Chapter Text
December had arrived, and with it, the freezing winds that announced the last remnants of the year. It wasn’t much different than every other day, with people walking in the streets, playing in the snow, talking about the new season that came into being. Just a small place in the middle of nowhere. The residents of the little town of Faraway got ready to have fun with one another and celebrate the impending holidays with their families and friends.
That wasn't the case for a particular lonely girl with pink hair.
A series of loud bangs on the front door woke up Aubrey from her deep slumber, slowly rising from her far-from-soft bed. Fortunately for her, it was the end of the week, so she could just nap through the entire day like many other days. 'It must be the postman again.' Aubrey thought. She needed to find a way to pay those suffocating bills. Just like that, she tried to return to the realm of dreams once again.
The girl finally managed to drift off back into the darkness of unconsciousness, but before she fell fully asleep, the relentless banging occurred yet again, waking up Aubrey once more. Grumbling as she opened her eyes and rubbed her messy long hair, longer than ever before, she sat straight up on her bed.
''Ugh, why… who can it be...'' She tried to wonder what maniac was knocking on at her door at such an early hour, as she hadn’t expected someone to visit her anytime soon. While she was slowly coming back to life as she always had been a heavy sleeper, she eyed her calendar that was pinned to the wall next to the empty cork wall. A heavy sigh came from her.
It had been almost six months since that dreadful day. The day Sunny decided to abandon them forever. Six months since she lost all support from her gang. Six months since she stopped talking to her inseparable childhood friends.
Some time after Sunny’s burial, Aubrey tried to make amends with Basil for the past years of bullying, desperately finding a way to atone for everything she had done. Something that her guilty conscience reminded her of every now and then to torment her. There were few days where she could actually free her mind from the past events.
The trio never knew the real reason why Sunny and Basil fought each other, but she understood that Basil tried to take his life that night with the bloody gardening shears found in his room, and Sunny intervened to save his life… that probably led to their confrontation. Or that was her and the brothers theory as Basil never explained what happened in that fight. Nobody asked questions during those grim times of mourning.
She promised him, no matter what, that she'd never treat him like that ever again. Basil, the tender-hearted soul that he is, brushed it off as if nothing wrong had ever occurred between them.
Because Aubrey didn't want to accept forgiveness so easily, she made the decision to meet up with her friends and explain everything. On how they bullied a childhood friend of hers to the point of suicide because of a stupid photo album. It was so they could stop picking on Basil, and apologize for their actions. The Hooligans were horrified when they heard the truth.
Those bonds she built in those painful and long four years crumbled in just a single day. After a very lengthy and heated conversation during which insults and charges were hurled everywhere, the group disbanded. Some accused Aubrey of starting the bullying only because of some photos. ‘As if they could even imagine how important they are.' She bitterly thought. Others tried to defend her but to no avail. In the end, the Hooligans split up with many friendships and trust destroyed. Only Kim stayed by her side, but as the week passed, she slowly drifted away until they were mere acquaintances. Several months have passed since Aubrey last saw her.
''Stop moping about it Aubrey, they are gone.'' Aubrey slowly climbed down the ladder from her attic, and then headed to the door to open it. Whoever was calling before had suddenly stopped. Maybe they even broke the door with how hard they were hitting it. She glanced at the living room. Nothing had changed in her house these past long months. It was the same rotten-filled house with her ‘beloved’ mother sitting on the couch, always drinking and watching TV, throwing her life away… Sometimes Aubrey saw herself in her mother, wasting her life in the attic instead of living her life to the fullest, waiting for something to happen, to change. Yet nothing came. She wasn’t sure what motivated her to sleep all day and be constantly sad, probably something wrong with her brain.
The daughter of the unresponsive mother refused to drink any alcohol to the very least, she knew in first-hand experience what those drinks could do to people. Ignoring her thoughts, Aubrey's hand hovered over the knob as she opened it with hesitation. To her surprise, someone was still in the doorway.
A tall giant with brown hair, dark skin, and reddish knuckles greeted her with an uneasy smile and a wave. ''H-hello Aubrey! It’s been a while... How have you been? A very nervous Kel said to an angry-looking Aubrey, who was using all her inner might to control her temper at such an early hour.
''Kel.'' Her tone lacked any warmth that Kel’s had. ''What do you want.''
''Can’t a friend ask another one how it’s been?” Aubrey stared suspiciously at Kel, wondering what was up with him. She knew that Sunny’s death affected everyone in her childhood group, though she did not want to remember those painful memories now. But this overly nervous behavior? From Kel of all people? Was a giant red flag for her.
She glared at his feeble justification as she huffed her hair out of her eyes. ''Kel, we haven’t talked in forever, and the first thing you do in literal months is bang on my door at seven in the morning like you're insane. This is to ask me how I’m doing? Are you serious?” Aubrey shot him a deadly gaze. ''Cut to the chase. What. Do. You. Want.''
Kel’s smile never disappeared from his face but now seemed very forced. ‘What’s up with you….’ She continued to frown at him, making him even more anxious in the process.
His confidence evaporated in a matter of seconds as he nervously glanced to the sides. ''Well, I was wondering if you… wanted to… uh, eat dinner tonight with Hero and me?''
Was he for real? ''What?'' Asked Aubrey aloud, more perplexed than angry.
''You know, a nice reunion with your old pals! And my parents won’t be at home for a few weeks due to some work in another country, so we can have my home all to ourselves!'' He stroked the back of his head while still having that irritating smile for Aubrey, as if it was plastered to his face and couldn’t remove it. ''What do you say?''
An excruciating long fifteen seconds passed, neither of them saying a single word, just looking at each other's eyes. A pink-headed girl pondered the invitation for a second and found the answer really quickly.
''No.''
“Oh come on, it will be great!" Desperately, Kel tried to convince her. "Hero will be making-”
''No. And goodbye.'' She proceeded to shut the door in front of his face, fully ready to go back to her routine of being depressed or worrying about how to pay those bills… yet a quick arm prevented her from fully closing the door. ''Kel, you have twenty seconds to give me a valid excuse to not headbutt you.'' Her patience was running out, and she swore to God that this kid would never stop getting on her nerves. Well, kid wasn’t the correct term. Giant would be more accurate. Since the days following the event at the hospital, he had grown even further.
''Because we should remain together!" He did various exaggerated motions with his hand as if that was helping prove his point. "We can’t make the same mistake of being separated again and dealing with our problems alone! And what a better way to reconcile than with Hero’s cooking and-''
‘Enough of this.’ The ex-Hooligan crossed her arms in an attempt to intimidate him. ''And you’ve decided that after six months that now is the moment to not abandon each other again? Really Kel?'' She scoffed and turned around, prepared to go back inside her ugly "home" if she could even call it that. ''Goodbye Kel.''
Kel's grin vanished in an instant. ''What would Mari and Sunny think of us? Ignoring each other and going our separate ways again?''
Aubrey froze in place halfway into her house, her body started to tremble slightly. ''Kel. Don’t you dare play that card.'' Words full of unreleased anger filled her warning.
''But it's true! We can’t remain like this forever… Please, could you at least consider it?'' He was practically begging her at this point.
Upon hearing their names, Aubrey began to tremble even more as she struggled to control her panic attack. She drew a deep breath as she recalled Mari's advice.
…
She felt her rage drain away as well as her body relax from such a simple action. ‘Did I just hear a piano note?’ Mari’s words always came in handy whenever she stressed herself, which was frequently these days. For once, she listened to Kel’s request and… realization hit her. ‘Wait…’
Was Kel pleading to her? To her? Has he ever done that? If she were a kid once again she would give him her best smug smile and tease him as hard as possible. But those days were long gone… ‘Great, now I feel much worse, great job Aubrey.’
So taking another deep breath she calmed herself down, Aubrey carefully considered her next words. ''Fine, I’ll go.'' She briefly asked herself why she was so worked up not a second ago. ‘Why did I agree with this? Sigh, I hope I don't regret this.’
Kel was ready to give her a speech about why she should come to his house but stopped halfway through. He looked at her with a dumbfounded look, as if she was acting weird. ''Wait, really!?''
She let out a defeated sigh. All her energy was virtually gone at such an early hour for her. ''Yes, don’t make me regret it.''
Kel beamed at her with a wide smile, but not a fake one, more of a real smile this time. ''Thank God! Well, see you tonight!'' He seemed like he was preparing himself to run a marathon. ‘Wait, where the hell is he going?’
''Bye Aubrey!'' Said goodbye Kel before sprinting down the streets.
''WAIT! You haven’t told me the hour!'' And there he flew with his un-human speed... She sighed once more and finally returned back to her warmer home. Today was a very windy day outside. ‘Maybe I can even sleep through the entire day again, that talk drained me so much.’ She departed the living room and climbed the ladder to her safe haven, her attic room.
Tired after doing practically nothing this morning, she dropped to her bed and made an effort to escape to the realm of dreams one more time. Yet she couldn't ignore the feeling that something wasn't right with the way Kel acted.
''It's probably nothing. Kel being Kel…''
Oyasumi.