Just By Chance

Special Chapter (Oat & Chris)

Chris turned back to his notes and books.

"So today in class we were talking about electronic circuits. There's the analog circuits and the..." Chris started talking. This was usually how their evenings went three times a week. Oat struggled in one of their classes together and since Chris was one of the few that truly understood what was going on, he agreed to tutor Oat three times a week on the days they had the class. But Oat wasn't listening right now.

Chris stopped talking when he realized that Oat wasn't even looking at the notes; he was still staring at him.

"Oat. You're not even paying attention."

Chris grabbed Oat's face and turned it to face down towards the table in front of them and he began talking again. But Oat still couldn't concentrate. Was he really that bad at social cues? Did he really never understand body language? And if he was so annoying, why was Chris always around to help him? Why was he always so nice to him?

Oat looked at Chris's big hand as he pointed to a print out of the class slides with a diagram on it. He was chattering away about the lesson and he truly looked passionate about the subject. Even though Chris looked like he could be a body builder, in reality he would have made the perfect teacher.

Oat pondered what he had just said. You can't even see the things that are right there in your face. Well, what was in front of his face? Literally speaking, Chris was the only thing in front of his face right now.

Chris. His friend. His bodyguard. 

Out of all of Oat's friends, he was the closest with Chris. Chris was the only one willing to tutor him after class. The others griped and complained that they would be too busy doing their own homework to help Oat study. Chris always came to his rescue when Forth, and occasionally the others, would get too mad at him for something. Chris was always there on the nights that Oat got turned down by every female he approached.

Chris was always just there, and that's why they were so close. Chris put up with how annoying Oat was without complaint most times and he was never shy about telling Oat about himself when he needed to be taken down a few notches. He was also the only one, besides Lek, that was patient enough to explain things to him, like right now.

So, what was in front of his face? More like who was in front of his face?

Chris. His friend. His bodyguard.

And he had been there the whole time.

Oat sat back and looked Chris in the face as he continued to speak about the lesson. When Chris realized that, once again, Oat was not paying attention, he stopped talking and looked at him.

"Oat. You don't want to study today, do you?" he asked patiently. He sat back, resting his arm on the couch behind Oat's head.

Oat didn't say anything at first and Chris was feeling confused at Oat's change in behavior.

"Do you like me?" Oat had always been a straight forward person.

Chris wasn't expecting this question. He hesitated then took a deep breath and blew it out through his cheeks.

Oat never took his eyes off of him.

"Sometimes..." Chris said honestly. "The other times I just want to punch you in the face."

Had it been anyone else, they probably would have gotten offended. But this was Oat. Oat didn't get offended.

"Why do you like me?"

Chris shrugged. "You don't need a reason to like someone. It just...happens."

"Is that the reason why you are always so good to me?"