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Chapter Text

HALF RETURN

ACT I

It had been three whole months since Sunny and Basil left. And though everything had changed, all seemed the same as it was before.

An image had seared into Kel's mind. Sunny standing limp and fragile. His hands at his sides, his gown loose against his thin shoulders. His left eye wrapped in bandages.

"I have to tell you something."

Those were the first words he uttered before he told them everything.

Before they were torn apart again.

A week later, Kel had stood on the grass of his front lawn as Sunny's mother hurriedly jotted down a number on a notepad. She ripped off the page and passed it to him.

"Here's our number if you ever want to check in."

Then he had watched as the car pulled away, speeding down the road, and out of sight, leaving him alone with the sounds of suburbia and cicadas.

That slip of paper now lived in his bedside cabinet, where he kept all kinds of memories and trinkets, wristbands from summer camps, two old yo-yos, a small rock collection, a tiny model of the Eiffel Tower.

But Kel couldn't call him. He couldn't face the reality of Sunny, or what he and Basil had done.

Whenever he pictured that moment, against his will or not, the image always seemed so unnatural, like a nightmare.

The tree. The jump rope.

Impossible.

How could this be reality?

Yet that single un-bandaged eye had held no falsehood in it. Kel remembered that moment, feeling a sickening weight pressing, growing on his chest, and he had known, maybe before the others had, that he was telling the truth.

He had killed her.

Sunny killed Mari.

"Hey." Click click "Wake up, Kel."

"I'm awake, dude!" He said, staring down the pitch at the team opposite.

"Then go get the ball."

"Huh?"

Brad pointed. "Over by the hooligans. Again."

"School shooters, more like," one of the players muttered.

Kel turned to see them, loitering, as they usually did, on the steps by the gym fire escape.

"Go!?" Brad clapped at him.

Kel jogged toward the hooligans. They were all here today.

Kim and her older brother, Vance, who must have slipped the fence behind the gym, sat on the steps. An old, clunky stereo, Vance's, most likely, blared Eminem.

Angel and Mikhael stood talking fast at one another, probably in the midst of some kind of debate over absolutely nothing.

Charlene stood with her Tamagotchi in hand, contently oblivious to the world.

And Aubrey.

She sat in the shade of the steps off by herself, staring out past the palisade fence, across the field, and at the trees beyond.

Kel reached down and picked up the ball, glancing back up at them.

"Hey guys."

He received a mixed reception. Kim and Vance nodded at him. Angel and Mikhael said "Hi," in unison. Charlene smiled at him.

Aubrey surely heard him, but she didn't move, didn't turn. She remained completely, and unwaveringly, still.

Kel turned back toward the court.

It had been like that for a while now. The ball flew over to them, he picked it up, said hello, and Aubrey ignored him.

They hadn't talked since that day at the hospital. He didn't see her at school often, and when he did, it was in the hallways between classes, rarely in them.

The last time Kel had seen Aubrey in class was in math. It had been late in the school-day, the clock had ticked gently whilst he sat diligently solving equations and referring to his times-tables.

Then he had heard a sudden scrape, followed by a deafening CRASH that rang out like a gunshot.

His head swung up to see her storming out of the classroom, her desk upturned, the teacher calling after her. The rest of the room snickered, laughed at her.

"Doing an Aubrey," people called it.

"What's wrong with you? You're completely comatose." Brad said, his eyebrow cocked.

"Nothing, man."

Kel bounced the ball once, then passed it off to Jason to get the game moving.

The opposing team pressed in immediately, forced a quick pass, then another. A sharp fake, Jason tried keeping up, but their shooter found an opening and took the shot.

The ball soared high over the court.

Too high.

It cleared the hoop and backboard entirely, then fell back to earth.

Kel turned in time to see the ball hurtling towards disaster. His hands shot to his head.

Clunk.

CRACK.

"What the FUCK!" Vance roared.

It had slammed directly into Vance's stereo.

The game came to an abrupt stop. Kel ran over to the hooligans again.

Vance cradled the broken stereo in his arms, agonizing over the damage.

"Shoot man, I'm really sorry," Kel said as he stopped in front of them.

"You will be!" Kim spat. She held the basketball under her arm.

Grumble Grumble.

"You know how much that thing cost?"

Kel felt the growing presence of his teammates falling in behind him, felt the electricity building in the air.

"Maybe we could... all pitch in or something?" Kel proposed, gesturing to his friends.

"I'm not giving it back 'till you do!" Kim gripped the ball tightly, now with both hands.

"Give it back, you louse" Brad interjected, stepping out in front of Kel.

"Don't talk to my sister that way, shithead!" Vance yelled, stepping out in front of Kim.

Brad laughed. "Get outta here Vance. You deadbeat. You 'graduated' what? Four years ago?"

"What are you doing?" Kel said to Brad, pushing him back a bit.

Brad scoffed. "Don't tell me you're siding with these dipshits, Kel?"

"I just want everyone to calm down!"

"You're all paying for what you broke!" Kim yelled at the players.

"Go sit somewhere else!" Jason interjected, coming to stand next to Brad.

"We always sit here!" Mikhael stepped out, Angel standing ready next to him.

Brad stepped forward again. "You have to be the biggest bunch of morons I ever saw. Bunch of meatheads and hicks."

Where's Aubrey? Kel thought.

He looked for her amidst the growing chaos. She was still behind the stairs, staring absently through the green bars towards the trees beyond.

"Screw you!" Vance said, rolling up his sleeves.

"Give me the goddamn ball!" Brad shouted, rushing forward to grab it from Kim.

Vance shoved him back. Brad swung at Vance. A brutal smack rang out.

Then bedlam broke loose.

Bodies collided. Screams, yells, grunts. Fists flew in all directions.

Kel got lost in the barrage. Someone hit his head. Someone grabbed his shirt.

Everything was a blur. But amidst the growing violence, he saw pink. The back of Aubrey's head. Suddenly she was amidst the chaos with him.

Then Kel saw her hand rise to the air.

She held something.

His blood ran cold.

Aubrey held a brick in her hand.

"No!"

He shoved past hooligans and jocks alike.

"AUBREY DON'T!!"

He collided with her, grabbing her wrist before she could bring it down on someone.

She struggled against him, her strength unnatural, feral.

Kel wrestled the brick from her grip, hurling it to the ground.

Then Aubrey turned.

Her face twisted with animalistic fury, foam at the corners of her mouth. Her teeth clenched. Her teal contacts crooked.

She struck his head. Once. Twice. Then her fist collided with his nose.

A sickening crunch.

Kel hit the asphalt. His ears rang.

Whistles blew. A teacher yelled: "Break it up! That's enough!"

The fight scattered. But Aubrey stayed where she was, her fists still clenched, her chest rising and falling.

Her face twisted. Rage collapsed into shock. Her eyes widened as a look of horror set in.

She staggered back, staring at him, hyperventilating.

Kel blinked up at her. His nose throbbed with a sharp, searing pain.

He could taste metal. Slowly, he lifted a hand to his face, feeling warmth pool between his fingers.

When he pulled it away, his hand was covered in blood.

"Why? Why did you do that!?" Aubrey yelled at him.

Her eyes welled with tears.

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!?"

Chapter Text

"This is your third fight this year, Ms. Williams."

The principal stood behind her desk, hands pressed flat against the dark wood, her head downcast.

Aubrey and Kel sat beside each other in stiff, aged plastic chairs. Kel pinched his nose with a bloodied tissue. He stole glances at Aubrey, who sat staring forward, arms crossed, her pink hair tousled, her expression vacant and tired.

"We have given you every chance." The principal's voice came out sharp, exasperated.

"Concession after concession, and yet you persist in this path of self-destruction!"

She sighed, then sank into her chair.

"It breaks the faculty's heart to see you like this, Aubrey." she said, her tone softening.

"Faraway is a small community. Many of us, the teachers here, have kids of our own. Kids who used to play with you years ago."

The principal took of her glasses, twisted and turned them in her hands, then she looked up at Aubrey.

"I know... you've been through a lot. We all know that. We want to help you. I wish you would let us."

Kel heard Aubrey exhale shakily through her nose.

The principal's voice steeled once more.

"We could cope with the poor attendance. The disregard for dress code. Even your flagrant disinterest in learning. But you have shown yourself to be an active, physical threat to your fellow students. And... I'm afraid I must put their safety first."

Kel's chest clenched.

It was obvious what was coming next.

"I'm afraid--" The principal started.

He had to do something.

"--that you leave me no choice--"

He had to do something NOW.

"--than to--"

"Wait!" Kel sprang to his feet, the chair screeching behind him.

The principal's gaze snapped to him.

"Sit down Desoto."

Kel didn't waver. "It was my fault principal."

Aubrey turned sharply, glared at him.

"What?"

"I started the fight." Kel said, swallowing.

The principal's head cocked to the side "You expect me to believe this... how?"

"Well... Our ball accidentally hit Aubrey in the head. When they asked me to apologise I--I insulted her mom."

There was an awkward pause.

"I called her mom fat." Kel added after a moment.

Aubrey stared up at him, puzzlement written across her face.

The principal turned towards her. "How true is this?"

Aubrey turned back to the principal, uncrossed her arms.

"He--" she started, struggled for the words. "...He said my mom had an ass the size of a ten by four. And that he'd wanna--"

"Enough!" The principal pinched the bridge of her nose. Groaned.

She yanked open a drawer, rifling through paperwork before laying a sheet out on the desk.

Kel's (largely) spotless record.

Her fingers tapped against it. "You expect me to believe, with this record, that you instigated a group fight?"

"Just ask anyone, principal. We've been at each other's throats for the whole summer. Didn't someone tell you about our fight at the church?"

The principal studied him, she softly shook her head at him.

"Aubrey... you can leave. Kelsey? You stay."

Aubrey slowly rose from her chair with a loud scrape, she turned towards the door.

"But this is your final warning." The principal said firmly. "If I see you back in here for even the smallest infraction? It's over. Do you understand me? Over.

"Yes principal." Aubrey replied.

Aubrey grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, she glanced at Kel with wide, searching eyes, then stepped through and shut it behind her.

"I'm disappointed, Kelsey."

After that, Kel tuned out the principal.

He watched her mouth move, up, down, across. Listened to the rise and fall of her voice, but not to the words.

He watched as she grabbed a pencil and marred his almost perfect record.

For the first time in his life, Kel was in trouble, real trouble. For the first time, his parents would get a call about his 'poor behaviour.'

But he didn't care.

Kel had done the right thing.

"Two weeks detention," the principal finished.

"Now go."

Kel left the principal's office, shutting the door behind him. He threw his bloody tissue into a nearby bin.

The golden hour light poured through the windows, casting long beams of orange light across the long corridor.

Aubrey stood near the stairs, her hands buried in her jacket pockets. She turned as Kel spotted her.

They walked towards one-another, and met halfway. She met his gaze, he met hers.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," he said.

They both shuffled awkwardly.

"The size of a ten by four?" Kel chuckled.

Aubrey didn't. "I'm... sorry about your nose. I... didn't realise that it was you for a moment."

"It's cool." Kel said. "Doesn't even hurt."

"You're a terrible liar. She didn't believe you at all."

"It hurts like hell, man. Where'd you learn to hit like that?"

Aubrey shrugged. "Just... picked it up."

She rocked back on her heels, shifting her weight as they settled back into silence.

"You been doing okay?" Kel asked.

Aubrey scoffed. "Have you?"

"No. I've not been doing okay at all." Kel said.

Aubrey nodded, a small bitter smile on her face.

"What did she give you?"

"Two weeks detention."

"When do you get out?"

"An hour."

Aubrey looked out the window for a moment, then she spoke.

"Well... me and the others will still be at the lake. If you... wanna join us."

"Are... Are you inviting me to hang out with you and the hoolig--"

Aubrey scowled at him.

"Sorry. You and your friends." He corrected.

She crossed her arms. "If you want."

Kel smiled, a warmth bloomed in his chest.

It felt uncertain, but familiar.

It felt good.

"I'll see you there then!"

"Cool." Aubrey said.

Kel nodded. "Very cool."

She turned and walked down the hallway. Kel watched her go, watched her disappearing down the stairwell.

Kel sighed, he'd completely forgotten the pain in his nose.

A weight had lifted from his chest, and for the first time in months, he didn't feel quite so lonely anymore.

"See you soon."

Chapter Text

Kel felt self-conscious, anxious about being seen with them. It was a vain feeling, not something he was at all proud of.

In the past three weeks, there had been a development he particularly disliked, which was having pebbles thrown at his bedroom window.

He'd get up in time to see either Mikhael, Angel, or Kim running back to the front of his house, scampering off before he could protest.

Kel would descend the stairs and look out the living room window and see all of them, Aubrey on her bike, the rest on their scooters, waiting for him at the foot of his house.

"We're heading up to Gino's," Aubrey would say. Other times it would be Hobbeez, the park, the lake. Today they were going to the plaza.

Kel grabbed his jacket from the coat hanger, zipped it up and fell in behind them as they made their way up the street.

It was midday on a Saturday. He preferred hanging out with them during the day.

They were awful at night.

At night, they paraded about the streets, yelling at the top of their lungs, littering cans.

"Live a little," one of them, usually Vance or Kim, would say to him.

The worst part was when Aubrey brought her nailbat.

The others would fall in behind her, encourage her, tell her how badass she looked, while Kel lagged behind, wearing an expression like he'd bitten into a lime.

Sometimes Aubrey didn't seem like Aubrey at all. Most of the time, she seemed more like a surreal contortion of someone he used to know.

These night outings usually ended the same way.

Aubrey would smash a mailbox, Kel would throw up his hands and walk home, while she and the others bolted down the street in the opposite direction, laughing.

"Where'd you go last night?" Aubrey had asked during lunch-break.

"I don't see what's so hard about not smashing other people's stuff, dude." Kel had replied, tired of her nonsense.

"Pfft. Whatever," she had said, like she didn't care.

What happened in those four years apart? How much had he missed?

The Aubrey he knew had always been true to her feelings, sensitive, and kind.

Always kind.

Now, he'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thought of her in those ways.

It had been just over four months ago now that all of them, Aubrey, his brother, Sunny and Basil had been climbing out of the pit Mari's death had left in their lives, trying to move forward, together.

But now, it felt like all the progress they had made together had never happened at all.

Sunny had shattered everything with a secret, a truth so insurmountable that none of them had known what to do with it.

Hero had gone back to college without a word. Kel had returned to his life. Aubrey had gone back to hers.

And then, a month after Sunny had left, Basil disappeared too.

"You didn't see him leave did you?" Kel had asked Aubrey last week.

"...No," she said, shaking her head while swaying in place, like a child being scolded.

"I went to talk to him one morning, and he was just... gone. His house looked totally empty too."

Kel had looked at her grimly.

And for a moment, she'd looked back with a pout, her teal eyes glazing over, coming close to what looked like tears, before her expression steeled, and she walked off to speak to someone else.

Despite now knowing her reasons for it, the way that she had treated Basil still haunted him. And it made him resent her friends.

They weren't bad people. Kel admired the way they'd stuck by Aubrey no matter what, he admired their loyalty. But they had enabled her, encouraged her bullying, let her spiral.

...

He needed to get out of his head.

Kel snapped back to the present moment, he sat, slouched on the bench next to the fountain.

Aubrey and Kim stood on the other side of the fountain, their conversation ebbed and flowed, broken by bouts of shrill laughter.

Had Aubrey always laughed like... that? That rapid, ridiculous sound, somewhere between a chimp and a dolphin?

The others were scattered across the plaza. Charlene was glued to her Tamagotchi, like she'd been for the entirety of the last month. Angel sat flipping through comic books on the curb with Mikhael.

'Nothing anyone says will get me to call him The Maverick.' Kel thought to himself.

Vance skidded to a halt beside Kel on his scooter, and held out a bottle in a brown paper bag, offering it to him.

"Oh I'm cool thanks." Kel said.

Vance nodded, then took a small swig from the bottle, wiped his mouth.

"Gotta say thanks again Kel, for chipping in on that bitchin' new stereo."

Kel smiled politely. "It's cool. Sorry about before with the whole... thing."

"Water under the bridge my man. C'mon, gimme some skin." Vance said, he extended an oddly hairy fist.

Kel met it fast in a firm, amicable fist bump.

"Powww." Vance mouthed, he remounted his scooter and zipped off.

Kel sighed, looked down at the ground, kicking a pebble and watching it roll off the sidewalk.

Once again, he found himself on the fringes. And that was how he liked it. Like he was Aubrey's private steward, watching out for her. Not that he was ever able to stop her from being Aubrey.

Looking around, the plaza hummed with mid-fall activity. Kids ran between Gino's and Hobbeez, a busker strummed a gentle tune on the guitar, dogs barked, birds chirped.

Then someone jabbed his shoulder.

Aubrey jabbed his shoulder.

"Ow?" He looked up at her.

"What's up?" she asked, her head tilted.

"You've lost punching privileges dude." Kel said, rubbing his shoulder.

Aubrey huffed and sat herself beside him on the bench.

'She always smells like cigarettes.' Kel thought to himself, but he'd never actually seen her smoking.

"Just thinking about stuff," he said.

"You can do that? Wait who am I kidding--you can't do that."

"Funny. You're really funny." He deadpanned.

They sat in silence for a while, looking out across the plaza.

"We're gonna try and get into the old factory later," Aubrey said.

"Into it?"

"Vance says he knows how to crack one of the windows on the north side."

Kel groaned. "Why can't we just do something normal? Watch a movie, get pizza, go to the arcade--y'know? Normal stuff."

"Stuff that costs money. Also, I don't like movies."

"Wha--you don't like movies? What do you mean you don't like movies?"

Aubrey shrugged. "They're all the same."

"I--you--I don't even know what to say to that."

"So you coming or not?" She turned to him.

"Do you want me there?"

"If I didn't want you there, I wouldn't ask, Kel."

"Isn't there asbestos in there?"

"Oh come on." She gently shoved him.

"... Please come?"

'That was unusually earnest for Aubrey,' he thought.

He sighed. If he was really worried, he could always find a mask at Fix-It. Maybe he could get her one too.

"One condition," he said.

"Shoot."

"We do something normal, too. We'll get some marshmallows, and we can toast them by a fire or something after."

"As long as you're paying for them, sure."

"And you don't bring your nailbat."

"No way. We need the bat."

Kel rolled his eyes. "Why would we ever need the bat?"

"Crazy people live in the factory remember?"

Kel rubbed his face, his nose still ached.

"Yeah ok, I'll be there."

"Nice." She smiled.

"Oh also..." Kel started.

"Yeah?"

"Progress checks coming up soon, at school."

"Uhuh?"

"Do you... maybe want to come study with me? Could help. you know?"

Aubrey's expression soured slightly, a look of reluctance on her face. "I don't re--"

"Hey Aubrey!" Kim called from the side of the Othermart, snickering with Vance.

Aubrey placed her hand on Kel's shoulder as she got up and ran over to them.

Kel watched her go, watched as the three of them exchanged shifty smiles, snickering.

Was she a lost cause?

Maybe.

Then he remembered her expression a moment ago, the way it had softened as she asked, "Please come?"

So much like how she used to talk to him, that sweetness, that tenderness she used to have.

Maybe the Aubrey he had known all those years ago was still there, buried beneath the damage.

Perhaps he just needed to chip away at it.

Maybe one day, people could know the Aubrey he remembered, the kind, gentle Aubrey who had once been his friend.

Even if they never did, even if she wasn't there anymore, he had a promise to keep.

Then Aubrey, Kim and Vance returned, mischief written in their eyes.

"What are you about to do?" Kel asked, dread engulfing him.

Without a word, all three pulled out plastic bottles, full of what looked like soap.

In a second, they were at the fountain, dumping the liquid in. Within moments, the water began to froth and bubble over.

Angel and Mikhael howled with laughter.

"Guys no! You're gonna break it!" Kel cried

"Hey!! You nasty little delinquents!" someone shouted off in the distance.

The group scattered. Kel ran from them toward the treeline.

"See you on the flipside, NERD!" Aubrey called after him, cackling with that sharp, ridiculous laughter again.

Maybe she had always laughed that way.

Chapter Text

"It's... it's okay," Kel said.

It was bad.

Not quite as bad as he expected, but really not good. Aubrey was way behind.

This homework was due tomorrow. It was crumpled, unfinished, doodled over, a complete mess in more ways than he could count.

They sat in the far corner of Gino's, close to the large window, adorned now with halloween garlands, which looked out onto the car park.

Aubrey sat hunched across from him, tearing through the pizza which he'd bribed her here with.

"Hey slow down," Kel said, peering over her homework.

She glanced at him with an unimpressed look, and kept eating.

"At least save some for me!" he pleaded.

"Why?" she asked, mouth half full. "Last time, you ate the whole damn thing!"

"I didn't think you wanted any."

"Why the hell would we come to Gino's if I didn't want pizza Kel? You idiot."

Kel quickly plucked two slices and placed them on his side-plate for safe keeping.

He turned his attention back to her half-finished math homework again.

Some answers were surprisingly clever. Others were shockingly dumb.

He knew Aubrey wasn't stupid, but she was disengaged.

He looked up from the paper to see her leaning back, staring out the window at the activity in the car park.

"You haven't answered any of the factoring questions."

"Because factoring is stupid," Aubrey replied. "When am I ever gonna need it??"

"To pass," Kel said. "And it's easier than you think."

Aubrey suddenly pushed off her seat and leaned in low to the table.

"Psst. There's something I wanna tell you. It's a secret."

Kel leaned in too. "What?"

She glanced towards the counter, then back at him.

"Gino... isn't even Italian."

"Huh?" Kel exclaimed as he glanced over toward Gino, standing at the register.

"He's like, Romanian or something." Aubrey continued. "That accent? Completely fake."

"For real?"

Kel almost let himself get pulled into her distraction, then he shook his head.

"Dude, let's focus. Factoring." he tapped the paper with his pencil.

Aubrey's face acidified, she flopped back in her seat.

"When'd you get so boring?"

Before Kel could reply, she leaned forward again, eyes wide with mock concern.

"Ooooh guys, are you sure this is safe? Oh oooh guys, I don't know if we should be doing this!"

"I don't sound like that." He replied tersely.

"You know you sound like that. You sure as shit sounded like that at the factory last week."

Kel rolled his eyes. "I'm not boring. I'm normal, which isn't something you'd know about."

"Oh yeah? Then why do you always come with us?"

"Someone's gotta make sure you guys don't get yourselves killed."

She scoffed. "We were doing just fine before you came along."

Kel snorted. “Oh yeah? Tell that to Angel’s fractured wrist.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “That had nothing to do with me.”

"Aubrey!? You dared him to jump out the north window."

"He... he landed wrong."

Kel set down his pencil and stared at her.

Aubrey groaned, slumped further in her seat. "God, you're so stupid, Kel."

"How? How does pointing that out make me stu--"

Suddenly, Kel had an idea.

Kel raised an eyebrow. "I'm stupid huh?"

Aubrey crossed her arms. "Yeah Kel. You're a moron. Dense. An idiot. Stupid."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, then what does that make you?"

"Huh?"

Kel quickly reached into his school folder, pulling out his homework, all questions answered. He laid it flat on the checkered tabletop.

"If I'm the stupid one, how come I can do it, and you can't?"

Aubrey stared at his paper, then at him, then darted rapidly between them, disbelief flickered across her face.

'Gotcha,' he thought.

Kel picked up her paper, held it up to her, delivering the killing blow.

"If I'm stupid, then that must make you... super mega dumb--"

"GIVE ME THE GODDAMN PAPER."

She yanked the paper and pencil from his hands.

Aubrey stared at her worksheet for a long moments. Kel watched her go red, watched her brow furrow, watched as a vein pulsed on her forehead.

Kel sat back, enjoying his victory, extra smug about the sly method through which he'd achieved his goal.

She raised her pencil, lowered it again. She looked utterly helpless.

"How do you get five from seven?" she asked sheepishly, barely audible.

Kel leaned in, relishing every moment of this humiliation. "What was that?"

"Tell me how you get five from seven." more audible.

Kel smiled. "Say pleeeas--"

Aubrey shoved the table into him, knocking the wind from his chest, then she lobbed her pumpkin themed cup straight at his face.

"Hey!" Kel grabbed his own cup and hurled it back at her.

"No no no no!" Gino called from over the counter. "If you two cannot behave, then get out!"

"Sorry Gino! We're just goofing about."

"If you want to mess around? Do it outside ok?"

"Sorry," Kel muttered, suddenly ashamed of himself.

"Sooorryy," Aubrey mocked him again.

"What are you? Ten? Let me show you how to do this already."

"Fine. Nerd." Aubrey dropped her chin into her palm, and watched as Kel angled the paper toward her.

Kel paused, then looked back up at her "You're right you know?"

"Bout what?"

"Gino, being Romanian. That accent's all over the place."

"Oh I made that up. I was bored."

"What?!"

"Idiot." Aubrey snickered.

"You jerk!"

Chapter Text

Halloween had come and gone. The trees shed their golden leaves for stark, bony branches as the cold began to roll in.

When it wasn't summer, Kel didn't see the point of getting up early. The longer in bed? The better.

He had barely woken up when he heard a pebble smack his window.

"Leave me alone... Just for today," he said as he turned over.

Two more pebbles. Clack. Clack.

Kel groaned, sat up and sprung from his bed to look out the window.

He saw Aubrey, stood on the side path looking up at him, her nailbat resting on her shoulder.

She gave a limp wave with her free hand, her expression stoic.

Kel cracked the window. "Hey dude." He rubbed his eyes.

"I'm going to the junkyard to smash stuff." Aubrey said, placing her free hand into her pocket.

"...Ok?" Kel said, leaning on his windowsill.

"Do you want to come or not?"

A one on one hangout was rare, and he'd never actually been to the junkyard, though he could always see it from his window.

"Let me go get some eye protection."

She grinned. "Ok dweeb."

Kel couldn't have anticipated how much he enjoyed smashing stuff.

It was therapeutic, it was thrilling, it was fun.

Aubrey stood atop an abandoned, rusty car, slowly practicing her swing. She pulled back her nailbat , brought it forward, adjusted her grip.

Kel crouched a few feet away from her, adjusted a pair of oversized chemistry goggles strapped tightly over his head. At his feet lay a neat pile of tube lights.

"Alright, batter up," she called, poised to strike.

Kel grabbed a tube light, pulled his arm back, ready to throw.

"What's a basic unit of life called?" he quizzed.

"Kel I'm trying to have fun here." Aubrey glared at him.

"And I'm trying to keep you in school dude."

"Can we NOT do this now?" she pleaded.

"Look, get it right and I'll throw it."

Kel drew his arm back, readied to throw.

"What's a unit of life called?"

"Ugh. Cells."

Kel whipped the lightbulb at her. It flipped through the air at an alarming velocity. She reacted quickly and made contact.

CRASH.

The lightbulb shattered into a million shards.

"Woah Woah! Give me a countdown or something."

"My bad!" Kel reached for another tube light. "Don't think anyone's gonna miss these will they?"

Aubrey eyed the pile. "I mean... we're in a junkyard. If anyone wanted them, they wouldn't be in a junkyard. So, no."

"Alright," Kel grabbed another tube light. "Plants get most of their nutrients from what?"

"Water."

"Nope."

"Oh it's sunlight isn't it."

"...Na."

"It so is!" Aubrey stomped on the car.

"It's soil dude." Kel said.

"You're messing with me. I know it's sunlight."

"You're not the one who stayed up all night memorizing the textbook!"

"I was busy." Aubrey muttered.

"Doing what?"

"...Doesn't matter."

She rolled her shoulders, gripped the nailbat and pulled it back. "Okay fine, it's soil. Now throw the damn lightbulb."

Kel readied. "Three, two, one!"

The tube light flipped through the air again. She swung.

CRASH.

It exploded into a million glimmering shards.

Aubrey looked completely exhilarated, in her element.

Kel smiled. "See? Learning can be fun."

"You're so cheesy."

Kel laughed and reached for another. "Okay, next question. What do you call a baby before it's a baby?"

"A nasty... disgusting little abomination waiting to happen. A foetus."

"Before that."

"Before that? I dunno."

"Zygote."

Aubrey sneered. "Now I KNOW you're messing with me because there's no way that's a real word."

"Chill out, dude. I'm not the one who names this stuff."

Aubrey readied her bat again. "Zygote." she repeated.

He hurtled another tube light at her.

CRASH.

She rested the nailbat on her shoulder. "Kel?"

"That's me." Kel said as he bent down to grab another tube light.

"D'you think you'll have kids when you're older?"

Kel paused and looked up at her. "Where's that coming from?"

Aubrey shrugged. "Guess I've gotten used to hearing teachers say we'll all have kids when we're like thirty."

Kel tossed the tube light between his hands. "I mean... I haven't really thought about it a lot, but... I think so? Yeah, I think I would like to have kids! Could you imagine a little me running around? Hah. How weird would that be?"

Aubrey shivered. "One Kel is enough. Two is too much."

"I'm guessing you don't want kids."

"The idea makes me--" She made a retching sound.

"Strong no then." Kel nodded.

"The whole thing is gross, and weird, and sad and I hate it."

"Why's it sad?"

"Because you have to give up your life and like... your happiness? Not to mention the disgusting crap that happens to your body."

She lowered the nailbat and let it sway at her side.

Then she jumped from the car bumper and set it down. "I'd be a shitty mom anyway."

"You'd be a cool mom, or aunt. Oh I could definitely see you as a cool aunt. Cool aunt Aubrey"

Aubrey chuckled. "It does roll off the tongue. But nah. What I really want is to go travelling."

Kel pulled off his goggles and walked over. "That sounds cool."

She sat herself down on the bumper. "I mean that's freedom right? The open road? Going where you want, when you want?"

Kel placed himself next to her on the bumper. "Yeah, but... how are you paying for gas?"

Aubrey shrugged. "I'll save up? Or I could like... busk or something."

Kel snickered. "You? Busk with what? You're like the least musical person I've ever met."

"Screw you Kel! Let a girl dream."

"I'm just saying, you've gotta have a backup plan."

"Do you?" Aubrey retorted. "What if you can't go pro?"

"Well.." Kel pondered. "I'd study."

"College?"

"Sure."

Aubrey studied him. "You've always wanted to play basketball right?"

"I think so. Feels like I was hardwired for it."

She huffed. "Huh. Must be nice knowing what you want to do."

"It's ok to not know too."

"And to have the money for college."

"You could get a scholarship!"

"I don't wanna go anyway. There's nothing I'd wanna do."

She kicked an empty can, it clunked and clattered as it skittered across the ground.

"What about... textiles? Fashion? You'd be good at that."

"Why'd you say that?" Aubrey asked.

"You've got a good... color coordination thing going on."

Aubrey studied her outfit. "You think?"

"Yeah, It's cool!"

"Thanks man." She said as she turned to him.

Then Kel saw it. Her contacts were askew again. Actually, they were askew all the time. Either no one cared to say, or no one wanted to, but Kel couldn't let it go on.

"What?" Aubrey looked at him, eyebrow cocked.

Oh great. He'd been staring.

"It's just... your eyes are--uh..."

"Ew what?" Aubrey recoiled.

"No it's not--it's your eyes. They're wonky again."

"Shit. Really?" She pulled a small pink mirror from her varsity jacket.

She pouted at her reflection, tilted her head to get a better look at her off centre teal colored lenses.

"You said again."

"Yeah?"

"Kel, are they like this all the time?"

Kel shifted. "Uhh..."

"Don't bullshit me."

"A lot of the time, yeah."

"Most of the time?"

Kel winced. "...Most of the time."

Aubrey deflated with a long sigh, she wore a bitter look of disappointment as she took in her appearance in the small mirror. She lifted a finger to adjust her contacts

"Hey, careful." Kel warned. "We're in a junkyard. You want an eye infection?"

She dropped her finger, then put the mirror away. "Wish you hadn't told me that."

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't? Honesty's the best policy."

Aubrey stared ahead, unmoving.

The atmosphere became dense.

"You think?" She asked.

"Yeah." Kel shrugged

A long, uncomfortable silence ensued between them.

"You don't think that." Aubrey said after a moment.

Kel turned to her. "I don't?"

"When you saved my ass from getting expelled, was that honesty? When you lied to the principal?"

"That's different." Kel said, resolutely.

"How?"

"Well, that was the right thing to do..."

...

Then Aubrey nudged him with the handle of the bat. "Your turn?"

Kel straightened, cracked his knuckles. "Yup."

He grabbed the nailbat and stepped up onto the hood of the car. He carefully tucked the bat under his arms so he wouldn't get spiked and secured the goggles back over his eyes.

"Mind if I keep these on?"

Aubrey walked over to the pile of tube lights. "Sure, nerd."

"Shut up!" Kel moaned. "How am I a nerd? If anything I'm a jock. You only call me that because Kim does!"

"You're still a nerd" she sung.

"Yeah? And you're still a delinquent."

Aubrey grabbed a tube light and flung it with a vengance.

Kel yelped, swinging the bat in an awkward, unrehearsed motion, making contact with the tube light.

CRASH.

Chapter Text

"You guys up for going to the forest this Saturday?" Aubrey asked Kim and Kel during lunch.

"I'm down." Kel replied, biting into his sandwich.

"What's in the forest?" Kim asked.

"There's some dirt trails I've been practicing some bike tricks on, and I wanna show off."

Kim seemed disinterested as she sat cleaning her glasses with her sleeves. "Well, do we get turns?"

"...Sure."

Kel leant back on his chair. "Man, I haven't been on a bike in years,"

"The only place I wanna be is inside," Kim said as she put her glasses back on. "It's too cold to have fun out."

"Come on. If you don't come, you're gonna miss seeing Nerd-meister here crash and fall on his ass." Aubrey gestured to Kel with her thumb.

Kel rolled his eyes.

Kim giggled "That does sound like fun."

"Let's meet at the overpass, let's say... Two thirty?"

"What about the others?"

Aubrey shook her head. "Don't tell them, If everyone wants a turn they're gonna break my ride."

"Two thirty works for me!" Kel said enthusiastically.

"Cool. Me too." Kim nodded.

Aubrey drummed the table. "Tight."

Saturday arrived.

Aubrey did not.

Kel and Kim stood on the overpass, watching the cars fly underneath. The winter cold travelled on the wind, chilling Kel's fingers to the bone, even as they sat firmly in his coat pockets.

Kim checked her watch. “It’s been an hour, looks like she’s a no-show.”

“You're not worried? You don’t think we should check on her?” Kel asked.

“Eh, this happens. Sometimes she just doesn’t show up.” She stepped onto her scooter, rolled it back and forth under her foot. “Let’s go.”

They made their way down from the overpass and onto the path back to town.

The atmosphere between them was always weird, awkward, tense.

For a time, the only sounds were that of the road, and their footsteps.

“You and Aubrey have been hanging out a lot these days.” Kim said.

“I guess," Kel responded.

Kim nodded, walking her scooter beside her.

“I gotta say, I didn’t think she’d let you back in.”

Kel frowned. “What do you mean?”

Kim shrugged. “I mean what I say.”

“Kim, I… really don’t wanna argue with you.”

“Who’s arguing?”

There was a stretch of silence. Then she spoke again.

“She hated you, you know. All of you.”

Kel sighed, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Why'd you never reach out?" Kim asked.

“I know it was shitty of me. I do. But it’s not like she reached out either. After Mari--” He wavered. “After... everything, none of us knew how to deal with it.”

Kim stopped walking and faced him.

Kel turned to her.

Her gaze cut like glass.

“You didn’t even try once.”

"We were kids!"

"Oh so you were a kid up until this summer then? Huh? When you decided to just... show up out of nowhere with Sunny?"

She turned from him and kept walking.

“You guys were her whole world,” Kim said. “You were everything to her. And then, one by one, you all bailed.”

Kel swallowed. “I know--”

"NO. No you DON'T know." Kim snapped. "Because YOU WEREN'T THERE. You didn’t see her after. You didn’t see her dragging herself around in Mari’s old clothes like a ghost. You didn’t see her when her dad left. You didn’t see what it did to her!”

Kel felt an ache in his throat.

“Do you know how many times I had to pull her back from the edge?" Kim's voice wavered as she turned her head from him. "More than I could ever count.”

Then, they continued to walk in silence.

Words failed Kel completely, he simply marched forward, quietly drowning in his own guilt.

“I know you hate the dumb shit we do." Her tone was gentler now. "I see the way you look at her, whenever she smashes something with that bat. Whenever she leaves a firecracker in a trash can. You don’t like it.”

“I just think you guys could be a better influence,” Kel said.

She shook her head. “She's gonna do what she's gonna do."

"You don't have to egg her on like that."

"We're not hurting anyone."

"What about Basil?"

They went quiet.

Kim broke the silence. "He hurt her first."

"What would you know about it?" Kel asked, petulantly.

"More than you think! Until that day at the lake, Aubrey didn't lay a finger on him. You saw how guilty she was after."

"You attacked him!"

"Because he wouldn't leave her alone!"

"You guys bullied him!"

"Kel. You're not gonna want to hear this, but Basil was always going to be bullied. That's just the way life is."

"What!?"

"He was always going to be picked on by some bigger kid. It's better that bigger kid was Aubrey instead of some other asshole who was gonna really hurt him."

Kel's temper flared. "That's bullcrap Kim. If you really cared, you wouldn't have stood by and let her call him names. You just don't wanna admit that you like the chaos."

"Maybe that's true... But I do know that we make Aubrey laugh, and if anyone needs a good laugh? It's her. Even if you don’t like it. She needs to have some sense of control over her life.” She glanced at him. “Me and the guys? We give her that.”

“I still think you should try to be better for her.”

“We are better for her.”

"I'm not so sure."

"Then we'll just have to agree to disagree, won't we."

They kept on walking.

By now, Kel’s house was just up the road. Kim slowed to a stop in front of him.

She turned to face him fully, her expression tired. “Kel, I need to know you’re for real."

"What?" He replied.

"I need to know if you’re actually sticking around this time. Because if you’re just gonna disappear again, do it now. Because she’s at her limit. She can’t take any more.”

Kel looked her directly in the eye.

“Kim, I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “From now on, I’m always going to be there for her.”

A pause.

“I made a promise, I'm not about to go back on it. I'm not leaving her again.”

Kim sighed. "Since you guys have been getting along well, I'm gonna assume you haven't messed up yet, but there are some rules I want you to know about."

Kel nodded.

"Never bring up home. Never bring up her mom. Never bring up her dad. Unless she talks to you about it first, don’t go there.”

She continued. “If she gets quiet, if she stops talking? don’t push her.”

“She’s never been like that around me,” Kel said.

“You will see it if you’re sticking around. Just let her work through it.”

She paused.

“If she lets you in, don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Kel took in every word.

“And don’t try to fix her.” Kim’s voice softened. “See her for who she is, not who she was when you knew her.”

She leaned onto her scooter.

“And if you don’t know what she’s thinking? Just come see me. I know her better than anyone.”

Kel managed a small smile. “Thanks Kim.”

Kim stopped at a diverging street. “This is me.”

“Okay. I’ll see you.”

He turned to leave, she stopped abruptly.

“Kel.”

He turned.

“What happened six months back? On that last day Sunny was here?”

Kel felt his heart hammer in his chest.

“Aubrey won’t tell me.” Kim’s voice was careful now. “And she tells me everything. All I know... is that it was something bad. Really. Bad.”

She studied his face.

“Kel?”

...

“What happened?”

Kel’s head felt fuzzy.

“…Nothing,” he said.

“Nothing happened.”

Chapter Text

"Have you guys heard of the midnight zone?" Cris asked, a red cup clasped between her hands.

Kel struggled to hear her over the chaos. "The what zone?"

"Yes, I'd like to be privy to that information." Mikhael said, skulking in the corner between the two of them.

Mikhael must have been hiding from Angel, and likely aware that the absurd number of people at this supposed 'small Christmas gathering' was his fault. If you could ever count on someone to not keep a secret, it was Mikhael.

Cris's eyes darted between them. "The midnight zone, or the bathypelagic zone. It's a part of the ocean that no light ever reaches. Total black. Just darkness. Forever."

She paused for dramatic effect, then continued. "We know more about space than we do the midnight zone."

"No way," Kel remarked.

"Way!" Cris exclaimed. "And there's loads of weird deep sea creatures that live in it."

"Like what?"

"Black dragonfish, which have glowing red eyes. Giant squids that grow to the size of shipping containers."

Mikhael gasped and stuck his fingers in his ears. "No! I cannot bear the thought of such horrors!"

He shuffled out from behind Kel and passed into the crowd of partygoers.

"Dude!! Get back here! I'm gonna kill you!" Angel yelled at Mikhael.

"--And zombie worms," Cris finished.

Kel laughed. "Do I want to know what those are?"

"They feed off dead whales which sink to the bottom of the ocean."

"Man, that's gnarly."

"Not as gnarly as the hydrostatic pressure. Down there, it's like having a whole skyscraper pressing down on your body."

In the corner of his eye, Kel saw Aubrey approach from the crowd, her arms at her side, her movements clumsy and rigid.

He turned and smiled at her. "Hey Aubrey."

"K-dog," Aubrey replied.

Kel turned back to Cris.

K-dog?

Kel turned back to Aubrey.

She swayed slightly, her eyes had a low, pink tint behind the teal lenses.

"You good?" he asked.

"I can't feel my legs."

"You can't feel your legs? Like... at all?"

She shook her head.

Kel looked towards Cris, who shrugged at him.

He looked back to Aubrey. "You wanna bail?"

She nodded.

Kel and Aubrey left Angel's house around half past ten. Aubrey wasn't a party person, and Kel could sense that it wasn't ramping down anytime soon.

Someone would put in a noise complaint, or call the police, and he didn't want to be anywhere near there when that happened. He'd only had a sip of rum and coke, but would that matter if his parents found out?

"What did you take?" Kel asked, closing the front door behind him and stepping into the snow.

Aubrey slipped on a pair of black fingerless gloves. "I don't know. But those brownies Vance made did taste... off."

"Dude. You're totally high."

"Don't have a cow over it."

"I'm not," Kel said as he started walking down the path, Aubrey falling in beside him.

They stumbled down the street. Kel's hands firmly planted in his jacket pockets, Aubrey's steps uneven and jagged.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I--let me--"

She looped her arm around his, leaning into him as she steadied herself.

Kel felt his heart leap, but he didn't pull away.

The noise of the impromptu house party died away behind them.

The only sounds were their feet on the sidewalk, and the gentle pattering of snow against their jackets.

"Christmas tiiime is heeere." Aubrey attempted to sing.

She sounded like a mortally wounded alpaca.

Kel winced. "What was that?"

"Happineeess and cheeeer," She continued.

"Is that supposed to be Charlie Brown?"

Aubrey laughed. "It's not supposed to be. It is."

Kel searched the furthest recesses of his mind, digging for the words, buried deep in Christmases long past.

He tried a falsetto. "T-time for aaaaall that people..." he trailed off.

"--that people caaall," Aubrey picked it up again.

Then, together:

"Their favourite tiiime of yeeeeaaaar!"

Headlights swept down the road to their left.

"Snowflakes iiiin the aaaaiir," Aubrey continued alone.

Kel made out the shape of a squad car behind the blare of the headlights.

"Carols eeev--"

"Psst. Aubrey. Wise up!" He shook her arm.

Her breath hitched. She took an exaggerated step to the side.

The squad car rolled to a stop beside them. The window slid down.

An officer stuck his head out. "You kids alright?"

Kel's hands shook lightly, he quickly burrowed them back into his pockets.

"Evening!" His tone was too cheerful. "We're fine thanks."

The officer glanced at Kel, and then behind him at Aubrey. Kel watched the officer's face shift from boredom to suspicion.

"Any funny-business going on here?"

"No. No funny business." Kel shot a wide grin. "We're just heading home. Long night."

"Long night?" The officer asked, his brow furrowing.

"A--a long night of studying!"

Another voice from the squad car grumbled.

"Leave it Gale. We've got a noise complaint to deal with."

The officer began rolling up the window.

"Alright. Make sure you get home safe. No antics."

The squad car pulled away, headed towards Angel's house.

Kel let out a lengthy sigh of relief as he watched the car speed down the road.

Aubrey linked her arm around his again as they continued walking.

She huffed. "Assholes."

Kel kept his eyes forward "They could have been worse."

"They only stopped because I'm here. Because they saw me"

He couldn't resist a joke. "Almost like your reputation precedes you."

He felt Aubrey's hold tense.

Then she shoved off him, walking a few paces ahead.

Kel sighed.

"I don't get what you're mad at me for. If you're upset with how people treat you, then maybe don't walk around town with a bat with nails hammered into it."

She kept walking clumsily.

"Aubrey... you're a really cool person, but I don't get why you're so quick to push everyo--"

Then, without warning, she bolted forward, breaking into a messy, heavy footed sprint.

"Where are you going!?" Kel called after her.

He heard her call back.

"Race you down the street!!"

Kel shook his head. "You're not gonna win!"

He bolted off after her. His stride was smooth and practiced as he easily gained on her.

"On your left!" He waved as he passed her.

"It's not--fair!" she wheezed, pushing herself harder. "You've got--long, spidery--skinny legs!"

"Don't hate the player, hate the game!"

Aubrey growled. She surged forward suddenly, her pink hair flying behind her.

Her foot snagged on a crack in the pavement.

"Gah SHIT!!"

She pitched forward, and then tumbled off the sidewalk onto the snow, rolled twice, then lay still, facedown.

Kel lost it.

"No way! You totally ate dirt!" he doubled over, howling with laughter.

Aubrey groaned, pushed herself onto her side and shook the snow from her hair.

"I. Hate. You."

She twisted into a sitting position.

Then, she froze.

Kel approached and offered her a hand up. "C'mon, you can't sit in a flower bed all night."

Aubrey didn't move.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the house that stood a few feet away.

Kel looked up.

It was harder to recognise now. The dark windows. The empty flower beds. The for-sale sign. The absence of any life, any happiness.

But he did recognise it.

This is, or was, Basil's house.

Kel looked back at Aubrey. Her eyes stayed fixed on the house, her gaze was hollow, unreadable.

Haunted.

He wanted to say something, something kind, something comforting. Anything.

Then, he remembered Kim's words. "If she gets quiet, if she stops talking, don't push her."

After a moment, she rose on her own, and slowly approached the house.

She walked to the front window.

She gently placed her head on the glass.

Kel watched as her shoulders rose and fell for what felt like minutes, before she slowly turned from the house, walked over and fell into step besides him.

They walked in silence until they reached the end of the street. Aubrey's house loomed ahead on the other side of the road.

She should've already crossed the street toward her house. He should have turned right up the road towards his. Yet they remained motionless.

"Well... I go that way."

"Uh-huh." her voice was flat.

"Still on for Mortal Kombat tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Kel's gut twisted as he watched Aubrey stare down her own home.

"I'll see you then, man." He turned to leave.

"Wait."

He looked back.

Aubrey stood on the curb, one hand deep in her jacket pocket, the other clenched, then unclenched.

"We could play now?"

"Now?"

Her eyes were wide, anxious, pleading.

She walked forward, then spoke quietly.

"Kel... can I crash at yours tonight?"

"Uh..."

"We can swing by Gino's. Get a pizza."

Kel softly smiled. "That does sound pretty awesome. Oh-- and we still have some of that cheesecake in the fridge, too."

Aubrey's face lit up. "So you're down?"

"I'm way down. Let's hit Gino's before they close."

She ran up to Kel. She threw her arms around him and squeezed tight.

Her hold was firm, it felt frail too.

Kel felt his heart beat a little faster.

Then, as quickly as she embraced him, she pulled away, sprinting down the street again.

"Race you to Gino's!"

Kel chased after her, Aubrey's house passing out of sight as they tore down the sidewalk in the dark.

"Get ready to lose again!"

He knew nothing was normal about their lives in the aftermath of the Summer, in the aftermath of Sunny. But it was nice to pretend, nice to imagine.

Why face uncomfortable truths when you can simply be a teenager?

Even if you know it won't last.

Even if it's a lie.

It's nice to hold onto it.

Just for a little while longer.

Chapter Text

Kel stood in his dimly lit bedroom. He paced lightly as he walked back and forth from his desk, then to his bed.

Back.

And forth.

It was almost midnight.

In his right hand, he held a mobile phone, a Christmas gift from his dad.

In his left hand, a familiar slip of paper, on it, a phone number.

Sunny's number.

He remembered the light, cordial smile Sunny's mom had given him as she passed that paper into his hands.

"Here's our number if you ever want to check in."

And as she walked to the car, Kel had stared at the back of Sunny's head, downcast, and still as stone as he sat patiently waiting in the passenger seat.

He wondered...

What was Sunny doing now? In this moment.

Was he ok?

...

Kel started hesitantly dialling the numbers into his flip-phone.

...

How could they do that?

Kel suddenly felt sick.

How could they do that to Mari?

He felt the beginnings of panic.

The tree. The jump-rope.

They KILLED her.

Kel hurriedly deleted the number, flipped the phone shut and shoved into his pocket.

With his hands still shaking, he folded the paper, marched over to his bedside cabinet, opened it, threw the paper in and closed it.

Only then did he become aware of a voice calling him from the doorway.

"Kel? Earth to Kel!"

He turned to see Hero.

Kel put on a big smile. "Oh, hey bro."

Hero leaned on the doorframe and crossed his arms. "What are you doing up here on your own?"

Kel scratched his head. "Oh you know, tryna... work the uhh... phone."

"You can do that later. It's almost midnight, you're gonna miss it!"

Kel looked at the clock on the wall. Thirty seconds to midnight.

"Shoot! Let's get down there," Kel said as he ran out the bedroom and past his brother, who patted his shoulder as he went. They descended the stairs quickly and sped into the living room.

Kel's parents were on their feet, eagerly staring at the television, their faces illuminated by the blue glow of the screen.

Aubrey sprang from the couch when she saw them.

Kel's dad chuckled. "Look who decided to grace us with his presence."

"Did you get lost or something?" Aubrey teased.

Dad cackled.

"Shh!!" Kel's mom hushed the room. "The countdown is starting!"

On the television, a chorus of a thousand or more voices began to yell out.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"

They all stood close together around the television.

"Seven! Six! Five!"

Kel's hand brushed Aubrey's.

"Four! Three!"

He pulled his hand away.

"Two!"

"One!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!"

Aubrey blew a party horn in his left ear.

"Ow!"

Kel's mom blew a party horn in his right.

"Hey--MOM!?"

Hero and Dad laughed.

Then mom ran off to the kitchen. "Mocktails for the kids!"

"I'm gonna get another whiskey." Dad said as he followed her in.

Kel, Aubrey and Hero stood together, just the three of them, staring at Times Square, covered in smoke and confetti.

They listened to the crowd sing.

"Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

In the days of auld lang syne?"

END OF ACT I

Chapter Text

ACT II

A Year and Three Months Later.

As Kel grew older, he found the speed with which the new year became the last remarkable.

And terrifying.

There had been a blissful normality about that past year. It had flown by fast, but it had been filled with endless activity. Trips to the beach, Mortal Kombat sessions, vegging out in front of the TV, all nighters and parties.

All of it spent with Aubrey.

Now, it was mid-March. Finals loomed in the near future like a tall shadow from which there was no escape.

And beyond that? The big, hypothetical future. College. Adulthood.

Life beyond home, it's familiar smiles and fences.

There was no comfort to be found in the future, and none to be found in the past, so a silent pact had been made between Kel and Aubrey.

A wordless promise, to simply live for here and now.

The electric door chime sounded as Kel entered Fix-It. He scanned the space, and saw Jason, one of his teammates, working the till.

"Hey dude!" Kel approached, a warm smile on his face.

"There he is," Jason replied, counting the cash in the register.

"Didn't know you worked weekends here."

"We can't all live off daddy's cash like you can, Kel."

"Hey that's not fair. I do the paper rounds."

Jason pushed the register shut with a ding, then looked Kel straight in the eyes.

"How are you balancing practice with finals?"

'I'm not,' Kel thought.

"I'm just pacing myself!" Kel said. "Trying to focus on one subject a day helps."

Jason leaned on the counter. "If my calculus grades drop any further, my dad's gonna frickin... lose it."

"You'd be tanking calculus even if you weren't tanking it on the court too."

Jason scoffed. "Bite me. You bricked three throws last week! Don't talk to me about tanking. In fact, don't bother talking to me at all. I know why you're here anyway."

He gestured toward the far side of the store.

"Your girlfriend's in the back."

Kel let out a weary sigh. "She's not my girlfriend. Man, I don't know how many times I've gotta say it."

"Can't blame people for connecting the dots Kel. You guys are symbiotic." Jason snickered. "You seriously telling me you haven't thought about making a move? Not even first base??"

"No dude, I'm telling you--we're just friends." Kel started walking. "I'll see you on the court."

Jason laughed after him. "Man I don't know what's worse, being stuck on the bench, or being stuck in the friend-zone."

"Knucklehead," Kel murmured to himself.

He walked past the various aisles, the light darkening as he approached the back of the shop. Turning onto an aisle near the flower section, he spotted Aubrey, balanced on a small step, stocking shelves diligently.

She wore a pair of worn jeans, and her yellow hoodie, both had seen better days.

She looked tired. Recently, she always looked tired.

Kel approached and looked up at her.

"Butthead," he greeted.

Aubrey didn't look at him, but a small smirk emerged. "I'm Beavis. You're Butthead."

"Ok, Butthead." Kel grinned.

She scoffed.

A beat of silence passed.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Just swinging by. Saying hi. When are you getting off?"

"In ten."

"You wanna come over?"

Aubrey stood on the tips of her toes, assorting some heavy duty screw-drivers.

"I feel like your parents are getting sick of me," she said.

"No way. They like you!"

"Hmph. Well... maybe your mom does."

Then she sighed.

"Kel, I don't know if I wanna do anything today."

Kel felt a twinge of sadness. "I haven't seen you in a whole week. It's... I don't know... been kinda lonely."

"You've got other friends Kel. What about your sports-friends?"

"I see them all the time."

"So? We see each other all the time too," Aubrey said.

"We don't have to do anything major. We can just hang out. We could watch some TV?"

"I don't wanna be indoors."

"We could go to the park? Weather's nice."

Aubrey turned and looked out the window beyond the flower section. She sighed, then turned towards him. No teal lenses today. Her natural deep brown eyes caught his, she smiled lightly.

Then she rustled in her pockets and pulled out five bucks.

"Why don't you get some snacks and I'll meet you there in twenty?"

Kel took the money and turned to leave.

"Anything you want specifically?"

She called after him.

"Two cookies and a coke!"

The afternoon sun shone brightly, rays of light breaking through the trees that surrounded the picnic table where they sat.

Kel looked around, save for the odd rag-tag group of kids and the stray dog-walker, the park was largely empty today.

While he scanned, his eyes gravitated towards a clearing. It was inconspicuous enough, nothing about it suggested history.

But it was where Kel and Aubrey had spoken again, after four long years.

Even now, almost two years later, that memory hadn't faded.

"Kel... what do you want?"

"Stop messing with Basil! How could you!? We all used to be friends, don't you remember?"

He turned back to Aubrey, now sat opposite him.

She reached for one of her cookies and bit a chunk off. She sat back, slowly chewing, turning her head towards the afternoon sky.

She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, exhaled loudly through her nose.

Her face looked sickly white in the light of the sun, save for the red blotches of an acne breakout across her cheeks.

She looked thinner too.

"How've you been dude?" Kel asked. "What's the four-one-one?"

"Studying. Working. Other than that? Nothing going on right now," Aubrey said, her face still upcast, her eyes still closed.

"Nothing?" Kel asked.

She shrugged. "Nope."

Aubrey took another bite from her cookie. "What about you? Anything new?" she asked, her mouth half full.

Kel scratched his head. "Still practicing for the big game. Not pushing myself hard enough though. My footwork's been kinda sloppy, and my mid-range game could use work."

Aubrey interrupted. "Your what game? Kel, I don't know what any of that means."

"It just means I'm doing fine, could be doing better though," he said plainly.

She stretched her arms out and yawned. "Anything else?"

"I got the new space-boy issue."

Aubrey usually asked to borrow any new issue he bought, today she didn't.

Kel swallowed. "Oh, and Hero's back for easter!"

"Cool," Aubrey said, in a neutral tone.

"Mom said that you're invited to join us for dinner."

"I'll see if I'm free."

Kel felt irritation bubbling in his stomach, alongside a festering anxiety. A feeling that was too familiar now.

"Well... what else would you be doing?"

Aubrey's expression darkened.

"Don't know."

Kel felt heat creeping into his cheeks, that dread he was already feeling tying knots around his organs. It used to be easy to deal with Aubrey when she was in these kinds of moods. But it had started getting to him in the past six months.

If Aubrey teased him too hard, he'd feel hurt, though he'd never say it. When she didn't show up to hangouts, he'd worry endlessly. He felt too involved, too attached.

Then he felt a question rising from his stomach, working its way up his throat and into his mouth.

He fought to suppress it, fought to swallow it down in to the dark, but each attempt was futile.

It came out.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Aubrey opened her eyes and looked at him.

"What?"

"Did I do something that upset you? Or did I annoy you?"

She smiled a bit, it didn't reach her eyes. "You always annoy me--"

"Dude I'm being serious."

Aubrey's smile dropped.

"I know we don't really do serious talks, but I've gotta get this off my chest."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "For the past few months you've been... kinda cold."

Aubrey sat upright. "Hold on Kel--"

"--And I'm worried about you man! You look pale, and you look sad all the time."

"I'm fine!"

"Really!? You don't look fine. You don't sound fine."

Aubrey scowled at him.

"Kel, It's none of your busi--"

She swallowed her words.

Slowly, her expression morphed into something more wistful, her eyes clouded over as she stared into space.

She sighed.

"It's not your fault. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

She looked at him again.

"You didn't do anything. Trust me, if you had upset me, I'd tell you."

'So something is wrong,' he thought.

Kel spoke quietly. "You know you can always talk to me right?"

Aubrey nodded. She opened her mouth, then closed it. "I don't know if I wanna talk about it now," she said.

"That's ok. Whenever you wanna talk, I'm here. Always."

Her deep brown eyes locked with his for a moment, before she grabbed her coke and took a long swig.

She put it down and looked past him, Kel turned to see where she was looking.

The old playground. The sand was damp from the rain. Four kids were climbing on top of the old cat-shelter, jeering, mocking, playing.

"Can't believe I turn eighteen in two months," Aubrey said.

"Any plans?"

"I don't know... Gino's with the guys like usual."

Aubrey buried her face in her hands, then dropped them to the table. "My dad... used to say that when he got older, the years started passing like streetlights on the highway. Flickering past. Faster and Faster."

"That's depressing," Kel replied.

"I guess..." Aubrey said, staring at the playground again.

"Why do you think time speeds up like that?"

She picked at her jacket sleeve. "I think life just gets repetitive after a while. You work, you sleep, you eat. Then... you do whatever keeps you happy with the little time you have for yourself."

Kel felt himself tremble slightly.

A beat.

"Damn. Subject change?" Kel asked.

"Please." Aubrey put her hands together, as if praying.

"Did you see Kim last week?"

"I did. Oh! She taught me this game, want me to show you?"

"Sure thing," Kel said eagerly.

"Think of a name that begins with N, and don't tell me what it is."

Kel thought for a moment.

Ned.

"Ok, I've got one."

"Cool cool. Now think of a flower that isn't yellow."

Roses.

"Got that too."

"Alrighty. Now think of a country in Europe."

France.

"Ok."

Aubrey leaned in closer. "Ready to have your mind blown?"

Ned. Roses. France.

Kel nodded. "I'm ready."

Then Aubrey flipped him off, a gleefully evil expression on her face.

"Get bent."

She burst into a hideous cackle. That same, dolphin/chimp-esque monstrosity that he'd become accustomed to. 

Kel felt completely bewildered. "What? What is it? I don't get it."

Her cackle turned into unrelenting laughter.

"That's just mean!" Kel protested.

"That's--that's the joke!"

Aubrey continued to laugh, she started tearing up.

Despite himself, Kel felt himself start to chuckle, that chuckle became laughter.

Then before they knew it, they were locked in a cycle. Aubrey set off Kel, Kel set off Aubrey. Both of them red, breathless and happier for it.

After a moment they calmed down, gaps between their bouts extending until the laughter tapered away.

"...Anyway," Aubrey added after a moment. "Can I borrow your Space-Boy issue when you're done with it?"

Kel smiled.

"Of course."

Chapter Text

Kel's eyes opened to impenetrable darkness.

The sounds of heavy rain battered his window, the wind whistled through its corners.

'Why am I awake?' 

He became aware of a shrill beeping from his mobile. Leaning over the side of his bed, he saw it slowly move across the floor as it vibrated.

It must have fallen off his bedside cabinet as it rang.

Kel lunged over and grabbed it, it went dead in his hand.

He flipped it open, rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Aubrey

7 Missed Calls.

He stared at the little screen in disbelief. 

'Seven calls?'

The phone started ringing again. Kel jolted, almost dropping it. Aubrey again.

He answered the call, pressing the phone up against his ear.

He heard a sob, a sniffle. Then silence.

Kel sat up.

"Aubrey??"

He heard a shuffling, a shaky in-breath.

"Didn't think you'd pick up."

Aubrey sounded cheery.

Kel switched on his bedside lamp, looked over at the clock on the wall.

"It's two in the morning. Are you okay?"

She quickly responded. "I'm fine, I'm all good. It's just... I can't sleep."

Kel scratched his head. "... Do you wanna talk for a bit or someth--"

"--Wait stop."

"What?"

"Shh."

The line went quiet.

Kel heard her breathe shakily, rapidly. Then he heard her whisper to herself, heard her whimper.

He couldn't make out exactly what she said, but she kept repeating it, over and over again. Then he made out the shape of her words.

"Please don't. Please don't. Please don't"

Kel held his breath. His heart lodged in his throat.

The line went silent again.

He whispered. "Hello?"

Nothing.

"Are you safe? Do you want me to come there?"

"No. Can I come to yours?"

"Of course."

"Be there in five minutes."

"Don't knock--"

She hung up.

She arrived fifteen minutes later.

Kel opened the door.

"Hey nerd," Aubrey said, the dark obscuring her face.

She pushed past him into his own house. He stared at the trail of wet footprints she left as she glided into the kitchen.

Kel shut the door and followed after her. Turning the corner into the kitchen, he saw her standing in front of the freezer, browsing its contents, silhouetted against it's white light in the dark.

Kel switched on the kitchen light. Aubrey was drenched, dripping onto the floor as she stood probing.

"You still got that mint-choc-chip?" Aubrey asked.

"It's... on the bottom shelf," he said, gesturing to it.

She snatched the tub from the bottom shelf, then sped over to the utensil drawer and grabbed two large spoons.

"Aubrey? What's happeni--"

"Hey let's watch a movie. You wanna watch a movie?" she asked, marching past him into the living room, she tossed him a spoon as she went.

"But you said you don't like movies," Kel muttered to himself, placing the spoon down on the dinner table.

He walked back into the living room to find the tub of ice cream on the arm of the couch. Aubrey was crouched over by the TV, looking through the tapes in the cabinet beneath it.

"Don't you have any horror?"

"No."

"Lame."

Then she pulled out a tape and held it up.

"What about this one?" she asked.

He couldn't see it, but he could see how Aubrey's hand was trembling.

She took the tape out and shoved it into the VCR. Then she flung herself onto the couch, grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

Kel gently placed himself besides her on the couch. He got a good look at her face. It looked sunken, red around the eyes from tears. He watched her scoop ice cream from the tub in her lap, watched as the spoon shook in her hand.

"Come on, help me out here," she said, gesturing towards the tub. "Where's your spoon?"

Kel didn't reply. He sat and watched her, a lump growing in his throat.

She continued shovelling ice cream into her mouth.

Kel leaned in close and spoke softly.

"Aubrey? Are you alright?"

She sneered.

"Quit it."

"Quit what?"

She shot him a resentful look.

"Being weird."

Kel backed up to his end of the couch. He saw how her soaked pink hair was dripping onto the fabric.

"I'm gonna go and get you a towel."

"No thanks. I don't want it," Aubrey said, tersely.

"Doesn't matter. You're getting the couch wet--"

"No! I don't want you to!" She hissed as she turned to face him

"Aubrey!? Why are you being so weird? You're scaring me!"

"Leave it, Kel."

"I don't know what you want from me."

"Nothing! Nothing!" She turned to him, her face contorted with fury. "I don't want anything from you!!"

"Aubrey please!"

He looked to the door that led to the stairs, anxious his parents would storm through it any minute.

Aubrey's chest rose and fell, her breathing was loud and laboured.

"I just want to sit here, eat this ice cream and watch a movie, okay? That's all I want. If you wanna join me? Great. If not? Go back to bed."

Kel swallowed. "I'll stay."

Aubrey picked up the spoon, digging into the ice cream again.

Then gradually, her mechanical motion faltered, slowed, and then stopped.

She dropped the spoon back into the tub.

Kel's heart sank as he watched tears fall from her eyes, her shoulders shook as she sobbed, slowly at first, and then rapidly.

He grabbed the ice cream tub and set it aside on the floor.

Aubrey leaned forward, her stringy hair hung over her face, her arms wrapped around her waist as she cried.

Kel felt helpless, powerless, confused as he sat there. He didn't have the words, didn't have the wisdom.

His hand hovered over her back, then he pressed it down, moved it in slow, soothing motions.

"Kel, p-please don't."

She quickly stood up and walked to the centre of the room, facing away from him.

"Aubrey, come on." Kel's voice wavered. "Let me help you. All I want is to help you."

She sniffled, wiped her face with her sleeve.

Then Aubrey spoke, barely above a whisper.

"I... I thought that taking the attic would make it stop. But she still tries to get in at night. She still screams, begs me to open the door. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't afford to feed both of us."

She took a deep breath and turned, her arms still wrapped around herself in a tight embrace.

"I don't want to be scared of her. She's my mom. But I don't know if she's really in there anymore. I don't... know if I can bring her back. What if it's too late? What if I didn't do enough!?"

Kel shot up from the couch and pulled her into his hold.

Her tears dampened his shirt, her nails dug into his back.

"It's all my fault!" she wailed into his chest.

"It's okay. You're okay," he said.

His eyes glazed over with tears.

"Everything's going to be okay."

Chapter Text

Hero cleared his throat. "Aubrey, could you pass the potatoes please?"

Aubrey nodded and passed the dish over the ravaged chicken carcass in the middle of the table.

It was Easter Sunday, and everyone was here.

Hector perched his furry head on Kel's lap, his old, foggy dog eyes staring up at his in the hopes of any morsel coming his way.

Aubrey sat across from Kel. No teal lenses, as agreed. She wore a dark blue sweater over a wrinkled white shirt. Both too big for her.

She had loaded her plate modestly, and she ate at an even pace. But when she did eat, she did it viscously. Quick bites. Large mouthfuls.

Hero was home for the weekend. It was the first time he'd seen him since New Year's. Soon, he'd be working in a real hospital, and after that, Kel figured that he'd see even less of him.

Despite the workload, Hero looked well, happy even. Kel hoped that he was taking care of himself.

From her wooden high chair, Sally pointed at Aubrey, her chubby little fingers sticky with food.

"Pink!" she yelled.

Aubrey blushed.

The table laughed.

"She's talking so much now!" Mom said.

"She'll be talking more than Kelsey before you know it," Dad added, chuckling to himself.

"Daaad!?" Kel rolled his eyes.

The table fell into a communal silence. The potatoes tasted particularly amazing, Hero having prepared them himself, rich with garlic and thyme.

Mom turned to Aubrey. "Aubrey dear?"

Aubrey looked up from her plate and fixed her posture.

"Your hair color is so... striking, so vibrant. Do you do it yourself?"

Aubrey swallowed her food. "Um, y-yeah. Most of the time. Sometimes my friend Kimberly helps."

"And do you have to re-dye it very often?"

"Every couple of weeks, give or take. It can fade pretty fast. The upkeep is kinda annoying honestly."

Mom hummed in thought, nodding as she sliced into her chicken, then she looked up, as if in deep thought, or lost in an old memory.

"I've always wanted to dye my hair." She said.

"Really Mom?" Hero asked.

"I mean it! I thought about it a lot when I was younger. Never got around to it. But... I suppose it's never too late."

Mom leaned in slightly, a mischievous look on her as her eyes darted Kel, Hero and Aubrey.

"What color do you think would suit me?" she asked.

"Uhh..." Kel was stumped. "What about... bright red?"

Hero thought for a moment. "Multicolored. Get a rainbow mohawk."

"P-pink!" Sally squeaked.

Then Aubrey chimed in. "I think... burgundy would look really nice on you."

Mom beamed at her. "Mmh! I love that. I'm gonna go write that down."

She pushed back her chair and disappeared into the other room.

"So. Henry," Dad said, barely looking up from his plate. "Tell me, how are your studies?"

"Got us working like dogs up there, Dad." Hero speared a potato with his fork. "It's going well though! Feels exciting to be in a  real hospital soon, and... kinda spooky."

Kel listened to their discussion.

Tap.

Then he felt a light jab on his foot.

He looked across the table. Aubrey was chewing contently, looking down at her plate.

"You okay?" Kel asked.

She looked up to him with an innocent, almost puzzled expression. "I didn't say anything."

Maybe he had imagined it? It had been light, after all.

He returned to his food.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His head shot up. Aubrey took a sip of water and cleared her throat, a tiny smile playing on her lips.

He jabbed her foot twice. She glared at him.

"What?" he asked, a large smirk on his face.

She didn't answer.

He felt a quick jab to his ankle.

Kel retaliated.

This was war!

Their feet danced beneath the table in a silent battle, an intricate joust of kicks and dodges.

Aubrey's tongue poked out slightly in concentration.

Kel gripped the edge of the table, kicked up, kicked down.

"Guys. Guys?" Hero waved at Kel and Aubrey.

"Huh?" Kel blinked.

"You guys ready for finals?"

Kel released his grip on the table. "For finals?"

"Yeah, Kel. Remember you two have finals coming up? Hope you didn't forget." Hero smiled.

Kel looked at Aubrey, a wry little smile on her face, then back at his brother.

"I don't know if we'll ever really feel ready for them," he said, stretching his legs out under the table, "but we're keeping at it! Still studying and stuff."

Hero turned to Aubrey. "You feeling the same, Aubrey?" He asked.

Aubrey tilted her head. "Sure. It's scary but... it's happening. So I guess we just have to do our best and keep studying."

"Actually, we're studying after dinner... aren't we?" Kel added.

"We are," Aubrey concurred, before landing one more kick under the table.

Ow.

Mom returned and stood by the table, she wiped her brow.

"Aubrey sweetheart, we have far too much food. Do you want to take some home? I'd be happy to box it up for you."

Aubrey set down her knife and fork. "Oh no, Mrs Desoto, it's alright. You keep it."

Mom waved a hand. "Oh don't be silly pumpkin! We really have too much."

Aubrey's smile tightened. "Really... I'm good thanks."

'Why won't she take the food? Just take the food,'   Kel thought to himself.

Mom tried again. "There's no trouble, sweetie, I promise."

Kel saw the slight tension in Aubrey's shoulder, the way her brows started twitching. Small indicators of stress that he knew all too well by now.

"She's okay Mom," he said in a gentle, diplomatic tone.

Mom lingered for a second, then smiled warmly. "Alright hon, But if you change your mind, just say the word."

"I will," Aubrey said, smiling up at her.

Then, out of nowhere, Hector jumped up on his hind legs and started sniffing the food on the table, almost getting a bite in before Mom swiftly darted around the table and grabbed his collar.

"Hector NO. You are too old to be misbehaving like this! Come on, come with me."

Mom strutted out of the kitchen and into the living room yelling "Treat!"

Hector darted from the kitchen at an unnatural velocity, barking as he went.

Dad swallowed loudly, then turned to Kel, pointing his fork like he always did when he was halfway between chewing and making a point.

"You know, Kelsey, college isn't the only way."

Kel's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, Dad?"

"You don't have to college or a university to get somewhere in life. Trade schools set you up faster with good, steady jobs like plumbing, construction, mechanics et cetera."

Dad directed himself at Aubrey towards the end of the sentence.

"You know what I want to do is play basketball, Dad," Kel said.

Dad exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "Son. You're almost eighteen. You're great at Basketball, but you need to have something solid to fall back on unless you--"

The living room telephone rang loudly.

"Hold on, I'll get that."

Dad pushed his chair back with a scrape, humming to himself as he exited the room.

Now, it was just the three of them. And Sally.

Kel became aware of the sound of the fridge, its constant, familiar buzzing. The sounds of Hector barking in the living room.

The absence of sound itself became a noise, loud in its totality.

"So," Hero began, looking between the two of them. "How's things been in Faraway? How've you guys been?"

Aubrey beat Kel to it. "We're cool. Busy and stuff," she said. "I'm working on top of finals, which is gross. Kel's got his big game  coming up."

"He does!" Hero beamed at Kel. "You're gonna smash that. I know you've been practicing hard."

Hero looked down, his face ridden with solemnity. "I'm sorry I can't be there."

"Don't feel bad man," Kel said. "I know you're busy. It won't be anything different from the usual games. We win. They lose!"

"Damn right," Hero said.

Aubrey scoffed. "Sooo humble."

"How about your other friends, Aubrey?" Hero asked.

"They're good. Vance's getting his life together. Mikhael is preparing for his mission once he graduates."

Hero almost choked on his food. "A mission!? I'm guessing he doesn't call himself 'The Maverick' anymore then?"

"Absolutely not. The only people he wants to impress are his siblings and God," Aubrey replied. "Otherwise, everything's the same as it's always been. Kim's still Kim, Angel's still Angel, Charlene's... you know."

"Man, I miss those guys," Kel said.

"You miss them?" Aubrey's tilted her head to him.

"Yeah, I like them..."

"No, you don't," Aubrey said flatly.

"I do!"

"No," she smirked, "you endure them Like you endure me."

"I don't endure you! Well... maybe sometimes I do."

Aubrey grinned. "I endure you too, Kel."

"I endure you very much."

Aubrey scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out at him.

Sally let out a high pitched giggle.

"Heh, Sally can't get enough of you," Hero said.

Aubrey turned toward Sally, who stared at her, mesmerised and expectant.

She pulled the same face again.

Sally squealed, clapping her hands. "Pink!"

"Aubrey, Sally. Her name is Aubrey," Kel instructed.

Sally turned to him, mouth hanging open, and then she turned right back to Aubrey, clapping her hands.

"Pink! Again!" Sally chirped.

Aubrey scrunched her face again. Sally squealed again.

"Hey Hero, Could you pass me some straws from the kitchen drawer?"

Hero stood from his chair and swiftly walked to the kitchen drawer, grabbed two plastic straws and passed them to Aubrey.

Then Aubrey turned away from them, shoulders hunched, fiddling with the straws near her mouth.

Hero started giggling.

Slowly, Aubrey spun back around.

The two plastic straws stuck out from her mouth like walrus tusks. Her eyes were crossed, her lips stretched into a dopey smile.

Sally froze.

Kel braced for a sudden wail.

Sally shrieked with laughter, kicking her legs against the high chair.

Aubrey cackled, nearly losing the straws.

Kel watched, feeling a warmth blooming in his chest.

He hadn't seen her this happy, hadn't seen her smile like that in months.

But that feeling swiftly dissipated, leaving him feeling anxious, guilty, empty. 

He knew, deep down, it was all a lie.

After dinner, they would study. Then they would gossip about the others, maybe they'd play video games for a while. But all of it was a farce. A way to delay a terrible inevitability.

In the end, she'd pass through his living room, wave goodbye to his family and exit.

Then she would return to the abyss.

'No. It isn't fair'  He thought.

'Aubrey shouldn't have to suffer like this. After everything that's happened to us, we deserve to be happy.'

Their avoidance was slowly killing her. Eating her alive. How had he ever agreed to it? What kind of friend was he? Why had he listened to Kim of all people? Like she'd know what the right thing to do was.

Every moment spent in silence, in mutual evasion was another minute that she would suffer there, in that hell that was her home.

No.

Kel couldn't stand by any longer.

He had to do something.

He had to save her.

Chapter Text

They stood on the sidewalk in the dark. The warmth of Easter dinner felt like a distant memory. Aubrey glared at him unnervingly.

"You want me to... what?"

Kel didn't waver. "It's not fair," he stressed. "You do everything for her. You clean up after her, make sure she eats... you're her caretaker. She's supposed to look after you. She's your mom!"

There was something bottomless in her dark eyes. Something raw.

"C-can you hear yourself? Do you even know what it is you're saying??"

"Aubrey--"

"No really." her voice sharp as glass. "You want me to send her away? Just... drop her off somewhere and wash my hands of her? And then do... what? Come and live with you!?"

Kel shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"THEN HOW DID YOU MEAN IT!?"

"STOP! QUIT YELLING AT ME!" Kel's voice rises to match hers, his pulse pounding.

"Aubrey I'm only--I'm only trying to say that she needs someone else to take care of her. Someone who knows what they're doing."

She scoffed. "Oh right. Because I'm so incompetent."

"No! Dude, that's not what I--"

"That's EXACTLY what you're saying!" Aubrey's fists clenched at her sides. "You think I should throw her in some psych ward so they can pump her full of meds and lock her in a padded cell, so I don't have to deal with her. Like she's not my problem. Like she's not my mom!"

Kel tried to slow his breathing. "She's not supposed to be your problem, Aubrey. You're seventeen. There's gotta be someone who can help! What about your family??"

Aubrey sneered. "Sure. My family. The same family that hasn't called in years? Not even after my dad left? The ones who don't give a single shit if I'm still here?"

Kel steps forward. "You shouldn't have to carry this on your own!"

"She's MY responsibility. Whether I like it or not!"

Aubrey exhaled sharply. Her lower lip trembled. "What?? Do you think I want this? You think I chose this!?

"YOU ARE CHOOSING THIS!! It isn't fair! You deserve--" His voice faltered. Tears began to pour from his eyes. "You deserve so much better than this."

Aubrey's face twisted with what looked like horror, her eyes widened, and then a look of dreadful anger set in. She swung away from him, and walked a few paces up the road, her hands in her hair.

Kel sniffed, wiped at his nose. He felt exhausted. "You deserve to be happy. A-after everything that's happened to us, we deserve to be happy. I just... I don't understand... why you're doing this to yourself."

"You never will," Aubrey said, her voice was bitter and hurt. "You won't ever understand. So don't beat yourself up about it."

Kel grimaced. "That's not fair--"

"Fairness doesn't have shit to do with it!" Aubrey turned back to him, a pained look on her face, tears fell freely from her eyes.

"There's no such thing as fair . Some people get to grow up in cushy homes with food in the fridge and two parents who love them. You get to go to school, do sports and have fun... while I'm picking broken glass off the floor and dragging my mom to bed because she's too wasted to stand."

Her mouth moved violently, her body vibrated with untempered rage.

"You think life's fair!? What about Mari? Was that fair!? KEL. WAKE THE FUCK UP!! Some people just get lucky. Some people get to live normal lives and some people--" her voice shook, "some people... just get dealt a shitty hand. That's all there is to it."

The wind rushed through the trees in the dark, their leaves hissing in the dead of the night. For a long time, they simply stood, staring at one another.

Kel felt like his whole world was breaking into pieces.

He blinked back his tears, a futile effort. "I--I don't want you to give up."

"Oh I'm not giving up. I won't EVER give up on my mom. Because unlike you, I don't give up and run away when things get hard! You think you can abandon me for FOUR YEARS and then come back into my life and tell me to abandon her? Who do you think you are?"

"I'm sorry. Please--"

"I don't want to hear it."

"Aubrey I... I didn't mean it. Please tell me we're still friends."

She swallowed, brushed the tears from her eyes. "Go home, Kel."

"Aubrey..."

She turned and began walking away.

Kel took a step after her. "Aubrey we're all that's left! Please don't leave me. Please don't go."

She stopped. Just for a second.

The silence stretched between them, dense as steel.

And then she turned to him, her face devoid of emotion.

"From now on... I want you to stay away from me."

Then she turned from him and walked slowly into the dark. Leaving him alone.

Kel stood, his body shaking, his hands covering his tear-stained, crimson-colored eyes in the dark. There was a dull, terrible ache in his chest, it pressed against his throat and fed the heat behind his eyes.

He just wanted to help.

All he wanted to do was help.

Chapter Text

The midday sun peaked through the closed curtains of Kel's and Hero's bedroom, a slit of light cut through the darkness, decorated by dust particles which moved gently through the air.

Hero was on the phone. Their bi-weekly call was the most he got out of his brother nowadays. He was always busy, studying, always under constant pressure, yet he always made time to call.

But Kel wasn't paying attention to him, and he'd stopped talking around about ten minutes ago. Hero's voice went in his right ear and out his left, catching a few words here and there like basketball, finals, prom. He'd completely forgotten about prom.

Kel lay on his bed, his phone in hand, staring at the ceiling fan spinning round and round, feeling vaguely empty.

"Hey, why aren't you talking? You okay?" Hero asked.

"I'm fine. I'm tired I guess," Kel muttered.

"... Are you bummed out?"

"I'm not bummed out."

"You sound it. If you're worried about the game then don't be. You've trained hard for this! You could be the only one of your team that shows up, and you'd still win."

Kel could picture Hero smiling as he spoke, that assured, natural confidence that he always envied.

He dragged a hand down his face, stretching the skin as it went. "I'm not worried about the game."

"So what is it?"

Kel couldn't find the words.

Hero's voice came through softly. "This got to do with Aubrey?"

Kel sighed. "It's got to do with Aubrey."

"... You guys haven't talked yet??"

"No."

"Hmm. Have you seen her at school?"

"From a distance."

"Well... go talk to her, man. It's been... what, a month since you had that fight?

Kel sat up and hunched forward. "I don't think you get how badly I messed things up."

"Kel, you were only trying to help."

Kel didn't answer.

"Just say you made a mistake and that you're sorry." Hero continued. "You've done it a thousand times before."

Kel's voice was flat. "Sure."

"You were only trying to do the right thing."

"Yeah well that's how it always is," Kel replied bitterly.

Hero sighed. "Hey. There's no point being hard on yourself for things you can't control. Aubrey's life has always been very different from ours--"

"--I know that dude. I'm not dumb." Kel cut him off.

He immediately regretted it.

"I'm sorry."

"It's no problem, I understand," Hero said.

They went quiet.

Kel gazed out of his bedroom window. He looked at the footpath beyond his garden fence. He missed her unimpressed face looking up at him, the clack of the pebbles she would throw against his window. He missed the gossip, the junk food, the shared quiet.

"... Hero, can I be real with you?"

"Always."

Kel took a deep breath.

"I feel like my help always harms," he said.

Hero was silent for a second. "Okay?"

"Every time I try to make things right, or fix things... they just end up so much worse than before."

"I don't think that's true--"

"Really? It's hard not to think that." Kel pressed his knuckles into his forehead. "Remember when we were younger? When you were in that... depressive phase? After Mari--"

His throat constricted.

"I pestered you. I pushed when I should have given you space--"

"No no no. Kel, listen to me. That was not your fault."

"It was the same with Aubrey. I don't know how I could be so stupid."

"Kel, you're not stupid--"

"--Everything's all my fault."

The line went silent.

"What do you mean?" Hero asked after a moment.

"It's my fault that things are the way they are now."

"You know that isn't true--"

"--If I hadn't gone to Sunny's and knocked on her door day after day, hoping he'd come out... maybe things would be different."

Hero didn't respond.

Kel continued. "Because If I hadn't gotten Sunny to come out, we wouldn't have ended up at Basil's that night."

Hero still said nothing.

"...And then we wouldn't have ended up at the hospital. And If we weren't at the hospital... maybe we wouldn't know."

Kel's breath shuddered.

"If we didn't know... maybe we'd be alright."

"Kel..." Hero's voice sounded firm and fragile. He took a deep breath over the phone.

"There is no way you could have known. No way. You cannot blame yourself for what happened because... because there's just no way any of us could have anticipated how..." Hero trailed off.

Kel sat, staring at the floor of his room, his clothes littering the ground around his bed.

"Whenever I think about it... I feel like I'm going crazy." Kel laughed emptily. "It doesn't feel real. But I know it is. I remember every single word. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it."

"I don't either... but I'll tell you something I do know." 

Hero took a breath.

"You're a good person. Not only that... you're a strong person too. I don't know anyone else who would have the courage to do what you did that summer. For better... and for worse, you never gave up on Sunny. I don't want you to ever feel like that was the wrong thing to do."

Kel's voice came out strained. "I promised Aubrey... I promised her that I'd always be there for her. I already let her down once. I can't do it again. She's the only one of us still here. I have to help her."

"But there's only so much you can do." Hero stated. "You can't force help or support on her, she's got to want it first."

"Then I'll wait. I'll wait until she does because I don't want everything we went through to mean nothing! Hero... I-I don't want what we went through together to be worthless. It's all got to add up to something in the end. It has to!"

Kel stared at his bedside cabinet. He pictured that slip of paper, that number he didn't dare to call, sitting creased and neglected in the dark.

His inaction, his cowardice. It all tore at him.

"I can't... let things end like this. I WON'T."

...

Hero sighed gently.

"I'm worried about you, Kel. I really am. I know you feel like you have to fix everything... and maybe that's my fault. But not everything has to land on your shoulders. Not everything is your responsibility and--"

He paused.

"And some things aren't yours to fix."

Chapter Text

"Dude. I feel... liberated. No more finals," Brad said, staring up at the harsh fluorescents of the locker room.

He adjusted the laces on his sneakers. "This is gonna be the best goddamn summer of my life. I can tell already."

"Got any plans?" Jason asked, slamming his locker shut.

"Getting the HELL out of Faraway's a start."

"Preach."

As he sat listening, Kel could almost see his face in the reflection of the polished concrete floor. He leaned forward, the locker room bench creaked slightly.

Brad directed himself at Kel. "What about you? Any big plans?"

"I don't know..." He said. "me and my family usually do an annual road trip around the summer. So I guess--"

Kel heard his phone vibrating from inside his duffle bag.

"Hold on guys."

"Oooh. Kel's got a call.  Your mom? Your girlfriend?"

"Bite me."

He dug through his duffle bag, pushing past spare jerseys, deodorants and Orange-Joe cans.

He pulled out his phone, he flipped it open. An unknown number was calling him.

He frowned at it for a moment, he let it ring for a while.

Then he answered.

"Hello?"

A gruff, middle-aged voice spoke. "Am I speaking to Kelsey Desoto?"

"Who's this?"

"Faraway Police Department. Is this Kelsey Desoto?"

"Uh... yeah. That's me? H-hold on a second I can't hear you too well in here."

Kel stood and darted from the locker room into the darkened school hallway.

"Okay. I can hear you now."

"One moment, please," the officer said.

A rustle on the line. Muffled sounds. There was a sharp, shaky inbreath. 

"... Kel?"

His heart jolted.

"Aubrey??" I-I... Are you okay? What's going on?"

"... Can you come here, please?"

Her voice was hauntingly absent.

"Where?"

"Home."

Kel looked back at the door to the locker room. He listened to the distant thrum of his teammates.

"I'll be there soon."

Kel hung up the call. He began walking quickly through the hallway. His walk became a jog, which turned into a run as he burst through the school doors.

Aubrey's voice echoed in his mind, vacant, trembling. He couldn't push away the feeling of dread, the feeling that something awful had happened.

His run became a sprint. Minutes blurred as he raced down the dimly lit streets.

At the crossroad near his home, he looked toward Aubrey's house. He saw the pulsing red and blue lights in the lines of the trees.

Kel's legs burned. His throat was dry. He struggled to catch his breath as he ran down the street toward her.

Aubrey stood, talking to a police officer. She looked so small.

"AUBREY!" Kel called out.

She spun around. He reached her within seconds, pulling her into a tight embrace. She didn't react. She stood, limp in his hold, her arms at her sides.

He pulled back, searching her pale face. "Aubrey! What happened?"

The officer murmured something before turning toward his squad car.

And that's when Kel saw her. A woman, glaring at him from the backseat.

Though he had only ever seen her from behind, surrounded by trash and empty bottles, Kel knew exactly who he was looking at.

She sat hunched forward, her hands cuffed behind her back. Her forehead pressed against the window, her breath fogging the glass. Her jaw moved, lips twisted and stretched in unnatural, silent motions, muttering to herself, or maybe speaking directly to him. Her eyes bulged from their sockets, they burned with malice, with insanity.

Her eyes were Aubrey's eyes. The same sharp cut, deep brown. The same glare he knew so well.

The way her jaw jutted, the way her mouth moved like it held something venomous. Kel had seen it before. In Aubrey.

She looked so much like her.

He turned away, unable to bear her gaze any longer.

The officer opened the driver's door. "We'll be in touch."

The door slammed. The engine started. The siren wailed for a brief second before cutting out, and then the car rolled away. Kel kept his head lowered as it disappeared down the road and into the night.

Aubrey and Kel stood alone in the lamplight.

When he looked up again, he saw her staring at the spot where the car had been.

"Can I crash at yours?" she asked, her tone even, hollow.

"I can't... stay here."

"You don't need to ask," Kel said, turning to look at her.

Aubrey looked up at him. An unreadable emotion flickered across her face. Her varsity jacket was ripped. There was a small, bleeding cut on her cheek.

"I need to go and get some things. Can you wait here?"

Kel nodded.

She turned to the door. "Won't be long."

It closed behind her with a gentle click. Kel exhaled and attempted to ground himself. His heart was hammering in his chest from his frantic sprint. He stared out beyond the road to the endless fields that stretched out onto the horizon.

Aubrey's mother's face haunted him. The way she had glared at him, the way her mouth had moved. He knew it would stay with him for the rest of his life.

He no longer felt comfortable out there on his own. He couldn't just stand there. He had to try and get some impression as to what had happened.

He turned and slowly approached the front door, he grabbed the handle, twisted and pushed. The mouth of the house creaked open.

The living room was pitch black, save for the glow of orange light emanating from the corridor beyond. Glass crunched underfoot as he took another step forward. It reeked of cigarettes and misery.

The headlights of a passing car illuminated the devastation. The sofa had been overturned. Plates and glass lay scattered across the floor. There were large, violent indents and holes in the walls. Aubrey's textbooks and papers were ripped and tattered on the ground. Aubrey's nailbat was lodged deep in the TV screen.

Kel heard cracking glass and turned to see Aubrey stepping out from the corridor, her blue backpack slung over one shoulder, and in her other hand, a small cage. Inside the cage was her white rabbit, Bun-bun.

They stood silently, staring at one another amidst the desolation.

She looked like a ghost of herself at that moment. Her expression was withered, and aged beyond her years.

Without a word, she walked past him and out the door. Kel lingered there a moment longer, staring at the wreckage, his mind filled with questions that he knew he'd never find the answers to.

He stepped outside and closed the front door behind him. They walked slowly up the road towards his house. The night was silent, save for the sound of a barking dog somewhere far off.

When they arrived, Kel searched his pockets for his keys, only to realise that he left them in his duffle bag. He hesitantly knocked on the front door.

The door swept inward. Dad stood rigid, Mom peeped out from behind him.

"I've just gotten off the phone with your coach. What on GOD'S GREEN EARTH do you think you're doing running off on your team like--"

Dad's words faltered, he went pale. Mom gasped, her hand shooting to her mouth.

Aubrey was oblivious to their shock. She moved past Kel and his parents with a lifeless expression, lumbered out of the living room and slowly ascended the stairs. The sound of her footfalls carried through the open doorway until it fell away.

"What's going on?" Dad asked.

"I don't know," Kel replied.

Mom's hand shook as she lowered it from her face. "Why does she look like that? What happened?"

"I-I don't know!" Kel said again. "The house was a wreck when I got there. I didn't see what happened."

"Were they attacked? Where's her mother? Is she safe? Is she okay?"

Her eyes.

Kel shivered. "She... the police took her away."

"What!? Why?"

"I. DON'T. KNOW!"

He hadn't meant to shout. His parents looked at him wide-eyed, their faces scrutinising.

"I've got to go check on her," Kel said before he sped out of the living room and up the stairs.

Entering the bedroom, he found Aubrey curled up on Hero's bed, her strawlike pink hair and teal ribbon stood out against the deep blue quilt and pillow. Her jacket was still on, her sneakers lay on the floor, the insoles were brown from use. Her backpack and rabbit cage sat untouched at the foot of the bed.

“Do you need anything?” he had asked.

Nothing.

“There's gotta be something I can do for you...”

Kel heard a battering at the front door.

Then he heard a voice.

"Where is she!? Is she here?"

Kim's voice.

"We're up here!" Kel called back, walking onto the landing.

Within a second, Kim was ascending the stairs, breathless.

"I... saw the house..." she stopped to catch her breath. "Was it her mom? Did... did it finally happen?"

Kel didn't reply. His silence was all Kim needed.

Her face twisted with agony.

"It was always going to come to this." She walked past Kel into his bedroom. 

He watched as Kim sat on the edge of Hero's bed.

"Hey dude. I've not seen you around for a while," her tone was light and carefree.

She nudged Aubrey, who didn't move, didn't say a word.

"Fine. Be that way then, I guess."

Kim fidgeted slightly. "We missed you on your birthday. Happy belated eighteenth by the way!" Kim's voice started to shake. "Everyone got you cool presents... but I'm not gonna tell you what, not until you ask anyway. Don't you wanna know? I'm sure you wanna know." 

Silence again. Her shoulders gently rose and fell with her breathing. She didn’t move, didn’t utter a word.

"We waited until closing time... But i-it's okay! We can go next week. We're all thinking about you... we miss you, Aubrey. Please say something?"

Nothing.

"Please?"

Chapter Text

Hellooooo? Helloooooooooooo? Sunny? Are you there?"

Knocking on this door was a longstanding ritual now, one that felt instinctual, and compulsive.

"Do you remember me?" he asked, raising his voice again. "It's your old friend, Kel!"

He gently sighed. It wouldn't be today. Was it going to be any day at all?

"So, I... uh... I noticed the "FOR SALE" sign in front of your house... and I..."

Click.

The door creaked open, revealing the living room, untouched, just like he remembered it.

Kel cautiously stepped inside. "Sunny? You... you in here?"

The glass sliding door that led to the garden was open, he could hear the sound of a wind chime.

There was a strange smell in the air.

Kel felt his legs drag him across the living room towards the sliding door, slowly edging nearer.

The smell was stronger. There were two small boys out here with him. They looked up at him, one was petrified, the other looked numb.

Beyond them, dangling from a large tree, rotating slowly, was her corpse. The air reeked of death. Her long, beautiful black hair veiled her pale face.

"What did you do?"

"What did you do!?"

"WHAT DID YOU DO!!?"

Kel bolted awake, panic lodged in his chest. Pale blue light pushed through the curtains. The sounds of morning birds betrayed his agitated state.

Aubrey wasn't there. There were vague crease lines where she had laid. Kim was fast asleep at the foot of Hero's bed, glasses still on, mouth wide open, she snored in slow, gentle intervals.

A voice. Kel heard a voice somewhere in the house. Low and hushed. Maybe he was imagining it, perhaps he wasn't.

He pulled the covers off and stood. Kim stirred slightly as his weight pressed down on a creaking floorboard. He quietly passed through the door and down the stairs.

Entering the living room, Kel was greeted by Hector, his tail wagging, his old eyes craving treats. The old dog ambled across the living room into the dining room, claws clacking against the floor.

Kel followed closely behind. He saw Aubrey, sitting in the dark, facing forward, unaware of his presence.

"Can't sleep?" He asked.

Her shoulders jolted. Aubrey shook her head.

"Me neither," he said after a moment.

He sat himself opposite her.

"Are you hungry?"

She shook her head again.

"Thirsty?"

No motion.

"I can get you some water?"

After a moment of stillness, she nodded.

"Ice? No ice?"

Aubrey didn't reply.

Kel sped to the kitchen and returned moments later with two glasses of water and a packet of salted potato chips. He flipped the overhead lights on. The sudden glare hurt his eyes, Aubrey scrunched up her face, obviously feeling the same pain as he was.

"Sorry," Kel said, flipping the light off again.

He placed Aubrey's water down in front of her, she reached for it slowly and took a tentative sip. Sitting down, Kel opened his salted chips and started picking at them, eating each chip individually, chewing leisurely.

Aubrey's eyes flicked towards the packet now and then, her gaze never lingered. If she was hungry, she wouldn't say.

Kel placed down the packet, and then slowly ripped it at the seams, exposing the salted potato chips in a neat pile. He pushed it into the centre of the table and started picking from it again. Aubrey ignored the gesture, focusing solely on her water.

They sat like that, crunching and sipping in the silent darkness of the dining room for what must have been minutes. A morning dove sang outside the window, a car rolled past. Everything was slowly waking up.

Kel picked at another chip, crushing it under his teeth.

Aubrey winced.

"You..." she started. "Never mind."

Kel looked up at her.

"I what?"

Aubrey sighed. "Don't worry. It's mean."

"I can take mean," Kel said.

"It's just... you... you chew like a wood chipper."

"You try eating these things quietly!"

Aubrey unfolded her arms and grabbed a potato chip, popped it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.

Kel scoffed. "Dude, that's so loud."

"No, it's not--"

"Ew," he teased. "Stop talking with your mouth full. Gross. "

Aubrey went red, locked her mouth shut and swallowed.

"You're the gross one!" she rebuked. "I've seen you wear the same pair of socks for three days straight."

Kel giggled.

"What's funny?" she asked, a scowl on her face.

"I've missed this," he said.

He paused.

"I've... missed you."

Aubrey's eyes softened, then she averted them from him.

She grabbed a handful of chips and ate them, Kel continued to pick at them individually. They fell into a silent rhythm together. Minutes passed again.

"Kel?" Aubrey asked tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"I'm... I'm really sorry about before. I'm sorry for how I treate-- I'm sorry for how I was, what I did, what I said, for all of it."

"Aubrey... it's--it's okay--"

"It isn't." she interrupted. "You were only looking out for me. You didn't deserve it, and you were right in the end... about my mom."

"But it was wrong of me to push you, and I'm sorry I put you in a corner like that," Kel said.

"I got scared. Mom's been my only constant through everything. Things had been bad for a long time, but she never left me. I didn't want to give up on her. I still love her. But I can never go back to that house."

"You don't have to." Kel leaned forward. "You don't ever have to go back there. You can stay here as long as you need. I don't know how I'll convince my parents to agree to it, but I will--"

She shook her head

"Kel, I've gotta--"

"--It's no problem. They're stubborn but they  care --"

"--Kel, I have to tell you something."

He stopped.

"What is it?"

Aubrey stayed quiet, her mouth opened, then closed.

Kel felt a sick, sinking feeling began to eat at him.

"Kel... I'm not staying here."

...

"A-alright. You're gonna stay at Kim's?"

"No... I'm not staying here. "

...

"You mean you're... leaving Faraway?"

Aubrey's lower lip trembled. "Yeah."

Kel fell back into his seat, his head buzzing.

"I--I don't... I... Where are you gonna go?"

"Last night, before I called you, I called my aunt. She's been trying to reach out to me for years... but answering felt like abandoning mom, so I didn't, not until it was too late. She's agreed to take me in for a while... at least until I can stand on my own two feet. She's my dad's sister... so I don't really want to stick around."

"When are you leaving?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

"She's picking me up today. Said she'd get here in the evening."

"Oh."

Kel felt his soul freeze over.

He began chewing the skin of his index finger.

"Kel, you've gotta see it's for the best--"

"--Aubrey, I think I need a minute. Okay?"

"... Okay," she said softly.

There were too many things he wanted to say. He wanted to say he was sorry. That he was angry. That he was scared.

It scared him to think of life without her.

"I've failed."

"You haven't failed, Kel," Aubrey pleaded.

"Sunny's gone. Basil's gone. Soon, you'll be gone too. I failed. I failed at forgiving. I failed to fix any of this."

"But it's not your responsibility to solve everything on your own, Kel."

His eyes began to sting.

"How else do I make up for four years of silence?"

He hastily brushed away the tears that started to form.

Aubrey turned towards the window. She breathed slowly, and then she spoke.

"For a long time, I believed my mom was my responsibility, that I had a duty of care. I thought that if I could be a perfect daughter, look after her needs, be there when she needed someone, then maybe I could make things right. Maybe then... I could make up for the pain that I caused. But you were right in the end. I couldn't help her. No matter how hard I tried, it was never enough, all it was was torture. It's the worst feeling in the world, knowing that no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you care about someone, you can't save them."

She looked back at him for a moment, then she bowed her head.

"Kel. I don't want you to know what that feels like any more than you already do. If I stay here with you in Faraway, and let you look after me and worry about me all the time, it's going to eat you alive. I don't want to be to you what my mom was to me."

"I just want to support you, Aubrey," Kel said. "I only want to be your friend."

"But I can't be your friend right now. Not in a way that we'll survive."

She took a deep breath.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm... angry all the time. Sometimes I get why, sometimes I don't. I'm so scared people will leave me, but then I push them away. And I feel... this pit of emptiness inside me... that never leaves, no matter what I do. I'm not okay. I need professional help. You can't give me that, but I know you'll keep trying, and... I..."

She looked up at him and met his gaze.

"I care about you too much to let you do that to yourself. I want to get better. I know it's gonna be hard, and it's gonna be ugly, but I want to do it on my own."

Kel slowly nodded, a pained expression on his face. They looked into each other's eyes, faint and dilated in the early morning light.

"It's gonna suck here without you," he said, forcing a smile.

"You'll be alright. And you're going to college, right? You're gonna make loads of normal, well-adjusted friends."

Kel laughed bitterly.

But none of them will be you.

"Did your aunt say when she'd get here?" Kel asked.

"Around seven in the evening. So... I guess we've got the day."

"One more day together." He said, almost to himself.

Kel looked out the window and saw the sun was beginning to rise, low and warm on the horizon.

"We should make the most of it."

"Agreed."

"We can get pizza. We could stop by Hobbeez? Hang out by the lake? We'll get everyone together for a real send-off."

Aubrey smiled. "I'd like that. Could we... maybe get some watermelon too?"

"My treat!" Kel said cheerfully.

"Come to think of it... I'm kinda hungry," Aubrey said.

"We've got Sancocho in the fridge, I can put some in the microwave?"

"Yes please."

Kel stood from his chair. "I'll go and do that for you then."

Aubrey stood at the same time. "I should... probably go and talk to Kim."

"Yeah, you probably should."

Kel turned toward the kitchen.

"Oh, Kel?"

Kel turned to Aubrey. "Yeah?"

She hesitated for just a moment.

"I think we should go and see Mari sometime today, if you'd like."

Kel paused for a moment, then he nodded. "I'd like that."

She smiled warily and then exited the dining room.

Kel stood for a moment.

'One more day.'  He thought.

He walked into the kitchen, pulled the Sancocho from the fridge. He delicately transferred a portion into a medium-sized bowl.

'We only have one day left.'

He placed the bowl in the microwave, setting the five-minute timer.

'Is it enough time?'

Beep.

The microwave came to life, humming incessantly.

'It isn't.'

the bowl gently turned and swirled in the low light.

'No amount of time ever would be.'

END OF ACT II

Chapter Text

ACT III

THREE GOODBYES.

A Swiss army knife from Angel, A bouquet from Charlene, A new pet rock from Mikhael, and a brand new, light blue varsity jacket from Vance and Kim.

And from all of them, including Kel, a terrible rendition of Happy Birthday, no better than last year's.

None, bar Kel and Kim, knew that Aubrey was leaving today. But it was her choice to tell them, or not to tell them. Kel wouldn't push.

They sat in a circle on the blue chequered picnic blanket. A breeze blew across the lake, lightly tussling the hair on their heads, the momentary cool a relief in the glare of the hot afternoon sun.

All of them had grown up, at least outwardly. Kim's hair had grown out, Angel was trying out a moustache, and had grown almost as tall as Kel, Mikhael looked more like his older siblings by the day, and Charlene looked the same as she ever did, somehow.

They broke off after what felt like an age of idle conversation and chatter. One by one, the old hooligans jumped into the lake, their yells of exhilaration and exclamations of how "ass-numbingly freezing" the water was piercing the air as they resurfaced from their jumps.

Eventually, it was only Kel and Aubrey left sitting on the picnic blanket. Kel stared at the watermelon from multiple angles, a large kitchen knife in his hands and a quizzical look on his face. It would've been nice if he could remember how exactly you went about segmenting a watermelon.

Aubrey leaned over, shaking her head with a smile. "Give me the knife, dumbass."

She started segmenting the watermelon, first into halves, then into slices. She couldn't slice them evenly, like Mari used to.

"Don't sit here on my behalf," Aubrey said, nodding towards the lake. "Go swim."

Kel scratched the back of his head. "Ah... I think I'm alright. Looks like the water's cold today."

"Since when has that been a problem?"

"I don't know... I'm comfortable here!"

"It's my birthday party. What I say goes. And I say that you should go have fun without me."

"But--"

"No buts! I'm the adult. You're still seventeen, so do as you're told."

"Y-you sure?"

"Yes! I'm fine on my own. Scram."

"Alright... If you insist."

Kel pulled off his T-shirt, his orange swimming shorts already on.

"Can you look after my T-shirt?" he asked.

"Thanks for the dishcloth."

"... You suck."

"Don't I know it," she replied, grinning.

The longer he thought about it, the more hesitant he became. So Kel kicked off his sandals, momentarily feeling the grass between his toes, and sprinted toward the water. The wooden boards creaked and cracked under his rapid sprint, then he launched himself into the air, plunging into the electrifyingly cold, murky waters of the lake.

Cold! So much colder than he remembered. Kel resurfaced and caught his breath, floating on his back. As he drifted silently, he listened to the sounds of laughter and conversation surrounding him. Above him, stray clouds made their exodus across the otherwise spotless blue sky. Tall green trees swayed gently in the corner of his eyes.

"Anyone wanna jump off the old gateway statue?" Vance asked, lounging at the edge of the lake.

"D'you think it's safe?" Mikhael asked.

"Sure it's safe!" Kel replied. "Me and my brother used to jump off it all the time."

"Why don't you show us how it's done?"

Kel swam towards the central island and began climbing up the old gateway statue. It seemed much smaller than it used to. He remembered being tiny enough that Hero would have to boost him up for each of their jumps. Now he stood alone, towering over everyone, the stone of the statue blisteringly hot under his feet. He could see the entirety of Faraway-Town from here, the plaza, the church, the junkyard, even his own house.

"Do a flip!" Angel yelled. The rest of the old hooligans all looked on expectantly.

They began to chant. "Jump! Jump! Jump!"

"Quit stalling, nerd!" Kim shouted. "JUMP!"

Kel pinched his nose and leapt from the statue, the wind roaring in his ears and ripping through his hair as gravity pulled him into the depths of the lake, into the calm, quiet water. He resurfaced a moment later to the sounds of cheers and hollering.

"I'm going up next!" Angel declared. Moments later, he was scampering up the back of the statue, he almost lost his footing to the terror of Mikhael, who cried out, demanding he join him for the jump. After a slow, nervous countdown, they flung themselves ungracefully into the lake, much to the amusement and entertainment of everyone watching.

"You guys are a bunch of pussies," Kim said resolutely.

She climbed up after them, only to freeze once she reached the top.

"Come on now, Kim! Don't be scared," Vance called up to her.

"S-shut up!! I'm not scared. Just wanna land it right..."

"You can do it!" Aubrey called.

Kim edged forward, then back. She wasn't wearing her glasses.

"Can you see anything?" Kel asked.

"... Kinda?"

"Okay, I'm coming up there."

Kel ascended the statue again, Kim stood rigid, her t-shirt dripping wet. To his surprise, she didn't protest him being there.

"It looks taller than it is," he said.

"I know that. Of course I know that! I'm not five."

Kel spoke in a hushed voice. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"If I don't, everyone's gonna think I'm a wuss," she hissed.

"What's the hold up!? YOU SCARED!?" Angel yelled.

Kim went red, growled, and seemed to forget her fear altogether as she sprang from the statue, crashed into the water and swam viciously towards Mikhael.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SCARED IS."

Mikhael climbed from the water. Moments later, Kim was at the bank of the lake, clawing and climbing her way out and chasing after him.

"I take it back! I'm Sorry! I'm sorry!" Mikhael cried out, running in circles as she pursued him around the lake. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT!!"

Kel sat himself down on top of the statue and enjoyed the chaos.

He checked his dad's old wristwatch. The clock hand was stuck at half four. Maybe he should have taken it off before jumping into the lake.

How long had it been since he dived into the water? Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? He couldn't remember.

Soon, he and Aubrey would have to leave here to get ready to go and see Mari. He couldn't see her as he was now, soaking wet and smelling like the lake. He'd have to head home, wash up, and head over to Fix-It to buy white lilies. 

'It would be nice to pause time.' He thought. 'To freeze it, like taking a photo.'

Not so he could live in a snapshot forever, but so he could savour every single thing about every passing moment. Every taste, every smell, every feeling, everything.

In this moment, he could see Aubrey, her face set in its usual stoic expression, watching alone from the picnic blanket, savouring a slice of watermelon. Her presents surrounded her, her new jacket loosely draped over her shoulders. There was an infectious peacefulness about her in that moment, encircled by testaments of affection and care.

This moment, with the sun on his back and the smells of earth and summer in the air, was perfect. He didn't want to leave here, and for the time being, he didn't have to. Despite the fear of tomorrow and what it would bring, the here and now was no less because of it.

The sky was still a perfect blue, and that watermelon didn't look any less delicious.

Chapter Text

They only had red lilies in Fix-It today. Kel had tried his best. He had searched up, down, across, and around for white ones, but to no avail.

"Can you check the back?" he had asked. "It's Aubrey who wants them."

The cashier had scoffed at him, saying bluntly: "Aubrey doesn't work here anymore. Can't help ya, bub."

'She's gonna be so pissed.'

It had been an hour since she had asked him to meet her here.

The shadow of the church spire crept slowly across the road, his only tether to the hasty passage of time. Yet he felt like he'd been standing here on the grass for an age.

Then, almost as if he willed it, Aubrey turned onto the road. He waved to her, and she jogged briskly towards him.

"I left my stuff at yours if that's okay--"

She stopped running, her face soured at the sight of the lilies.

"Kel, those are red."

"They were the only ones I could find, I swear," he replied, his tone earnest.

"Did you check the back right-hand side?"

She shook her head. "You know what? Whatever. They're fine. Mari liked red lilies too... I think."

There was a lull between them for a moment, filled by the sounds of grasshoppers and cicadas. Aubrey rocked back and forth on her heels.

"You okay? Did everything go alright with the guys?" Kel asked.

"It went fine," she replied, too quickly. "You ready?"

"Are you?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

She took charge, swiftly entering the church. Kel trailed hesitantly behind her, his eyes going blind in the sudden darkness of the interior. Aubrey was more than halfway across the nave when she stopped dead in her tracks.

Kel caught up to her and noted her sickly expression. Her hands shook slightly as they ran through her hair.

"Do you wanna sit?" he asked.

She nodded and threw herself down onto one of the pews. She breathed deeply through her nose, then slowly exhaled through her mouth, her eyes were shut tight.

"I can see if there's some water around here somewhere--"

"--No, I'm fine. Can you just... stay with me for a minute?"

Kel paused, then he sat himself down beside her.

In and out. Inhale, exhale. Hold, and release. It went on like this for a while.

"I've always liked it in here," he said, barely above a whisper. "I can see why you used to come here a lot."

Aubrey didn't respond.

"I always liked the way the light comes through the windows. And the smell. What even is that church smell? Is it old books? Or... incense?"

She still didn't say anything. Maybe his talking wasn't making her feel any better, so he joined her in the silence.

The wheel of time seemed to slow down. They were the only people here today, and yet Kel felt watched.

"It's so fast," she said.

She slowly opened her eyes.

"It's too fast."

Aubrey stood up, motioning for Kel to do the same, and together they walked to the end of the nave, out the back door and into the waning sun that cast its golden light across the graveyard.

The sounds of birds.

The rustling of trees.

A lawnmower that roared far off.

Children screaming in the distance.

The sounds of their living, timid footfalls as they made their way to her, flanked by the silent dead.

They reached the back of the graveyard. And there she was. The inscription looked weathered and old in a way that ached.

Our Dearest Mari.

The Sun Shined Brighter When She Was Here.

Kel remembered when that stone was new, on the day that she was lowered into the dark. He didn't cry then. It didn't feel real. It still didn't feel real.

"Hi Mari... It's Aubrey. I'm here with Kel."

"Hey Mari," he said sheepishly. 

"It's been almost two years since we saw you last. I'm sorry we didn't come sooner."

Kel stepped out. "We brought you some lilies! They're red... which I hope is okay. I don't know what they represent or anything but..."

"I'm sure she likes them," Aubrey said.

"Sure... sure." He nodded, gently placed the lilies down for her. He clumsily rose to his feet and returned to Aubrey's side.

"Umm... a lot of things have changed since we last saw you," she began.

Her breath began to shake. She shook herself and regained her composure.

"No... everything has changed. We've been putting off facing the reality, the truth that... you didn't decide to leave us. Accidentally or not... You were taken from us. Sunny and Basil... hid that from us for four whole years. Honestly, we've been doing our best not to think about it, but we can't run from it any longer. We have to face it head on."

Kel sniffed. "Mari? Now that we know... what do we do?"

The wind blew gently through the long, wavy branches above.

"You always knew what to do," Aubrey said. "You always made things better."

Silence.

"Deep down, more than anything... I know you'd want us to be happy," Kel said. "But it's hard to know what happiness is supposed to look like."

Aubrey swallowed. "We spent four whole years thinking that if... if we had seen the signs, listened more, been better friends, then maybe we would have seen that you were suffering. I--I blamed myself for it."

"We all did," Kel said, turning to her.

"In a funny way..." She began, "I've never felt so relieved as I did that day at the hospital... knowing that we didn't fail you, knowing you weren't suffering silently."

"I wish I felt the same," Kel bluntly responded. "I should feel better, but I don't. All I feel is confused and let down. I feel betrayed by the people I trusted. I don't understand... why? I don't know... how they could keep that from us? How could they do that to us? How could they do that to Mari!?"

Kel gradually regained his composure. Aubrey gazed up at him with sympathetic eyes.

"I can't forgive them... and I'm ashamed of it. Every time I try and reach out to Sunny, every time I try and call, I freeze, I feel sick, I panic. I don't know how I can forgive them when I can't even forgive myself."

He lowered his head. His voice shook.

"I did move on after you died. I made new friends... I didn't speak to Basil, I never talked to Aubrey. Kim was right... I didn't even try once. I felt like every time I tried to help, I made things so much worse than before. So I stayed away."

He turned to face her.

"It doesn't matter what my intentions were. I should never have left you--"

"--We never should have left each other," she interrupted. "I pushed you away too. I didn't know how to ask you to come back."

"There isn't a day that I don't think about how different things could have been if I had stayed. Maybe... you wouldn't have... hurt Basil--"

"No. What I did is on me, Kel. Only me. You've gotta stop shouldering the blame. Stop torturing yourself over things you can't change. We were so young, carrying something so impossible. Of course it broke all of us."

Aubrey approached Mari's headstone and spoke directly to her.

"After you died, I allowed my love for you to become something ugly. I let myself become cruel... and cold. I hurt people you cared about, then I had the nerve to stand here, day after day, believing I was doing right by you!"

Her hand shot to her head, tearing the teal ribbon from her hair. She held it loosely in her hand, regarding it with tired eyes.

"I've been stuck in this cycle of hatred, grief and regret for years. I can't go back to who I was before all of this. But I don't want to stay as I am now. I've been holding on for so long... but holding on is killing me."

Aubrey brushed her eyes with her sleeve. She crouched down to the bouquet of red lilies and gently tied her teal blue ribbon around them. She finished the knot and stood back to stand with Kel again.

"Mari, I'm leaving Faraway. I don't know when or if I'll ever come back. I have to protect what I have left... and... I..."

She faltered. Her sobs threatened to overwhelm her in a torrent of misery.

In that instant, as if they were magnetic, Kel's hand interlinked with Aubrey's. She squeezed with crushing force. He squeezed back. She took a deep, shuddering breath. Then she spoke.

"I need to know that I can still exist beyond your absence. I need to know that there's something left of ME after all of this. I need to know that I can still be happy. And so... you won't see me for a long time... and I'm so sorry. You'll always be a part of me, but for now... I think I have to let you go."

They stood in silence. Hand in hand. Heart in heart in the failing sunlight.

It was almost time.

She was almost gone.

"I hope I see you again, Mari," Aubrey whispered. "I hope I want to."

Chapter Text

The sun sat low and large, like a fire on the horizon. Its blaze shone through the trees and cast long, thin shadows across Kel's street. The atmosphere was bristling with insects, fluttering with restless activity.

"How will we know it's her?" Kel asked, sitting cross-legged on the curb in front of his house, the warmth of the concrete beneath him offered simple comfort.

Aubrey stood, her back to him, her arms crossed, her hair blowing gently in the evening breeze as she stared down the road.

"Green car," She said. "That's all I know."

Kel huffed. "Sheesh. She couldn't tell you anything else?"

She shrugged, pacing lightly in a small circle, her head downcast.

Looking up, he could see a bed of clouds which had slowly enveloped the sky. Pink and Orange were their colors, brilliant and bright.

"Man... what a sky," he said.

Aubrey looked up and stopped pacing, staring silently into the heavens. A seagull flew above them, its screams evoking memories of the seaside.

"What time is it, Kel?" she asked.

"Can't tell ya." He held up his wrist to show her his dad's broken wristwatch. "Thing must've gone bust when I jumped into the lake."

She scoffed. "Your dad's gonna kill you."

Kel chuckled. "I'll deal with that when the time comes."

She started pacing again, her motions became rigid and irritable.

"Why's she so late?"

"It's pretty easy to get turned around here. Don't worry, though, she'll be fine."

Aubrey's arms flopped to her sides. She ambled over to Kel and placed herself down on the curb. Her hair hung over her face as she started picking her nails.

It was strange seeing her without Mari's old teal ribbon. There was something distinctly incomplete about her without it.

"So... umm... your aunt," Kel began. "What's she like?"

Aubrey turned her head toward him, but didn't meet his eyes. "She's... fine. I guess. I don't really know her. I know she's a nurse... and she's got a dog... and that's kinda it."

"Huh. What's her place like?"

"She lives in the city, the neighbourhood's a little rough from what I remember, but I was ten... so maybe it's different now. There's a park that's kinda nice. There's a community centre too."

"Do you..." he hesitated to ask. "Do you have a plan?"

She straightened up slightly. "I'm playing it by ear, but right now? I think I'll try getting a job, work up enough money to get a counsellor... or a shrink or something."

"That sounds smart."

"But to do that, I have to stay at my Aunt's. And if I stay there, I'm sure my dad will try to visit."

"And you don't want that?"

She slowly shook her head. "I don't," she said, coldly.

He bit his tongue, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"I'm sorry, "he said. "You don't owe him anything."

"Hmph. You should take your own advice, Kel."

Kel cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"Back there... with Mari, you said you felt ashamed that you couldn't forgive them... Sunny and Basil, I mean."

"... I guess I did say that, yeah."

"You shouldn't be. You don't owe them your forgiveness."

"But what would Mari think? What would she want?"

"What do you want, Kel? You've spent so long placing the needs of others before your own. It isn't selfish to sit down and ask yourself what you want from all of this."

Kel sat in quiet contemplation for a moment. He missed Sunny. He missed Basil. He didn't want to hate them. He wanted to know they were okay, he wanted to see them again someday. But the act, Mari's death, the horrific coverup that followed, the years of silence, the years of questioning, spiralling, and misery, seeing what it did to his brother, what it did to Aubrey. Those images, that pain that might never leave him.

He didn't know. But in that, he found his answer.

"Time," Kel said. "I want time."

"Then take it," Aubrey replied, turning to see him. "If anyone deserves a break, it's us."

He laughed bitterly. Before they fell back into silence, both of them looked down the road. It could be any moment now.

"Do you forgive them, Aubrey?"

She stopped fidgeting, pausing for thought. "I don't know if I forgive them exactly. But I think... maybe I understand them?"

"How?"

"... I know how easy it is to lose control... to do something horrible that can't be taken back. So, in a way, maybe I understand what they felt more than I want to admit. But that doesn't make what they did hurt any less."

She shuddered a little bit. "The short answer is that I'm working on it."

"Me too."

She sighed lightly. "We could talk about this forever. Why don't we save it for another time? I don't want this to be the last thing we talk about before I'm gone."

"O-okay. What do you wanna talk about? How about school, how'd your finals go?"

"Nah. Something else, please."

"Did... Did you enjoy the day?"

She drew her legs up and hugged them, resting her head on her knee, smiling wearily. "I loved it."

Kel grinned. "I missed swimming in the lake, it's been too long."

"We got lucky with the weather."

"And that watermelon?"

"Perfect."

"Such a pain in the ass that Vance ate most of it."

"He can't help himself. He never could."

"Man... If we'd had another day," he started, staring up at the sky, "we should've gone to the beach."

"I would have liked that."

The crickets started to chirp, the light was leaving the clouds, the fire on the horizon was fading.

"Hey, Kel?" Aubrey shifted towards him.

"Yeah?"

"I know you guys aren't close, but next time you see Kim, can you check in on her for me? I'm worried about how she'll take this."

"Sure."

A car turned onto the road. Dark green.

This was it.

They both stood to attention

"I wish I could have done more for you," Kel said.

"You did so much. I don't want to know who I'd be now if it weren't for you."

Kel felt his throat tighten. He fought back his tears. "But... I--"

"I have a hard time saying stuff like this... but... thank you, Kel. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being there... for being my friend... even if it couldn't last."

He steeled himself.

The car raced down the road, far too fast. It flew right past them. He saw what looked like an elderly man driving the car.

"Huh! False alarm," Aubrey said, a nervous laugh escaping from her.

He looked into her eyes as he laughed back.

Those deep brown eyes he knew so well, and would miss so much.

"Aubrey, even if you're not here, I'm always gonna be your friend. No matter what. I'm always gonna care about you. I'll always have your back and I will always... love you.

She stared up at him, her eyes were wide, almost inquisitive. She wore a strange, little smile on her face.

"I love you," he said again, not able to withhold his emotion. "I want you to know that. I want you to take it with you. And whenever you feel lonely, or scared, or like no one does... remember I do."

As she listened, her smile faded. Her eyes began to glisten with tears.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked.

"I'll be alright," he replied. "And so will you."

Her lip trembled. Tears poured down her face.

"I'm sorry."

They pulled each other into a gentle embrace.

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too."

Together, they rocked back and forth in each other's trembling arms. There was a beautiful tranquillity in her hold. A solace he knew he'd never replace. An ache that would never leave. A love that would never fail.

And in that moment, as Kel watched the sun set below the horizon, the last of the light clawing against the clouds, he made a wish.

He wished that in some way or another, they would always be a part of each other’s lives.