no, no, no!" The blonde yelled out, frustrated that one of the only things that made him happy was getting taken away again. 'Just like Sunny, Aubrey, Kel, Hero, Mari—Oh god, Mari—and Grandma. Everything I care about keeps getting stripped away from me...' "I w-won't let you!"
Polly sighed, feeling immense empathy and pity for the boy. "Basil, I'm sorry, but this isn't healthy."
He turned away, trembling with fear and anger. "N-No...please.." He began to cry again, making Polly's own eyes water. "You can't live like this."
Basil sobbed brokenly, before hugging Polly. She hugged him back, letting her own face be tear-stained. "D-Do you promise?"
Polly pulled away, anxiety taking hold of her once again. "Promise what?" She treaded, hoping not to set him off.
"D-Do you promise...that i-if I do get help, that you won't tell anybody? About th-this?" He asked quietly, nervously.
The nurse sighed, a smile on her lips.
"I promise."