Chapter Text
It starts, as all things do when you are Charlie Spring, awkward antisocial and oh yeah, gay 18 year old of Herne Bay in Britain, with a walk. A quite anxiety inducing walk, given it had the many factors that Charlie never liked to point out himself, but the media did for him.
1, it was dark. LIke very dark. That wasn’t a surprise however considering that Charlie’s shift at ASDA was from the middle of the afternoon to 9:00 at night and despite his hesitancy, it was the only shift that suited his university classes in the day and helped him in escaping his mother at night as he’d become the brunt of her frustrations after Tori graduated and left.
2, It was the closest job he could get to home. He still was trying to save up to move out, but no matter how much he tried, the money just seemed to go to everything else, as his Mum was making him pay some of the rent cost for the last 6 months. He and his Dad both had felt it was quite unfair, but once she explained it and put her foot down about Charlie still being at home and needing to contribute now he was employed, he really had no choice.
Also, it was along the bus line he used to take to school, which was a positive as he knew the route well. He still sometimes had flinching little urges, like hummingbirds under his skin, to pick up his belongings and get off at the school, buit refrained. He never wanted to go back there again anyway. It was just a habit out of a phase out of several hellish years of his life that he just had to contend with. If he looks out the window as he passes by, even if it’s surrounded in darkness, he can still sometimes see phantom images of his friends. Tao, Ellie, Issac. He can also see others, but blocks them out of his memory as soon as they come to the fridges of his mind.
3, Charlie wore his uniform home. He knew that was a bad idea, he knew that dark or dull colours as well as a coat or something would make him less visible, but it was easier than using the staff bathrooms to change as they were full of germs unknown to man. He could be okay with it more given his coat was a bulky navy and covered most of his small frame, but his shirt was a very garish shade of bright green and unfortunately, it made him rather easy to recognise in the dark and that is what had lead to the events that were about to transpire.
It had been a shocker of an afternoon. After school mums with screaming kids, homeless people trying to score free food, Charlie was just grateful he made it through the day in one piece. Nursing a headache of epic proportions, he had just stepped off the bus and was on his way back to his street nearby, scrolling Instagram on his phone when a familiar voice called out “Well, well, if it isn’t Mr Charlie Spring!”
Charlie froze in his tracks, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. He didn’t want to turn around, but knowing the voice all too well, he feared if he didn’t that worse would happen, as it had before. Even if he’d freed himself from all of that long ago, like years and years and that’s not even including the therapy he’s still getting with Geoff, he still pivoted around to see two figures leaning against a nearby france, swallowing hard with a nod. “Ben. Harry.”
“Good to see you mate.” Charlie almost jumps onto the road as Harry’s jacketed arm swings around his shoulder like a python closing in on its prey. He makes Charlie’s skin crawl, but he tries to bear it as Ben flanks the other side. “We thought you would have taken off out of here by now. All that talk in sixth form on your assignments on studying music and all that jizz.”
“Well, I’m still…working on it. Like everyone does.” He can barely speak, but he tries, his phone disappearing into the inside of his coat in case they try to do something stupid like steal it and he does that exactly one of their intentions as Ben’s eyes alight in silent anger, but he just curls a smirk that makes Charlie’s stomach turn and not in a good way. “I only just got into uni a few weeks ago, Decided to start midterm instead of the beginning of the year, needed some time to deal with some issues.”
“Fair, fair. Can’t blame you, I mean, it was a shocker of a year you had.” Harry’s talking to him as if he’s an old friend and with Ben so close by after everything he’d done to him, Charlie knows he has to get out of here quickly. He bypasses Ben and unslips himself from under Harry’s grip with an awkward smile, stuttering. “Well, it was nice seeing you, but I should really go, I’ve got to get home and everything and have class in the morning-”
“Now, now, Charlie-” Finally, Ben speaks and Charlie feels the oily slickness of his voice washing over him and making his mouth feel gluely and sticky. “-don’t go just yet, me and Harry were just about to head out and we realised we forgot our wallets at his apartment complex. You wouldn’t happen to have any cash on you would you?”
“I don't….no, I don’t, sorry Ben.” It had been a tip day today. A new initiative by this particular shop that was trialling out to see if they could implement it into several ASDA stores in the UK and then all of them should it become popular enough. Basically the way it worked was that people were asked at the self and person checkouts if they wanted to tip their staff some type of currency for their hard work and most customers, given it was a smaller town than most, were thankfully quite generous.
Charlie was currently sitting on an extra £30 that he would have never gotten otherwise from his normal hourly pay rate and if Ben and Harry even smelled that he was lying to them, he knew he would be in more trouble than it was worth. Itr seemed that is just where this was heading as while he backed away, the others just stepped closer. “I swear, I have-”
“Shut up Charlie!” Ben’s fist colliding with his nose stung like a million bees and he cried out loudly his backpack dropped along with him to his knees as he held his face to see if it was broken, but sadly didn't get a chance as Harry had already hauled him up onto his fence and pinned him against the fence as Ben started to frisk him for anything valuable.
He fought back as best he could, kicking and failing and making it difficult, but they kept trying to hold him down and while he had better health than he’d had in the last couple of years, it wasn’t enough to drive the boys off of him. He was just about to reach for his wallet where it was stashed in his bag and throw it at them like a bone to some hungry dogs to just let him go, when he heard the telltale sound of a gun cocking in the distance and all of them froze as a hard edged voice. “Let. Him. Go.”
Both Ben and Harry turned to look at the hooded figure standing across from them, but Charlie, bloody nose and all, was blocked from viewing the figure’s face as he spoke again, his voice even harder. “Hope, Greene, are you both deaf? I said to fucking let him go.”
“E-Easy mate, we were just having a-” Harry seemed actually scared and Charlie really wanted to laugh, but stayed quiet as the voice silenced him. “I don’t care what you were having! Get out of my sight before I have the urge to put a bullet through your skulls!”
That seemed to do it as Charlie is uncermonsily dropped and left to wither into a puddle as Ben and Harry head for the hills as fast as their trainers can carry them. Slumped over a little and still hyperventilating, heart beating a thousand miles an hour, Charlie snaps his eyes back open in fear as he hears the gun being put away and footsteps come closer to him before he is slightly mollycoddled by the guy who saved his life into a sitting position, shaking him a little. “Mate, mate, are you alright? Did those guys do anything to you?”
Charlie manages to swallow, a little bit of blood going down with it. He’s sure his nose may be broken, but he guesses he won’t know until tomorrow. “They tried to steal my wallet and phone and Ben punched me in the face, but I’ll be alright.”
“Hope fucking punched you?!” The guy, whoever he is, sounds enraged, but it’s almost calm, like he’s used to being angry all the time. “Let me see-” His fingers grip Charlie’s chin and lift his head up and that’s when time stops, starts and reverses all at once. Because Charlie, despite seeing the dyed black hair, the gold chains and the small club tattoo underneath one of his eyes, Charlie is seeing the face that disappeared from his life and left the Earth falling out underneath his feet. “Nick?”
Nick Nelson, former rugby captain, former crush, former best friend and former…something more hasn’t been seen by anyone in Charlie’s friend circle since he graduated from high school and left for Leeds according to his Mum, just gapes as they both stare at each other.
Somehow, it’s Charlie who makes the first move, as despite his simmering anger that’s replaced his fear and his want to just scream at him for leaving him and promising all these things and going missing and just generally being a bad person, he pulls himself up using Nick as leverage and holds onto him tightly. “Nick-Nick I-”
“Charlie…” Nick’s voice now sounds like it’s on the verge to tears, just suddenly fizzled out, nothing like the voice he was using earlier on Ben and Harry and his hands are gripping Charlie’s jacket like he’s going to evaporate and won’t let go. He doesn’t know how long they stand there for, but eventually, the cold gets to Charlie’s currently hurt appendage and he hisses, Nick pulling away quickly to relook at Charlie’s face before hastily pulling a handkerchief out of his pockets and grimacing, looking quite ashamed as he offered it up to him. “Sorry, it’s um…it’s covered in gunpowder…”
Charlie is…honestly quite horrified at the fact that it is /actually/ covered in gunpowder and most likely was used for unfavourable purposes, but he’ll take what he can get. “It’s better than nothing.” Charlie tries to offer and despite the circumstances, he’s almost grateful to see Nick actually smile. He really missed that smile. Their fingers touch as he takes it and it takes all his strength not to launch back into his arms again, so he instead puts that energy into collecting his belongings, checking to make sure that nothing has actually been stolen by the two idiots he used to know now turned into bigger arseholes than ever who almost beat and robbed him.
Nick just watches and it seems he can pick up from Charlie’s body language when he’s satisfied as he is directly beside him straight after. “Come on, I’m walking you home.” His tone leaves no argument, an edge to it that Charlie is unfamiliar with and he can’t push or protest again and honestly, he’s quite okay with it for now as he really doesn’t want Nick to leave as he has a million questions and things to say, but can’t find the courage to say them, so they just walk, shoulder to shoulder in silence down the couple of streets to takes before Charlie is back in front of his house.
They’re almost to his door when Nick turns, obviously to leave knowing Charlie’s safely back near home now, but Charlie stops him. “Nick, wait. Please.” He knows it’s bad when Nick can’t even look at him, Charlie’s thin arm clasped tightly around his hoodie sleeve. “Charlie, I…I can’t. Just let me go. Forget about me.”
“No.” Now Charlie’s voice takes on a hard tone, the thoughts, questions and opinions coming to the surface like a bad wound needing to be cut open.
“Nick, you disappeared on me, went totally off grid. You said you would call me from university, come visit and then nothing. You left our relationship hanging completely by a thread. You didn’t answer my messages, my texts, my phone calls, nothing.”
He sounds like he’s begging now and really, if he hadn’t learned to cope, he had no doubt he would be by now. “I cried and went through therapy for months, Nick, to get over you. I did my A-Levels without you, got into university without you and now you’ve come back for some reason and you’re leaving again. Why? I deserve to know why Nick and you know that.”
He can see that Nick knows he’s right and he hates to make Nick feel guilty, but he hasn't seen him since Christmas 2 years ago where Nick was about to go to university and Tori was also moving in with Michael and life was actually decent, not the cesspool it had become. It doesn't matter now. What matters is that he hopes Nick listens to him and it seems he gets his wish as Nick turns around, new look and all and takes in a shuddering breath. “When does your shift finish tomorrow?”
“Same time as always, 9:00 PM. I’m usually at university during the day, unless Mum somehow finds an excuse to order me around.” Charlie murmures and he can see Nick bristle (as he was all too well aware of Charlie’s mother and her…”parenting”) despite having no right to anymore and he nods. “I’ll be at ASDA then at 8:30. I’ll wait for you.”
“Are you actually going to talk? Because if you aren’t, don’t bother.” Charlie doesn’t mean to challenge him and both him and Nick seem surprised that he does, but he knows he has to given the past is biting away at his brain and Nick, after a while of thought, hesitantly nods, like the very act is nerve racking for him.
What has he got to hide now? What has he been doing? Why did he leave him? He hopes he’ll actually answer at least something, but till then, he knows Nick nodding is about as good as a seal of honestly he’ll get until tomorrow, so he holds onto it foolishly despite it being almost exactly like 10 minutes or so ago where he held onto and nods back as well as lets go of Nick so he can leave. “Bye Nick.”
“Bye.” No Char or even a Charlie or a love, just a bye and then he’s gone again, disappearing into the dark and haunting Charlie once again as the streetlights flicker where he used to be standing. Shrugging his bag off his back to look for his keys, Charlie’s eyes draw himself over to the street still as he unlocks the door and lets himself in, but no new glance of his old flame turns up, leaving him almost relieved and somehow disappointed.
Hopefully, all will be answered tomorrow.