[mrflibble]

I think perhaps he comes on a bit strong because he's worried that when they leave Ashleigh won't be interested in being friends with him and he wants to make sure she knows that he genuinely cares for and respects her (and perhaps gauge her responses to see where he stands). I think he does know that outside the house they lead very different lives and their friendship is unlikely to hold up, but wants to hold onto it as much as possible. I understand where he's coming from if that's true, because it's very difficult for me to make friends and if I make a genuine connection with someone then I want to hold onto that friendship and will do a lot to make sure that they stick around (although I'm not as open as Chris).

But I'm not sure if his reaction was necessarily him going 'omg she said that to him and not to me', it felt like a lot of that conversation referenced previous conversations where she may or may not have said a similar thing to Chris. I think he turned away because it was getting emotional (and it was about how they BOTH love Christopher), and then followed that up with a hug because he's just very huggy. I think it was like a 'Chris and I had one of these conversations earlier, now we're having it with you and welcome to the family' kind of thing.