Chapter Text
Chris was a well-known person among his friends for being one of the most cheerful and for improving the atmosphere every time they went out together; he was, how to say it, the star of the group.
But as we all know, all stars eventually fade.
Almost the same thing happened with Chris; he went from being a completely happy and charismatic person to someone a little more reserved than usual.
His friends noticed this erratic change in him, but whenever someone asked him what was wrong, he wouldn't answer or would just change the subject. Over time, most of them stopped trying and simply adapted to this new version of Chris.
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Ah! Jumping ahead in time, we arrive at certain summer dates when his friend Shaddai would have told him that he would come to visit him to see if he was okay.
And as he said, if I arrive, he was staying at a hotel very close to where Chris was living at the time, so they could usually meet up to go out, only that would be a little complicated during the week since Chris was working for Newgrounds at the time.
Although they were having a relatively good time, Chris would finish work, go to the place where Shad was staying, and they would go out to eat or chat while walking through a nearby park; it was something peaceful and nice at the same time.
The days passed quickly. Shad was leaving in about three days, which made him a little sad since he didn't want to leave Chris alone again. Well, he wasn't really alone, but Shaddai still felt bad about it. Shad thought he should use those last few days to enjoy as much time as possible with Chris and cheer him up as much as possible.
He didn't like seeing his friend sad, much less depressed; he felt that no one else was helping him make Chris happy again, but oh well, what can you do in these kinds of cases.
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The third-to-last day is a Friday. Shad goes to pick up Chris from the Newgrounds offices after his shift and invites him to lunch.
Chris accepts (obviously this fat ass is going to accept food) But oh well
They go to an Olive Garden, which doesn't seem to have many customers that day, even though it's a Friday. They chat for a while about whatever Chris is doing at work before ordering their food, and then after ordering, they continue chatting about other things—things that aren't really that important, just conversation starters to keep the restaurant's cozy atmosphere alive.
Finally, they bring the food. Shad hardly orders anything to eat; sometimes he just enjoys watching Chris eat because he finds it kind of cute how Chris eats and the smile the food brings to his face.
"Hey Shad, don't you want some?" Chris asks, looking him straight in the eyes as he brings a forkful of food to his mouth.
"Ehh- don't worry about me Chris, you know I eat very little," Shad replies, laughing a little.
"Well, if you say so..." Chris replies, giving her a small, goofy smile before going back to eating.
Shad finds this gesture from Chris kind of cute, well, genuinely he finds everything Chris does when he eats cute in general.
They finally finish eating. Chris looks genuinely happy, which makes Shad smile because he finds it so endearing that Chris is happy over food. They ask for the bill, and Shad takes the trouble to pay the whole thing, even though Chris had told him not to worry, that he would pay it. But Shad is very stubborn, so he ignored him and paid it anyway.
Chris was a little annoyed by this, but at the same time not really, because who would actually be bothered by being invited to eat for free?
Well, it was getting quite late, although Chris had nothing to do tomorrow, he was resting his two weekends, so he would have those other two days free to continue doing things with his friend, Shad thought as he rummaged in his pockets for the keys to the car he rented when he arrived.
After finding them, he started the car and took Chris to the house where he was living.
*time skip again*
Shad dropped Chris off at the house, saying goodbye before leaving in the car for the hotel where he was staying. It wasn't a very luxurious place, but it was comfortable and had a welcoming vibe, which comforted Shad.
Upon entering his hotel room, he throws himself directly onto the bed without even taking the time to change his clothes; he is exhausted. It was a tiring day for him as he visited some popular places nearby.
Something that wasn't mentioned at the beginning, of course, I think it's a bit obvious, but Shaddai denies the fact that he feels a little love for Chris. He only believes he's a good friend, and that's why he does everything he does for Chris. But really, if he didn't feel anything for Chris, he wouldn't have traveled from so far away just to be with him.
From one point of view, this is a bit strange if you think about it, and besides, Chris isn't gay like Shad, which makes the chances of Shad ever being with Chris, his dear, beloved fat Chris, even lower.
Something that saddens him a little; he feels somewhat selfish for having traveled so much for his own feelings and not for Chris's, when he knows perfectly well that Chris is having a hard time.
He squirms a little in the bedsheets, grabs a pillow and tries to hide his face with it, which is a bit childish of him.
He cannot fully understand her feelings
Overthink everything, think a lot about Chris, about today, about...
Enough
She feels she's had too much to think about these kinds of things, so she gets out of bed and goes to get some fresh air before going back to her room and sleeping.
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It's the penultimate day, a Saturday.
It dawned cool, an almost perfect day, the sun comes in through the windows and there's a light breeze.
Chris is lying on his bed, he doesn't want to move, he doesn't like the state he lives in much but something is something, he turns around on his bed, the windows of the room are closed along with the curtains, the room is messy, there is almost no ventilation and it is genuinely too hot in there
Although Chris doesn't care that much, since, as I said, he doesn't want to move from where he is.
He just wants to spend the whole day there in that place, covered in his own sweat and with the slightly unpleasant smell in the air.
Although, well, his friends don't allow it, "it's not like they care that much about me," Chris thinks to himself, but they really do care about him, it's just that no one really dares to bother him when he's in this state of confinement in his room
There's a knock at the door once, Chris doesn't pay much attention. There's another knock, this time a bit more aggressive, until Chris asks, "Who is it?" The voice behind the door says, "Hey Chris, do you want to come downstairs for breakfast? Like, you know... we're worried about you eating well, you know? But anyway, if you want to come downstairs, I left some cereal with milk in the fridge if you want some. We're going out to buy some things with the others, and you know you can come with us if you want. So, well... I've told you what I had to say. Take care, man." Chris responds with a small "okay" as he listens as whoever said that walks away down the hall.
He couldn't recognize who it was because, as he was just waking up, he couldn't quite make out the voice, but it was surely Zach, oh Zach.
Well, he can hear them leaving the house, so Chris, after hearing the front door close, gets up from his misery and goes to the shared bathroom they have, where he does basic things like washing his face, brushing his teeth, etc...
After finishing those things, he went down to the dining room where, yes, there it was, the cereal they had left for him. It was cold and damp, but oh well, something is better than nothing, I suppose,
so he ate it while scrolling through Twitter, finding the odd relevant or not post that caught his attention.
And he just received a call, and I dare you to guess who it's from, obviously it's from Shad.
So Chris, without wasting even a millisecond, answers the phone and listens to the voice on the other end
"Hey, umm, are you free later? Do you want to go somewhere to eat or for a walk?" Shaddai asks from the other end of the phone, his voice a little tired but with his usual humorous tone.
"Yes, of course! Around what time?" Chris asks, sounding a little enthusiastic.
"I'd say around 3 in the afternoon," Shaddai replied, chuckling slightly at Chris's enthusiasm.
"Okay, fine, you're coming for me, right?" Chris replies, now a little more relaxed.
"If Chris comes to get you, I'll be waiting, goodbye," Shaddai said before hanging up.
Chris is a little happier now; he's going out again with one of his best friends, which, of course, cheers him up. This way he can get out of his room instead of spending all day rotting away like a corpse in that place.
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It's already 3 pm, Chris got ready and won't be going out dressed like a bum, yay!
His dirty-blond hair is messy as always, and he's wearing one of the simplest outfits he could possibly be wearing.
He hears a car horn honking outside the house, so he goes out to check, and what a surprise it is Shaddai's car!
Chris hurries out of the house, locking the door before leaving (we obviously don't want a robbery) and hurrying as fast as possible to get into the car where the first thing he does upon getting in is greet his friend
They chat for a while in the car before deciding where to go and finally decide to go for a walk somewhere instead of feeding Chris (although that is their favorite activity, they prefer to omit it today).
So they go to a botanical garden that's nearby;
they both like to see different kinds of plants and walk around (sometimes), surely.
They chat for a while, laugh together, and have a relatively good time; they both enjoy each other's company.
They're so happy, Shad wishes he could hold onto these moments forever. He loves Chris's silly grin and the way he acts sometimes.
Thank goodness for cell phone cameras and the "just because" feature; now he has a bunch of pictures of Chris smiling and making silly faces next to some plants and stuff.
His favorite photo is the one of Chris surrounded by flowers, turning to look at him while smiling; how wonderful that he can preserve that moment on his phone forever
Finally, they finished touring the place; it was a lovely experience, you know?
After that, they both sat for a while inside the car in the parking lot with the car's air conditioning on, chatting away without even bothering to move the car. God knows where these two get so much to talk about.
It was genuinely late, like last time, but not as late as last time, so Shaddai finally started the car and drove Chris home.
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Chris arrives at the house, the lights are off, surely everyone was already asleep or at some bar in the area
But then he sees a small light on the armchair
Wow! It's Zach, he's asleep with his phone on his chest, lying on the couch
Chris laughs at this and decides it's best to wake his sleeping friend up before he complains in the morning that his back hurts.