Gordie had a wonderful wife, an amazing son. He had friends. He was what he always wanted to be, a writer. He really did have a good life. He had spent countless of nights worrying about his future, as most people do, and thankfully everything turned out alright. Amazing, actually.
Yet, Gordie had never felt as empty as he did now. And the reason? An old friend. The best he'd ever had. Christopher Chambers. Gordie hadn't seen Chris in over ten years, but it didn't matter. The best kind of friends are the ones that you don't have to talk to constantly. Three years can pass with barerly any contact, but then once you meet it's like no time at all has passed. Chris was that kind of friend. To be honest, Gordie couldn't imagine a better friend. He literally didn't think that a better friend, or person, than Chris Chambers existed. And that's why Gordie felt so empty. Because Chris was gone. Dead. The Chris he knew and loved didn't exist anymore, only in his memories. And Gordie couldn't even bare to think about that.
Chris and Gordie helped each other, they really did. Gordie used to have his brother and his parents, kind of, there for him, but then suddenly he lost all of them. His older brother died and suddenly his parents didn't even see him. But Chris did. He was there as a friend, someone Gordie could hang out with, play cards with, listen to music with, do whatever with. But he was also there as a shoulder to cry on, someone that listened to Gordie and saw him. Chris could see when there was something wrong, he knew when Gordie was sad or upset, and he didn't pressure Gordie. He never forced Gordie to tell him what was wrong, but he did simple and small things to help him. Sometimes it was things to take Gordie's mind off the bad things, and sometimes it was small comments intended to reassure and comfort Gordie in a discreet way. He was also a shoulder to cry on, even though that didn't happen often. Gordie helped Chris too. Chris had a horrible father, and not the best brother either. His family had a bad reputation, and no one really noticed or cared about Chris. He was just the youngest Chambers kid. Of course there were people who knew what kind of person his dad was, and sometimes people saw Chris' blue bruises and white scars. Every now and then some teacher thought that that Chambers kid sure gets injured often. Chris didn't have anyone, except for Gordie, Teddy, and Vern. But even Teddy and Vern drifted away. Not because something happened, just because that's how it is. Friends come and go. After they left, it was just Chris and Gordie. Gordie was all Chris had.
They helped each other in many ways. There was so much Chris had taught Gordie, so much he still carried with him. Chris filled Gordie's memories. He was in his veins. And now he was gone. All Gordie had left of Chris was memories, so many memories. Gordie just missed him so fucking much. Even the many happy memories he had with Chris were painful, because he couldn't handle that it all was over. The memories with Chris were just that, memories. Gordie could never experience them again. All they did now was remind that Chris was gone. Actually gone. Gordie hadn't seen him in over ten years, but he knew that if he had met Chris, if would've been as if no time at all had passed. Because Chris was that kind of friend, the best one there is. When he was younger, Gordie couldn't imagine a life without his best friend, and he didn't want to, because a world without Chris was something he couldn't take. Now, that was the world he lived in. It was kind of okay, because he wasn't a little boy anymore. He was a grown man that definitely could live without his best friend. He had, for years now. It was just that even if he hadn't seen Chris in so long, he knew that Chris was there. He always had been, always was. Until now. And evey time Gordie thought about him he wanted to break down and cry. Chris used to say that Gordie was so good with words, but Gordie couldn't even begin to describe what he was feeling. Everything was just empty.
Gordie never had any friends later on like the ones he had when he was twelve. But he didn't really need them. He never expected to have friends like that again, especially like Chris, because he wasn't sure if anyone could come close to him. Christopher Chambers was someone Gordie knew he would miss forever.
Oh, how Gordie wished he could go back to when he was twelve.
