~Oliver's POV~

This is my first time inviting someone over to my house, let alone an almost complete stranger. What if he doesn't like it? What if I can't thank him like I'm supposed to? What if he hates me for that? What if... No! Oliver stop! Everything's going to turn out just fine.

'Maybe, Just maybe. We could be friends.' I thought quietly, after all, nobody else had ever been nice to me before... other than my direct family.

~Len's POV~

This kid. What has he been through? He was completely covered in bandages. Not to mention that one of them was ON HIS EYE. It kinda made him look... cute?

"We're here!" He exclaimed as he stopped in front of a small-moderate house. It was different than the others. You could tell, even from the outside. It looked so lifeless in comparison, as if... there's nothing in it. Where are his parents? Siblings?

I stepped into Oliver's house. It was quiet, the only sound coming from our footsteps. This made me more curious. Does he live alone?

"Oliver?" I tried breaking the silence

"Hmm?"

"Do you live alone?"

"Y-yeah" he replied, turning on the lights in the living room.

Sweeping my eyes around the living room, a particular ornament caught my eye. It was a wooden cross.

"I-I still haven't thanked you properly." he started, "what can I do to return-"

"I don't want anything from you in return. I was just... happy to help" I replied, putting on a convincing smile.

"So why did you come here?"

"I had nothing better to do, I thought you might have something interesting." I shrugged.

"I have some games in my room, d-do you want to play with me?" He asked. Games? He said it as if it was an object. What object could possibly be called a game? It should still be fun though, right? He did say 'play'.

"Sure" I said to him.

"Wii or Xbox?" He asked me. Wee? Eggs box? I had no idea what it all meant

"You choose. This is your house after all." I told him, putting up the act to hide my ignorance on the subject.

"Okay... Wii it is then!" Cheerful huh? What could these 'games' possibly be like to make someone as shy as him that cheerful.

He brought a box out and placed it in front of me. It contained several smaller plastic boxes with colourful covers. I guess he wants me to choose? I closed my eyes and picked one which said 'Mario Kart'.

"Alright, Mario Kart it is!" He took the box, opened it, and inserted the disc inside into a thing I could only guess was the 'Wee'.

'It doesn't even look like a 'wee'' I mentally slapped myself at that thought, but still couldn't help to chuckle a little.

"W-what are you laughing at?" I heard a scared voice from Oliver.

"Oh it was nothing" I lied. It was obvious too. I hope I hadn't made him feel uncomfortable.

"O-oh" he returned to whatever he was doing to the TV and 'wee'.

After a few minutes, the TV switched on and a video of a boy with an overly sized nose and weird moustache riding a race car played. It was... weird to say the least.

"MARIO KART WII!" it chanted.

Oliver gave me a weird remote. I stared at it blankly for a while before he realised that I didn't know how to use it.

"Do you know how to play?" He asked for confirmation.

I softly shook my head as a no in response.

He made me hold the remote and quickly went over what all the buttons do and what the aim of the game was. I couldn't quite get them all but I was sure I'd get the hang of it once I start playing.

"So all I need to do is to win the race?" I asked again

He nodded happily.

Slightly nervous, I signalled to Oliver, telling him I was ready. He set the game up and we were on our first race.

I lost, horribly. I couldn't even finish the first lap when everyone else had gotten to the finish line. My second attempt was much better though, as I was able to finish 2 laps before losing.

We played a few more races (and by a few I meant like a hundred), with me getting better each time. I had even gotten 11th place once! The victory was short lived though as I failed again next race. And Oliver? He got 1st place almost every time. Only getting 2nd place when we played on 'Rainbow Road'.

Finally, we stopped playing; although, we probably wouldn't have if the remote didn't need charging.

"How are you so good at this!?" I sighed. Putting the remote down.

He chuckled a little before saying "I used to play it every day, you get used to it after a while!"

Everyday? Isn't that excessive? Well, I guess it was fun. I looked over at the clock in his room, it was 8 pm. We had completely skipped dinner!

"It's getting late" I informed him. He nodded.

"Do you want to stay for the night?" He asked, eyes filled with hope. Stay for the night? Like a sleepover?

"I don't want to bother you s-so"

"No no, it's fine, really! Pleeeaaase!" He pleaded, holding out the 'ea' for over 10 seconds.

"A-Ah okay" I said without even thinking. Honestly, who could say no to a cute- Brain, stop it right now!

"Yay!" He jumped. He's not even shy anymore, he had completely changed since we started playing.

"Oliver?"

"Yes?" He happily replied

"You were really shy this afternoon, what happened?"

"Oh well.." his voice started to quiet a bit, "y-you see, people used to bully me at school, they would always try to use my own words against me, so I always try to stay cautious around other people. I've never had any friends either so I didn't really know how to act friendly... W-we are friends right?"

Friends? Yeah, I like the sound to that. "Yeah!" I nodded.

"U-uhh... thanks Len!" He hugged me out of nowhere. His scent was wonderful, almost addicting. My mind subconsciously started to wander around Oliver until he pulled back.

"Sorry" he apologised awkwardly, scratching his head, with a cute little blush. Yeah, I can't deny it anymore, he is cute. And I sorta maybe like that.

"No, it's alright. I don't mind hugs" I reassured him.

"So..." I started, trying to get his attention.

"Where do I sleep?" I asked him.

"O-oh, you could sleep on my bed." He offered me kindly. I'm not usually the one to reject an offer to a soft and comfy bed, but...

"What about you?"

"I could sleep on the sofa outside."

"I'll sleep outside." I told him. This is his house after all.

"No! You shouldn't."

"Fine, how about we sleep together?" Dang it, I didn't mean to make it sound that weird. "I m-mean-"

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea..." not a bad idea? Does this kid even know how weird this is? Does he like me? No that can't be it. Dangit Brain, stop getting my hopes up. Maybe he is just that innocent after all.

"I'll change outside, you change here. Knock when you're done." he continued before running off outside to change.

I stripped myself of my clothes and trousers and put on my pyjamas, which I conveniently brought everywhere I go. What? Don't look at me like that! They're comfy. When I was done, I knocked on the door to signal to Oliver that I was done changing.

"Wait a sec..." He called out, I swore I heard him mutter something about a father and a son and some kind of spirit before opening the door to get in.

Oliver walked to the bed and plomped himself onto it face front.

"Good night Len, James." he said, falling asleep almost immediately afterwards. It had been a pretty tiring day for him, so it wasn't at all surprising.

I got on the bed right after and closed my eyes to sleep.

But...

I couldn't sleep. Too much had happened today, my mind was still processing it all. About what happened earlier, and about Oliver. Just who exactly is this kid???

I focused on Oliver, and what I'd already know about him. He is definitely shy towards strangers. He has probably gotten to some accidents since he has those bandages. What happened to his family? Quickly, all my thoughts about him quickly turned to questions. Just how interesting can a boy get? Oh great, that's another question, isn't it...

I looked over at Oliver beside me. He was snoring lightly. How cute. Do I really have feelings for this boy? If so does he- will he like me back?

※ This chapter was fun to write. It's also longer than the previous chapters which is a good thing. I also only realised that I neglected James for pretty much the whole chapter after I was done writing it.