A Shipwreck ~ A Aphmau Ship-Based book!

Chapter 14

3rd Gene's POV

Gene stared down at his feet. He felt awkward. More than just awkward, really. He felt like he shouldn't be there. He'd done terrible things, and he knew that. He just didn't want to have to face them now.

He could feel Jess's stare on him, and neither of them said anything. The other Emotions were there too, watching awkwardly and exchanging worried glances. Gene wanted to say something, but his mouth wasn't working with him, and instead remained clamped shut. He fiddled with the hem of his jacket and remained silent.

"So," Jess finally said. "Gene, right?"

Gene nodded, but he still didn't look up. "I'm really sorry for everything I did, Jess. I got too caught up in my own stupid emotions and ended up dragging you into something that you didn't deserve. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I barely remember it."

Gene tried to keep himself from wincing. Once everything had been resolved and Gene had finished crying, the Emotions decided that they really did have to put up a barrier—only this time around Jess's memory of the day. The barriers were originally supposed to be used to block out terrible memories, or fade out useless memories. Jess still remembered parts, like the fear she felt, but she couldn't remember the traumatizing images of her dead friends and family, which everyone agreed was for the best. Kawaii~Chan had remained close to Gene the whole time, and Gene knew that it was both to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't do something like that again, and probably because Kawaii~Chan still felt guilty about the whole thing. Zane, on the other hand, stayed away from him. Gene couldn't blame him. He couldn't blame any of them anymore.

Jess cleared her throat and looked at the other Emotions. "So. That's, uh. Yeah, that's finished." She crossed her arms, then uncrossed them. She was uncomfortable, clear as day. Gene focused his gaze harder on the ground. "I think I'm going to. Um. Take a nap. I didn't sleep well last night."

The others nodded. "It's good to recover lost sleep," Aaron said. "Just set an alarm so you don't sleep so much that you can't sleep tonight."

Jess waved him off with her hand. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I got it."

The Emotions nodded, said their goodbyes, and slowly disappeared. Gene lingered for a brief second, looked up at Jess, and then disappeared into the mindscape. The others were waiting for him when he arrived, and he looked away. Kawaii~Chan still had that sympathetic yet also apologetic look on her face and it made Gene's stomach tie in knots. Gene was the one who had done these terrible things to them. He knew he was the bad guy in all of this.

"So," Aaron said, his voice sounding like it was treading on eggshells.

"I'm just going to go to my room," Gene said instead.

In his peripheral vision, he saw them exchange uneasy looks. Aphmau asked, "Are you sure? You don't want to...talk about this?"

"Talk about what?" Gene tugged at the hem of his jacket and instead settled for putting his hands in his pockets. "What I did was awful, and I'm sorry, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do to make up for it."

Kawaii~Chan shook her head. "That's not—"

"I tried to kill you all. That's not okay. I don't care what kind of excuses you're trying to make for me. It's not..." Gene took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes before they could moisten. "I'm just tired. I want to go to my room and we can talk another time."

More looks. Did they have some sort of secret code that Gene didn't know about? It wouldn't surprise him.

"Okay," Aaron finally said. "We'll talk about it later."