Chapter Text
Sunny liked to hold hands. It was something he had grown up with and it was a familiar comfort that had extended as far back to when he had first started walking. He didn’t look like it, but he was an affectionate person. He was just awkward about showing it and knew better than to just initiate physical contact out of nowhere. He only hugged people when he really felt like doing it. Mari had loved his hugs. Sunny had adored her hugs even more. She was the one who had gotten him used to holding hands. They were hugs that were more appropriate for any time. So, Sunny liked to hold hands.
He hadn’t held hands in a long time, though. He had actually forgotten about how much he had liked it after Mari had died. He had hated his hands. They were the hands that had killed Mari. They were the hands that he looked at and felt sick about. They were the hands that held knives and threw punches. They were the hands that wanted to kill him just like they had killed Mari. He didn’t want to hold hands with people because of it.
Basil had held his hand after Mari’s death. Sunny had reacted coldly to anyone’s hugs during that time, so Basil had squeezed his hands instead. They were Sunny’s last grip on what felt like his humanity. He had promised that he wouldn’t let go of that hand. The hands that had pushed Mari fit surprisingly well with the ones that had made the noose to hang her body. The thought of that had sickened him. He had hated Basil. But he had hated himself more. So he had let go of that hand and had not looked back. He had locked everyone out of his mind and he was left completely alone. Mari could hug him in his dreams where his hands were clean of her blood. Nevermind the fact that they had held a knife, simply waiting for the last time he would use it to stab himself and never wake up again.
Basil had never forgotten how much Sunny had loved holding hands. It was clear he enjoyed it as well. Despite the broken promise between them, Basil’s hand still reached out and took his own. The same hand that had destroyed Sunny’s eye. The same hand that had punched Basil in his eye in return. They didn’t fit together as well. Basil’s hand was sweaty and too warm. Sunny’s was too cold and loose. But it was nice. Sunny liked it.
They held hands as they walked around the store and searched for the item that Basil wanted to get. He actually was trying to make a gift for Mari, so that part at least had been real. Sunny left the entire planning to Basil, though, since he had no idea what the boy was up to. It wasn’t until they found the pinwheels did he start to get more of a clue.
“They’re different from the ones we had.” Basil said as he released Sunny’s hand to pick through the container in search of one of the pinwheels he wanted. These were not one solid color like their old ones were. The pinwheels at the store had metallic coloring from the paper they used. Nevertheless, Basil still picked out one in all of their old colors. Sunny got silver, Hero’s blue, Kel’s orange, Aubrey’s pink, Basil’s green, and finally Mari’s purple. He put them all into his basket and let his eyes linger on them. “...It’s hard to find pinwheels nowadays like the ones we had. This design’s more popular. It’s kinda sad.”
Sunny didn’t respond. He picked up his pinwheel and blew on it. It spun cheerfully while reflecting the overhead lights.
“Let’s go pay for these now, okay? Then we can put them in my bag. Um, I hope they survive the trip… remind me not to let anything bend my bag.” Basil took the pinwheel back and the two walked towards the front of the store. Sunny wondered if he should take Basil’s hand again, but decided against it. Idly, he wondered what it would be like if he took any of his other friends’ hands. It was hard to picture.
Sunny stood in the magazine section and flipped through a mildly interesting one while Basil went to the checkout to pay for his items. When he was done, he returned to Sunny’s side and looked through the magazine with him. It was nice to do this, Sunny decided. He felt a lot calmer than he was before. He didn’t feel like there was darkness looming behind him anymore. He wanted to stay in this bubble for a while, so he prompted Basil to tell him about some of the new books he’d been reading. Basil gladly went on about some of his newest favorites. He’d had plenty of time to read books over the past few years, he said, and he knew for a fact there were ones that Sunny would enjoy.
Their conversation lasted up until Sunny spotted Hero back near the entrance of the store. He was alone and looking at his phone once more. He appeared to be waiting. He pointed this out to Basil, and the two walked over to their friend.
“Oh, hey, you found us.” Hero grinned at them. He pocketed his phone. “Or, I guess you found me.”
“Where’s Kel?” Basil asked, looking around.
“He’s just outside. Aubrey messaged us that the girls wanted to put their things in the truck, so he’s meeting with them so they can do that.”
“Oh. They could use my bag…” He tapped the arm of his bag. Hero just shrugged.
“I guess they didn’t want to carry it?”
“Did you, um, get everything?”
He shook his head. “We didn’t find what we were looking for.” His smile was a bit regretful. Sunny still wasn’t sure what they were talking about. What had they discussed before they had all split up and why?
“Did you need help?” He suggested.
“Haha,” Hero patted Sunny on the shoulder once before winking at him. “Don’t worry about it, okay? Me and Kel’ll just try another time.” Sunny decided to drop it then. If Hero said it wasn’t important, it probably wasn’t.
They heard Kim’s voice as the groups gathered together once more. The sudden noise of his friends all together again helped to push back the last of the black fog that clung to the edges of Sunny senses. He was able to breathe freely again once more. They were too bright to possibly give him a moment to think and remember. He needed the break.
Kel brought the girls over and eagerly informed all of them of the items that the boys had gathered. Sunny soaked in the atmosphere of the playful banter as they once more returned to the toy section. This time Kim and Charlene joined in on Kel and Sunny setting off the toys, causing even more chaos with the sheer amount of flashing lights, tingling music, and robotic voices. Their laughter got them scolded by a nearby employee and Hero had to be the responsible adult to get all the kids in line.
“Alright, I think that’s enough money spent on beach stuff.” The man announced as he relinquished control of the shopping cart to Aubrey to push. Sunny stood on the opposite end so that she ended up pushing him around. Kel originally offered to push, but everyone predicted exactly how that would go and Hero rejected the idea. “Let’s head over to the craft supplies.”
“How many photo albums are we getting?” Kel asked.
“One for each of us.” Aubrey responded. “We’re all going to have a copy.”
“Have you guys considered, I don’t know, decorating them or whatever?” Kim suggested. Sunny blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected that kind of idea from her.
“You mean like a, uh what’s it called, a scrapbook?” Kel asked.
“That might be fun.” Basil said.
“Yeah, like a scrapbook. If you’re gonna make them your own, you can just get a basic one and then decorate it. Or just do a scrapbook in general.” Kim said. “Charlene did one with Angel a while back, right?”
Charlene blushed a little. “...Yeah.”
“Scrapbooks might be useful, but we’re already spending a lot of money. I think if we decided to go that route, we would end up wasting a lot of money on supplies.” Hero said. He had a thoughtful look on his face, though, as he considered something. Whatever it was, he didn’t get to say it before Kel barreled on,
“They’d basically be the same thing anyway! Photo albums hold up better. I mean, just look at Basil’s! That lasted for years!”
“I don’t think five years is long in the grand scheme of things.” Aubrey rolled her eyes.
“It, uh, mostly sat on the shelf during that time too.” Basil added. “I agree that photo albums hold up better. Let’s go get those and the cameras.”
Sunny enjoyed being pushed around as he took in the store. It was so much bigger than he was used to, but not as big as the clothing store that his mother had taken him to when they had first moved to the city. Everything seemed a lot bigger since they had moved out of Faraway Town. He wondered if it was just because he was used to living in such a small place. His house had seemed far too big not that long ago too. He tried not to think about it.
The group of friends grabbed a disposable camera for each of them plus one extra. They were pretty cheap things to buy, but they predicted that they might burn through the film a lot faster than they would with Basil’s film. They all looked exactly alike as well so they ran the risk of mixing up each other’s cameras. It hardly mattered since they would be sharing pictures in the end anyway. That made Sunny excited.
His heart felt light as he considered many things he would’ve already taken pictures of. He didn’t want to forget a single moment if he could. He doubted he would be as skilled as Basil was with picking out the perfect moment to take a shot. Every little thing seemed important. He hoped that even half of his choices resonated with the others as much as he hoped that they would.
“Oh man, these photo albums are so weird !” Kel cried as they finally came to a stop in the craft section of the store. Kim and Charlene wandered a little to look at other things since they didn’t plan to buy any albums themselves, leaving the group to decide for themselves. Kel pulled out an album that looked like it had padding and flowery cloth over it. There were even bows and frilly ribbon around the edges. “Look at this thing! It looks like something our grandma would have, Hero!”
Hero huffed in amusement. “That actually looks exactly like the material used on her pillows.”
“Exactly!”
“This one’s nice and simple.” Basil pulled out a plain pleather album. It was rectangular and longer than it was tall. Flipping it open revealed plenty of pages and a place to write the owner’s name on the inside cover.
“Eh, it’s okay.” Aubrey shrugged, disinterested. Sunny grabbed one of the smaller photo albums. It looked like each page could hold one photo each, allowing for the ability to flip through it quickly. He frowned and decided he didn’t like it. He wanted to be able to write notes in it. The idea to find an album and decorate it was looking more appealing to him.
“Oh, this one’s for Kel.” Basil had a playful smile on his face as he grabbed a basketball-shaped album and held it out.
“Oh, heck yes!” Kel snatched the album with excitement.
“How would you even put that on a shelf? It looks like it’d roll right out.” Aubrey said. Sunny grabbed another one of the simpler albums. It was a plain black one with a window on the front to allow a single picture to be the cover. It was wide enough that he was sure he could fit something nice in there. He liked it. He put his into the shopping cart.
“Yeah, but picture it!” Kel flipped the album open and pointed. “Look, it has enough room to fit one picture and I can write right below it! Besides,” he snapped it closed and looked proud of himself, “if one day maybe I decide not to play basketball anymore, I’d know immediately when I got this! It’s perfect!”
“That… was actually a lot more thoughtful than I had expected coming from you.” Aubrey seemed honestly surprised.
“Hey!”
Basil laughed quietly. “You’re right, it’s perfect.”
“I think I’m gonna get this one, then.” Hero said as he showed off a thicker album. It had rings on it like a notebook, but the pages were thick enough that they couldn’t easily tear when flipped. It caused the book to look pretty thick, though. “Reminds me of my old cookbooks.”
“I thought you just chose that because you’re a nerd.” Kel snickered and Aubrey joined in.
“I kinda thought it looked like a notebook too.”
“Aw, really?” Hero gave the album a second look.
“I like it.” Sunny assured him. “It’s big, though.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty big. But I think I’ll be saving more pictures in it then you guys, so I wanna have the most room.”
“You really think so?” Basil asked.
“Yeah! I mean, even bad photos have memories with them, right? I’m thinking about making a bit of a collage out of certain moments depending on how we do the pictures. Or maybe I can use the bad photos for something else.”
“In that case, I’ll get this.” Aubrey pulled out a pastel plaid photo album. It had a big place on it to write perhaps a title of some sort on the front. It was a medium-sized book similar to Sunny’s. “This’ll stand out.”
“It’s cute.” Basil said. “I think I like the green one.” He grabbed a forest green album then. “And… I think I want to grab some paint too. So I can decorate the front.”
“That’s a good idea!” Hero said. “Some cheap paints wouldn’t be bad.”
“You’ve become stingier with money since you moved out.” Kel pouted playfully as the group left the aisle to look for the paints. They found Charlene and Kim already there looking over some stamp sets.
“College is hard, okay? I’m lucky if I can afford to make a good meal for myself.” Hero grouched a little.
“I thought it was a time issue?”
“It’s both.” Despite his complaining, though, Hero didn’t look too distressed. “Being a little frugal is just a sign that you’re growing up.”
“I just spend all of my money pretty much right away. I’m glad there’s a lot of jobs I can do for our neighbors. Remember when Sunny was still living in town? He spent his last three days doing all kinds of odd jobs! It was pretty impressive.”
“Oh yeah, I was surprised you had so many part time jobs.” Aubrey agreed as she looked at Sunny. “Helping neighbors I guess I can get behind, but I have no idea how you did the pizza delivery. I filled in for that one time and couldn’t read any of the handwriting.”
“I’m good at puzzles.” Sunny said simply. “I have a lot of experience.”
“You do?”
“You guys done?” Kim interrupted then. “As much fun as this is, I’m itching to get some grub. I can feel my sugar high crashing!”
“Pfft, I didn’t even see you get candy! Watch out or your mom’ll see you!” Kel teased.
“Shut up, stupid! Ugh, don’t you dare tell her!”
“I’m ready to head out too. We can drop everything off at the truck and then, I don’t know-” Hero began when Aubrey cut him off to finish,
“Waste the rest of our time?”
“It’s not wasting time if we’re having fun.” Kel beamed as he leaned on the handlebar of the shopping cart. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m having a great time!”
The group glanced at each other before smiles bloomed on most of their faces. Basil and Sunny’s eyes met, and Basil’s gaze softened. He looked relieved. Sunny nodded in agreement to Kel’s words. “Me too.” He said.
“Then let’s head out! What was that thing you said yesterday, Aubrey? Something about Chinese food? Count me in! I’m so ready to get some greasy lo mein in me!” Kel punched the air once eagerly.
“Ugh, now I’m starving .” Kim whined. “Good going.”
“C’mon, then.” Hero encouraged as they all headed back to the front of the store to go pay for their items. Sunny felt nothing but relief and happiness as he looked at their haul. All of it spoke of the good times that were no doubt to come. He couldn’t wait to start making those memories.