Evening softly fell upon the sleepy suburban town known as Faraway and cast purplish hues across the landscape. As the sun set, the birds finally ceased their ear-splitting chirps, only to be replaced by the choking calls of crickets and croaking frogs in distant forest creeks; they were loud enough that a rambunctious teen Kel had to resist the urge to snag his friend Sunny's hand, drag him into the woods behind their simple neighborhood, and catch the slimy amphibians with their bare hands like the unruly, unsupervised children they used to be. Deep down, Kel never let go of that inner child. He would happily grab the old bug net from his garage and catch as many squishy animals and insects as he could with it, wretched summer heat be damned. Ah, but, small town Faraway itself wasn't terribly humid over the summer. The excess moisture wasn't exactly pleasant… but it wasn't unbearable either! It was just humid enough to make someone ask "why does it feel wet outside?" without additional comment. Good 'ol Sunny asked that question once as a kid, actually, but he never got a straight answer from anyone. To be honest, Sunny had spent most of his time during the weather unit of their middle school science class staring out the classroom window (not that Kel blamed him, he was pretty sure they learned all that stuff the year before). Sunny was a lot more vocal back then. Always full of questions. Always full of answers. Anything you told him, Sunny stored in his mind for the perfect time that insignificant piece of information would have become slightly useful, where he would then proceed to dump an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge onto you for no other reason than that he could, and nobody could stop him. The thought made Kel sad in retrospect.

Sunny in the present day was a far cry from that curious boy he once was, quietly walking in front of Kel across the cooling sidewalk under the threat of darkness, their footsteps drowned by nature's hums. Kel made note of the awkward silence between him and Sunny, mind running through countless possible goodbyes and farewells he could give that might have made the day a worthwhile adventure. He trailed wordlessly behind the shorter boy as the two trekked towards the latter's home through the familiar neighborhood of their childhood. Sunny, similarly made no acknowledgment of his existence, much to Kel's disappointment. The pair silently passed Kel's own home (his dog Hector was fast asleep in the dog house, but if he was awake, he probably would have barked mad) and they stopped right in front of Sunny's door. In the end, Kel had nothing worthy to say for the night. There was nothing he could say to account for this horrible excuse of a day.

Four years, and he had nothing positive to give but bruised arms from all the fights he got into, and a heavy dose of awkward meetups with old friends. After four years of solitude, Kel had seen Sunny leave his home for the first time since his sister had passed. After months of knocking on his door, Kel finally got to see the face of his best friend just three short days before he moved from Faraway forever…

Four years, and he really hadn't prepared for it at all. Kel should have been more attentive, no matter how slim the chance of seeing his old best friend was. He should have tried harder, in retrospect, trying to get Sunny out of the house. That way their reunion wouldn't have been so short. Maybe Sunny would have even come back to school.

Kel tried to peer at Sunny's face, whose body had remained noticeably tense since they left their friend Basil's home earlier that night, but his expression remained eerily still. Like he couldn't feel anything at all, or maybe that was what he wanted Kel to think, but Kel knew better. Sunny's body betrayed him. Kel could see the remnants of something carved deep behind his stoic mask, the unmistakable expression of terror. By the time they had left Basil's house, the deepest traces of it had long since been etched away, but Kel could sense the fear radiating off him. To what or who it was directed towards, he didn't know, but he also dared not to ask. As children, Sunny was never particularly fond of the dark, so Kel pretended he simply never outgrew that childhood phobia.

As for Basil, well… he also seemed uneasy over dinner. Uncomfortable, sweaty, maybe even a little nauseous. Not that Kel made note of it, considering Basil had been mercilessly bullied earlier that day. By Aubrey, of all people. Not that Kel was surprised, but all of them used to be friends at one point… Kel wishes he could go back to those days.

Sunny led them both up to the door to his house. As the boy stepped up to the door, he soundlessly turned back to face Kel, who could only smile encouragingly.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today, Sunny!" Kel beamed at him with a wide, infectious smile.

Sunny continued to stare at him silently, slightly averting his gaze downwards so that he didn't have to look Kel in the eye. The chirps of crickets seemed to grow louder in Kel's ears as he observed every inch of Sunny's blank face with his own bright eyes; the forest screamed a thousand warnings at Kel, who could only channel his worries in one ear and out the other. Helpless.

"Sorry for all the trouble? I didn't expect today to be like this… It was kinda bad if I'm being honest," Kel chuckled nervously, watching Sunny's face intently. The smaller boy tensed slightly, bringing his arms closer to his body in discomfort. Kel mentally smacked himself. Sunny's first day outside in four years, and he'd managed to get into several fights with their close ex-friend and her gang of Hooligans. Of course Sunny didn't want to think about that, of course.

"Um… You haven't talked to anyone in a while, right? You haven't said a word all day. I can kinda tell you're nervous or something, but no biggie!" He pointed and winked at Sunny in an attempt to lighten the mood, only to be met with even more silence. Sunny looked at the ground, perhaps in a manner that dictated sorrow, or perhaps embarrassment. Kel very quickly added, "It just takes practice, right? You were always pretty quiet when we were kids."

Sunny continued to stare, nodding in agreement.

"Right… Do you get lonely, sometimes? Sorry if that's a weird question," Kel scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

Sunny lets out a sigh and shrugs, speaking his first words of the day softly. "It's… okay."

Okay? Just okay? Kel thought, That's all he has to say?

Kel continued, "You know, you're always welcome to call us! I'm sure my parents would like to hear from you?"

"I suppose," Sunny agreed. His voice is hoarse, and raspy like he's just woken up with a dry throat and has yet to drink some water. "It's… been a long time."

Kel's smile fades into a frown, voice soft. "...I really miss you, you know that? Things are really different now, for better or for worse. I wish things could go back to the way they used to, but…" Kel sighs as the memories flood his mind. "Well, maybe we can? Go back to the way things were?"

Sunny swallowed nervously. "Yeah… sure."

'C'mon Sunny, say something more than that!' Kel urges in his mind.

"Right… Anyways," Kel continued awkwardly. "Hero's coming back from college tomorrow, so I'm sure he'll want to see you before you leave. So if you don't mind… I'll be coming back for you in the morning! That sound good?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Yeah!" he tried to pry a smile out of Sunny with a grin of his own. "You know he's studying to be a doctor, right? It's pretty cool! I think he's just saying his gen ed courses right now, so, not too much to do on the 'doctoring' front- but I think it's cool! Not sure if I could handle all that schooling though…"

"Don't really like school," his friend shrugged. It was a statement Kel could agree with.

"Yeah… Um, you haven't been at school in a long time, now that I think about it. You get homeschooled right?"

"Something like that," Sunny mumbled cryptically, like somehow that answered the question.

"Yeah, well-" Kel internally grimaced as Sunny grew more reserved, keeping his gaze turned to the sidewalk. He decides to cut their reunion short for his sake. "-anyways, take care, okay? I'll come pick you up tomorrow, how's that sound? Oh! Also, isn't your birthday coming up in July? Send me your new address and I'll send you something cool! Do you want anything?"

"No," Sunny's head shook palely and turned to face the door, placing his hand on the doorknob while half-facing Kel. He continued to say nothing, but Kel got a glimpse at the discomfort in his gaze. Sunny had always been quiet, but he was hardly expressionless. A bit stone-faced at times, yes, but Kel knew him well enough to know how Sunny preferred to communicate his emotions to others. He simply hated drawing attention to himself, that's all. Sunny had his own mannerisms, but Kel could see none of them expressed within him at this very moment.

"Ah, well let me know if you change your mind, 'kay? G'night, Sunny" Kel ignored the heavy thump in his chest with a smile and encouraging wave. "Sweet dreams!"

Sunny opened the door without a word, stepping inside his pitch black empty home. He turned to close the door, avoiding Kel's eyes with his own empty black puddles. Kel felt something heavy catch in his throat as the color completely drained from Sunny's already deathly pale face as the shadow of the door began to drape over his face, leaving nothing but cold, empty regret.

The beat in Kel's chest grew tighter, and he sucked in a breath of air in near panic as his heart pumped pure presumptive dread through his body.

"Sunny-" Kel's voice cracked, coming out in a half-whisper.

He paused.

"H-Hey, Sunny…" Kel stuttered, choosing his next words carefully. "I know that things didn't really go as planned but, tomorrow will be a lot better, okay?"

Visibly concerned, Kel peered around the door frame covering half Sunny's face. The boy's eyes remained fixated on the ground and shielded by his bangs. Kel awaited for acknowledgement, but the silence was loud enough to burst his eardrums.

He had to break it. Break it with a promise.

"It'll be just like old times!" Kel smiled as wide as his face would allow -so wide that it hurt. He croaked, "I'll come get you tomorrow, and then we'll make things right. I promise, okay Sunny?"

Kel held out his hand and extended his pinky finger. Sunny looked at his hand with tensed eyebrows, his eyes squinting slightly at Kel's hand uncomfortably.

"Just like old times." Kel pleaded.

Sunny extended his hand and crossed his finger with Kel's, who wrapped his pinky around Sunny's tightly and smiled. Sunny nodded softly as his only confirmation.

Kel cheerfully retracted his hand. "A-Alright, sweet! Perfect! I'll come by your house around… how does noon-"

Click.

"-sound," Kel's eyes met a blank wooden door. He blinked a few times, confused, perhaps even a little betrayed. "Um- What-?"

Kel waited for a few moments, unsure of what to do. He stuttered and glanced to his side as if he could confirm the moment's awkwardness with a stranger.

'Did he just…?' Kel shook his head. Briefly, the lingering dread in his body was replaced with confusion.

"Sunny?" the boy called. The response was as one would expect.

He stared at the door for a few moments and reached out his hand, contemplating. Did he say something wrong? Was Sunny mad at him? Was he upset? It didn't make sense if Sunny was… Everything was going fine. They made a promise, so that meant that everything was fine? (Or perhaps he overstepped?)

The boy reached out his lanky hand and softly knocked, but he hesitated halfway, and his knuckles soundlessly met the wooden door and dragged down the grains. He sighed helplessly. Kel never struggled to understand Sunny, even on the days where he simply seemed to fade away quietly in the background; Kel had always been the one to bring him to the front again and put him in the spotlight.

But the Sunny he met today merely bore the same face as the child he knew 4 years ago, barely aged at all, with none of the life he once had. The Sunny Kel knew was quiet, but he was also curious and creative and expressive in his own unique way. He wasn't… this.

Completely unrecognizable. Distant. A stranger.

Kel remained motionless at the door. He knows it's been a few years, and Sunny, well, for lack of a better term, has seen far better days. He knew things would be different, but Kel knew better…

He's missing something.

He misses Sunny; he misses everything.

What is it, Kel thinks? What is he missing?

His mind wanders.

He thinks about the days of their youth, the hours spent hunting frogs in the forest or sneaking off to the comic store in the middle of the night. Back then, Sunny gave him his voiceless approval for Kel's shenanigans with a nod or small smirk. (Sunny barely moved at all). Sunny's eyes were always so full of wonder, and even when he was daydreaming, Kel could see how happy or sad or angry those dreams made him… through his eyes. (His eyes are blank now.)

'His eyes,' He latches onto it.

Fear?

No. It wasn't fear. The actual emotion Sunny was feeling must have triggered equal discomfort as fear, and Sunny had looked afraid of someone or something earlier that day, but that wasn't what Kel had noticed just now.

Anger?

Kel hadn't done anything particularly annoying that day, if anything, he was trying to be extra sensitive. Maybe the run in with Aubrey's gang ruined that perception, though. He hated picking fights, but self defense is self defense.

Kel feels his heart pound with guilt. His head falls down and his eyes follow the wooden grain of the door downwards. They used to be close. Kel never needed to ask Sunny what was wrong, because even when Sunny didn't want to talk about things, the small tilt of his head to the ground spoke for him. Actually, Sunny was looking down today, wasn't he? Kel bit his lip shamefully for not noticing.

And then, Sunny's footsteps retracted from the door.

Startled, Kel's shoulder's jumped as Sunny ran away from the other side of the door. He blinks rapidly and opens his mouth to call out.

"Ah- No! Wait!" Kel knocked frantically on the door. "Wait, Sunny! Come back! I didn't leave, I'm still here! Whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry!"

But Sunny was long gone. Kel retracted his hand, swallowing dryly. Perhaps he missed his chance after all. Kel fought against that thought as hard as he could. He gave Sunny his all today -as good as a friend one hadn't seen in 4 years could do! That much, Kel was certain, but understanding what Sunny's been through since then… that's unknown territory. Knowing how Sunny truly felt deep down? Terrifying as it was, Kel couldn't understand his old friend like he used to. And now, he might have just messed up a reunion four years in the making. He shut his eyes down violently and bites the inside of his mouth until it nearly bleeds.

And then he sighs.

'…What the heck am I thinking?' Kel thought. He's been far too negative about this. One bad day is one bad day, but Sunny isn't moving tomorrow. He still has two more days to make up for it.

He promised afterall, and Kel never broke a promise.

Sunny never broke a promise.

So, forget it. It's late. Sunny's tired. He shouldn't stress him out any more than he already did today. Maybe, Kel thought, he could ask Basil about why Sunny had come out of the back of his house looking so… terrified for lack of a better word. That way, they could resolve whatever personal issue between them before Sunny left Faraway, and maybe get some actual friendship reunion business going. But, for now, he should let Sunny rest. Because Sunny is tired. Exhausted even. Kel is too. Tomorrow was a new day, and Kel would make sure it went as perfect as the universe would allow. He would stop by Sunny's house, they would hang out, meet up with Hero, and Basil, and then everything would go back to the way things used to be. Everything would be okay.

Kel promised that everything would be okay.

And he promised himself to uphold it.

He didn't know what to do with himself if he failed Sunny again.