One Fresh, No Fresh (Chapter 8)

Yeah!I finally got this chapter done! At first, I wanted to have this the longest chapter yet, with over 2,000 words, but I felt like it just kept dragging on, so I split the one chapter into two. So, expect the next chapter next week! After this, there will be two more chapters, before this one is over. I don’t know what I’ll be doing after this, but I’ll figure something out. But anyway, lets get to it.

Asy belongs to @furgemancs

Fresh, Geno, and Error belong to @loverofpiggies

MommaCQ and herself belong to @alainaprana

Ink (mentioned) belongs to @comyet

Other characters and story belong to me, @leiselpizzatale

Warning: Mentioned suicide, blood, blood clots, cancer.

"Ugh. Uncle Asy, the tie feels really tight." Fresh said, annoyed.

"It's not. Now hold still, I need to straighten this." Asy replied.

Fresh sighed, then tried to stay as still as his rattling bones will allow. It was the evening of seeing his brothers after so long. After setting up a reservation for 6 (with two on a temporary separate table), CQ called Geno and Error, telling them that she 'hasn't seen the whole family in a while' and 'want to get together for dinner'.

Finishing on the tie, Asy stepped back, seeing his work on Fresh. Fresh was wearing a light blue suit, with a neon-colored tie. Asy was wearing the same thing, except that his suit was a darker blue, and his tie had pictures of Band-Aids on it.

*knock knock*

"Are you guys almost ready? You know we have to be there before Geno and Error," Alaina's muffled voice said from the door.

"Yup!" Asy exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're ready. You?" Fresh asked.

"Would I be here if I wasn't?" Alaina asked back.

"No, you wouldn't," Fresh said, laughing.

After getting in Asy's car, they drove to the restaurant. After telling them what's going to happen, the host agreed, and set the tables to its places for the surprise.

Soon enough, Fresh heard footsteps from multiple people, and there...

Fresh froze. He couldn't think, couldn't move. He just stared at the three people who were walking to their table. The two skeletons gave his best attention however. They were both wearing suits, though one was also wearing a red scarf, while the other looked like the suit had a hood on it. Before he could get to see them more, a menu suddenly pops in front of his face, obscuring his view on his brothers.

Lowering it down slightly, Fresh saw that Alaina was the one who put the menu in front of his face. He also saw that she looked very worried.

“Hey, are you okay? You froze, and they would’ve seen you staring if they turned around,” Alaina said.

Fresh lowered his head, nodding. She was right. Because he froze, he could’ve ruined the plan. “Y-yeah. I’m okay.” He finally answered.

After the slight screw up, they went and did everything as if they weren’t on a secret mission or something. They ate their food, and when it was almost time for dessert, Fresh got out his phone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Geno P.O.V ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was having fun with his family. It was a great idea that his mother decided to bring the whole family. They would’ve brought Ink and his mother, but they were out of town to sell some of Ink’s new line of art. It was too bad, because Ink was like a brother-cousin, even though he wasn’t his cousin or his brother. If only-

Suddenly, his phone was starting to ring. He looked at it, but he didn’t know the number.

“Heh. Sorry guys, I have to take this.” Geno said.

CQ shrugged it off. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to leave to take the call. Right Asy?”

Asy nodded. “Yup. Go take the call. Who knows, it might be important.”

Geno knew they were acting suspicious, but he answered the phone anyway. “Hello?”

“Hello. Is this Geno Queen?” The man on the phone asks.

“Yes, this is Geno.” Geno replied.

“Oh, that’s good. Um, I was wondering if you would like to be interviewed? It’s for a grade I have to do.” The person asks.

“Sure. When should we meet?” Geno asks.

“Oh, no, I was wondering if we could interview now. I’m shy, and I only joined this class because I wanted to learn to edit stuff. I already have the microphone set up and recording.”

“…Oh.” Geno said after thinking, “I… guess I could do it now.”

“Great! Okay, first question. Who is in your family?” The man asked.

“I have, well, used to have two brothers.” Geno replied.

“Used to have two brothers? What happened?” The man asked.

“Something happened, and my brother, Fresh, had ran away.” Geno said sadly. He looked at Error, who had lowered his head. Geno knew it was in shame, since no matter what he did, Error believed it was his fault that Fresh ran away.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” After a bit, the man said, “Oh! You haven’t told me who also was in your family.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Geno exclaimed. “My other brother is named Error, and my mother’s name is Crayon Queen, but she likes to be called CQ for short. I also have Uncle Asy. He’s not my real Uncle, but it’s what we called him a bit after we first met him.” Geno smiled at the memory of when Uncle Asy first came into his life. He appeared to help CQ take care of Error and Fresh, and Geno on those rare days. Since then, Asy became part of their family.

“Okay, next question. So, I’ve heard that you have been sick most of your life, is that correct?”

Geno nodded, before saying, “Yup. Would you like to hear the story?”

“Yes please.” The man said.

“Well, since I was born, I had an illness that no doctor could figure out. I have gone through every medication, every treatment. It felt like my home wasn’t my home, just a vacation spot that I went to every time I felt ‘better’. The doctors said that I wouldn’t even get past my teenager years.” Geno said, sadly. “One day however, Fresh, the brother I have mentioned before, was going to get me my medicine. But then, I had started puking blood, and was rushed to the hospital.

“Later, Fresh wanted to show me his new Pokémon, when I started coughing really bad. I guess it angered him or something, because he ran up to my bed, and slapped me in the face-“ Geno stopped when he heard a chocking sound coming from the speaker of his phone. “Hey, are you okay?”

A few sniffles came from the man, before they said, “I’m sorry. I’m just not good at hearing when he hit you. I guess it reminded me of my childhood. The same thing happened to me, just in a different way.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry for that.” Geno said sadly.

“I-it’s okay. You can keep going.” The man said.

“Well, after he slapped me, I had puked out even more blood and a blood clot. It was bad that he did it, but my brother had saved my life.”

“W-what?! How was that possible?” The man almost shouted.

“Well, when I puked, I had broken a rib, and when they went to fix it, they found something that no one would’ve guessed, and when they checked, it was confirmed that I had cancer in my ribs that wasn’t seen until that day. It started growing inside my ribs sometime after my birth, and it grew until it was removed when I was fourteen.” Then Geno sighed sadly, “I wish Fresh was here. That way, we could have fun regularly, with lots of exercise.”

After a short pause, the man on the phone said, “Well, I’m sorry that happened to you, and I want you to feel better. Every time me and my get on some sensitive subject, I tell a joke to ease the mood. So, would you like to hear one?” The man asked.

“Sure,“ Geno said, “What’s the joke?”

“Knock knock”

Smiling a bit, Geno said, “Who’s there?”

“Aren’t”

“Aren’t who?” Not hearing any answer, Geno tried again, “Um, Aren’t who?”

Then, from behind him, he heard, “Aren’t you going to turn around and greet your brother?”

Geno dropped his phone, shocked. It couldn’t be, couldn’t it?

Turning around, Geno saw a skeleton behind him. Looking at them, they really looked like an older-

“Fresh?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Fresh P.O.V. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fresh turned toward to where Error was. Standing up, Error started walking toward Fresh, and Geno stepped back. Before Fresh wondered why he did that, Error suddenly slapped him in the face, almost knocking Fresh backwards. Holding his face, Fresh asked, “Why did you do that?”

“For all the things you’ve done!” Error said angrily, “You weren’t there when Geno had to go through surgery; you weren’t there for his recovery. You weren’t there when I felt sorry for myself after finding out that the police stopped searching for you.” Then Error started crying. “A-and you weren’t there when I was so depressed, that I almost k-killed myself. I,” Error sobbed out, “I thought you were dead!”

Not worrying about the feeling of burning on his face, Fresh walked to Error, before hugging him. Fresh could hear the sound of Error ‘crashing’ before ‘rebooting’, so he stepped back to let Error finished. When done, Error started mumbling, “Sorry. Y-you just surpri-“

“I’m sorry.” Fresh interrupted. He looked down in shame. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, to make you feel this way. I just couldn’t handle it.” Fresh felt his knees weaken, and he fell on them, crying. Everyone instantly then surrounded him, comforting him.