How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The moment was past. Phineas I know had been even more startled than I to discover this bitterness in himself. Neither of us ever mentioned it again, and neither of us ever forgot that it was there (8.108).
Phineas and Gene treat this outburst the same as they do Gene's earlier confession at Finny's house. Their friendship is predicated upon a suspended reality they build together. Or something else.
Quote #8
"Naturally I don't believe books and I don't believe teachers. […] but I do believe—it's important after all for me to believe you. Christ, I've got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody" (11.84).
Oh, irony. Or is it? DOES Finny, maybe, in some way, know Gene better than everyone else? After all, he does perhaps at some level know that Gene caused the accident and why…
Quote #9
None of them ever accused me of being responsible for what had happened to Phineas, either because they could not believe it or else because they could not understand it. I would have talked about that, but they would not, and I would not talk about Phineas in any other way (12.14).
This is Gene's moment of greatest loyalty to his friend. By treating Finny's death honestly, he reveres him in a way he never did when Finny was alive and Gene had to protect himself.