Work Text:
1.
Every day, school becomes a nightmare. When the daily bullying became once in a while bullying, Charlie was left with every insult that was ever said to him and nothing else. That is all that swarms around his head. But everyone thinks he is fine, because he is. School sucks, it is the worst thing to wake up to but he is fine. Everything is fine.
Walking home in the rain is fine.
He likes the rain, it hits the ground in an unorganized melody that requires no use for headphones, but now it was just fine. His head pounded with each step.
Okay, maybe the rain sucked right now. It was getting harder by the minute, his parents were not responding to any text, his sister was at the library, Tao, Aled, and Isaac could not drive for the life of them. He was basically stuck on his own right now, twenty minutes to go, and the rain showed no signs of stopping.
He sighs and puts his phone back into his bag. The rain drops on the screen irritated him.
“Hey,” Charlie peeks up, and a boy standing in front of Nellie’s door was looking right back at him.
“Me?”
The boy smiles at him. It was a nice smile, something inviting. Charlie knew this boy, a name that was said around and was always drowned out by everything else, but he knew him. A rugby player, unforgettable eyes, and a really, really nice smile.
“Yes, you,” The boy signals his head over to the door, “Come inside, hide from the rain for a bit if you want.”
“I…” Charlie thought he was about to die, “I don’t fancy coffee that much.”
“Well, do you fancy yourself a hot chocolate?” The boy asks.
Charlie breaks eye contact, he does not like eye contact. Especially with pretty boys.
Nellie’s was a cafe that has been open longer than Charlie has been alive, and yet, it thrives. He has been coming here for a while as a kid, and sure he would just get a chocolate milk box, but it still meant a lot. He has been avoiding it lately, this seems to be the brewing ground for his whole school.
But hot chocolate was being offered by this boy.
“Okay,” Charlie watches the boy’s grin lift even more, which seemed sort of impossible, and he opens the door. He stood there looking at Charlie with those eyes, and soon enough, Charlie was able to move on his own again and carry himself into the cold light.
“I will get that hot chocolate started for you right away. Any accommodations?” The boy asks. The boy works here, at Nellie’s, and Charlie instantly regrets never coming here more often. Which he should not be thinking, at all.
“Uh, is there a way to drizzle extra chocolate on the top?”
“Of course, anything else?” The boy looks him up and down. Subtly, was he trying to be subtle? Or did Charlie imagine that as a whole?
Maybe he needs to start drinking coffee.
“No, no, I’m fine.”
And the boy smiles. Again. He is very smiley, and cute, and he had blonde hair. Charlie hates everything in him right now.
“I’ll call your name when it’s ready.” And before Charlie could say anything else, the boy turns and heads off to this door that was most likely a staff entrance.
Charlie did not know if he should stand to wait or claim a table. The rain was gaining, which meant more people would be hiding out in here, and he would want to rip his ears off. But the boy’s voice was nice. Everything about him was nice. And very, oddly familiar. He most likely attends Truham.
There were booths and tables set up around the area, some of them were occupied. Charlie did not know you could count that many laptops in one sitting. He sees a dimly lit corner with a two-seater and decides that if anyone else were to sit there, he would leave and have a breakdown outside. That would most likely be the breaking point for him.
But luckily, in the five seconds it took him to walk there, no one swooped in at the last minute. He settles his bag down, pulling out his phone. One text from Tao.
Tao: The bus smells horrid.
Tao: I think my nose died.
Charlie: shouldn't have gotten ur license taken away
Tao just sends him a bunch of angry emojis back. He would respond if the colors didn’t make his migraine worse. He hates the fact that anything can overwhelm him. The feeling of his hair on his neck had the power to make him want to cry, and that was not the most reliable way to live life.
“Here you go, an extra-chocolatey hot chocolate,” the boy was in front of him, and then he slid a brownie onto the table, “and a double chocolate chip brownie. On the house.”
“I… what happened to calling my name?”
“You seemed tired. I did not want to disturb you.”
“Thank you.”
Nick, that was the name on his tag. Nick. Nick Nelson, as in the star rugby player at school. Great.
“You’re welcome, and hey, if you need anything else, let me know. Have a good day, Charlie.”
And Nick walks away, with his nice face, and knows his name. Everything was most definitely fine.
2.
Charlie has been coming back to Nellie’s almost every day. Is it embarrassing? Yes, but if anyone asks, it is because the hot chocolate is good. Very good, in fact, and he could drink it for the rest of his life and not be bothered to look at water ever again.
“This is the third one today, are you sure?”
“Yes,” Charlie says, placing five dollars on the counter. Nick looks up at him with a frown. Charlie notices the sandy blonde hair peeking out the ridiculous orange hat the shop makes the employees wear. Tori worked here for a week before deciding that orange was not her color, and it seems that Nick hates the way his hair falls close to his eyelashes. “Please.”
“Are you completely sure?”
“Is there a law against it?” He asks.
“There should be. I believe this is just one big health code violation.”
Everytime Charlie comes here now, he either adds a new accommodation to the drink or watches Nick drizzle the chocolate in and jokingly pressures him to add more. He always does. Somehow he was able to get caramel, chocolate flakes, and a larger mountain of whip cream. And yet, he is never paying over five dollars.
“And yet, you gave me two already.”
Nick laughs and slides the money off the counter, stuffing it into the register, and grabbing a cup from underneath.
“You’re funny, I hope you know. The funniest customer that ever comes in here.”
There are rarely any people here now, which is peaceful, but this place is popular. It almost seemed like a lie that somehow, Charlie was the funniest customer Nick has ever met. Over the past two weeks since they met, he sees him around school more. Sometimes they exchange hellos, and Nick always smiles at him. Because of course he does. And when Charlie comes here, Nick gets him to smile back.
Charlie never opens up quickly, it took Tao close to a year to learn deeper stuff about him, but he even jokes around with Nick. He talks to him like he is not nervous to say anything. It is not like everything seems to spin around him when he glances at him.
“I doubt that, you’re just trying to sweet talk me into taking my money back.”
“Sweet like this so-called thing you call a normal hot chocolate. Just like you too.”
“You like lying, or something?”
“I have never once lied to you since you first started coming here.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“The first word I ever said to you was, ‘hey’ and now we’re mates, aren’t we?” Nick was smiling, no teeth, but it still pushed his cheeks up and his eyes told all. They were bright, and Charlie only now realized that you could see the light in someone turn on.
They were mates, friends, pals. Whatever. Nick considers them mates.
“Oh,” was all he could say. What else was he supposed to say? Thank you for making him feel safe with just a couple of words? Charlie never feels safe at school, and from the way Nick interacts with the rugby team every time Charlie watches from the corner when he’s here, he probably knows too. It is no secret that Charlie Spring is gay and it is no secret that he was harassed for a whole year because of it. But from his little corner and ordering his horrendous hot chocolate, he felt safe, and Nick apparently thinks he is funny.
He is completely useless if anything.
“Yeah, oh,” He teased, placing the cup up on the counter and leaning forward slightly, two hands planted down, “one cup of sugar garbage to go for the sweetheart with a confused look on his face.”
And just like that, Nick spun around and Charlie was left looking dazed, lips slightly parted, and steaming coffee radiating by his palm. Sweetheart, Nick just called him sweetheart and now Charlie thinks he also gave him a heart attack.
He grabs the cup as fast as he could, hoping he could get back to his table before Nick could notice he was flustered, but the blonde already turned around.
“Don’t forget the brownie.”
“So much for a health code violation.”
“I won’t tell.” And then he winks.
Charlie has never felt so fast in his life, and he has always been described as a fast runner. Suddenly he was back in his seat and Nick was talking to another customer. He sighs and looks down at the stuff on the table.
The napkin underneath the brownie was rumpled, orange like the hats they wear with their logo printed in the corner. Their mascot was a dog. Nellie’s was written in bubbly letters and Charlie noticed messy handwriting in the corner, peeking out off the plate.
since we are such good mates, here’s my number
-nick :)
His first thought was a normal thought. Jesus Christ this really cute guy gave me his number yet, he is straight as they come (or well, that is what Tao thinks). Second thought was just a bunch of internal screaming for the next five minutes.
3.
Today, Charlie sat in the art room. It was quiet, nothing but the muffled sound of students outside, or shuffles in the hallway. It was lunchtime, he needed to get away for a moment. Sometimes the world gets too loud.
It was not a bad week. Charlie found out that if he left five minutes earlier, his walking route to school matches up with Nick. They decided they would be walking buddies. Occasionally, Nick would bump his shoulder, and he knew it was accidental but everytime it happened, he did it back. Soon enough it became purposeful but it was light, and Nick was laughing.
Nick sits next to him in classes they have together now. Charlie knows that he liked to talk, he watched Nick converse and sometimes be the only one to get a word in. He never knew he wanted to have a conversation with Nick Nelson so badly until they were in the library and he was going on and on about the Marvel universe.
Nick told him that his mom owned Nellie’s, and that the dog on the logo was actually his dog. His whole camera roll was just Nellie. Nellie on walks, Nellie at the beach, Nellie and Nick. Charlie received a picture of Nellie curled up on Nick’s lap with the caption, “she is excited to meet you.”
Tao caught on to this little crush very easily, way before Charlie even realized that he did not just think Nick was attractive and that is why he freaked out at every interaction. He knows that Tao is looking out for him, he always is, and Charlie appreciates it. But sometimes it worries him that this crush might be obvious to everyone, and Nick might start to see it. Aled reassured him that Nick was not like the others, that he would not make fun of him, and Tao added that although he would go down to Hell to fight for Charlie, Nick was an okay guy. Straight, but a nice person to be around.
That leaves him here, in the art room, alone, with anxiety dripping down his back. A lovely way to spend a Friday.
He was just sitting there, looking down at the table and breathing heavily. He knew Nick would not hate him, but what if he did? Charlie has really only talked to Nick for almost four weeks, and he has been the sweetest human being ever. But Charlie has trusted so many people in his life to just be hurt in the end, and letting people in is scary.
He has no idea how far this friendship with Nick will go, if they will ever get to the point where Charlie will tell him everything. That scares him the most.
His phone buzzes, sending vibrations to his elbows. Tao was texting him, making sure he was okay. He will see him next period.
And then there is a text from Nick.
Nick: where are you?
Nick: i have something for you.
The art room was Charlie’s safe place. If he needs an escape from everything, he hides out there. The teacher, Mr. Ajayi, knows a lot. When the school asks halfway through the year if the students have a trusted adult in their life, Charlie says yes.
Should he just meet Nick somewhere? He hates to say that he trusts Nick, he should not feel that way so quickly. But he makes Charlie feel safe as well. But there is always that what if. What if Nick is playing him like… like Ben? What if Nick finds him disgusting because of everything? What if Nick decides that Charlie is not worth it? What if.
Charlie: bathroom
Charlie: meet me in front of the art room ?
Nick: on my way :)
Charlie gathers his things quickly and boots it out the door. Thirty seconds later, Nick is walking down the hall quickly with a bright grin on his face, and staring right at Charlie.
“There you are.” Nick says, stopping right in front of Charlie. His hands are grasping a bag, a Nellie’s bag.
“Here I am.”
Nick looks at him for a few seconds, or hours, who can really tell?
“I brought this for you,” Nick snaps his arm out, handing the bag to Charlie, “you seemed out of it this morning so I ran off campus to get one.”
A brownie, the double-chocolate chip brownie that was still sort of warm in the bag.
“Oh, thank you.” Charlie mumbles.
If Nick could notice that, what else has he noticed?
“Are you okay?”
The way Nick looks at him is burning searing holes. Charlie has two options: use the “I’m just tired” excuse or run far, far away and transfer school. Or tell Nick what is going on but that was barely an option, more of the obvious choice that he decides to ignore.
“Yeah, yeah. I was just up all night doing work.”
“Ever the academic.” Nick jokes.
“I guess so.”
Nick is smiling, a soft one this time. Over the past four weeks, Charlie has also noticed that Nick has different smiles. A wide grin is for when he is excited, sometimes he gives that grin when Charlie walks into Nellie’s or just a couple of seconds ago when he was walking down the hall. Then there is the soft, no-teeth smile for when he stares at something intently. He did it with the Nellie photos. Then there is the joking smirk that is barely a smirk. Nick jokes, he likes to tease, and there is a smile that comes with it. He also just smiles at the most random things. It was raining the other day, and during class he heard the drops pounding down on the building and he smiled wide and turned to Charlie, whispering about how the rain makes him happy.
But when his soft smile turns into a frown, Charlie realizes that he was frowning as well.
“Charlie?”
“I’m fine, I promise.”
“Okay, but you can tell me if anything is going on, only if you want to.”
Because Nick is sweet. And Charlie is falling every time he thinks about him.
“Thank you.”
Nick looks at him again. Really looks at him. Charlie notices the light in his eyes never leaves yet his lips were downturned and he was searching for something, and Charlie looks down. Eye contact. Scary.
“Can I give you a hug?”
“What?”
“A hug, can I hug you?”
Charlie should say no. If he finally gets to know what that feels like, he will fall even further. But with Nick being Nick, how could he say no? Plus, Charlie really did need a hug right now, like, a tight, warm hug that he would stick with him all day. Maybe he has needed it for a while.
“Please.”
Nick did not seem to hesitate to throw his arms around him. Charlie sighs into Nick’s chest and closes his eyes.
The one thing he knew right now was that if this was the end of the world, he would gladly let it happen if it meant that he would get to hug Nick Nelson again.
4.
They meet at the library every Friday after school. Nick finds Charlie by the rugby fields after practice and they pick up drinks from Nellie’s, and go to a comfortable corner that always seems to be empty when they are there.
They do not go to read although they both do have tangents of their favorite books, and Nick checked out the Illiad once because Charlie had a poster of it in his room.
That is a thing they also do now. Go over to each other’s houses. Charlie got to meet Nellie who would not leave him alone for the rest of the day, not that he minded. His mother was the nicest woman he has ever met. Nick got to meet Tori and Oliver, and when he left, Charlie did not hear the end of it from his sister. Part of him wanted to strangle her, part of him knew that she would strangle him back.
“My mom wants you to come over for dinner next week, Friday, if you want to. I know we always come here but she is kind of obsessed with you after you complimented her cooking.”
Charlie chuckles and sips his drink quickly. It was still pretty hot.
“Who wouldn’t compliment her cooking?”
“You’re the first.”
Nick smiles at him as he sips his drink as well.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“You find a lot of things hard to believe.”
Three months. Three long, amazingly filled months. And Charlie fell in love with something new about Nick every day. One of the things was his mother. Another thing was his eyes. The newest thing was how Nick taps a different song on the table every day, and asks Charlie to name it. He does not get many right, but Nick says he is right every time. And that Nick needs to teach him a thing or two about music.
Another thing was that Nick likes to bicker until Charlie is doubled over laughing or is flustered. Because Nick likes to compliment him a lot. And it is confusing.
“That’s just who I am, I guess.”
“And I like who you are.”
Stuff like that. Between Charlie’s crush and his trust issues, the things Nick says either make him want to cry and kiss him.
Who is to say that Nick is not just screwing with him?
Charlie feels like a bad person for having trust issues. Nick has shown nothing but kindness, and Charlie is here doubting everything. Making Nick out to be someone that he’s not in his head. He feels horrible, because he knows Nick is not malicious, he knows Nick is being true, but then there’s a voice saying everything happening is a lie.
“You okay, Char?” Nick asks.
Charlie prays that it is not because he is blushing.
“Yeah- yeah. Why would I be anything less than?”
“Because you’re shaking.”
Charlie knew he definitely malfunctioned around people he liked but he never knew it was that bad. Or maybe it was because the air conditioning was on full blast right where they sat.
“It’s just a bit chilly.”
“Oh,” Nick looks around for a few quick seconds before pulling his jumper right off. He lent it out across to Charlie, who just stared at it.
“Now you’re going to get cold.”
“Long sleeves, I am like Elsa.” Nick plucks his sleeve to prove his point. And then he smiles. Like always.
“Nick…”
“Char, take the jumper.”
He knows if he takes it, he will only worry about giving it back until he finally returns it. That will be the only thing he thinks about. But it’s Nick. Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick.
“Fine, fine.”
Charlie grabs the jumper, slightly brushing fingers with Nick, and totally not dying on the inside at the feeling of his hand and the soft jumper they were passing. It was all too much.
“You know, I actually need to get going soon.”
“Keep it then.”
“I can’t just… no, this is yours.”
“And I’m giving it to you.”
Stubborn. Also Charlie could not look at Nick, just at the fact that they were both still holding onto the jumper.
“Why?”
Nick shrugs. And then he looks down at their hands. Charlie felt like he was making eye contact again.
“Red is not my color.”
“And it’s mine?”
“You look good in red.”
Another thing Charlie loves about Nick Nelson: no matter the trust issue, no matter the fact that he will go home and regret ever feeling like this was genuine, no matter the fact that he will always worry that he is reading this the wrong way, no matter that he was falling for a straight boy, Nick always knew what to say that in the moment and it will make Charlie feel like the only boy in the world.
5.
Charlie hates falling in love. Just as much as he hates public spaces.
The day after the jumper-incident or as Tao would call it, “the stereotypical so and so scene,” Nick asked Charlie to go to a party with him. He does not do parties, and he would much rather do anything but go to a party. But then Nick said it was his friend’s party, her name was Imogen, and she really wanted to meet him.
Charlie never knew you could feel three completely different emotions at once. It was always one after another. But this time, the way Nick spoke about Imogen, he felt sadness because there was no chance, like he knew. He felt happiness because Nick talked about him to other people, he had others wanting to meet him. And he felt jealousy, which sucked, but it happened without him trying to fight it.
He said yes. Like a dumbass, but he did manage to convince Tao, Aled, and Isaac to come. Tao was bringing his girlfriend, Elle, and Isaac was bringing these two girls named Tara and Darcy, apparently they met at a museum. Aled was bringing their boyfriend, Daniel. It was all going to be fine. Just fine.
And now he was here, sitting on a crowded couch with a cup of water and none of his friends in sight. He saw Nick when he came in. The blonde gave him a hug, said he was going to find Imogen, and told him to wait. So that is how he ended up there. He was no dancer so there was no use getting up.
“That girl is going to drive me crazy.”
Nick flops down next to him, a signature grin plastered in his face.
“Is she okay?”
“She cannot leave her girlfriend alone for one second so you’re meeting both of them, I hope you are okay with that.”
Girlfriend. Okay, now Charlie feels bad for assuming anything was happening between Imogen and Nick. He is never going to live this down when he tells Tao.
“Perfectly.”
Soon enough, he met Imogen and her girlfriend, Wendy. He can understand why Nick and her got along so well. Turns out they were childhood friends. She fell off the swings at the park and he had an extra Toy Story bandaid in his pocket. History was made that day.
He met Darcy and Tara. They were such opposites that it was scary how much they could see eye to eye. Tara and Nick apparently knew each other as kids as well, him sporting an embarrassing crush on the girl for a bit but that was water under the bridge.
Elle and Tao stayed around the group although they also conversed more with themselves. Charlie cannot blame them, Tao has been pining for Elle for as long as possible, most likely since they met. Elle has been doing the exact same and he so badly wanted Tao to understand that. It finally happened.
Nick stayed by him the entire night after that. At one point, they acquired the seating area in the living space, and Nick put an arm behind Charlie’s head. He almost leaned back to see what would happen, but he was frozen.
And although Charlie despises public spaces, he had fun. He met new people, people he would definitely be seeing again.
When the night came to an end, Charlie found Nick on the porch outside. He was sitting on the bench swing, looking down at his feet and fiddling with his thumb. There was a ring that seemed to spin.
“Hi,” Charlie says.
Nick looks up at him. Smiles.
“Hi, did you have fun?”
Charlie sits next to him, smiling back.
“Yeah, thank you for inviting me.”
“Thank you for coming.”
It was completely dark out. People were still filing out the door, laughing and holding each other down the stairs. The sprinklers turned on a few minutes ago, spinning in the grass under the porch light illuminating the area. Charlie could see the bugs flying near the lamps. It smelled like rain and whatever Nick was wearing. The stars were out, every time his eyes raked the sky, a new one would pop up. It was a nice night, a beautiful, crazy night.
“You want a ride home?”
He has been working on it, the trust thing. It is extremely difficult, but it is somewhat working. He knows that it will require a ton of work though.
“Yes please.”
Nick stands up, holds out a hand for him and Charlie takes it. He was still internally freaking out, that is not a trust thing, that is just him being a complete gay disaster.
But what really gets him is that Nick does not let go until they get to his car, which was not far from the porch so the fuzzy feeling was not in full effect, but even when they separated hands, Charlie could still feel it.
Nick puts on the radio, quietly, and taps his fingers against the steering wheel.
“The Smiths?”
“What song?”
“This Charming Man.”
Nick glances over at him. The soft smile.
“Well done, Char. I’ve taught you well.”
The rest of the ride was quiet, and it felt good. For someone who did not like public spaces, Charlie was not one for silence. There just had to be the right amount of sound. The music played like it wasn’t there, and the car rolled along the road with some minor bumps. It was fine, and for once, it actually was fine.
It was good.
“You’re still good for Friday, right?”
Charlie unbuckles his belt and turns to Nick.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Good, my mom is really excited… I’m really excited.”
“Me too.”
A thing Charlie loves about Nick Nelson: his sincerity is easy to tell through layers and layers of self doubt. And it confuses the hell out of him. Maybe he let Nick in and did not even know it.
Charlie opens the door and is already standing outside, ready to say goodnight when Nick speaks.
“Charlie, I…” He trails off, looking right at him. He sighs deeply, his hand was gripping the steering wheel opposed to the light tapping from just two minutes ago. “I hope you have a good night.”
Charlie looks at him, Nick seems different.
“Have a good night, Nick.”
+1
The dinner was nice. Nick’s mom made pasta, homemade, and delicious cheesecake. Nick picked him up, complimented his outfit, Charlie almost died, the usual.
At one point during the dinner, Nick gave Charlie that smile, the soft smile. And stared at him for a good almost minute. It was because Nick said something about how Charlie was fast, and his mother said that he should try out for rugby, and Nick nodded his head.
“That would be lovely.” He said.
So, the dinner was good, very confusing, but good. The little game of Nick nudging his foot every so often at Charlie and him doing it back was not going to cause a lot of problems in the future whatsoever. When they settled on the couch to watch The Avengers and Nick casually just laid his legs across Charlie’s lap, he did not excuse himself to the bathroom after the movie was over to call Tao and panic. Because that did not happen. At all.
“Charlie, you are always welcome.”
The night went by fast, yet so many thoughts occurred. Crazy.
“Thank you. The food was amazing.”
“Would you like some leftovers for your home?”
“If it’s not too much.”
“Nonsense, I'll get that done for you right now. Nick, walk the boy home please.”
And Nick was already staring at him when she was walking into the kitchen.
“I already was, don’t worry.”
“I would’ve dragged you along with me.”
“I wouldn’t complain.”
When Nick’s mom returned with the food, she kissed him on the cheek and sent them on their way. Charlie held the bag in one hand, Nick walked next to him. This time, he was silent. Completely silent, his eyes wandering the streets or the sidewalks.
“Tonight was fun.”
“You really made my mom’s day, truly. She enjoys your company.”
Their hands brush, and Charlie has to tighten his grip on the bag not to drop it.
“Careful, I might ditch you for your mom.”
“Oh, whatever shall I do with myself now.”
“Deal with it.”
“You're one of a kind, Charlie Spring.”
Charlie remembers the day he hated everything. His head hung low on the sidewalk as rain pattered down into his shirt, and a blonde boy decided to let him in. Show him so much without even knowing it. And grew his sweet tooth.
He remembers it every day, and maybe that is why he falls a little bit in love with Nick Nelson every time he breathes, it’s because Charlie learned how to grow. And here he was, standing next to this boy who treated him like Charlie, and only ever wanted him to be Charlie. How much can change in only a couple months? He would say a ton.
“Charlie,” Nick mumbles under his breath, “Charlie Spring.”
“Nick Nelson.”
“I need to tell you something.”
Charlie stops walking, and Nick stops as well. His heart is running a marathon. Is Nick going to just leave him like this?
“Oh,” Charlie breathes out.
“Charlie… do you know how I knew your name the first time we really talked?”
“I assumed it was because of the bullying that happened the year before.” Charlie gulps down something hard. He cannot cry, not now. Nick has seen a lot of Charlie, but he has never seen him cry.
“I saw you for the first time at the park. You were with Tao and I was with Imogen. I only knew your name because Tao exclaimed it extremely loud and I never forgot it.” Nick steps closer to Charlie.
“He can be pretty loud at times.”
“Charlie, I feel like absolute shit for not talking to you when the bullying started, because I knew of you before and when I found out that you went to Truham, I wanted to go up to you so badly but I literally couldn’t. Imogen never heard the end of it, she would always hear me go on tangents about this boy with a nice smile and it only took me a while to realize that I...” Nick stops himself and looks at his shoes. Charlie looks at them too.
Was this really happening?
“You?”
“I like you, Charlie, or well, I did. I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”
And time abruptly stops. Hopefully forever.
“You like me?” Love. He loves Charlie.
“I thought it was kind of obvious, I kept dropping hints here and there and I don’t know, I thought I had a tiny chance. But you didn’t seem to pick up on them, and I freaked out. That night, at the party, Imogen was with her girlfriend, yeah, but she also gave me a very strict pep talk telling me that I should confess to you that night because “maybe he likes you, dumbass, and is just oblivious, dumbass” and of course, Wendy agrees with her. I was going to tell you, I promise, I just got nervous.”
Charlie Spring falls in love with Nick Nelson every day. Today’s reason: the rambling. Nick can ramble on and on, remember direct quotes from conversations told years ago, and he will talk until he is on his deathbed. The conversation may start out as something school related and then he would be explaining something he learned in a documentary about butterflies. Charlie could listen to it every day.
And right now, Nick was rambling about him, and he will admit that himself is not his favorite topic, but right now, the guy he would jump off the edge of the Earth for just said he had a pretty smile.
“God, Charlie, this feels really good to get out right now.”
Charlie smiles, he smiles with a wide grin. Past the racing heart and the blood rush and the shaky limbs, he steps toe to toe with Nick.
“I just, wow, you like me.” Charlie chuckles breathily.
“Love you but yeah, I do.”
“Woah,” Charlie says, “woah.”
“Woah indeed.” Nick replies. Charlie can hear the smile, that beautiful smile.
“Nick, I love you. I literally could list off everything but we would be here for hours.”
They share a laugh, and then finally, Charlie looks up with Nick following. Eye contact, Charlie still hates it but his eyes are very nice to look at.
“I want to hear that list some time.”
Charlie nods.
The past few months, he has been reminding himself that he was just screwing himself over, falling for another boy who could never love him back would just make his state of mental health worse. He would keep spiraling, he would keep locking away more and more of himself. This was not a good thing and yet, he let Nick get closer and closer to him until they were both underwater, drowning in everything around them.
Charlie was tired of doubting what was happening right in front of him.
“Nick, can I kiss you?” Charlie says, everything coming out trembling on his lips.
But Nick nods, holds out his hands for Charlie to take and pulls him in closer and closer until it finally happens.
Charlie Spring falls in love with Nick Nelson a little bit more every day. His dumb, soft jumpers, the fact that he will never deny Charlie of sugar, his rugby skills, the glint in his eye when he gets overly excited, his smiles, his hair that falls just above his eyelashes when he looks down, his tapping, his music knowledge, his ability to make Charlie laugh, to make Charlie smile, to do stuff that Charlie likes, reads the stuff Charlie likes, vowed to let Charlie teach him how to play the drums, and his kisses.
Part of Charlie was scared but realizing that this is new, that this is not how the last one started, he knew that he will get through this. Everything is not just fine anymore, everything is just amazing.
Charlie loves Nick, and will continue to do so until he runs out of things to list. But that doesn’t seem possible.