Chapter 5

                                    

                                          
Alex woke up when he felt a pair of eyes staring at him, he opened his eyes to see Gene staring at him confused
"What are you doing here?" He asked
"Hm? Oh um..Ruby asked me to hang around for the night, you know..be here for you?" Alex replied
"You should go to school" Gene said
"Heck no! Im not going anywhere. How do you feel?" 
"My head hurts. Overall im fine" He said 
Alex sat next to him "Emma was here too, she's sorry for the accident" 
"Eh, it could have happened to anyone" He said
"At least you're fine.."
"Yeah.. sadly we have to cancel the tutoring hours..at least until im outta here" Gene said
"I don't care, if you're ok that's enough for me." 
Gene was in awe, it's a side of Alex not many see. 
"But you're failing math..." 
Alex looked at the floor for a bit before putting on one of those dumbass smile
"Shit- i forgot, eh I'll find a way" Alex said. Gene managed to convince Alex to just go to school
"No Gene"
"Just because I don't go that doesn't mean you get to skip! Come on hop hop away" Gene said. Alex sighed and got his jacket
"Ill be back. You're not getting rid of me so easily"
"GOOOO" 
"FINE IM GOING! TAKE CARE" Alex said as he left laughing making Gene laugh too. Gene look at the ceiling thinking. 
Alex got to his car and started driving to school. When he got to school he was welcomed by the girls
"Alex, hi! How's my brother?" Ruby asked
"He's well, well enough to tell me to move my ass here." Alex joked. Ruby was happy to hear that. Alex's the only way of communication because Gene's phone was torn to shreds in the accident. Emma came to them
"Hey Alex do you know when Gene has visiting hours?" She asked
"He didn't request them. So you can go wherever." He said. Emma thanked him and went to her class. The group were chatting on their way to their class. Although Alex couldn't take his mind off of Gene. Alex didn't knew if it was worry or something else...he couldn't wrap his head around that.. maybe he can talk with Twinkle about it. After class Alex decided to take Twinkle outside to talk just the two of them.
"What's troubling you Alex?" She asked
"I don't know I've been...kinda... thinking about Gene...a lot...like even before the accident! After everything that happened with Emma. Him and i became more close and... I don't know." 
Twinkle looked at him with her soft look, such a gentle and shy soul, she doesn't have enemies. You can't hate Twinkle. She works at the animal center in her free time, so she can afford her art supplies. She lives alone and has a cat named Alien for some reason. He was a white cat before she got her hands on pet hair dye. Now he's blue with orange ears and some silly googles he loves. 
"Oh you silly boy. You might be in love." She said
"In love? With Gene? What makes you think he'd like ME back anyway?" Alex asked 
"What makes you think that?" She asked
"He's..way better than me. And unlike him i barely know what I'm doing. He needs someone on his level." Alex said. Gene's smart. And he'd probably never look in his direction or see Alex more than a friend because of that specific reason. 
"Oh Alex you really are so out of touch with reality" She said
Alex looked at her confused
"You know why no one was able to be Gene's partner?" she asked
Alex shaked his head
"Gene isn't easy to love. He said it himself. Some guys and girls want him and they tried. Smart or not he flat out refused them or they haven't made it past the talking stage. Because Gene's hard to understand. He's going to chop your nerves like a chef! He needs someone that can put up with that! Not someone smart. He's going to be smart for both. So try your luck!" Twinkle said
Alex looked at her a bit shocked. The fuck she meant with 'chop your nerves' ? Gene doesn't seem the type to do so. 
"How do you know that?" He asked
"I've witnessed it" she replied. This is making Alex think about it a bit more. After school Alex went back to the hospital but not before stopping by the store to buy Gene something. Gene was out the bed, in the chair watching tv. He didn't notice Alex entering until Alex greeted him
"Alex! Hi, how was school?" Gene asked. 
"The usual stuff. I got you something and also the notes from today" Alex said putting Gene's notes on table. 
"Thank you! Also Emma got here today. We talked. We're good" he said
Alex was glad to hear that. Alex really wants to tell Gene about what he talked with Twinkle but he stopped himself because he thought he'd make it weird between them. 
"How are you feeling?" Alex asked
"Im feeling well, they might let me out earlier. The only issue is my arm...and my...car... phone...you know" He said 
Alex has forgotten about that. 
"Ill take care of it" Alex said
Gene looked at him with wide eyes 
"No." He said
"What?" 
"I said no Alex, it's too much! I'll figure something out!" 
"Nu uh!" 
"The fuck you mean nu uh?!" Gene said 
Alex doesn't hear Gene swear often but when he does, he knows when to making it somewhat funny depending on the situation. Gene and Ruby are Spanish speakers so they fight in a mix of Spanish and English
"Oh come on let me help!"
"No! You're so used to people saying "Yes" when you offer to buy something expensive for them that you can't accept a no" Gene said 
"That's not true! I truly want to help you.." he said 
"Just...be here with me... that's all i need." Gene said. Alex let it go. He'll do it anyway without Gene knowing, what he doesn't know doesn't affect him