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Sunny moving away hit Basil, it hit him hard.
All Basil could do when it happened was cry and seeing his one true love—his soulmate—leave with barely even a second thought made the pain in Basil’s chest all the more gut-wrenching.
Kel though, ever so the angel, was Basil’s new light it seems. It was subtle. The move was subtle.
The way Kel’s voice was like knives on Basil’s skin and the way Basil’s more “pubescent” thoughts that were previously centered around Sunny had suddenly become filled with just Kel. It didn’t make any sense, Basil felt as if he’d been disloyal. Soulmates are meant to be each other’s one and only, but Basil found himself thinking of Kel more often than Sunny.
It was already a terrible realization, but Kel made it worse.
“Man.. I really miss Sunny! It sucks he isn’t here anymore, I miss spending time with him, but at least I still got you!”
Oh, if only he knew.
If only he knew how Basil felt his face burn—if only he saw how red he’d gone—when Kel spoke so highly of him. It wasn’t a big deal to anyone else, anybody else in the world would just assume that it was some friendly comment but Basil knew. Basil knew better than anyone that Kel loved him too, he was just too much of a dumb jock to admit it, even to himself, but Basil knew.
Unfortunately for Basil though, he was focused on the wrong part of that sentence.
Kel liked Sunny.
Of course, the one to break that to him just had to be Kel’s own brother which stung more.
“You’re.. asking me for advice to confess your feelings to.. Kel?”
“Yeah!.. I—I know that’s sort of unexpected, but I just.. I really like him and I thought if anyone knew how to make him happy or what he likes, it’d be you!..”
Hero just looked at Basil with a pitiful look that the poor blonde struggled to read, too blinded by his undying love.
“Yeah.. Speaking of what he likes, Basil, I’m sorry but.. he likes Sunny.”
It took Basil a second to process what he’d just heard, keeping that dumb excited smile on his face for a few seconds longer before it faltered and based on how sadly Hero looked at him, he could tell that he probably looked utterly heartbroken. “...He—.. what?”
“We planned on going to see Sunny at his new apartment the moment his Mom called because Kel’s just been constantly talking about missing him and.. I’m sorry. I know it seems like the end of the world now, but—” Basil just tuned out Hero’s words.
Maybe this was his punishment for being unfaithful. The new love of his life fell for his soulmate and he was forced to sit on the sidelines.
Basil went right back to being devastated and a recluse. It was right back to square one and it almost felt like he was going through the stages of grief all over again.
Suicide became an option that was more compelling than anything now but Basil didn’t wanna go that far yet. Hero was mistaken. He had to be mistaken. Kel began to come by and knock on Basil’s door once he realized his now-closest friend was showing the same signs as his crush—no, his friend—and that only served to feed into Basil’s delusion. Kel cared enough to check up on him multiple times a month and that turned into multiple times a week and then it became daily.
Kel was desperate, desperate to see Basil, and that was all the proof Basil needed to hear to know that Kel was in love and Hero was an idiot for thinking his little brother liked some guy that didn’t even live here anymore. Polly would open the door on the times she was home and would ask Basil if he wanted to see Kel, but Basil always said no.
Basil needed to know that Kel really wanted to see him and when he knew it, he’d open the door for his darling,
But then the knocking stopped.
It was one day, then two, then four, then eight.
“I didn’t want to intrude so I didn’t tell you earlier, but he’s off visiting Sunny. He’ll be back soon, he’s only staying for another week.”
“Staying? Staying where?” Please don’t say it.
“At Sunny’s.”
“..L—Like.. In his room?..”
“I’m not quite sure in his room, but I know that they’d all thought it’d be easier to just stay at Sunny’s than spend money on a hotel.”
No.
Fucking.
Way.
They’re teenagers! Gay teenagers! Going through puberty!
Something was bound to happen and they all knew it—Sunny probably knew it too—This was all planned. Sunny was probably the one that offered his room for Kel to stay in and when everything was dark and quiet, Sunny would be all touchy and—and he would steal Kel away!
And Basil couldn’t do anything about it.
He was here.
Stuck at home.
Waiting for Kel to come back home.
A non-virgin.
Basil could barely sleep the rest of the week and when he could sleep, he had nightmares. It sucked, it really, really, really sucked.
When Kel finally got back after what felt like years, Basil was ecstatic. He’d been waiting by the door basically everyday as the week neared the end until he heard a knock. Kel didn’t even have the chance to knock twice before Basil swung the door open.
The sudden mood change caught Kel very off guard, but he was happy to see Basil so happy again. Kel was almost too happy though, too relaxed. Basil could only guess why, but in all actuality, he knew why and it angered him more than anything. He’d wasted his chance to get close to Kel before but he wasn’t gonna make that mistake again, even if he felt a sting of betrayal knowing that Kel broke his unspoken commitment to the blonde.
Basil went from never opening the door for Kel to opening it every single day, sometimes before Kel even had the chance to knock. Spending time with Kel was far more exhilirating than just laying in bed wasting away. Sunny didn’t take that chance until it was way too late and Basil would never let himself fall victim to having so few days with Kel and so little time.
Most of the days they were together, it was just relaxing and talking. Basil’s favorite activity was just watching Kel play basketball.
“You sure it’s not too boring for you? I know you aren’t a big fan of sports, so you don’t need to stick around—”
“No! I mean— I like being here, it’s okay!” Basil almost felt like Kel was trying to shoo him away and he just couldn’t have that. He needed to spend enough time with Kel so that Kel would forget about Sunny and only love him. His life practically depended on it.
Sure, Kel was right, Basil did hate sports. He didn’t see much of the point in them, but he didn’t see much of the point in most things so his opinions weren’t really anything much to go by. One of the main things he did like though was just watching Kel. Basil would often zone out after a period of time as his thoughts went a bit impure and it’d frustrate him because sometimes he’d end up having to go home early.
Nonetheless, he did everything he could to spend as much time as physically possible with Kel and they slowly got closer. It was small things that Basil would initiate—minor handholding, small brushes against his arm, and a few compliments—and Kel would always respond positively. He’d also began to initiate handholding and would compliment Basil right back more often than not and it’d always make Basil so very happy.
Basil knew Kel was falling for him too and it was just a matter of time before Kel confessed and they’d get to be in love together, but Basil got impatient after some time. He knew love took time but it’d been far too long. It ended up being mid school-year before Basil started getting really upset. Kel barely said a single romantic word aside from their casual compliments and it was pissing him off. He understood Kel had priorities in keeping his school grades up enough that he wouldn’t be kicked off the school sports team, but seriously? Basil prioritized Kel and yet Kel couldn’t prioritize him?
Basil grew tired of it and decided if Kel wasn’t gonna confess, then he would. Kel was probably just too shy to do anything so Basil would suck it up.
“A sleepover on Friday?”
“Yeah!.. I mean— if you don’t want to, then I understand..” Basil may or may not have been subtly guilttripping Kel as he looked down at the floor with a sad expression that he knew would tug at Kel’s heartstrings.
“Awh man, I really wish I could, but I have a game that night.”
What.
“Oh.” Basil just blinked, clearly a bit surprised that Kel had turned him down but he supposed it couldn’t be helped. “...Okay.”
Tears pricked at the corner of Basil’s eyes the entire walk home. Kel would usually tag along to make sure he got home safe as Aubrey was still a bit angry and had given her new friends—well, more so everyone—the silent treatment so her little gang ended up assuming Basil had something to do with it, but Basil practically shooed him away under the impression that Kel probably should’ve stayed at the park with his other stupid jock friends to practice for the upcoming game, insisting instead that he’d be safe because Aubrey’s friends would probably assume he’d be walking home with Kel again anyways.
—
Seeing eachother basically daily became once or twice a week as Basil gave Kel the cold shoulder. Kel could only assume it was because he’d rejected Basil’s invitation and Basil wasn’t.. the best at taking rejection. It made Kel feel bad. Really bad. He knew Basil was going through a rough time and he probably just made it even worse so with an apology rehearsed in his hand, he went up to Basil after school ended, practically having to run over to him with how Basil would now speed walk home just to avoid him.
“Basil! Hold up!”
Basil froze and looked behind to see who’d called him. That stung to see a bit, Kel liked to think they’d gotten close enough to recognize the other without a second thought.. Once Basil identified Kel running after him, he’d turned right back around and continued walking, not even bothering to stop to wait for him.
Kel came to a walk to match Basil’s speed when they ended up side by side, but Basil was walking far too fast for Kel’s liking. Kel had to jog a bit to get them side-by-side again after a few seconds of walking. They used to always walk at the exact same speed.. “Hey! About a few weeks ago—”
“It’s fine. You were busy.” Basil didn’t even let Kel finish his sentence or apologize and his cold tone ate at Kel’s heart. “You don’t need to walk me home anymore. I’ve been fine these past few weeks.”
“It’s not just that, I wanted to apologize for turning you down.” Something inside Kel told him he shouldn’t be apologizing for not having time. He ignored that feeling. “I know you wanted to have a sleepover at the time and I’m not having a game this Friday, so if you want, we can have one this week instead!”
“..A game?”
“No, a sleepover!”
Kel could see Basil’s eyes light up and his walking pattern stutter for a moment as he started walking slower to match his pace again. Perfect! Basil was finally getting back to his normal self and it made the weight on Kel’s shoulders lighten a bit.
“Yeah.. we can have a sleepover..”
“Sweet! I’ll bring my sports bag with some clothes and stuff and we can walk together to your house, like before!”
—
Sure, maybe Basil was manipulating Kel just an itty bit by stonewalling him and using subtle cues to mess with Kel’s mind and plotting out this whole thing in his head, but he couldn’t be blamed! He loved Kel and he just wanted Kel to know how much he’d hurt him.
Basil was so excited for Friday, basically zoning out the whole day up until the bell rang and Basil was free to run off to find his love. He was fidgeting with his hands the whole way home, desperate to finally confess and get his hands on Kel. He’d been frantic and after a few minutes that’d felt like hours, he was holding Kel’s hand and speed walking again, practically dragging the poor boy back to his house. Kel didn’t seem to give it a second thought besides that Basil was just excited for the sleepover.
He had no idea just how euphoric Basil was and how he had the whole thing planned out. They’d play a few games or something, maybe some board games. It didn’t matter. Those were all just tiny details leading up to the real thing. Right before they went to bed, Basil cornered Kel.
“H—Hey, Kel.. Can I talk to you about something?..” Basil nestled himself comfortably by Kel’s side on the couch, happily cuddled up to him. Kel said he’d sleep on the couch and in any other case, Basil probably would’ve insisted Kel sleep on a comfy mattress in Basil’s room but it didn’t matter in this scenario. Kel was gonna end up sleeping in Basil’s bed whether he liked it or not.
“Sure! What’s up?” Kel just looked at Basil with a dumb smile. A dumb handsome smile that a part of Basil wanted to wipe off his pretty face.
Basil took a deep breath before he spoke, “Well.. I know that.. since Sunny left, we’ve been getting pretty close with us being basically the last two that still talk consistently…”
“And Hero!” Shut up.
“..Yeah, and Hero. But I’m talking about just us right now. Since we’ve gotten close, things have been really nice!.. I know I used to be.. a little odd over Sunny, but.. I don’t know if I like him like that anymore..” Basil saw Kel’s face start to fall. Why?
“..Oh, that’s nice. I know you used to struggle a lot when he was gone so it’s good you’re able to be on your own a bit more.” It felt like he was trying to change the topic.
“Yeah, sure.. Anyways, I.. think my feelings have sort of changed.. I think I like you, Kel.”
—
Well, fuck.
Kel knew this was coming. He saw the way Basil began to look at him the same way he did Sunny. He knew Basil was unstable and a wreck when in love and this was bad. Really bad. Basil needed 24/7 care and love and Kel couldn’t drop everything to take care of him if he had a breakdown over being abandoned.
Not just that, though. Kel just.. didn’t like Basil like that. Kel loved Basil—of course he did—but actually dating him? It was a no.
But Kel kept thinking about how Basil reacted when he’d turned him down for just the sleepover.
If he turned down an entire relationship with Basil, Basil would never talk to him again! Kel.. didn’t want that. It felt wrong to accept Basil’s advances knowing he didn’t really like him like that but what other choice did he have?
“I—”
Basil looked up at him and his expression read of a desperate plea for eternal company.
“..I like you too, Basil.”
Kel could never leave from this point forward. No matter how uncomfortable he felt when Basil’s lips connected with his and no matter how much he wanted to flinch away from his touch.
They were home alone and Basil was desperate.
Kel felt sick.