Two Sides to Every Love (Gene x Reader)

Chapter 13~ I'm Feelin' Twenty Tw- Five. Twenty Five.

I sheepishly laughed. "Really...? You guys would let me?"

"Of course! We'd hate to not live by you anymore. Plus, it'd be fun! It might be a little crowded, but I'm sure we could work something out. Maybe we could fix up the basement!"

Katelyn shook her head. "We've been talking about doing that for a while now. We need to purge the whole room after what Kawaii~chan did."

What could she have done? Oh my Irene, is she a part of a cult or something...? Did she perform a séance and it ended badly? I don't know her well enough! Maybe moving in with them might be a bad call... I should ask before anything! "What...did Kawaii~chan do?"

Aph grimaced and her face turned red. "So...you know how she likes...shipping people?"

I nodded.

"Um. Well...she had a shipping shrine of me and Aaron."

My jaw dropped. "Oh now that's just weird. I wonder if she's a psychic though, cause here we are, with Aarmau setting sail! And...something going on with Travis and Katelyn."

"Hey!" Katelyn growled.

"Y/n, how would you feel if Kawaii~chan shipped Gene and—"

I cut Aph off. "Remember what I said a few days ago about my boundaries? You...wouldn't want to upset me on my birthday, would you?"

Aph pouted. "Fiiiineee! I just wanted you to see things from my point of view."

"This might be kinda lame, but when would you say was your best birthday?" Katelyn asked, shifting the topic.

"Hmmm...probably my 16th. It was my first birthday with my actual family, so the first one where I was actually happy. Years prior...well, my ex-parents maybe got me pizza and some money. It bothered me as a kid when I'd go to friends birthdays, but I got over it in middle school. Money is a lot better than presents, but the thoughtfulness of gifts is definitely appreciated, so I like how things are now."

Katelyn tilted her head. "Anything else to your 16th?"

I nodded. "Gene got his friends to set fireworks up, and he and I watched from the park that was near PDH." Where he and I first crossed paths.

"Ooh, that's romantic!" Katelyn remarked.

"It...would've been, if my sister hadn't tagged along. She was really excited about the fireworks so she was freaking out. Gene made the mistake of letting her in on that plan... Anyways, other than the fireworks, the day was really nice cause everyone I loved was there. Other than my brother. Can't say I exactly loved him, as I wasn't too keen on talking to him at the time."

"Was it cause of what he did, or...did your brother not approve of Gene?" Aph asked.

"Cause of what he did, but Gene and him did have history. My brother didn't like Gene for a while! I mean, he accepted him cause I stood firm about it, but I could always tell that there was still some animosity. He would've acted civil if I had invited him, though."

Aph sighed. "I hope today isn't your worst birthday."

"Nothing can be worse than my 14th birthday. My ex-parents forgot about it... They were too focused on my brother starting college, but not the fact that I was starting high school. Regardless, you guys have done so much for me. There's no way it would be my worst." I sent Aph a smile.

Katelyn lightly punched my shoulder. "You've done a lot for us too, don't forget that. I couldn't imagine this trip without you. Maybe there'll be more things that I'll need to wash away by the waves."