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Tao is not quite enjoying himself as much as he thought he would. Since Nick Nelson showed up, at Charlie’s invitation, to Charlie’s birthday, because apparently, they’re friends now, Tao has felt off kilter. Yes, they had fun bowling, even though Tao sucked at it as usual. So, he has noodly arms! At least, Elle won the second game, rather than Nick with his ‘rugby arms’.
There is definitely something going on between Charlie and Nick Nelson. He doesn’t know what Nick’s idea is, but Tao is determined to protect Charlie from overbearing, meddling, pratty rugby lads. Even ones that seem sort of alright at first glance.
He and Elle have exhausted themselves on the dance machine. Elle has gone to the bathroom and Tao has promised to exchange a tenner for loose coins. He’s got his eye on the Space Invaders game. Even though they’ve been here before, he still gets a little lost searching for the coin machine. He’s about to turn the corner towards the Maxx Grab, when a familiar voice makes him halt.
“Okay, I’m almost out of money now.” That’s Nick Nelson.
“Don’t look at me! I’m not giving you more just so you can lose again.” Well done, Charlie. Don’t give him an inch.
“Fine! I see how it is.”
Tao peers carefully around the corner. He sort of looks at the back of Charlie’s head, but that at least gives him a good view of Nick Nelson’s face. He’s smiling and, despite his words, he doesn’t seem angry. His smile fades though, and Tao tenses in case he has to intervene.
“So, I uhm… I kinda overheard, you and Tao, in the bathroom earlier.”
Like with this. Eavesdropping on private conversations? That’s not a nice thing to do. So, maybe now Charlie will see Nick Nelson is not as nice as Charlie seems to think so.
“I wanted to say sorry. About the date with Imogen thing.”
He should be sorry. Right? Although, why should Nick Nelson be sorry about going on a date with a girl? He and Charlie aren’t going out.
“You actually went on a date with her?”
God! And Charlie sounds so sad now. He knew Charlie had developed a crush on Nick Nelson. And Charlie’s gone through so much already. It’s unfair he keeps getting the short end of the stick.
“No, no! She just asked me out and I was so surprised. And all our mates were watching and expecting me to say yes. And I was such an idiot, I just blurted out yes, because I didn’t know how to say no without embarrassing her and confusing all our mates. And then her dog died. And I felt really bad for her and… I’m so sorry.”
Well, that was a word vomit. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Tao knows that peer pressure is actually a thing and that the death of a beloved family pet is a very sad thing. But all he can think of is that Nick Nelson is not only messing with Charlie, he’s also stringing along this girl, who he doesn’t really want to go on a date with. And how that’s not fair to either of them. Nick Nelson has the least bad reputation of all the rugby lads, but maybe he should have the most laddish reputation of all the rugby lads.
“Isn’t that what you always tell me not to say?”
Charlie does say sorry a lot. Tao and Elle and Isaac try to make it clear to Charlie that he doesn’t have to, that he shouldn’t apologise for things that are not his to apologise for, but they all know the message doesn’t really land. At least Nick Nelson noticed the same and is also trying to break Charlie of that habit.
“Yeah, but… I’ve actually done something bad.”
Yeah, mate, you did. And you better make it right! His right leg is cramping a bit from the half-crouched position he’s in, but he doesn’t want to move for fear of drawing attention to his own eavesdropping. And yeah, he knows he’s doing what he privately derided Nick Nelson for, just a few moments ago, but Charlie is his best friend and he’s just trying to protect him.
“Well… it’s not like… we’re… officially dating, or anything.”
Wait, what?
Did he hear that right?
Dating?
Tao squints at the two boys across the aisle. Charlie is turned away from him and he’s soft spoken like always, so maybe he didn’t hear that correctly. And Nick Nelson looks calm, still apologetic, but not offended or anything. He’s just frowning and looking a little constipated, really.
“I’m gonna make it right with Imogen. I’m gonna… tell her I don’t like her like that.”
It’s good that he wants to do that. Or at least, says he wants to do that. But Tao will have to wait and see, if he actually does.
Just then, a group of primary school children troop past him and Tao has to take a step back, so he isn’t forced into the open. By the time he can settle back into his eavesdropping spot, the mood between Charlie and Nick Nelson seems to have lightened. Charlie put his drink down and is about to unwrap a present, looks like. Good thing Elle, Isaac and Tao already passed along their gifts at Charlie’s house, before heading over to the bowling alley. Imagine having to carry around a mound of gifts around the place. That would be awkward.
“I genuinely didn’t have time to go out and buy you something,” Nick Nelson is saying, “so… sorry, it’s a bit handmade.”
Tao can’t see what Charlie just unwrapped. It’s something flat and rectangular and seems to have captured Charlie’s whole attention.
“That was just one of my favorite days. Ever! So…”
There’s a mood change between the two that Tao can sense all the way from where he’s hiding. He watches as Charlie looks up and from the edge of his face Tao can see, he seems to be smiling. Beaming, really.
“I really like you,” Nick Nelson says.
As in… like, like? Their voices have dropped and Tao can’t make out Charlie’s response. He’s slid the gift back into the little bag and is holding the handles with both hands.
“Wasn’t that obvious?” Nick Nelson answers.
They both giggle and Tao can feel his eyebrows almost disappearing underneath his beanie. Nick Nelson is smiling happily and bashfully and Tao can almost believe he’s being genuine. He’s got his hands in his pockets and is sort of shuffling about in one place.
“Do you like me?” he asks.
“Yes! Obviously!”
This time, Tao can clearly hear Charlie answer and it confirms his suspicions that Charlie’s liking Nick Nelson is most definitely a crush. But to hear him so brazenly admit it to the target of said crush is very surprising.
“Why are we like this?” Nick Nelson laughs.
Tao watches Charlie curl in on himself a little nervously as he says something again too low for Tao to catch. It makes Nick Nelson’s smile drop and he looks around nervously. Tao makes sure to duck down, even though he’s already mostly hidden behind Charlie and a Maxx Grab. What does Nick Nelson have to be nervous about anyway?
“Okay.”
He doesn’t look sure of whatever he’s agreeing to though. Charlie seems to think so too, even though Tao still can’t make out the words.
“I want to,” Nick Nelson answers.
Again, Tao thinks Charlie’s asking if the other boy is sure about whatever they’re talking about, because Nick Nelson says,
“Yeah.”
Or at least, Tao thinks so, because now Nick Nelson’s voice has also lowered and he can’t really make it out either. He doesn’t really get time to wonder about whatever is being agreed to, because the next moment Charlie steps forward and Nick Nelson pulls his hands from his trouser pockets and… and…
What?
What? Is? Happening?
Tao is absolutely frozen on the spot. He’s gone from eavesdropper to voyeur, apparently, because Charlie and Nick are now kissing.
And not just a little peck either.
No, it’s a full-on snogging session. Right there. In front of his very eyes.
Nick’s hand slides up along Charlie’s arm and shoulder all the way to the back of his head, where his fingers tangle a little in his hair.
Tao isn’t breathing and by the time the boys separate he thinks at least ten seconds have passed. Nick is looking a little glazed and shell shocked, kind of like how Tao is feeling. Except Nick also looks happy about it, while Tao feels like his whole world has been thrown off kilter.
Charlie and his… boyfriend? Is that what Nick is? Have they named themselves anything yet? Anyway, they look around a little nervously and Charlie breaks that by saying, “Come on. We need to find the basketball machine.”
Tao ducks again, when Charlie turns around to pick up his drink and walk away. Luckily, he doesn’t notice he passes Tao just five feet to his left.
Tao, meanwhile, has a perfect view of Nick looking after Charlie with what he can only describe as a besotted look. Charlie isn’t looking back. There is no reason for Nick to continue a ruse, if there were one. He looks…
Tao hates to admit it, but he looks genuinely smitten. Maybe Nick Nelson isn’t a ginormous heterosexual? Maybe he actually likes Charlie back? It looks like it. They kissed. In the middle of the arcade. Where anyone could have seen them. And, it’s painful to think back on, but to Tao’s untrained eye, it didn’t look like a first kiss. It looked like they’d kissed before?
But when? When would this have started? Tao casts his memory back over the last few months. Certainly not those first few weeks in January. Maybe after half term? But he doesn’t think so. Then it hits him.
Harry’s party. Just last term, Charlie, like all of them, had agreed he wouldn’t want to be found dead at one of Harry’s parties. And then he wanted to go, because Nick has invited him. Tao had been so sure that the party would have ended in tears for Charlie, but that following week, Charlie had been fine. More than fine, even. Like he’d been on cloud nine with bells on.
Is that when…? Tao really hopes Harry hadn’t had a hand in it. The biggest homophobe of year 11 setting up Truham’s resident gay boy with the Rugby King. That’d be a laugh.
He has to duck down again as said Rugby King walks by his hiding spot. Nick’s attention is wholly on Charlie just ahead of him, though. Tao doesn’t think a full marching band could have distracted him.
So, Charlie really does seem to be dating Nick Nelson. Tao certainly had not seen that one coming. He’s going to have to keep an even closer eye on them both now. He’s also not entirely sure this isn’t just some phase for Nick. Maybe he should talk about this with Isaac? Isaac ‘ships it’, or so the cool kids say. Of with Elle? She’s good at this sort of stuff. But it’s also a really private thing and obviously Tao shouldn’t have spied on Charlie like that.
He'll keep quiet. For now. And wait, until he can talk to Charlie. Once he’s figured out what to say, anyways. ‘Hey, I saw you snogging the Rugby King. So, are you two going out now?’ Tao doesn’t think that will go over well. He’ll have to be more subtle. He can do subtle. Maybe. Well, about as subtle as snogging your crush in the middle of an arcade hall.
Ugh, he can already feel the headache coming on.