Basil and Kim sat outside beside Aubrey on the backyard door steps, Basil cringing a bit as she lit a cigarette and took a puff from it. Although Kim also hated the pink haired girl's habit, she knew better than to stop her. Only Vance somehow had that power over her.
"I-I'm warning you right now Basil, what I'm going to say is not gonna be easy to listen to. If you want to back out now, I don't blame you.", Aubrey stared off at the flowers in the backyard, the warmth of the smoke filling her lungs helping to relax her nerves.
Basil just wrote a quick 'I can handle it' and showed it to her. Kim fidgeted with her hands nervously, not knowing if she should be there or not for this but Aubrey insisted she come too.
With a huff, she stomped out the butt of the cigarette but made sure to toss it away properly before sighing and looking at Basil.
"You remember the day Mari... y'know..", she didn't even have to finish that as Basil sadly nodded. Taking another breath for courage and continuing,
"She didn't hang herself Basil, Sunny killed her."
The weight of those words seemed to crash down on the blonde who looked at her in a mix of disbelief and shock. She continued as Kim stayed silent,
"I arrived at their house early and I saw it happen. He shoved her down the stairs. When he noticed she wasn't breathing, he hung her body. He killed her. He took her from us."
By the time she stopped speaking, tears had began to roll down her cheeks. Basil just stayed still, shocked and trying to process it all as Kim looked just as shocked,
"Wait, that black haired kid killed his own sister?!" She was quickly shushed by Aubrey and apologized, asking again in a hushed tone to which she nodded.
"That's why he got mad at me when I tried to confront him. He turned everyone against me, even... even my own parents..", her tears fell faster as she hiccuped before breaking down into full on sobs.
Kim and Basil looked to each other, both not super great at helping others but knowing they had to do something. They both held her tightly, Basil letting her cry into his shirt while Kim rubbed her back gently.
After a few minutes, the crying stopped and turned to quiet hiccups. Kim took the chance to gently dry the remaining tears on her face, a small bit of blush rising to her cheeks as she did. The blonde boy walked to his precious flowers nearby and gently plucked two before walking back.
The two girls looked at him confused before both having a soft dusting of blush on their cheeks as he tucked the flowers behind their ears.
He grabbed out his notepad and wrote something down, handing it to Kim who read it out loud,
"For Kim, I chose the Alstroemeria as it means devotion and support which you've shown to Aubrey. And as for Aubrey, I chose the yellow rose as it symbolizes friendship."
Aubrey turned to look at him, confusion on her face before realization hit,
"Y-you believe me?" Basil gave a nod in response, smiling softly and squeaking in surprise as the pink haired girl brought him into a tight hug and began crying again. He looked to her in concern before seeing she was smiling too, and he decided to pull Kim into the hug as well.
"Y-you have no idea how much this means to me. T-thank you Basil." Her smile was practically from ear to ear, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. Kim smiled and ruffled the boys hair,
"Basil, from this day on you are an honorary member of the Hooligans!" He let out a small sound that resembled, to the best of his abilities, a laugh at that as the three got up and prepared to head back inside. They hoped the others were still asleep so that Aubrey wouldn't have to explain her tearful state.
But in that moment, Basil looked back and, for a split second, he swore he saw Mari sitting by his flowers with a proud smile on her face