Mr Delightful

Chapter seven

•{Vaughn's POV}•

Lunches became far less awkward. I slipped back into conversations and, to my enjoyment, so did Chase. He never begun the conversations, but he didn't hesitate to add his two cents.

That week, they were arguing over the video game "The Last Of Us."

"I understand what you're saying, but unfortunately, you're an idiot," he said, resisting the urge to smile as Theo pouted. "There's no way in hell that you are dumb enough to think that Joel and  Tess weren't together."

"There was nothing to show that they were together! They hadn't seen each other in a while at the start of the game," Theo defended.

"Well, I'd imagine that apocalypse relationships are less close than normal ones," I pointed out.

"They never kissed! They didn't do anything to show they loved, or even liked each other!" Theo pointed out.

"She died for him!" Chase exclaimed. Theo rested his head on his hands in mock interest.

"Tell me more, Naughty Dog."

"Naughty Dog?" Chase repeated. Me and Theo exchanged a glance.

"The developer?!" We shouted in unison. Chase flinched and fell off his seat. The whole table erupted into laughter, even the girls, who weren't paying attention to the conversation.

"How can you say you're a fan if you don't even know the developers?" Theo grumbled. Chase picked himself up off the ground, sitting back down with a scowl that's focused on Theo.

"How can you say you're a fan if you don't see anything between Tess and Joel?"

Lacey rolled her eyes at the whole conversation. She smiled when the bell rung.

"Class dismissed!" She yelled, getting up and darting out of the cafeteria.

...

I saw Chase walking down the hall at the end of the day and run up to fall into step beside him.

"Hi, Chase," I said with a grin. He looked over, a neutral expression on his face, and looked me up and down. It was skeptical, more curious.

"Hey," he greeted simply. I walked beside him awkwardly before finding my voice and sleeping again.

"I was wondering if you needed anything. I can be quite handy," I inquired in an effort to become closer with him. Chase stopped me, holding up a hand.

"Stop," he ordered, "just because we're friends doesn't mean you have to do a bunch of stuff for me. That means, if we don't do a million and one favours for each other, we can still be friends. You know that, right?" When I was silent, Chase continued. "I know past friendships have been based on good deeds you've done, but I'm not going to walk all over you. You've got enough stains from people rubbing their boots off on you, you don't need another."

I furrowed my brow. In a way, I knew what he meant, but at the same time, I was completely lost. I nodded like I understood and we continued walking to his locker.

"So, what then?" I mumbled. "What do we do?"

"Just hang out normally, Vaughn. You're not an alien, you know how to be around other people."

"That I do."

"So then, let's hang out. I figure, because you asked me if I needed anything, you have no plans after school today?"

"Correct-amundo."

Chase stared at me in confusion, but didn't say word. He took in a breath.

"Dear god, I hope you're not like this all the time."

...

We went to my house. Chase came over on the bus and we walked up the street back to my house. Jamie didn't say a word on the walk up, so I made a mental note to see if he was okay later.

We walked in and I shouted for my mother, to see if she was home.

"Working late then," I murmured. "Follow me."

I lead Chase upstairs and over to my room, where a hatch opened in my closet to the attic.

I pulled on the hatch, making a ladder come down. I climbed up and waited for Chase at the top.

When he hesitated, I spoke.

"Come on, then," I encouraged. "I want to show you something."

Chase huffed and climbed up, looking around the attic suspiciously.

"Is it where you hide the bodies of your victims?" He mocked. I stifled a laugh.

"Shut up."

I looked around the attic, searching for my little four-legged companion.

"Bear," i called softly, "come here, Bear."

Chase stared at me like I was crazy, but I didn't mind him. In a couple seconds, Bear decided to show himself. He trotted out from where he was perched on a couple of boxes and curiously zeroed in on Chase.

"I should have asked if you were allergic first, shouldn't I?" I asked cautiously. Chase shook his head, tentatively patting Bear on the head.

"I'm not," he confirmed.

"Thank god," I drawled. "Chase, this is Bear. Bear, this is Chase."