Disclaimer: Believe it or not I don't actually own any of the characters from the film 'Stand By Me' or the novella 'The Body' by Stephen King on which it is based. Even the characters I have made up were probably subconsciously lifted from elsewhere :O.

Chapter Two:

Just as it was starting to rain quite heavily, Chris hoisted himself up into the tree house and held open the hatch as Kate, Gordie and finally Jack climbed up after him. There was just enough space for the four of them to sit and not be uncomfortable. Gordie took his normal place on one side of the tree house where Kate joined him, leaving Jack and Chris to sit round a small table in the centre. It had been a while since the tree house had been this full, Chris thought to himself. He and Gordie frequented it often but the days when they would spend hours and hours there with their friends Teddy and Vern were a thing of the past. Chris barely saw the other two at all anymore. He took out some cigarettes from his pocket, lit one for himself with a match and offered the rest up to the group.

"It's alright, I've got my own" replied Kate, who then retrieved her own stash from her jeans and joined him in having a smoke. Chris watched her as she breathed in the smoke. She was a pretty girl, he supposed, with expressive, emerald green eyes. By far her most striking feature however was her hair; kept in a simple ponytail but jet black with a distinctive streak of much lighter-coloured strands that sloped across her forehead from right to left. Chris would have been able to guess that the two were brother and sister if they hadn't already said so. Jack had the same colour of hair and although his was untidy, it seemed to suit him in Chris' view. He also observed that Jack's eyes were a much paler green than those of his sister, and his nose crinkled up when he laughed or smiled.

"So this is where you two come to hang out then?" asked Jack.

"Yeah we're normally either here or out in the woods somewhere" Gordie answered as Chris started dealing out a deck of cards for him and Jack to play on the little table.

"How come you moved to Castle Rock then?" Chris asked Jack.

"Well our Dad…he said he wanted a fresh start. He says that quite a lot actually" he replied. Chris sensed something in his tone.

"What's he like? Your Dad I mean, do you get along?" By this stage Kate and Gordie were talking amongst themselves. Chris wasn't concentrating on what they were saying but judging by the giggling, he could tell they were getting along just fine.

"Not really if I'm honest" said Jack, a little reluctantly and still looking at his cards. "It's just the three of us at home, and he and Kate are fine with each other, but with me…well my Dad has some strict views on what type of man his son should be I suppose."

"I see" said Chris taking one last draw of his cigarette before putting it out. He could tell Jack was a bit uncomfortable talking about the subject and wanted him to feel at ease. "You see that?" he asked, pointing at a cut above his right eye. "That's my Dad's handiwork. That's pretty much all you need to know about him."

"I guess neither of them will be winning Castle Rock's Father of the Year award then" Jack said half smiling.

"You can say that again… and would you look at that, Chris Chambers is victorious once again" he said laying his cards down on the table triumphantly.

"You know I'm only letting you win, right? I mean the new kid coming in and showing you up in your own tree house wouldn't be very good manners now would it?"

"Is that so?" Chris scoffed, "Well in what world is it good manners to tell someone you're letting them win?" The pair of them laughed. Chris was enjoying himself more than he had been for the last few months or so. Of course he still loved just hanging around doing nothing much with Gordie but when he was on his own he felt down most of the time and he wasn't entirely sure why. But sitting there in that tree house with the soothing sound of the rain steadily beating against the wood, he was perfectly content.

"Jack, Kate was just telling me about the time she shaved your eyebrows while you were sleeping!" Gordie said bringing Chris out of a daydream.

"Yeah my sister is a real joker," Jack said, rolling his eyes, "but I doubt she'd find it so amusing if it were the other way round."

"You should have seen the look on his boyfriend's face when he saw him. I thought I was going to die laughing!"

"Boyfriend! Y…You're gay?" asked Chris who was trying and failing to not sound too surprised.

"Ex-boyfriend now but yeah, I'm gay" Jack said casually. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"No, no, I just didn't think…" Chris said quickly before trailing off.

"Chris and I don't care Jack but I don't think the same can be said about a lot of people in this town," said Gordie tentatively.

"Well they're just going to have to deal with it, aren't they? Jack shouldn't have to lie about who he is Gordie!" Kate said indignantly.

"I'm not saying he should lie, just that it might be best if he didn't broadcast it to the rest of the town." The scowl on Kate's face told Gordie she didn't like that idea much either, but fortunately for him he was saved by Jack.

"It's okay Kate, he's right. There's no point in me inviting trouble on myself if it can be avoided. Besides all that matters is that I know I'm being honest with myself and the people I care about," Jack said confidently. At that moment the bench gave way on Gordie's side leaving him in a heap on the wooden floor. Any awkwardness that was in the air beforehand melted away with the laughter, and the four continued chatting and joking for a further twenty minutes when the rain seemed to die down. Chris thought he did a good job of carrying on as normal but inside his mind there was only one thing on the agenda. Jack's words would resonate in Chris' head long after they left the tree house.

"Chris and I were planning on going up to the Royal River and camping out overnight tomorrow. It'd be really cool if you two came as well" Gordie said before they went their separate ways.

"Yeah that'd be great! We'll definitely be there" said Kate enthusiastically. The four agreed a time and a place to meet up and said their goodbyes. Chris shared a glance and a smile at Jack before returning home to replay the events of the day over and over again in his mind.

Personally I would hate it if you left a review. It would just be terrible and I forbid you to do it!*

*This better work or I'm writing Supernanny an angry letter!