Issue 1 Downtime

Chloe was in one corner of the gym, stretching before her work out.

Derek, meanwhile, walked in ready to lift, as he was wont to do when Melody was on a mission. Or studying. Or doing any of a multitude of things that... well, didn't involve him. So he sighed, hauling weight off of the rack and starting to load up the bar at the bench he was at.

"Need someone to spot you?" Chloe said, glancing over at him. "I mean, if you want. And if your girlfriend won't blow me up or something. I..wow, that is a lot of weight, maybe I should find someone else to do it."

Derek smiled at her as she came over. "Don't worry, you can do it. It's not that much weight that I'd need more than a little nudge from you to get it up." He lay down on the bench, looking up at her. "And god only knows where Melody is, so you're clear there, too. Not that I'd let her do anything."

"Thanks." Chloe said, smiling at him. "I hope you haven't been too worried about her. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Derek sighed, his expression wavering. "I know she probably will be... but damned if I don't worry anyway. All I can do to keep working out and not making myself miserable down at the bar," he admitted.

"Good." Chloe said "I'm glad you're making better choices."

"Well, I sort of can't afford to if I'm going to fly home over the summer to see my mom," he admitted. "No way am I going to let her pay for me to fly back just for a week."

"Thats good of you." Chloe said "It must be hard, being so far away from your family."

"Mostly I feel bad for leaving," he admitted. "I always wanted to get out of the small town life, at least for a while, but... Didn't really take into account mom being alone when I did. I probably wouldn't have gone if the offer hadn't been too good to pass up." He thought for a minute. "Okay, that's probably not true, but she would've had to push me a lot harder to get me to go."

"You have to leave the nest sometimes." Chloe said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't make me feel any less like a dick for moving all the way out of the country when I leave the nest."

"I can understand that." Chloe said "But I'm sure she understands."