new friend, old friend || BASIL x reader

chapter three

KEL, SUNNY and i walk out of the church. it's darker now, around evening. we walk in silence for a bit, but as we're about to pass AUBREY's house, she comes outside. she walks to her outdoor garbage can and throws something away. she closes the can and walks away,,, looking back only one more time before going back inside her house. KEL notices and decides to mention it.

"did you see that ? AUBREY just dumped something into her trash can ! let's go check it out."

KEL walks towards her trash can and opens it up to find what she threw in, SUNNY and i following behind.

"going dumpster diving, are we ?" i ask.

"oh, shut up !" KEL says, as he grabs something out of AUBREY's trash can. "whoa ! i don't believe it ! it's BASIL's PHOTO ALBUM !! see, Y/N, dumpster diving pays off !!" KEL laughs. "i can't believe she would just throw it out like that,,, it's a good thing we looked through this trash can. but on the bright side, at least we have BASIL's PHOTO ALBUM now,,, and it only took us half a day, too ! talk about teamwork ! how about a high five, you two ?"

i put my hand up and KEL high fives me as hard as he can. "ow,,," i mutter. he also high fives SUNNY.

"let's give this back to BASIL before it gets dark. he'll be so happy when he sees it !"

SUNNY, KEL, and i all walk back to BASIL's house. i'm excited to see him,,, and i'm excited to give him back his photo album,,, he will be happy. eventually, we get there, i grab the photo album from KEL, and walk up to knock on the door. KEL and SUNNY stand behind me. i knock gently, and step back. a woman, probably in her early twenties, answers the door.

"oh- hello there ! who are you ?"

"hi BASIL-" KEL says, before realizing,, "oh wait,,, you're not BASIL."

"ah, i'm sorry !" she responds. "my name is POLLY. i'm BASIL's caretaker."

BASIL peeks out of his house, and his eyes light up when he sees his PHOTO ALBUM in my hands.

"h-huh ? is that my PHOTO ALBUM ?"

"yeah !! KEL, SUNNY and i had to go through some trouble, but,,, we got it back !! here," i say, handing it to him.

"wow,,, thank you."

"BASIL ! you didn't tell me you had friends coming over. would you like to join us for dinner ? i always seem to cook just a little too much,,," she says, laughing.

"dinner ? sure, sounds delicious !" KEL responds.

BASIL goes back inside, followed by POLLY.

"come on, you two ! free dinner !" KEL says, walking inside, SUNNY and i trailing behind.

"please make yourself at home ! i'll go ahead and finish up the food."

"wow, it's been a while since i've been in here. you definitely have a lot more plants than you used to !"

"your house is so pretty, BASIL. i've always been a fan of flowers,,, you'll have to teach me all about them one day," i say, smiling.

"ahh,,, yeah. i like them a lot. actually there's some that are still alive from when you came here more often."

"wow, you sure are dedicated."

"yeah,,, i'm not sure i'd be able to keep plants alive if i had any,,, i'd probably forget to water it" i laugh. "but you seem really good at taking care of them,,, and you have so many. you must be a really caring and nuturing person,,,"

BASIL smiles, looking down at the ground. i guess that's one way to take a compliment,,, but it's okay. i find it cute.

"yup, that's BASIL for you. flowers and photos,,, oh, that reminds me ! now that we have your PHOTO ALBUM back, we can all look through the photos together !"