Chapter 6
Chase was sitting on his couch watching TV. Jonathan came downstairs and sat next to him.
"All done with my homework," Jonathan said.
"That's great," Chase said. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," Jonathan replied.
"I'm glad," Chase said.
"I can't believe it's been 11 years," Jonathan said. "It just doesn't seem real."
"Hey, do you want to go eat some seafood?" Chase asked.
"I'd love to," Jonathan replied.
Chase and Jonathan went to Scott and Keller's Seafood Joint. As they sat looking at the menus, one of Chase's old friend from when he was in the Air Force arrived.
"Benny," Chase said.
"Chase," Benny said.
Chase and Benny shared a hug.
"Benny," Chase said pointing at Jonathan. "This is my son Jonathan. Jonathan, this is my friend Benny from when I was in the Air Force. He's going to be joining us."
"Nice to meet you Jonathan," Benny said.
"Nice to meet you too," Jonathan said.
Chris suddenly walked over to Chase and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"We need to talk," Chris said as he dragged Chase outside.
Once they were outside, Chris looked around.
"What are you doing?" Chase asked.
"Wade Scolnik is back!" Chris said.
"What?" Chase asked.
"Yeah," Chris said.
"Has he hurt Chuck?" Chase asked.
"No," Chris said. "Beth, Chris Keller, and you are the only people who know he's back."
"This is bad," Chase said.
"Yeah," Chris agreed.
Meanwhile back in the restaurant, Benny and Jonathan were sitting across from each other at the booth.
"So Jonathan," Benny said. "Chase told me about your parents. That's not an easy thing to go through. Especially as young as you were."
"Yeah," Jonathan said.
"I lost my parents too," Benny said.
"I'm so sorry," Jonathan said.
"They were skiing when an avalanche hit," Benny said.
"That's horrible," Jonathan said.
"Earlier that day, they tried to call me," Benny said. "I didn't answer because I was mad at them for not inviting me. I felt so guilty."
Benny looked right at Jonathan.
"The reason why I'm telling you this is because I know what it's like to feel guilty for what you said or did or didn't say," Benny said. "Don't let the guilt eat you alive. You're parents loved you and they knew you didn't hate them. And it's okay to miss them and cry. Crying helps let the sadness out."
"Thank you," Jonathan said.
Chase walked back into the restaurant and sat beside Jonathan.
"Sorry about that," Chase said.
Later, after they had finished eating and said goodbye to Benny, Chase and Jonathan went home. Once home, Jonathan cried some more about his parents' deaths while Chase held him tightly.
After Jonathan stopped crying, he and Chase ate some ice cream.
"Benny told me about his parents," Jonathan said.
"Really?" Chase asked.
"Yeah," Jonathan said. "He gave really great advice. Dad."
"Yes Jonathan?" Chase asked.
"Thank you," Jonathan said.
"You're welcome," Chase said.