Chapter One-Hundred and Sixty-Three

Clarissa zipped John's leather jacket up, her hands shaking with the anxiety that always hit her when he was on his bike. "Please be careful." She sighed, knowing that he loved speed. "I don't want you getting in a wreck."

He chuckled, taking her hand in both of his and holding it close to his chest. "I'm fine, Mom." He smiled, letting Chance heel to his side. "I'll be careful."

"Promise?" She asked, looking up at him and instead of seeing a teenager, she saw that he'd become a man. The boy was gone now, and he was a full-grown man.

"I promise." He hugged her close, rubbing his hands over her back to help sooth her. "I've got a goddaughter now. I can't be getting into trouble anymore."

She shook her head, squeezing his shoulders. "Johnathan…" She sighed, letting him walk out the door. "Please be careful…"

John slowed to a stop in the school parking lot, shaking his hair out as he pulled his helmet off. "Chance, heel." He clipped a leash to her service animal vest, scratching her half-chewed ear he they walked toward the school. "Good girl." He chuckled, noticing that a lot of freshmen and sophomores were watching them with a longing look to pet the Pit Bull.

"Hey Bender." Cooper smiled, holding his hand out to shake John's. "Good to see you back."

John smirked, catching Cooper's eyes flit between he and Chance. "Go ahead. She'd love some pets." He gave a short whistle, letting Chance know it was okay for Cooper to touch her. "She's a pain in the ass, but she's a sweetheart."

Cooper laughed as Chance licked his face, scratching her belly as she rolled over. "She's cute." He grinned at John, noticing that he looked as if he'd actually gotten a good meal today. "Those eyes are kinda weird though… with how blue they are."

John nodded, poking Chance's toes as her foot pressed against his thigh. "Yeah. Mom says she looks like an ice queen… but she acts like a queen half the time too." He knelt down, showing Cooper the spot to scratch that made Chance's leg go crazy. "Damn dog was meant to work for me, and she's trained me to work for her."

Cooper shook his head, watching as Chance jumped up and pushed her master onto the sidewalk and laid over his chest with all of her Pit Bull mass, her strong muscles rippling under her shiny black coat. "What's she doing?" He asked, picking up John's helmet as the older teen rolled his eyes.

"My heartrate must've spiked." He dug his finger's into Chance's hair, knowing that he would never get her off of him until she was satisfied that he was okay. "Usually she does this when I have anxiety, a flashback, or if something weird happens from all the drugs I've taken."

Cooper nodded, reaching toward Chance until she growled at him. "What if you have a seizure?"

John coughed as Chance's elbow pressed into his stomach, looking up at his friend. "I barely ever get those anymore, but she's trained to find someone in the family if one hits while we're alone, and if she can't find one of them, then she has to find the nearest adult." He forced his body to give a twitch, smiling as Chance instantly rushed to where Claire was speaking to Allison and Kaylie. "See?"

"Wow…" Cooper breathed, watching as the dog grabbed Claire's sleeve and began pulling her toward where John was sitting on the concrete. "How long did that take?"

"We've been working with her since hour one, but it took a little over three weeks to train her for all of this." He stood, showing Chance that he was perfectly fine. "By the way, if you have a history of seizures, and you fake one, you will most likely end up having a real one a few minutes later." He pressed a kiss to Claire's lips, his hand holding the back of her head perfectly. "Coop, this is my future wife, Claire."

"Nice to meet you." Claire smiled, holding her hand out to him.

Cooper rubbed some of the pencil graphite from his hand, shaking the redhead's manicured hand. "Nice to meet you too."