Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She sat at the edge of her bed, seemingly lost in thought. It felt strange, after everything. It had been a week after all of it, and Sunny’s move. She wasn’t really sure of what to think at that moment, should she cry, or get mad, destroy her room maybe? Or perhaps dye her hair a different colour? No, that’s a little too dramatic. But she just simply wasn’t sure how to handle these feelings, to manage these emotions that threatened to pour out every time she saw a spinning pinwheel.

 Aubrey wasn’t the type to hate, believe it or not. She was a softie at heart, she would always soften up and reason with others, especially given her fiasco with Basil. Wait.. Basil..the traitor. Maybe he was to blame for all of what had transpired, just maybe.. Sunny wasn’t a bad person.. and it was just stupid Basil that created all of these issues. He was the one that orchestrated Mari’s suicide, so it can’t have been poor Sunny.

“Gah! Dammit!” She cried out, throwing her beaten up pillow across the room, only to get a banging from downstairs.

“Avery?! Amy-.. hic whatever! Stop making a damn racket up there or I’ll come in there and beat your hide!” That was her mother, she usually did this whenever Aubrey made a little bit too much noise during her drunken state.

Aubrey hugged her knees, sobbing quietly to herself, she hated it all, she just wanted to scream, cry, throw everything and just let all of her emotions out. Maybe she should go beat up some trees with the hooligans later —but she couldn’t show her face outside in public anymore. She hasn’t even gone to church in days despite saying she wanted to find some peace.

There was no peace, it was always misery and torture for her, constantly. Her head beat like a drum, her heart constantly on the verge of shattering with one singular mention of her friend’s names. Kel had tried contacting her during this whole situation, hah, he’s still trying to mend things —Classic Kel.

But she just couldn’t open the door this time. Not now, not ever. She couldn’t risk sobbing in front of his face, and making a big fool of herself, casting away her dignity and strength just simply by letting down the water that fell from her permanently glossy eyes. Aubrey never went a day without thinking about what happened. Eating scared her, going to the bathroom scared her, hell, even going outside and seeing her god forsaken pinwheel outside blowing so freely reminded her of what hell she was going through.

What did she do to deserve this? To deserve this hell, the constant suffering. Why? It never made sense to her.

It’s as if she got a release from her own personal hell for only a couple days, where everything started to slowly make sense and become more positive after Mari’s passing. It was as if she had gotten a reward, after all of her suffering and endurance, those countless months spent at the church longing for some kind of peace, some kind of reason behind it all. Getting a reason, and finally coming to terms with it, all of her friends coming back together.. only for it to all vanish in the blink of an eye.

Those days spent together, recovering their lost memories, the things that they once had forgotten. Things that she wished she’d never forget, until that fateful day. At the hospital.. where Sunny told everything, she just couldn’t help it. She felt so nauseous and so sick, even thinking about it now. It’s only been a week and nothing has been progressing.

Hero’s not been doing that well, he decided to go back to college after it all, taking a break. Kel’s not been doing that well either, he’s just been endlessly playing basketball all by himself, and sometimes he’d come knocking at Aubrey’s door. But she never responded.

Basil.. he’s..

He’s not doing that well either.

If only Aubrey could muster up some courage, some sort of confidence and leadership, just like Kel always had. She never wanted to admit it, but he saved a lot of their bonds, and she just wish she had the same sort of courage that he did. The resilience and endurance was commendable at best, and that’s coming from Aubrey. She hates his guts —well, maybe that’s a bit overdramatic, but she still finds him annoying. But maybe a little less so after all of this, and his attempts to reach out.

Hey, maybe she’ll open that door one of these days, and perhaps a new chapter of her life will start.

Or… maybe it’s better to take a step back, and not make any brash decisions at the moment till her head is clear. She remembers how that ended up last time.. it still gives her the shivers.

—

Aubrey was now in the bathroom, combing out her matted hair. She decided to try and take care of herself at the moment, even with an old comb that was what? Years old? Well, she might as well try do something about her own state if she wants to get anywhere near Kel’s delusional endurance.

She came across a particularly knotted strand as she hissed in annoyance, almost throwing the comb to the mirror, but choosing not to since her mother was still home, perhaps knocked out as she always was. At least Aubrey hoped she was this day. —Once she had finally combed through that jungle, she put down the comb to look at her now untangled hair, which was now rather poofy and fluffy after brushing it out. Was it always like this? She didn’t know, she never really combed her hair by herself.

She puts on her iconic headband, tying it back into a bow as it sat on the top of her hair, like some sort of crown. Maybe she was the queen, queen of what? Not sure, maybe the queen of her own troubles. Nah, scratch that, too unconventional.

Aubrey took a moment to look at herself in the mirror, now looking at it, her under-eyes looked a little more puffy then usual, her cheeks more flushed and her nose kept sniffling a lot. What was this feeling? Why did she feel so.. strange?

It was only till she heard a familiar sniffle and sob, that she realised she was crying.

What?

What did she do wrong? How did she create such a strange reaction? She could’ve sworn she was perfectly fine a minute ago. Did something happen? Was she just feeling a little under the weather this day? No, it couldn’t be that..

Looking into the mirror, she saw a strange figure, behind her. It seemed to be.. a little.. scary, a little twisted. It was staring right back at her with its bright eye, its long hair draped over its face, something wrapped seemingly tight around its neck, possibly in attempts of suffocating it. Who was this?.. What was this?..

’C’mon, snap out of it.. you’re no baby.. stop that..’ She thought.

“…Wh-who are you?” She sniffled, “C’mon.. this isn’t funny…” She looked down, her tears staining the chipped marble on the bathroom counter.

“Please.. this isn’t… no… you can’t be..” The pink-haired girl, all bubbly and sweet, the past changing her as a person, to someone cold and harsh. Where did that poor little girl go? The one so caring and happy, now all she is just a page in a photo album, a memory that was long gone.

All because of whom she looked up to, someone that loved her, understood her, that was taken from her all too soon. 

She blamed herself for that day, for not noticing. But it was never her fault.. —it was all the perfectly orchestrated plan of someone else.. someone she thought would love forever, and a friend that she thought she could depend on.

..

Knock knock!

Chapter Text

The knocks echoed throughout the halls, —unbeknownst to Aubrey’s drunk old mother. It snapped her out of her thoughts for a moment, her fear decimated in a measly few seconds. But who was knocking this early? Or.. well, technically it was a normal time, but after the incident she never did get up early. Well, even before so she didn’t either. It was only 9AM.

She slowly twisted doorknob, making sure to not make a noise as she leaves the bathroom, closing it slowly and quietly as she looked around, she already had memorised what floorboards creaked and what were safe to step on. Even if it did creak, her mother would probably have been too knocked out to even process what happened. Geez, this household is so easily steal-able.

She tiptoed through the hall, looking at her surroundings as she saw her mother, sprawled and passed out on the beaten-up couch, there were tons of trash and other cans clashed together. It stunk, a lot. But Aubrey had long gotten used to that rank smell, maybe that’s why she could easily befriend the hooligans.

Knock! Knock!

“Aubrey?… Psst… you there?…” A familiar voice spoke, seemingly a little quiet, but strangely enough Aubrey couldn’t decipher the voice.

She slowly made her way towards the doorknob as she peaked through the peephole, to find her best friend, Kim. Without hesitation, she unlocked the rusted door locks (which surprisingly still worked) and twisted the doorknob to stand face-to-face with Kim.

“Oh my god, you actually opened the door-.. damn-.. I mean, uh.. how’ve you been?” Kim looked at Aubrey, with a hint of uncertainty and concern laced within her tone. Her expression looked a little worried but that may be because she hadn’t expected Aubrey to come out this early.

“….Uh.. well.. I guess not that good.” She shrugged, that was something that was fairly obvious, but to be fair Kim was never the brightest person in regards to feelings.

“Ah-.. damn, right. Sorry, that was a stupid question n’ all.” She chuckled, putting her hands into her pockets a little embarrassed, as her eyes met Aubrey’s more distant ones once more, “It’s.. been a while. You know, we’ve been pretty worried n’ all.. and-.. especially after what had happened, just wanted to uh.. make sure you were okay, if you catch my drift.” Kim said, a little awkwardly and shyly which was pretty out of character of her.

Aubrey couldn’t help but take a moment to process this, as she began to uncontrollably creak the points of her mouth upwards slightly, her shoulders easing up as they slumped down slowly, her usual cold and icy gaze shifted to one of more content and relaxation. The idea of Kim and the gang still worrying about her, even after everything, meant the world to her. Those dumb and clueless people were what brought her relief in this cruel world. No matter what happened to Aubrey, she knew that she had her friends, and they’d stick with her forever.

“Woah, Miss Aubrey over here’s got a really good lookin’ smile.” Kim teased, pretending to dramatically pass out, “Oh geez, you’re gonna kill the entire gang with that.” She stuck her tongue out playfully as she shot Aubrey with a wink.

Aubrey chuckled gently, her small bit of laughter echoing throughout the halls as she smiles at Kim with an affectionate and grateful expression. “..Thank you, Kim.” She muttered, quietly but it had just as big of an effect for Kim.

“It really is nothing! Now, let’s get you outta here nerd.” She chuckled, bringing Aubrey out of the messed-up house, switching up her environment as she closed the door slowly, the creaks still echoing throughout the house as suddenly a really angry woman shouted,

“Who’s in here!” Both Aubrey and Kim froze out of fear and worry as they turned their heads slowly to the slightly opened door. Oh crap, they were screwed.

“I’ll… hic ..fuckin’… dammit…” She passed out again.

Both Aubrey and Kim sighed of relief, their shoulders slumping down as their fears quickly waned.

“Gosh.. that was terrifying.” Kim spoke up first.

“Yeah.. no kidding.” Aubrey mumbled, as she finally closed the door properly. The two were now heading outside, Aubrey kicking around the bits of rock and pebbles that covered the sidewalk as Kim continued to put her hands in her hoodie pocket.

“Anything you wanna do today? Oh! I know, we can go do some cool graffiti and maybe get kicked out, or—or! We have the greasiest most cheesiest pizza ever at Gino’s, my treat.. this time!” She grinned.

Aubrey weakly laughed off her childish excitement as she waved off the ideas, “Nah, not today.”

Kim seemed a bit disappointed but she didn’t want to look all silly and childish to her best friend, so she just acted tough, “Alright. I got it.. cool cool.. yeah…”

“Oh! Wait, I know.. we can go to the park, yaknow? There’s nobody around now other then random healthy middle-aged women exercising.” She grinned, “And who knows? Maybe we can do some fun stuff together!”

Aubrey chuckled, that idea didn’t sound half as bad as the others. And besides, maybe going to the park wouldn’t be so bad, just so as they avoid that one spot behind the park..

Kim and Aubrey stealthily made their way to Faraway Park —there was no need to be ‘stealthy’ but Kim insisted to liven up the mood and be a little childish. Even if what she was doing would be what she’d consider ‘NERDS’ to do, she still did it because well, she’s Kim.

As the two reached the park, they stepped inside the familiar park and looked around. Nothing much had changed, it all seemed the same as usual.

Kim sat down on the bench lazily stretching her arms as she sighed of relief, “Geez that stealth mission took a lot outta me! Ugh, I feel like such a weak nerd..” She grumbled, as she rummaged through her hoodie pocket to pull out a candy bar. Classic Kim, it was probably stolen too.

Aubrey chuckled, sitting down next to Kim on the bench as Kim split the bar, giving the two a piece. Subtly taking a bigger piece for herself, but Aubrey paid no mind to it despite noticing this selfish gesture.

As Kim snacked on the candy bar, she began to open up conversation again, “Nom….this candy bar… nom…munch..munch is so good —ain’t it Aubs?..” She continued to munch on the bar, her mouth open and all, “Y’know.. munch.. heard that Kel nerd…”

Aubrey’s ears perked up at the mention.

“Heard he’s aimin’ for the basketball league this year… pfft, what a nerd!” Kim let out a fit of laughter at the mere thought of that measly nerd, Kel, joining a proper, professional basketball team. He was so overly delusional it fed on Kim’s need and drive for comedy. Or maybe she was just really judgemental and petty towards Kel, but who cares!

Aubrey shook her head, “Nah, I think he’s rather respectable.” Kim glanced at Aubrey, seemingly a little taken aback and irritated by her nonchalant and normally out of character response.

“Huh? What do you mean he’s ‘rather respectable’?” Kim pouted, this wasn’t fun at all,

“Dude’s literally delusional as hell, and you call that respectable? If anything he’d hit a whistle note out of fear once and then proceed to join the choir.” That earned a chuckle from Aubrey.

“Well, fair.. I guess, sorry, don’t know what’s gotten into me as of late.” Her gaze seemed more distant now, as if she was thinking of something else.

“Hey, Aubrey.” Kim turned her head, “Listen.”

Aubrey glanced at Kim, “Mm?”

“I know.. things’ve been tough n’ all, but…” Kim looked away, taking a deep breath before continuing, “You know I’m always here for you right?”Kim looked into Aubrey’s eyes, with zero doubt or uncertainty within her gaze.

“Oh dammit, I’m gettin’ all sappy now. Eugh.. gross!” Kim stuck her tongue out half-heartedly.

Aubrey let out a giggle, “Damn right you are, nerd.” She playfully nudged Kim’s arm, granting a laugh from Kim, “Aw c’mon, stop bein’ like that Aubs- “

“HEYYYY! THAT’S UNFAIR!”

A voice shouted from within the park, both Aubrey and Kim turned their heads around.

“So what? What you gonna do about it stink?!” Wait.. that voice was Angel’s?!

Aubrey and Kim stood up, running to the other end of the park, reaching the basketball court to find both Kel and Angel, they seem to be disputing.. Charlie stands in the distance.

“You can’t just do that Angel! I know you’re a kid n’ all, but that’s just messed up!” Kel shouted at Angel, he sounded.. genuinely pissed off. That was weird.

Aubrey and Kim continued to watch, trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

“Oh come on! It wasn’t that bad, you’re just being overdramatic.. smelly Kel!” Angel stuck out his tongue childishly as Charlie stared at the two. “Back me up on this Charlie!”

“You’re just so…” He clenched his fist, before spotting Kim and… Aubrey?!

“Woah, woah! What the hell’s goin’ on here between you and this nerd?” Kim spoke up, eyeing between the two, she was honestly so confused. What were these two doing here in the first place?

“Watch it Kim! I am not in the mood for your name calling!” Kel glared at Kim, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“Don’t talk about Kim that way nerd! You have no room to talk to them that way.” Angel defended Kim, thanks I guess.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Aubrey spoke, a serious tone within her voice. Both Kel and Angel paused their childish antics as they stood there, slightly fearful as the two looked between each-other as if silently gesturing for the other to talk first.

“W-Well, Kel’s just being a big meanie! Like he always has!” Angel pouted.

“Hey! I’m not! You’re the one who literally threw my basketball into the tallest tree around here!” Kel grumbled, irritated and obviously ticked off. That basketball is priceless and it carries so much memories, and now it was out of reach and literally GONE —all thanks to Angel and his wonderful accuracy.

“Well, it’s not my fault your ball can’t handle these killer skills!” Angel retorted.

“What skills?!-“

“ALRIGHT! Break it up you nerds!” Kim shouted at the two, as Aubrey glanced at Kim, letting her continue, “Angel, dude.. that was honestly not cool…” She glanced at Aubrey, before shooting Angel a wink, “But it was kinda funny not gonna lie-“

“HEY!” Kel shouted.

“Alright- calm down you nerd!”

“Where is your ball… Kel?” Aubrey spoke, interrupting the conversation.

“…..” Kel looks at Aubrey, a little hesitant to speak with her, approaching her was hard enough and now she was interrogating him about his now missing ball (courtesy of Angel), and yet even when she finally spoke to him, it was difficult.

“Well?” Aubrey glared at him, fed up with his unexpected silence.

“It’s.. just over there.” He mumbles, not meeting her icy blue eyes. Kel pointed towards a pretty tall tree that nobody would truly be able to climb. Not even Charlie herself.

—

Aubrey stood at the tall tree, bat in hand as she took a deep breath steeling herself for the absolute rage she was about to unleash onto this unsuspecting plant.

WHACK! WHACK! …WHACK!

…

DUN!

The practically deflated and beaten up basketball fell down to the ground, as it rolled over hitting Aubrey’s shoes. She stared at it, before putting down her bat, and handing the ball over to Kel, “Next time, don’t be so damn careless.”

“Hey.. I-..” He was about to retort, before sighing and relenting, he was careless. But Aubrey had done something really nice to him, especially after what had happened, so it’s best to tread carefully instead of causing more problems. Kel just took a deep breath as muttered a short, yet sincere “Thanks..”

Aubrey looks at him, and nods her head, as she seems to be heading out with her bat and Kim.

“Wait! Aubrey-..”

She stops in her tracks, turning around, meeting Kel’s anxious gaze.

“…..Please, don’t go.” He muttered.

Kel didn’t wanna lose his potentially only shot at reconnecting with his friends again, even if it was just Aubrey. If she was willing to speak to him, and going so as far as to retrieve his ball for him, despite her own judgements on him being careless and that it was ‘his fault’, then that meant that Aubrey didn’t hate him, and would be more open to speaking with him.. right? Surely this meant there was some sort of opening between the two.. a chance to reconnect and not tarnish this hanging thread that their relationship balances itself on.

“…..” Aubrey took a deep breath before turning away to face Kim. Oh dammit.. all hope was lost.. she’s leaving.. and there’s nothing Kel can really do about it. Kel’s shoulders slumps instinctively as he looks to the ground with a pout, as he stared at his retrieved beaten-up basketball. It had a ton of marks on it, and some leaves too from its previous residence within that unusually tall tree (courtesy of Angel).

He picked off a few of the leaves, sighing as he stares at the basketball, making out a bit of his reflection.

“Kim, can we talk later?” Aubrey spoke.

Huh?

“Oh.. uh, yeah sure. Is somethin’ wrong?” Kim mumbled, a little disappointed.

“Nah, just.. need some time to myself if you catch my drift.” Aubrey reassured, as she pat Kim’s shoulder, “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Promise?..” Kim said, a little childishly, but she needed that dumb extra reassurance.

“Promise.” Aubrey grinned, giving Kim a fist bump, as Kim made a silly explosion noise.

“Alright, catch ya later.. nerd.” She chuckled at that last bit, waving Aubrey off.

Aubrey chuckled to herself, smiling as she saw Kim slowly fade into the distance, as she turned back to Kel. It was now only her and him. Angel and Charlie left after the whole basketball fiasco.. so all that was left to do now was to mend whatever needed fixing..

“….Aubrey…” He looked at her, a little nervous and worried, “I’m gonna be honest.. I didn’t expect you to turn back…- b-but, that’s not to say I had no hope! It’s jus-“

“Quit it, Kelsey.” Aubrey hissed.

“….Yeesh, what’s got you in a bad mood?” He pouted, gripping onto the basketball a little tighter now at her sudden attitude. “—Well, whatever. I just…”

He took a deep breath.

“We need to talk, Aubrey.”