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The flower boy scampered clumsily into his room, the photo album clutched firmly in his arms. He threw the thick tome onto his bed and jumped to sit beside it with his legs entangled, urgently scavenging through each page for those special moments he caught of his best friend, frozen in time.
“(4/29): It's raining super hard today! The rain always seems to come out of nowhere during springtime. AUBREY asked me to take a picture of her with her new raincoat. It's her favorite color, pink!”
Basil’s throat dances in on itself, choking him up as Aubrey’s adorable, doe-eyed gaze reaches through spacetime and meets his own eyes. She always looked so cute when she smiled, he thought. It wasn’t rare to see Aubrey smile, which Basil was especially grateful for, because seeing her like that added years to his life.
“(6/22): It's the first day of summer vacation, so we all wanted to celebrate by going to the beach! WATERMELON is AUBREY's favorite.”
There it was again… The lovely sight that Basil lived for. He cherished all of his photos and memories, but those that Aubrey was in were kept in a locket deep inside his heart, locked away and kept safe for him to warm himself in love whenever he needed it. This particular photo of Aubrey enjoying a watermelon with an enchanting, elated smile is always in the back of his mind, a core memory that makes his heart run wild with love.
“Ah! I’m sorry, Aubrey. I just thought you looked cute! I’ll show you when it’s ready.”
The memory spoke to Basil, and he covered his face in embarrassment, not aware that he was blushing until he felt the boiling blood of his cheeks scorch his hands as they met his face. He didn’t know what he was thinking at that moment, perhaps he was feeling confident, or woke up a bit stupid that day. One thing was for certain though, his guard was down, and Aubrey was prettier than usual.
“ (9/9): It's the first day of school today! Me, SUNNY, KEL, and AUBREY are up bright and early. AUBREY is so photogenic!"
Basil remembers the endless teasing he received from the others after he wrote the caption for this photo. He knew what he was doing then, but what he wasn’t aware of was how the others would react. He assumed they would pass it off as Basil being Basil, too kind and oblivious for his own good, but they caught on faster than Kel could sprint. In this moment, Basil understood that he had no regrets for that. Perhaps secretly, he wanted them to know how he felt… Or maybe, if he could subtly and gradually show the world how he felt for Aubrey, she’d notice without him having to put his own lack of courage on the line?
But none of those problems mattered to Basil right now, for he had a winning hand of cards held across his palms. Three of the most beautiful artworks he had ever seen. Created, even. He clutched them tightly in his dainty hands, but softly enough not to crease or crumple the photographs, like he would hug the real Aubrey, treating her like a fleeting, priceless ceramic piece of art. Clutching her close, Basil curled up and grasped the photos to his chest, as if to make her kiss his heart.
And his heart kissed back.
It beat, and beat, and beat against his chest so heavily, it was as if it wanted to escape his ribcage and see the photographs for itself.
Through the open window in his room, a soft breeze invited itself into his house and brushed against his face, and as it did, Basil felt a long chill crawling down his cheeks, originating from his eyes. As his grasp tightened, he heard himself sing a song of yearning, a sob- which turned into a wail, resonated from his room, and fell on the deaf ears of the waning moon in the sky.