Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Basil looked at the name on the door, nervousness spreading through him. Dr. Michael Short. He inhales, then exhales, clutching his photo album tightly to his body with both arms. He doesn’t realize it, but he’s trembling as he goes to open the door, peeking his head inside.

He looks into a lightly dark green room, with wooden floors and a nice, fancy wooden desk. There are a couple of bookshelves behind the desk, filled to the brim with what look like textbooks and folders. Next to the bookshelves is a glass cabinet, which looks like it’s filled with…..empty wine and beer bottles? They look rather fancy, often having interesting designs on them. Basil takes particular notice of a white wine bottle with pictures of egrets flying and surrounded by pink flowers. Ugh. The designs of the flowers clearly are based off of roses, but whoever did it definitely didn’t use any sort of reference. This random aside in Basil’s thoughts is interrupted by what sounds like the sudden closing of a folder, as a rather jolly-looking suited man in a corner chair stood up, bringing the folder to the desk. His hair was short and black, professionally cut probably. The suit was a nice color of beige as well. It reminded Basil of clay.

”Ah, you must be Basil Spring. Please, come in. Don’t be shy.” The dark-skinned man smiles warmly, laugh lines defining themselves behind his glasses as Basil tentatively closes the door behind him. The man sits behind the desk, the plaque reading “Dr. Michael Short” clearly visible. He gestures to one of the other chairs in his office, which Basil pulls up and sits in, clutching the album to his chest, his heart pounding quicker. He can almost feel his nails puncture the cover of the album.

”Um…..h-hello. There. Um!” Basil clears his throat. “M-my name is Basil. Oh, uh, wait I guess you…already knew that….uh.”

Dr. Short brings his hand up a bit. “It is quite alright, Basil. I understand why you are so nervous.” He frowns sourly, looking through the folder he was just looking through. “Your experience with your previous therapist was……well, ‘unprofessional’ is the lightest way to put it.” He clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Complete breach of client/patient confidentiality. I wonder if he even kept his job after.”

”Oh….I um, wouldn’t want to be the reason that man got in trouble….”

”He made his decisions.” Dr. Short takes in a deep breath as he gets back up and grabs a seemingly random book from the shelf, opening it up next to the folder. “But, let’s not linger on that for too long. First of all….” The doctor brings his hands together, a solemn look on his face. “You are aware of the…specifics of my job, yes?”

Basil swallows nervously and nods. “Y-you are a…..c-criminal th-therapist.” Tears clearly threaten to spill out of Basil’s eyes. If he could hold the album close to him any tighter, he would.

”Basil.” Dr Short’s voice is gentle yet firm as he spoke. “Your circumstances are…well, let’s say that I have not had a patient quite like you. Regardless, the point of all of this is to help you get better, yes? So, don’t worry too much about what my job title technically is. I am your therapist, and that is what matters.”

This little speech managed to calm Basil down a bit. Right. He promised Sunny that he would get better. He promised Miss Polly. He knows that his friends hope that he gets better. Even if…he doesn’t quite believe that he deserves it yet. But, it’s what his friends want, so…

”Um, ok. Um, so…do you know about…about what I did?”

Dr Short nods solemnly.”That information was provided in your file.”

”Ah. Right, I…figured.”

Dr Short leans in, relaxing himself with his hands together ”Now then. Where would you like to start, Basil? I assume you’ve discussed a couple of things already with your previous therapist, but I think it would be helpful to hear it directly from you.”

Basil thought a bit. Well, he seems to already know about…..that. So, what else could he talk about? “I guess…I could talk about what happened when Sunny came back…”

”Ah, Sunny. Yes, that person was also mentioned in your file. If you are comfortable with talking about it, then please, proceed.” He moves his hand towards Basil indicatively, as Basil squirmed in his seat, trying to make himself feel comfortable.

”W-well….it all started when I woke up…..”

Chapter Text

The first thing that Basil feels is pain. Aches and pains all over his body. He feels himself stirring a bit, residing in the limbo of feeling too tired to wanna wake up while simultaneously not properly perceiving anything around him. As he does, he starts hearing something though. Someone…talking? He can’t quite make out the voice or what it’s saying. It sounds…sorrowful.

A sudden noise rings out, a loud slam. It startles Basil a bit, making him start to listen better to what’s happening. He hears someone running, he thinks. Shoes making the floor squeak. He hears shuffling, like someone trying to lift someone else up? Or maybe hold someone close. Then another set of shoes walking off.

Basil dares to start opening his eyes at this point, curiosity getting the better of him. He sees Hero, all by himself, standing next to his best friend Sunny. His eyes haven’t adjusted yet, so he can’t see either of their expressions. He can, however, see it. The thing behind Sunny. Hero is just standing there, seeming to look at Sunny, not noticing the…..whatever it is. He brings his hand up. It falls gently on Sunny’s shoulder. Hero starts moving past him, as well as the thing behind Sunny, Basil barely hearing the words ‘I’m sorry’ pass Hero’s lips as he leaves the room, the hand staying on the shoulder for as long as possible. Sunny is stock still, and his eyes turn towards Basil. He sees that Basil has awakened, and Sunny…smiles. The thing behind him seems to disappear, twisting into itself and vanishing into the ether. Basil smiles too, the weight in his mind seeming to lift considerably. He managed to protect Sunny from that horrible thing, the thing that killed Mari. He wasn’t completely useless, completely horrible after all.

If Basil were to die right now, he would be fine with it. So much more fine than what he felt last night.

He helped.

”Basil…” Sunny’s voice rings out, his voice crackling from disuse and emotion, startling Basil out of his reverie.

”Sunny. I’m so glad.” Basil gives off a genuine, tired smile. “I’m so glad I managed to protect you. I’m so glad I got to see you one last time. I’m so glad I got to be useful to you. I’m so-”

”Basil.” Sunny speaks more firmly, interrupting Basil, confusing him. “I told them.”

What? “H………huh?”

”I told them the truth. Everything. The hanging, the photos that I defaced, the fact that I…I killed Mari. Everything.”

Basil feels a million emotions flare up inside him all at once. His heart starts to beat faster, the familiar feeling of bile and fear and anxiety starts to come almost naturally. He tries his best to keep it all down as he gives a more shaky smile. “That’s…what are you talking about? You wouldn’t do that Sunny. I-I was protecting you from that thing behind you, why would you-”

”There was nothing behind me, Basil.” Said so matter-of-factly, almost like the Sunny he remembers. Not exactly like the Sunny he remembers. The Sunny he remembers was kind and friendly and sweet, why is he being so stubborn and cruel?!

”Sunny, you…” Basil’s breathing starts to quicken, his muscles tensing, his fingers grasping open and closed. “You’re just being confused, i-it’s ok! I get confused too! L-like when I thought Aubrey came up to my door and apologized. Th-that obviously didn’t really happen, it was just…it was just another-”

”Basil, please…” Sunny comes up and holds onto Basil’s hand, placing it in his palm and putting his other hand over it. Basil’s hand instinctively closes over it, but the hand doesn’t feel familiar at all. It feels coarse and bony. “Please stop. I-it was hard for me to accept too, but-”

”Sunny, you don’t have to do this!” Basil suddenly starts getting louder, not quite yelling, not quite desperate, but threatening to be. His grip on Sunny’s hand gets tighter. “I protected you! I helped you! I saved you from the-”

”BASIL!” Sunny’s voice cracks harshly, stunning Basil into silence. “PLEASE STOP! YOU’RE JUST MAKING THIS HARDER!”

What?

What?

What what what what what what?

No, nonono, Basil…Basil helped. He helps Sunny, that’s what he did, that’s what he was supposed to do that’s what he did he didn’t make everything harder he didn’t make everything worse it was to protect Sunny but Sunny said he’s making things harder nonono please god no.

Sunny looks downwards, regret clear in his eyes. “I…I’m sorry… Basil, please it-it’s important to me that you accept this…”

Before Basil can even react, Sunny gets closer to him, and looks him in the eyes. Basil can feel his heart beating faster, so so fast. His hand is still held by Sunny’s hand, as the other moves to his eye…..eye-patch? Eye? Eye-patch? Sunny doesn’t have an eye-patch….wait, Sunny must have gotten hurt by-

”Basil. Please, look.”

Sunny moves his eyepatch, raising it upwards and revealing what’s underneath. Basil gasps at what he sees. It’s been cleaned, but it’s so…empty. An endless black void that seems to almost envelop Basil entirely. He swears he can see a familiar eye peeking back at him from the void of his skull. His breathing quickens even more. He can’t. He can’t handle this. He can’t handle this!

”This is what really happened Basil. I-I know it’s hard but…please if you just-”

”G…g…..gggg….”

”Basil?” Sunny instinctively gets closer to his friend, wanting to help him, to make him understand the truth. He knows that it would help him, he knows it.

Basil, however, just sees more and more of the blackness getting closer to him, enveloping him, accusing him.

It’s too much.

It’s too much!

IT’S TOO MUCH!

””GET AWAY FROM ME!”

Basil easily pushes Sunny away, Sunny still weak and practically malnourished. He stumbles, falling into the wall and slamming his head against it. His head doesn’t hurt too badly despite this, but it’s when his body connects with the floor that he cries out. The pain sears far more than normal, as the both of them starts to smell blood. Sunny reaches around his stomach, as he feels his wounds split open and blood start to spill out. “B…Basil…”

Basil pants harder, the mistake of what he did becoming clearer. “Sunny! Sunny, oh god no no no…” He gets up out of his bed, stumbling over as sharp pains cry out all over his body as he falls onto his knees at Sunny’s side. “No no no, Sunny please no please.”

“I-it’s ok Basil I’m not-“ Sunny takes in a sharp breath of pain as he tries to speak. “I’m not gonna die.” As Basil’s hands tremble, looking at the blood pooling so slightly onto the floor, breathing heavier and heavier, Sunny grabs Basil’s hand once more, his gaze and grip both pained but firm. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have...I just…Basil. Please…can you please try to believe me?” His eye tears up in desperation and pain, gazing right at the trembling, stressed out form of Basil.

He doesn’t know what to do. Sunny is right here, asking him for help, to believe in him, but it feels impossible! Sunny wouldn’t have done all those terrible things, he just has to be confused or possessed or something!

He feels his very soul weighed down by the choice presented in front of him. Does he believe Sunny? That he did kill Mari, that he did mess up the photos, that he did tell everyone the truth, that the last four years of Basil’s life hoping that no one would find out were a WASTE?! Or does he comfort Sunny, tell him that everything will be ok, that he just needs to rest, that Basil will protect him?

Basil looks at Sunny.

Sunny looks at Basil.

”When…when I first saw you. At the park, I was…happy. And confused, a-and scared of course but also happy. But, then I heard you were gonna move away, th-that you were gonna leave me again. And I felt so hurt. We were supposed to be there for each other Sunny…”

Sunny gives him a pained look, the clenching of his heart hurting more than the bleeding wounds on his stomach.

“And so…I know h-how it feels, to beg and plead for something and just…not get it.” Basil swallows hard, the next words coming out quiet and with great difficulty. “I…If you want me to believe you then…ok. I believe you Sunny. E-even though I hate it so much…” Basil’s eyes well up in tears, spilling out easily onto the hospital floor, mixing with the blood. “If it’s for you…if it’s what you really want then…ok.”

Basil feels himself being hugged by Sunny. It was slow, and careful, and so very gentle. Basil looks over at him, and sees him smiling. Not a joyful smile like he first saw when he woke up, but a calm smile. One might even say hopeful. “Thank you Basil. Thank you so so so much.”

Basil slowly returns the hug, closing his eyes.

”Ok.”

- - - - - - -

Hero manages to stumble his way out of the hospital, seeing Kel standing by the car and looking around. “H-hey, Kel.”

Kel jumps suddenly, then recognizes Hero and starts walking towards him. “Hey Hero. Um.” Kel turns back towards the car and points towards it. “The meter is…gonna run out soon.”

”Ah. Right.” Hero looks around, confusion furrowing his brow. “Where’s Aubrey?”

”I don’t know, I haven’t seen her.”

The two brothers are silent for a long while, the weight of what they heard threatening to overwhelm them. As Hero is about to open his mouth to speak, They both hear a distant shrieking noise come from the nearby wooded area. Kel gasps and runs towards the source of the noise. “I just heard her, I’m gonna go get her!”

”O-ok! I’ll uh, stay here to make sure the meter doesn’t run out!” Kel nods in acknowledgement as he runs off into the woods. Hero lets out a shuddering sigh as he walks over to his car and opens the door. He tries to get himself comfortable in the driver’s seat. Now, though, he has to wait. He has to be alone with his thoughts and feelings.

He leans his head back, his hand covering his face.

Tears spill out of the corner of his eyes as he silently weeps.

- - - - - - - -

Aubrey finds herself still running, still crying, still doing something, anything to block it all out. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening! This can’t-! She suddenly trips on a root sticking out of the ground, falling onto the ground, hurting her knees and elbows as she curls into herself. Her entire body shakes in fury and revulsion as she lets out a terrifying scream.

Of course! Of fucking course this would happen! She can’t even have one day of everything looking like it’ll get better before it all just come crashing down onto her! Her hands grasp the dirt around her, her arms moving about wildly, looking for something, anything to connect to. She gets dirt all over her hair, her clothes, her face. Her nails dig into her skin and her scalp and she screams, and cries, and hurts.

And then suddenly, she sees Kel. Just standing there, looking at her. Aubrey looks back at him intensely, anger and shame and sadness and every other damn emotion swirling around inside her. She yells loudly.

“WHAT?!”

After a moment of silence, Kel speaks, unusually quietly.

“Are you okay, Aubrey?”

Aubrey just stares at him, the absurdity and stupidity of the statement hitting her like a wooden bat across the skull. She starts chuckling, tears still actively flowing down her face. “No. Kel. I’m not okay.”

”Oh.”

After a moment, Kel walks over and offers his hand to Aubrey. Aubrey looks at it for a long moment before she grabs it, letting Kel haul her up. “Thanks.”

”No problem.” Kel looks back where he came. “Um. We should probably…go home. Or something.”

”Y-yeah.”

Aubrey looks at Kel worriedly, despite herself. As much as she wants to just focus on her own pain right now, seeing Kel like this is…almost frightening to Aubrey. Kel starts leading her by the hand quietly, her deciding to follow along. They walk like that for a minute before Aubrey stops. Kel looks back at her, the exhaustion clear in his eyes. “Aubrey?”

”Listen, Kel. We…we all made a promise. Right?”

Kel turns his body more fully towards Aubrey. “Um. Yeah.”

”And we’re not gonna leave each other again, right?”

”N-no!” Kel brings his hands up to Aubrey’s shoulders, attempting to comfort her. “No way, never again! I…” Kel gets quieter once again. “I don’t think I could handle it happening again…”

”Me neither. So-so that’s why…” Aubrey brings her hands up to Kel’s wrists, grabbing them and looking up at Kel almost defiantly. “We have to stick together, ok? I-I don’t know how I feel about…anything right now, but…even if it ends up we never wanna see them again, even if it ends up I just…I just start hating them again- and god, I just I don’t want to, but-” Aubrey starts trembling again, fresh tears slowly cleaning the dirt off of her face. “E-even if we disagree about…those two, please. Just…please, Kel. Please.”

Kel is quiet as he brings Aubrey in for a tight hug, Aubrey reciprocating just as tightly. “I…I get it, I think. Don’t worry Aubrey. I won’t leave you again. Not now, not ever.”

Aubrey sniffles as her tears stain Kel’s jersey. The words sooth her just a little. The idea she might have some semblance of stability even if everything else goes wrong, it gives her a small amount of strength. She brings herself out of the hug and brings her own hands onto Kel’s shoulders.

”We might n-need a couple days by ourselves to, you know…think about stuff.”

”Yeah. I’ll uh…try not to take four years to get back to you, eheh.” Aubrey scoffs as she gives Kel a punch in the shoulder, smiling slightly despite herself. “Ow! Sorry…”

Aubrey rolls her eyes. “It’s fine. Come on, let’s go. Don’t wanna keep Hero waiting.”

Kel rubs his shoulder, a smile also appearing on his face, small and fragile though it was. ”Yeah.”

- - - - - - - -

The drive was silent all the way back to Faraway. Kel and Aubrey could clearly tell that Hero was crying, but neither of them said anything about it. All three of the were embroiled in their own thoughts until Hero came to Aubrey’s house, stopping the car.

”Aubrey.” Aubrey is stopped right in her tracks to get out of the car as Hero calls out her name. “If…you ever need anything. Please, just…let us know, ok? We’re here for you.”

Both Aubrey and Kel smile a bit. “Okay. Thank you guys.”

”You’re welcome.”

Aubrey gets out of the car, it driving off as she reaches her door and enters inside. Hero and Kel pull up to their own house, and Kel quickly gets out of the car and runs into the house. Hero gets up more slowly. God he hopes he doesn’t have anything important to do right now. He just wants to sleep in his bed.

Wait. No. Not again. He’s never doing that shit again.

Hero shakes those thoughts out with a sigh as he enters the house. Hmm. Looks like mom and dad aren’t back yet from trying to grab Sunny’s mom. Thank god, honestly. He brings himself up to his room, seeing Kel already in there. He’s laying face down in the pillows of his bed, Hero walks over towards his own and sits down on it, facing towards Kel.

”Hey Kel.”

Kel is completely silent except for the turning of his body on the bed, staring at the wall and facing his back towards Hero.

”H-how are ya feeling?”

”Hero. I…I don’t want to do this right now…”

”Oh. I…I understand.” The pain in his heart sharpens as he hears those words. Those words that sound way too familiar to him. This situation that looks way too familiar to him. He can see what’s happening, what’s going to happen to Kel, almost as though it were a flash of inspiration.

He has to be able to do something about it.

He’s the adult now, he has to.

But…what can he even do?

This is the question that Hero pondered for the longest while, silently laying down alongside his brother.

- - - - - - - -

With a sigh, Aubrey enters her house, quickly moving her way into her room, outright ignoring her mother. Is she on the couch or in her room? She doesn’t know, or care.

Despite how frankly shitty this room is, it still brings comfort to Aubrey as she ascends the ladder. She sees Bun-bun sitting in his little play area and gives him a small pat before moving to her bed. She looks over at the wall where she had posted the pictures of Mari she…stole before. She grabs a pillow as she lay down. She knows it’s selfish, but part of her wishes she still had at least one to keep. She finds herself wishing she could have one of the whole group. She settles herself into her bed, staring at the blank wall.

Will things ever get better?

Kel promised that they would stay together, and Hero said to call on them.

But she knows what she really means by that question.

Sunny.

Basil.

She still doesn't know how to feel about everything. And she certainly won't figure it out today.

She starts closing her eyes, the intensity of the day finally catching up to her. She just...needs some sleep right now.

And so she slumbers, quietly hoping and praying that somehow, someway, that things will turn out well.

She doesn't know if she hates Basil or Sunny yet.

But she does know that she doesn't want to.

Chapter Text

Basil lays himself down in the dark of his hospital room. It had been a couple hours after Sunny left his room. He hopes that he’s doing well…even if he wasn’t bleeding all that badly, it’s still not good to bleed in the first place. He closes his eyes and thinks about the face that Sunny made as he left.

The smile he had. A soft, caring smile. At least, that’s what Basil hoped it was.

The magic of that moment was ruined a bit when he later heard a nurse scream loudly, probably in response to seeing Sunny. Basil thinks he heard the nurse faint too. Thinking about it, with the dripping blood and paleness, Sunny probably looked like a ghost. Basil chuckles slightly at that thought, looking outside the window at the soon to be setting sun.

The things that Sunny said ran through his head over and over again. The tears in his eyes as he pleaded Basil to believe him. Basil sighs. It was one thing to say that he believes Sunny, but…

And yet Sunny smiled so nicely when he said that he believed him. This confused the hell out of Basil, who gripped tighter onto his hospital blanket. He did all of this for Sunny, to keep Sunny safe. But…this is the first time he saw Sunny smile ever since he came out. And he smiled for him! At. Him, rather. That…that has to mean something, right? Basil shakes his head. This is so hard to understand… His head still feeling a bit blurry and fuzzy doesn’t help matters either.

Suddenly, the door to his ward opens, startling Basil out of his thoughts as Polly comes in with a concerned look on her face. “Oh! Basil, you’re awake!”

”Oh. H-hey, Miss Polly.”

She sits herself down next to Basil softly. “How are you feeling?”

”Um, good.” Basil says instinctively. Polly frowns slightly at that. Basil avoids her eyes and wrings his blanket a little. “Um, well…I’m in the hospital so, maybe not so good, I-I guess but, I’m apparently going to be released in a day or two.”

”Oh!” Polly brings her hands together with a smile. “That’s good news Basil!”

”Yeah.”

The silence lingers between the two of them, which was not an uncommon occurrence for them. Especially when it’s clear that Polly wants to ask something personal of Basil. Normally she would acquiesce to his desire to be silent, Polly thinks to herself, but circumstances are definitely different now.

”So, Basil…can you tell me what happened?” She tries to keep her voice soft and sweet, but a hint of nervousness still leaks out.

”Uh…um.” Basil just stays silent, thinking his thoughts to himself. She probably thinks that he’s just a violent evil kid now. She’s probably going to leave him now. Just like everyone does… Not like he doesn’t deserve it… He starts trembling hard as he starts to tear up.

”Basil, please. I just wanna understand.” She brings her hand onto his own, hesitating slightly before she closes it around his. Basil finds himself relaxing a little despite himself. Even though he tried his best not to get too attached to Miss Polly over the years, especially after the incident, she still had this ability to make things seem a little brighter. Basil continues his silence however, still not looking at her.

”I’m sorry,”

Basil looks up at the sound of Miss Polly’s voice, shocked when he saw the tears and sadness in her eyes.

”I………look, Basil I know that you never really…liked me all that much.” This made his shock double, but Polly keeps on speaking before he can get a word in. “I know that you just thought that I…didn’t care for you, cause I was hired by your parents, at first to take care of your grandma and then you. But!” She brings his hand close to her, taking it in her other hand as well, a pleading look on her face. “I promise, I care for you a lot! I just, I thought you needed space, and…well… L-look where that got us! So, please Basil! Just, please tell me what happened! I promise, I care about you!”

Basil was now speechless for a different reason. He keeps on blinking in shock, opening his mouth and closing it again, trying to figure out what to even say. Until suddenly, he manages to find his voice.

”I……..I didn’t mean to….”

Basil sniffles and starts trembling again, Polly looking at him concernedly as he begins to cry. Flashes of Sunny’s face, the void of his eye-hole, begins to consume Basil’s thoughts.

”I swear I didn’t mean to h-hurt him. H-he just…” Basil tries to think back to when he and Sunny fought. He knew that something was there to hurt him, and…but…his eye…

Did whatever it was take his eye? Or did he? Basil did remember stabbing an eye, he thinks…

Is that what Sunny meant earlier? When he talked about what ”really happened”?

Basil feels a sense of revulsion and panic rising within him as he shakes his head violently. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I don’t know!”

”Hey, hey Basil.” Polly gets closer to him, still holding his hand, still speaking gently. “Basil, it’s ok, please. Just…it’s ok, dear! You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to!”

Basil just lets out a low whining sound as he tries to get all the pain inside again, trying to bring both his hands to his stomach, but the other is still being held by Polly. Polly lets out a low sigh.

”Well…I suppose asking for you to open up so much already was…a bit much.” Basil looks up at her, starting to calm a little now that he doesn’t feel so pressured to share. “I just…” Polly shakes her head. “Nevermind.” She looks towards Basil and gives him a calm, tired, yet soothing smile. “I’ll just need to take better care of you from now on. And…and you’ll probably open up to me eventually. I hope…”

”U-um.” Polly waits patiently for Basil to continue speaking.

”I n-never hated you. I…I always thought you were nice and…and stuff.”

”O-oh.” Polly smiles more sweetly than before. “Well, that’s…thank you Basil.”

”N-no problem.” Basil looks away again as he mumbles a little. “Um…could you s-stay here? For a little?”

”Of course, Basil. As long as you need.”

The tension in Basil releases more and more as the two sit there in a comforting silence.

- - - - - - - -

Sunny groans a bit as his new stitches itch and hurt while he shuffles in his bed. The nurse looked very pale as he said that Sunny should stay in bed and let the stitches heal. He also emphasized not touching them, which Sunny was finding very difficult to do. He had taken to messing with the leaves and petals of the nearby Lily of the Valley in order to occupy his mind, doing his best not to hurt it even as he pokes and prods at it. Ordinarily he would be messing with the seashell necklace that he got from Cris but…he seems to have lost it after the fight with Basil…

Sunny shakes his head a little. It’s fine, he probably just dropped it at Basil’s house. Hopefully he can get it back soon. He looks around at all the other flowers in the room, still unable to believe that so many people visited him. He also can’t believe the sheer variety of the flowers on display here. He wasn’t sure if Fix-it even had this many kinds.

The note next to the lily catches Sunny’s eye once again. He pauses a moment, then looks at it once more, a deep melancholy filling him.

’Sending a little get-well sunshine your way. We miss you Sunny.’

-Kel, Hero, Aubrey

…..

He missed them too.

Sunny sighs as he puts the note back, rubbing his good eye, trying to get the tears out. He feels so anxious, so scared of what might happen now. Will his friends ever accept him again? Will they ever even want to see him again? He wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t. He…he hopes that they will. So badly he hopes. But he’s accepted that it just…might not happen.

But with that also came a certain…lightness. A sense of……..freedom isn’t the correct word for it. Rather, it’s like he had been carrying bricks of stone on the back of his heart, and someone came along and took one or two bricks off. To someone who had just started carrying those bricks, the difference would be imperceptible, but to someone who has been carrying them for so long as Sunny had, it felt like a world of difference.

Sunny’s thoughts turn to Basil, a small smile coming across his lips. He hopes that Basil can feel this lightness too. He hopes that he can help him see he doesn’t need to carry the burden anymore. Even if Basil ends up hating him and never wants to see him again, so long as he is better than when Sunny leaves him, Sunny would be…

Well…no. He wouldn’t be ok with Basil hating him. The idea of it makes his heart hurt just as fiercely as the idea of the others hating him. Either way, Sunny supposes, it’s not up to him.

Sunny frowns, deciding to mess with the flower again. As he is about to turn over, however, he hears the door creak open. When he looks, he is startled as he sees his mom carefully enter, looking around wide-eyed at all the flowers in the room. Her eyes finally focus on him as she quickly comes over with a gasp, practically running towards him as she hugs him.

”Sunny! Sunny, oh no, my poor little sunshine!” The hug is rather suffocating, as Sunny pats his moms arm rapidly to indicate his natural-born desire to breathe. “Oh!” She lets go quickly once she realizes Sunny is dying, opting instead to put her hand on his face, showing a clear look of concern. “My goodness, what happened? What-why are you-when did you-uh-” Sunny starts squirming a bit. It had been a long while, but he’s still not used to when his mother gets like this, overwhelming him with questions and information. His mother sees his reaction and stops talking. Right. She had…forgotten he gets stressed when she’s like this. Sunny’s mother takes a moment to gather her thoughts, breathing in deep, looking at the beat up face of her son. When was…when was the last time she got to really look at him like this? His mother lightly turns his head this way and that, observing every angle. Did he always look so……boney?

Sunny sees that his mom is once again embroiled in her thoughts and sighs, bringing his hand up to hers, startling her out of her thoughts. “Mom.”

”Uh, oh!” He talked! He hadn’t talked for so long! A rush of joy and excitement flits across her lips as she starts shaking one of her legs. “Yes, Sunny dear what is it!”

”I killed Mari.”

The atmosphere suddenly tenses as the impact of the words hit her fully. The joyous smile she was wearing slowly disintegrates into a morose expression, finding herself at a temporary loss for words. Neither of them talk for the longest time, her hand still on his face, but now tensed. She lets in, then lets out a shaky breath before she speaks.

”I…I know.” She looks away ashamedly. “I knew for…for a long, long time.”

The silence between them stretches on and on. Until finally, they both break. Neither one knows who started crying first, but they both grabbed each other tightly and cried into each other’s shoulders anyways. The pain of the last four years stretched on and on in front of them, every interaction colored with Sunny now knowing that she knew. All this time she knew.

”Sunny………………I love you.”

Sunny sniffles as he hugs his mom tighter. “Y…you do?”

”I do. I really do, I promise.”

Sunny is silent for a moment longer, as he closes his eyes, letting himself relax slightly into his mother’s hug.

”……I love you too, mom.”

And so the two stayed like that, for a long long while, the first time in who knows how long that either of them had hugged the other. It was familiar and comforting, yet painful in how it took so long for this to happen again. Eventually the two parted, Sunny’s mom managing a small smile as she tenderly wipes the tears off of Sunny’s eye.

”Well, Sunny. Um, I’m actually kind of curious on…” She looks around the hospital room. “How all of this happened…”

Sunny takes in a deep breath. His throat is starting to hurt from how much he’s been talking lately. But, he sees a lot more talking needing to be done in the future so, he may as well get used to it.

And Sunny begins to recount his tale to his mother.

Chapter Text

Basil waits nervously outside of Sunny’s room, as Miss Polly talks with a nearby nurse. It has been a couple of days since they last talked, and Basil is…well, his head is certainly feeling a lot clearer then it was before. He had time to think, and to process everything that had happened. Basil lets out a long sigh. He did stab Sunny’s eye out, Sunny did tell everyone about the incident. He’s much more willing to accept that now. It’s still…difficult to think of Sunny as the one who killed Mari, but…

Basil rubs his face with a groan. God, he feels so terrible and embarrassed that things escalated like they did. He always had bad days, really really bad days, but before there wasn’t anyone around who just barged into his room while he was having those bad days. Both grandma and Miss Polly always respected his privacy and all that. And even more embarrassing somehow was the things he said. God, he really just straight up said the most pathetic sounding things, huh? Uuuugh. The pain he was in before certainly didn’t help his delirium.

Soon, another nurse comes out of Sunny’s room, turning towards Polly. “Excuse me, the patient is ready to see you now.” Polly nods, and walks over to Basil with a smile.

”Come on, Basil, let’s go see him.”

”R-right!” Basil gets up quickly, heart beating fast all of a sudden, and enters the room after Polly. His eyes open wide at the large array of flowers on display. There were so many! And from the looks of it, they were from so many people too! Basil stares around the room, marveling at the vast array of flowers. He’s pretty sure there’s at least one or two here that he doesn’t even have!

He suddenly hears someone clearing their throat, and his eyes move quickly to where Sunny is watching him with a small smile on his face, Polly standing next to him also smiling. He gives a small wave. “Hey.” Basil waves back lightly, feeling embarrassed. He walks up slowly to Sunny, putting gentle hands on the end of his bedside.

”H-hey Sunny.” The two of them are silent for a moment, both glancing at Polly who is still showing a kind patient smile. Basil supposes it would be too much to ask her to give them some privacy. He sighs a little, then attempts a smile himself. “H-how are you feeling?”

”I’ve been…I’m feeling better. What about you Basil?”

”I um….” Basil twiddles his fingers a bit, not really looking at Sunny. “I kinda…feel better too. Kinda.”

”That’s good.” Polly sees Sunny brighten up as he said that.

”Yeah. Um.” His voice lowers a bit. “S-sorry for….well………everything I guess, but…e-especially for what happened with the…the yelling and the-”

”It’s ok, Basil.”

”It’s….not.”

”It really is.”

”Well….ok.” Basil wasn’t gonna argue with Sunny about this. A silence settles between the two of them. Basil glances over at Polly again, feeling annoyed and disgruntled that he can’t talk freely. Polly’s face falls a bit as she digs in her pocket, checking her phone.

”I need to take this, please give me a moment.” She walks over to the entrance of the room, glancing back as she is about to exit. “I’ll be right outside.” It was said with a pointed finality as she stares at the two of them a second too long before she exits the room. Basil lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he looks over at Sunny, who looks at him in turn.

”S-so, um.” Basil squeezes the palms of his hand together as the silence extends onwards between the two of them.

”Are you really feeling better Basil?”

”Uh. Well. I guess, it would be more accurate to say I’m normal? Um, how I’ve been, at least.” Basil laughs nervously. Sunny nods silently. He looks downwards at his hands and opens and closes them a couple of times before looking back at Basil. Basil isn’t really sure what he’s doing or why. “S-so, about um…has everyone else visited you yet?”

Sunny’s shoulders tense as he shakes his head sadly. “What about you?”

”N-no.”

The silence stretches even further between them. Basil shifts nervously, unsure of what he should do or say. What did he come in here to talk about again? Did he even have anything planned out? Are the two of them just going to sit there and say nothing forever? Basil curls inwards to himself slightly, nervously wringing his hands. Sunny, watching him, slowly brings one of his hands forwards and takes Basil’s, causing Basil to flinch, then settle as Sunny keeps holding his hand.

”I….haven’t talked in a while. A long while. It’s…..difficult.”

”Th-that’s ok!” Basil brings his other hand onto Sunny’s quickly. “You don’t need to talk if you don’t want to!”

”But…I do want to…”

”O-oh.” Another silence falls between the two of them. Basil is finding it difficult to focus on Sunny’s face, but he can still see that he’s thinking, and thinking hard. What about, he doesn’t know. He wishes he could know. His face then softens as Sunny closes his eyes and breathing in, then breathing out as he looks at Basil.

”Basil. There was…something you said before, that I wanted to talk about.”

Oh lord. That could be literally anything. Basil nervously swallows a bit as he nods.

”Aubrey wasn’t a hallucination. She was real. We all were, when we were calling out to you. Well…except for me I guess…”

”H……..huh?” That was….that was real? It wasn’t his mind trying to mock him for what a terrible person he was?

”Aubrey, and Hero and Kel, they care about us a lot. I…I know you probably don’t believe that right now, but!” Sunny suddenly clasps his other hand over the startled Basil’s, more quickly than Basil remembers him moving in his life. “They do. They do, and they will. Even after hearing the truth, they…they’ll still care about us.”

Basil’s eyes well up as he start slightly shaking his head from side to side. “H-how can you say that Sunny?” His voice is barely above a whisper. “How can you…how can you believe that? We did…I did something awful.”

”We. Did something awful, Basil.” Despite his words and despite his frown, Sunny squeezes Basil’s hand comfortingly. “And honestly? It’s hard to believe for me too. And I can’t really tell you why. But…I just believe that they will.” Sunny smiles at him. “I have hope.”

Basil’s heart warms frighteningly at seeing that smile. “H…………………hope?”

Sunny nods, as Basil just looks at him. Tears start pouring by themselves out of Basil’s face, but before he does or says anything, Sunny slowly pulls him in close, letting go of his hands to hug him. Basil feels surprise as he hugs Sunny back. One could say that Basil was crying, but rather than sobbing, he tears flowed freely, unimpeded by shortness of breath. Relief flows through him as Sunny rubs his back. Basil takes in a deep breath, then out as he speaks again.

”You’re….not gonna be able to stay, are you? In Faraway town.”

He feels Sunny shake his head.

”Will we…still be able to talk?”

”Yeah. We can call, and write letters and stuff.”

Basil starts trembling as he grips harder onto Sunny. “I waited so long for you to come back.”

”I know.”

”And you’re gonna leave again.”

”I’m sorry.”

The silence between the two of them goes on as Basil takes in a final shuddering breath, breaking himself off from Sunny’s hug, placing his hands on his shoulders. He looks at Sunny, worry plain in his eyes. “And…you said that everyone still cares about us, but. Do you still…care about me?”

Sunny slowly brings his own hands onto Basil’s once more. He doesn’t speak for a moment, letting his hands linger.

“I do.”

Basil smiles despite himself, taking his hands off of Sunny’s shoulders. “Okay.” He breathes in, then out again. “Okay.”

A final silence falls between them, far less awkward than the ones before. This silence is comforting, assured. It’s calming.

It feels almost like before.

Almost, but not quite.

But, Basil thinks. That’s okay.

After a while, Polly peeks her head in, only Sunny seeing her look in. He turns towards her, Basil turning as well. “Our time is almost up Basil. We can visit Sunny another time.”

”Ok, Miss Polly.” Basil nods as he gets up, lingering just a little bit to feel Sunny’s hands on his own, before he starts walking away. He turns towards Sunny with a wave. “I’ll see you later, Sunny. I hope you get better soon.”

Sunny waves back. “I will. Thank you. See you soon.”

Basil smiles slightly as he exits the room, Polly closing the door behind her as she follows. Internally, she breathes a sigh of relief that the two seem to have made up somewhat. And that Sunny hopefully won’t press charges. She slows down as she looks over at the blond flower boy in front of her, who turns towards her and waits, realizing that he’s ahead. There’s something more, Polly thinks. Something else about those two. Maybe it relates to how Basil has been these past few years. Basil seems so concerned about this boy, even though she’s never seen him in her life. And he seemed to be such a nice boy as well.

So why did Basil do that?

”Uh, Miss Polly?” Polly is startled out of her thoughts by Basil, who has been patiently waiting for her to continue walking.

”Oh, sorry Basil!” She starts walking along again, Basil at her side. Hmmmm. There’s probably no point to thinking about this too much. If Basil won’t tell her anything, then she’s not gonna know. And if she went behind his back to get the information, he might never trust her again.

All she can do, she supposes, is keep an eye on him.

Better, this time.

- - - - - -

Aubrey looks up towards the sky, leaning on a nearby tree. The clouds are wispy, and it’s surprisingly cool today. It’s been a couple days since she saw Hero, but she did see Kel yesterday at the Othermart. They talked a little, asked each other if they were doing well, and generally just made polite, awkward conversation, avoiding talking about the obvious.

Honestly, Kel looked like shit. He looked like he’s barely slept, though Aubrey couldn’t really judge. She yawns loudly as she thinks about the nightmare she had last night. It was increasingly hard to remember, but some parts flash through her mind regardless. A Sunny with a psychotic smile stabbing her, with Mari’s hanging body in the background. Two Basil’s, pulling her in two directions, one filled with light and one filled with darkness, until she split in two. That was when she woke up, actually. She shudders, bringing her hands to her arms.

Oddly enough, not the worst nightmare she had. No, that honor goes to one she had real young, when Captain Spaceboy pushed her off a cliff. When she woke up, she was crying and sobbing so badly, blubbering about how Captain Spaceboy hates her now. Aubrey chuckles to herself at the ridiculousness of the memory. God, it took her mom forever to get her to calm down.

…………

Damn it, now she’s sad again. She lets out a heavy sigh as suddenly, she gets smacked on the head from behind. “Ow, fuck!” She whirls around, already knowing who it was.

“Hah, gotcha Aubrey!” Kim already starts backing up in a defensive stance, ready to juke Aubrey whenever she takes a dive at her. Surprisingly, though, the dive doesn’t happen, and Aubrey just kinda stands there, miffed and annoyed.

”Sorry Kim, I’m…not in the mood right now.” She rubs her head a bit as she walks over to Kim.

”Oh. Sorry.” Kim starts walking alongside her, putting her hands on her head. “Is it cause of that Sunny guy? He’s still in the hospital, right?”

”Uh, yeah. Yeah, something like that.”

”Heeey, it’ll be fiiiine.” Kim lightly taps Aubrey’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll recover and shit. Sure, he might have lost an eye, but that just makes him look cooler. Or more like a nerd, depending on what kind of eyepatch he gets. Like god, if Mikhael lost an eye, he would definitely get some weird anime eyepatch thing from some show we never saw, you know?”

Aubrey giggles slightly. “Yeah, or he would put some makeup on to make his scar more ‘attractive’ or some shit.”

Kim laughs loudly. “If he ever does that shit, I’m definitely following him around with a squirt gun. Just take aim and.” She points a finger gun at nothing and pulls the trigger. “Bang!”

Aubrey make a snide face. “Careful with those finger guns Kim. You don’t wanna get suspended again, do ya?”

“Oh my god, it was one time!” Aubrey laughs as Kim shakes her head. “God that was stupid…”

Aubrey settles into a better mood as she and Kim keep walking and talking. She could always count on Kim to make her feel better. Someway, somehow.

Even then, Aubrey’s thoughts start drifting elsewhere. Towards Sunny and Basil. Hero and Kel. Her heart still aches just thinking of them.

Maybe…maybe she could visit them. She could probably convince Hero and Kel come with her.

As her other hooligan friends come into view, Angel and Mav doing some weird goofy ass shit, she wonders to herself a little.

She needs to tell them to back off of Basil from now on, that she was wrong about that stuff. But.

What would happen, if she did?

Aubrey shakes her head a little. No. Don’t worry about that. Telling them is the right thing to do.

She’ll just tell them……tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Hero sighs as he sits down at his desk. He had just finished washing dishes with mom again. Ordinarily he would be fine with it, but she keeps asking him what’s wrong. He must be wearing his tiredness on his sleeve. Gotta try and fix that. Thankfully, he managed to deflect by saying that he was just worried about Sunny, and then his mother went on a long talk about him and how worried she was and how she hoped he would heal and all that stuff.

He leafs through one of the notebooks sitting on the desk, staring at medical notes. Not for any specific reason, moreso to find something to do. Ever since the day that Sunny confessed, Hero thought that Kel would need so much help. But, he seems to be doing fine. He gets up, gets out, plays with Sally, talks with Mom and Dad, banters with them. He seems fine. Maybe a bit tired, but overall doing decent. At least, to someone who doesn’t know better.

Hero knows better.

He actually has to share a room with Kel. See his face fall as he closes the door behind him, covering his eyes and rubbing his face and groaning before he notices Hero there, immediately brightening up again. He has to be there at night, waking up because of hearing some sounds and seeing Kel have a nightmare, tossing and turning. He has to wake him up, Kel clinging onto him and crying in his shoulder, just saying “why?” to himself over and over again.

He has to see him the next morning, all smiles to everyone again, and pretending like he doesn’t remember what happened that night.

Hero shakes his head sadly as he grabs a nearby pen and just scribbles on the notebook margins. Back and forth, in a repetitive motion. Something he picked up doing while really bored in classes.
He’s tried to get him to talk about the confession, but if he doesn’t wanna talk then he can’t make him. As the movements of his hand become like white noise to his brain, he wonders to himself.

Does Kel………not forgive Sunny?

The thought is almost absurd to him. Kel, the bright ball of sunshine, friendly to everyone and tries to help people out when he can? Some part of his mind scoffs at that notion. It felt like it would practically be a given. But another remembers when Kel was younger. He could hold grudges for longer than you would think, over what seemed to Hero at least innocuous things. Hero figured he grew out of that, but he saw how Kel talked about Aubrey before they made up. Hero thinks he still hasn’t gotten the whole story, because his brother acting like that was just so surprising to him. He knew that Basil was bullied by Aubrey, and Aubrey pushed him into the lake, and she took his photo album. When did Kel start thinking about her like that? Before all that, or after, or…?

Hero shakes his head. What was he thinking about again? Oh right, Kel and the Sunny situation. He leans back, staring up at the ceiling. Whatever the case, he shouldn’t force Kel to think however he thinks he should. This whole thing is difficult, and…delicate.

Hmmm. How does Hero think about this situation? Honestly, he’s been so busy worrying for Kel that he hadn’t had much time to think about it.

Did Hero forgive Sunny?

Thinking about what he did objectively, it was horrible. Tragic, but horrible. But people don’t think objectively, or at least as much as they pretend to. And Hero, when he sees Sunny, Mari’s brother, someone he hadn’t seen in years, someone who he considered his own little brother. Someone who is clearly suffering with guilt, someone who he just….left! Not just at the hospital, but for the past 4 years!

It’s almost instinct, to want to tell Sunny that everything is ok, that Hero will be there for him like he should have before.

He promised them. All of them.

Even if he is a sick person for feeling relief at what Sunny said, feeling relief that Hero wasn’t the reason Mari died, feeling relief that he didn’t miss any signs over the countless conversations that he played over and over in his head during that one year, and many times afterwards.

is it genuine forgiveness? is it a sense of obligation? Is it just because Hero wants things to go back to where they were before he learned this truth? Where things looked brighter, if melancholy?

Those questions…….they don’t really matter to Hero. He can ponder all he wants about his motivations, but he still feels the certainty in his heart.

He promised them.

And that includes Basil…..too….

……………………

Did Hero forgive Basil?

Hero is startled as he hears a knocking on the door, shoving him off of his train of thought as he drops his pen on the ground. “Yeah! Uh, come on in!” He bends down to pick the pen up as he sees Aubrey, surprisingly enough. He expected his mom or something.

”Hey Hero.” She leans against the wall as Hero puts his pen back on his desk. She looks…well she looks like what she looked like when they all barged into her room, except less angry.

”Oh, hey Aubrey! How, uh, are you feeling?”

Aubrey sighs as she scratches her head. “Well, I’m…ok I guess. Dealing with it. What about you?”

”Dealing with it.” Aubrey gives an affirmative nod as she looks around. “Kel’s not here with you?”

”Oh, no, he went with dad to do groceries a while ago. He should be back soon. Were you looking for him?”

”Well, more looking for the both of you actually. I……” Aubrey clears her throat, looking downwards at the floor. “I wanna see them. Again.”

”O-oh?” Hero straightens up in surprise. “Already?”

”Yeah.”

”Are-are you really ready?”

Aubrey lets out a sigh. ”I dunno. But, I don’t wanna wait. If I keep waiting, then I’m…scared I’ll do nothing but wait.”

Hero nods in understanding. “Well, we can wait for Kel if you wanna.”

”Yeah.” Aubrey plops herself down on Hero’s bed. She certainly wasn’t gonna sit on Kel’s, hell no.

”So, Aubrey.” Hero speaks with that sort of tone of voice that parents use when they wanna talk about something important, which Aubrey definitely notices. She unconsciously straightens up as she waits for what Hero has to say. “How are things, uh…at home?”

She looks downwards, slightly kicking her feet. “They’re fine.”

”Are they?” Hero looks at Aubrey concernedly. “Cause, it really seems like-”

”Look, Hero.” Aubrey puts her hands up in annoyance. “I didn’t come here to talk about that stuff. Ok? We can talk about that stuff later.”

“All right. That’s fine.” The two sit in silence for a little while, before Aubrey speaks up again. “I am kinda…curious though.” She brings her knees up, curling into a bit of a ball as she looks at Hero. “How come you’re asking me about it now, and not, like, before?”

“Well, I was gonna ask at some point, but…well.” Hero thinks to himself on how he should say it for a moment. “After we all made up, we only had one day left with all of us, you know? And I kinda… figured…” Hero scratches his head as he thinks. Figured what? That she could take another day? That them having fun together was more important?

Before he gets too far into his downward spiraling thoughts, Aubrey nods glumly. “Yeah. Yeah I get it. I, uh, probably would’ve done the same thing.” She lays herself down on her side on Hero’s bed. “Wouldn’t want Sunny’s last day here to just be dealing with my problems.” She chuckles slightly. “God, he probably would’ve too, given half the chance. I mean, did ya see all the shit he did when we were with him? He knew Kim and Vance’s dad before I did! How the hell does that happen?!” She throws her hands up emphatically as Hero chuckles.

”Oh you don’t know the half of it. He apparently did a lot more than either of us know, haha.” Hero leans back with a smile, remembering all the people he saw Sunny and Kel help. “Yeah. Sunny is…” Hero lets out a long sigh. “Sunny’s a good kid.”

Aubrey is silent at that, the two of them letting the weight of those words settle on their minds. The silence stretches on and on as she turns on the bed.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” Aubrey stares up at the ceiling as she starts speaking, Hero looking at her pensively. “The fact that it was an accident. I…also did something on accident. Something that could’ve ended very badly.” Aubrey looks over at Hero. “If…if Basil had died there. Basil and Sunny. Would you have hated me?”

Hero is completely caught off guard, to the point of flinching, by the question. However, he tries to recover quick. “W-well, I mean. I, uh….n-no! No way!”

Aubrey gives him a flat look. “You’re saying that to make me feel better Hero.”

“Well…………” Hero lets out a rough sigh. “Alright, fine. I just….I don’t know, Aubrey. I really don’t know, I just…it’s hard for me to even imagine. And, honestly I’m not sure I even want to think about it.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” She returns her gaze to the ceiling. As she does, they both hear a knocking sound on the door.

“Hero? You in there?”

Aubrey glances over at Hero, bemused and speaking quietly. Hearing Kel immediately shifted her into mischief mode, and she wanted to surprise him. “Since when did Kel knock?”

Hero can take a guess as to exactly why, but he shrugs as he shouts out. “Yeah, I’m in here.”

Kel opens the door, messy-haired and tired-eyed, showing a big grin as he rushes in and jumps on the bed, not seeing that Aubrey is there. His immediate talking silenced the “Hooourk!” that Aubrey lets out as Kel sits right on her stomach, the wind getting knocked out of her for a moment. “Phew, lemme tell ya. Me and dad were worried we forgot something, and we just stood there for, like, 5 minutes at the butcher’s. Thank god there wasn’t a line, haha.”

“Uhhhh, Kel.”

“Yeah yeah, I know you don’t like me on your bed, but you’re gonna have to deal with it, heheh.” Kel sticks his tongue out as Hero reaches his hand forward, pointing.

“Uh, no that’s not-“

“Hey, how come it feels all lumpy?” Kel is unaware as he looks downwards of a pair of hands coming up from behind him that suddenly grab his neck. He gets pulled down, finding himself laying on top of Aubrey as she seethes into his ear.

“I am going to kill you…….and then kill you again.”

“Ghhhk! Hero….help!” Kel raises his arm up in defiance as Hero sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Let him go, Aubrey.”

Reluctantly, Aubrey lets go of her prize, shoving Kel off of her and onto the floor. She starts coughing as she rubs her stomach. “God, fucking dumbass.” She coughs harder as Kel groans, picking himself up off of the floor.

“Uuuugh. Yeah, alright, that one was my bad. Sorry.”

Aubrey sighs, annoyed. “Whatever. It’s nice to see ya anyways.”

“Uh, yeah! You too!” Kel grins widely as he goes to sit on his own bed. “Soooo…..how come you’re here?”

“I wanna go and see Basil and Sunny.”

This causes Kel to visibly pause for a second before he settles back into his grinning self. “I-oh! Oh that’s, yeah! Yeah let’s do that! We can-we can definitely do that!”

Aubrey feels a tug of something as she sees Kel suddenly act so nervous. Hero grimaces, having noticed it as well. “You sure about that, Kel? We can always-“

“No, it’s fine! We should see them as a group, you know, let them know that things are ok and stuff!”

“Kel, wait a-“

“I’ll go ahead and get in the car!” At that, Kel rushes off out of his room, leaving a confused Aubrey and a concerned Hero.

”Is he ok, Hero? I mean, I saw how shit he looked but…”

Hero sighs deeply. “”He’s…I don’t know. But, he does wanna see them, so.”

Aubrey shrugs. “Look, he probably knows how he feels better than us. He…probably thinks he’s ready.”

Hero gets up and starts walking out of the room, Aubrey following him. “I sure hope so…”

- - - - - - - -

Kel’s heart was beating really, really fast once they all got to the hospital. He was gripping his knees tightly as they pulled into the parking lot, staring at nothing. Wow! He didn’t think it could beat this fast! Last time it beat like this was a particularly tough round of basketball. God he felt like he was gonna throw up then. Kinda like now actually!

“Hey, Kel!” Kel jumps as he hears Aubrey shout at him from outside the car. Oh, right. He has to get out of the car. He opens the door and hops out, spouting a large smile as he got out of the car, already sprinting off towards the hospital.

Aubrey and Hero trail along more slowly, Aubrey breaking the silence. “He didn’t say or do anything that whole car ride…just stared at the seat…” Aubrey knows she was the one who suggested Kel was ready, but now she’s not so sure.

Kel impatiently waits at the entrance, lightly scratching his arm. He doesn’t know why but it helps with the feeling sick and stuff. Hero and Aubrey walk in, Kel wearing a sheepish grin. “I, uh, forgot where Sunny and Basil are staying, eheh.”

Aubrey rolls her eyes. “Of course you did. We need to wait for Hero to get us in in the first place, anyways.”

As Hero goes to talk to the receptionist, the two of them sit down in a rather uncomfy, almost rubbery lounge chair, with armrests that are too high and too close together. They’re certainly not doing any favors for Kel.

Aubrey glances over at him and speaks softly. “Kel. You’re breathing kinda hard.” Oh! He didn’t even realize! He makes an effort to make his breathing more quiet, though that makes it harder for him to breathe. He makes a smile at Aubrey, who doesn’t seem convinced. “Are you sure you-“

“Alright, we’re ready. Let’s get going.” Hero lets out a deep sigh as he walks towards the two of them. “One thing, though; Basil checked out a couple days ago. So…yeah.”

“Oh.” Some part of Aubrey feels relieved by that. Even if she visited Basil and apologized to him and stuff, he never actually responded, due to being unconscious and all that. They still hadn’t really….talked ever since she forgave him for the-

Wait. No. It was Sunny who did that with the photographs. Right.

Aubrey gets distracted from her thoughts by Hero speaking. “Sunny is still in, though, so…let’s go see him, yeah?”

Aubrey and Kel nod as they get up, Kel more shakily than her. He starts forward, following Hero in front of Aubrey. It’s a short walk to the room as Kel recognizes the room number and walks up to the door, putting his hand on the doorknob. As he’s about to turn it, though, he finds himself…stopping.

He can’t bring himself to open the door.

”Kel?” Kel turns quickly at Aubrey’s voice of concern, Hero watching quietly. Kel attempts to laugh it off, turning back to the door.

”Ah, right, gotta-gotta open the door so we can-”

“I don’t think you should see Sunny like this.”

Kel whips around again at Aubrey’s suggestion, Hero looking surprised as well. Aubrey has her arms crossed, concern and stubborness apparent on her face. “Wh-what are you talking about Aubrey? We’re here, an-and I wanna, so-”

”Kel, you look like you’re gonna either pass out or throw up at any moment.”

”It’s just nerves!” Kel speaks a little too loudly for his own liking, Aubrey surprised at his tone. Kel clears his throat, and talks at a lower volume. “I’m just…you know! It’s been a while since we saw him, and-“

“Kel.” Aubrey walks up to him and places a hand on his shoulder, him flinching at her touch. She can feel his trembling under her grip. “It’s ok. I don’t know what you’re feeling, or why you’re feeling it. But you don’t have to force yourself.”

“I……..I’m not.” Kel’s voice is weak and unsure as Aubrey sighs.

“Kel, I can practically feel your heartbeat from here. It’s…intense.” She looks to the side a moment, then back at him as Hero speaks up.

“Sunny wouldn’t want you to force yourself, you know. He probably thought he would never see us again, but he told the truth anyways. So, we should be truthful with him too, don’t you think?”

Kel couldn’t find any rebuttal for that, as much as he wanted to. He turns inwards to himself, not quite crouching as he lets in and out shaky breaths. His voice is even quieter as he speaks.

“I’m…..scared.”

The other two don’t ask for any explanation. Hero simply comes over and hugs the both of them, Aubrey briefly annoyed at getting caught up in a group hug, but still hugging Kel regardless. Kel takes immense comfort in it, squeezing the two as tight as he can. The three stay like that for a long while, before Kel starts letting go, the other two following suit. They both take a long look at Kel, who’s eyes are slightly teary. Hero gently places his hands on Kel’s shoulders, starting to lead him away from Sunny’s room. “Come on, Kel. We should talk about it. It’ll make you feel better.

Kel doesn’t fight it as Hero leads him away, Aubrey seeing him take one last mournful look at the door as she stays there. She gives a thumbs up to him, attempting to reassure him. Kel gives a weak smile back as he and Hero disappear down the corner. Hero leads him all the way out to the car, which Kel was rather grateful for, dreading sitting in the hospital chairs.

Hero opens the passenger door for him as he himself gets into the drivers seat. He turns the ignition, not far enough to start the engine but enough to start the air conditioning and radio. He turns the radio down far enough to make it dull noise in the background, having one hand on the wheel as he turns towards Kel, who is looking downwards at his clenched together hands. The two sit for a minute before Hero realizes he’s gonna have to be the one to breach the topic.

“So, Kel.” Kel looks up at Hero slowly. “You said you were…afraid. What did you mean by that?”

Kel looks back down towards his hands, wringing them nervously. “I………….” Kel swallows roughly. He’s unsure how to quite articulate his jumbled thoughts, so he decided to just…talk. “Sunny is one of my best friends.” Kel shifts in his seat. “Basil, too. And Aubrey. They’re just really, really important. And, I care about them a lot.” Kel’s grip on his hands grows tighter. “When I was…really mad at Aubrey, for all the stuff she did, I just…I was shit. Shit at being her friend, and shit at being Sunny’s and Basil’s. And, with this, I just don’t even know how I’m supposed to feel! It’s just really fucked up Hero!” Kel starts getting louder as he starts gesticulating wildly. “And I’m scared that, if I see them again, that I’m gonna do the same way I did with Aubrey, and just abandon them! What if I see them and I feel the same I used to with Aubrey, all…all angry and dismissive and-“ Kel shakes his head a bit as he starts sniffling and tearing up, speaking quieter. “What if, when I see them, I don’t think of them as my best friends anymore?” Kel sighs heavily, rubbing the palms of his hands against his face. “I don’t know why. Why am I thinking so much about this so much? Why can’t I just do it?”

He gets quiet as he looks at Hero, who brings his arm around his brother as best he can, patting his shoulder. “I don’t know, Kel. Honestly, the way that your mind works is a mystery to me sometimes.” Hero cheekily grins at Kel while Kel slightly giggles before continuing. “I can tell you this, though; you definitely care about the both of them. A whole hell of a lot. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be worrying so much about it. You get it?”

Kel sniffs as he wipes his eyes and nods. “I guess so, yeah.”

“And besides…you’re not the only one who made that mistake. We all did, remember?” Hero lets out a melancholy sigh as he runs Kel’s shoulder. “But, with all of us around, and having that mistake behind us, we’ll make something out of this. Definitely.”

Kel is stone quiet, looking downwards contemplatively for a little before he speaks. “So…you-you forgive them?”

“Huh?”

“B-Basil, and Sunny. Y-you’re saying that we would make something out of it, s-so…” He can feel Kel tremble under his gentle hand as he speaks.

Oh.

Ooooooooohhhhhhh.

That’s what this is about.

Hero feels a sharp pang of guilt in his gut, rendered speechless at this revelation as Kel looks back up to him.

“Hero?”

Hero isn’t sure but he swears he hears a touch of desperation in Kel’s voice just then, something he wouldn’t have noticed without this idea he just got in his head.

He has to respond quick.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do Kel.”

The relief that Kel feels is obvious and immense, as he slumps down into the chair hard, letting out a big gasp of breath he didn’t know he was holding. Hero smiles and rubs his shoulder again. “We’ll get through this, together bro. Now, why don’t we wait in here, listen to some tunes, and calm down a little?”

Kel nods slowly. “Yeah, that sounds…that sounds nice.” Hero smiles as he turns the radio back up, the latest pop song starts blaring from it.

- - - - - - - - -

Pheeeeeew. Okay. Aubrey turns towards the door, nervousness settling in her gut. Honestly, she hoped that they would all do it together, but…she supposed with her luck it just had to turn out like this.

She could just wait. Wait for them. But no, Aubrey meant it when she said she didn’t wanna wait anymore.

She brings her hand towards the door. The others being there were able to distract her from her thoughts, but now they’re coming in full force. Her screaming and crying and flailing in the dirt in reaction to the truth, the feelings of shame and anger at hearing that Sunny was the one who blacked out the photographs. She also feels that strong pull, that need for things to be fair, for justice to be done, that pulled her away from her friends before. That intense feeling that her feelings were correct, and whatever she did was therefore also correct, that led to her bullying Basil like she did.

She gripped onto the doorknob tightly. She knew she would have to change, but she didn’t think that she would be tested on it so soon. And over something so, so much worse.

She turned the doorknob. She let herself feel every emotion, letting them wash over and around and inside her. Rage, disgust, fear, conviction. Hesitance. Care. Hope.

She opens the door. Sunny is there, looking at her, surprised at first, but then, despite himself, he can’t help but feel happiness and relief as he sees her, something clear in his voice. “Aubrey.”

Joy.