Monica⭐

Step 1 -

Sunny is a very shy and nervous boy, easily worried and afraid of strangers (when he saw Cliff for the first time, he ran away). Social interactions scare him and consequently he glues himself to his moms, his sister Elizabeth or people he already knows. He loves spending time at the beach, collecting seashells, reading books and going to the library.

Sunny is very close to his moms, he feels the safest with them. He and Lizzie have their typical sibling arguments and sometimes Sunny cannot keep up with his sister’s competitiveness but they still care about each other deeply.

When he met Cove, Sunny was immediately worried about him, as Cove was crying all alone. Despite his usual uneasiness with new people, Sunny gets fond of Cove and befriends him quickly. As "selfish" as it may sound, Sunny wishes Cove will never go away from Sunset Bird and stay with him and he gets sad when Cove claims he “wants to go home”. It’s so bad Sunny even followed Cove all the way to the exit of Sunset Bird once.

Sunny doesn't have any romantic feelings towards Cove as a kid, but Cove on the other hand seems to have a crush on Sunny, which Sunny is oblivious to.

Step 2 -

At the age of 13, Sunny remains nervous around people. Every social interaction feels like walking on eggshells for him, he often expects the worst outcomes possible and is scared of getting judged by others. Sudden changes in his plans also displease him. He still develops a more teasing and snarky side growing up but whenever he is openly snarky depends on how close you are with him... or how pissed he is at you (he even swore at Jeremy’s face during Miranda’s birthday, mind you). Otherwise he doesn’t talk much and keeps whatever he's thinking to himself. He often does so about what he's truly feeling, he doesn’t want to be an inconvenience. Ironically, he struggles to understand when a stranger is being sarcastic or not. Despite all that, he's someone you can rely on if you need.

As a teenager, Sunny is feeling insecure about his physical appearance and doesn't like showing his body that much (but summer is kind of the "worst" season for that). He thinks he's too "scrawny". And he has too many freckles. Also doesn't he look weird for blushing for anything? Embarrassing.

His love for literature grew even more over the years and he thinks it would be cool to be a writer. In fact, he writes some things sometimes, such as poems or songs that his cousin Lee could sing. While he isn't particularly a sporty guy, he loves surfing, swimming and playing volleyball. He started getting interested in jewellery too, to Lee's greatest joy, but nothing truly serious: he just likes how they look.

He's conflicted about his feelings towards Cove: within the span of 5 years, Sunny's feelings for Cove grew into something… different than friendship and he doesn't know what to do about it. He never felt this way before, not with anyone else either. He's too scared to say a word about it to Cove directly, he doesn't want to mess up their friendship. Cove is Sunny’s best friend, he’s closer with Cove more than anyone else, they know each other’s problems, hopes and dreams. And a part of him doesn’t believe Cove could like him romantically, no matter what others might say.

When it comes to romance in general, concepts like "love at first sight" don't really make sense to him. How can you fall for someone you barely know? Sounds like a myth.

Cove isn’t Sunny’s only friend, Derek is also an important friend of his. Sunny got along with Derek very quickly and appreciates spending time with him and his younger brothers. At times, Sunny is frustrated with Derek’s tendencies to put everyone’s needs above his but that aside, Sunny considers Derek to be a funny, caring and trustworthy person. He’s oblivious to Derek’s crush on him.

Step 3 -

At the age of 18, Sunny is still uneasy around people he doesn't know and avoids social interactions as much as possible. While he’s still not that talkative, he grew to joke more with his friends– heck, he may even crack a dirty joke if he wants (to Cove’s dismay). His snarkiness hasn't toned down growing up... and sadly for him, neither did his insecurities about his body. Whenever he looks at a mirror, he really can’t like what he’s seeing. He is trying to work on it.

18 years old is probably the age where the contrast between his clothing style and his name is and will stay the most ironic and the object of many jokes. But wearing black clothes won't change the fact he's his moms' little sunshine!

He figured out his sexuality around the age of 17: he's gay and demiromantic (oooh so that's why love at first sight felt like a complete myth...)

His interest for jewellery turned into a hobby of making hand-made jewellery, mainly with seashells, sea glass or pearls (again to Lee’s greatest joy, they even make jewelry together now). Sunny decided to keep writing as a hobby as well, but he’s still looking for a job where he can be surrounded by books. And he was happy to find a part time job in the library he always loved going to, it was a good start. This job made him want to become a librarian in the future.

Speaking of the future, Sunny is not just worrying about how it will go, he is dreading it. He does have some projects for the future: going to college and getting jobs in libraries for the experience. However, all of that means leaving Sunset Bird one day... He always lived in the same place his whole life, with his moms and his sister and with Cove as his next door neighbor… They are his anchor. It was already something when Elizabeth left for college... It was already weird to talk to Derek only through the phone… Just how much will things change? 

About his relationship with Cove: Sunny knows for certain he's in love with him. God forbid he actually tells Cove how he actually feels but oh, how many times Sunny wished to just let his feelings out and chickened out last minute. That aside, Sunny and Cove remained best friends throughout all these years, they’ve got each other’s backs and still know each other more than anyone else.

His friendship with Baxter looks very odd from an outsider’s point of view, as they’re seemingly polar opposites in many aspects. To be fair, Sunny did think Baxter gave a bad first impression, Baxter was just too direct for his liking. But after spending some time with Baxter, Sunny considers him nice enough to actually befriend him. And it turns out they do have some things in common.

Step 4 -

His personality hasn't changed that much since 18. He discovered his social anxiety wasn’t just a personality trait but an actual disorder. He’s trying to live with it, now that he knows he’s not “weird” for fearing social interactions. He’s also learning more and more how to feel comfortable with his body, it’s getting better. Ironically, he also discovered he’s autistic just like Cove.

Living away from Sunset Bird was hard, very hard at first. It didn’t help that Cove confessed his love for Sunny at the end of the summer, then they had to be separated for a long time. What Baxter said to him about relationships not lasting before vanishing from his life didn’t exactly help Sunny either with his fears. But nothing could break Sunny and Cove's bond.

Sunny is nearly at the end of his studies to become a librarian (he’s on his way to get a Master's degree in Library and Information Science).