Stuck In Paradise

Bathroom break

This photo was of everyone cuddling with Sunny’s stuffed animals! Kel gained a bright smile on his face when he looked at that. Every single one of them was super comfy and soft. He almost fell asleep on top of Sunny, that would have been funny!

There were so many other photos! The one where he and Sunny were holding Mari’s flower crown so Basil could get a cool photo! Hero making his own flower crown and failing awfully. Aubrey in the rain, posing for Basil’s photo of her! The one where he stood out from Sunny’s umbrella to taste the rain which ended up in him getting soaked. There were so many more!

Kel felt his chest tighten up. So many memories of him and his friends being happy. Now when he looks at them he can see just how much has changed between them all.

It honestly hurt...though he would be damned if he let his emotions ruin the mood.

“Heh, sorry we weren’t able to get back most of the photos…” Kel sighed as he watched the pages become less full of their memories.

“H-Huh? Oh, don’t worry about it!” Basil let out a nervous chuckle, “I-Im just glad you were able to get it safely.”

“Same here!” Kel grinned.

The mood seemed to lighten but Kel still felt like something was off, maybe it is just him worrying over nothing.

“Don’t worry about the other photo’s as well, we’ll eventually get them back!” Kel smiled, “Meanwhile you can go back to being happy and carefree!”

“Okay...thanks.” Basil gave a sheepish smile but a smile nonetheless. Kel will take that as a personal win!

Polly walked over from the kitchen area with a sigh, “Sorry for the wait, dinner is taking longer than I expected. Would any of you like to help?” she asked.

Kel immediately shot up, “Heck yeah! I’ll help you out! I know a few things from watching my brother and helping him out most of the time!”

“That would be lovely! Please follow me to the kitchen!” Polly convinced Kel to come over.

Kel calmly walked over and began helping out Polly the best he could. Obviously, he wasn’t grade A but with Polly’s help, he was getting a hang of it. From the corner of his eyes, however, he could see Basil and Sunny.

Sunny walked over to Basil and Basil greeted him but Sunny didn’t give him much attention, only giving him a short wave back. Eventually Sunny left the living room altogether. Kel couldn’t blame him for wanting to explore and mess around, he was probably just bored.

Basil was also watching Sunny, almost like he was nervous...why would he be nervous? Kel doesn’t know but who knows, maybe Basil is making sure Sunny doesn’t break anything and Kel is just overthinking.

The feeling of dread he has been feeling the whole time began to pile up more though like he can sense something bad- no, something awful was coming soon.

He really hopes it is just his paranoia from earlier.

Basil also left the living room, following Sunny into a different room. Maybe he is going to just show him what changed. Nothing more, nothing less.

“So Kel, do you have any plans for tomorrow?” Polly asked.

“Yeah, my older brother Hero is coming over tomorrow from college.” Kel sighed, he can’t wait to see him again.

“Oh! How lovely!” Polly smiled as she continued making the food.

Kel’s stomach still felt like he ate a ton of bricks earlier. Hopefully, continuing cooking will take his mind off the awful feeling.