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The sun shines down on him as screams of excitement and fear fill the air. Charlie has been standing in this line for a while now, slowly shuffling forward along with the crowd. While he arrived determined, his nerves are beginning to outweigh his bravery. As a means to distract himself, he pulls out his phone and texts his friends.
He chooses a group chat labelled ' The Three Musketeers '.
Charlie
guys, i can't do this
And then he waits, his foot tapping impatiently on the ground. He’s half tempted to start chewing on his fingernails. It is a horrible habit and one he doesn’t want to indulge but his anxiety worsens as his phone remains silent. Maybe his friends have abandoned him to his fate.
Charlie
GUYS
He stares at the screen, dragging up the chat with his thumb hoping a message shows up and following as the line moves again.
Minutes pass and nothing. He groans.
"Hey, are you okay?" A voice asks from only a foot or two behind him, causing Charlie to whirl around and face it. As though the gods themselves decided to add to Charlie’s anxiety, he finds himself suddenly staring into a pair of stunning hazel eyes accompanied by the sweetest lop-sided smile he’s ever seen.
Though something in his brain registers that all he's doing is standing there, gawking at the beautiful stranger, he can't seem to formulate words. His thoughts ping back and forth between the fear of what's ahead of him and an all-encompassing, very unexpected crush on the man standing beside him.
As the seconds pass, the man’s smile fades slightly before he squirms and looks away from Charlie.
"Sorry," the stranger murmurs and Charlie wants to smack himself. Maybe just the thought helps because, suddenly, the words come pouring out. Except, it's too many words.
"N-no, no!" Charlie starts, much too loud, and winces at himself. "I didn't mean, I can't, I'm just… terrified of this ride and it's getting to the final decision point- you know where you get close enough to the ride itself and you have to actually decide if you're going to get on it or turn around and run away? And I texted my friends, but they aren't answering, and I kind of feel like they're not answering on purpose. Just making me wait, knowing that if I wait long enough, eventually I'll be at the entrance to the coaster and I won't want to turn back then because everyone will look at me with pity in their eyes and I'll hate that-" Charlie stops speaking abruptly and throws a hand over his mouth. His cheeks flush with embarrassment and he whirls back around so he faces the front of the line again.
It had moved while he was monologuing at the handsome stranger and the heat in his cheeks intensifies further as he walks quickly to catch up.
When he stops, he doesn't turn around, but there's nowhere to run unless he leaves the line altogether. A small part of him baulks at that course of action; he'd been waiting there now for over an hour. Giving up now feels like defeat and he still has a little more time before the final decision point.
Charlie's eyes go wide when that voice behind him speaks again.
"I didn't mean to scare you. I get it if you’re nervous. I used to refuse to get on these rides without my mum, and she'd have to hold my hand the entire way through. And I'm not saying as a kid, I mean like a few years ago. I was a grown adult," that smooth voice says quietly, only loud enough for Charlie to hear. The stranger chuckles at himself and the sound is warm in Charlie's ears. It makes him shiver just slightly and he does his best to contain it. He didn’t need to add to his own embarrassment.
"My name's Nick,” the stranger continues, a certain earnestness in his voice that made Charlie trust him. “I'd be happy to accompany you on this ride if it would help with your nerves."
A strangled sound comes out of Charlie’s mouth and he coughs to cover it up before turning to face the handsome man again.
He has to look down at the ground for a second, just to break away from Nick's gaze so he can think properly.
"Sorry for whatever that was that I did… before," Charlie frets first with a self-deprecating chuckle.
"You have nothing to be sorry about," Nick assures and Charlie thinks he might melt.
"Sorry,” he says again, internally smacking himself. Nick's expression twists into a fond smile.
"You say sorry a lot," Nick teases and a smile tugs at Charlie’s lips as he responds.
"I kind of want to say it again." There is a flirting tone to his voice, but he can't stop it. He's not sure he'd want to, anyway. It was incredibly unlikely that this attractive man was queer— that would be way more luck than Charlie ever had, but he could enjoy Nick's company and use it to distract himself from his impending doom.
" Don't ," Nick insists with a bright laugh and Charlie finds himself laughing too.
"Hey, the line's moved," someone says behind them in a slightly bored tone and they both startle. Charlie turns to check. It hasn’t moved terribly far, but he feels his face glow again with embarrassment anyway.
This time, Nick walks nearly next to him along the path.
"It didn't even move that far," Nick murmurs to Charlie as they walk and Charlie finds himself giggling.
The rest of the wait up to the final decision point flies by as Charlie speaks with Nick. The two of them share a love of Mario Kart and milkshakes. Charlie makes a gagging face when Nick says that he loves Marvel movies and Nick acts offended. They laugh so hard at one point that Charlie has tears running down his face.
Nick has him so thoroughly distracted that he nearly misses it but Nick stops them and turns to Charlie. His gaze is open and kind and a small seed of hope plants itself in Charlie’s stomach.
"Char, we've reached the decision point," Nick says softly and Charlie's brain short circuits at the nickname.
"What?" he asks, dazed. That was not what he thought was going to come out of Nick's mouth.
"Are you going to get on this ride… with me?" Nick asks gently, his gaze never leaving Charlie's face. His brain finally catches up— the final decision point.
Nick had been listening to Charlie's monologue, apparently. Something about that makes Charlie feel warm. And then his brain registers the other thing Nick asked- if Charlie would go on the ride 'with him'.
Charlie opens his mouth to answer but nothing comes out. He snaps his mouth shut and looks around, forcing himself to look away from Nick for just a second. He is nervous for two reasons, but he only acknowledges one.
The ride is so close he can see people boarding the coaster and others leaving. The returning passengers look windswept and excited, their faces flushed, chattering, as they exit the ride. He can feel his heart beating a little too fast, the blood pumping through his veins. He looks back at Nick, those hazel eyes capturing his attention again.
Can he give up riding a roller coaster with Nick ? Is he that level of nervous? Charlie inhales through his nose and then slowly exhales through his mouth. At last, he nods twice.
"Yes, I am going to get on this ride… with you," he says in the most serious tone he can muster, his voice low. Charlie sees Nick's eyes widen briefly and then that lop-sided grin is back, beaming out of him like the sun.
"If you want… If you're still really nervous, that is," Nick begins, suddenly looking nervous himself. "I can be my mum for you."
Charlie cocks his head to the side in confusion. He sees the moment Nick realises what he's said because his pale cheeks turn a violent shade of red and he clears his throat.
"I just mean to say, I could hold your hand. You know, like she used to do for me," he says, rubbing one hand on his neck.
"You're… offering to hold my hand?" Charlie asks, dumbfounded. A very handsome man wants to hold his hand while they ride this coaster… Maybe he’d died on the coaster already and this was his personal bubble of heaven. Nick's face flushes again and Charlie fights back the desire to touch him so he can feel the heat that is sitting just under his skin.
"I mean, if you want to," Nick murmurs, eyes trained on the path at his feet. He shrugs his shoulders and doesn't stop there.
"It's alright if you don't want to," he rushes to add, shaking his head. "Actually, no, sorry, that was stupid."
"I… I'd like that," Charlie answers quietly, surprising himself. Nick's gaze shoots up and Charlie's heart rate picks up. He couldn't even say where they were in line at this point but he didn't care.
Nick smiles at him again and Charlie thinks it's a bit like standing in the sun. The warmth he feels is changing him, one molecule at a time.
"How many?" a bored sounding voice asks and Charlie startles. They'd made it up to the coaster and a young woman in a park uniform was watching them.
"Two," Nick answers easily, glancing down and smiling at Charlie.
"Number 8," she replies, pointing vaguely towards the railings that are lined up perpendicular to the coaster. Nick thanks her and they make their way to line.
The riders are loading on and off relatively quickly. Before he can start to freak out, they are walking out onto the platform and sinking into their seats next to each other. They each strap themselves in and Charlie's hands are shaking as he does up the belts.
Nick turns to Charlie and they lock eyes again.
Quietly, so only Charlie can hear, Nick says, "Take my hand, and we'll do this together.”
Charlie looks down and realises that Nick has extended out his right hand, the one closest to Charlie, and has it waiting palm up next to him. He tips his head back up so he's looking at Nick again as he slowly reaches for his hand.
When they thread their fingers together, Charlie thinks he might feel more nerves and sparks from their touch than he currently feels about the roller coaster they are on. The ride begins to move and they both tear their eyes away from each other to see where they're going.
Charlie begins to sweat, his heartbeat pulsing in his ears.
" Oh, fuck ," he whispers and then he feels a squeeze from Nick's hand. The next three minutes are a blur of movement and adrenaline and screaming at the top of his lungs, but when the coaster pulls into the station, Charlie is grinning from ear to ear.
When he looks at Nick, he is doing the same. Plus, his hair is now windswept in a way that makes Charlie want to die.
Slowly, Charlie remembers how they started the ride and he can feel them still gripping hands tightly. Regretfully, he disentangles their fingers, shooting a small smile at Nick before he begins to work on the straps to free himself. He can see Nick doing the same out of the corner of his eye.
When they stand, Nick steps out of the coaster first and then turns and holds out his hand again. Charlie reaches forward and takes Nick's hand, sparks zinging their way up his arm from the contact, and slowly steps out onto the platform. They are standing only inches apart now, fingers threaded together.
"Do you want to get a drink with me?" Nick asks, his gaze pinning Charlie in place. Charlie's heart is in his throat and he tries to swallow around it.
"Yes, please," he says breathily and Nick beams at him.
"Please keep moving," a voice shouts at them, breaking Charlie out of his stupor. They both giggle as they swiftly exit the platform, hand in hand.