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The swordflower girl kicked off her shoes and burst through the front door in a dazing hurry. She made sure to dampen her footsteps when passing her mother, though it’s not like she would notice Aubrey’s presence anyway. Keeping her excited momentum, she climbed up the ladder to her room with an attitude that juxtaposed the darkness of her house and living conditions. Why was that? Well, she wouldn’t be alone tonight, like every other night. Her pretty little knight in shining armour (Who was more of a scribe in humble apparel) was going to be with her for the whole night.
As she clambered over the last rung of the ladder, she began jumping with joy- she’d be able to show her best friend all of her favourite things! Usually, this wasn’t possible, as she didn’t like the idea of revealing her home life to her friends, but Basil let her borrow something of his after what felt like an hour of Aubrey begging him to do so. As she reached into her pocket, her heart felt as if it were filled with boiling honey, a sweet but scalding feeling of excitement washed over her body as her best friend was picked out from her pocket.
“(4/21): SUNNY and KEL gave up on making flower crowns and ran off, but AUBREY and I got the hang of it really fast! Everyone thinks a flower crown really suits me. Maybe just a flower is okay.”
She gleefully twirled around with the photograph in her hand, bouncing on her tiptoes, no longer able to contain her emotions. Like a girl in a romance novel, she hugged the photograph and fell backwards on her bed, not from exhaustion, but from the sheer flow of emotions she was experiencing. Sighing and giggling for a solid minute, she finally lifted the photo from her chest and looked Basil in the eye, though his eyes were closed.
She didn’t know how long she was just lying there, looking at him with a dumb smile on her face… She didn’t care. If time had stopped, so be it, she wanted to be here forever anyway. His cute face, his locks of golden hair, the crimson bridge that formed across his cheeks… Those handsome flowers on his head. Her heart felt lighter, and stupid thoughts were dashing through her head in a daze.
She brought the boy in the photo closer to her face…
Closer…
And closer…
Until it felt like he was really there, inches away from her face.
She closed her eyes, and… Did something stupid.
And she did it again, and again, over and over, until she realised that she still had so much more to show him. Bun-Bun, Mr. Plantegg…
She was awake longer than she ever had been. She didn’t know what time it was… She didn’t care. If time had stopped, so be it, she wanted to be here forever anyway. She laid in bed again, ready to doze off on a sweet dream with Basil. With the photograph clutched closely to her chest, she smiled in her own house for the first time in who knows how long… And she smiled because she knew that if any bad dreams tried to invade her while sleeping, Basil would be there to protect her.
"I love you, Basil... Goodnight... Sweet dreams..." Aubrey confessed, giving her sweet betrothed one last kiss, her thumb knuckles gently grazing her blazing red cheeks as her lips link with Basil for one last time. Her eyelids grew heavy, and while her body was beginning to sink into the night, she rubbed her eyes, wondering if she'd ever be able to do something like this with the Basil she really loves. Slowly, but surely, her sniffles became quieter and quieter, until her grip on the photograph loosened, and it lay there beside her, sleeping as soundly as she was.