Chapter Text
“Tru-ham! Tru-ham! Tru-ham!”
“Nel-son! Nel-son! Nel-son!”
Charlie clenched his teeth against his mouthguard, exhaling heavily through his nose as he tried to catch his breath. The shouts of the rugby lads and students on the sidelines were barely audible over the roar of blood in his ears. He’d just scored a try after receiving a pass from Nick and sprinting the ball up the pitch, putting Truham in the lead.
The adrenaline that he’d felt while sprinting was still thrumming through his system as he felt a sweaty body barrel into him from behind, large arms tightly snaking around his middle and excitedly spinning him around. “That was amazing, Char!”
“Nick!” He yelped in shock, a bolt of pride shooting down his spine at Nick’s praise. “Oh my god, put me down!” Charlie couldn’t stop the way his cheeks burned red, from his blush rather than exertion.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, Charlie eagerly twisted around in Nick’s tight grip, smiling up at his boyfriend. There were a few quick seconds where it was just the two of them, everything else faded into background until the rest of the team ran over to celebrate.
“Fucking hell, Charlie!”
“You’re a legend, Charlie!”
“Maybe you should be subbed in more often!”
And just as quickly as the moment came, it was gone, and Charlie reluctantly stepped out of the circle of Nick’s arms to accept the hi-fives and celebratory shoulder claps.
“Brilliant teamwork, Nick and Charlie! Come on, lads! Keep the energy going, we’re almost there!” Coach Singh called out from the sidelines, urging them to keep pushing through the final ten minutes of the match.
Nick’s hand grazed down Charlie’s arm as he started to jog back towards the centre of the pitch, a beaming smile on his face as he looked back over his shoulder towards Charlie. It was instinctual to return Nick’s smile with another of his own. Despite the bone-deep ache he knew he would feel tomorrow, Charlie had to admit that he was actually enjoying himself for once.
He uselessly wiped the mud off his hands onto his equally as muddy shorts and tried to keep his cleats from getting sucked into the torn up pitch as they all got into position for the restart. He’d experienced minimal contact so far this match, with the other players not viewing him as much of a threat compared to the rest of his team. But from the calculated looks he was now getting, Charlie could tell his luck might be running out. Christian on the other hand, had not had as easy of a game, after opening the scoring, he had taken an elbow to the head and was taken out for precaution; which meant that Charlie was subbed in.
He hadn’t exactly been paying much attention to the game today, except for the occasional glance toward Nick to cheer him on. Charlie had happily been playing long-distance rock-paper-scissors with Tao and Isaac from their place on the sidelines. He’d just won against Tao when everyone stood up and started yelling. He'd quickly turned to see Christian on the ground, clutching his head. Nick and Sai had been crouched down in front of him, and the rest of the team had crowded around the opposing player that threw the elbow. Coach Singh didn’t even have to tell him - Charlie already knew that he would be playing in the second half.
“Charlie?”
At the sound of Nick’s voice, Charlie glanced back up from his muddy cleats and locked eyes with Nick, who was giving him as good of a thumbs up as he could with his first two fingers taped up. “Ready?”
“Ready!” He called back, returning the gesture with another smile. Nick’s “captain's face” broke for a moment and the corners of his eyes softened as he smiled back, his sweaty hair flopping into his eyes. Charlie couldn’t contain the giddy smile on his face as the whistle blew, breaking his eye contact with Nick, both of them returning their focus back to what little time remained in the match.
Sai immediately tossed the ball to Harry, who charged up the field, dodging one of the opposing players before passing the ball to Otis, with Nick right on their heels. Charlie jogged to keep up as Nick got the ball from Otis. His adrenaline ramped back up as Nick sprinted ahead, Charlie speeding up to keep the same pace, easily passing by Harry and Otis, before slipping through the other team as they chased after Nick.
The only thing stopping Nick from scoring another try was a lone defender and Charlie knew that Nick would be able to dodge him easily. But adrenaline and excitement quickly turned to panic and dread when Nick failed to dodge - there must’ve been a rut in the pitch, causing him to lose his footing - and collided directly into the defender, sending him hard onto the ground. Hardly a second went by before body after body piled on top of Nick before the whistle could be blown.
Time seemed to slow down as Charlie skidded to a stop, frozen. The sickening thud of Nick slamming into the ground playing on a loop in his head until he heard Nick cry out. A knot of fear twisted in his stomach as he caught sight of Nick’s red mop of hair at the bottom of the pile, his boyfriend trying to wiggle his way out from under the mass of bodies.
It was silent enough that Charlie could’ve heard a pin drop into the grass. When the rest of the team and the crowd realized that their captain was at the bottom of the scrum, there was a growing roar of protest before the pushing and shoving started. Harry and Otis, still hot-headed from Christian’s injury, started yanking and shoving at anyone they could get their hands on while Sai tried to pry people off of Nick.
“Nick!” Charlie’s heart thundered in his ears, every other sound disappearing into the deafening pit of his panic. He was ice-cold as he sprinted over, helpless as Nick managed to free himself up to his shoulders, his face screwed up in pain, bearing the bright blue of his mouthguard as he tried to keep his left arm close to his chest. The closer that Charlie got, the more he could hear the pained gasps that Nick was letting out through his clenched teeth.
He slid to the ground in front of Nick as the last two bodies were yanked off of his boyfriend. Nick forced himself onto his back and cried out as he arched off the ground, struggling to sit himself up. Charlie’s hands hovered uselessly in front of him for a brief moment as all he could feel was panic at the sight of Nick in pain. “Nick, stop moving!” He urged, carefully placing his hands lower on Nick’s back to help push him into a sitting position. He sucked in a sharp breath when he realized that Nick’s left shoulder was slumped noticeably lower than his right.
Charlie tried to keep a gentle hand on Nick’s side, not wanting to cause his boyfriend anymore pain. Nick’s cheeks were void of their usual flush, his skin impossibly pale. His eyes were screwed shut as he took in rapid, shallow breaths, even slight movements were enough to make Nick flinch in pain. “Char,” he gasped out, trying to curl in on himself to protect the arm that he was still holding close. “Hurts.”
“Stay still,” he repeated, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as he frantically looked over his shoulder towards where Coach Singh and the on-site paramedic were hurrying over. Charlie spared a glance towards the silent group of Truham students on the sidelines and shuddered at the prickling sensation of being watched by so many people before returning his attention to Nick.
“Help’s coming,” he reassured, gently pushing Nick’s hair out of his face. Nick’s breathing wasn’t getting any better, coming out in a rushed, staccato rhythm. Charlie was out of his depth, seeing Nick in so much pain. He resisted the urge to gnaw on his lip and instead tried to keep himself calm for Nick’s sake. So he stayed close to Nick’s uninjured side and kept a supportive hand on his boyfriend’s back.
As soon as Coach Singh made it to them, she shooed the crowd of rugby players away, trying to create some space for the paramedic. “Alright lads, nothing to see here, give Nick some space, thank you!”
She crouched down next to them and gave Nick a quick once over. “Keep still, Nick. The paramedic is almost here.” She looked over at Charlie and gave him an appreciative nod, “you’re doing everything right, Charlie. Just keep him calm for us, alright?”
The paramedic knelt down on Nick’s injured side. “Hello, Nick, was it? I’m Madison. I’m just going to take a look at that shoulder, if that’s alright?” Her voice was calm and no-nonsense as she carefully took in the way Nick hissed in pain as she assessed his injury. “You’ve definitely dislocated your shoulder, and may have broke your collarbone as well. We’ll need to get you to hospital for an x-ray to know for sure.”
“Ok," Nick grimaced, his right hand searching blindly for Charlie’s. Immediately, Charlie tangled their fingers and gave a reassuring squeeze.
“Let’s get you up and into the ambulance. We’ll get a sling on that arm as well to help stabilize it.” The paramedic pushed herself up, before looking at Charlie expectantly. “Would your friend be able to help us get you on your feet?”
“He’s my boyfriend,” Nick corrected, curling himself towards Charlie.
“He must be a good one then, for staying by your side,” Madison continued, unphased by Nick’s correction. She gestured for Charlie to stand, “he’s going to help us stand you up, ok? Try not to move that arm too much.”
Once Charlie got his footing, he helped Coach Singh and Madison get Nick onto his feet, trying to jostle him as little as possible. Nick’s face was twisted up in pain the entire time and all Charlie could do was offer his hand to hold in reassurance. “I’ll ring your mum and let her know what’s happened,” he rambled, trying to keep Nick’s attention off of his shoulder as they approached the ambulance.
“I love you,” he whispered, his anxiety ramping back up. “Everything will be ok.”
Charlie wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure Nick or himself, but he pressed a quick kiss to Nick’s cheek before stepping back to let the paramedic place Nick on the stretcher and start asking questions
“Love you, too,” Nick mouthed back before he gave a small smile and a sad little wave as the ambulance doors shut.
Once the ambulance had driven away, Nick no longer in sight, Charlie slumped over, unable to keep his composure. He’d hardly taken a few steps before Tao and Issac rushed up to him and he braced himself for their questions and winced as they came rapid fire.
“Is Nick ok?”
“Did he break his arm?”
“Charlie, are you ok?”
“Boys, relax,” Coach Singh held her hand out, surprising Charlie; he’d been so focused on Nick, that he’d forgotten she was there. “I know we’re all concerned about Nick, but let’s also give Charlie some space.”
“Sorry, Miss.” Tao grumbled.
“You can both escort Charlie to the changing rooms to collect his and Nick’s things, alright?”
“Yes, Miss.”
As soon as they were excused, Charlie hurried over towards the changing rooms, with only one thing on his mind: Nick. Unfortunately, Tao and Isaac didn’t share the same urgency that he did.
“Charlie, is Nick ok?”
“Tell us what happened!”
“I don’t know!” He stressed, swallowing the growing lump of emotion in his throat. He shoved the changing room door open, hoping that the stink of a rugby team would keep at least Tao away. He had no such luck. “All I know is that he was fine, then he tripped and now he might have broken his shoulder, or something, and I have to phone his mum to let her know.”
“I’m sure the school will call her, Charlie.” Isaac reminded, seemingly the only one with a semi-level head. “But you still can if it’ll make you feel better.”
Charlie ignored him and headed directly to Nick’s bag, unzipping the front pocket and grabbing Nick’s phone. The screen lit up, Charlie’s own smiling face stared back at him from Nick’s lockscreen. He couldn’t help the way that his hands started to tremble as the severity of the situation finally started to hit him. Nick was hurt. Charlie cleared his throat to hide that he was forcing back tears and held up Nick’s phone. “I-I don’t know why I feel like crying my eyes out. Nick’s not dying or anything !”
“Charlie,” Isaac said carefully, “It’s alright that you’re upset, but Nick will be ok, you know that right? I’m sure he’s been injured in rugby before.”
Logically, Isaac was right, rugby was an incredibly physical sport and Nick had been playing it for far longer than he’d even known Charlie. But the thought of Nick at any age, suffering like he just had, made Charlie want to throw up. He had to clear another lump from his throat as he gripped Nick’s phone tighter. It unlocked with his FaceID and he quickly thumbed through Nick’s contacts. Sarah picked up after the second ring. “Hello, Nicky, how was the match? Are you and Charlie still going out afterwards?”
“Hi Sarah,” Charlie croaked. “Um, it’s Charlie. Nick’s been injured. He’s on his way to hospital.”
–
“Hello, Charlie, dear.” Sarah’s cheery voice chirped as she opened the door for him to step inside. “I’m very thankful you’re here, I do love that boy of mine to the moon and back, but if he asks for you one more time, I’ll be popping the cork on that bottle of wine I’ve been saving instead of having my afternoon tea, and we can’t have that, now can we.”
Nick had to stay the night in hospital, waiting for his x-ray results to confirm that his collarbone was actually broken. He’d sustained a simple fracture to his clavicle and thankfully, it hadn’t required surgery. But Nick was on strict bed rest for the next few weeks. Charlie had spent all day at school fighting off seemingly the entire school’s questions about Nick and if he would be able to play the rest of the season. He should’ve expected it really, word of rugby captain Nick Nelson leaving the match in an ambulance had quickly spread throughout both Truham and Higgs; and who better to try and get information out of than Nick’s best friend and boyfriend, Charlie Spring?
Despite the constant nagging he’d experienced at school, their groupchat had remained suspiciously quiet. The girls had texted him individually, hoping that Nick had an easy recovery and that Charlie was doing ok. Clearly either Tao or Isaac had filled them in on what had happened and had asked them not to hound Charlie with questions he didn’t have concrete answers to.
Needless to say, fending off everyone had left Charlie exhausted, feeling just as tired as Sarah looked, but her lighthearted mood helped to settle some of the discomfort that he’d felt from the very start of the day. He’d nearly missed the bus home because he’d gone around to all of Nick’s teachers to ask for the coursework Nick would be missing. The knot in his chest finally started to unwind when he sat down on the bus next to Tori, out of breath from sprinting with the additional weight of Nick’s textbooks. One withering glare from the elder Spring sibling had been enough to scare off the few persistent people that kept nagging him about Nick. Thus, the bus ride home had been blissfully quiet as Tori made sure that no one bothered him any further. Charlie had hurried off the bus and given himself enough time to change out of his uniform into something more comfortable before basically sprinting the entire way to Nick’s.
“Have you slept since you’ve been home, Sarah?” he asked, knowing that the last twenty-four hours had been exhausting for her.
Sarah dismissed his worry with a wave of her hand. “Oh, don’t worry about me, darling, I’ve spent many nights up with David and Nicky when they were ill. All I need is a quick nap and I’ll be good as new.”
“Please try and get some rest,” he urged, gripping his backpack straps as he toed off his converse.
“Oh Charlie,” Sarah cooed, “you’re always so sweet. I will, don’t worry. Now, he’s been a bit of a handful today, so don’t hesitate to find me if either one of you needs anything. I’ve got his pain medication in the kitchen if he needs any, but he should be ok until this evening.”
“Thank you, Sarah.” He said as the two of them headed their separate directions; Sarah to the living room where Charlie could hear Nellie and Henry whining softly, and himself up the stairs towards Nick’s bedroom.
The familiar grooves in the bannister grounded him as he slowly ascended the stairs, each step a mix of exhaustion and anticipation. He’d had sporadic updates from Sarah throughout the night, and even a brief FaceTime with Nick so they could say goodnight. Nick had looked so small and fragile in his hospital gown and arm sling that Charlie had nearly burst into tears, the ache in his chest from being unable to comfort Nick in person gnawed at him all night long.
Nick’s door was slightly ajar, and Charlie had to take a deep breath to steady himself before he eased it open. As soon as he saw Nick, Charlie felt like his heart was going to explode from all the love that he felt for his boyfriend. Nick was propped up in bed, asleep. His arm was tucked up against his chest in his sling and Charlie winced at the dark bruises that mottled Nick’s pale chest. He’d never felt so deeply for another person before and Charlie knew that whatever Nick asked him for in this moment he would go to the ends of the earth to do it.
He let out a shaky breath and let the door close behind him, certain that the ‘open door’ policy could be forgotten given the circumstance. At the sound of the door clicking shut, Nick’s eyes fluttered open. “Mum?” He mumbled, his face screwing up in pain as he tried to shift his weight.
“Hey,” Charlie took three long strides to Nick’s bedside, “it’s just me,” he soothed, brushing Nick’s fringe out of his face.
“Char,” Nick breathed, reverent as his honey eyes focused on Charlie. “You’re here.”
“Obviously,” he gently teased, rounding the bed so he was on Nick’s uninjured side. “I ran here as soon as I got home.”
“That was silly,” Nick mumbled, reaching out to grasp at Charlie with his right hand. “Missed you though, feel much better now that you’re here.”
“Yeah?” Charlie dropped his bag on the floor and climbed into the bed. He situated himself against the headboard and held his arms out for Nick. Nick sighed in relief and carefully shimmied himself so he was leaning against Charlie’s side. Both of them were mindful of Nick’s sling as Charlie pressed a kiss to Nick’s temple. “I also feel much better now that I’m here with you. School was… a bit much today. But I brought all of your coursework!”
Nick huffed out a quiet laugh, “of course you did. Thank you, darling. I was so concerned about falling behind in geography.”
“We can’t have that now, can we?” Charlie teased, warmth blooming in his chest as Nick's smile grew until his eyes crinkled.
“If only there was someone who would be able to help me revise and keep up to date with my coursework.” Nick sighed dramatically, letting his head loll back.
“If only,” Charlie echoed, unable to help himself as he tilted his head to press another quick kiss to Nick’s cheek. “I suppose I could try and find time in my busy schedule to help you revise… with the right motivation, of course.”
Nick tilted his head up and quirked a brow, “ Shouldn’t you be motivating me? Not the other way around?”
Charlie sighed dramatically, “I just checked my calendar, and the next opening isn’t for a fortnight.”
“Char.”
“Such a shame, I was really looking forward to helping you.”
“Charlie.”
He had to bite his lip to keep from giggling at the petulance that was starting to seep into Nick’s voice. “Nicholas? Of course I’m going to help you, silly boy.”
“That’s what I thought,” Nick grumbled, his nose scrunching up slightly as he let his head fall back onto Charlie’s shoulder.
They fell into a comfortable silence and Charlie allowed himself a moment to enjoy just holding Nick in his arms. He could tell from how heavily Nick was leaning on him that his boyfriend was tired. All he wanted to do was bundle Nick up against his chest and hold him tight enough that his bones ached from the force of it. But he couldn’t, it gnawed at him like the worry and fear that he’d felt since he’d watched Nick slam into the rugby pitch. “Nick, are you doing alright?”
Nick was silent for a moment before he sighed, “I’m really sore, even with my medication. It hurts so much, Char. Like, if I move too quickly or even if I take too deep of a breath, it’s such a sharp pain. And even when I’m not moving, it feels weird. It feels all stiff and sore and I can’t move it to try and get more comfortable. It just sucks.”
Charlie made a sad sound in the back of his throat. Nick rarely complained about anything other than David to that extent. He carefully buried his face in Nick’s hair, breathing in the familiar scent of his shampoo. Charlie was surprised that he didn’t smell the sterile antiseptic of hospital on Nick’s skin and surmised that Sarah must’ve helped him clean up a bit before getting into bed. He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before he let out a breath. “Nick, I’m so glad you’re ok. I was so scared.”
“I’m sorry,” Nick sighed, tilting his head to nuzzle against Charlie’s neck. “I didn’t mean to, I just lost my footing and then… yeah. I hate that you had to see that. I never want to worry you like that, ever again.”
“No sorries,” Charlie chided, “especially about a rugby injury that wasn’t your fault. Besides, you’ve been there for me, so I’ll always be there for you, no matter how scary.” He let his cheek rest on the top of Nick’s head. “But I’m asking you very nicely to never fucking do that to me ever again, Nick Nelson.”
Nick snorted in response before he tried and failed to suppress a yawn. “I’ll remember that the next time I end up at the bottom of a rugby pile, Char.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, is my concern for your health tiring you, Nick?” Charlie had to stop himself from poking and tickling at Nick’s side like he normally would when he teased his boyfriend, not wanting to cause him any more pain. Instead he raised his brows expectantly.
Nick rolled his eyes, a light blush causing the freckles on his cheeks to disappear. Instead of bantering back like he normally would, Nick reached out with his free hand and grasped at Charlie’s hand, fidgeting delicately with his fingers. “Actually, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if we had our after-school nap a little earlier? I hardly slept all night and now that you’re here…” Nick trailed off and leaned a little heavier against Charlie’s side. All of the banter flooded out of Charlie and immediately he was grasping Nick’s fidgety hand, raising it up to press a kiss to his scuffed knuckles. “Of course, sweetheart. Do you need anything before we settle down? Water? Tea? Your medication?”
Nick shook his head and carefully tried to adjust himself, grunting when he accidentally jostled his arm. Charlie held his breath while Nick breathed through the pain, his hand squeezing Charlie’s tightly. “Just you,” he breathed out eventually. “I just want you, Char.”
“Whatever you want,” Charlie said immediately. “I’m just going to grab my book from my bag, ok? And then we can nap for as long as you want.”
Nick nodded and Charlie helped him carefully sit up before he leaned down to grasp at his bag and pull out the book he was reading. He shifted a few of Nick’s pillows around to make sure that Nick had the support he needed for his arm and once he was sure that everything was perfect, he held out his arms for his boyfriend. “C’mere.”
As quickly and as carefully as he could, Nick settled himself into Charlie’s arms and both of them sighed in relief at being able to hold one another again. “You comfortable?” Charlie asked softly, the familiar weight of Nick in his favourite spot against his side, easing the anxiety that had been looming over him since the day before.
Nick made a small sound of agreement, his eyes already closed as he grasped at Charlie’s cardigan. “Char?”
“Yeah?”
“Read to me?”
“If you’d like,” Charlie said softly. He easily flipped to his bookmark, a tiny polaroid of Nick flipping the camera off, and propped the open book open onto his knees, his other arm wrapped carefully around Nick. Reading with only one hand was a skill that he’d had to develop early on in their relationship as he discovered how cuddly Nick truly was. And since he refused to purchase a Kindle, preferring a physical book, he’d become quite dexterous with how he handled his paperbacks.
He skimmed the page to find the paragraph he had left off at and pressed one last kiss to the top of Nick’s head before he let out a content sigh and started to read.
“...Her desire was ambitious. It was a difficult thing, to make even a half-god immortal. True, it had happened before, to Heracles and Orpheus and Orion…”