Chapter Text
It was students like Basil who drew little attention from others. All classes were attended on time, assignments were submitted, and the boy’s lips were sealed at all times except when necessary. You could not pick a more innocuous boy if you were forced to. Basil had only a handful of friends and he was content to talk to them every once in a while, each one of them with the perception that Basil was a smart boy, if only he was more sociable. No one could have known of Basil's true nature.
Class had just concluded and Basil took his usual route home.
The locks of the front door were quickly undone and an excited Basil rushed past. It was not long before Basil was standing in the center of his room, thoughts rushing past his mind. With his palms sweaty he reached for under his bed and pulled out a dark black satchel. Basil unlatched the buckles and felt through the bag’s contents. Once he felt what he was looking for he placed the satchel over his shoulder, looked at himself in the mirror, and left the house just as quickly as he entered.
Every step Basil took on the pavement was followed by a thought.
“What memories will I capture today?”
Another step taken.
“What emotions will I see come forth?”
Another step.
“How can a boy be so beautiful?”
This process continued until Basil found himself at his destination — a large bush situated at the end of the park. Basil sat himself in his usual spot and took his camera out of his satchel almost unconsciously. He adjusted the settings of the camera and looked at his wrist for the time. He should expect him to arrive within the next twenty minutes. Basil afforded himself a lengthy twenty minutes to account for any discrepancy on the other’s part.
Today was no different than any other and yet a feeling of dread made itself known within the pit of Basil’s stomach. This was no time to harbor such feelings. He took a deep breath in and let out a slow exhale. There should be nothing within him except excitement as he will get to see his love today. He will be able to capture every bit of him and store it forever within paper confines. The affirmations Basil told himself were quick to extinguish his anxiety and it was in that moment he saw the boy of his dreams in the distance.
Sunny came from the direction he always came from, with the same expression he always had on (that of pure indifference), in the same clothing he always wore. In recent months he had developed a schedule that was perfect for him: wake up, go to school, go to the park, stare at the sky by himself for an hour, go home, and go to sleep.
He found his usual spot — a large patch of grass at the back of the park surrounded by trees and bushes. It was there where Sunny could truly soak in his solitude. Sunny was generally apathetic when it came to socializing with others, only ever talking to Aubrey — a girl who happened to be in a few of Sunny’s classes. The rest of his friends had slowly distanced themselves from him over the years so outside of school Sunny was always alone.
He liked to believe that this solitude did not get to him, but he somehow could never remove the aching feeling that had taken his heart captive. It called out for company, for someone to stay by his side when he had no one.
He sat himself on the grass and let out a plaintive sigh, realizing just how many years had passed since he had friends. In just a few months he was going to graduate and off to college he would go. Of course, he did not want to go to college but his parents always had different ideas when it came to what he should do with his life.
Sunny discarded these thoughts, they only served to make him more miserable than he already was. Sunny’s eyes moved to soak in his surroundings, taking in the beauty that today held. The warmth of the sun’s rays comforted his pale skin and the sky was painted a brilliant cyan. Maybe things would be alright after all.
It was at this moment his vision was overcome with a flash of pink as Aubrey made herself known. She stood above Sunny and before he could react she spoke, “Are you always by yourself here?”
Sunny, still recoiling from his surprise, could only mumble, “y-yeah I’m alone….”
Aubrey returned an empathetic look, “Kinda sad not gonna lie, but hey to each their own right?”
She took a seat next to Sunny, her face trying and failing to hide its pity.
“So uh…. what are you up to?” Aubrey said, trying to create conversation where there was none.
“I’m just thinking.”
“About?”
“I don’t know.” Sunny looked completely lost as his words left his mouth. Aubrey could not tell whether he was disinterested in her presence or deep in thought, perhaps both she figured.
“Hey I know you like doing this whole being alone thing and all that but you can always hang with me and my friends, we're always by Geno’s so you can just meet us there after school.”
Sunny looked up at her with a curious look plastered across his face, “ why did you come here? I don’t want your pity Aubrey…. just p-please just leave me alone.”
Aubrey’s face quickly turned from pity to irritation.
"Look I've just been trying to help you, you can't just let yourself rot like this. Come on, let's go get you something at Geno's."
She stood up and made an attempt to grab Sunny's arm. Sunny, caught off-guard by Aubrey's forwardness, yanked his arm back in panic, causing him to fall back onto the grass.
A mix of contempt and fear tainted Sunny's voice as he spoke, "W-why do you do this? I never asked for this, all I want is to be alone and I can't even get that. Do you d-dislike me that much?"
Aubrey rolled her eyes, “How ungrateful can you be? I’ve literally been trying to get you out of your shell all year! I talk to you during class, I invite you to my friend group and you still can’t be bothered with doing the most basic shit.”
Sunny instinctively coiled back in fear, his words now taking form from the murmurs and whispers that left his mouth, “P-please leave m-me alone… I never wanted any of t-this…I hate it so m-much.”
Aubrey straightened herself, her patience running thin, “Fine. This was my last shot anyway. I really cared about you back then and I felt like I had to do this out of respect for your sister. If you want to be a drama queen and rot for the rest of your sad life then go ahead cause I tried.”
With that she left, her anger trailing behind her as she stormed off.
Sunny could not help but let the tears flow as she saw her disappear in the distance. He hated crying more than anything, yet he found his face filled with the tears that he so deeply despised. Repressed emotions that coalesced throughout his life made themselves known in that moment.
He was truly alone and he had no one to blame but himself. The only emotions that others had offered him were pity and disgust.
He did not care that others were now staring at his face saturated with tears and red from anguish. This was the punishment he placed on himself for being born with a faulty brain. There Sunny would remain, lamenting for hours in the grass while onlookers glanced over him with a curiosity that Sunny could only pray would die soon.
Basil had seen everything. He saw how she tried to corrupt his absolute beauty with her lies and false promises. He saw how she turned on Sunny once he rejected her lies and reduced him to a mess of tears and whimpers. Aubrey had been trying these tricks on his Sunny for months on end, with little success. Today seemed to be her last straw, she finally tired of trying to corrupt Sunny’s perfection.
Basil would make sure to repay Aubrey tenfold for what she had done to Sunny today, but for now his focus was on claiming what was his. Sunny was now truly alone, and Basil figured he must strike while the iron was hot.
The scene was set for Basil, all he had to do was play his part. These developments had filled his mind so thoroughly that Basil had completely forgotten about his camera until he saw Sunny drag himself up from the grass, presumably to return home.
Basil lifted his camera and with a quick snap took a picture of the black haired boy. Although the image was unremarkable, the day it was taken was what Basil had really wanted to capture. The day Sunny’s last connection to the world was severed.
He followed Sunny as he walked home. Everything that he needed had been prepared months in advance and sat neatly tucked away in his satchel. He knew that all he needed to do was wait and the opportunity would present itself on a silver platter. Today his waiting was finally rewarded, Sunny had unknowingly removed the last obstacle from Basil's plans.
Sunny went up the front steps and unlocked the front door. As he entered he could have never known that his day was about to get so much worse than it already had been.
He was exhausted. Dried up tears covered his face and the bags underneath his eyes were stained with a purplish-black darkness. Every bone in his body ached and his face muscles grew sore from the crying. He stumbled into his room and fell onto his bed, hoping sleep would save him from his ailments. Yet his brain would not grant him such a privilege, instead it would mention just how dirty and grimy he became after all those hours crying in the park. After initially ignoring these comments, Sunny would soon acquiesce and head to the bathroom, towel in hand.
The hot water felt amazing on his skin and Sunny wondered why he could not spend all night in the shower. The steam cleared away the incessant thoughts that clouded his head and turned all outside noise into an afterthought. Sunny could have sworn that he heard doors opening from within his house but the comfort of the water washed these concerns away. He burdened himself with anxiety all day, he figured that he should have at least this evening to himself.
After a comforting 45 minutes Sunny turned off the water and exited the shower, drying himself off with his towel before wrapping it around his waist. As he opened the bathroom door steam poured out from the bathroom, moving through the hallways in small eddies. The air around Sunny turned frigid and Sunny picked up the pace towards his room. The house remained still and was eerily silent. He made his way through the hallway and looked at the doors, only to find that they remained in the same position as he had left them.
Seeing this, Sunny let out a sigh of relief and entered his room. He let down his towel and went for his usual assortment of clothes. As he bent over to pick up a shirt a loud creak came from the closet and as his eyes moved to meet the noise he was met with two pale blue eyes piercing his soul. Before he could scream he was on the floor, the presence now on top of him and it was desperate to hold him tight. Fear had left Sunny unable to speak and too weak to resist, his vision was going out and all he could think was why was it him that had to live this life.
Sunny awoke in a bed dressed in unfamiliar clothing. The sun crept through the window and shone into his eyes, illuminating the room before him. This was not his room. The walls were painted a light green and potted plants covered the window sill. Sunny would have commented on its beauty if not for the fact that he had no idea where he was and that he was just coming to the realization that he could not move his arms. Looking above him he noticed the handcuffs attached to each of his wrists, connecting him to both ends of the wooden bed frame.
Sunny had gone through so much mental anguish that at this moment he did not know how to react or what to think. The world was playing another cruel joke on him and he had to take it, just as he had the other countless times life has slighted him.
The door opened and a blonde-haired boy walked in, carrying a tray with an assortment of dishes on top of it.
“Good morning my love, I made you breakfast today so please make sure to eat up! I know you like bacon so I gave you extra along with some apple juice cause I know it’s your favorite.”
The boy sat himself on the bed with the tray placed in his lap, he picked up a piece of bacon and signaled for Sunny to open his mouth, “Come on dear, you need to eat your breakfast if you’re gonna be my husband!”
Sunny looked at the boy in pure bewilderment and said the only word that occupied his mind at the moment, “What?”
Basil saw the misery in his eyes and placed the bacon back on to the plate. His disposition immediately changed as he sat himself up and spoke, “I know that you’ve been mistreated so much lately and I just want to say that you’re totally safe here dear. I understood that you would be afraid, so I took some slight precautions but I’m sure in due time you’ll realize your place and such things won’t be necessary.”
All Sunny could think to do was stare at his captor. Was this his life now? To be some toy to some blonde freak who wants to play house? The situation was so insane that Sunny almost wanted to laugh if it were not for the fact that he was literally a prisoner to some sociopath. He understood that it would be best to play along for now though.
“Ahh um- of course…”
Seeing Sunny’s response made Basil’s face brighten up and he once again picked up the piece of bacon to feed to his fiancé. Sunny hungrily accepted the meal, he barely ate anything yesterday and he figured that he should at least eat good if he was going to be a prisoner.
Basil looked on with delight as he saw his love eating the meal he worked so hard to prepare. Knowing that this was his first of many meals filled Basil with an indescribable amount of joy. After Sunny had finished breakfast Basil gently wiped his mouth before giving a small kiss to his forehead. “You have done so well today my dear, I thought you were going to put up more of a fight but it seems like you're already learning who you belong to.”
Basil rose from the bed and placed the empty tray on a small table that lay across the room. He turned back around to face Sunny and calmly made his way to the boy, this time seating himself at the foot of the bed.
“Talk to me my love. I assume you have some questions?”
Sunny took a deep breath before gaining the strength to speak, “W-who are you and why did you kidnap me?”
Basil gave a sly smile before giving his response, “My name is Basil and I have taken you out of my love for you silly.” Basil tapped Sunny’s nose before giggling to himself as if he had just answered an obvious question.
“L-love? B-but I don’t even know who you are.”
“Oh Sunny you're so clueless, you may not know who I am but I’ve known who you are for a very long time. I know that you ostracized yourself from your classmates when Mari left for university. I know that your parents aren't going to be visiting faraway town for the next few weeks. I know the ins and outs of your daily routine, from your time spent in the park to the time at which you sleep. Most importantly, I know that yesterday your last friend Aubrey left you crying in the grass, leaving you ripe for the picking.”
If the depth of Basil’s insanity was not apparent to Sunny then, it most definitely was apparent to him now. A boy who Sunny swore that he had never seen in his life was not only his captor, but was also privy to every detail of his personal life. Sunny’s façade of indifference was starting to break down. He felt tears build up in his eyes and misery grip his heart with its frigid hands.
The only response he could muster was a desperate plea for freedom, “Basil p-please I don’t w-want to be here.. Please l-let me go…”
The smile that Basil had grew deeper as he wiped one of the forming tears off of Sunny’s face.
“Don’t cry my love, you should be happy! As my future husband I’ll make sure that you are provided for at all times, okay?”
What Basil saw as great encouragement only seemed to make Sunny fall deeper into despair. The tears that formed in Sunny's eyes grew heavy and washed down his reddened cheeks. Sunny's arms thrashed forward in a feeble attempt to break free, yet was only met with a circle of abrasions around his wrists as the cold steel dug into his skin.
There was a sense of conflict within Basil as he watched Sunny struggle to no avail. His brain told him that the handcuffs were only for restraining Sunny until he too could grasp the love that Basil held for him, yet seeing him restrained and hopelessly desperate awoke something within him that he was too afraid too acknowledge. Basil decided that it would be best if he left Sunny for now, his thoughts were beginning to frighten himself.
"My beloved Sunny I must go now, I have certain things I must attend to. I'll be back soon, okay my love?"
Sunny gave no answer. The tear-stained bedsheets and bruised wrists were a response on their own.
Before Basil left he gave one last glance to the teary-eyed Sunny that lay chained on his bed. Joy filled his chest as he saw the embodiment of perfection lay on his bed. Sunny was his, now and forever.