Forgive or die trying

Him

The group stared in stunned silence at the sight before them. Their fearless leader was trembling, her knuckles white as she stared at the pale boy before them who looked equally as shocked. His eyes darted to each of them quickly before locking in on the pink haired girl before him. For once, Aubrey did something they never thought they'd ever see, she took careful steps towards the now shaking boy.

"Basil.. is that really you?", her voice wavered and shook, the confidence she usually held being replaced by a soft almost whisper-like tone. The boy looked terrified and could do nothing but stare as she approached him. He desperately wanted to scream at her, to run back into his house, to do anything! But his brain and body refused to cooperate.

Slowly, the girl reached a hand out and gently lay it on his shoulder as Basil tensed up more, the group looking at each other in confusion at the unusually calm gesture only reserved for the Hooligans. Aubrey lowered her voice more, lips trembling and tear ducts filling,

"I can't believe.. oh my god Basil!" With that, the girl dropped to her knees and sobbed as the group quickly ran over to her. All they could hear were small bits phrases from her, ranging from "I thought you were" to "thank god".

His mind screamed at him not to, but the boy slowly approached the now sobbing mess of the usually tough girl and brushed her hair out of her face, wiping her tears the same way she used to do for him long ago. She glanced up at him before wrapping her arms tightly around him, causing him to tense up before melting into her arms and sobbing with her.

"Hey Aubs? Who is this?", Vance's voice held a tone of confusion and slight concern as he watched the girl continue to cry, although not as much as previously. She wiped away the last of her tears, keeping the blonde close to her as she spoke,

"This.. this is Basil. He was the only one to not truly abandon me". Her voice shook a bit as Basil guiltily looked down. Sure, she claims he didn't abandon her but he had left her for four years and didn't even think of what she was going through. The sound of footsteps and a sudden gasp rang out before the steps quickened,

"Basil! Dear are you ok?! What happened?!" Polly's worried words rushed out almost too quick to comprehend as she dropped to the boy's level and checked to make sure he was not hurt before tensing up upon seeing the Hooligans and their stone cold looks. Instinctively, they each reached for their weapons of choice as Polly backed up a bit but looked to Aubrey holding Basil and decided to test the waters a bit.

"You.. you're Aubrey right?", her voice was soft and gentle, reminding Aubrey of Mari's as she nodded a bit. At the slight response, Polly immediately lit up and clapped her hands together,

"Oh my! It's so nice to meet you! Basil constantly writes about how much he misses his friends and it's so nice to see one of them again!" Basil's face turned a bright red as Polly quickly covered her mouth, the pink haired girl letting out a small laugh and motioning to her gang to lower their weapons.

"I-it's nice to meet you too miss...", Aubrey's voice trailed off, unsure of how to address the woman in front of her as Kim helped her back to her feet and adjusted her bow gently, a gift from Mari.

"Oh dear, please just call me Polly! Calling me miss makes me feel old!", the brunette laughed softly, helping Basil back up as well and wiping away his tears as she smiled at him and quietly whispered to him that she was proud of him for coming outside. A small smile formed on his face, barely noticeable but still there. The sun had began to set already and the youngest of the Hooligans let out a yawn from a mixture of boredom and exhaustion, Charlie smiling at his struggles to stay still and not run off,

"Hey boss, I think Angel wants to head back", her voice was barely audible but Aubrey nodded and began to walk towards them before pausing and turning back to Basil. She struggled to allow herself to speak and eventually got the words out,

"Do.. do you want to come with us Basil?" The offer hung over the boy's head as he mentally weighed the pros and cons, looking up to Polly for help as she just smiled back at him. Finally, he nodded a tiny bit and fidgeted with his fingers as The Maverick looked confused,

"Dear leader, why invite someone new? We haven't had a new member since you joined and well..", he paused, looking at the shy boy before whispering to Aubrey, "don't you think we'd scare him?" To that the girl laughed and shook her head, explaining to him that Basil had seen his fair share of joke fighting in the past and whispering back to the boy that they didn't need to tell Basil about why Polly looked frightened to see them at first. She could feel a stare piercing her spine as she spoke about the past her and Basil shared, almost letting Kel's name slip out before seeing her again. She tensed up before hurriedly hiding her fear deep down and turning to Basil,

"Ready to head out dude? Stick with us and no one will mess with ya, I promise!" Her bright smile was enough to coax the teen to her and Polly waved as they headed out. Behind the trees, Aubrey swore she could see it again.

Something was following her

Something was after her again

Tonight would be another sleepless night