Work Text:
Sorry, I'm busy today.
It probably only took Sunny three seconds to type, but it managed to hit Aubrey like a ton of bricks. She knew that they weren't official, and Sunny was in no way obligated to accept, but she at least had hoped...
She's probably dealing with some other things, I guess...
Aubrey buried her face in her pillow, thinking of the adorable noirette in pigtails she wanted nothing more than to spend today with, though that was nothing more than a dream now, wasn't it? Well... I can still hang out with her some other time, can't I? Not like... today was important... or anything...
Oh who am I kidding, I wanted to confess to her today!
Aubrey was glad her face was still buried in her pillow as she let out a scream of frustration. Sunny was always super oblivious, but this time just hurt. It could have been the whole day, just the two of them, eating chocolate and cuddling or whatever it was that couples did on Valentine's Day. Aubrey had seen enough movies, she could probably fill in some blanks and even if it all went wrong, she'd still be with Sunny! And that made everything ok for her!
No, enough of this. I gotta figure out something to do.
Shaking her head, Aubrey sat up in her bed, before moving to throw on some casual clothes and seeing what the rest of the day had in store for her. She picked up her phone to send Sunny a quick No worries, maybe some other time! It feels... like a bigger deal than it should, though...
Aubrey set down her phone after that message, walking over to Bun Bun's enclosure and petting the small rabbit.
"Can you believe this, Bun Bun?"
...
"I know right? It's just crazy!"
Bun Bun let out a small noise that sounded like a mix between a purr and a chirp, seemingly very excited at the sudden attention Aubrey was giving it.
"Well I know I can't be mad at you..."
Aubrey grinned, watching Bun Bun flop over in a moment of pure trust, before hopping back up and looking around, alert to all sounds. Something was downstairs.
"I wonder... maybe this was one of her pranks, the rascal... How mean..."
It was simply wishful thinking, though, as a quick trip downstairs and past her mother revealed Basil standing at the door. Not that she didn't mind seeing Basil there, he was still a fantastic friend, but Aubrey knew what she wanted. Basil seemingly did as well, apologizing with a small grin on his face.
"You look ready for something."
"Not really anything... just didn't want to lay down and mope around all day..."
"Mope around?"
"I... asked someone to do something for today... but they had other plans..."
Basil smiled softly, patting Aubrey on her shoulder.
"If you're up to it... I have a... rewarding game to play."
"A game?"
Basil smirked, holding up his photo album.
"I seem to have misplaced some important photos in here, I think everyone else took them from me... could you maybe help me find them? I'll make it worth your while!"
"Everyone else- huh?!"
Basil's smirk turned into a soft smile.
"You ready to go find them, then? I have an inkling where the first one is~"
Aubrey stared as Basil stepped inside, looking over at the hall.
"Come on, I said that everyone else took them from me!"
"But I never took any of your photos! I wouldn't-"
Despite her insistence, Aubrey decided to follow Basil towards her room anyways. There was no way that she missed anything, right?
"Yeah, Basil... I never took any of your photos."
"Maybe you didn't."
Aubrey seemed confused, before following Basil's gaze. It wasn't at her at all, it was at... Bun Bun.
"Bun Bun stole one of your photos?"
"What a cruel yet beloved creature..."
"You better not be saying anything bad about Bun Bun or Basil I swear to god nothing will be able to save you."
"Just check for the photo."
Angrily obliging, Aubrey looked around Bun Bun's enclosure, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. She sat around for a minute just petting him, before Basil started tapping his foot impatiently, looking over at the two.
"Oh, sorry... uh, if I'm gonna be out for a while, then I should probably feed him..."
Aubrey picked up his food bowl, feeling something on the underside. Turning it over, she spied the picture of everyone in Sunny's bed, cuddling with her stuffed animals. She started remembering when that photo was taken, how she tried to sneakily hold Sunny's hand in the middle of the cuddle pile, or how she rested her head on top of the noirette's, just wanting to get closer to her. Aubrey smiled, lightly taking the tape off the picture and handing it to Basil, who slotted it back into his album perfectly.
"Any reason why it was that photo specifically?"
"Ask Bun Bun. But other than that, you looked like you were remembering something as you looked at it."
"Yeah... I was trying to get closer to Sunny that day, but she was always so dense... still is... I wished I could have fully hugged her back then, but it was at an awkward position..."
"Aww, that's so cute! I think there's about... four more missing pictures. Shall we head off?"
"This feels like some wild goose chase, but... sure. It's fun to reminisce sometimes."
The two left Aubrey's house, skipping down the sidewalk until they were in front of the park, about to turn onto the street where Sunny and Kel lived. Before that, Aubrey spotted a familiar orange jersey in the park.
"Is that Kel?"
"Might be. Let's see if he has my photo!"
Aubrey noticed the grin forming on Basil's face, and puzzle pieces started forming in her mind. He planned this all out, didn't he? The photo under Bun Bun's food bowl, Kel just so happening to be in plain sight after they leave Aubrey's house, Kel also just so happening to be practicing basketball at the very time they were looking for him?
I'll go along with it for now. Maybe Basil knew about my issue beforehand and just wanted to cheer me up.
"Kel! There you are!"
Kel fired his basketball, barely missing the hoop before he turned to face Basil and Aubrey, his signature grin right there on his face.
"What's up you two? Looking for something? Doesn't matter! Come on, let's go sit on the benches. I need a break!"
"Huh? Sure, I guess..."
Headstrong as ever, Kel jumped right onto the bench, with Aubrey and Basil behind him.
"So, out and about on Valentine's day, eh? Day of loooove and all that? But where's Sunny, hm? I thought she'd be with you, or something."
Aubrey so badly wanted to punch him.
But she refrained, explaining about the missing photos in Basil's album and how she was going through a kind of trip through her memories.
"I see, I see! Well, does your old pal Kel have just the thing for you! Take a look at... this!"
This has to be planned, or staged, or something. There's no way Kel would remember that he actually had a picture otherwise.
The picture that Kel pulled out was of the whole group sleeping on a picnic blanket, except for Hero and Mari, who were looking at each other and smiling. Oh, and Basil was awake too. Kinda had to be to take the picture, huh? Not that that was what Aubrey was focused on.
"Sunny's so cute when she's sleeping..."
She started to remember that day as well. She didn't fall asleep as soon as everyone thought she did, she was just waiting for everyone else to fall asleep so that she could "accidentally" cuddle up to Sunny closer. Of course, Hero, Mari, and Basil never actually went to sleep before Aubrey herself did, so her plans were foiled once again. Getting to see Sunny's sleeping face was worth it, anyways. Aubrey hadn't even realized she said anything out loud about it until Basil started laughing.
"Someone's remembering her little crush~"
"Yeah, Aubrey! Even I can tell at this point!"
"Ugh, both of you..."
Aubrey was beginning to notice a small theme with the pictures so far, but decided to set that thought aside for the sake of keeping this small adventure going. Something she didn't want to keep going, however, was all the teasing. Basil was ruthless when he wanted to be, and getting teased by Kel was the worst fate known to mankind. But even despite that, Aubrey couldn't hate them. Everyone, yes, even Kel, were more than just friends to her. They were all family. Hehehe... family with Sunny... having one with her would be so cute...
"You're swooning again. Sunny on the mind?"
Aubrey jumped out of her daze, staring at Basil. He just warmly smiled in response.
"I'm right on the money, aren't I? You're too obvious sometimes."
"You're so annoying..."
They were since on the road to Hero's house, having left Kel to continue his basketball playing. Hero likely wouldn't be that bad with teasing her, but it was what came after him that scared her. She was going to have to get a picture from Mari, wasn't she? And never mind even that, was she going to have to get a picture from Sunny herself? Swooning over memories with Sunny while Sunny was right there in front of her would just be...
Well, she was already planning on confessing to her today anyways, wasn't she? Maybe this was her chance, maybe she could...
"We're here. Are you gonna knock, or daydream for the third time in twenty minutes?"
"Sorry..."
Though before Aubrey could actually knock, Hero called out from behind them.
"Hey! I was about to go get you two. C'mon, Mari and I are making cookies!"
Oh god...
Noticing the very obvious smiles on both Hero and Basil, Aubrey slowly followed behind them. She knew exactly what was about to transpire, and she wanted nothing to do with it. The three nearly reached the front door before Hero stopped, reaching into his apron pocket.
"Here. Save you some embarrassment."
The picture of her, Sunny, and Kel reading the Captain Spaceboy comic. Aubrey tried to think of any memories she had with that moment, but all she could think of was the new volume not being her favorite at the time. It got better afterwards, but that specific volume left an odd feeling with her. Seeing Sunny's reactions were cute as always, but...
"Sorry, the most important one comes later."
"Shh! Hero, don't spoil it!"
Hero chuckled, putting his hand behind his head in embarrassment.
"My bad. Well, Aubrey, are you ready to face Mari today?"
"No."
Hero laughed, commenting on her instant response. Without giving her much time to prepare, he opened the door, leading her and Basil inside.
The second to last photo was taped to the fridge with Mari standing next to it, pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven.
"Just in time! We can let them cool off for a second. After all~"
Mari looked straight at Aubrey, causing her to flinch.
"Someone's been on a little scavenger hunt, huh?"
"...Just 'cause I didn't have anything else to do..."
"You sure? No dates? It is Valentine's Day, you know."
"Yeah, you don't need to rub it in..."
"Sounds like... you asked someone? Who was it? Noirette? Hair always in cute pigtails all the time? The best little sister in the world? Maybe their name-"
"I GET IT!"
Aubrey felt her face getting warmer and warmer as Mari went on, eventually causing her to bury her head in her hands.
"Aw boo, you're no fun. I guess I'll go find Sunny and tell her that her scavenger hunt was a bad idea, after all-"
"What."
Aubrey snapped out of her embarrassment, looking up.
"Oopsie, I said too much~ Hero, be a dear and give her the first picture?"
"I... already did. Outside. Tried to save her some of-"
"Aww, you too? You both are no fun today..."
Aubrey carefully walked up and took the picture on the fridge, not really bothering to look at it before handing it back to Basil. She heard a sigh, then felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry, guess I went too far. But... C'mon, you might as well finish it. Sunny's upstairs."
Aubrey looked up at Mari, giving her a small hug.
"Aww... big sis is here for you, Aubrey... Now, onwards!"
Aubrey nodded, letting a small smile shine through as she started towards the girl's room. Finding the confidence to actually knock, Aubrey did so.
Nobody responded.
"Sunny?"
Aubrey still didn't hear any response, which lightly concerned her. She knew Sunny wasn't the most talkative when the two weren't alone together, but she could at least utter a small "come in," couldn't she? Thinking for a second, Aubrey looked behind her. Nobody was around, so maybe she could just...
Quickly apologizing to nobody in particular, Aubrey slowly opened the door. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, but Sunny was just asleep. So not the worst thing.
"Hey... Sunny?"
Sitting down next to her, Aubrey slowly brushed Sunny's hair out of her face. Her sleeping face was as cute as always, and she seemed to be holding something as tight as someone sleeping could.
"Hey... wake up..."
Aubrey started shaking her slowly, prompting Sunny to yawn and slowly open her eyes.
"Aww... it's over already?"
"Have a good dream?"
"Yeah..."
In her tired state, Sunny moved her head over to Aubrey's lap, laying back down. Aubrey started to run her fingers through her hair, causing her to smile softly. Aubrey's heart melted at the sight. She figured that all guards were down now.
"You're too cute sometimes, it's not fair."
Sunny nearly became a melted blob of euphoria at the comment, moving so that she could hug Aubrey instead of just resting on her lap, causing the picture to fall out of her hands.
"So this little scavenger hunt was your idea, then?"
"Yeah... 'm sorry..."
"Don't be! Just... be more clear, I guess..."
"Well... that's the last photo, then..."
Aubrey took a close look. It was the picture of her in her pink raincoat, smiling super widely. There weren't any particular memories attached to it, just the fact that she loved that raincoat. A shame that it got too small for her recently.
"Doesn't look like... you get it..."
"I don't, sorry."
Sunny looked at the picture again, blushing.
"The first picture, the one with us all cuddling with my stuffed animals... I love it because I remember holding your hand, and you so awkwardly trying to cuddle with me, although to no avail. The second one was us sleeping at the picnic, I remember waking up, and the first thing I saw was your smiling face looking at me. I thought it was super cute... Then... the third time is the most selfish..."
Sunny looked down at her hands, before looking back up at Aubrey and smiling.
"The Captain Spaceboy comic... that day, when we went out... that was the first day we went out after I came out to all of you, remember? You accepted me so quickly, and..."
Sunny quickly wiped her forming tears, trying to continue the story.
"Then the fourth-"
"Oh, I... didn't see that one..."
"It was all of us on the first day of school, back then. You just looked so happy and cute, and I remember you hugging me before we went separate ways to our classes. And it was... really warm."
Sunny held the final picture close to her heart, before finally looking back at Aubrey.
"Then, this one... it's probably the most special picture to me in the whole album. Wanna know why?"
Aubrey thought to herself for a moment, before shaking her head.
"Well, when you two were fighting about colors or whatever, I asked Basil if I could see the photo. And that's when he pointed something out to me, and it made me realize, that..."
Sunny took a deep breath, looking right into Aubrey's eyes.
"...that I had a crush on you. And since then, I... tried. I tried several, several times to ask you out, or to hint towards it or something, but I never could find the words. So I wanted to try something new, and... this was that. So... sorry about lying about being busy. Maybe I should've called it off after knowing you wanted to hang out, but I got worried I wouldn't be able to find the right words. Even now, I don't think I can. I've never been good with words, yknow?"
Aubrey opened her mouth, then closed it again. It was a lot to process in one moment, but one thing rang in her mind the entire time,
She actually likes me back. I thought I was weird, I didn't think there was a chance. But she actually...
Unable to find the words herself, Aubrey just hugged her tightly.
"Yknow... Mari didn't know if this was a good idea, at first. Like... she talked about how she always tried to get us together, and just called me dense in like thirty different ways. It was all meant in jest, of course, I knew that she was going to help no matter what, but I guess... it made me worried. Worried that you actually didn't like me back, and all that-"
"No! I'm... I'm really happy. You... I thought I was weird, yknow? I liked you so much, but I thought that I shouldn't, because you were... yknow... But I guess I've moved past it, a little bit, because... it's you."
"...That's cheesy as hell."
"I don't care! I'll get cheesy! I love you!"
Sunny blushed, grabbing Aubrey's hands with her own.
"One thing though. Don't have those thoughts again, k? Instead... well... Think about your girlfriend, I guess. Well, if you're ok with that..."
"...I wouldn't go through all that for just anyone, you know? But... pull that again, and make me embarrassed in front of everyone again, I'll have to reconsider."
"Nooo! Don't- I'm sorry-"
Aubrey laughed, tightly embracing Sunny and laying back on the bed, holding her close to her body.
"I wouldn't actually, you dork. I don't think I could stop loving you if I tried."
Sunny smiled, resting her head on Aubrey's shoulder, before lightly kissing her cheek.
"Yknow, Mari's probably waiting on us. There's a whole tray of cookies that everyone's eating without us..."
"You'll have to carry me. I don't wanna get up."
Aubrey assumed that Sunny didn't expect her to actually start carrying her princess style, evidenced by her blush and hiding her face in her hands, which Aubrey giggled at.
"That's not fair, Auby..."
Auby? What? Was that. What?"
Aubrey froze in place, her brain short circuiting from the pet name. So fast after they became a couple, as well...
"W-well, Sunbun! You're gonna have to get used to it!"
Hehe... I've wanted to call her that for so long...