fluff & angst!! 😳💘 proceed with caution....

also!!! new chapters may be posted slower with winter break ending and all. i'll still try to keep you guys updated though :)

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You almost didn't go to the daycare the next day.

But you had to see Sunny. You had to apologize, you had to see how mad he really was. Though you had a hard time believing he could actually hold a grudge. Maybe he already forgot everything, and was excitedly waiting for you in the ballpit so the both of you could hang out. Maybe.

Another thing, Vanessa had called again. She needed you to stay another night. That probably won't go over well with Sunny, if he even lets you in.

The daycare seems darker than usual when you arrive; the lights are still on, but it has an ominous, grave feeling settled into the walls. Hopefully that's just your brain making things worse than they truly need to be.

You make your way to the front desk, hesitating in front of the green slide. Do you really want to go down this way? After yesterday it almost seems... inappropriate. Though you irritatedly brush off the feeling, grasping the top of the slide and shoving yourself down.

The slide has lost it's joy. It feels like it's taken twice as much time as it usually does, finally dropping you into the ballpit with an angry creak. You stand up and make your way towards the stable ground, part of you relieved that Sunny doesn't pop out to assist and part of you disappointed. At least you had made it in, though- he could've appeared and dragged you out of the daycare, screaming about security alerts and all that shit.

You pull yourself out of the pit, sitting on the edge just as you did yesterday, waiting hopefully for Sunny to exlode up and into your lap again in all of his hyper glory. Of course, he doesn't. You start to feel doubt- what if he isn't even here? In the daycare? Is he allowed to leave?- until you hear an erractic sob come from somewhere deep in the playground behind you.

You stand immediately, turning and rushing past the playplaces. Was that him? Where is he? Your sprint turns into a trot, which slows into a stumble as you see Sunny on his knees on the ground, his hands shielding his face and his back turned to you as his entire body trembles with heaving cries and moans of despair. The crude half of your brain spits out 'Drama queen,' and you immediately swallow the awful remark.

As you stand awkwardly behind Sunny, torn between running forward to apologize and just blatantly leaving, you notice something unusal. A tower of boxes lays on the ground to his left, scattered helplessly on their sides, and boxes of crayons are torn, spilling out their sticks of colored wax to his right. Did he... do this?

The regret and hurt you've been feeling nearly quadruples, knowing Sunny would never make a mess like this. 'Unless he was that upset,' The self-depricating half of you screams, like a devil on your shoulder. 'This is all your fault. Look what you did to him, you heartless monster."

Another voice yanks you back from these hissing thoughts, like a guardian angel sitting on your other shoulder. 'Maybe it was Moon.' You nearly gasp as the idea crosses your mind. Would he come out and do this? But why? Unless he was upset too...? You shake your head to rid the thought; forming scenarios in your brain wouldn't hide the fact that you hurt Sunny, and you need to face it. No Moon to put the blame on, this is all you.

You take a slow step and your feet follow the rhythm, pushing you forward on autopilot. You stop a few heartbeats from Sunny, though he hasn't noticed you yet- if he has, he's decided not to acknowledge you.

You reach for one of the boxes lying dead on the floor, and you notice Sunny tense up, going audibly silent as you lift the box off of the ground. Stacking it on top of another one, you reach for the third one and add it to the pile. Sunny still doesn't say anything, having stifled his tears and leaving only small sniffles in their wake.

You sit directly behind Sunny, matching him and dragging your knees to your chest. It's quiet for a moment before you finally whisper "Sunny..."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" He explodes, not making an effort to turn around and look at you. He moves his arms down, slowly wrapping them around his torso, hugging so hard that if he were human he'd probably be surfacing bruises. Your eyes flutter over his back, imagining his body made of flesh and covered in flowering bruises. You mentally push yourself over a cliff as you squeeze your eyes shut and turn your head away. Now is NOT the time, thanks.

After another silent moment he mumurs something, his voice a soft hum; "I was right about you." A pause. "You're like all the others." You don't need your brain to figure out he's talking about his past assisstants. You sit quietly, letting him talk, drinking in the silence of the daycare as his voicebox goes voiceless for a while.

Then, "I was so STUPID to trust you," His voice still barely above a whisper, "So stupid... stupid Sunny, stupid stupid stupid..." You bury your head in your arms, your chest aching. After a short stretch of time, seconds lazily oozing into sludging minutes, you take your turn to speak.

"I was scared."

"Of me?" His response is quick.

"Not of you."

"Then why did you leave?"

Your head snaps up to find his whole body turned toward you, his friendly face now sad and desperate as his arms lightly twist around his legs, mimicking your posture. You don't miss the bite of betrayed curosity in his words.

"Why didn't you tell me about Moon?" You fire back, keeping your tone light but not completely void of anger.

He shoots you a dark glare, his eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't want to scare you away."

"That's exactly what you did," You snap, red regret seeping into your clouded vision as soon as the words snake out.

You expect him to yell, to turn away. To leave. But his head hangs low. "I know. I'm sorry for that." This bitch. This adorable, sun-faced bitch. Taking your punches and still ending up being the one to apologize. Breaking your heart into infinite pieces with his expressive mannerisms and his captivating personality. You don't know whether you want to hit him or kiss him right now.

You reach forward, holding his face in your hands.

"Don't you dare apologize," You scold, neck burning red. Sunny looks surprised, reaching up to clasp his hands on top of your own. "The fault was all mine. I shouldn't have left you, you were right, I... I promised you," Your breath hitches, and you probably glow ten shades redder at the realization that tears are pricking your eyes. "I'm sorry, Sundrop," Your voice cracks, "I'm so, so-"

"Sunny," He blurts.

"What?" You ask, dumbstruck.

"Call me Sunny," He says in a hushed voice.

A smile breaks out on your face and you fall into his chest, taking your turn to sob and flood him with 'thank you's', and 'I'm sorry's'. He runs a hand along your back, murmuring soft, comforting words of nonsense into your ear and neck while his other hand busies itself getting lost in your hair. Words you don't deserve. Kind gestures he doesn't owe you.

But here he is, this ball of sunshine, giving them to you anyways.

Your heart ticks away as it's own clock, slowing like the surrounding seconds as time becomes irrelevent and nothing but you and Sunny matter.