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“Do you miss him?”
The question came out of the blue. She hardly knew where it came from. Though, she had a feeling this wasn’t a recently developed thought that he had blurted out but rather what he had been agonizing over in the moments of silence when conversation came to a halt. Aubrey had found the silence pleasant. Perhaps he hadn’t.
“Who?”
She wasn’t an idiot. She knew who he was talking about. It didn’t take a genius. Yet, the words slipped from her mouth before she could even stop them.
“..You know who..” He said with some hesitance.
Aubrey sighed before she lifted herself off her knees and onto her feet. She patted down her legs, taking off a loose layer of dirt as she did so. She then turned over to face Basil.
He wasn’t facing her. Instead he was facing the white tulips which he had been caring for, absentmindedly attending them as he awaited her response.
“He’s visiting next winter break, Basil. It’s just a few weeks away.”
His hand trembled for a moment.
“That wasn’t the question.”
He spoke cautiously. He tried to sound calm, as if he wasn’t growing impatient. It wasn’t often Basil’s strong patience threatened to frail.
She responded slowly as if testing out the waters. “Yes, I do miss him.”
Basil nodded and went silent once more as he tended to his plants. If he noticed that Aubrey had abandoned the plant she had been tending to in favor of staring at him, he didn’t comment. He just moved onto the next plant that needed his care.
After a long moment, Aubrey walked over to Basil and put a hand on his shoulder. He startled and quickly whipped his head over in her direction with wide eyes. They both just stared at each other for a moment before Aubrey cleared her throat and said,
“Let’s take a break from the garden work for a moment. It’s hot and I am in need of water A.S.A.P. You agree?”
Basil looked over at his plants then tried to stammer up an excuse of why he should stay outside and continue working. Though, one look at Aubrey’s stern face had his words dying on his tongue. He meekly nodded and forced himself to stand up.
Aubrey’s hand on his shoulder didn’t move. Not even as they began to walk into Basil’s house. She only let go when they made it to the couch and that was only so she could lightly nudge him to sit down. He went without much resistance.
“Water, right?”
Basil nodded. He was suddenly aware of how much he needed this break. The air conditioning felt like bliss on his skin and the idea of water flowing down his hoarse throat was just heavenly. He had gotten used to working in hot environments but that never took away the satisfaction of stepping into a conditioned room or those occasional cool winds.
It took him a moment to register a cool glass of water being pressed into his hands as well as the couch sinking next to him. He turned to Aubrey and gave her a gracious smile. She just waved her hand dismissively as she took a sip of her soda.
She relaxed against the couch and lazily wrapped an arm around Basil’s shoulder. She had always initiated casual physical touch though she seemed to have increased the level of her affections ever since they became official.
She noticed Basil barely drinking anything. Maybe an occasional sip once or twice but for the most part, the glass sat in his lap as he stared into the off distance. Aubrey broke him from his stupor as she spoke up.
“So what brought that up?”
He turned to her with a confused expression.
“The whole ‘miss him?’ thing.” She explained.
Basil looked away almost guiltily. He bit the bottom of his lip and reached over to place his water on the table before findling with his fingers. His eyes were glued to his hands.
“I was wondering if he.. Missed us. I mean, I know he does! But, last time he came to visit. It just felt like…”
“He had moved on completely and forgot about all of us because he kept on distracting himself with new friends and only talking about them?”
He winced and leaned away from her touch as much as he could while wrapped in her arms. He nodded slowly. She internally cursed herself for being too brash and not putting any thought into her words. It was really something she needed to work on.
“Basil, he hasn’t forgotten about us. Even if he has all of these new ‘cool’ friends now, we are his old friends. We are his childhood friends. You don’t forget those people so easily. We’ve all been through so much together. He better not fucking forget about us.” She said, letting her own anger at the thought seep through for a moment before getting her mind back on track. She was comforting Basil, not ranting. “ And even if he does forget about us, we have each other.”
That guilty expression deepened as he silently whispered, “Yeah..”
She squinted at him for a moment as she tried to figure out his expression. Aubrey was a lot more observant than most gave her credit for. Not to mention she grew up around Basil, she knew him like the back of her hand.
That was why she was quickly able to catch up on why her words seemed to upset him. The idea of Sunny forgetting about them made her angry. It made her feel abandoned; she’d gladly grow to resent him if he truly left them after everything. She would blame him and his selfishness, as she should.
Basil didn’t work that way. He had always been so desperate for Sunny’s attention and guidance. Sunny connected to Basil in a way that Aubrey never could. That was something she had come to terms with long ago. Basil needed Sunny in a way Aubrey didn’t. If he abandoned them, Basil would take that in as proof that he did something wrong.
Or it might have even been more complex than that. He would feel sorrow. He would feel mourning if Sunny were to leave them. Even if he had the others, him and Sunny had a connection that nobody else could make up for. He couldn’t lose his best friend. His literal partner in crime. He couldn’t take out the blame on Sunny to soothe his betrayed heart.
Aubrey sighed.
She pulled him closer into herself and let her hand rest on his shoulder. She gave a firm squeeze to his shoulder before softly pressing her lips to the side of his head. She then leaned her head against his as she spoke up.
“But he won't leave. He won’t forget. You mean so much to him. It might not seem like it at times but he needs you just as much as you need him. He is our friend. He may not be a good friend at times but he is our friend. He isn’t going to leave just like that. He may be distracted with all of these new interesting people but in the end, we are his home. I promise, we aren’t going to lose him.”
Basil went quiet but it wasn’t like he was saying much before that anyways. He reached over for his water and took a few long, slow sips as he slumped into her arms. Aubrey took that as a sign to drop the conversation. She shifted once more to press a kiss to the top of his head.
“When do you think Polly is coming back?” She asked him.
Basil thought for a moment before saying. “I think an hour or so..”
Aubrey hummed thoughtfully before taking the glass from his hand and placing it on the table. He gave her a questioning look as she did so. She just rolled her eyes as she leaned back on the couch until she was laying down. He got the memo and shifted so was laying on her with his head resting against her chest.
“Polly will probably have us help with dinner so let’s just nap for a bit until she does. I’m tired as hell.”
“I thought this was supposed to be a short break. What about the plants?”
“We got mostly everything done, it’ll be fine.”
He didn’t seem convinced but he didn’t exactly want to get up either. He agreed with the ‘I’m tired’ statement and wasn’t in a rush to get back to work. He let out a sigh as he sunk into her. Though, he perked up his head when he realized something.
“You’re staying for dinner?”
She flicked his forehead.
“Of course, I am. I love Polly’s cooking.”
“You never stay when I cook.” He said with a frown.
“Exactly. As I said, I love
Polly’s
cooking.”
Basil rolled his eyes but rested his back down against her.
“I’m hardly a bad cook.”
“I know you aren’t. But you always cook healthy diet foods.”
“It’s not my fault you always eat junk.”
“Ouch, low blow.”
“Sorry..” He said hesitantly in case he had actually offended her.
She just lightly punched his arm to reassure him that she knew it was only light teasing.
“Either way, yes. I’m staying for dinner.”
Basil smiled and nodded. He let his eyes close slowly. Aubrey moved her gaze from his face to the ceiling. She wondered what Polly would make. She could think of a few potential meals that sounded amazing.
It wasn’t long until snores were leaving Aubrey’s mouth as she lazily dreamed of various food items. Basil didn’t join her in the realm of sleep. He simply just kept his eyes closed and paid attention to the rise and fall of her chest as he waited for Polly’s arrival.
Aubrey was right. He wouldn’t forget about them so easily. His worries may have not completely subsided but they were at least put to rest. Now with the thoughts of Sunny no longer plaguing his mind; he could focus on the warmth of his girlfriend’s body as he relaxed after a long day's work.