Work Text:
Dear Sunny,
Wassup? I hope you waited to read this letter until you were home like I told you to. It’s really embarrassing for me if you didn't…
There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time now. We’ve been talking a lot, recently, and I’ve begun devlopeing
Kel paused and stared at the paper for a moment. How was ‘developing’ spelled?
I’ve begun devlopeing devloping developing feelings for you
This letter didn’t even sound like him.
Sighing, Kel dropped his pen on the desk with a clatter and crumpled the paper up into a ball, spinning in his swivel chair and making a perfect shot into the trash can. He turned back and grabbed another sheet of paper, staring at it for a moment before writing Sunny’s name at the top in his neatest handwriting.
Dear Sunny,
But… what came after?
Kel groaned. He only had an hour until his dad came home with Sunny! He couldn’t write the letter when he was supposed to be hanging out with his best friend!
Why did confessing to a crush always seem so much easier in trashy romance films?
Maybe because they were trashy. Kel giggled at the thought, then tapped the pencil against his desk and tried to focus again.
Dear Sunny,
I
He distantly heard the sound of Sally’s babbles in his parents’ room. The wall clock ticked on.
Ugh. Why did he procrastinate on this for so long?
Dear Sunny,
I like you.
- Kel
He stared at the finished letter. It felt like something a ten-year-old would write.
Another failure. Kel crumpled the paper up, and it quickly joined the first in the wastebasket.
His third attempt was another failure, as was his fourth. His fifth, though…
Dear Sunny,
This past year, being friends again with you was the best feeling in the world. I missed you so much while you were locked in your house, so being able to talk to you and visit you on weekends and take you around Faraway when you visited was amazing. I looked forward to all the times that we would play video games on the computer at midnight, to all the times that I’d show up in the city on a whim and you’d drag me to any other cool store that caught your eye, to all the times that I would try and make you play basketball with me and you would do it even though you lothe hate exercise.
In these past few months, though… something changed.
I began to look forward to our hangouts more than before. Basil told me once that he’d never seen me more energetic than when you visited. On days we wouldn’t talk, I would always be slightly more moppy mopey than usual. The number of random visits to your apartment in the city increased, to the point where I had to get a job at Hobbeez to be able to afford bus tickets. (Heh. Aubrey thought I was kidding when I told her. Her response was that I could finally pay her back for all the times I borrowed money for pizza.)
It took a while for me to realize what changed. Sunny… it was my feelings for you that changed.
Somewhere along the way, I fell for you. Really, really hard.
I’m writing this in a letter instead of telling you straight up because I’m a bit of a coward. I don’t want to ruin things between us in case you don’t feel the same way. So if you don’t… I would apreceate appreciate you letting me know, but please be gentle, okay?
There was the slam of a car door from outside. Kel was out of time.
He hurriedly jotted down one more line, finishing off with his signature and folding the letter in half. He’d tuck it in an envelope and take it with him before he and Sunny headed out to explore Faraway.
You’re my best friend. I don’t want to lose you again.
Love,
Kel
Sunny watched from the table as Kel went up to go order a pizza from the employee at Gino’s.
He couldn’t hear anything from this distance— and especially not with that loud music, who even decided to play rock on the jukebox?— but he didn’t really need to. Sunny wasn’t trying to figure out what Kel was ordering. He trusted him to know what foods he disliked.
No, Sunny was just staring at Kel because he was hopelessly in love with him.
After the hospital, and Sunny’s confession, things between the friend group had been rocky. Kel had been the first one to try and bridge that gap, somehow getting ahold of Sunny’s mom’s number and asking for the address, then showing up randomly one day and dragging Sunny out of his guilt-induced moping. They’d just walked around the city, ending up in a quiet, secluded corner of the city park, where Kel had told him that he forgave him.
Sunny was a bit embarrassed to admit that he’d cried.
From then on, Kel would make a concerted effort to drop by once every two weeks, and soon, anticipation for his visits would even make Sunny go out in the city on his own to find cool places for them to explore. They began playing online games together, texting almost every day, and it only took a month before Kel invited Sunny over to his house again. Through Kel, Sunny was able to reconnect with his other friends, too.
The feelings were a newer development. They’d kind of crept up on him out of nowhere.
Maybe two months earlier, he’d gone to visit Kel and had learned that he and his family were out on a day trip. Pacing their front doorstep had proved incredibly boring, so he went to visit Basil instead. The two had had a nice time together, of course, but the real highlight of that day was right before Sunny was about to leave. Basil had taken him aside and asked him outright, “You’re in love with Kel, aren’t you?”
Sunny had blanked. What gave Basil that impression?
Probably seeing Sunny’s confusion, Basil smiled gently. “You keep bringing him up. Also I saw you staring at the photos of him earlier. Plus a million other little things, like how you constantly visit Kel, or the fact that you guys text every day, or that you weren’t even planning to come to my house today until you realized Kel wasn’t home. Best friends know this stuff, you know.”
Oh.
Maybe he was in love with Kel.
Basil’s words had stuck with Sunny. He’d tried his best to act normal around Kel, but his definition of normal was so blurred that Sunny just hoped Kel couldn’t tell how much he pined for him by his clinginess or how often they talked.
Kel started visiting more often, too. A part of Sunny desperately wished the reason was because his feelings were somewhat reciprocated.
He doubted he was ever going to get the courage to do something about it, though. Sunny was scared of Kel not reciprocating the feeling… but another part of Sunny, a part that he was trying desperately to overcome, thought he didn’t deserve someone as amazing or kindhearted as Kel.
“Hey, Sunny, I hope you like margherita pizza,” Kel said, startling him, and Sunny suddenly realized just how far he’d spiralled into his thoughts. He hoped he hadn’t been wearing a sappy, lovestruck expression. “I thought that cheese pizza was too plain, and we always get pepperoni, so I grabbed something different. You don’t mind tomatoes and basil, right?”
Sunny snorted.
Kel grinned. “Yeah… let’s not tell Basil. So, you good with this?”
He nodded.
“Awesome!” Kel gently set the warm, gooey pizza on the table, the tray making an awful screech against the metal table as he slid it into place. He sat down across from Sunny and tore off a slice, setting it on a paper plate. “Geez, it’s so late, this is basically an early dinner. You have to go back soon, right?”
Yeah, your parents will take me to the bus stop, Sunny signed, before tearing off his own slice of the pizza.
“Actually…” Kel glanced away, scratching the back of his neck. “Can I walk you to the bus stop? It’s not that far from here, right?”
A fifteen minute walk, but sure, Sunny agreed.
“Great! It’ll be fun!”
They ate the rest of the pizza in relative, comfortable silence before they finished. Sunny tossed their paper plates and napkins while Kel pushed their chairs in and brushed off the table.
Finally stepping out into the early evening air, Sunny took a moment to watch the starburst of colors spreading across the horizon from the setting sun. Beside him, Kel stretched, reaching above him. “Wow, that was delicious! So, bus stop now? Or should we go to my house first? Your call.”
Bus stop, Sunny signed after a moment. He loved Kel’s parents, but they could be a bit… overbearing at times, and right now, he really just wanted to spend time with Kel.
“Sounds good! Lead the way, Sunny!”
Sunny and Kel walked in the direction of the bus stop, making light conversation— at least until it got too dark for Kel to read Sunny’s signs unless they stopped beneath a streetlamp. After that, Kel just rambled on about his life as Sunny listened quietly. It was comfortable, and he loved every second.
He was extremely disappointed when they reached the bus stop. “Well, it was awesome spending time with you as always, Sunny,” Kel told him, his megawatt grin in full force. “Text me when you get home, okay?”
Sunny nodded mutely and turned to board the waiting bus.
Suddenly, Kel’s hand was on his shoulder. Sunny turned around, raising an eyebrow, to see Kel rooting around in his pocket. “Wait, I almost forgot! This is for you.” He finally fished out a slightly creased and bent envelope, the back marked with Sunny’s name in big block letters. “Read it when you get home. Not before.”
Smiling softly, Sunny took the envelope and nodded. Talk to you later, he signed, then turned to get on the bus for real this time.
He climbed up the steps and turned to wave at Kel. The doors closed, and the bus slowly began to move forward.
Finding an empty seat by a window, Sunny sat down and stared at the envelope in his hands.
He knew he should probably do as Kel had asked him and wait until he was back home to open it. But… he was on an hour-long bus ride with nothing better to do but play on his phone until he reached his stop…
No. Bad Sunny!
He turned the envelope over, his thumb brushing over the childish smiley face sticker sealing it shut.
Really, how would Kel even know he hadn’t waited? He just wouldn’t mention the contents until he reached his house. Then he’d be none the wiser.
Curiosity overwhelming him, Sunny slid the tip of his fingernail under the sticker and peeled it off, then reached in and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper.
He unfolded it and silently began to read.
By the end of it, his heart was racing and he knew that he’d made a huge mistake in getting on this bus.
Sunny rocketed to his feet and, rushing into the middle aisle, pressed the emergency stop button. The bus screeched to a halt in the middle of the empty road, and the two other people on the bus looked up in confusion. The bus driver poked his head into the aisle, staring at Sunny.
He wasn’t sure how he looked. Manic with joy, perhaps. I need to get off, he signed— then immediately felt like slapping himself in the forehead. What if the bus driver didn’t know sign language?
The sheer look of confusion on the bus driver’s face only proved Sunny’s worry.
Shaking his head and stepping closer to the front, Sunny pointed at himself, then the door.
“You need to leave?” the bus driver asked. “Um, okay. You’ll have to buy another bus ticket, though.”
Sunny shrugged. Kel was worth a few extra bucks.
“Uh…” The driver pressed a button on the dashboard and the doors silently puffed open. “Thanks for riding?”
He nodded and rushed out into the night air, turning and running in the direction the bus had come from.
By the time he reached the bus stop, he was panting with exhaustion. Kel wasn’t there, of course. He’d probably already gone home. Still, Sunny needed to catch his breath.
He plopped down on the bench beside the bus stop, bathed in the sepia-toned light from the street lamp above, and unfolded the letter. He reread the words hungrily. It was Kel’s handwriting, Kel’s anecdotes, Kel’s signature.
Kel’s love, written on paper and sealed with a smiley face sticker.
He had to find Kel.
He’d caught his breath enough. Hopefully Kel was taking extra-long on his walk back, because Sunny most certainly did not want to talk in front of his parents.
He scrambled to his feet and began running in the direction of Faraway Town, silently thanking Kel for all the times he’d forced Sunny to play basketball alongside him for his slightly increased speed and stamina. And it paid off— as he neared the last stretch between him and Gino’s, he saw a tall figure trudging along beneath a streetlamp, hands tucked sullenly in his pockets.
It took a moment for Kel to turn around, but then he did, his eyebrows raising in confusion. “Sunny? But didn’t you just get on the bus back home?”
Sunny picked up his pace and slammed into Kel, enfolding him in the biggest hug that he’d ever given anyone.
Kel laughed, the sound still more confusion than amusement. He returned the hug after a moment, a little bit slowly. “What— why’d you come back? Did you forget something?”
Sunny pulled away, drinking in the sight of Kel’s face. The face of his crush. The face of his crush who loved him back.
Kel’s eyesight drifted to the letter held tightly in Sunny’s hand, and his face drained of color. “W-Wait— you were supposed to wait until you got home!”
Sorry, Sunny signed, but I’m glad I didn’t.
“You… are?”
Sunny nodded. He hoped Kel could figure out why.
Kel gaped.
Sunny waited.
After a moment, Kel spoke, his voice choked up. “Wait… you’re happy you read it… you came back… do you…” He seemed too overwhelmed to speak.
I love you too, Kel, Sunny signed, taking pity on him.
“Is— is this real?”
Sunny sympathized. He’d had to ask himself that question before. Yes, it is. Promise.
A wide grin spread across Kel’s face, and he scooped Sunny up into a hug. “Oh my god! Sunny!” They both burst into giggles, Sunny halfheartedly asking to be put down. After a moment, Kel complied, setting him down and leaning his forehead against Sunny’s.
They stood there for a moment, quietly taking in the cool night air. Finally, Kel pulled back and smiled at him. “I don’t think there'll be any more buses until tomorrow, so, do you wanna stay over at my place tonight? I doubt my parents would mind.”
Sunny nodded, taking Kel’s hand as they began to walk in the direction of his home. Kel’s hand was warm in his, and for the first time in a while… he felt like the future was full of possibilities.