Refresh: Alternate Story

Cry Baby Brother

   "So Geno woke up?" Club asked in a hushed voice.

   Myself, him, and Deccy were all crammed in my room. Honestly I was surprised Slate let Club go. We were all clad in multi colored pjs.

   I was sitting on my bed clutching my pillow close. "Yeah. He did. He was awake maybe 20 minutes before he went back to sleep."

   "Your message was kinda vague though. We didn't know for sure." Decans sighed softly.

   "Sorry I just wanted to let you know fast." I shrugged and pushed my face into my pillow.

   "Yeah… I guess..." Club sighed deeply.
   The door creaked open. "Fresh. Can I talk to you?" It was Error. Error was talking to me. Error was talking to me?

   I glanced down to the floor where Club and Deccy were. Deccy gave a shrug and Club motioned for me to go. "We'll wait up."

   I hopped off the bed. "Yeah." I mumbled. I headed out the door past Error.

   Error closed the door behind us. "So."

   "So..?" I asked softly.

   "Look you've been here a month and I haven't said anything to you. I'm sorry or whatever. I've heard mom and Asy talking about you. About what happened. And I've been an ass your whole life." He wasn't good at whatever he was doing.

   I fiddled with my thumbs. Where is this going?

   "And then I saw all the tears when Geno woke up. And I dunno. I'm sorry or whatever." He crossed his arms.

   "You're… what?" I was flabbergasted. For a moment I was 8 again. Confused about the world. I couldn't understand anything but pure facts and logic.

   "I said I was sorry. For everything. For what happened to you. For being a shitty brother," he paused seeing the flinch," A bad brother."

   I stared at him. What do I say to this?  "Error… you don't have to apologize for anything."

   "Yes I do! When we went to Disney I was a jerk the whole time even though we were celebrating and you wandered off and got taken and it was all my fault!" Error was breathing heavily. He looked seconds away from crashing.

   Panic hit me. No. No what do I do? I'm no good at this! I reached out and gently touched his arms. "Error please stop." My voice broke. Tears pooled in my eyes. Please don't make me do this…

   He sucked in a deep breath. "Fresh. oh funk don't cry."

   I wiped my eyes with my palma quickly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for disappearing. I'm sorry for making Geno so worried he got sick. I'm sorry for making you blame yourself." I hiccuped. Logically I knew I was spiralling. I couldn't stop it.

   Error's eyes cleared a bit. He shifted and grabbed ahold of my arms. "Fresh. No." He pulled me close. He hated touch. So… why?

   I hiccuped softly. "W-why..?"

   He sighed softly and held the back of my head. "Shh… just cry baby brother..."

   So he did.