Fallout and Future

Chapter 12: Lost, Found [ACT 1 FINALE]

Beta read by UdonPuddle on AO3. CWs at the bottom.

Well, this has been a ride. There are two more acts to go, coming out to be somewhere around 30 chapters in total. I've finished outlining them, for the most part.

Thank you for 5000 hits. I've also decided I'll just publish chapters as they're ready rather than having any real upload schedule. I might take a small break before releasing Chapter 13, because there are some concepts I'm eager to outline and write, and drawing also sounds quite appealing to me right now.

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Who was Sunny to Basil? It wasn't a particularly hard question for him to answer – he was many things. A best friend, confidant, embarrassingly large crush. An unhealthy attachment – maybe even an obsession, though that depended on your definition of the word.

Sunny was someone who was quiet. Kinder than people who didn't know him would have thought, and smarter, too. If he had the confidence to do so, he would have drowned his bullies in comebacks. Instead, though, it was up to Sunny's friends to defend him.

Sunny was someone who listened, even if he didn't talk much. Basil had someone who he could let out all his frustrations, hopes, and dreams to, and Sunny paid attention to every word when no one else did. He and Sunny were kindred spirits; Sunny understood. Where everyone else abandoned him, his best friend never would. That was what a best friend was supposed to be, and now Basil had one, just like the other kids.

Sunny was someone who was with Basil for rainy days, spent together in one of their rooms under a pillow fort with a lamp and a book. Even if neither of them could really swim, they felt safe enough by each other's sides to sit right by the dock together. Quiet; the only noise came from the buzzing of dragonflies and rippling water. Basil leaned on Sunny's shoulder and whispered that it was alright if he wanted to go back to the picnic blanket, and Sunny would respond that he wanted to stay here. With him. Every time Sunny said something like that, Basil felt his heart spin.

Under those pillow forts, the lamp light colored Sunny's hair a warm dark brown. Basil remembered feeling a sweet thrill in his belly every time he gazed at Sunny lying sleepily by his side. In that glow, when Sunny tilted his head and gave him a gentle smile, Basil felt his cheeks grow warm. The glint in Sunny's eyes made them look like stars shining in two dark skies.

Back then, Basil thought he knew just about everything about Sunny: that he didn't really like playing the violin after a few months, his fear of heights and water, his unhinged hatred for insects. From their first meeting to their sleepovers where they found themselves getting closer than they'd ever hoped they would, Sunny certainly came to know everything about Basil.

Basil didn't know who Sunny was now, though. And he didn't quite know what he'd do if Sunny came back. It would be so much easier to pour his heart out to him rather than any of his other friends, Polly, or Carlsen. However, he had to learn and grow past his old attachments and mistakes, which, really, were one in the same.

Basil just wished it didn't have to be so hard to let go.

The next few weeks were astonishingly similar to that reunion with Hero for Basil. He helped Kel and Aubrey set up Halloween decorations at the Darwish household, and they helped him set up a few at his. Basil spent most of his free time with his friends. Sometimes, he tried to corner Hero, but he always slipped away. 'My parents are waiting for me, I'm tired, I have an assignment to do today...' But whatever it was, Hero always seemed to have an excuse.

Life went on, though. Basil was glad to see Hero hanging out with Kel and Aubrey, even if he was avoiding him . At least one task had been... partially fulfilled, that being getting Kel and Hero to talk again. It was alright if Hero didn't want to talk to Basil anymore.