Chapter Text
Nick had blushed crimson after sending that text to Charlie. I’ve got some ideas for things we could do involving energy flow… oh god, so cringe! If any of his friends had seen that, they would probably send him the “bonk” meme. Ever since Charlie had brought up his dad mentioning “hanky panky,” a part of his brain seemed determined beyond belief to bring it to the forefront, regardless of the occasion. It was a losing battle it seemed, until a little comment could escape, hopefully harmless, until the need built up again and the cycle repeated. Hormones and heat were recipes for things he might later regret. Perhaps he needed to have a “boundary” discussion with himself, and then Charlie, before Charlie even had that talk with his father. Ugh. They had been barely dating a month, it would probably be terrifying to Charlie if he brought up something like that. He resolved, he would let Charlie start that conversation, when he felt ready. It was only right, as he was the younger of the two of them. Just as he was about to find himself lost in deeper deliberation, he heard a familiar voice call his name. Sai.
Nick turned around to find not only Sai, but also Christian and Otis standing behind him, looks of contrition upon their faces. Nick sighed. They had not really affirmed his resolve not to hang out with Harry Greene anymore, which greatly frustrated him. They had also tried to bully him into visiting Harry in the hospital, and did not even relent even when Nick carefully explained his points as to why he did not owe Harry even that. Between these two things, he had stopped responding to their texts all together, and only talked to them half-heartedly during rugby practice, on very topical, rugby focused affairs. They really had fallen short in the friendship department, and maybe part of that was because they did not know that he and Charlie were dating, but a big part of Nick hoped that they would not need to know that information to simply be decent human beings.
“Can I help you lot?” he asked, his voice tense, filled with an annoyed edge.
Otis and Christian glanced at Sai, who gulped a bit, anxious to speak. “Listen, Nick…we get why you’re upset with us. Can you just give us a moment, and hear us out, please?” Sai asked, calmly.
Nick crossed his arms. “Fine,” he said, his tone of voice indicating his desire that they plead their case, carefully.
Christian led the group’s response to Nick. “We realize that we should have stepped in sooner at the cinema. The whole confrontation could have been avoided if we had told Harry to shut up, too.”
Not letting Nick get any word in, Otis immediately jumped in, “Not only the cinema, either. The whole of last term and beyond, we should have said something sooner to Harry about it, or at least called him out long ago. He’s such a prick, no one really deserves to put up with it.”
Sai finished things off, adding his take, “Especially in regards to Charlie. He’s so nice to all of us, and legitimately was trying at rugby, and even before that, he deserved none of that. We promise…we promise that we’ll be better friends! Seriously,” he finished, almost out of breath.
Nick stood there, pensive. He was nearly ready to say something, before Christian jumped back into the conversation with more to say. “We honestly do really like Charlie, too, mate! And we don’t want him to think we’re a prick like Harry!” he said, earnestly.
Otis nodded. “We’re on your side, Nick. We’ve always been here for each other, and we don’t want that to change,” he said.
Nick’s eyes felt slightly dewy, thinking back on his friendship with the three of them. It did not always appear that deep, but when he thought more and more about it, they really were there at different pivotal moments of his life, a quiet support group, and that was something to be said. Nick nodded his head.
“Okay, I accept your apology,” he said, continuing, “I know you’re not like Harry at all…I’m just glad you want to ditch him.” They came together for the bro-iest group hug, if it could even be called a hug.
They began walking as a group, down the road past the school gate. “Have you seen Harry much, after the hospital?” he asked the three of them.
Sai responded, “No, not really. I know we’ve all been busy with revisions and exams.” Otis and Christian nodded.
“Same,” Nick said.
Christian then chimed in, “You know…I really don’t blame you for punching him, either.”
Nick grinned, twisting his neck toward Christian a bit. “I mean, I didn’t really want to. Is that what he was saying put him in the hospital?” he asked.
Otis chuckled. “He had no idea why he was there by the end of the second week, like it was so weird. The first week he just babbled in this state. None of the doctors knew what was wrong with him,” he said.
Sai added to that, “And then all of a sudden he was mostly normal. It was bizarre.”
“Interesting,” Nick said, trying not to further the conversation on that subject.
They kept walking, and then Christian said, “Well, we know you did it for a good reason…you and Charlie are just really good mates.”
Nick stopped in his tracks, his heart starting to pound a bit in his chest. Really. Good. Mates . He turned around to say something, and he noticed that Sai was scowling at Christian, darkly. Like he could punch Christian out of frustration. Panicking, suddenly Nick’s rational brain hopped in. “Nick…they know. Why else would Sai be making that face at him? Remember the sports shed conversation? They know…and they still want to be friends with you. You. Can. Do. This,” it said, cajoling him to say something.
He must have looked physically ill while thinking this through, because Otis asked, “Hey, are you okay Nick?”
Nick paused, taking a shallow breath, feeling mildly nauseous. “If I tell you three something…will you promise not to say a word about it, unless I tell you it is okay to do so? And I’m being incredibly serious. Don’t talk about it with each other via text, and only in person if you know for a fact that it is only you three there,” he said.
Sai, Otis, and Christian looked at each other nervously. The air around the four of them felt like it had been sucked out by some force, it was so eerily still. None of them answered immediately, and Nick was about to lose resolve and walk away, when Sai said, “You have my confidence.”
Otis nodded his head and said, “Mine too.”
Christian ended with, “and I as well.”
Nick had them shake hands with him, for further measure, and then beckoned them to the park near the school. He’d miss a bus home, but figured that if everything went well, then he would walk home after and think about life. The four of them sat down at a table, and Nick looked around to make sure no one else from school was there.
Sai, acutely feeling Nick’s nervous energy, said, “Man, you’re starting to make me super anxious. Like…this is serious, Nick. What’s going on?”
Seeing that no one else was nearby, he turned to his friends and said, as calmly as possible, “This has been eating me up for over a month now, but…I’m seeing Charlie. We’re dating, he and I. Since late April, unofficially, but it has been official for a few weeks now.” He took a deep breath in, waiting for their reaction.
Christian, unexpectedly started talking, “Wow…we were really onto something when we had that talk in the sports shed, weren’t we?” he turned and looked at the other two, smiling.
Otis and Sai chuckled, with Otis saying, “And here I thought we had the emotional perception skills of a five year old…at least that’s what Emily from Higgs told me.”
Suddenly, Sai’s face lit up, as if he was in the middle of an epiphany. “Harry’s birthday party makes all of the sense now,” he said, confidently.
Nick turned to him, sort of in a shocked state. “Whatever do you mean by that, Sai?” he asked.
Christian and Otis looked at Sai, confused. Sai smiled, “You were hanging out with Charlie all night long, practically. You did not even dance with a single Higgs girl when you were with us, you just awkwardly bobbed around them. After you told Harry off, we found you upstairs, seemingly alone . I would bet money on it that you were with Charlie,” he said, triumphantly.
Nick buried his face in his hands, laughing. “You caught me, Sai. Red-lipped,” he said, laughing. They all laughed.
Christian, unsure in his question, asked, “Does this mean you’re…gay?”
Nick smiled. “No, I’ve mulled that over a lot, but I am without a doubt bisexual,” he replied, before continuing, “Like, I know I liked Tara years ago…in fact, we’ve since hung out and talked about this stuff, actually. And I know that there are male and female movie stars and singers that I find…well…hot. So, bisexuality is where I’m at.”
Christian nodded, smiling. Sai added, “Not that it matters. You’re our mate, no matter what.“
Otis, seemingly extra reflective, added, “God, that just adds even more layers to your fight with Harry. Fuck…we really left you out to dry.” He frowned.
Nick turned to him and said, simply, “You already apologized for that. Don’t beat yourself up anymore. Just keep to your word, and everything will be fine.” They continued to hang out for a few more minutes, talking about random things, rugby, and simply just banter, before they broke up to go study for the day.
Over the next week, things seemed…normal? Well, as close to normal as anything could these days. That gave Nick such a happy feeling. He had not told Charlie about his lengthy conversation with Sai, Otis, and Christian, beyond the fact that they had made up regarding Harry. Outside of form and rugby, he and Charlie had not had a lot of time alone, and it was definitely killing him. On the last practice of the week, he and Charlie shared cone-collection duty, so he decided to take that time to talk with him, as everyone else had headed back to the locker rooms to change.
“Hey Char, I have to tell you something really important,” he said after a few minutes of collecting cones in relative silence.
Charlie looked up at him, tense. “It sounds…serious, Nick,” he said, the anxiety present in his voice.
Nick nodded, “In a sense, it is. But in a good way. I…well, I…came out to Sai, Christian, and Otis,” he said, almost in an excited way.
Charlie instantly perked up. “What, really? Oh my god, that’s huge, Nick!” he said, running from his cones to hug Nick. “How did they take it?” he asked.
Nick smiled. “They actually handled it pretty well. They definitely suspected something was up between us,” he said.
“Oh. You also told them about us? I guess that explains the random smiles I’ve gotten from them in the corridors…” he said, trailing off.
They collected the last few cones and headed for the sports shed. Nick felt a bit concerned. Charlie sounded like he was not happy about Nick telling them about the relationship, which was quite odd. Charlie had wanted, more than anything, for their relationship to eventually be known to the outside world, beyond their little queer friendgroup.
As they entered the shed, Nick asked Charlie, “Was it not okay to tell them about us?”
Charlie turned to Nick, “No, it’s okay. I just…didn’t expect it so fast, to be honest. I’m just so stressed out with revision, exams, and I’m not sleeping super well… that I feel like if some big upheaval happens at school right now, it will just…finish me off,” he said, grimly. Nick immediately tensed up. Charlie rarely had shown this side of himself to Nick, and when he did, it made him incredibly worried.
“Charlie…when did you start feeling like that?” Nick asked, gently.
Charlie immediately countered, “Don’t worry about it, Nick. It doesn’t matter. I don’t think you shouldn’t have come out to them. Just ignore what I said.”
Nick grabbed his wrist, gently. “No, don’t say that. I can’t ignore what you said,'' he said. He pulled Charlie into a kiss, gentle, yet passionate.
They broke apart for a moment, and Nick added, “You can tell me about it, Char…” but he was cut off by Charlie, who said, “Yeah, but can you just kiss me more, please?” Nick smiled, and nodded his head, before moving back in to kiss Charlie.
All of a sudden, the two of them heard “What on Earth is taking you boys so long to put cones away, Oh !” They turned quickly to see Coach Singh, staring at them wide-eyed. Both of them stared back at her, also in shock.
Quickly she said, “Just hurry it up, okay? I need to lock up.”
Nick replied, totally abashed, “Yes, miss.” She turned around back to the field, and the two of them looked at each other mortified, until they laughed.
“That was almost guaranteed to happen,” Nick said, chuckling.
Charlie replied, “Yep,” as he put his palm on his forehead.
As they were walking into the lockers, crossing the field, Nick turned to Charlie. “Listen, I know you are worried now about Sai and them…but I made them swear and shake on it that they would not say a word to anyone or even write-slash-message about it at all, unless I told them they could. I trust them to keep my confidence on this, and they really like you, so just know…it will be okay, I’ll make sure of it,” he said, hopeful that Charlie would take it to heart.
Charlie squeezed his hand lightly. “I’m sure this is mostly me overreacting to exam stress,” Charlie said.
Nick replied, “I wasn’t kidding, what I said earlier…please tell me when you are feeling things. I want to make sure I can make you feel better, or especially make sure I don’t make you feel worse, Char.”
Charlie smiled. “I don’t think you could ever make me feel bad, Nick Nelson,” he said. They continued walking together, silently, pinkies touching each other.
Before they headed into the locker room, Charlie turned to Nick again and said, slyly, “You know, if you ever are worried about the lads, I could hex them or something, so if they did say something, we would find out about it.”
Nick guffawed at the suggestion. “Sometimes, you are positively evil,” he said to Charlie. Charlie just grinned back at him devilishly.
Coach Singh pulled him out of the changing room before he got much of a chance to start changing.
“Nick, please take a seat,” she said.
Nick could not tell her tone, or what this would be about. Was she going to go off on him about what had happened earlier? Her countenance just seemed so incredibly, yet uncomfortably neutral.
“In the Fall term, you are going to officially be captain of the rugby team,” she said.
Nick felt incredibly surprised. He felt confident in his rugby skills, but never considered captaincy. “Really?” he said, the surprise apparent in his tone.
Coach Singh nodded her head. “I don’t think you realize it, but you have natural leadership on and off the field. The team really rallies around you, naturally. They respect you, and you bring a positive presence to team morale,” she said.
Nick replied, “Wow. Thank you. I will definitely give it my all.”
She smiled. “On that note, I would choose a more secluded place to kiss in the future,” she said. Nick blushed crimson. “I’m glad Charlie’s your boyfriend, but I know he has struggled with bullying in the past, and if I find that you’ve done anything to hurt him, we’ll be having some choice words,” she said, tersely.
Nick spluttered out, “I-I-would never, Coach Singh. He means the world to me.”
She smiled warmly. “Things have changed a bit since my wife and I met at uni…but if anyone gives you any problems, I’ll sort them out. Just let me know. Door’s always open, Captain Nelson,” she said, waving him off to go get changed.
“Thanks, Coach,” he said, beaming.
Charlie gave him a quizzical look as he left the room. On the walk out, he told Charlie the news, which led to several students giving him wide-eyed looks as he hooted with joy. Before they parted at the school gates, Charlie gave him another one of his devilish grins.
“I’m going to start calling you “my captain” playfully now, I can see it,” he said.
Nick groaned. As much as he wanted to avoid anything suggestive with him at this point, Charlie sure relished the opportunity to make that as difficult as possible. Nick blew him a kiss in passing, as they headed in the opposite directions to their respective houses. Nick shuffled into his house, tired from the day. Something felt a bit off, however. The normal atmospheric warmth of the house felt clouded by a bit of a chill.
Cautiously, Nick yelled into the house, “Hey, I’m home!”
For a moment he heard no response, until he heard a familiar male voice yell back from the kitchen, “Hey Nicky!”
He shuddered. David . Soon after, his mom yelled from upstairs, “Oh Nicky, your brother is back from uni!”
Walking down the length of the hallway, his brother approached him, a miserably smug look on his face. Nick had not expected him to return from uni for the summer, as he had a flat there and had taken up some odd jobs throughout the year. At some point, he did expect to see David on their trip to Menorca, but that wasn’t for many weeks to come, and he did not think it would involve David staying with them in Kent at all. He was not even done with exam season or officially on summer leave – it was positively too damn early to tolerate his brother. He shuddered, thinking about all the plans he had with Charlie before the Paris trip, and how his brother’s presence cast a shadow all over them. He had no intention of coming out to David, not now at least. David was an absolute knob. Ten times more knobbish than Harry Greene. As his future plans dissolved in front of him, he felt a bitter feeling well up in his stomach. His brother was approaching, as if to shake his hand, but Nick simply crossed his arms and scowled slightly.
“Hi, David,” he said, as neutrally as possible, before side-stepping his brother and heading upstairs. He did not have the energy to deal with this.
Messages, Charlie (<3) and Nick:
Nick: Remember what you told me regarding Christian, Sai, and Otis? Do you have one of them to help with an obnoxious knob of an older brother?
Charlie: ???
Charlie: David? What’s he done?
Nick: Exist, and be home.
Charlie: Oh gosh…he’s home from uni? I thought you didn’t expect him until Menorca?
Nick: Exactly. He’s here, and from what it sounds like…he’s not leaving until after Menorca.
Charlie: Give me a second, I’ll look something up
Nick: Oh gosh, you’re actually being serious, aren’t you?
Charlie: Anything for you <3
Charlie: Also, I cast an “anti-lie” barrier on my room once, so with some modifications, I’m sure we can do an “anti knobbish older brother” barrier of sorts
Nick: Honestly, I would settle for him to just lose his voice at some point…
Charlie: Way more workable, boyfriend, way more workable. Already in the Latin reference book.
Charlie: Silē! There it is. Pronounced “sill-ay” kind of like an e accent aigu in French.
Nick: Latin is wild. It really makes sense how it became the Romance languages though…
Charlie: Nicholas, talking about linguistics is practically nerd dirty talk to me.
Nick >:-D oh really…so the Classics and Linguistics…I’m taking notes, Charles.
Charlie: *intense blushing emoji* go Cast on your brother and let me know if it works. With conviction and intention, remember :)
Nick: You are sometimes such a bad influence on me, sweets.
He did not get much time to dwell on the rest of his thoughts about that conversation, as his brother started barreling into his room. Without wasting a second, Nick looked ahead, waved out his hand, and whispered, “ Silē ,” just as his brother had entered the room.
His brother started to speak. “That wasn’t the friendliest of…” he trailed off, rubbing his throat as the rest of his sentence got raspier, hoarser.
“The friendliest of what, David?” Nick asked, innocently.
“Friend,” *rasp* -liest, *rasp* welcom, *rasp*,” he tried again, and Nick cut him off.
“Oh David, I think it is best that you just don’t speak. Perhaps that might help? Must have been talking too much earlier. Maybe mom can get you some tea for that?” he said, smirking slightly. Perhaps this early visitation may be tolerable, after all.
Messages, Charlie (<3) and Nick:
Nick: His voice is incredibly raspy right now, but I think that was enough for him to be easily convinced to shut up.
Charlie: Oh wow, you actually did it?!
Nick: Yeah. Is that bad?
Charlie: Proud of you. If for whatever reason it doesn’t seem to be naturally wearing off, let me know, I’m sure a simple command in Latin would counter it…
Nick: Char!? “Naturally wear off??” You don’t know if it will or will not wear off?? X.X
Charlie: Don’t panic. I got rid of the lie barrier. I’m sure it can be reversed. Unless you don’t want it to be…
Nick: That would be a dream…but only through non-magical means.
Charlie: Go enjoy your quiet time and get some revisioning done. I’m going to do that, too. Just let me know if he’s not recovering his voice at all…I’ll help fix it.
Nick: <3 <3 <3 happy revision session
Charlie: <3 <3 <3
Charles Frances Spring, as sweet and lovely as he was, was also an utter
menace
, and Nick could not get enough of it, either. Charlie was
his
menace.