Chapter Text
It was a horrible night... Basil had died, and everyone was grieving... Kel couldn't hide his pain behind his smiley mask anymore, Hero's eyes were empty of soul, Polly was broken, for 2 years, she had taken care of Basil as if he was a son of her own, and Aubrey... she wasn't any better... she bullied Basil for 3 years because he had blackened Mari's face off from the photos without asking why, feeling abandoned and now that she was about to apologize and start over... it happened again... first Mari and now Basil...
“Basil... I-I'm... I'm sorry...” it was everything she could say...
She saw Sunny walking to them and checking what was going on... Hero tried to stop him, but Sunny... the look on this face... for an instant, he was shocked and saddened, but his expression went back to the usual emotionless face...
Aubrey wasn't dumb, she knew Sunny for a long time... Sunny wasn't the type to express himself through his face or words very often. That and the fact that he was the youngest were some of the reasons he was known as the baby of the group.
But this was different, Sunny wasn't 12 years old anymore, nor he was 11 or 10. He was 16. And Aubrey deduced that Sunny must have gotten better at hiding his true feelings, making it seemingly harder to get a reaction out of him... if something really shocked him, his face would change for a couple of seconds before going back to his usual face
She somehow managed to gather the strength to get up and follow him as he exited the house... Sunny... she didn't blame him for leaving... why staying? Kel would probably not only blame her, but also destroy her.
Aubrey didn't know exactly why she was following him... Kel and Hero stayed behind to cry for Basil, and she could've joined them, but Sunny... he wasn't going to have anyone at home to talk about it... Basil was his best friend! And now he's-
gone...
and he was gone by the same way Mari was... suicide
up to this moment... she never thought of how Sunny was feeling about it. Mari killed herself and Sunny... she was his sister! He loved Mari as much as Aubrey did, and she never stopped to think if Sunny was doing okay. And here she was: making herself the only victim of the situation.
...
She really was an idiot
But that didn't matter now... they were all grieving, and Aubrey knew that she could do something for someone
She had to make it up for someone
SOMEONE
at least once...
And Sunny needed it the most out of everyone
Before she realized... she was already at the front door of Sunny's house
And how long had she stood there? She didn't know, but she had to enter. Sunny needed her...
She needed Sunny...
Aubrey, with tears still coming from her eyes, knocked the door
“Sunny? Can you hear me?” Aubrey called “It's me, Aubrey”
No response
“Sunny, I know you're in there... please... I need to- ... I need you to talk to me...”
Still no response
Aubrey tried opening the door, and for her surprise... it was opened.
She entered the quiet house and wandered around looking for her friend, she went upstairs... starting to hear a faint sobbing “Sunny?” She called as she followed the noise and went to his room...
Once Aubrey enters the room, she sees something that scares her “SUNNY!!”
The boy stops at last minute as he is tackled to the side by the delinquent
It was such a quick move that made him drop the steak knife
“W-what were you thinking!?” Aubrey was Enraged, she wasn't going to let it happen a third time “Is this your way of solving things!?”
“S-stop...”
Aubrey was surprised to hear the boy speak, it was a rare moment, and during the 3 days she has seen him after all this time... he never spoke until this moment
“P-please stop...” he begged as he tried to separate himself from Aubrey “I-I deserve this, it's my fault!” Aubrey didn't know what to say in response to Sunny's words
“Sunny... it's not your fault! It's mine... I bullied Basil for years! if there's someone to blame, that's me”
Sunny looked up to Aubrey, he was crying and it pained her to see her friend like this
“Y-you don't understand...” Sunny was at the edge of breaking down “if I told the truth from the start... none of this would've happened...”
The truth? What was he talking about?
It couldn't be Mari's death, she killed herself and Sunny had nothing to do with it
It couldn't be the incident of the Lake, everyone in the former friend group knows about it
The statement froze Aubrey, but Sunny continued speaking
“I... I didn't mean to... she was getting angry... I was angry too... I just wanted her to get out of my way...”
As Sunny continued, Aubrey was silent. Sunny killed Mari? But that doesn't make any sense! She was there! Mari's corpse was hanging from the tree
“I pushed her down the stairs... and the fall killed her! I wanted to wake up! To believe it was a nightmare!" He continued to cry "and Basil... w-when he came over and saw it... he came up with a plan... a plan to protect me, as he said...”
Sunny killed Mari by accident and Basil, as the only witness came up with a plan? No... Aubrey was starting to see where this was going, and she didn't like it.
As if some of the sympathy she had for Basil was starting to vanish
“And when I realized... Mari's corpse was already hanging on the tree”
Right after Sunny finished his story, Aubrey backed off from Sunny, in disbelief
“Sunny? Y-you...?” Her voice was trembling as she watched her friend and crush not only killed Mari, but also staged her death as a suicide. Aubrey never thought that Sunny, the once baby of the group, killing his own sister...
“Yes... it was me” he responded “that's why I isolated myself... I didn't think I deserved to be your friend after what I've done...”
Aubrey, still surprised, remembered something... Sunny hasn't come out of his house in 4 years, but he came back just about 2 days ago “They why did you come back?”
“I think I forgot... I wanted to forget what I did so much... that I...”
Sunny refused to continue; he didn't want to relieve those times. On top of that, he was tired of Headspace, as colorful and happy as the place was, even if that was the only place where he could talk with "Mari", it didn't matter if it never happened to begin with...
Aubrey should hate him, and she has every right to do so, but she can’t bring herself to hate him... Sunny has been locked in his house for 4 years, if Aubrey remembers something well about Sunny, it was that he hated being alone and... Sunny punished himself more than long enough. So, Aubrey, with some difficulty, she approached Sunny and hugged him.
Sunny didn’t mean to kill Mari, he only meant to push her out of the way, that’s for sure. Aubrey knows because she did the exact same thing with Basil at the lake.
“W-why?” he asked “why are you still here? Aren’t you angry at me?”
He wasn’t wrong, Aubrey was indeed mad at him, for hiding this from them, for hiding this from her, for leaving her when she needed support! But she could see why he lied... what if he told the truth when it happened? Would she have the matureness she has now to understand that it was an accident?
As fucked up as Basil’s idea to save Sunny was... Aubrey can’t help but...
Her thoughts were interrupted she felt something resting in her, as she looked, Sunny has stopped hugging her because he was already asleep. She’s not gonna lie, he looks cute
Once Sunny was on bed, Aubrey thought that maybe she could sleep with him, Sunny has been trying to heal this past 3 days, and the last memory of this town he’ll have is Basil killing himself, something that Aubrey intends to fix.
And if possible, she can ask Sunny’s parents if she can go with them, it may take a huge explanation, but if handled correctly, then there’s a chance that they would allow her to stay with Sunny and help him heal.
Again, she’s not dumb, she knows that her help will be useless if Sunny won’t accept, but a bit of encouragement may do the trick.
After all, it’s what Mari would want... wouldn’t she?
So, she laid on Sunny’s bed and hugged him again. It won’t be easy for her to deal with the truth, yeah, it’s nothing compared to what Sunny dealt with; he killed Mari by accident and Basil made it worse by staging manslaughter as suicide, Basil may not even deserve to be for-
(No... don’t think like that, Aubrey. Basil was trying to protect Sunny...) she thought for herself, but she still couldn’t help but to think so ill of someone who just killed themselves, now she knows that Basil not only ruined the photos that had Mari in them, but also ruined everyone’s lives! Especially Sunny’s, who carried the guilt and never got the chance to actually heal.
“don’t worry Sunny” she whispered to his ear “remember when I told you that I hoped that you can find some peace... or some happiness?”
“I’ll be there to help you when you need it...”