Chapter 9

Note: Alright, alright, I'm late again. I'm still not quite sure about some of the stuff in this chapter, so you gotta give me some good feedback. The comments are open to anyone now, so feel free to critize! Please! haha. Enjoy! P.S. This is the ultimate cheese so far. Just warning you.

From the very second I popped in that CD, Remains of Resonance, December Breath’s very first recording, I knew I’d love it. It was something I just felt in me, even though it was probably mostly due to all the times I’d heard them play live.
I’d stolen away to my bedroom the second Chris came to a stop against the curb by our home, taking the CD with me in a cheap plastic bag. It was the kind with a yellow smiley face on it, and then ‘Thank You’ printed below it in red letters. I knew Chris had already forgotten the CD about half way home when we quieted our conversation about Ellis and me. He tried to start another discussion on some sport scores after that, but I didn’t even know what sport was on TV this time of year, let alone follow scores. But that was just Chris, always jumping to the next thing, especially if it involved sports.
While he was mulling over the scores in his head, I was still considering what he’d just said. Basically he’d given me a blessing, if you wanted to call it that, to date Ellis. It was pretty awkward for him to say, but I knew he wanted to get it out anyway just so he could be an influential voice speaking into my relationship in a slightly-overprotective-big-brother kind of way. Which was sweet of him, even though I’d date Ellis whether he liked it or not. I didn’t mention that I didn’t go giving my approval to who he dated, which he would rebut right away saying that I was the little sister, therefore it was clearly not my job.
If I had had the power to do what I liked with his old girlfriends, most of them wouldn’t have set foot in the house. There was about two, maybe, that I would allow to come inside, and about four that I’d like to send off to Alaska just to see how they’d end up in a few weeks. I’m guessing the results would be so amusing that they’d probably ask a few of them to start a reality show or something.
I got Remains of Resonance out of the bag and into my hands, and I was tearing off the sticker at the top of the CD case that always seems to rip in the wrong places, making it impossible to open easily. I tampered with it for what seemed like forever, but finally when I was getting to the point where I would’ve started yelling at the fully inanimate sticker, I tore off the last big piece of it. I held it triumphantly over the trash can and let it flutter in. The little menace fell off its course and tried to stick itself to the carpet, but I angrily plucked it up and stuck it to the inside of the trashcan where it obviously belonged. Why those little things had to be as sticky as they were was a myth to me.
I was so relieved when I actually placed the CD into the player and hit the play button. The tradition of a guitar opener was repeated, and of course Blondie’s voice followed. It sounded a little different than he did live. He sounded like more of a professional, probably because they mastered and remastered everything a billion times. But the thought of mastering it left my mind instantly when I heard Ellis in the background singing the exact same words as Dave but making them sound completely different in the best way possible. I spent the rest of my night there on the floor, thinking about every love song, bass line, and piece of harmony on the whole disc.
That was when he called. My phone was laying right beside me the whole time, and even though lately no one called or texted much I kept it near anyway, just in case. Just in case someone would happen to call spontaneously.
I was getting done listening to the second to last song when my phone buzzed beside me. I didn’t have a real ringtone, so I kept it on vibrate all the time. It was loud enough for me to hear when I didn’t have it stuck in a pocket. At first I wasn’t sure if the noise was somehow part of the song I was listening to, but I turned to look at my phone to make sure. Sure enough, the little screen in the front was lit up, displaying a number that I’d never seen before.
I quickly stopped the music, worried that I wouldn’t pick up the call in time. I was also trying to come up with a person who’d call and their reason, but my reflexes acted quicker than my thoughts, which was definitely a plus in this situation.
“Hello?” I answered timidly.
“Hi, is this Hazel?”
“Yeah. Who’s this?”
“Ellis.”
“Oh, Hi.” I was caught off guard. Ellis?
“Sorry, I know it’s pretty late. But I figured it’s the weekend anyway, and maybe I could’ve left a message if you weren’t up.”
I glanced at the clock. It was 11:30. I wondered how many times a week he called people this late. “Um, it’s ok. I was up.”
“Remember I asked if you wanted to hang out?”
“Yup.” I didn’t think he’d call nearly as soon as this, but I didn’t mind one bit.
“Well, um, yeah. You do, right?”
“Yeah, that’d be fun. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I was thinking about renting a movie and we could watch it at my house, unless you wanted to see something in theaters.”
I thought about the movies out now. There were two horror flicks, an animated movie for kids, and one about Indians. None of them sounded good, so I opted for renting one, and I told Ellis so. We finished up the details quickly, which was easy. I’d drive myself over to his house around three on Monday, and we’d watch a movie called The Duties of Margaret. I’d never seen it, but had heard great reviews about it. Ellis loved it, and promised it had a little bit of everything. I expected him to leave right after we’d sorted everything out, but when we were finished he didn’t give any hint that he was going to hang up.
“So, um, tonight was fun.”
I played with the hem of my sleep shorts, which I’d changed into right when I got into my room. “Yeah, it was. It looks like you guys are doing a good job with publicity.”
He snorted. “I wish. We could be ten times better about that, but we’re so busy it’s hard. I don’t think any of us knew what we were getting into when we started this thing.”
“You make it look easy.”
“I guess that’s a good thing. If some people knew how hard we work, they probably would advise us to cool it down.”
“It’ll pay off someday, if you stick with it.” I hoped my words turned out to be an accurate prognosis.
“I hope so. Well, I’ll let you go. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Ellis. See you Monday.”
That night a dreadful dream intruded my sleep. It started with me standing all by myself, staring at an empty road. The ground was damp, and the air smelled of rain. The street I was looking down was a shiny wet, and there was no sun to evaporate the excess rain. The sky was filled with grayish white clouds. Everything had a foreboding gray tint to it. I was very aware that there was not a soul outside; I was utterly alone.
Then, suddenly, I was running full force down the street that I’d been staring at. There was a fear inside of me that was making me run. Somewhere in the distance I could hear an ambulance shrieking of havoc, and I knew I was running towards an accident, trying to find it. There was still no one in sight.
In a second the disaster was in front of my eyes. An ambulance, still screeching, was parked in the middle of the road. Someone, a body, was laying a few feet away from it. I couldn’t make out any of the details of their physical traits from the distance I was at, but I was running faster and faster.
When I was very close to the body the noises stopped altogether. The ambulance was silent, and my feet against the pavement didn’t make the thwack they were supposed to. As soon as I was close enough to recognize the body, I screamed, high and full. It was Ellis lying there, unconscious.
I dropped to my knees and looked him over. He was very pale, and his eyes were closed. His hands rested on the wet pavement, but I knew he couldn’t feel anything under him. His colorless lips were parted just slightly, and I searched for any breath coming out of them. I saw nothing.
Loud, anxious panting filled my ears, the only sound I could hear. I looked around for the source of the rasping noise, only to realize it was my own breathing. I could feel my chest heave in and out as I bent over Ellis. I was exhausted from running, but I needed to help him somehow.
I took his hand in mine, but it was cold. I dropped it out of pure disgust and shock and moved my concentration up to his face. His palm hit the road with a slap as it dropped from mine.
I put my hands everywhere on his neck, searching for a pulse or any sign that he was still alive. As my fingers scraped the back of his neck where his scar from Katie lay, I felt something warm for the first time. I retracted my hand quickly, and my worst fear came alive before my eyes. My fingers were stained red with sticky blood.
Under the flashing lights of the silent ambulance above, I shook Ellis’ shoulders hard, trying to make him wake. After minutes of pleading and shaking, his eyes fluttered open. Purely gray, they searched my face. I could clearly see he was in great pain. His lips moved, and I finally heard another sound besides my breath, his voice.
“Hazel, Hazel. Oh, Hazel!”
I bent over him further. “I’m here!”
“Hazel. Why? Why did you do this to me, Hazel? Why’d you do it?”
And as I screamed again, I woke with a jump, breathing hard. I quickly pulled the covers taunt around my shoulders and rolled on my side. As hard as I tried to shake the memory of the dream away, nightmares never leave you alone that fast. I lay there for what seemed like forever, struck with the horror of the dream.
In time my breathing slowed into sleepy rhythmic patterns again, and I relaxed from the tense position I’d curled up in. I fell to pitch black sleep again, hazily grateful for it. I never thought about the possibility of the dream coming back, but it did for two more nights. Each time I woke at the same troubled spot, me clutching Ellis with his blood on my hands, my own screaming filling my ears until I woke with a start.
Monday morning I surveyed Ellis in study hall. He was laughing with another boy, perfectly happy and unharmed. I watched the scar on his neck twist and bend with each turn of his head, and realized though I wasn’t the one to give it to him, a person was responsible for it. The fact that my nightmare was a little realistic scared me to death just because it was so horrible but so real at the same time.
That afternoon, I stopped at home before heading out to Ellis’ house. It was gray weather, reminiscent of the aura of my nightmare. It had been raining on and off all day, making the ground soggy and long brown worms wriggle out from nowhere in particular.
My mom called from her office where she worked to tell me take an umbrella along with me, just in case. Usually I would hate to lug around a big umbrella, but once I looked out the window the weather convinced me otherwise. Huge raindrops poured out of the dark sky, and the street outside the house was flooded halfway up the curb. I sloshed out to my car and fumbled with the keys, which were stuck down in my pocket, and then the door, which was wet and slippery and smelled like fresh rain.
Ellis greeted me with a friendly hello and a quick glance at the big umbrella I was trying to tame back into its original shape.
“Uh, hey. Sorry about this thing,” I jerked the stem of the umbrella, “my mom wanted me to bring it, and I figured it was raining so hard I might as well.”
Ellis took a swift step forward and closed the front door behind him. “Here,” he gently took it out of my struggling hands, “let me try.”
He jerked with it maybe twice, but he got it down within three seconds.
“How’d you do that so fast?”
He shrugged and handed it back to me. “Wanna start the movie?”
“Sure.”
He led me to his living room where a fair sized TV was mounted on the wall. The screen already displayed the main menu of the film, so all Ellis had to do was press play. He offered me a seat on a heavily padded chair, while he took a two-seater couch.
About half way through the movie, just when the plot really was starting to pick up pace, Ellis’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and quickly paused the movie.
“Do you mind if I answer this?”
“No, not at all.”
He flicked open the phone. “Hey Dave, what’s up?” Mumbling came from the phone. I couldn’t make out what Dave was saying, but I could tell he sounded anxious.
“Oh crap! I totally forgot. Well, I have Hazel with me. Can I bring her?” Silently I wondered where we might be going.
“What is this about anyway? You said you’d tell me but you forgot, remember?” Pause. “Oh, gosh, no. What did she do now?”
My mind instantly brought Jade’s face to the surface, assuming Ellis was talking about her. I remember how she had been at the release party, calm and cold. She seemed capable of performing every act I’d heard she’d done, yet somehow had a certain charm. Something about her made me want to think she was harmless, but I trusted Ellis more than a first impression.
Ellis snapped the phone shut in a rush. He fumbled with the remote and stopped the movie. I watched the screen switch from the paused picture to a bright blue.
“Um, that was Dave. I was supposed to meet Damon and him at McDonald’s like, ten minutes ago, but I forgot. Dave has something really important to tell me about Jade, so I really have to be there. He said you can come along, though. Do you want to?”
I tried to see if he would mind if I said yes. I wanted to go just to spend more time with him, but I didn’t know if he wanted me to be there. His face didn’t provide any answers, so I just gave into myself.
“Yeah, sure. Are you ready now?”
“Yeah. We can go in my car. We’ll finish the movie another time, I promise.” He jumped out of his seat.
“Okay.” I rose.
“And Hazel?” He stared into my eyes and smiled weakly. “Thanks for being so…gosh, what’s the word I want?” He dropped his gaze to stare at the floor. “…flexible with all of this. You take it so easily.”
I shrugged. “No problem.”
I just like to spend time with you, I added in my head. Selfish as it was, it was good to confess. I found it getting easier to admit things to myself ever since I’d first acknowledged that I felt something towards Ellis.
After quickly grabbing the gawky umbrella, we walked outside together where his car was parked along his street. The rain had stopped for now, but there were dark clouds suspended above us still, looking as if they were getting ready to release their rain again on the world below very soon.
When I was settled in the front seat of his car, I reminisced on the first time I’d been there. It was the night after I met his family, not long ago. We’d become better friends since then, able to spend time with one another without it being too awkward. I thought that maybe if he didn’t feel the way I did towards him, we could at least be friends. We’d always have some level of connection, however distant we would become. I hoped I would never lose him like that, though.
Deep down I knew that this was the reason I’d never tell him how I felt without him questioning me first. I was scared that his knowledge of my feelings would completely ruin whatever friendship we had started to build. It wasn’t a risk I was about to take.
We were half way there when Ellis’s phone began to ring again.
“Darn it,” he exclaimed, “I’m not supposed to talk while I’m driving. Can you get it? It’s Dave.” He threw the phone on my lap.
“Uh, okay.” I flipped the phone open cautiously. “Hello?”
“Hi, is this Hazel?” Dave’s voice rumbled out of the receiver.
“Yeah. Ellis is driving.”
“Oh. I was just wondering where you guys where.”
I gave him some landmarks I saw along the road. “Half way, I think.”
Once I satisfied all of Dave’s questions about what road we were on, he hung up, and we drove in silence. I watched the outdoor surroundings out the window blow and duck according to the wind. Rain was going to come again now, the smell and feel of it was in the air.
We reached the fast food restaurant just as it started to drizzle. The bright red and yellow color scheme seemed too happy for whatever bad news we were about to receive. Damon and Dave were seated in a plastic red booth along the wall of the building. One booth was facing the window that continued on from the glass doors where we came in; the other side was facing the cash register.
Ellis didn’t sit when we came up to their booth, but instead slammed his hands down on the ugly purple and white flecked table and demanded to know what crime Jade had committed.
“Let’s order some food first,” Dave answered. “And try to calm down, please. We can’t have you acting insane while we work through this.”
“Dave, what did she do?” Ellis nearly shouted the words in an angry rush.
“Ellis,” Dave stood up abruptly. He said the name in a harsh tone, as if he was a parent getting very angry with their rebellious teenager. “Calm down. We’re going to order this food, and then I’m going to tell you everything if you would just chill.”
“Come on, Dave.” He tried to go on, but Dave cut him off in a low voice.
“If you don’t calm down I’m afraid something bad might happen.”
Ellis backed down immediately, like a wounded puppy. He pursed his lips silently as he followed Dave to the front of the restaurant.
Fear started to bubble up inside of me, and I couldn’t control it. What “bad thing” might happen if Ellis didn’t calm himself? Was there something else I didn’t know about? Reluctantly, I ordered a cheeseburger and soda for myself. Though I was hungry, I knew it wasn’t the time to think about food.
When we were all seated at the table, everyone but Ellis had gotten a meal. He only bought a single bottle of water, and it went virtually untouched in front of him.
“Okay, Dave, tell me,” Ellis said, definitely calmer now.
He swallowed the bite of his burger and laid it down on the cheap paper it had been wrapped in. Sighing, he started. “Jade has convinced Steve to leave the band.”
“What?!” Ellis shouted, obviously undoing all of the calm he had gained in the past few minutes. He slammed his fists down on the table with so much force that it made his bottle waver. Damon remained unshaken, probably because Dave had told him before we’d arrived.
“He called me a Wednesday and told me he’d decided to leave, and when I asked why he wouldn’t say for awhile. I eventually got him to spill it, saying it wasn’t fair to all of us if he didn’t give a reason. He told me Jade had wanted this for a while. You know how she was always so negative about the band.
“Well finally she had had enough, so on the night of the release, she told Steve it was either her or us. And he’s completely nuts about her, which is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard of, but he chose her.” He paused. “Over us.”
At that moment, a heavy gasp came from Ellis. A crimson stain botched his pure white sleeve, right on his upper wrist. He yanked up his sleeve, and there a two inch line of blood ran diagonally along his skin.
“Crap! Crap, crap, crap!” He said forcefully.
Dave put his head in his hands. “I knew this would happen.”
At first I couldn’t figure out what he’d cut his wrist on, but then all of a sudden I realized he had gotten a cut from the news.
“Ellis.” I croaked. I wanted to say more things that I didn’t even know, but I couldn’t finish. I’d wanted to ask him if he was alright, even though the obvious answer lay in his wound, the one just in front of me.
He looked up, his expression of pain and concern. He saw the fear lingering in my eyes, and immediately looked back down on his wrist.
“Excuse me,” he announced, and got up and ran outside where the rain was coming down in sheets.
I concentrated on watching him stand there for awhile, out in the cold rain. I was desperately trying to stop my mind from replaying over and over the horror that had just occurred. He stood there, staring out into nothing. I knew if he stayed out there longer, he’d get sick. I got up, knowing what I was going to do. Suddenly I was thankful for the big umbrella my mother forced me to bring along, seeing that it was big enough for the both of us.
I left the greasy restaurant aroma and came up from behind him, the umbrella open. He had to have heard me open it, but he probably didn’t care enough to look back. Even when the umbrella was shielding him from the rain, he didn’t glance my way. I knew I had to be the one to speak first.
“You can’t get sick.” It sounded out of place. He didn’t answer, but I saw his eyes search in front of him. “I’m sorry, Ellis.” That sounded a little better, but I wasn’t sure if how I said it sounded right.
We stood there a little while before he answered. He shook his head and spoke. “It was the stupidest reason. She just controls him. I hate it.”
While I was feeling daring, I thought I might take advantage of it. I shifted the umbrella to my right hand, making sure it was still covering him. I reached my arm up to his shoulder in an attempt to embrace him. Very slowly he put his hand on my shoulder. I struggled not to flinch. My heart pounded in my chest, creating a careful beat that I hoped he couldn’t feel. We stood there not saying a word, just watching the rain fall. I was stiff against his side, knowing he could feel my every movement. After a while he gently moved his hand to the small of my back, turning me towards him. I dropped my arm and looked up into his overcast blue eyes as he stared back into mine.
“I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks for coming out here. Honestly, I was starting to get a little cold; I just didn’t want to admit it.” He smiled weakly.
“Are you gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, eventually. It’s just before this I’ve had a lot on my mind. Then with this news…” His eyes trailed to focus on something behind me.
“Like what?”
“Um, like…school and stuff.”
“Oh.”
“Am I…Am I going too fast with this?”
I stared at him. I had no idea what he was talking about. “What?”
“With you. Is this moving too fast?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, I told you I had in interest in you.”
“I remember.”
“But the movie today, and the release party. Am I going too fast?”
“We’re just spending time together. That’s not so bad, right?”
“Well, no, but…I’m almost afraid of myself. I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you somehow because I want to…”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Spend more time together. Be around you more. Something.”
“That’s not going to hurt me. I-I want that, too.”
Two seconds passed, and then time sped forward. Very quickly Ellis’s face was near to mine, and I realized what he was going to do. There wasn’t even a second to think. I wanted this, honestly, I did. But there was a timid side of me that remembered this would be the very first time. It almost made me resist. And then softly, with my thoughts swirling, our lips brushed together lightly. It was only for a second, but it was long enough for me. We pulled back at the same time, much to my relief. I put both of my hands onto the stem of the umbrella, cautiously stepping away.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry,” he shook his head. “Too fast. You see, that’s what I’m afraid of. I act without thinking a lot.” He chuckled. “You look scared.”
“No, it’s just…that was a first for me.”
“Oh. I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
I smiled. “It’s not the end of the world.”
I was glad I hadn’t wasted my first kiss; at least I didn’t feel I did. Cassie had hers when she was twelve in a game of spin the bottle, in front of twenty other kids. I was there, sitting out, kind of being an outcast. It didn’t look like fun at all. But just now, it felt nice. Soft and gentle, not too much. He didn’t use any force, which seemed better. I didn’t want someone to push them self on me.
“I’m sure they’ve seen everything,” he started.
“What?” I asked, still a little dazed.
“Dave and Damon. They’re probably staring at us. Do you care?”
“N-No,” I found myself saying. It was embarrassing, sure, but worth it.
“Dave always kind of liked you, you know.”
I smiled. “I guessed, but I was hoping he didn’t.”
“That’s funny; I always thought you’d rather have him. None of this scar nonsense, and he’s the lead singer of the band.”
“But that’s what makes you unique. I’d never want to see you anywhere else on the stage than with your bass singing harmony.” I thought about that beautiful, haunting song that I loved so much. “And as for your scars,” I went on, “they’re not disgusting, or appalling, or anything like that. I don’t mind them.” Admitting this thought that I’d been thinking all the time in my head for so long felt wonderful to say out loud, especially directly to him.
“Do I need to show them to you again?” He asked, being a little sarcastic.
“Fine, then. See if I can take it,” I retorted, completely serious.
He rolled up both sleeves to his elbows, and this time I found I could look at them with no nausea or thoughts of fainting.
“Instead of always assuming people think you’re horrific, did you ever think they see past these? You’re a wonderful person, Ellis. Absolutely intriguing.”
“You’re the first to tell me anything like that, besides my mom, of course.” He smiled at me, a little amused.
“That’s ridiculous. I shouldn’t be the first at all.” I felt something on the other side of his arm, near the wrist. I flipped his arm over, and there was a thin, bumpy scab. “What’s this?” I said this with genuine regret and pain for it.
“Um, Aaron…” He shook his head. “It’s nothing, really.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing. It’s over now.”
“Well,” I said quietly, “I know it can’t just be nothing, but I shouldn’t pry. It just makes me mad to see you hurt.”
“And I’d be angry if you were hurt, but I can’t see it every time you are. With me, it’s different. You probably get hurt just as much as I do, but I can’t see it. So you shouldn’t worry about me.”
“I’ll try. It’s just that you get it two ways, emotionally and physically.”
“I’ll be fine. Please don’t worry.” He impulsively embraced me. I breathed in his scent that lingered on his shirt.
“So what does this mean now?” I asked, breaking away.
“What does it mean? What do you want it to be?”
“I think I want to spend more time with you, like you said.”
“A date, then?” he asked, staring at me intently.
“I’d like that.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere, as long as it’s not bowling. I can’t bowl at all.”
He smiled. “Bowling isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Then what are you thinking of?”
“How about somewhere quiet, maybe outside. We’d eat by candlelight, and you’d wear a nice dress. I’d take care of the bill, and escort you home. How does that sound?”
“Perfect, except for the dress part.”
“I’d dress up, too, of course.”
“So it would be a fancy place?”
“Unless you don’t like those.”
“They’re okay. They’re not exactly comfortable, though.”
“Mm, I see your point. Where’d you like to go, then?”
“Do you like steak?” I asked, sheepishly peeking up at him.
“Yeah. You’d like a steakhouse?”
“Yes. Are jeans okay, too?”
“Of course,” he laughed, “Can you imagine going into a steakhouse in a tux?”
I smiled. He would have no problem pulling something like that off, but I shook my head anyway.
“When are you available?”
“Whenever.”
“How does tomorrow night sound?”
“Great.”
“Around six?”
“Perfect.”
He tilted his head slightly and cast his eyes on the wet pavement. “I guess we should be getting in then.”
“Yeah.” I could tell both of us didn’t want to, but he reluctantly led the way. I wrapped up the big umbrella before entering in the almost empty fast food establishment. The contrast of the smell of grease and the smell of rain struck me strongly. Ellis held the door for me and walked in behind me.
Damon and Dave were still seated at the same booth as before. Damon was resting his head in his hand, looking extremely bored. Dave was sitting in a seat facing the window. I knew he had been watching us. He sat very straight with his arms crossed over his chest. The expression on his face was completely blank, and he stared at us as we walked over to them.
“Hey,” Damon said monotonously. He readjusted his head so he was looking towards us, but he kept his hand against his head. He blinked tiredly.
Ellis cleared his throat. “Hi.”
“Still upset?” Dave didn’t move.
“Um, a little.” He took a seat beside Dave, so I took a place beside Damon.
“This won’t ruin the band, El. We can find a new drummer and continue on like before.”
“What about the demo?” Damon asked. “Wait, wait,” Ellis interrupted. “I think we should wait a little before looking for someone new, just to be sure this is what Steve really wants. He’s a smart guy, and I don’t know if he’s absolutely sure about this. Jade obviously forced him into this, so I’m hoping we can talk him out of it.”
“I understand what you’re thinking, but we have to start promoting soon. I mean, there could be some record deals and tours soon, you never know. We need new pictures, new updates, and new merchandise for the demo, and we can’t wait much longer.” Dave sighed. “At least not a whole month.”
“Two weeks then. We can sacrifice that much if it gets him back with us.”
“You have to realize he might not be willing to come back,” Damon said quietly.
“I’m scared of that,” Dave chimed in, matching Damon’s hushed tone.
“We’ll talk to him, all of us, and convince him to come back.”
Dave shook his head. “I don’t know if it can be done, but I’ll give it a try. Only two weeks. Then we search.”