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Tao.
Tao wasn’t a fan of a lot of things. He wasn’t a fan of most films made in the past decade. He wasn’t a fan of raisins despite the fact that he loved grapes. He wasn’t a fan of running or exercise of any kind really. And he certainly wasn’t a fan of Nick Nelson. He’ll admit that his generally distaste and sour disposition towards rugby lads was a bit childish. He knew it was a little too immature to be holding a grudge about a group of people who realistically weren’t all the same. Elle would have his head if she knew he was making such a snap judgment, calling all rugby lads, moronic, homophobic bellends who couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag even if they had someone walking them through it. But… if the shoe fits, Tao was a firm believer in wearing it. He hadn’t been overly thrilled when Charlie bounced up to their usual lunch table one day, all dimples and saccharine giggles, telling them that Nick Nelson was his soulmate. At the time, it had been easy to scoff and settle into his usual level of protectiveness with Charlie because Tao would rather die a slow, agonizing death than to see his best friend get screwed over by some gym obsessed idiot, soulmate or not. And Tao was nothing if not persistent. For a while, he did everything he could to avoid spending more than 20 minutes with Nick Nelson and it had been working out swimmingly for him. That was, until, Nick slowly started to merge into their group. Tao stuck to his guns, turning up his nose at the Year 11 boy despite Elle and Charlie’s vehement protests. There was one more thing Tao wasn’t a fan of; admitting he was wrong.
Which was precisely how he managed to find himself here, sitting at his friend group’s usual lunch table with none other than the Rugby King Nick Nelson without a single one of their other friends in sight. Tao will admit, to certain people in certain lights, Nick was not the worst person he could be spending lunch with. He could probably think of at least 10 other people off the top of his head that would make his lunch period infinitely more painful than this. As much as he hated himself for thinking this, and he really did hate himself for it, Nick Nelson was not the worst person in the world. The boy in front of him was nice, ridiculously so. Like so nice that when Tao dropped his pen on the ground, Nick had been the one to apologize. His general golden retriever-like disposition made it more and more difficult for Tao to lump him in with the other rugby lads that he had seen hurt Charlie and Elle over and over again. If there was one thing Tao knew about Nick, it was that he cared about Charlie just as much as he did. Tao would have to be blind or a complete idiot not to see that. It was blatantly obvious the way Nick lit up when Charlie was around. The way he beamed when he managed to make Charlie laugh. The way his hand would unknowingly drift to his soulmark when someone mentioned Charlie when he wasn’t around. The way Nick managed to look at Charlie like the curly haired boy had hung the stars just for Nick, holding out his hands saying ‘Look. I did this for you.’ Tao found it utterly disgusting just how smitten Nick Nelson managed to look when it came to Charlie and they were still in the friends stage. It was tricky, trying to settle into a rhythm, when you found your soulmate. There was the increasingly obvious reminder that this person was your perfect match despite having just met that person so people tended to take a while to adjust. People stuck to being friends for a bit before making anything romantic. People fumbled trying to figure out how to interact with their soulmate in that weird, in between stage but not Nick and Charlie. Nick and Charlie settled into a comfortable rhythm of teasing jokes and smitten looks despite still only being friends. It made Tao want to claw his eyes out a little bit but he had never seen Charlie act as authentically as he did when Nick Nelson was around. So maybe, just maybe, Nick wasn’t as bad as Tao had originally thought.
“Oh!” Nick said abruptly, interrupting their five minute long blissful silence. Tao fought the urge to huff and roll his eyes as Nick dug through his backpack, looking for something.
“What is it?” Tao asked. Nick just continued searching, taking a few moments before pulling out a DVD case. He smiled brightly as he slid it across the table towards Tao.
“You mentioned something about not being able to find it on Blu Ray anywhere. I was having a look ‘round a shop in town when I spotted it,” Nick said, nodding his head towards the case. Tao frowned slightly, picking it up. It was a film that he had vaguely complained about not being able to find a few weeks ago. Tao hadn’t even realized Nick was paying attention to that conversation. He found that Nick had a habit of staying relatively quiet during their group’s lunch conversations and honestly, Tao had just finished going on a 10 minute rant about the importance of representation in films when he off-handedly complained about not being able to find this particular one. Tao blinked, eyes flitting back and forth between the DVD case and Nick. You know when a dog brings you something and they have that look in their eyes that lets you know they’re anxiously and excitedly awaiting your positive response? That was the look Nick had on his face. Tao fought the urge to smile, instead letting out a snort and shaking his head.
“This- that’s- Thanks. This is really cool,” Tao settled on. Nick smiled brightly and nodded once, clearly pleased with himself that he had dragged a positive reaction out of Tao. He watched as Nick’s bright smile fell and was replaced with a look of worry. Nick’s eyes shifted back and forth to each table, searching. Tao frowned.
“Something’s wrong,” Nick said. It came out a bit nervous but he seemed resolute in the issue, looking like he was ready to bolt at any moment.
“What do you mean?” Tao asked, looking around to try to figure out what had caused Nick’s sudden shift in demeanor.
“It’s Charlie. I just got hit with a wave of panic that’s definitely not mine.”
Another thing that made Nick and Charlie an infuriating exception to the rules was their soulmate bond. It took Tao and Elle a full year to develop a bond strong enough to feel each other’s emotions, it took Nick and Charlie a full week. Tao almost didn’t believe it when Charlie had casually mentioned being able to feel Nick’s giddiness after having only met him seven days prior. It was basically unheard of for two people to strengthen that bond that quickly but Tao had been resolved to the idea that they were Nick and Charlie and maybe Tao should just stop being surprised when it came to them.
“Do you think he’s in trouble?” Tao asked, fidgeting with his fingers. A familiar feeling of dread washed over him that he hadn’t quite felt since Charlie was being severely bullied. Tao knew he was going to be getting a text from Elle any time now, asking if he was ok but he had other things to worry about.
Nick’s brow furrowed in concentration, eyes still darting around. “I don’t know but it’s strong. Really strong.”
Tao nodded, not feeling particularly reassured by Nick’s assessment. “Where did you say he was again?”
“Practice rooms.”
The pair packed up their stuff as quickly as possible and made a run for it. If Tao hadn’t been in such a distressed state, he might have admonished himself for working with Nick on this but the only thought in his mind was helping Charlie. Tao was fully aware he had a habit of being unreasonable. He was an insecure 15 year old boy with a borderline obsessive need for things to remain stagnant. He knew he was unreasonable at times but his fear and concern for Charlie was justified. He spent months holding a sobbing Charlie Spring in his arms as the smaller boy had to unlearn every bad thing that his bullies told him. He spent months keeping half an eye on Charlie’s skin to make sure no new scars had appeared. He spent months of walking around with this unresolved, explosive anger towards everyone who even looked at Charlie oddly. Tao didn’t think he was being unreasonable at this moment.
Tao and Nick quickly made their way to the music block, frantically looking through the windows on the doors of each practice room until they spotted Charlie. The curly haired boy was shoved up against the wall, tears threatening to spill as Harry Greene cornered him.
Tao had never seen Nick look so angry. The Year 11 boy’s disposition had always been so calm, so bright that it made Tao wonder what it was that would make Nick falter. Apparently, it was this.
“I just want to know how you did it, Charlie. It’s not a hard ask,” Harry said, his words thick with a mocking tone.
“I-I don’t know what you mean,” Charlie replied, stuttering the way he did when he was overwhelmed.
“I want to know how you turned Nick into a fa-”
Thankfully, Harry Greene didn’t get to finish his sentence because Nick was pulling him away from Charlie with such force that Harry stumbled, trying to find his footing. Tao watched as Nick took in a few deep breaths, fists clenched, jaw tight.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Nick spit out, his voice dangerously low. In all honesty, Tao was a little afraid of Nick at that moment. He often forgot that Charlie’s soulmate was as strong and as intimidating as he was because of how softly and fondly he acted around Charlie. This side of Nick was something Tao had never seen before and if it had been directed at him, he’d certainly be shitting himself but since it was directed at Harry Greene, well, Tao would look the other way if things got messy.
“N-nick, mate! It’s all just a bit of banter,” Harry stuttered out awkwardly, trying desperately to maintain his usual air of indifference.
“Cornering my soulmate and throwing around homophobic slurs is banter?” Nick asked, scoffing as he spoke. Harry chuckled like he was trying to undermine the question.
“I was just trying to figure out how that little nerdy Year 10 managed to get you. He must look real nice on his knees for you to have to put up with that,” Harry replied. Tao could tell he was doing anything he could to rile Nick up and it worked. It was a bit like a car accident and Tao couldn’t look away. Nick brought his hand up to punch and Charlie bolted into action. Tao watched as Charlie pushed Nick backwards with a surprising amount of force. Nick blinked a few times, processing what happened. He took one look at Charlie and melted into a puddle of fondness. Tao was slightly disappointed that Charlie chose to be the bigger person. Nick had looked murderous and Tao was always ready to hide a body, especially if that body was Harry Greene.
“It’s not worth it, Nick. He is not worth it,” Charlie said gently. Nick’s eyes flickered back and forth between Harry and Charlie as the fight seemed to drain out of him completely.
Harry had the audacity to look smug like being a homophobic prick was something to be proud of. He clicked his tongue against his teeth in a condescending way. “Man, being gay really turned you into a softy, huh?”
Tao is a lot of things but he is not level headed. He raised an eyebrow, taking a step closer to Harry before slamming his knee straight into Harry’s groin. He couldn’t help feeling a little vindicated when Harry let out a yelp. Tao smirked, looking down at Harry’s hunched over form.
“Remember this moment, Harry, because I’m certain it’s the most action you’ll ever get.”
It wasn’t until a little while later, when the three boys had returned to the picnic table, that Tao realized just how much his view on Nick Nelson had shifted. He watched carefully as Nick fussed over Charlie, checking over the curly haired boy with an unbearably soft look on his face. He watched as Charlie slowly relaxed under the older boy’s gentle touches to his cheeks. It was utterly disgusting and made Tao want to lock himself in a room just to avoid looking at the sugary sweet moment the pair were having. But, Tao realized that maybe, just maybe, he was a fan of Nick Nelson.
Elle.
Elle lived her life by a distinct set of rules. Be kind, always live as the most authentic version of yourself, remind the people in your life you love them, don’t ask Tao about his opinions on a film if you aren’t fully prepared to listen to a 20 minute impassioned rant and if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Elle always tried to keep an open mind with things like this but when Charlie ran up to their table one day at lunch, telling their little group that Nick Nelson was his soulmate, she couldn’t help the worried look she exchanged with Tao. It wasn’t that Nick had a bad reputation. If anything, it was the opposite. People never seemed to shut up about how kind Nick was or how funny Nick was or how hot Nick was. To be fair, all of those things were true. Nick was kind and funny and hot but people talked about him like he was a celebrity and not a 15 year old boy who still blushed if you looked at him for more than 30 seconds. Elle had no qualms with Nick being Charlie’s soulmate. She didn’t judge him for being a rugby lad the way Tao had. Elle knew that people were perfectly capable of acting out of the norm of what others expected. She knew people didn’t always fall neatly into the label that was pushed on them. She knew Nick wasn’t like some of the other boys on the rugby team that had bullied her and Charlie. That wasn’t one of Elle’s concerns. What concerned her the most was how quickly Charlie fell for Nick.
There was a bit of time where Elle didn’t really interact with Nick after he and Charlie had found out they were soulmates. There wasn’t a particular reason for that, it was just the way things were for a little while. The only thing Elle had to go off of was Charlie. She learned about Nick and Charlie’s relationship through his eyes and the more Charlie spoke, the more Elle worried. She loved Charlie with every fiber of her being. He was one of her best friends but that didn’t leave him without a number of faults. Charlie had a tendency to attach himself very quickly to anyone who showed him an ounce of kindness. Elle always assumed it was because Charlie expected the worst from people and was pleasantly surprised when they went against that. For a while, all Elle knew about Nick and Charlie’s relationship was that Charlie was smitten but his warped perception of reality made it difficult to figure out exactly how much Nick liked him back. From what Elle could gather, Nick seemed to really like being around Charlie but there was always the nagging fear in Elle’s mind that maybe Nick wasn’t as invested as Charlie was. That maybe things were too good to be true. Elle had never been so happy to be proven wrong.
If Elle thought Charlie was smitten, Nick was so head over heels in love he couldn’t figure out which way was up. It only took Elle about 10 seconds to clock Nick’s overly fond look when Charlie appeared. Nick looked at Charlie like he was everything to him and that only seemed to grow when they started actually dating. Elle couldn’t ignore the way Nick would immediately reach for Charlie when the smaller boy was anxious. The way Nick would fall over himself when Charlie let out a giggle. The way Nick would run head first into any conversation, ready to defend Charlie until his last breath. Elle thought it was adorable just how much Nick was obsessed with Charlie. It wasn’t that Charlie wasn’t also obsessed with Nick. She had had enough lengthy conversations with him about Nick’s ‘strong rugby arms’ or his ‘beautiful freckles’ for Elle to know Charlie was just as obsessed with Nick. But Nick was so outwardly expressive about it that someone on Pluto could see that Charlie owned Nick’s heart. There were moments where Elle feared Nick didn’t know how much he meant to Charlie.
Nick had always been quiet during lunch times, only chiming in once in a while to give his opinion on things or throw a teasing joke to Charlie just to make him blush, but today he was silent. Elle had started to worry as Charlie, Tao and Issac chattered on and Nick seemed to curl in on himself. She tried to catch his eye, hoping to sneak him a worried look but his gaze stayed glued to his food.
“Tao! That doesn’t even make any sense. You’re obviously missing-“ Charlie stopped, mid-sentence and tilted his head, almost like he had heard something in the distance and tried to make it out. He turned to Nick, eyes flickering over his slightly hunched body. Charlie reached forward, grabbing Nick’s chin gently and tilting his head to look at him.
“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked softly, like it was meant for Nick and Nick alone. Elle had gotten used to the two boys falling into their own little world, completely forgetting about where they were or the people around them. In these moments, it was Nick and Charlie and no one else mattered. The way Charlie looked at Nick made Elle regret ever thinking that she should be worried about Charlie not outwardly expressing how much he cared about his soulmate. Charlie’s face had softened completely, clearly forgetting about his little argument with Tao. Nick shrugged as Charlie ran his thumb along his freckled cheeks. It was so gentle and indulgent that Elle felt like she shouldn’t be allowed to watch someone look as reverent as Charlie did.
“It’s nothing,” Nick replied, not necessarily dismissively. Elle didn’t think Nick had the capacity to turn Charlie away even if he tried but his words were painfully indifferent. He was clearly trying not to worry Charlie.
“You’re upset,” Charlie said. It wasn’t a question. If Elle had been able to pick up on Nick’s melancholy, it’s easy to assume that Charlie was able to feel it rather intensely. Nick looked torn between whether or not he should tell the truth.
“Harry said something to me,” Nick admitted quietly, not really looking at Charlie, more past him. Oh. Now that was odd. From what Elle noticed, Nick was never really bothered by Harry’s distasteful and painfully unoriginal comments towards him. The only time Harry’s words ever got to Nick was if they were about Charlie. When he complained to the group about Harry, he always specified that Harry’s words about Charlie made him angry so whatever it was that the bully said to Nick must’ve cut him deep. Elle watched as Charlie’s jaw clenched and he took a few deep breaths.
Elle was suddenly hit with a wave of worry that wasn’t her own. She looked over to see Tao fiddling absently with his fingers. He always did that when he was worried. Elle couldn’t help but smile. Despite Tao’s best efforts to pretend like he was indifferent towards Nick, she knew he really did care about him. So did she, it was difficult to see Nick look so upset, especially because, as Tao puts it, he’s a golden retriever most of the time.
“Want me to punch him for you?” Charlie asked which made Nick snort slightly and send him a look. Charlie rolled his eyes and laughed. “Ok, want me to have Tao knee him in the dick again?”
Nick burst into laughter, a genuine delighted sound. He shook his head and sent a glance to Elle and the other two boys before looking back at Charlie. Elle was convinced they had developed their own language or they could communicate telepathically, that wouldn’t surprise her in the slightest. Charlie gave the tiniest nod.
“We’ll talk later,” he whispered before wrapping his arms around Nick’s shoulders so the older boy could tuck himself into Charlie’s side. Charlie placed a kiss to the crown of Nick’s head as the other boy practically melted into Charlie’s touch. It was obvious to Elle that that conversation was far from over but she watched as Nick came back to life a bit more over the remainder of the lunch period. Charlie and Tao continued their argument that they were having before with Isaac chiming in every once in a while. Elle added in her obligatory murmurs of admonishment and little jabs. Nick added his input a few times but he stayed tucked to Charlie’s side, blushing every time Charlie’s fingers drew shapes into his skin or Charlie sent him a fond smile.
Elle lived her life by a distinct set of rules. Be kind, always live as the most authentic version of yourself, remind the people in your life you love them, don’t ask Tao about his opinions on a film if you aren’t fully prepared to listen to a 20 minute impassioned rant, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and never question Nick and Charlie’s love for one another.
Isaac.
Isaac never really understood the excitement over the concept of soulmates. It always seemed a bit silly to him that everyone went wild over the idea that their perfect match was out there which he supposed kind of came with the territory of not having a soulmate. It was never something Isaac minded too much. He was perfectly content with his piles of books and his little group of friends. He had hardly batted an eye when he met Tao and Elle as they showed him their soulmarks and recounted the story of how they met. He always thought they were good together, soulmates or not. Tao was stubborn, loud, animated and protective. Elle was softer, quieter, kind and equally as protective but in a different way. No one could reign Tao in quite like Elle could and no one could comfort Elle better than Tao could. Isaac was fully aware of that and he thought their love for each other was valuable but he didn’t think it was a love story written in the stars. So for a long time, Isaac maintained the opinion that soulmates were pretty unnecessary.
Isaac always considered himself a romantic despite having no interest in romance for himself. He thought it was mainly because of the books he read. He always found himself invested in relationships between people, eagerly taking in the written words as they described a romance of the ages. So when Nick and Charlie found their way to one another, Isaac couldn’t help but be a little bit invested. If life was a novel, Isaac was convinced that Nick and Charlie were the main characters. It was a little too perfect how their relationship played out. Nick was the popular, athletic boy with a heart of gold and Charlie was the nerdy, shy (bordering on anxious) boy with one hell of an underdog story. It was basically the perfect trope and Isaac was more than happy to watch it play out. He sat through countless conversations about Nick and Charlie’s meet-cute, hours of listening to each of them gush about how much they liked each other, far too much time paying attention to how perfectly they fit together. Isaac started to realize that maybe soulmates made some sense when he saw Nick and Charlie together .
But a story isn’t a good one if there’s no drama, no angst, at least that’s the belief Isaac held. It wasn’t easy watching two of your friends have an argument that left both sides a bit shaken but Isaac never doubted for a second that Nick and Charlie would find their way back to one another. He wanted to believe in romance!
Isaac was sitting in the library one afternoon during lunch period. He often got asked to sit at the front desk and help students find the books they were looking for. He didn’t mind it though. He liked the relatively quiet space and it was a break from spending his lunches listening to Tao and Charlie argue about a random film. Plus, 99% of the time no one bothered him so he found it particularly odd when the one and only Nick Nelson stormed into the library and took a seat next to him. Isaac glanced over to the boy, raising an eyebrow. Nick looked decently annoyed and absolutely ready to talk about whatever it was that had him in a tizzy. Isaac thought it over for a moment. He was nearing the end of a chapter in the book he was currently reading so he figured he’d indulge Nick a bit.
“You’re in quite a state,” Isaac observed, setting his book down on the desk in front of him. Nick let out a huff. “Want to share with the class or are you going to sit there and pout the whole lunch period?”
Nick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s Charlie.”
“I figured as much. Not much else would make you react like this,” Isaac said simply. He held the firm belief that beating around the bush didn’t really get anyone anywhere.
“Something is bothering him and he refuses to tell me what it is. As if he can act like nothing’s wrong, I can literally feel his emotions. I know something’s up!” Nick replied, letting out a frustrated groan, putting his face in his hands. “We got into an argument about it.”
Isaac hummed. He wasn’t exactly an expert on lover’s quarrels but he was an expert on Charlie Spring and his multitude of defense mechanisms. Charlie rarely got into real arguments unless it was something he was defensive or insecure about. Isaac watched as Nick unconsciously ran his fingers along his soulmark like he was reminding himself that things would be ok. To Isaac’s knowledge, this was the first real argument Nick and Charlie had gotten in.
“Well, Charlie only lashes out like that if he’s defensive or insecure. Has something happened recently that would make him feel that way?” Isaac asked, carefully looking over Nick’s face. Nick frowned and scrunched his eyebrows like he was trying to remember.
“I-I don’t think so. We were completely fine a few hours ago,” Nick replied, looking considerably lost. Isaac felt for him. He knew how much Charlie meant to Nick and he knew neither of them were particularly keen on arguing with each other. Isaac nodded.
“So it’s likely something Charlie is perceiving differently than you intended it,” Isaac said evenly. Isaac loved Charlie more than anything in the world. They were best friends but Isaac knew Charlie had a tendency to overthink everything. When he did that, he internalized it and spent more time digging himself into a pit of self consciousness than any person ought to deal with. Isaac watched as Nick’s face suddenly shifted into a look of recognition. Bingo.
“Oh my god. I mentioned Imogen having a crush on me ages ago. I meant it as more of a ‘oh look how far me and Imogen have come as friends’ but…” Nick trailed off.
“But Charlie is anxious about everything and likely spent too much time thinking about it and convinced himself that Imogen is a better match for you than him, your literal soulmate?” Isaac supplied. Nick nodded, quickly picking up his things. He turned to Isaac and wrapped him in a quick hug and ran out the door.
“Thanks, Isaac!” he called over his shoulder as he left. Isaac let out an amused huff, shaking his head as he picked up his book and continued reading. Nick and Charlie would be just fine.
The next time Isaac saw the pair together was the following day. He hadn’t heard from either of them before then but as he glanced over, he figured they had worked things out. Nick was standing behind Charlie, one arm slung over Charlie’s shoulder and the other wrapped around his waist, hands clasped together at his chest. Charlie had his back pressed to Nick’s front, hands hanging off of Nick’s arms. Isaac watched as Charlie looked up at Nick with that look. The look that made everyone else around them feel painfully alone. It was bad enough that it even made Isaac want to reevaluate not having a soulmate (it always passed). Nick pressed a kiss to Charlie’s forehead before they both refocused their attention to Imogen who seemed to be telling them something, rather animatedly. Isaac watched as the three of them laughed and Nick held onto Charlie tighter. So maybe Isaac’s view on soulmates hadn’t done a complete 180 but if Nick and Charlie were in one of his novels, he wouldn’t be able to put it down.
Imogen.
Imogen had found a lot of reasons to be jealous of Charlie Spring. Prior to actually spending time with him, Imogen was perfectly content with watching with envy as Nick spoke about him. Charlie seemed to have it all. He was kind. He had a steadfast group of friends. He was smart. He was talented. He was motivated. And he had Nick wrapped around his finger. She didn’t blame Charlie for it in any way. It wasn’t his fault that the universe decided that Nick and Charlie were soulmates but that didn’t stop Imogen from feeling a little bit cross about it.
Imogen met Nick when they were 11. When Nick was all baby-faced, timid smiles and overly cautious about who he showed his soulmark to. When Imogen was all brace-filled smiles, never ending enthusiasm and relatively reckless about who she showed her soulmark to. One day, Nick had picked a flower that he said reminded him of her, a permanent blush on his face as he spoke and little eleven year old Imogen’s heart was in the palm of his hand. They grew together in a stagnant and boring friend group. She watched as Nick grew kinder and gentler. She watched as he grew more athletic and still struggled endlessly with maths. She watched as he grew into an attractive young man (which didn’t help Imogen’s yearning heart). She watched as he grew confident. She watched as he spent a year faking smiles and pretending like things were okay. She watched as he found his soulmate and suddenly Nick became alive again. Imogen knew her and Nick were not written in the stars. She was painfully aware of her Saturn shaped soulmark, surrounded by stars just below the crook of her elbow and his multicoloured trail of leaves that started at his wrist and wound up to his mid-forearm. Despite all of this, she couldn’t help her feelings towards Nick Nelson. To make matters worse, he had been so gentle with her heart, making sure to hold it with care as he handed it back to her. Imogen wanted to be angry. She wanted to be furious and scream at him and ask him why he didn’t love her the way she loved him but that wasn’t fair to him. He sent her an apologetic smile and she was reminded yet again that Nick was never hers to begin with.
When Charlie Spring came into Nick’s life, in many ways, he waltzed right into Imogen’s too. After her rather embarrassing admission of her feelings to Nick in Year 10, she took time to heal her shattered heart before coming back to Nick because in the end, he was her best friend. She will never forget the feeling of overwhelming envy she felt towards Charlie on the day that Nick told her he had found his soulmate. To her, Charlie had everything Imogen had ever wanted and she was perfectly content with secretly disliking the younger boy. That was, until she met him.
“Imogen,” Nick called, swiping a hand in front of her eyes to gain her attention. Imogen startled and looked at him.
“Sorry. I was lost in thought,” she replied, shrugging sheepishly. Nick chuckled, sending her a closed lip smile.
“I could tell. I thought I saw the wheels turning up there,” Nick teased, tapping lightly on her temple. Imogen scoffed and batted his hand away. Nick sat down next to her. “What were you thinking about?”
Imogen hummed. “How we met.”
Nick let out another chuckle. “You mean when I crashed into you and knocked you over? I felt so bad that day,” Nick replied, frowning slightly.
“Yeah because you made me skin my knee! And then had a proper panic when I started crying,” Imogen teased, nudging his shoulder with hers.
“But I gave you a flower the next day to apologize!” Nick defended, a blush faintly painted on his freckled cheeks.
“Ever the sweetheart,” Imogen joked. It was moments like these where she was reminded of what she couldn’t have. It had been long since her overwhelming crush on Nick had disappeared but that didn’t mean she was impervious to the never ending questions of what if.
They had settled into a comfortable silence when Nick spoke again.
“So…” Nick said, trailing off.
“So?” Imogen prompted. She watched as Nick ran his fingers through his hair, eyes darting back and forth on her face like they couldn’t quite settle on a spot to look. Imogen may not have been Nick’s soulmate but she was his best friend. She knew when he was nervous. He sucked in a breath before letting out a sigh.
“I want you to meet Charlie,” he said finally. Ah. That would explain the nervousness. It wasn’t often that Imogen felt the need to curl up and disappear but she did in that moment. She knew Nick’s nervousness was two fold. They were best friends and he cared about her opinion. If he was prepared to introduce her to his soulmate, he was practically handing her the thing he cared about most, saying ‘Please don’t crush it.’ Best friends meeting soulmates was always tricky business but Imogen’s previous feelings made this situation particularly delicate. Imogen forced down the ugly jealousy that swirled in her stomach. Green wasn’t her color anyways.
“Ok,” Imogen said softly, sending him a genuine smile. At the end of the day, she was happy for Nick. She had never seen him light up as much as he did when he talked about Charlie and Imogen certainly wasn’t going to be the one to put that light out. Which is why when Nick approached her the next day with an anxious curly haired boy in tow, she was nothing but supportive.
“Bee!” Nick called from a short distance away. Imogen smiled at the nickname, rolling her eyes fondly as her gaze fell onto Nick and someone she could only assume was Charlie Spring. Despite going to the same school, she had never actually seen the boy before. The only thing she had to go on was Nick’s over romanticized version of him but it was obvious he hadn’t been far off. Charlie was shorter than Nick, not by a ridiculous amount but he was much lankier, mainly all arms and legs. He had high cheekbones and strong eyebrows. He had dark curly hair that fell in his eyes as Nick pulled him along, fingers intertwined. He had deep hazel eyes that flitted around, a bit nervously. He wasn’t Imogen’s type (and she had gotten the distinct impression she wasn’t his) but she could see how Nick could fall head over heels for him.
“Hey, Bug!” Imogen replied, sending a kind smile to the pair. “Is this the famous Charlie Spring?”
Nick nodded, almost proudly as Charlie flushed and sent Imogen a small wave.
“H-hi,” Charlie stuttered out, sending Nick a glance.
“Hi! I’m Imogen,” she replied. Nick seemed to be looking at the two of them with anticipation like he was waiting for them to get along. She could tell Charlie was nervous so she did what she was good at, smile and tease the absolute hell out of Nicholas Nelson. “Nick has told me so much about you. Let me tell you the amount of times I’ve had to listen to a smitten Nick Nelson describe you is a ridiculous amount.”
She watched as the sides of Charlie’s mouth quirked up like he wanted to smile but he wasn’t quite ready to allow himself to. Charlie turned to look at Nick who was blushing rather deeply.
“You talk about me?” Charlie teased, a fond look on his face. Nick opened his mouth to reply but Imogen wasn’t going to let him off that easily.
“Constantly. ‘Oh my gosh Imogen! Charlie smiled at me today and I think my heart exploded a little bit. Oh my gosh Imogen! You should see Charlie play drums, his hands are so’-”
Her teasing was promptly cut off by Nick’s hand over her mouth. “Ok. I think he gets the picture. Thank you, Imogen.”
Charlie let out an adorable giggle that visibly made Nick melt and look at him like Charlie was his whole world.
“I don’t know. I don’t think I quite have the full picture yet,” Charlie teased, seeming to allow himself to relax a bit as Imogen laughed.
“Believe me. I have hours of blackmail worthy material.”
Imogen spent her lunch time chatting with a very interested Charlie and a tomato red Nick who let out an embarrassed groan whenever she repeated his words back to him. As time went on and Imogen got to know Charlie more, her previous jealousy towards the younger boy was replaced with fondness. She liked being around Charlie especially when they managed to join forces to embarrass the hell out of Nick. It took time but she realized that there was no one in the history of forever that was as good enough for Nick as Charlie was. She often teased that he was too good for Nick.
Years down the road, when Nick and Charlie managed to get their shit together and propose to one another, (in the same night, Imogen might add) she stood at their wedding reception as their maid of honor, her soulmate by her side and talked about the epic love story that was Nick and Charlie. How she had had the pleasure of watching two of the most amazing people she had ever met fall in love and grow stronger and stronger together. But, until then, Year 11 Imogen would settle for not feeling quite so jealous of Charlie Spring, especially when he made her best friend the happiest she had ever seen him.