A Shipwreck ~ A Aphmau Ship-Based book!

Chapter 14

Gene nodded and left to head to his room. He hadn't been to his room in...Well, in twenty years. He could barely remember what it looked like, but once he was in front of the door, it all came rushing back. For a long time, he just stared at the door. The handle was worn down, the wood chipped and lived in, the paint on the doorframe was peeling. But he knew that nobody had touched his room, despite the visible wear. They wouldn't have wanted to.

He went inside and shut the door behind him. The room smelled musty, unlived in. The walls were faded, and the place looked rundown, but while Gene and the room had grown, the contents of the room hadn't matured with him. The wallpaper still had rocket ships, the bed was still the size for a child, there were still small toys littering the room. Everything looked so small, created with the perfect size for a child, and with the same courageous spunk of a kid who wasn't afraid of anything.

As Gene stepped further inside his room, the room changed with him. It altered to the mind and age of its new inhabitant, like the room was finally welcoming him home. The wallpaper faded away and was replaced with a plain blue hue. The bed grew to fit his new size, and the red sheets changed to dull gray. The toys disappeared, but nothing took its place. When Gene finally sat down on the bed, the room looked bare.

There was a knock on the door and Gene jumped to his feet when he saw who entered. "Zane!"

Zane stopped in the doorway and looked around at the room. Whatever he was thinking, he didn't express it. Instead he looked back at Gene. Gene felt small under his stare, and he couldn't hold his gaze for long.

"Zane I'm sorry—"

"I know. Stop apologizing." Gene bit his tongue tightly before he could apologize for apologizing. His stomach bubbled and he felt disgusting for not apologizing anyway. There was a moment of silence before Zane said, "I don't want you to hurt her or Jess again."

Jess and Kawaii~Chan. He didn't want Gene to hurt Jess or KC. And, in an unspoken way, Zane didn't want Gene to hurt him again, either. Gene gulped and nodded. "I don't want to hurt anyone again."

Zane continued to stare and it made Gene feel uneasy. Zane's anxious energy really was stronger now that they were older. "You're different."

"What?"

"You're not... You've changed. Like. You have changed." Gene nodded at Zane's statement. He knew what Zane meant. He wasn't Fear, not anymore. "Are you...okay with that?"

Gene shrugged. "I have to be." Another long pause. The air felt thick and Gene wondered if anything would ever heal between the two of them. Or between Gene and the other Emotions at all. "Zane. I hurt you really, really badly. And I know you don't want me to keep apologizing. But if you need to...to do something, or have me do something, to make you feel better..."

"What, like try to kill you by torturing Jess?"

Gene bit his tongue tightly and looked down at his shoes. "No. That's not what I meant."

Zane was quiet and Gene didn't dare look up from the ground. "I'm not going to try to get revenge on you or something. You suffered. I suffered. I just... I want to focus on getting better. I see the negative side often enough. You'd be surprised how much the others can change a pessimist into an optimist."

"It'll take a while for that to work on me."

"You have about seventy years left." Zane told him in a joking manner.

Gene finally looked back up and met Zane's eyes. There was no hostility in them. It was more of a type of... tiredness. Zane was tired. Gene felt tired too.

"Right," Gene said softly. "I...thank you, Zane."

Zane nodded, the response implied. Finally, he turned and left the room without a word, shutting the door closed behind him. Gene remained standing for a moment longer, half expecting Zane to come back into the room, and shout at him or hit him, or do something in retaliation to everything that Gene did that day. But no one else came in. He was alone again.

Gene laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He let his mind wander. Gene had realized from the moment his nightmarish disguise had melted away that he was no longer Fear. He had been afraid, but he didn't feel the same as before. Zane was right when he said that Jess didn't need him anymore. In a sense they had killed him, but now he had simply transformed into something else. He was no longer afraid, no longer Fear. He was just Sadness.

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Okay guys! That's the end of the book. I know, I know. "Where's the ship moments?!" If you look closely, you'll find them. I didn't want to make it obvious, a true fangirl/boy notices every little moment. (Not true, but most do.) If you want me to make a book 2, let me know by commenting! Goodbye my sweet little kittens!

1510 words!