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Aubrey crossed her arms behind the back of her head, lounging on Basil’s couch while Polly cooked the two of them breakfast. Aubrey had been staying at her boyfriend’s place for around two weeks now after she decided to leave behind her old house.
It’s been going well for her. The two of them had been dating for a while beforehand, but it’s nice to always be in close proximity now that they’re roommates with each other.
It was a generosity of him to let her stay in this house after all this time. Even though it’s already been over a year since she stopped antagonizing him, the wounds she left on him still feel fresh. She was confused as to why he would even want to date her after all that’s happened.
But here they are. She’s forgiven him. He’s forgiven her. Now they’re… a couple.
She doesn’t even know how it all turned out like this, or how she caught feelings for him again after she thought she had buried them in middle school. But… she’s content. Despite her own self-doubt in believing she’s even worthy of being his girlfriend, let alone just his friend, sometimes, when it’s easier, she chooses to just cast those thoughts aside and be happy with how everything has turned out.
“Basil, Aubrey, breakfast is ready!”
Aubrey stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen table, where Polly had made the two of them a nice batch of pancakes, bacon and eggs. It was a staple of breakfasts from Polly whenever she decided to make them, and while she wasn’t very fond of being fed the same thing every other day, it tasted good and she wasn’t one to complain about the food she gets.
Basil sat down next to her as Polly handed him a plate of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Aubrey tilted her head. Maybe things have just changed, but she always thought Basil hated eggs. When they were kids he would freeze up and gag whenever he was forced to have them on his plate.
“Thank you, Polly!” He chirped, gladly taking the plate into his hands.
She raised an eyebrow at Basil’s slightly reluctant expression when his eyes landed on the scrambled eggs.
Aubrey nudged him with her shoulder. “You don’t like eggs, right?” She whispered.
“Er, no, but it’s fine!” He scooped a few with his fork. “Y-You get used to eating them after a while.”
“Really?” Aubrey raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t like them, just tell Polly.”
“I-it’s fine, really!” He assured her. “Polly gets upset when people think her food is bland…”
“It doesn’t matter if she gets upset. You don’t need to eat shit you don’t like.” Aubrey countered.
Basil put his hands up defensively. “A-Aubrey, really, it’s okay! I can eat a bit if it makes Polly happy. I m-mean you should know a thing or two about having to eat what you get…”
Aubrey looked away, scorned.
“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to insult you- I- just- I’m sorry!” His hands fluttered awkwardly around himself.
“It’s… fine.” She replied through gritted teeth. “But this is different now. Back then I didn’t have options. You do.”
“Yeah, I have the other stuff on my plate.” Basil responded, putting a bite of pancake in his mouth. “It’s really fine if I have to eat a little bit of egg, Aubrey.”
Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever.”
Basil shuffled nervously as the two of them ate their breakfast in silence. Aubrey couldn’t help but stare at him every time he winced while trying to force down a bite of egg. She found it hard to find much interest in her plate.
She poked and prodded her breakfast for a while before taking a few bites.
She looked back at Basil, who made passive conversation with Polly at the table when she sat down to eat with them. Irritation bubbled in her chest as he forced down another forkful of egg into his mouth. Why could he not just tell her? He had the luxury to decide what he likes to eat. Why waste that?
Part of her wanted to say it to Polly’s face, but she bit her tongue, not wanting to speak for Basil or cause another argument.
It shouldn’t surprise her, really. Basil has always been one to take shit from others and not do anything about it. He’s always been a bit of a pushover, so much so that Basil would probably concede and agree with her if she said it to his face right now.
He’s always been very skittish, like a rabbit. Very social if you get to know him, but he’ll turn tail and run if you get too pushy. Unfortunately, after years of being picked on by not just her, he’s learned to stop running and just take it lying down.
And that pisses her off. By no fault of his own, of course. It’s not his fault he was surrounded by people who saw him as nothing but a walking target.
Including herself…
She grumbles into another mouthful of breakfast thinking about it. While yes, she was angry about the photo album when she first started going out of her way to bully him, that wasn’t the only reason. She had three years of built up resentment and anger towards her friends, who she perceived as having abandoned her, and the photo album being ruined was her final straw to actually start doing something about it. It was never just about the photo album- she needed more than just something to take that anger out. She needed somebody. And Basil was the only person who she could let loose on without any pushback. It took about a year of that before it broke him to the point where he finally started crying for help.
It’s shameful to think about. Even if the damage was already done before she started harassing him, her behavior was a big part in building the non-confrontational person he is today.
He glances back at her nervously after he finishes his breakfast. He stands abruptly from the table and goes to wash his plate.
She finishes her food lazily, and is the last to leave the table. They didn’t talk after, Basil just retreated into his room to reorganize photos or water some of his potted plants like always. Guilt clawed its way through her gut as she thought about how sorry he was when he thought he accidentally insulted her. How his hands fluttered defensively in front of himself like he was preparing for a physical blow.
It shouldn’t be like that anymore. They’re partners now. Why does he act like he’s still afraid she’ll flip on him if he so much as breathes wrong around her?
…Maybe they rushed into this too soon?
No, no. Basil wanted this, and she did as well. He can make his own choices. He may be a bit of a doormat, but he’s fully capable of choosing things for himself. And he chose to forgive her every time she tried to insist she wasn’t worthy of it. He chose to accept her scattered confession that night two months ago. He chose to continue through with it afterward.
He wouldn’t choose to stay with her over and over again if he didn’t mean it anymore. Not after this long.
She smiles with confidence as she thinks about it.
She’s about to fall back on the couch and continue on with her day when her gaze trails to the nail bat Polly had confiscated from her, sitting alone in the corner of the room. One of Polly’s “rules of the house” was that no weapons were allowed to be owned by children. (Or herself, for that matter). She thought Polly was just going to throw the thing out, considering how dangerous it could be, but it’s stood resiliently in that corner ever since she first brought it here.
I had such a fun time smashing shit with that, She thought, fondly. That bat was more than just a simple tool to make people around town afraid of her. It was a symbol of her resilience. Mari had bought it for her as just a regular bat years ago when she expressed some vague interest in joining the middle school baseball team. She never joined that team, as Mari died soon after, but she kept the bat as a memento. And later, it became her way to vent, by going to that old junkyard by the outskirts of Faraway Town to smash shit with Kim when it was just the two of them.
Later, she drove nails into it. She doesn’t know why, after all, it was a pretty crude desecration of something Mari gave to her as a gift. (Especially in retrospect considering she got mad at Basil for allegedly doing something similar, so much so that she started actively bullying him for it). But it didn’t feel like that in the moment. It just enhanced its usability and made her happier.
In a way, such a simple object helped her make the person she is today. Whether that’s for the better or worse, she doesn’t know, nor does she care anymore. It’s part of her. It helped shape her confidence and made sure nobody would push her around ever again. She’s glad Polly never threw it out.
It helped her with those feelings… those negative, burning feelings that coursed through her veins like scorching fire. She wished she kept taking it out on random junk instead of turning her fists towards Basil.
Wait… Basil. Basil, nail bat. The nail bat helped her vent. The bat helped her become less of a coward. Maybe it could help him too?
It’s a long shot, but maybe it could work? She and Basil were pretty unalike as children, but maybe now he needs some way to take that anger out? He probably has a lot of the same festering, angry and violent thoughts she used to have. About the people who hurt him and used him. Though, the one time he didn’t repress those feelings, it didn’t end for him, or for Sunny’s eye. But this would be different, her and him, in a controlled environment, and a setting that allowed him to finally let loose in that way without hurting anyone, or himself.
It’s perfect.
A dopey grin spread across her face as she bolted to Basil’s room, nearly slamming the door open and startling him so badly he almost fell off his bed.
“BASIL!” She shouted, hardly able to contain her excitement.
“A-A-Aubrey?!?!”
“Get a coat on, we’re going out!”
“W-What?! To where?!”
“Doesn’t matter, just come on!” She grabbed his hand and sped out of the room as he flailed to grab a coat from the new coatrack in the hallway, accidentally grabbing one of hers.
She stopped and looked around to make sure Polly wouldn’t see, before darting towards the corner and grabbing her nail bat in her other hand.
Grinning manically, she opened the door.
“A-Aubrey, I really don’t want to do this!!”
Basil squealed as cold wind swiftly whipped his neat hair into a mess of flowing blonde curls. The nail bat trembled in his grip, his hands sweaty from both nervousness and the fabric of Aubrey’s oversized jacket blanketing his hands.
“Come on, Basil! You can do it!” Aubrey shouted as the two of them stood in front of a precariously put-together pile of junk. “Just put your all into it!”
Basil looked back at her anxiously. “W-Why are we even doing this in the first place?” He asked, shivering. “I- You never told me why!”
“We’re here to make you less of a pushover!” She shouted, before her whole body went rigid. “Uh, sorry, but it’s true.”
Basil stared at her flatly. “How is s-smashing a pile of junk gonna make me less of a pushover?” He replied as if he knew the statement was factual.
“We’re gonna release your inner rage!” Aubrey pumped her fists up in the air. “Once you know what you’re capable of, nobody but you will get to decide who messes with you ever again!”
“I don’t know about this, I probably couldn’t knock it over-”
“It doesn’t matter what you think!” Aubrey cheered. “It matters what you feel! Don’t you feel it? That burning resentment deep in your veins for how poorly people have treated you for your entire life?”
“Uh- I guess?” Basil responded.
“Good! Then let it all out!”
Basil’s eyes darted nervously between Aubrey, the bat and the pile. “I don’t think-”
“Oh come on!” Aubrey’s arms slumped to her side as she walked up to Basil. “You can’t tell me that you’re incapable of letting it all out! You can’t tell me that you don’t feel it like I used to!” She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him lightly. “Like today when Polly walked all over you and kept putting more eggs on your plate! Didn’t that make you angry?”
“N-No, not really-”
“Well imagine that it did! Don’t you want to swing at something to your heart’s content because of how frustrating it was?”
“N-No!” Basil stammered. “Why would I ever want to swing at Polly?!”
Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Well, not at her, just in general!”
“B-But I don’t want to swing at anybody!!” Basil whined.
“Well, you’re gonna have to learn!” Aubrey ruffled his hair, causing him to lose balance. “What are you gonna do if you get slammed against the lockers in school and I don’t coincidentally round the corner to protect you? Just take it?”
“I…”
“I’m not saying you’re just going to start hitting everybody who looks at you wrong.” Aubrey patted him hard on the back, causing him to exhale shakily. “Trust me, I know that it doesn’t work out well. But you’ve gotta look out for yourself! You can’t just let other people protect you all your life, because someday you have to learn to do that yourself! You won’t always have people around to defend you.”
Aubrey gave him a light shove towards the garbage pile, Basil nearly tripping over his own feet.
“So? Are you gonna continue relying on Sunny, Kel, Hero or me to solve your problems? Or are you gonna start taking charge yourself?” Aubrey mock-taunted.
Basil lifted up the bat, his brows furrowing as he stared with white-hot anger towards the pile of garbage.
“Don’t you just wanna give them a piece of your mind? That one kid who kept making you do his homework and beat you up if you refused? Or what about that one guy who keeps calling you a faggot every time you cross in the halls? What about me? You never wanted to punch me back all of those times I pushed you down?”
Basil clenched his teeth together, raising the bat higher.
“Just let it flow! Wreck the thing! Fuck it up!” Aubrey shouted from the sidelines as Basil’s grip tightened around the bat handle.
“AAAAARRRRHHHHH!!!” A guttural cry tore from Basil’s throat as he brought the bat down on the pile of nothing three times in quick succession, scattering its remains all over the ground. Thin metal and plastic crunched against the blunt force of wood and nails as the once sturdy pile was eliminated and turned into a few strewn pieces of garbage across the grass.
“Wow!” Aubrey wiped sweat off her brow, suddenly warm. “You uh, you did quite the number on that shit, huh, Bas? Good job-”
Aubrey was cut off as Basil grunted, before bringing down the bat hard on every strewn piece of garbage with fervor and rage, pounding the wooden object over and over again until his chest heaved with heavy breaths and he staggered backwards.
Aubrey put up her hands. “H-Holy shit, dude!” She grinned nervously.
Basil coughed before wiping his mouth with his hand. He looked back at Aubrey, his chest still heaving with erratic inhales and exhales. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared at her, expression unreadable.
“Oh- oh god, you’re crying- shit, you okay man?” She asked, stepping towards him. “Just, um, take some breaths or whatever, alright?”
Basil’s eyes bulged as he stared right at her. He looked back at the wreckage he had caused, then at the bat, and back at her. His blank expression contorted into one of anger as he took a tentative step towards her.
Oh shit. Alarms blared in Aubey’s mind as she stared at Basil. Did it work too well? Maybe in making him realize he needs to fight back against his own mistreatment made him realize he should never have taken shit from her either.
Fuck. Aubrey stepped back from him and put her hands up once again. “Uh- You’re not mad at me, right?”
Basil stepped closer. She backed away further.
“I’m sorry, okay- I mean, you’ve already heard it from me I’m sure, but I’m sorry!” She kept up her nervous smile as sweat dribbled down her temples. ”A-And for today!” Her voice stuttered. “I shouldn’t have taken you out here without telling you what we were going to do-”
She audibly yelped as her back hit the chain-link fence.
“L-Listen, it was a long time ago okay, I-”
Basil dropped the bat at his feet and surged into a desperate, passionate kiss, his lips crashing clumsily against hers and their noses thunked together. Aubrey’s eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into it, the panic in her brain turning to mist as her only thoughts were reduced to the taste of Basil’s lips against hers.
Basil parted, stepping back, suddenly aware of what he’d just done. His eyes went wide as he rubbed her sides of his face and wiped a dribble of their saliva off of his chin.
“A-Aubrey! I’m so sorry!” Basil apologized, his hands fluttering in front of himself. “I- I don’t know what came over me, it’s just the bat, and how I swung it- and I felt, I felt good, b-but I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-”
“Shut up!” Aubrey slammed her hands down on his shoulders, causing him to wobble slightly. “That- That was…” The blood drained from Aubrey’s face as her mind registers what Basil just did to her. “...That was the hottest thing anybody has ever done to me.”
Basil’s face flushed a deep shade of pink. “R-Really?” He combed through his messy hair with his hand. “I… I thought it was-”
Aubrey chucked while she caught her breath, tangling her fingers between her own bubblegum pink hair. “It was… something, that’s for sure.”
Her and Basil shuffled around awkwardly. Aubrey shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and Basil twiddled with his thumbs.
“...Should we go home?” Basil asked.
“Y-Yeah.” Aubrey replied, still breathless as she picked up her bat. “Let’s… go home. Polly’s probably gonna report you missing if we aren’t back in five.”
“Okay…” Basil replied as the two of them began taking the long trek outside the Junkyard all the way back to Basil’s house.
After an awkward silence between the two of them, Basil spoke up again.
“T-Thank you.” He glanced around nervously. “F-For… taking me out here. It… it helped, and you’re right… I need to be less of a pushover.”
“Anytime.” She replied. “Need me to give you coaching lessons on how to break someone’s nose?”
“N-No! I think this is enough for now!” Basil grinned as the two of them strolled down the street.
Aubrey snickered. “Sure.”
The two of them shared a comfortable silence as they continued their walk back to Basil’s house. He looked… confident. Aubrey smiled. Her plan worked, and didn’t end up backfiring and completely destroying their relationship. That’s a win for her.
…Though she does regret the fact that her stupid mind keeps picturing Basil beating her up now. And the worst part of it all? She kind of wants it.
God dammit Basil, why'd you have to corner me up against a chain-link fence like that?