"He was definitely a product of L.A., sun and surf. I'm pretty sure he hated every moment of snow in New York the first time we were there." Normally John wasn't that demonstrative a person. Not that he had the same aversion to hugs and kisses on the cheek a lot of people seemed to -- at least if you listened to Savannah when she was talking about 'closed off men'. He just didn't come from a background where it was done. He hugged his mom a lot, but that was about it. Still, there were times it was the more natural response.
Like now.
Putting one arm around Claudia's shoulders, he pulled her into a one-armed hug. "It's okay to miss him, you know, to let us see it. No one's going to blame you if you have moments when it's too hard to smile because of the memories. We've all lost someone. Life goes on, but that doesn't mean everything has to be okay all of the time. You don't have to keep up a brave with your friends. If anyone gets how you feel, it's us." He smiled. "And if anyone has a problem with it, you can just point me at them."