Fallout and Future

Chapter 2: Basil x Therapy

A/N: CWs found at the bottom

Aubrey looked up at the ceiling of the treehouse, still glad that she'd found it empty. The clouds had begun to part slightly, letting the early afternoon sunlight stream in through the windows. Dust floated through the air, collecting on the paper plants upon the windowsill. She took a deep breath, ready to finally sit up from the floor after spending a few hours lying down. This endeavor was interrupted when she saw Kim's worried face looking down at her.

Sitting up immediately and barely avoiding Kim's nose, Aubrey got up with a surprised yelp. "What the hell are you doing here?" She rubbed her temples, looking around. Apparently, she'd zoned out and missed the entire Hooligang entering the treehouse. They now shuffled about the entrance awkwardly.

"Seeing you, dingus." Vance gave Aubrey a gentle flick on the forehead, smiling lightly. Kim did the same, though they all still seemed rather uncomfortable.

"How'd you even find this place?" Aubrey asked.

"We were looking everywhere, but your bike made things rather obvious." Kim replied.

"Yeah, yeah, but what was all that about earlier, when you ran off?" Angel asked.

"Aubergine, we are aware your emotional state has not been the best, but did you seriously start bullying Basil over a couple of photos?" The Maverick™ crossed his arms. "I gave up my advances on him because I thought he did something awful!"

"Th-then Aubrey probably did him a favor." Charlie made a rare joke, eliciting a chuckle from a few of the people gathered, though the air remained thick as blood.

Aubrey leaned against the wall, looking away from the others. "After Mari... passed... I thought my friends had all left me alone and had begun to forget her. I still wonder how I could have believed something like that. I cornered Basil after a few years and walked home with him - when we got there, I found out that the photo album, the last trace of Mari, had been blacked out with a marker beyond recognition."

"But... didn't you just clean it? Couldn't he have done that, too, eventually?" Angel asked, confused.

"I did, but I haven't been doing much thinking recently, I guess." Aubrey covered her face with her hands, not wanting to look her friends in the eyes. "I was angry at everything, even before Mari died, and now I had something - someone - to lash out at. I stopped caring about anyone else, just me and Mari, but I didn't even carry on her legacy the way she would've wanted me to-"

Kim knelt beside her best friend as she, recounting the past four years, began to break down in front of all of them. "Hey. It's over." She lifted Aubrey's chin and looked her in the eye. "You can't change what you did in the past; you have to focus on the future, now. We all do."

"A humbling speech, Kimberl-" The Maverick™ was abruptly cut off by a roll of taffy hitting him in the forehead, knocking off his poorly-fitted plastic sunglasses. The tension finally dissolved, and even Aubrey, wiping down her face, found herself laughing along with her friends.

"Earlier, you said you didn't forgive him for something, though." Vance watched Aubrey freeze up a little. "I doubt it was the album thing, so what was it?"

"I-it's personal. I'd like to hear him out, first, if you guys don't mind." She took a deep breath. Hero had taught her mechanisms to deal with anger, and breathing exercises were a lot less strenuous than smashing mailboxes. "He's done something terrible - worse than even what I did - but I don't think you guys should hate him. For now, just try to keep the rest of the neighborhood from picking on him, 'kay?"