Chris chambers once upon a body

Yankee caps, and seven cents

We all started getting ready to go home in a hurry, but before I could make my way out, I locked eyes with Chris and knew that he wanted to talk about something. I motioned to Gordie to go ahead without me and he knew. Chris and I always liked to stay and patch a few things up in the treehouse after we all hang out here. This is to avoid another accident like the one Teddy had. I bent down to close the latch making sure to lock it tightly after. 

"Hey, you ok?" he asked me softly. 

"yeah," I said without lifting my head as I grabbed the table. "Why?"

"C'mon, you know I worry about you," he spoke smoothly, "So tell me what's going on." 

I finally turned to look at him avoiding his eyes. As I read his face all I could see was concern and sincerity. 

"I'm worried about Gordie," I told him, " I know he keeps to himself a bit but he's been more distant since Denny" 

"I know you're worried about Gordie, and I am too, but I'm asking about you" replied Chris

I looked at him surprised. I was hoping to avoid this topic since I've never been good at talking about my feelings. The last person I was able to trust blindly with my feelings was Denny and even then I didn't confide everything to him. 

I grabbed an old rag from a small cabinet and dusted the windows to avoid eye contact. 

"I've been wanting to work on myself, but I don't know where or even how to start," I told him truthfully. This was something I had been wanting to do but I never got around to it. "I think that the thought of trying and failing has been on my mind is all."

I finally turned to face Chris but he was looking down cleaning. 

"Well just sitting around thinking about it won't get you anywhere, you know that and you know that I'll help and support you, and I'm glad to hear it. Still, I think that's not all." He said while cleaning up some of the nails and small tools we had. "When you're ready to talk to somebody about your feelings, you can come to me, I'll always listen to you," he said

There was a brief pause and finally, he looked up to meet my eyes. 

"I'll always make time for you" he whispered softly almost as if he didn't want anyone else to hear our conversation, even if it was just us in the tiny treehouse. 

We smiled at each other and got our things together. 

"C'mon, I don't want Gordie to worry, and we don't want to be the last ones to show up to the tracks," I said after some silence. 

Chris followed me out closing the latch behind him. We walked next to each other towards our houses. Our fingers brush every few seconds and discreet glances between the two of us. 

"Do you mind going to the store with me really quick, I just want to stop in and get another pack of cigarettes before we go," I asked Chris

"Sure, there's something I want to get too" he replied. 

Once we got into the store, I went straight for the cigarettes and matches and picked them up. As I walked back to the front of the store, Chris had just finished getting something from the gumball machine and waited for me off to the side. 

From there we parted ways and walked to our own houses. I went straight to my room and changed my clothes into something a little more comfortable. I put on my favorite pair of jeans that I had once stolen from Gordie, mainly because I fill them out better, a striped top, and my converse. I grabbed my vodka bottles and poured the remaining liquid into the bathroom sink before hiding the bottles again. I went to the mirror to put my hair up when Gordie knocked on the half-open door to let me know he was there.