With Basil's hand clasped in his, palm held against his own heart, Sunny spoke the words he'd been meaning to tell Basil from the start of his whole trip.
"My heart is yours."
The blush that fell over Basil's face colored his face so red that Sunny would swear he was about to gush blood out of his nose.
"You...really mean it, Sunny?"
"One hundred percent."
Basil fell silent. Only a minute ago, the light in his eyes had receded so far that it was almost completely drowned out by the shadows. When Basil's hand pressed against Sunny's chest, a tiny glint had pierced the darkness.
Within moments that fragment of light had vanquished the shadows, and the colors that emerged were prettier than all the flowers in the world.
"You feeling better?" Sunny broke the silence.
"Your heart feels...warm..."
A moment after those words left his lips, a huge red blush suffused Basil's whole face.
"Oh...! I'm sorry." Basil turned his eyes away. "I didn't mean to say that. If you're worried about me, I feel...okay, right now."
Sunny exhaled in relief. "I hope you believe me now when I tell you that I won't ever leave your side again."
The red embarrassment on Basil's face blued, overcome by a quiet sadness.
"Basil...?"
"Sunny...I don't know what to do," Basil said.
"What's wrong?" Sunny asked.
"The words you're saying make me feel so happy," Basil said, choking back tears. "But the happier you make me, the harder it'll be for me once you leave. And you'll leave, one day. Next time...I might not even know what to do with myself."
Sunny pressed Basil's hand firmly against himself. "You still don't believe me? "
"I can tell you mean every word you say, but I know it's not realistic."
Darn...Basil has really been thinking through things since the last time we've met.
"Why can't us staying together be realistic?" Sunny asked.
The smile that came over Basil's face was veiled by so much sadness.
"Because life happens," Basil said, his voice so different from the idealistic tone of his younger self. "We all have to part ways one day when we grow up, don't we?"
That's not true. We could stay together for our whole lives.
...But I guess you're right. We both know that I can only be here for the rest of the summer.
I was hoping that we could resolve all our inner conflicts by the time I leave, so that we'll be able to part ways on happy terms, without any regrets like last time.
But...I guess you've always been too forward-looking for your own good, huh?
Sunny turned his gaze away, staring glumly at the floor. The tiny petal that had fallen from Basil's hair was still there, stuck to a tangled fiber of the carpet.
He knew how cruel reality could be. He'd loved his sister so much, and yet the world had ripped him away from her without any warning or consolation. It could happen to him again. He could blink, and all of a sudden, someone that he loved could be torn away from the embrace of his arms.
It could happen by disease, or by another lethal accident. His mom told him people also slowly lose touch with each other once their daily lives revolved around their career or their family.
If he lost Basil, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. It'd be like losing Mari all over again, but even worse. He had to trust that it wouldn't ever happen again for his own sanity's sake.
Nothing could save him from being deathly afraid of a reality where he lost Basil forever.
But I'm not going to just lie in bed wishing for bad things to go away anymore.
He'd learned not to let fear obstruct him from taking action. If he and Basil were ever separated from each other, he would do everything necessary to find him again, even if that meant wading through the depths of pain and despair. As long as Basil remained alive, he could always do something to come back to his side.
That was a vow he was willing to make.
Clasping Basil's hand gently, he gazed back into Basil's eyes.
"Even if reality tears us apart, we'll find each other again," Sunny said. "You don't have to do a thing. Just wait for me, and I'll come back for you."
"That's...that's so sweet of you," Basil said, trying to smile; it still wasn't his full smile.
"Let's make a vow to each other." Sunny tightened his grip on Basil's hand. "If I ever wake up one day and discover that you're not by my side, I'll do everything in my power to find you again. I'll come back to you as fast as I can, no matter who or what stands in my way."
Will you always be waiting for me, Basil?
"Can you make a promise for me as well?" Sunny asked, his voice softening. "Can you promise me that, no matter what happens, no matter how far apart the world separates us, you'll always go on living? Live on, waiting for the day that I'll come back to you?"
I know it's selfish of me to ask you this.
He could never fully understand the pain that went on inside another person's head. So asking someone to keep on living, no matter what kind of pain they were going through, was an extraordinarily selfish request.
I'm a selfish person.
But...I'll never ask anyone else to make this kind of vow for me.
Only you, Basil.
"I...never thought you'd say those words to me," Basil said, his face colored by a deeper red. "You really mean it?"
"I do."
"You'll keep your side of the vow, and I'll keep mine?"
"Always."
Basil glanced down at the hand that clasped his and held his palm so closely to the heartbeat that resonated through their bodies.
The cool night wind rustled the stems and leaves of the plants that grew out in the house's yard.
Blushing fully, Basil reached out with his other hand and grasped Sunny's free hand.
"I'll...I promise," Basil said. "I promise I'll always live on, waiting for you to come back to my side."
Those words played the prettiest duet to Sunny's ears.
"I promise to always return to your side, no matter how far apart we may be," Sunny said.
Basil smiled so adorably it made Sunny's heart melt.
I've been waiting to see that smile.
"Ummm...didn't we use to seal our promises by locking pinkie fingers?" Basil asked shyly.
That was back when we were kids...
Sunny summoned all his remaining courage.
This vow is a deeper promise than the ones we made as children.
When Sunny spoke his next words, he smiled awkwardly, like he was confessing to his first crush.
"Do you want to seal our promise with a kiss?"
***
Basil's face turned so red he might as well change his name to tomato.
"Ummm...Sunny?!?!?"
"You don't want to?" Sunny asked.
"Are you aware what kissing me means?"
"...I know."
Basil shut his eyes tight. "Sunny, I thought we were making this vow as best friends. But a kiss means..."
"We were already best friends," Sunny said, a blush in his cheeks. "Isn't it obvious? If I'm going all the way of giving my heart to you, it means I want us to be something even closer."
"Ummm...!!! Sunny, do you really feel that way about me?"
...I can't believe you're making me say it.
"Yeah. I like you, Basil."
Basil blinked six times in a row. The grips of his hands loosened; Sunny thought he was going to faint right there.
"Basil? Are you okay?"
"I—I never thought you'd ever feel that way about me..."
Should I have tried flirting with you first? Maybe I was too direct?
Basil's eyes watered with emotion. "Sunny...I don't even know how to express my feelings right now..."
"Just say whatever you want," Sunny said, hoping his feelings would receive reciprocation.
"Ummm...I..."
Basil had been holding back so much; Sunny could tell.
The expression on Basil's face was the kind he used to show right before unloading all his problems and feelings onto a younger, twelve-year-old Sunny.
"...Ever since I met you, I'd felt that you were...special...to me. When you listened to me reading my books, when you let me vent to you even though nobody else would care to listen...I started to love you, so, so much.
"I wanted to see you perform. I wanted to see everyone clapping for you. I wanted the whole world to know how kind and beautiful you are. On my twelfth birthday, when I blew out the candle on my cake, I gazed into your eyes and made a wish. I...
"I wished for you to always be happy. I didn't care if you didn't love me back. I just wanted you to be happy. Even if you ended up loving someone else, even if one day you got married with them and had a family of your own...as long as you were happy, I'd smile too.
"I...saw the way you blushed when Aubrey was nearby, in my photos. I cheered you on, because I knew you were happy when you were with her."
"That was a long time ago," Sunny said. "And some people like both girls and boys, you know?"
You were so sure I liked her that you weren't willing to accept that I might actually like YOU even when I gave my heart to you...
Basil glanced at Sunny with such a shy and delicate smile on his face.
"Sorry for being so oblivious," Basil said. "It's just, for so many years, it really didn't matter to me whether you loved me back or not, Sunny. As long as you were happy, there wasn't a single other thing in the world I cared about."
"I was more oblivious to your feelings, I'm sure," Sunny confessed.
Basil shook his head. "But...realizing that you...just might feel the same way about me...I never imagined it could ever be true...
"You already made me so happy today when you told me that you'd give your heart for me...
"Now that you want to seal our vow with a kiss...I just...I just...don't know what to even feel..."
Just let me love you, Basil.
Sunny gently held Basil's forearm.
"...Sunny?"
Leaning in close, Sunny wrapped his other arm around Basil, pulling their bodies closer together.
With Basil's hand held against his own heart, he snuggled his face against Basil's chest until he could hear Basil's heart rhythm as well.
Basil's heart is beating much faster than mine.
The blush on Basil's face grew so severe Sunny half expected him to collapse from embarrassment.
Listening to Basil's heartbeat felt so reassuring. In spite of the terror that had afflicted Basil earlier, those shadows and eyes and that sheer fear of losing him, Basil was still alive and warm. A warm body could still keep pushing through painful feelings and hardships; a warm body was always better than a cold one.
Tears came to Sunny's left eye as he remembered the way Mari's body grew cold, clasped tightly in his arms.
I won't ever let that happen to you.
"Sunny...?" Basil spoke again.
"I'm okay," Sunny said, wiping his tears on Basil's shoulder. "Can you tell me if you're feeling alright?"
"I...feel like I'm so happy that I wouldn't want anything more from the world..."
"Can you remember this feeling for me?" Sunny asked, a brief smile.
"W-Wha...?"
"From now on, if you're ever feeling sad, lonely, or depressed, just remember this feeling. Always remember that I care about you so much I came here to share my heart with you."
Those cheesy words summoned another gush of pink into Basil's cheeks. Sunny could feel himself blushing pretty deeply too.
They were both turning into tomatoes, which was kind of befitting the garden house that they were in.
...Maybe I should back off. He has to get it by now.
Sunny loosened his grip on Basil's hand that was held against his heart. He pulled back from their close embrace until they were standing two feet apart again.
"As long as you can remember that feeling, you don't need to be scared anymore," Sunny said, drawing from his own memories of how much he cherished the feelings his friends had given him.
"...I'll remember."
"But, if you're ever scared...let's just be honest and open with our feelings from now on," Sunny added.
"Okay. I'll...I'll try," Basil replied.
"And I don't want to hear you tell me that it's okay if I leave and never come back again. I'm not like how I was before. You don't ever have to worry about me locking myself up in my room for years again, alright?"
Basil nodded and closed his eyes, shutting off a few drops of water that fell onto the floor.
"Sunny...I'm sorry for saying that. I don't know what came over me."
"It's okay."
"It isn't." Basil turned his face to the side. "I...keep worrying about the two of us moving on with our lives until one day we just don't care to find each other anymore. Sometimes when I look at you, all I see is Something coming and taking you far out of my reach..."
...We both keep seeing Something appear within each other, huh?
Sunny realized that their Somethings were different.
The one commonality their Somethings shared was that it was a shadowy visage that first arose from a vision of Mari so horrifying, neither of them could shake it off.
If Omori had been born from the repression of Sunny's thoughts and fears, then Something was the horrific reemergence of those feelings. The longer he repressed them, the stronger those feelings would come back, appearing scarier than ever before.
Basil's Something grew willfully from the way he wanted to protect Sunny from the truth. That was different from the way Sunny's Something was born out of his denial of the truth.
Basil might have wanted Something to be there, wanted there to be a horrific creature that he could assign blame onto for every traumatic event involving Sunny.
This difference meant Basil was always aware of his denial, but was driven to keep denying the truth, whereas Sunny almost fully forgot what the truth was.
I thought I'd fully overcome my Something until I saw the shadows behind you...
I guess I'd be lying to myself if I said I'd never see Something again. Whenever I get really anxious and depressed, I'd still see those shadows at the edge of my vision...
Maybe it's going to be there for the rest of my life.
Sunny exhaled a sigh. "If Something shows up again, we have to tell each other, okay?"
Basil nervously bumped his index fingers against one another. "Would...it be fine if you'd give me a light knock on the head, just to shake me out of my fear, whenever I see Something again?"
"I'll try everything else first," Sunny replied.
"Ummm...haha...I'd really appreciate it."
"Alright. I'll knock you on the head, hopefully without sending you to the hospital again."
Basil laughed, pure music to Sunny's ears. "Okay...I trust you."
"We can trust each other as long as we're open about our feelings," Sunny said, fully aware of how much of a cheese head he sounded like.
A strong gust of wind blew against the house, signifying a coming storm.
Basil tilted his head, smiling. "Sorry about that whole tangent. Do y—you still want to...y'know..."
"Seal our vow to each other?" Sunny asked, beaming.
Basil averted his eyes. "Just one more question. H—Have you always liked me?"
"Hmmm...when I first saw you, I thought you wore a really cute flower in your hair. Back then I'd believed that only girls wore flowers in their hair, so the fact that you were a boy got me thinking...wow, that's a very pretty boy. "
"Umm...!!!"
Basil's blush came back in full swing.
Whatever words Basil was about to say utterly vanished before they could be fully given voice.
"...My feelings for you were always there. I tried to repress them for four years, but I remembered how important you were to me by the end," Sunny confessed.
"Sunny...that's so sweet of you..."
...I'd never been so honest with my feelings to someone else before.
Not even to my sister.
Sunny couldn't tell if it was from the coming storm or from his emotions when he felt a new tension in the air. The temperature of the room grew stifling.
"I really like you," Sunny whispered, leaning forward.
Basil's face flushed beet red when Sunny came a lot closer than he must have expected.
"Sunny...I... "
"Do you want to kiss?"
Basil shut his eyes. "...I do. I really want to."
"Let's seal our promise."
The gap beneath them vanished as Sunny pressed his lips against Basil's.
***
The flower in Basil's hair brushed against Sunny's bangs.
When their lips touched, Sunny felt something warm and sweet inside his chest. It was so sweet he believed he would never stop smiling.
Seeing Basil so happy to be with him, being so close to him, kissing him—before today he'd never have imagined he would get to fulfill his wish. A part of him found it hard to believe that his feelings could even include so much happiness.
His emotions were completely drowned by the sweet warmth of Basil's lips. He'd fall into the depths of hell with Basil.
From now on, I'll follow you wherever you go.
The kiss sent ripples of delightful intoxication through him. An eternity of sadness would be worth it if it let him share just one moment like this with Basil.
When the moment came that their lips parted, Sunny felt the real impact of sealing himself behind the doors of a lifelong promise.
He didn't mind it one bit. He'd been the one to slam the doors shut, and he'd hammer nails and boards and add a pair of double iron gates to the door if he could. As long as Basil was the one waiting for him inside this door, he'd do everything in his power to make sure he could come in and never exit.
Sunny's hands grasped Basil's. "That was wonderful."
"It was," Basil said. "Sunny, I—I love you."
You've made me so happy, Basil.
"I just...didn't expect you to love me back after pining after you for so long," Basil added quietly.
Sunny felt another kiss would convince him. "Kiss me again."
"A—Again?"
The furious red blush on Basil's face was so adorable.
"You don't want to?"
"N—No, I j—just thought maybe you still wanted to hold back a bit...since that kiss was just for sealing our promise to each other..."
He overthinks things even more than I do...
"If you accept my love, then kiss me again," Sunny offered.
Warm, light-headed giddiness rushed through Sunny's body as Basil's lips pressed against his once more. He couldn't hold himself back from wrapping his arms around Basil, embracing all the heat of his body, pressing their chests close until he could feel Basil's heartbeat. He craved more.
Hot passionate emotions flooded him until the very core of his being felt submerged in an abyssal trench of heart-tingling, stomach-churning sweetness.
Everything felt so right.
They kissed until Sunny was completely out of breath.
When their lips parted, he drew in deep lungfuls of air without which he'd (almost gladly) have suffocated to death.
He hoped the expression on his face wasn't manic.
That was...not a good thought given the nature of the manic characters that tended to appear inside his headspace.
He gazed at Basil's eyes, drawn towards that tender glow within them.
We kissed again.
Again.
Again.
And again.
...I'm not sure when we stopped, but when I opened my left eye, I'd nearly fallen over, desperately gasping for air...
...Basil wasn't doing much better.
Sunny managed to reach the mattress, collapsing. He couldn't believe he'd done it so long, his first time kissing someone.
Saliva drenched his lips. The taste of Basil was still fresh on his tongue and the only thing stopping him from going back for more was the very apparent fact that Basil was also desperate for air.
...It could only happen with Basil, someone who'd pined after me for so long...
"Are you...okay...Basil?"
"I'm...okay...Sunny..."
Hand propping his body up against the kitchen counter, Basil gazed at Sunny, smiling.
Still not that full smile, a smile he'd remembered being brighter than the sun. But they were getting there.
This was enough for now.
"You wanna...look over...your old photo album...again?" Sunny offered.
Basil's eyes grew with longing as they glanced towards the photo book that lay on the couch. But he shook his head.
"Actually...I think I'd rather...go to bed," Basil said, his eyes becoming lidded.
Sunny couldn't feel sleepy after all that kissing, but by this time in life he was no stranger to insomnia. If Basil wanted to go to bed, he'd happily comply even if it meant tossing and turning for a while.
But the thought of lying alone on the mattress in the living room suddenly made his heart feel very cold.
I don't want to be too intrusive.
"Okay, let's go to bed," Sunny said.
"Alright. Goodnight, Sunny."
"Goodnight, Basil."
Before leaving for his bedroom, Basil stood by the door leading into the bedroom hall, a shy smile on his face. A trace of his earlier blush grew on his cheeks.
"Sunny...I know I've already asked a lot today, but...would you like to come sleep in my room?"
Basil...
We share one mind, don't we?
That was perhaps the ordinary outcome of sharing a deep trauma within a buried secret for four years.
"I'd love to," Sunny said. "I'll bring the mattress over."
"Umm...yeah, I guess my bed's too small to fit two people..."
Sunny's brain felt like it might just explode.
Did Basil just casually suggest the two of us sleeping together? In one bed?
He shook those thoughts away. "Let's carry it."
Basil started to smile, a quiet giggle. "Thanks, Sunny."
While dragging the mattress (again) across the bedroom hall, Sunny felt a light-headed sensation different than anything he'd ever felt before. All the colors in his vision seemed rose-tinted; he felt like he could vomit rainbows.
Every time he glanced in Basil's direction and locked eyes, he thought his heart would burst out of his chest in happiness.
In biology class, he'd learned that two neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin, were involved in the production of elated feelings.
My brain must be swimming in them right now...
He'd never have imagined that such a happy reality could have awaited him in the real world. All those years spent lying in bed, wasted.
Or, maybe not. Maybe if he'd gone through school like a normal teenager would, he'd still be the same sort of outcast he felt like he was now. He was sure the only person that had ever been into him was Basil, anyways.
The two of them were lucky that they ended up liking each other.
"Hey, Basil, I was wondering..." Sunny began. "While I was locked up in my room for four years, did you ever...like anybody else?"
Basil shook his head vigorously. "I only ever thought about you, Sunny."
Hearing those words, Sunny felt someone take a knife to his heart and twist. "I'm really sorry for taking so long to come back to you."
"It's o-okay, I'm over it now," Basil said. "Let's forget about that time of our lives, okay?"
I'll try.
"Yeah, that might be for the best," Sunny replied.
They pushed the mattress into Basil's room and plopped it down onto the floor by Basil's bed.
This is where I'll be sleeping from now on...
Basil picked up his toothbrush and toothpaste. "I'll be back in a second."
I need to brush my teeth, too...
Sunny had brought his hygiene supplies in his backpack. He went back to the living room to grab them, and went to brush his teeth in the washroom right after Basil was done.
When he came back to their bedroom, Basil was already tucked in bed, on the verge of falling asleep.
"Sunny...I'm so glad you love me," Basil spoke.
"I'll love you for the rest of my life," Sunny assured him.
You're so precious to me, Basil, sometimes I could cry just by thinking about you.
Or when I think about the sadness we've both endured over the past five years...
Basil closed his eyes and fell fast asleep, leaving Sunny alone with his thoughts for the first time in what felt like forever.
***
Sunny saw the moonlight shining in through the window. He watched the pale light play over Basil's sleeping figure, illuminating the beautiful pink flower he wore in his hair. It stirred something light inside his chest.
Outside, in the house's yard, he'd remembered seeing pots planted with red and orange tulips, even though he knew Basil's favorite was white tulips.
Inside Basil's bedroom, a single white tulip grew out of a pot placed by the windowsill. It had wilted.
The night's silence struck Sunny with the real world's messy realities, and they left his mind in chaos. His relationship with the only remaining member of his family was in the gutter. He had only a bit of money left in his pocket to pay for food. If he wanted to stay for the whole summer, he had to find a job right away.
Friends weren't normally so close that they'd stay over for that long. What would people think of their relationship? What would Basil's parents think?
Perhaps Basil's new caretaker, once they arrived, could tell him in no uncertain terms to get out.
What would Kel, Aubrey, and Hero think...?
No matter what happened, he had no intention of ever breaking his promise to stay by Basil's side.
The memory of their kiss, still fresh in his mind, felt so blissful.
He just wished he had some clue about what the two of them were going to do from here on out.
Most classmates at their age, eighteen, were bound for college. But he was behind in grade, and he had no idea how Basil was doing in school, or what his future plans were, if he had any.
He still didn't understand why Basil had stopped talking to his friends in the past month.
Maybe Basil was afraid of them now that the truth was out. But even if Hero didn't forgive him for framing Mari's death, Aubrey seemed to be the most understanding. She'd almost killed Basil herself when she pushed him in the lake; she was in the best position to empathize with what they did. And Kel was a nice person who'd always hear anybody out.
Sunny looked out the window and saw a dark grey cloud begin to cover the moon. He felt his eyes growing heavy as the hour clock struck 1 AM.
After a few sleepy blinks, his eyes finally closed shut.
Where am I...?
I'm...floating in water...
It's so foggy...
He felt a warm, gentle hand holding his. Together, they stayed afloat on the misty water. A familiar voice spoke close to his ear.
"After all this time...you've finally come back for me."
"But...tomorrow...you're going away."
"I don't...want to be...alone...not again."
"You...can't...leave me...again..."
Sunny spun around and found himself looking at a crown of flowers on a head of greenish blue hair.
Weren't those the words you spoke to me that night, when we'd fought?
He couldn't see any more trace of that shadow in Basil's eyes.
"Hey, Sunny," Basil spoke. "Glad to see you make it."
"Hi...Basil," Sunny replied. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure, but it seems we're both lost at sea," Basil replied. "Hold my hand. We have to swim to shore."
"...Okay."
The two of them started wading through the water. The fog didn't clear; he had no idea if they were moving closer or further from the shore. Or if there was a shore nearby at all.
"You're doing great!" Basil said, smiling.
"I hope I don't sink..." Sunny said, staring down at the depths, and saw only bottomless nothingness.
"Don't worry. As long as we keep our promise to stay by each other's side, we'll never drown, right?"
"R-Right."
Out of nowhere, a dark, Basil-shaped shadow emerged from the endless fog. The shadow drifted towards them until it was right next to them, walking on the surface of the water which they swam through.
"Sunny..." the stranger spoke. "Are you sure you're making the right choice?"
Sunny faced the floating figure and tried to speak, but Basil was the one who answered for him.
"Of course he did," Basil said. "We promised that we'll always stay together because I know he'll come back to me no matter what."
The shadow's face grew darker. "Just what are you playing at, Sunny?"
Sunny felt the waves surging against his body and his face, stopping him from swimming any further.
"Basil has always been afraid of losing you," the stranger continued. "You might believe you can remove his fear by convincing him that you'll never leave his side, but that's just placing a bandage over a festering wound. Basil will never fully recover until he overcomes his fear of losing you."
The Basil holding Sunny's hand faced the stranger, his eyes glowing red. "But Sunny's telling the truth. He really won't leave me this time."
The stranger laughed.
Before Sunny could shield himself, the waves crashed against him. He completely lost control over which direction he swam in, or even the orientation of his body. Everything felt jumbled.
He still grasped Basil's hand.
"You think Sunny has any control over that?" the stranger said. "People can leave at the drop of a hat. All it takes is one argument...or a change of goals...or a disease...or an accident."
An image of Basil's grandmother's face flashed across the Stranger's visage coinciding with the word disease, followed by the sound of a body falling down stairs.
"That won't happen!" Basil exclaimed. "Sunny...Sunny won't leave me on a whim. He promised with his heart that he'll stay by my side."
The noise of a violin's strings snapping reverberated across the clouds.
"You trust Sunny so much," the stranger whispered. "Yet you know that the more you trust him, the more deeply he'll hurt you when he leaves one day."
Sunny opened his mouth. He tried to protest, but no words came out. Only the sound of crashing waves.
"Or do you not know?" the stranger continued. "Do you still deny the reality before you?"
"You...aren't giving me enough credit," Basil spoke, a small smile. "I know I'll feel sad, I'll feel miserable if Sunny leaves me."
"Then why do you still cling to him?"
"Because...because that's what my feelings tell me to do."
The Stranger froze in its tracks.
"When we sealed our promise, I was so happy," Basil said. "I realized that if I could experience so much happiness, then it's still worth having all my feelings. Even if those same feelings result in a lot of sadness..."
"You say that now, but how will you react when you experience true sadness?" the stranger persisted. "How will you cope when you're faced with the bleakest misery your existence can offer? Will you deny it all over again?"
Basil turned away from the stranger. "...I don't know."
"You won't face reality," the stranger said. "You'll do what you always do when reality becomes too painful for you to confront. You'll conjure up an alternate reality, call it the truth, frame a murder—you'd do anything to escape it."
"...I won't deny my feelings anymore," Basil said softly. "I'll face them this time."
The stranger didn't seem convinced. Without an answer, it turned around and disappeared into the fog.
Sunny found himself floating on the surface of the sea again. He turned towards Basil, tightening his grip on his hand.
"Sorry about that, Sunny," Basil said, smiling. "I know, things will be hard from here on. But I'll stay positive. I promise."
You don't need to always be positive...
Sometimes you have to let yourself feel sadness fully.
"I understand..." Basil said, replying directly to Sunny's thoughts. "The best thing I can do is to let myself feel sad when things don't go the way I want them to..."
"But Basil has never done what's best for himself, has he?
Omori's face rose up from the depths of the sea, threatening to engulf them.
"Basil doesn't care about himself," Omori spoke, his voice resonating across the entire universe. "Basil has always done what's best for YOU, Sunny. When he framed your sister's murder, it was to protect YOU from responsibility. When he took the blame for you defacing all the photos in his album, it was to protect YOUR image. And if he'd succeeded at killing himself, it would only be because he wanted to protect YOUR secret."
Sunny felt tears welling up into his eyes.
He looked down at his chest and saw that the tears streaming down his cheeks were the source of the whole sea that they were swimming in.
"I'm sorry, Sunny," Basil said, letting go of Sunny's hand. "I can't do what's best for myself. I'll always do what's best for you. Because I love you."
"Wait," Sunny tried to say. "Don't go."
Basil drifted further and further away.
"Will you keep your promise?" Basil asked, his voice growing more distant. "Will you come back to my side, no matter how far apart we drift?"
Sunny tried to swim through the ocean of tears as fast as he could. But he wasn't fast enough to catch up to Basil, pushed away by the surging waves.
His tears flowed faster than he could swim, and the water kept rising.
"I'll be waiting for you, Sunny," Basil said as he vanished into the fog.
"Basil!!!"
Sunny's left eye burst open, his body bolting up like a spring from the mattress.
That was just a dream...
It was still dark out. There was a soft drizzle; the clock said 5:30 AM. He spun to face Basil's bed and felt a wave of relief when he saw that he was okay.
Basil's still here, sleeping by my side...
A phone ringing had woken him up.
Calming down, Sunny climbed out of bed and walked out into the bedroom hall towards the phone in the living room.
Ugh. Why does my brain assault me with these horrible dreams?
And who the heck is calling at this hour?
He reached the dial-up phone in the living room and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Sunny?" he heard his mom's voice speak.