Together - A Sequel

Chapter Three

I woke up to the sound of Gene entering my room with a tray of food. Breakfast in bed!

"Gene you shouldn't have!" I gasped. He grinned and sat the metal tray at the foot of my bed.

"I know I just..." He paused. "I felt really bad about what happened to your house yesterday and I felt like you could use this."

"Well thank you!" I said and sat up, rubbing my tired eyes. Sunlight streamed through the window and shone in my room. Again, I must acknowledge that it was very beautiful.

"So you do know you can't go back to your job right?" Gene said and poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"Yeah." I sighed and took a bite out of my bacon. "I'll have to find a new way to make money I guess."

"Well even if you don't show up to work, they'll still pay you." Gene said, swirling around the juice in his glass. "I don't hear of high fives being used too often. Mehs, on the other hand, are in quite a frequent use."

"So they'll still pay me?" I asked, finishing the rest of my bacon.

Gene nodded. "Yeah."

It's become frequent for us to sit in silence for a while. Not that I don't love talking, but in some situations leaving Gene to his thoughts is a better idea.

"So.." I started. It's kind of a touchy subject to bring up Jailbreak with him but I needed answers. "What did Jailbreak mean when she said that she made you happy?"

Gene sighed and straightened his back. "We dated for awhile."

"Oh."

"Engaged. Actually." Gene said and slouched back down. "Until I found out that she was... well... in love with another emoji. Sunglasses."

"Ugh that guy is so rude." I said and twiddled my thumbs. "I tried to get into a party once and he walked straight in, right through me." I chuckled. It wasn't near rude at all, I was just trying to provide something to make him feel better about hating him.

"Yeah." He said. "I haven't been the same since. Until... well..."

"Until what?" I asked, rubbing my thumb against his back.

"Nothing." He said and turned around, picking up the empty tray. (I did not eat just bacon, to point it out.)

Gene stood up and left with the tray, leaving me to get dressed.

Most could assume that wearing pants was disrespectful to the pants emoji, so we wore tights.

I came out of my room to find Gene watching TV on his refreshingly blue couch. Specifically, more of a sea blue. It matched his eyes.

"It matches my eyes, no?" Gene said and smiled, patting the cushion next to him. Yeah. Kind of weird how he said that after I thought it (get it together, author).

He was watching the news. The usual emoji events were on, and that was until my face came on screen. A city-wide search.

I looked at Gene nervously. "Am I safe?"

He was going to reply yes, until the reporter brought up a picture of him with the caption "last seen with". That wasn't good.

"They don't know where we are, and as long as it stays that way we'll be safe." Gene said and turned off the TV. "However, I think this is because of Jailbreak, but they could probably trace the calls back to her."

"What if she tells them? I mean, it's reasonable to assume I'm with you, obviously." I said and shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"Yeah... Well... I would be lying if I told you I knew." Gene said and ran his fingers through his hair.

Even in his most stressed moments, everything he did was perfect.

A few days passed with the search still on. Surprisingly enough, they haven't seen Gene's car in the alleyway. When I asked Gene about this, all he said was that he'd "taken care of it".

I'm not 100% positive on what that actually meant but looking out the window down where we parked it I saw a car with smashed windows and a pink tint. There was no doors, wheels, or license plates on it, to be fair.

I shouldn't worry. Trusting Gene is mostly the only thing I can do at this point. That being said, I could either listen to him or turn myself in. Not that I wouldn't do it, but in the city, association to a criminal can get you rebooted. I wouldn't want to disappoint my parents like that.

Gene was wearing his jean jacket when he walked into my room again. "So uh..." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you maybe want to see a movie?"

"Are you literally insane?" I asked, turning to face him with surprise. "We just saw ourselves on the TV with a reward for turning us in!"

"Yeah but... Sneaking in? In costumes?" Gene suggested and shrugged.

I don't think Gene fully understands the danger we're in. "No." I said firmly. "Are you even considering what could happen if we got caught?"

"I mean..." Gene said and leaned against the doorframe, "I guess we can like... watch a movie on netflix or something?"

"You have to understand, that we have to stay cooped up here." I said, sliding off the bed. Gene didn't meet my gaze, so I walked up to him and used my pink to turn his face to mine. "For both of our safeties."

"I know..." Gene said sadly. I hate to disappoint, but I had to do what was necessary.

"C'mon," I said and walked past Gene out the doorway, his eyes following me. "Let's see about that movie."

Gene smiled and closed the door to my room, following me down the hallway. "Popcorn?" He asked and held up some microwavable bags. I nodded and closed the blinds on the view, proceeding to pull up netflix on his TV.

"What do you feel like?" I asked Gene, turning to the kitchen where he was turning on the microwave.

He paused. "Well... I guess we could watch a romance?"

"Ooh la la..." I said, collapsing on the couch. "What do you have in mind?"