Chapter Text
It has been a… special night to say the least. The two of them have been through a whirlwind of emotions, ranging from depression to literal love. And now there she laid, hugging a pillow to her chest.
She hadn’t slept a single second. Teenage love was really acting strong, well it wasn’t just that, they quite frankly kissed. Seriously, why did she do this?! Aubrey thought, now Sunny, who only managed to blurt his trauma and love to her friend in a single night should’ve been completely overwhelmed. (although it was more fitting to say boyfriend now, especially given the circumstances) but Aubrey started to overthink it, perhaps it didn’t mean anything?
…
After what they’ve been through? Yeah, right.
Aubrey screamed right into her pillow, not out of anger. She had forgiven Sunny totally by now, hell, she even forgave him last night; but she wasn’t used to that warm flutter in her stomach.
“Shit… Seriously, what got into me? Kiss him? Like that? Ugh, what got into me!” She repeated, while ranting her thoughts to no one in particular, Aubrey just realized – Both Hero and Kel were totally oblivious of all the truth by now.
“God… What are we gonna tell ‘em…” She asked herself as she realized. Kel and Hero were literally left in the dark yesterday, surely they would lash out at them for that. Oh well, they didn’t have much choice anyway, they deserved to know the truth. But there was another major problem.
Sunny.
Aubrey quickly realized that if Sunny managed to blurt it out yesterday, it was because he trusted her. And having the scene happening in the middle of the night made it slightly easier to open up as well.
It wasn’t that Sunny thought of Kel and his big brother as less trustworthy at all; but the gigantic amount of energy it must’ve taken out of Sunny to confess? For his mistake and his love? There was no way in hell he could manage it again anytime soon, even if Aubrey was receptive to it. So what was there to do?
Without a second thought, she rushed to the phone, grabbed it and dialed the number of Sunny’s house at an alarming speed – “oh please, pick up…”
“Hello…?” A groggy voice resonated at the other end of the line, Aubrey instantly recognized that one. But how was she supposed to put the topic on the table again?
“S- Sunny! It’s Aubrey!” She quickly responded, regardless, she felt relieved he at least answered the phone. But caught offguard, at the other end of the line was Sunny. The poor boy was a flustered mess. Why did Aubrey call her so suddenly?! First thing in the morning of all things. Did he fuck something up last night?
“Au- Aubrey… Humm, is everything okay? Did you sleep well?” Sleep well, Sunny found that ironic. He hadn’t managed to fall asleep himself. With a brain and heart running overdrive, it was hard to fall back into dreamland.
“I… Well… Not really, you?”
“M- me neither.” Sunny managed to mumble with a chuckle, seems like the tension had already been brushed off? Well that didn’t matter anyway, Aubrey had to put that topic on the table again.
“Say Sunny, about yesterday…”
And there went their little peaceful moment.
~☆~
“Kel, come downstairs, breakfast is ready!!”
“Coming!”
Kel’s mind had been ruminating over the same thoughts since last night, he kept replaying the last afternoon over and over in his head. Aubrey and Sunny acting like lovesick morons, bringing them to the picnic, welcoming Sunny back and comforting him. Basil having to leave in the middle of their little gathering, followed by Aubrey before whatever happened with them two.
The tall boy looked at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror, messy hair that would put Hero’s to shame along with eyebags to complement the haircut. He did manage to sleep but probably not the best night he’s had.
Seriously, what happened yesterday? Since that picnic, it seemed like both of them were swimming blindly in this whole situation…
“KEL!!”
“YES, JUST A MINUTE!” No, he was just overthinking it, overthinking it? Aubrey might’ve pushed Basil straight into the lake, and whether or not she did, she didn’t help him up and ran away. There seriously was something going on. But right now, a breakfast was waiting for him, surely this would clear his foggy mind a little. And thus he splashed his face with some cold water, wiped his war face with a towel. Could that seriously make him look like any less of a zombie? Eh, probably… And he then bolted downstairs. “Coming, mom!”
“Good morning Ke-” Oof, that wasn’t the face of an energetic boy. “Sweetie, did you even sleep last night?”
“Don’t worry mom, just a little bad dream, that’s all!” Kel brushed it off casually as he walked toward his usual spot around the dining table. His mother on the other hand, wasn’t buying a single word coming from the boy’s mouth but given his face, she decided to not push further – for now.
Kel was so submerged by his own thoughts that, while coming downstairs for his first meal of the day, didn’t even notice Hero. Though to be frank, his bigger brother didn’t acknowledge him either. Okay now that was weird, especially to a mother of two – well three counting Sally but she was still considered a baby anyway – she was used to at least a little bit of banter every morning, some days a little quieter, sure, but today was different.
“Alright kids, speak.” That took the two boys offguard, Hero snapped out of his thoughts and realized his younger brother just came downstairs, the same thing went for his brother. “Oh Kel! Good morning!” He said out of surprise, though this wasn’t normal of him. It seemed like the both of them were ruminating on the same thought.
“That’s not what I meant.” She said, seems like their cheap acting skills weren’t keeping them safe from anything.
“You two have been blatantly distant and silent since yesterday. Seriously, what happened?”
The two boys shared a look, Kel still munching on his bacon absentmindedly though the rest of his plate will surely wait longer given how preoccupied he looked by her mom’s concern. Unsurprisingly, Hero was the first to speak. “Yesterday Basil, Kel and I decided to organize a picnic. It was unnoticed but he told me he saw Sunny again. That sure as hell surprised me but given how closed off the poor boy had gotten, we just had to do a little something at least for memories’ sake. And besides, it had been months since we all gathered together.
Kel nodded, swallowing the rest of the food he was munching on and putting the fork down on the table before starting to speak. “Since Aubrey who volunteered to go get Sunny if he was up for it didn’t come back, I found them and brought them both. But that’s besides the point. During our little gathering, everyone acted weirdly. I mean even Sunny barely acknowledged Basil, his BEST FRIEND.” Kel interjected, before composing himself and finishing what he started saying. “Not only that, Basil did the same thing before he felt unwell and had to go. Aubrey followed her. A scream for help later, Basil was drowning in the lake, Aubrey totally frozen before she bolted away.”
Wow, well if it wasn’t for both Hero and Kel’s behavior that morning, she would’ve thought it was a bad joke. “Oh. Well alright, did you guys ask for clarification or anything?”
Hero shook his head, Kel on the other hand thought about it before answering her mother’s question. “Well I mean when we were at Basil’s house since we had brought him back. I did ask Sunny, but he didn’t say anything.”
~☆~
“Sunny! W- wait for me!”
Sunny jumped slightly at the call, he stopped walking in direction of Kel’s house and looked up to see Aubrey running toward him. That’s weird, he didn’t explicitly tell her that he would go to their house – just that he had to apologize. “Aubrey?”
“I’m not letting you face it alone.” Aubrey managed to say as she caught her breath. When she got closer to him, she gave her a sympathetic smile and a pat on his shoulder. “You’re not facing it alone.” She repeated, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her other hand. Sunny on the other hand, gave the feeling that he was digging in his thoughts – that filled Aubrey’s face with worry.
“Hey, don’t worry, okay?” Aubrey tried to reassure him although given the bomb he was going to drop at the brothers’ house, it was easier said than done.
Sunny nodded hesitantly. “I don’t know, Aubrey… But if I told you the truth, well the others deserve to know too. And… I have to do it alone.”
“You’re right…” Aubrey nodded hesitantly before looking back at Sunny. “And what about Basil?”
Basil?
Sunny looked up, his face covered with surprise before he understood. “Oh. Well I figured I would tell him after I-”
“No. I mean, is he okay?”
Sunny immediately recalled the scene at the picnic yesterday. And even the fact that they talked to each other last night, they hadn’t really brought up the topic back to the surface. “I… Well he’s alright I think, Polly took him after we brought him back and when he tried to knock he didn’t respond so we figured he was just asleep.”
Asleep? Aubrey wasn’t really buying that. On one hand she figured that it made sense, he almost drowned in a lake pushed by his own friend after admitting something really heavy. He had to recover. But on the other hand, the last time someone she knew tried to knock at someone’s door to get a hold of them without forcing it any further. It gave them an isolated Sunny who drowned in his grief for months straight. She felt a little proud for having broken that door; a thought she quickly shoved aside to focus back on her conversation with Sunny.
“Aubrey.”
“Uhm… Yes?”
“We’ll visit him right after. How does that sound?”
Aubrey thought about it for… a single second before nodding eagerly, she had to apologize to Basil ASAP, but for now they had to do something else.
Sunny gave her a tight hug, that made her blush. A lot.
“And don’t worry about me.” Sunny resumed as he looked up at her. “I’m… I’m responsible for this. It’s all my fault – I should face it alone. Wait for me here, okay?”
As much as Aubrey loved Sunny to bits, she wasn’t having any of his self-depreciative bullshit today, she was not just going to sit in the sidelines waiting for it all to happen. She just knew Sunny too well. If Sunny was determined upon confessing the truth? Great! But her stubborn mind wanted to help.
And as their hug ended, Sunny walked toward the door. Aubrey bolted toward it.
“No! Aubrey, wait! Don’t-”
Looks like there would be no going back.
~☆~
“But yeah, that’s all we know.” Kel said, finally wrapping up their version of the story with a sigh. Clearly he wished they would trust them and open up to them but if that lasted any longer, he knew waiting wouldn’t be of any help whatsoever. Aubrey indirectly taught her that.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
“KEL? HERO? IT’S AUBREY AND SUNNY.”
Speaking of the devil – the pink-haired girl banged at the door. Kel felt like it would give up at any moment, with Aubrey adding yet another door to her list of victims.
That loud bang made Hero and her mother jump. “Is that Aubrey?” Both of them asked, Kel sprinted toward the door and opened it to a nervous Aubrey and an out-of-breath Sunny who probably tried to stop her. Seriously, having to run after his friends could be the end of him. “Um… Kel…”
“Yeah? What’s wrong?”
“Sunny has- no, we have something to tell you guys…” Well that seemed serious. And on top of that, Sunny frowned, what did she mean by “we”? Aubrey wasn’t involved in the incident whatsoever.
Kel was stunned, so was there really something going on? Did that mean they were about to finally hear the end of it?
“Kel…” Aubrey interrupted his train of thoughts. “...can we-”
“Oh shoot! Yeah of course, come in guys!” Kel got out of the way, letting the two unusually nervous friends enter. They greeted both Hero and his mom before taking a seat around the dinner table.
The brothers’ mom offered some food to the guests. She was really happy to have them back. And sure, she wanted to hear what was on their minds but not before eating a little something!
Sunny smiled politely at the offer. “Oh, thank you Mrs. Rodriguez, but I’m fine, I-”
“Oh shush, you two.” She answered, waving her hand dismissively. “You’ll feel better after having eaten. And besides – when there’s something you have to get out, It’s better to not have your stomach begging for mercy at the same time! Trust me.” She said, before handing both Sunny and Aubrey a plate of bacon and eggs. That made them drool. Oh well, the rest could wait just a little bit more. Kel was not really surprised nor was Hero so they just went along with it. If that could help make the atmosphere a little less daunting, then so be it. But still, there was a question that was living rent-free in the brothers’ mind.
Why did Aubrey ran away yesterday?
Kel was the first to shove that thought away. They would come to it sooner or later. They should let them have a little bit of peace first…
“So kids, how have you been?” Mrs Rodriguez asked, “I mean, it must’ve been really tough to go through it all…” She continued empathetically, given what happened a few months back, that was totally justified.
Aubrey slowly nodded, swallowing her food before answering. “Yes, but we’re trying… our best to… stick together.” Strange how Aubrey answered that question. She was usually more confident in what she would say.
After that hesitant answer, she directed her question at Sunny. “And you Sunny?”
Sunny almost choked on his bacon, coughing as he cleared his throat, he then swallowed before taking a breath. “Huh… Yeah we’re… trying.”
Now the universe was just screaming at them to address the tension in the atmosphere right now because this was not normal.
~☆~
“Alright well… I’m off to work, be good until then, okay boys?”
“Yes mom!”
And Mrs. Rodriguez shut the door close as she walked out from the house – leaving the four friends alone. It seemed like she wouldn’t hear the end of it – well not yet.
“So… Sunny, Aubrey… You wanted to-”
In one swift motion, Sunny stood up from where he was sitting and looked at the two brothers, almost flinging back the chair he was sitting on a second ago.
“Th- there’s something I need to tell you!”
Aubrey looked up at Sunny in shock. She didn’t expect him to be this direct in the first place; which was one of the reasons she came along. To give him a helping hand.
A few, long seconds of silence followed Sunny’s initial confession. He was frozen in thoughts. But now wasn’t the time for this! He had to get it out of his chest just like he had done it with Aubrey. And if she didn’t react that badly. Maybe his other friends would give him a chance?
“I… It’s about Mari…”
Well now, if he hadn’t, he got their whole attention. Aubrey flinched slightly at that but was silently telling Sunny to continue. He had to.
Sunny took a deep breath before looking up at both Kel and Hero
“Promise me to let me finish what I have to say before any of you do or say anything…”
Both nodded, “We’ll hear you out Sunny. Take your time, we’ll listen no matter what.” Hero retorted calmly though the mention of his late lover did shake his nerves. Although usually optimistic, he was now worried about what Sunny had to say.
Before getting ready to spill the truth, he looked back at Aubrey who took his hand in hers and nodded slowly. That gave him the courage he needed to finally spill it.
“Mari… Mari didn’t hang herself.”
It was difficult to know if it was due to the initial shock that left them speechless or the fact that they simply wanted to keep that earlier promise unbroken but the two brothers remained silent. Although Hero’s expression was unreadable – Kel’s spoke volumes.
He did not expect this.
Sunny took another deep, shuddering breath. “It was the day of the recital. All of you were getting ready to see us play that night. Mari and I had trained for months. We had spent so many hours going over things to improve in our play. But by our, I mostly mean mine.”
“Mari had always been a natural at learning. That had the effect of raising our parents’ standards, and ultimately, hers as well.”
“I can’t really remember much aside from the hours I spent repeating the same parts over and over again because a specific note sounded slightly off. At first, I brushed it off and thought I would get used to it but it came to a point where I started to hate playing the violin altogether. Every single time she could cut me off or anything, that would just feed my frustration more and more…”
“B- but back to where I was heading… The day of the recital, Mari and I got into a big argument, it was about something about us being offsync or something. Th- that annoyed me and…” Sunny, too focused on spitting the truth out once and for all, didn't even notice the tears rolling down his cheeks. “I pushed her… down the stairs…” Sunny ultimately collapsed back on his chair, breaking down in sobs. Aubrey rushed to her side, trying to comfort him the best she could. “I… I’m done…” Sunny mumbled weakly. “Y- you can lash out at me now…” He added, expecting what he said, a punishment for what he’s done.
Hero slowly stood up and walked toward the front door. “I’m sorry… I… I need a moment…” He muttered while opening the door slowly before closing it behind him.
Kel stood up as well. Sunny looked up through his tears, expecting him to join his brother but as he walked around the table, his reaction was far from his expectations.
“K- Kel… Wh- what are you…”
“Shh… It’s okay…” Kel hugged Sunny… But why? Sunny knew he was a murderer, he didn’t deserve any kind of mercy whatsoever.
Although Aubrey was taken aback by Kel’s reaction, she wasn’t completely surprised. Sure, it felt like he was the kind to easily forgive, but even Aubrey knew that there was more to it.
Sunny’s panic attack eventually subsided. He felt a little calmer now. But there still was a question rattling around in his mind. “Kel…”
“Yes, Sunny?”
“Why would you forgive me?”
Kel pulled back from the hug enough so that he could face his best friend. He looked at him with a gaze that spoke volume about the meaning of his forgiveness. “Sunny. This was an accident, right?” Wow. Maybe Aubrey and Kel had more in common than their bickering. That rhetorical question also took Aubrey aback.
“Yes… yes it was…”
“Do you think I would gain anything from not forgiving you?”
“Well… No…”
“Exactly. First of all, who knows what would’ve happened if Aubrey didn’t get you out of that rotting house. Who knows how long you would’ve stayed inside, rotting away all alone. And besides, I think you have suffered way more than enough…”
~☆~
“Fuck… Now it all makes sense…” Hero muttered as he sat down on the grass, his back leaning against the wall of his house. “So Mari didn’t hang herself… That… That wasn’t my fault…” He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down. “I… No… It wasn’t…” The day started replaying itself in his own head. The sole memory that managed to make him cry every single time. They were getting ready for a recital. When they arrived, Mari wasn’t there, nor was Sunny. They all made their way to Sunny and Mari’s house. The backyard. Mari…
“Sh- shit! Now is not the time… And besides how did he- n- no It’s not h- his fault… It- it was an accident no…”
“Hero?”
The boy looked up as his name was called. He slowly looked up and saw a blurry, pink-ish figure standing. He wiped the remnant of his tears, fogging his vision, before blinking again.
“Aubrey?”
Aubrey sat down next to Hero. She sighed before speaking. “Your mind is a mess, huh?”
Hero nodded, of course it was – every single one of his assumptions regarding Mari’s death had now collapsed. The whole story he built his grief on? Gone as well. Was that any better? He didn’t know – he didn’t know anything anymore.
“Are you mad at him?”
“Y- yes? No? I- I don’t know…” Hero muttered before hiding his face in his arms. “I thought I failed her… For months I had been ruminating on that…”
“Listen… It’s not his fault…”
“Wh- what?”
“You heard him… It was pent-up pressure that begged to be released.” Aubrey softly answered, she was shaken up by that too initially. But now that she had a bit of time to reflect on it, she understood it better.
Hero nodded, he understood that now.
“But then why did Mari hang herself?"