Hello again, readers.

This chapter was originally combined with the previous chapter, but I've decided to split them both to make it an easier reading experience and so I could polish this one a little more.
Our leading lady isn't here yet, but she will be here soon.

Thank you all for reading so far, I hope you all enjoy it.
Without further ado,
-RollieMcFly27

The ride home was a gloomy one for Goofy.

It wasn't that he didn't like Max hanging out with his friend or having his own life, that was something he was slowly and steadily getting used to, but he wasn't so sure why he was hurt in such a way. He should've expected Max to say no, yet somewhere in his heart, he was hoping Max would say yes.

And Goofy would have a way of distracting himself from these new negative emotions he was feeling.

He shook his head and wore a determined look. He didn't just need Max to cheer himself up! And in order to prove that Goofy decided he would turn on the radio to something HE would like instead of what Max would. Yeah! That's it!
Upon reaching a red light, Goofy fumbled with the controls and the radio came to life, sporting some new hip-hop song of that week.

"Not today, buster! A-hyuck!" Goofy smiled and pressed Seek to begin finding a different station. This feeling of doing something he wanted was thrilling and exciting, Goofy was wondering why he hadn't thought to do it ages ago.
The radio finally reached a station that sported more classical music and Goofy halted the search, breathing in the familiar scene as if it was a fresh breath of air. He was now in his own element and Max wouldn't be here to tell him to change it. He remembered the song playing almost vividly, but as he was beginning to remember where it was from, it came to an end and a spokesperson took their place.

"Well, how is everyone doing tonight? You are listening to NEYDIS 192.3, home of the most beloved classics and out of style songs you wouldn't hear on the modern radio! Now, this next song was requested by a CC, an old favorite that not even I've heard before. But we checked it out with our sound team, and it's got a really good flow, just perfect for a station of music to take you back to the olden days!"

Goofy kept his eyes on the road and smiled contentedly. A new song no one had ever heard before. Heck, maybe he would like it! He eagerly waited in anticipation to hear the song until the all-too familiar opening played its first few notes.

It was his song... his and Coo Coo's favorite song...

The smile melted away and a look of shocked horror came in its place.
The melody hung around his ears as memories flooded his mind, coming in all too quickly for him to realize. He automatically turned off the radio and let the sound of the road and humming engine take its place, needing some time to get himself together. How on earth did that happen? It couldn't have been a coincidence... it just couldn't have.

Goofy let out a long sigh, sounding defeated as even the world seemed to be against him.

Why couldn't he be allowed happiness just for a few seconds?

Goofy arrived home and realized that he hadn't noticed how empty and lifeless the house was, it was almost like an empty nest, filled with nothing, but memories and what-fors. The thought of an empty nest got him thinking about the future, especially what he would do if Max were to ever go to college.

He stood and stared at the house for a few seconds, noting that the paint looked a little chipped and the bushes were a little worse for wear. But, beyond that, he saw a lonely place that only greeted its sole inhabitant with a cold, emotionless silence like a tomb.

A tomb, one that would bury him alone, with no one to be by his side.

Goofy shook that off and grabbed his house key, making his way towards the entrance. He really needed to pull himself together, but at this point, he wasn't doing a good job by himself. At that moment, he wished Mickey and Donald lived closer so they could all hang out together like they used to, they always knew how to cheer him up... even though he was usually the one to do that.

Then, right as he was about to place the house key into the knob, he heard the sound of tires squealing down his street and looked over just in time to see Pete pushing Max and P.J. out of his car, the two boys carrying a movie and a pizza box in hand.

"And if yer mom asks, I had a meeting with a client!" Pete shouted, most likely to P.J.

Goofy lifted a hand to wave at the two, stifling a smile as he did so, but the boys didn't notice him at all as they were too preoccupied with the stuff they held in their hands.

Pete, however, noticed him.

The car door closed, and the tires squealed as it pushed hard in reverse, stopping right in front of Goofy's house.
Pete scowled as he struggled to lower the window, but once it was low enough, he called out.

"Hey, Goof!"

Goofy smiled, glad to see his neighbor. His depressed demeanor faded away as he cheerfully made his way over to the parked car, putting his key away in his pocket.

"Well, Heya, Pete! What can I do ya for?"

Pete seemed to look over at the house in a nervous frenzy, like he was looking out for something... or someone.

"Goof, listen, there's no time, hop in." He barked, looking between Goofy and his own house.

"H-Huh? Whattya mean, Pete?" Goofy replied, confused.

"I said GET IN."

"Get in where? In your-WoOAH!"

Goofy was cut off by Pete grabbing him by his arm and pulling him into the car via his window. Thankfully, Goofy wasn't nearly half as big as he was, and he slipped right in without any effort.
The tires squealed once more as Pete hit the pedal to the medal, Peg could be seen coming out of the house and Pete didn't dare to look back, he just kept going as fast as he could until they were out of the neighborhood.

"Whew... that was a close one," Pete wiped his brow and breathed a sigh of relief.

"A-hyuck! I'll say!" A muffled voice came from under the glove box. It seemed in his hectic hurry, Pete managed to get Goofy into the car, but didn't quite stick the landing. Goofy was upside-down and backwards and being pushed around by the speeding car, which seemed to make the situation even worse.

Pete opened the glove box and out popped his neighbor's head with little blue birds circling around his head.

"Goof! Whattya doin'?!" Pete barked, half surprised at seeing Goofy in such a predicament, though he should've suspected something like this because, hey, it's Goofy.

"Heya, Pete! Gawrsh, are yer brothers comin' with us too?" Goofy said dizzily as his vision seemed to duplicate Pete into three Petes.

"No, ya bumblin' harper! Get out of there!" Pete retorted as he stopped the car at a light and pulled Goofy out, helping him to sit right on the car seat. Goofy shook his head to get his marbles together and straightened himself out by the time the light turned green.

"Say, just what was that all about?" Goofy asked as he put on his seatbelt, the only thing that hadn't changed was the confusion.

Pete sighed a bit, loosening his grip on the steering wheel and made a right turn on a road.

"It's nothin', Goof, I just didn't want to be home while the boys are watchin' a movie. Peg's probably gonna make me help her out in the kitchen with gettin' them snacks or somethin' and I usually just watch T.V, but I promised P.J. I'd let 'im rent a movie if he did good on his schooling."

Goofy said nothing as he listened intently, making sure to nod every once in a while. He knew Pete wasn't one for patience and definitely didn't want advice right now. Just someone to listen to.

"... And, doggone it, he did it... pretty soon, he's gonna be askin' for a T.V. setup in his room. I gotta tell ya, Goof, I'm proud of m'boy, but he's gonna give me a headache and leave me broke at this rate."

"I feel ya! A-hyuck!" Goofy replied, only telling half the truth. He didn't entirely understand Pete's troubles as he knew Max did well enough in school on his own and there weren't any troubles as far as he was concerned, Max studied just as hard as P.J. did.

"Well, glad someone does..." Pete muttered under his breath.

The two men said nothing for about half a minute. Goofy looked over at Pete from time to time to see if he could figure out where they were going or even why Pete apparently needed Goofy to come with him as they rarely ever did something together at this time of day.

"So, uh... where're we headed?" Goofy finally mustered enough curiosity to ask.

"Only the finest men's eatin' place in town, Goof!" A smirk broke it's way over Pete's face as the restaurant in question came into view and it was a place Goofy had never heard of before.

"Welcome to Joe's Eating Emporium!"

About a few minutes later, the two men were sitting down at a table in a corner away from the noisy T.V.s and the noisier patrons that were also eating at the establishment.
Goofy wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a paradise for men with different sport games playing on several large plasma screens and the menu mainly consisting of foods with a lot of meat and grilled items, Goofy was surprised to find that even the salad had chunks of chicken in it.
The place had low lighting with one light hanging on by a single cord above each table in the area, cheering and laughing could be heard throughout the ambiance and even an occasional wolf whistle as the beautiful waitress carried some food to the hungry customers.

Goofy didn't entirely feel comfortable being here as he was never one for these kinds of places, but Pete had brought him to this place so that meant that he had invited him in some way, even if it was without asking him first.

"Don't be lookin' so glum, Goof, relax and take it easy! It's just us two!" Pete chuckled as he leaned back into his chair with his hands behind his head, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Goofy thoughtfully studied Pete for a second and tried to copy him in hopes that he would relax also, but instead, he just fell back onto the floor. A loud slap was immediately heard as Pete smacked his own forehead in embarrassment. He was beginning to regret doing this, but no one else was available at the time, so Pete didn't have much of a choice.
"Goof, come on, would it kill ya to try not to destroy the place?"

"Sorry there, Pete, I'm not used to places like this." Goofy apologized as he sat back in his chair, deciding instead to look through his menu.

"Why does that not surprise me." Pete grumbled and glanced over his menu, even though he already knew what he was going to get.

"Hey there, honey. What can I get you two?" An accented voice chirped, causing Goofy to look up from his menu at the waitress. A move which seemed to make his eyes bulge from his head. She was definitely an attractive type with beautiful eyes and striking facial features and was quite a fox, both literally and figuratively, but she didn't even look in their direction as she chewed a gum and pulled out a notepad to take their orders.

"Hey, sweetheart. I'll take a 5-pound steak with a Boston tea." Pete was only pretending to look at the menu to keep from staring at the waitress, who was arguably as beautiful as Peg was. He knew what was on the menu without even looking at it, but he was a family man and wouldn't dare to ruin that for anything.

"Gotcha. What about you, cute stuff?" The waitress turned to look at Goofy, who blushed when her attention turned to him. He hid his face in the menu in the same way Pete did and tried to find a menu item that wasn't terribly expensive, which as he found, wasn't easy to find.

"Gawrsh.. well, there's, um, there's just so much. I, uh..." Goofy stammered and Pete had already given his menu to the waitress, but he tried to keep his attention away from her and even Goofy. He drummed his fingers as his patience ran out, wanting his friend to just finish ordering something so she could leave, but after several more seconds, he had enough.

"Just get him the special!" He nearly exploded but kept his voice down and still didn't try to look their way.

"One cosmic firebird burger, coming up. What about the drink-"

"He'll have what I'm having."

"And a Boston tea. Thank you for choosing Joe's, I'll be back with your drinks!" The waitress finished and turned to leave, but even Pete couldn't resist watching her walk away. Goofy cleared his throat and tried to ease his nerves, not comfortable with having Pete of all people see him like this.

A few minutes later, the same waitress came back with the 3-inch steak the size of a dinner plate and a steak burger that was bigger than Goofy's head, which left him bewildered at the massive size of the thing.

As soon as the waitress was gone, Pete let out a sigh of relief and a grin returned to his face. He slapped Goofy on the back and laughed.
"Don't let a little pretty lady get you all flustered up, Goof! If you didn't have a son, I'd swear you never had a girl before!"

Goofy sheepishly laughed and smiled. He knew Pete didn't mean any real harm, though he was embarrassed at the fact that he couldn't hide his flustered self very well.

"A-hyuck, yeah, I guess," he replied as he began to work his way around his burger while Pete started to messily devour his steak like there was no tomorrow. Sometime into the meal, Pete stopped eating long enough to get a few words in.

"Say, now that ya mention it, why don't you got a girl, Goof?" He asked with his mouth full of food, it was a wonder why he had a family despite having such bad manners. But, during the heavy carnage of the steak, Pete couldn't help pondering that question.

But hearing the question stopped Goofy mid-bite and nearly made him choke. He hadn't expected to be asked that.
He chewed the rest of the food in his mouth and wiped his lips before responding.

"Gawrsh, well, ya see, I had one long ago. The love of my life, Maxie's mom. She was my everything," Goofy gushed as he recounted the memories.

Pete didn't seem phased as he took another large bite of his steak and chewed as he spoke.

"Hokeh, boot, whet OI meen is..."

"Uh... ya got some pickings in yer mouth there, Pete." Goofy pointed out with his fork and Pete furrowed his brow, clearly not amused with his friend pointing something out that his wife didn't already do on a near daily basis. So, he chewed the rest of his food and swallowed it angrily before continuing.

"What I meant to say is, why don't you got a girl NOW?" Pete made sure to put some emphasis on the 'now' to make sure it got through Goofy's thick skull, which it did surprisingly after a few seconds. Goofy blushed madly and seemed to make himself look smaller as it was one thing to have these conversations with yourself, but it was something else entirely to have them said out in the open. From the way Goofy acted, it was like he was worried Max would hear.

"Ha... Pete... y'know I can't do that to Maxie, what would he think? And besides, I've already had my time with that."

"Who cares, Goof? I'm willing to betcha that the second he's free, he's gonna fly the nest." Pete replied as a matter of fact, his eyes focused on cutting a piece of the steak before chucking it into his mouth.

Goofy looked down with distain. He had thought about that and after some consideration, he felt Pete was right somehow... Max wasn't always going to be with him forever and he would know as he himself was the exact way when he was Max's age, eager to get out and see the world. It seemed to run in the family, every Goof eventually went out to make their mark on the world all the way back to an ancestor that accidentally sailed to the country they were in now.

Pete stopped eating long enough to notice his friend's mood and gave him a pat on the back to try and cheer him up.
"Aww, I didn't mean it like that, pal... I'm just sayin', ya gotta think about yerself 'cause when Max leaves, ya'll be left with nothing."

Goofy's ears stayed drooped as he moved his gaze to the floor. Yes, it was the inevitable truth, but was he himself even allowed to have that kind of liberty? He felt guilty for even daring to think like that.
"Yeah, I guess ya got a point. But, like I said, I'm done with that," he said quietly, as if accepting his own fate.

Pete noticed that Goofy still wasn't convinced and took a large breath as he decided to have a serious pep talk with him, ones that were usually reserved for P.J. and it was uncharacteristic of him to do it for anyone besides his son because that was something fathers did. He laid a hand on Goofy's shoulder, which made him look at his hand and then to his eyes.

"Listen, Goof... I'm sorry 'bout what happened to yer old lady. I don't mean no disrespect, son- I mean, pal. I don't mean no disrespect, but ya haul yer butt out there every day for you and your boy. Haven'tcha thought for once how nice it would be to have someone ya can come home to? That they'll have a nice lil' something for you to eat and a home that's clean and homey?"

Goofy blinked and didn't say anything as he thought about it. It seemed to coincide with his recent feelings, and it was reflected as Pete spoke. Yes, he did want those things, but he also wanted more than that.

"... and maybe not just that, but maybe someone ya can relate to on a personal level. Because lemme tell ya, Goof, there's a lotta things I can talk about with Peg that I can't talk about with P.J. or Pistol, especially Pistol. If I didn't have Peg, geez, I don't know what I'd do."

Yeah... that too. Some companionship did sound nice, having someone to talk to and confide in, maybe someone who would want to do the same things he did... even if he couldn't remember what kind of things he liked to do, that second part worried him a bit, but he pushed it aside for later as Pete went quiet as if waiting for Goofy to say something.

"Yeah... I getcha, Pete." He replied softly, his gaze lowering down to the table.

"Look, I'm not tryin' ta make ya feel bad and is not that I'm tellin' ya to forget about Max, I'm just tellin' ya to make a decision fer yerself for once in yer life. Maybe find a gal that makes ya happy and live fer you, Goof."

Goofy thought about it and realized he was right. After a couple of years of dedicating his life to taking care of Max, it was about time he thought about what he wanted. Deep down, it felt right, but he also felt apprehensive.
"But, Pete, am I really- is it really, okay?" Goofy looked back with pleading eyes that alerted Pete that his friend was in a lot deeper water than he was letting in on.

He sighed, hating these sorts of talks. He was never one for the emotional sappy stuff, that was Peg's strong suit.
But, something in Goofy's eyes seemed to plead for something, anything, to help him out.

"I don't know, Goof, that's somethin' you'll have to figure out for yerself. All I can say is that nothin's ever just a one-time thing. I'm sure yer family wouldn't want ya to just be mopin' around, you gotta make something for yerself, at least before Max leaves ya."

Goofy thought about this thoroughly, he knew if it was his Coo Coo that was in his place, he'd want for her to be happy again. There was no doubt that she would've wanted the same for him as well. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure with trying, he figured he probably wasn't going to. But you know something is definitely going on when even Pete is making sense. His heart felt afraid, but ready to make the leap he wasn't so sure he was ready for.

"Well... I suppose I could try." He muttered with a small smile, shrugging and looking away. At hearing his friend begin to cheer up, Pete's smirk returned on his face as well as relief. Finally, the sappy stuff was over.
"So? Whatcha waitin' for? Cheer up and get yourself out there! I'm willin' to bet ya can get a girl in less than a month!" Pete laughed heartily as he gave Goofy another pat on the back, though this one was hard enough to knock the wind out of the man.

"Gawrsh, Pete. I don't know, I think I might be a little rusty..." Goofy ran small circles with his finger, embarrassed to be admitting that to even himself.

"Ah, Goof, you act like you're old! HA! Don'tcha worry, pal, datin's like an old glove. Once ya learn the moves, you never forget them. Just give yourself a little time and it'll all come right back to ya!" Pete laughed as he downed the last of his tea and motioned to a waiter to give him another refill.

"But are ya really shore this is, okay?" This time, Goofy looked at Pete, who didn't bother to return the gaze.

"Well, why wouldn't it be? Max is a big boy, Goof, he'll get along just fine. Not like he'll be sticking around much longer." And with that, Pete downed another drink, seeming like he was done talking about this.

Goofy laughed sheepishly while agreeing with him and then proceeded to contemplate what Pete had said.

He contemplated as they finished their meal.

He contemplated as Pete dropped him off.

He contemplated as he went to brush his teeth.

And he contemplated before going to sleep.

If Goofy really thought about it, once he got Max out of the equation, there wasn't anything really stopping him from pursuing another relationship. He still worried about what Max would think and the large risk that Max would accuse him of trying to replace his mom, but that wasn't true at all, there would be no one else like her and there never would be. This wasn't a quest to find another like her, it was to find another for him.

He settled into bed and spent several minutes tossing and turning, excited, but extremely nervous for what would come from this new step in his life to date again. He glanced over what would've been his Coo Coo's side of the bed, imagining the possibility of someone occupying that part of his life once more.

Was he really ready for this next step?

Pete seemed to think so and he was really confident about it too, so maybe he knew something he didn't.
Goofy decided he would have to make a plan, try to go out after work to see if he could find some places to get a date. He was much too old for the old barhop gig, but maybe some blind dates could help? Maybe he would ask Pete about that.

His thoughts turned to mush as he dreamed of holding his departed beloved in his arms

Needless to say, Goofy slept soundly that night.