"Me?" Fresh asked as a smile, one of the faskests, appeared on his face.

  "Why would'ja ask if I'm okay when ya were 'bout to die there? I'm supposed ta be da one ta ask dis to ya, bro."

  Geno's eye sockets widened, and so did everyone else's, except Error's. The glitchy one looked confused.

  "Fresh... I-I'm okay now..! N-no need to be-"

  "I'm not. I can't, remember?"

  Geno was taken aback by Fresh's sudden interruption. This wasn't like him at all. What he said made Geno slightly angry. Fresh just felt sadness and anger, and possibly worry. What was he talking about right now?

  "Fresh! You can't say that! You felt something minutes ago!"

  Now was Fresh's trum to be taken aback. This was the first time he had seen Geno angry. Heck, this was the first time he had seen Geno frown. However, this didn't stop his smile. Ot was hard to fake the smile, but that's just how he was. Maybe if he smiled enough, he would be able to feel.

  "Well, I feel empty now, so-"

  Fresh's smile flattered as he saw his oldest brother tearing up. 'Way to go, Fresh... Two times in only a day... Just amazing (!)...', Fresh thought. 'Well... I already messed up... Let's not fake things anymore...'

  Fresh put his hand which was closer to Geno on Geno's shoulder in order to calm him down. He really didn't want to almost cause Geno's death. Geno's expression softened to a more saddened tone when he felt Fresh's hand on his shoulder. The oldest held the youngers hand which was on his shoulder.

  "T-that doesn't m-mean that y-you are n-not breaking s-silently..!"

  Fresh's eye sockets widened. 'Breaking?.. What is that supposed to mean?' Freah thought again. He remembered reading something like this in a psychology book. That was the moment he thought if he was 'breaking'...

  ...

  No... He wasn't important right now. Geno was about to die just some minutes ago. He had to care about him now. Though, he couldn't, and he knew that very well. It hurt him... inside... It hurt him so much. But yet, he couldn't let any of these out.

  "Then that doesn't change the fact that you won't always be fine! Geno, you are the one that matters now! Not me!" Fresh said slightly loud. Why was Geno caring about Fresh more than himself?

  The ones seeing this now either had saddened faces or tears. They were mostly trying to figure out what Fresh was really doing. Trying to figure out if Fresh was feeling or if all this was an act. Error was just confused. No hint if anger or anything.

  "F-Fresh..! Don't s-say that! Of course you matter... You matter to me everytime! You and Error! P-please... tell me what you felt... I care about you... so much... You know you can tell me anything!" Geno said with a pleading expression, desperate to know every little thing that his brother felt.

  Fresh didn't know what to say for a while. He felt a heavy pressure on his soul. It didn't do anything physically, though. That was good, so nobody would suspect anything. They didn't have to know anything. It would just be a burden to everyone.

  Fresh was once again thinking until he felt Geno tightening his grip on Fresh's hand. Fresh looked at his hand resting on Geno's shoulder.

  "Fresh. Please..! Talk to me... If you want to talk alone, it's fine. But please... Talk to me..."

  Fresh paused. His eyebrows were furrowed. Not in an angry or mean way, though. He was feeling that... thing again. A weight. A weight to crush him onto the tears. A weight to break him. A weight that he cannot hold back.

  The youngest started ro shake. Why was this happening? Why now? What really was this? Was he going to cry again? He really didn't want to feel that agonizing pain again. It hurt too much when it happened. But there was no stopping it, though. He was already shaking, meaning that he was going ro cry pretty soon and that he will be hurt again.

  "Huh? F-Fre-"

  Fresh broke down crying, kneeling. His hand on Geno's shoulder slowly falling down. Purple tears leaking down from his eye sockets. And that pain again. It was so weird and confusing. Fresh wanted to feel, but also didn't.

  "I can't... I don't wanna... I...I- I'm sorry..."

  Error was now convinced that Fresh wasn't faking anymore. These tears, mumbles, hiccups, sobs... They weren't fake. Error felt bad... Bad for Fresh. He was mean, yes, but he wasn't a monster to let Fresh have a breakdown without helping. So he kneeled down and hugged Fresh. His phobia wasn't triggering. This wasn't the first time he hugged Fresh, after all.

  "Cãłm đøwn, Fřeśh... Šhhh..."

  Error wasn't never the best at comforting. He was usually the one being comforted. So he did what he remembered. It wasn't much, but was enough to calm Fresh down- at least a little.

  Geno was rubbing circles on top of Fresh's skull gently while closing his eye sockets. Once Fresh was calmed down, Geno opened those big eye sockets and looked at the youngest.

  "There... Now tell me, bro... We will be here to listen all of these. Promise you, it'll feel better once you let it all out."

  Crayon and Asy looked at each other and backed off slowly. They got out of the room slowly and quietly, closing the door behind them.

  Fresh sniffled. This was going to be a lot harder than expected. This weight was now literally forcing him not to say anything about how he felt. But he had to fight it. That's what the others would want, after all. So he took a deep breath and started talking while still hiccuping and stuttering.

  "I... I-I felt empty o-once I left y-you... I dunno w-what really h-happened t-then... Everything j-just seemed so... b-blank and... I d-don't really remember... I-I guess..."

  Geno started thinking what could have happen to Fresh. It wasn't something he had ever been in, that's for sure. After some seconds of thinking, he decided to tell his thought about this.

  "Maybe... you could be in a shock..?"

  Fresh nodded, still not looking up. He was just fighting with the weight. He was afraid someone would ask more than just what he felt.

  "Whāt điđ yøu țhînķ? H-høw đođ ýa feêł øthěř thãń emøțiøns?" Error asked Fresh, still not letting him go.

  Fresh tensed up. This was what he was afraid of. Now he definitely was going to be a burden if he told them what he had in his mind.

  Should he lie and make it better for his people?

Or should he tell the truth and be a burden to everyone while there is still burden on their backs?

You choose...

Part 3?