Lachambers- What If?

21

It was no surprise that all the diners were closed. The boys abandoned their dormitory at around ten thirty at night. Who would want to be stuck at work at that hour?
The time or atmosphere didn't matter to Chris though. He didn't care if he and Gordie were on a million dollar cruise or if they were walking down a crackhead infested alley- but a crackhead infested alley wasn't very romantic, so maybe not that.
Either way he valued his time with Gordie and would behave the best he could despite the late hour or crude atmosphere.

The boys had simply decided to stroll down Portland's peaceful damp sidewalk. Earlier that evening, before the sun had even set, it had begun to sprinkle. The light rain only stopped when Gordie grabbed Chris's hand back in their dorm room.
The streets were dimly lit by towering streetlights that blocked out the stars. The sidewalk still had a decent coating of rain water on it. This made their steps sound squishy. It reminded Chris of the sound effects comedically used in the Saturday morning cartoons he used to watch with Eyeball. The sound made Chris smile. He'd always had a childish sense of humor compared to Gordie, who seemed awfully distant.
Gordie had also let go of Chris's hand now too. Chris knew not to take it personal. It was probably, as he only hoped, because they were in public.

"Are you hungry?" Chris questioned politely.

Gordie looked up at him and gave him a soft no. His eyes seemed heavy.

"Okay. Just tell me if you are. Wont stop til I find a place." Chris smiled.

"I ate while you were in the shower." Gordie told him softly.

"Oh..well then.." Chris didn't want their whole outing to consist of plain old walking. That would be boring and uneventful and Gordie wouldn't remember it at all.

"Wanna go get ice cream? I'll pay," Chris offered suddenly. "There's a place close by I think."

"Oh okay. Sure." Gordie nodded as the corners of his mouth turned upwards.

They proceeded to cross the street and enter the ice cream shop. Chris entered first, as usual.

"I don't know what flavors they got, but I still remember that your favorite wa-" Chris paused and stared at the man behind the counter as if he had just whipped a gun out and pointed it at his head.

"Oh my God, Charlie?! What are you doing here?" Chris grinned as he grabbed the man's forearm and yanked him into a hug.

"Jesus.. Chris is that you? Wow.. you're uh.." Charlie scratched the back of his head, noting that the young kid he had always known was now a good four inches taller than him.

"Well you're a man now. Jeez am I that old? Swear we was in the Cobras together yesterday." He sighed and shook his head to himself.

"Yup, sure are old. I can already see some grey hairs coming in."  Chris smirked condescendingly.

"Oh shut it, kid. Betcha still haven't grown outta diapers yet." The two snickered together.

Despite being a young adult himself, Gordie was still slightly frightened by Charlie. He had many horrible memories associated with his face.

Feeling a familiar weight being tugged down on his jacket, Chris turned around and raised an eyebrow at Gordie, who was huddled behind him.