Work Text:
Nick and Charlie had been best friends for about four years. Ever since Charlie was in Year 9, newly outed and being bullied. When Nick had heard about it, he’d only been a Year 10, but he’d stood up to some of the older guys on the rugby team, telling them how uncool he thought it was. When that inevitably didn’t work, he’d informed both their head boy and coach. To be honest, it wasn’t really like him to go that far. In fact, it wasn’t really like him to stand up at all.
If he hadn’t literally come across Charlie cowering outside the locker room one afternoon, he probably wouldn’t have said anything. Not because he didn’t care, but because he was kind of unobservant and, until that moment, hadn’t realised anyone was being bullied in the first place. Once he had though? Nick couldn’t help but play “knight in shining armor” as a couple of his teammates had accused him of doing. An accusation he took with honor because… you know what? Fuck those guys, seriously. They were the worst.
Charlie though, Charlie was the best. And Nick was so happy he’d gotten to know him. It had taken a bit for Charlie to trust Nick, not entirely sure what his intentions were. But Nick was Nick, and it was hard to distrust someone as earnestly sweet and kind and gentle. He was, as Tao enjoyed pointing out, a golden retriever in human form. Which Charlie found slightly offensive but Nick thought was correct and a little funny.
Soon after they’d met, Nick had invited Charlie round to his to meet his beautiful, beloved border collie, Nellie. An opportunity Charlie had jumped at. After that, well, they were hanging out almost every day after school. Charlie sat on the sidelines or in the bleachers at Nick’s rugby practices. Nick waited to walk Charlie home after band practices. They were so attached that it didn’t take long before their little friend groups (Tao, Isaac and Charlie and Otis, Sai, Christian and Nick) became one big group. And on the weekend that group swelled to include The Girls (Elle, Tara, Darcy, Imogen and Sahar).
Charlie especially found this funny due to how shy he was. Hating attention but somehow he’d helped create such a large group of friends. Being Nick Nelson’s best friend also came with a few…well, some would call them perks. First, was a quiet notoriety and popularity, which Charlie abhorred, see aforementioned hating of attention. It wasn’t all bad though. Second, people were generally nicer to him as time went on than they had been right after he was outed. People actually seemed to like him, probably because he was a genuinely nice person. But also because not many people were willing to mess with Nick’s best friend. Seeing as Nick was a guy who’d not only turned in his own teammates for their misbehavior, but who had also, on one occasion, punched one for using a very homophobic slur. The general consensus was still that Harry Greene had had it coming to him anyway.
All of this to say that by the time Nick is in Year 13 and Charlie in Year 12 they’re about as close as two people can be. Although, they never call themselves brothers the way Charlie and Tao jokingly do at times. No, their relationship is slightly different than that. They’re more like…two pieces which aren’t whole only together but are definitely better together. They’re also more physical, always hugging and sometimes even holding hands. It’s a thing that comes naturally to them, and everyone else just kind of lets them be themselves.
“I still cannot believe you convinced me to join this team,” Charlie grouses as he walks past Nick collecting the cones after rugby practice. The ribbing of his navy blue jumper was caked with mud and his knees grassy green. Nick thinks it’s adorable the way Charlie will grumble after a particularly grueling practice.
During Nick’s Year 11, they’d needed a reserve player. And, honestly, it hadn’t taken that much convincing to get Charlie to join, just a few well-placed compliments on his speed and how cool it would be to play on a team together. A brief flash of Nick’s puppy dog eyes to seal the deal, and Charlie was a goner.
“You love it!” Nick laughs, turning and watching Charlie walk toward the goal where the rugby balls are piled.
“Fuck you,” Charlie calls back cheerfully. Nick chuckles, shaking his head.
“Nick!” Sai calls from across the field. He, Otis and Christian are also collecting cones, Nick looks up smiling at his mates. “Party in the woods by mine tonight. Don’t be a loser.”
Nick flips him off in answer but thinks he’ll think about it. Parties aren’t exactly his thing…okay, they aren’t Charlie’s thing, but Nick isn’t a big fan either.
Nick continues picking up cones from his share of the pitch, then waves the guys on when they head back his way. Instead, he gathers their piles of cones and heads for the storage shed.
“Party at Sai’s tonight,” Nick announces as he puts the cones on a shelf by Charlie's hip. Charlie looks up from where he’s leaning against the shwlving unit scrolling on his phone. Effortlessly cool and seemingly confident. Nick feels so lucky to have him as his best friend. Despite the turmoil of the last couple years – Charlie being hospitalised for his mental health, a self-harm relapse a few months later, the always harsh Jane Spring – Charlie has never lost who he is. A fact Nick has always been companionably jealous of. It’s taken Nick so long to figure out who he is, and yet he’s still not entirely sure.
“Or… okay, hear me out. We could do literally anything else,” Charlie says sarcastically. Nick rolls his eyes and shrugs.
“Might be a laugh,” Nick says, tilting his head to the side. “Come on, Char, we haven’t been to a party in months! People think I’m hiding you.”
“No. People know I’m hiding you,” Charlie rolls his own eyes. Nick chuckles at that and ducks his head knowing it’s true. Nick used to go to more parties; he used to do more without Charlie. But the older they get, the closer they are to being separated, possibly forever depending on life, the more Nick wants to spend his time with someone that matters. His other friends are great, but Charlie is Charlie.
“Come on, Charlie,” Nick says, grabbing Charlie’s hand. Charlie lets Nick pull him away from the shelf easily and bites back a grin. “It'll be fun I promise.”
“How can you possibly promise that?” Charlie asks skeptically, as Nick swings their joined hands slightly, pulling Charlie ever closer, circling him as he moves around the small room.
“I’ll make sure our friends are there. And I’ll be there. Come on, Char, come with me tonight,” Nick pouts knowing Charlie can’t resist it.
“Nick,” Charlie giggles as he’s pulled almost against Nick’s chest. He looks up at Nick with a gentle smile on his face and, without really thinking about it, presses his lips against Nick’s.
Time stops.
Sound stops.
Everything in the universe stops.
Then, all at once, everything comes back. A cacophony of birds above. Students chatting in the distance. The slight smell of wood from the shed. The grass from the pitch. Charlie’s soft gasp as he pulls away, and Nick’s closed freckled eyelids.
“Oh my god,” Charlie breaths in the next second because, while it feels like an eternity, no time has passed at all. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—“
But the expression on Nick’s face isn’t at all what Charlie is expecting from his very very straight best friend. Nick’s eyes widen, almost comically, but they aren’t on Charlie’s. No, they’re lowered like…like he’s looking at Charlie’s lips. And then this strange pleased little smile curls up the corner of Nick’s mouth.
Then suddenly, Nick’s big hands are gently cupping Charlie’s jaw. And Nick’s plush lips are pressing back against Charlie’s. And he’s backing Charlie against the shelves. And Charlie’s gripping Nick’s short sleeves, then the back of his light blue shirt, wrinkling it with how tightly he’s gripping the fabric. But, honestly, there’s really no need because Nick isn’t going anywhere.
He’s pulling Charlie closer, pressing himself against him, and making this soft little moaning whine in the back of his throat that is just— incredible. And from kissing Charlie, which he’s still doing!
Finally, breathing suddenly becomes a very annoying necessity, making it impossible to continue kissing. The boys pull away from each other’s faces but not from their embrace. Their eyes are glued to each other’s, neither daring to blink.
“Um…” Charlie says after a full 30 seconds of them staring at each other, chests heaving like they’ve just sprinted down the pitch.
“Oh… oh my god,” Nick says, pulling away. Blinking rapidly. “I’m so sorry— sorry! You weren’t— you— fuck! I’m sorry, you said you didn’t mean to do that, oh my god.”
“Nick!” Charlie grabs for Nick’s flailing hands in an effort to calm him but can’t quite catch them. Or Nick, for that matter, who looks ready to bolt out of the shed. Charlie’s not letting that happen, so he quickly moves to stand in the way of the door. “Nick!”
Finally, Nick stops and glances at Charlie. His big brown eyes are wet with unshed tears, and he’s blinking rapidly to keep them at bay.
“Nick, it’s alright,” Charlie says soothingly, softly. Nick stops moving, but he looks so frightened that it breaks Charlie’s heart. “Oh, Nick.”
Charlie takes one step closer, then another, and suddenly Nick is collapsing against Charlie. Wrapping him up in his strong rugby arms and burying his warm now tear-stained face into Charlie’s shoulder.
“Nick, it’s alright! That was all my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sure you just felt pressured to kiss me back because I did it first and—“
“No!” Nick interrupts, sharply pulling away to look at Charlie, both wide-eyed. “No, not— not at all. I wanted to kiss you. I— I’ve been wanting to kiss you.”
“You’ve been— you what?” Charlie gasps blinking quickly to try to keep from passing the fuck out. “Nicholas Luke Nelson, explain yourself.”
“I— I don’t know, Char. I’ve just been wanting to kiss you. Sometimes, I feel it a little but, the rest of the time, so so much,” Nick mumbles before biting his bottom lip, hard, and pulling it into his mouth. A sure sign of him being overwhelmed and shutting down. Which wasn’t what Charlie meant to do at all. Ugh, he’s messing this up.
“Okay, okay,” Charlie says, pulling Nick back into his shoulder and shushing him gently as Nick begins to sob softly against him. “Why didn’t you tell me how you were feeling? You can tell me anything, Nick, you know that.”
“I do. I just— I’ve been so confused. I’ve just been so so confused. I’ve never felt like this about a boy before… except David Tennet, and Kieren the instructor at camp… and Orlando Bloom and, see, I’m even contradicting myself! I— I— I was having like a proper, full-on gay crisis, but you were dealing with more important things and—“
“Woah! Woah! How— how long have you felt like this?” Charlie asks, voice growing soft and devastated as he realises how long Nick might have been suppressing this for Charlie's comfort. All alone. Charlie remembers how alone he’d felt when he’d first started realising he was gay and then when he’d been outed— he’d had Tori and then Nick. But Nick had no one.
“Um… a while,” Nick chokes out. He hadn’t meant to burden Charlie with his stupid feelings. He’d meant to take them to his grave honestly. It wasn’t fair to Charlie to have to deal with yet another thing in his life. More change, more upheaval. That wasn’t what Nick wanted for Charlie at all. He always wanted to be a safe place for his friend, no matter what other feelings he might have.
“A while, eh?”
“Maybe a year…or— or a few,” Nick admits, pulling away to look. To face whatever anger Charlie has for him. Instead, all he finds is his best friend with a sweet and hesitant almost hopeful smile. Nick swallows thickly. “Do you remember when I first came to your house and you showed me how to play the drums?”
“Nick Nelson, you silly boy,” Charlie laughs, pulling Nick into another tight hug. Nick goes easily, amazed that he’d not being chewed out right now. “Do you know how long I’ve been crushing on you? Thinking you were straight? Thinking you’d never like me back? And you were holding back because I was a little—“ Charlie twirls his wrist thinking of the right word.
“Busy? Preoccupied? Healing? It just was never the right time, Char.”
“Oh Nick, you are always the right time.”
“I— what?“ Nick says, eyebrows knit together in confusion.
“I know you know what I’m trying to say. You’re worth whatever, you’re everything. You’re my dream, Nick. You liking me could only ever be a good thing,” Charlie tried to explain.
“Oh, um…yeah, I guess. I mean I feel the same way, but I— well at first I wanted you to focus on getting better, and then I was kind of a coward I guess.”
“No, no, it’s hard, I mean I didn’t say anything either.”
“But you thought I was straight. I thought I was straight.”
“True,” Charlie chuckles, pulling back just enough to see Nick’s face. “Why are we like this?”
“No idea,” Nick chuckles back, shaking his head. “I— I’d like to date you properly, Charlie Spring, no skulking around and hiding like Ben did. I want to show you off right.”
“Nick,” Charlie says, burying his face in his hands. Still, he can’t suppress the giggle he lets out. His disastrous whatever with Ben had been the one sore subject in their friendship. And now… “Oh my god, you were jealous!”
“What?” Nick asks, genuinely confused.
“You were jealous of Ben. Holy shit! No one’s ever been jealous over me.”
“I wasn’t!” Nick scoffs but the red blush up his neck is hard to ignore.
“You so were! You were jealous of Ben being with me! This is the greatest day of my life!” Charlie crows, laughing hard and dancing in place just a bit. “Rugby King Nick Nelson, jealous over little old me. God, the way you used to pout when I’d talk about Ben.”
“You are an absolute menace, Charlie,” Nick says, rolling his eyes. “And that was only half jealousy. It was also because Ben’s a twat who didn’t deserve to talk to you, let alone kiss you.”
“Still jealous, I see,” Charlie says then pitches his voice lower. “You can kiss me all you want now, Nick.”
“And I will, as soon as I know you don’t think I’m some caveman,” Nick says and Charlie laughs nodding.
“Although a little bit of caveman isn’t such a bad thing,” Charlie jokes, erupting in giggles as Nick pulls him into another heated kiss.
They continue like that for ages, lazily moving their mouths against each other and chastly running their hands along each other’s backs and flanks. Until they finally pull apart, both sighing softly and looking at each other adoringly.
“So, about that party,” Nick says, pulling Charlie in by the waist. Charlie bites his lip and quirks his head to the right.
“What about it? I can think of better things we can do.”
“Little minx,” Nick laughs, shaking his head. “You don’t want to be out with your boyfriend?”
“Do you want to be out?” Charlie asks a bit taken aback before zeroing in on the other thing Nick said. “Boyfriends!”
“I mean, yeah…that’s what I want. If I’m with you, I do want to be out. I know it’ll be scary, but I can do it with you by my side. Is that what you—“ The rest of Nick’s words are cut off by Charlie throwing himself, lips-first, at Nick once again. Pressing a hard sloppy kiss onto his lips… and then again and again.
“Yes, that's what I want! Of course it is, idiot!” Charlie laughs burying his face into Nick’s neck. Nick laughs and nods, squeezing Charlie tightly.
That morning, they were just best friends for four years and counting. That night, they came out as boyfriends of about four hours. They would only grow happier.