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He’s not jealous because if he were, at his age, it’d be stupid. It wasn’t like there was a reason to be anyway. He’s seen how this plays out—plenty of times. Dale finds a girl, they hit it off for a few months, and then sooner or later, it becomes another one of his failed relationships.
That was already familiar to him, from thirty-two years ago to now. What wasn’t familiar was this strange feeling in his gut whenever she was around. Suspicion? Probably. Ever since the announcement of the reboot, and honestly, the whole bootlegging case, he’s noticed an influx of attention on Dale’s end. It was all abrupt for both of them considering Dale was deemed pretty much irrelevant less than a few months ago. All that to say is that Chip found it a little too convenient that a girl was suddenly interested in Dale again after all those years.
Plus, Chip already not being a huge fan of the ‘celebrities dating normal people thing’ wasn’t helping her case either (though calling Dale a celebrity was a bit of a stretch in his eyes).
If he had more time and cared, the list could have gone on, but he wasn’t petty or something like that. Even excluding his…concerns with her, he questioned if now was the right time for Dale to be in a relationship. Monty’s case still remained fresh in Chip’s mind, and now that the reboot was picking up production, it added to the mental clutter. Of course he was happy for the show, it was his baby after all, but he couldn’t deny that everything was a lot right now. A lot for the both of them.
Was adding someone else on top of all that the best idea? How would Dale even balance his schedule with both of them around? Would Dale end up blowing him off in favor of her? Or would he be invited as a third wheel out of pity? Oh god, there’s nothing sadder than that! Seeing some random guy sitting next to two people who clearly don’t want him there. And—
…And more importantly, when did he start caring about Dale’s love life this much? And why now? A younger, happier ‘munk from a few decades ago would’ve been the same one encouraging Dale to shoot his shot. Even if Dale was the last person who needed encouragement. What was it, the biggest risk is not taking any risk at all? Maybe all those years alone took a bigger toll on him than he thought.
Chip’s ears flattened as he looked down at the table he was currently cleaning off. He’s overthinking this, overthinking her. She’s a nice lady. Dale wouldn’t be dating her if she weren’t. The last thing they needed was a random argument that resulted in another decades-long fallout. Especially over something that didn’t affect him.
Just like everything else that’s happened, it’ll work out.
Chip took a glance at his house. He’d taken care of most of the cleaning hours earlier in anticipation, but he should’ve guessed they’d be late. Rarely did his house need cleaning, but Chip liked keeping his hands busy, a habit he built with having much less to do over the years.
Chip would’ve preferred they went out to eat, but Dale insisted on something more casual. Why didn’t they just go over to Dale’s place? Well apparently Dale also thought it’d be funny for his girlfriend, Millie, to finally meet Chip’s dog…Millie.
At least they were having pizza.