Chapter Text
Monday night
I’ll pick you up at 9 again
Please be waiting
Charlie scowls at the message on his phone. From his mum. He feels a ripple of annoyance that the parents, intuiting that the crisis is over, are setting the boundaries all back up again. At least he and Nick can have the door closed at Nick’s house. Sarah is especially uncareful about policing that during the times that David is home.
They are currently curled up together over the beanbag on the floor, Charlie across Nick’s lap, Nick’s arms wrapped very tight. Sarah let them escape mercifully soon after dinner, and is downstairs putting up with David yelling at a tennis match. Charlie digs his chin into Nick’s shoulder, and complains about the text.
‘I have to go home in two more hours.’
‘Oh.’ They share a disappointed look. Nick tugs at a piece of Charlie’s hair, gently.
‘That’s enough time to watch a movie?’ he suggests.
‘Yeah …’
There’s not enough time left to watch a movie. Even though the laptop is plugged in and resting on a tray on the bed, they never got around to turning it on. Beds are just very convenient for making out on. Hair and shirts and pillows are looking very askew. They’re catching their breath for now, giggling at each other. Nick grins at Charlie. ‘Are we actually bad at talking? One way or the other …’
Charlie sits up slightly on one elbow. ‘No!’ he says, indignantly. ‘We talk! We do talking!’ Nick is laughing at him, and it’s glorious. He raises an arm, slightly tentatively, and Charlie drops back down to the bed and snuggles under it, stopping when they are nose to nose. Nick’s eyes crinkle as he smiles.
‘Charlie?’
‘Mmmn …’
‘While we are … talking. About us. Is there … anything else? That I should know?’
Ah.
Charlie has to look away from the clear brown eyes. He slots his fingers between Nick’s, pressing his fingers between the knuckles.
‘Um. Y-you said you’d looked at your phone.’ He flits a quick look at him, then looks back at his shoulder instead again. ‘S-so. You probably saw. That we. That, I …’ He doesn’t resist the gentle fingers on his jaw and lets him tilt his chin so that their eyes meet.
‘I love you,’ Charlie says. ‘Sorry. I know that’s … a lot …’
They are lying, side-by-side, heads turned towards each other, and so Charlie, gazing into brown eyes, watches the moment where the memory flows back. Nick’s eyes widen and his gaze fixes on Charlie’s, in wonder. He sees the delight and the hilarity there, the shock and the wonder.
‘I …’ he says, and Charlie puts a hand on his cheek. ‘While I was …’
‘In the shower,’ Charlie whispers, at the same time as Nick says it.
He’s gasping in a laugh. ‘I walked home in my boxers …’ Charlie giggles, softly, his heart aching with a good ache. ‘And no shoes!’ Nick hauls Charlie into his arms, wrapping him up. Charlie has to fight and wriggle to try to kiss him and only manages to hit his chin.
‘You … don’t have to say it back … you’re only just starting to remember …’
‘Shut up.’ Nick lets him roll back, and seizes Charlie’s face in his hands. ‘I love you. Of course I love you. I didn’t forget that.’
Turns out Charlie does have more tears. ‘I believe you.’
It’s many kisses later that they bundle each other up to talk in whispers again. Nick’s fingertips trace patterns over the tops of Charlie’s arms. He’s lying with his head on Charlie’s chest, over his heart, and it’s the most comfortable Charlie has been in days and days.
‘Your … our friends are going to be happy that we’re …’ Charlie grins to see a blush rising again in Nick’s cheeks.
‘Back together?’ he suggests, but it’s the wrong thing to say, Nick scowling and squeezing a bit too tightly.
‘We never actually weren’t together,’ he says, stubbornly. Charlie squeezes back, more gently, and smiles. From the expressions flitting one after another over his face, something is still bothering Nick. ‘Um, actually. About that. I wanted to say … I realise now that me getting all … like, jealous … before, and asking you, whether, whether there was … someone else … that that was a bit, um insulting?’ He winces. ‘Like, Charlie, god, I know you’re not the kind of person who would ever …’ he can’t even bring himself to say the word cheat, clearly. Charlie’s heart aches a little. He needs to remember it’s going to take some time for his boyfriend to feel completely secure again. For now, he just listens. ‘I just, it was all so messed up in my head, and I was panicking about all the things I didn’t know … but even with all of that. I’m still. Sorry.’
Charlie smiles at him, as forgivingly as he knows how. ‘I think you get a pass.’
‘Because I had a brain injury?’
Charlie has to bite his lip. ‘I suppose I should make that the reason. But it’s actually that … I don’t hate that it drove you so insane.’ He has to look away, feeling himself blushing now. Nick brings his gaze back with a gentle caress of the knuckles of his hand beneath Charlie’s chin. He could actually melt. Especially at that look. ‘Oh,’ is all he says. Then he kisses him. ‘At least I get to walk into school tomorrow as your boyfriend,’ Nick says, with some relief.
‘Oh …’ Charlie says. His hands fiddle with the hem of Nick's shirt. ‘Could we … it's just …’ Words fail. Charlie takes a couple of breaths, feeling his heart pound.
‘What.’ That familiar tone helps him get out what he’s trying to explain.
‘Would it … be okay if … I feel a bit weird about the thought of telling them. That we’ve sorted it out. I mean obviously I should tell them, I just …’ Charlie blinks hard. ‘I don’t know. I guess they just always want to be … so involved?’ Nick is quiet. But his hand presses reassuringly. ‘Let’s just … give it a day? Before we tell them?’ Let it settle, Charlie is thinking, let it feel real. Maybe enjoy letting it be our secret, again, for just a day, or two. He wants not have to answer any questions about what Nick remembers, or what the two of them mean, now, when there’s things that he doesn’t.
Nick is frowning. Maybe he doesn’t want to be a secret. Charlie feels guilty.
‘I mean … I can see why you might not want to rush in to tell them. They won’t hold back on having a lot of questions,’ Nick says. ‘But …’ Charlie squeezes his hand, wanting to know what about it is bothering him. Whatever it is, he’ll be supportive. ‘If we’re not telling anybody … Won’t that mean … we can’t kiss, at school? … What?’
Charlie is dissolving into giggles against his shoulder. ‘Did you think we were doing that anyway?’
Nick is smiling at him. He adjusts his head on the pillow. ‘Why not,’ he says.
Charlie raises his eyebrows. So many reasons. And, none, he supposes. But affectionate as they are, they’ve never gone in for kisses at school. Well. Not in front of everyone. Their friends still tell them they are highly unsubtle. And, yes, okay, they’ve been caught out by … a few people. On occasion. He tries to hold in a smile.
‘Can you last until the end of the week not holding my hand or kissing me at school?’ Nick just looks at him. Charlie sighs. ‘Until … Wednesday?’
Nick moves his head closer. ‘Let’s see,’ he says, smiling into another kiss.
-
Tuesday afternoon
Boyfriends
charlie: well done, you got through a whole day
nick: I seem to remember I did not
charlie: I’m not counting the art room
charlie: since none of our friends were there
nick: is it bad that I enjoyed how annoyed they were at us
charlie: I think it is only human
charlie: amazing that no-one tried to tease us in the gc
charlie: gc SUSPICIOUSLY quiet all day in fact
nick: reeaallly not letting that go, are you
nick: do they know I have my phone back? I mean I’ve been messaging Tara and Darcy
charlie: yes I know they were very excited
charlie: so yeah they KNOW you are back seeing the chat
charlie: EVEN MORE SUSPICIOUS
charlie: not even a meme
nick: ha ha ha ha
nick: you know I’ve been talking to Imogen too and she still feels a bit sore that no-one thought to include her in anything
nick: no don’t make that face I’m not saying that to make you feel bad
nick: or say sorry
nick: I remember the ‘s’ word rule, by the way
charlie: WHAT skghhjlkjjlflkldjf
nick: more every day, love
charlie: I love you
nick: I know
charlie: did you forget the no Star Wars references rule
charlie: what are you, my dad
nick: I KNOW YOU JUST MADE THAT UP CHAR DON’T TOY WITH MY TEMPORARY AMNESIA
nick: anyway, what I meant about Imogen was … that she might be out for some revenge. I have an idea and you’re either going to hate it, or LOVE IT
charlie: char
charlie: can you come over today
nick: yeah obviously mum’s just turning into your street
-
Babes
imogen: no
imogen: no
imogen: no
imogen: I’ve been thinking about it, and …
imogen: no
imogen: I can’t do it to them
imogen: they’ve never really forgiven me for the FIRST time
imogen: even though. i did not know!! clueless sixteen-year-old girl!!! and i swear they still hold it against me
charlie: so don’t you want to do the crime you’re being punished for anyway
imogen: CHARLIE
imogen: did you know he was this secretly evil?
nick: yeah
imogen: … okay …
nick: but … I had temporary amnesia from a minor BRAIN INJURY and they were swapping messages in a chat behind our back and TAKING BETS on when Charlie and I would get back together
nick: not that we were ever not together really
imogen: aww Nick
charlie: yes very sweet but nick don’t tell immy they were betting on us … that’s not even true!
nick: Isn’t it?
nick: have you met our friends
nick: no chance they didn’t bet on it
imogen: hmmn I agree with Nick actually
imogen: all right
imogen: you’ve won me over to the dark side
imogen: I will tell Elle and Tara that that Nick and I have been ‘talking a lot’ and he’s asked me out for milkshakes
nick: we should go out for milkshakes!! We still haven’t even caught up properly you and me
imogen: well you’ve been busy … reuniting
nick: lol don’t start, Imogen
charlie: immy yessss welcome to the dark side
charlie: gshjkkhhlksdf ‘we should go out for milkshakes’ it will even be true
imogen: you’re a little bit scary charlie spring
charlie: [demon face]
nick: [love heart]
imogen: okay can you two take it to a separate chat please
nick: we’re actually in the same room
imogen: see you later then [winky kiss face]
-
Wednesday
Imogen looks nervous when Nick greets her at their table, the next morning. He grins and talks under the general noise. ‘Uh-oh,’ he says. ‘Charlie thought I was going to be the weakest link.’
She socks him in the arm. ‘I’m good! I agreed! Just think of me by myself at school for the afternoon, though.’ He grins. ‘See, you have Charlie to be on your side,’ she mutters, glancing across to the street. Nick sees Charlie coming and springs to his feet.
‘Oh, I see what Charlie means,’ he hears Imogen say behind him, and then she whispers, ‘and there’s Tao,’ and turns Nick around and tugs on his jacket. He is scowling at having been made to turn away from Charlie, which, clearly, only makes Imogen laugh. ‘Ohhh this is going to be disaster,’ she says, ‘good luck, Nick.’ He sees her wink, he assumes at Charlie behind him. She lets him go and he swings around. His boyfriend is already shaking his head at him, probably because he is smiling, and he feels a tiny bit bad for not playing his tragic role but mostly just happy that Charlie’s here.
Charlie has linked arms with Imogen and they are murmuring together. He hears the words ‘milkshakes’ and ‘forever.’ Tao has stopped well short of the Year 12 morning table, waiting for them with his arms folded. Nick reaches for Charlie’s arm, and Charlie gives him just the barest flicker of a look, and he drops his hand. There. He’s not so bad at this.
-
Nick is so very bad at this. Charlie does not know why he thought his plan would work, given it hinges on Nick not looking happy and remembering to not be affectionate. The pining had been so thick in the air the previous week he’d thought it would be easy, and maybe even, unavoidable, for their relationship to stay clouded by it while they were at school. But Nick is smiling like Charlie is the sun. He gives him a glare. Nick gives a too-theatrical sigh and wanders over towards Tao with his head hanging down. Charlie hears Imogen snort and has to try not to laugh himself. Tao is looking at him, raising an eyebrow, and Charlie musters up the hot angry anxious feeling he’d had in response to realising his friends were getting frustrated with him and talking behind his back. Giving each other little ‘updates’ on his relationship. Right. Revenge. He’s out for revenge, today. He farewells Imogen and sends a pining look at the back of Nick’s head.
From where he’s standing by the picnic table, Sai leans across suddenly, murmuring over his shoulder. ‘I am not getting drawn in to whatever you two are doing, but I think you might both be terrible people.’
Charlie keeps his expression neutral. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about,’ he assures him. Sai shakes his head and turns around again. ‘Not getting drawn in,’ he repeats.
-
Charlie and Nick let Tao chatter as they walk towards class together, picking up Isaac on the way. Charlie doesn’t let their hands brush as they move off side-by-side to walk to form together, but he does have to look sideways as Nick trips, skipping slightly, and grabs hold of Charlie’s upper arm to steady himself, leaving his hand there for a couple of seconds and then dropping his hands to his sides. Charlie is looking ahead and not smiling. Not smiling at all.
-
Before lunch, Charlie corners Nick, to reprimand him. He stops him at the corner of the school building. ‘Can’t you try to remember how sad you were on Monday?’
Nick’s face falls, and Charlie’s heart plummets a little too, before he pulls it back up again. ‘They’re obviously wondering about us, at least?’ Nick offers.
Charlie grimaces. ‘We need to up our game, though.’ He looks at Nick. ‘Not-touching … not enough.’
Nick is smiling at him, leaning one foot on the brick wall behind him. ‘Did you have something else in mind,’ he says.
‘Well …’ Charlie thinks out loud. ‘Most dramatic gesture I can think of is …’ he lifts one hand to rest his thumb just under Nick’s chin, his fingers lying along his jaw. Nick’s breath stutters. Charlie’s fourth and pinkie finger slip to the side and he can feel Nick’s pulse through the delicate skin there. Nick’s eyes have gone wide and he’s holding himself very still. Charlie makes himself drop his hand away, since that was the point: but his hand only falls as far as Nick’s blazer, taking a handful of that instead. The look in his eyes. He’s still smiling but just a little bit in pain. He wants Charlie to kiss him, and, last week, he was wanting that, all the time, and Charlie didn’t.
It’s Nick who recovers. ‘You should go sit with Isaac and Tao.’
Charlie lets go of his jacket. ‘And what will you be doing?’
Nick smiles again, just with his eyes. ‘Moping,’ he says.
Charlie steps back. ‘Fine,’ he says, and he didn’t realise not smiling could take such effort. ‘That’s probably … for the best.’
‘I don’t think I could sit next to you and not hold your hand, today,’ Nick says softly, and Charlie feels his heart squeeze.
‘Oh, do you want to … we don’t have to tease my friends anymore,’ he says, but Nick is shaking his head, and he can’t stop a real smile touching his lips.
‘No, I’m good,’ he says.
‘You don’t have to …’
‘Tao’s currently texting,’ Nick says, glancing over his shoulder, and Charlie feels himself scowl.
‘Really.’
‘Really. Could be about anything at all.’
‘Could be …’ Charlie swings around, and sees Tao duck his head back down, looking away from the two of them and down at his phone. ‘Isn’t,’ he hisses.
‘I’ll see you later then,’ Nick murmurs in his ear, as he is turning to walk away, making a little shiver skate down Charlie’s spine. It occurs to Charlie that Nick is enjoying himself, too, with their manufactured drama. It’s a release of the tension and the pressure of the previous week. Silly and a little bit flirty. Also a little bit unconscionable. He hopes his friends forgive them both for it, when they find out they are messing with them. He feels the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he looks at his boyfriend’s retreating back.
-
It would have all been fine if they hadn’t happened to actually genuinely accidentally run in to each other near the end of lunchtime. Charlie is innocently heading to history class, having just farewelled his friends, as Nick steps out of the art room, where he really must have been moping for all of lunchtime. They don’t actually crash into each other but they both rock to a standstill, anyway. Nick is smiling like a goof. Shit. So is he. Boys pour past them and they both step back into the shelter of the open doorway, to be out of their way.
‘How was lunch? Did they start asking you questions?’ Nick’s face shows his quick concern for Charlie, and how. Can he not touch his elbow in reassurance.
‘They did, but I kind of snapped at them that I didn’t want to talk about you. And they left me alone.’ Charlie rolls his eyes. ‘Talked aggressively about other things instead, it was almost as annoying.’
Nick’s eyes crinkle. ‘Well, I saw your message on the group chat.’ Charlie smirks. quiet today is what he’d posted. Elle had sent a ‘how are you?’ and three of them had given that a heart. Then nothing. Charlie cannot believe they do not realise how incriminating that is.
The hallways have emptied. They stay smiling at each other in the doorway to the art room.
Nick lifts his shoulders up. ‘Guess no-one has art on a Wednesday after lunch.’ Charlie’s eyes flicker over his shoulder into the empty classroom. Then they flicker over his shoulders, filling out his dark school blazer.
‘Nick,’ he rolls his boyfriend’s name over his tongue, ‘S-someone will see …’
Nick’s hands are cupping under his forearms, tugging him closer. ‘There’s no-one here,’ he says, voice rough and soft.
‘Someone always sees,’ Charlie says, resisting. ‘And if someone sees and starts gossiping, it spoils the plan …’ Who is he kidding. His head is already tipping back.
‘Then let’s call off the plan,’ Nick suggests, in a whisper, his head dipping. Charlie smacks both his hands against Nick’s firm chest, sending him back a step. Nick blinks at him in surprise.
‘No, we can’t!’
‘Why …’
‘We can’t hang Imogen out to dry!’
Nick doesn’t look away from Charlie’s mouth. ‘I could text her. Tell her the plan’s off…’
‘She was looking forward to being a femme fatale, though …’ Charlie is wavering. The second bell cuts across their argument, making him wince.
‘Okay no, now it’s too late!’
‘It is?’
‘First period after lunch. Same time at both schools. Immy has her class with Elle and Tara now. She’ll be dropping the bomb. Right about … Nick’s phone chimes, in his pocket, twice. ‘Now,’ he says in satisfaction. He flicks a glance up at Nick. ‘Walk away, Nelson.’ It’s the wrong thing to say. From the look in Nick eyes their plan is in trouble. Charlie actually feels a bit panicked. Nick’s phone goes again. Ting-ting-ting.
‘Kiss me now and this has basically turned into a cruel prank on Imogen!’
That gets through and Nick’s eyes widen. ‘Oh shit. I hate this plan!’ He looks so adorably annoyed that Charlie starts to giggle, and then has to skip back a step out of Nick’s involuntary clutch.
‘You are terrible at being evil!’ Charlie scolds.
‘Are you boys supposed to be in class right now? This is, of course, a rhetorical question, given you are both students here and the second bell just went.’ Mr Ajayi, speaking behind them, makes a ‘get lost’ gesture with his arms at the two of them. ‘Get out of my art room doorway, you two.’ As the two of them part, going in different directions, he calls out, ‘And get to class!
-
tara: nick let’s meet up after school okay?
-
darcy: nick! hey we need a dose of nick we’re going to meet you after school okay? outside school? Tara and I are going to meet you after school!
-
elle: Hey, Nick, how are you feeling today? We’re all thinking about you! Make sure you take it easy! You should probably go straight home and have a good rest after school today! Don’t want to overdo it! Anyway chat later, Nick!
-
tara: so yeah darcy is coming too we’ll be right outside Truham!
tara: see you after school!
-
And for the rest of the afternoon, Charlie revels in his plan. Isaac and Tao are texting furiously under their desks, exchanging panicked looks when they think Charlie isn’t looking. They keep looking at him and when he catches their eye a sick horror crosses their faces. At one point, he even leans up into Tao’s space and whispers, ‘What? Are you okay? You don’t look good,’ even though he knows Tao will make him pay extra for that, later. Tao just mutters quickly that he’s fine, it’s fine, he’s fine, it’s fine. Charlie continues with his worksheet.
Charlie lingers in the locker room, knowing he has to wait around, looking at his phone and feeling waves of justification every time it doesn’t show anything. His friends are panicking right now, and they are doing it without him. Charlie’s so engrossed in his thoughts of revenge that he doesn’t notice the tall body looming over him until their shoes are touching. His brain goes Nick is here and his hands and lips are pressed to his face before any other thoughts get in the way. Charlie holds onto his neck and kisses his nose and cheeks and jaw and Charlie's belly swoops at Nick’s rumbled laugh; and then again as he catches Charlie’s face in his own hands and captures his roving lips.
Kissing Charlie feels like heaven. Or, not heaven, not anything it’s not, it just feels like kissing Charlie, and that’s enough to have him trying to pull himself impossibly closer, fingers tangling and tugging in his hair. Charlie’s mouth opens to his and he never wants to breathe again.
A shoe scuffs against the floor, and they gasp and jump apart. Ben is pretending he wasn’t looking at them, scowling as he pulls open his locker.
‘Oh, thank-god, it’s only you,’ Charlie says. Nick lets out a relieved puff of air, and a chuckle.
‘What?’ Ben looks utterly taken aback by this statement. He probably is weirded out by the first ever incidence of Nick and Charlie being relieved to see him.
‘Okay, you go first,’ Nick whispers, giving Charlie a squeeze on what could still be called his hips. Charlie schools his face and walks out, pulling on his backpack.
‘What the hell is up with you two,’ Ben sneers.
‘Shut up, Ben,’ Nick says, shoving his own belongings into his bag and waiting just a few more seconds before strolling out.
-
The penultimate part of Charlie’s plan to torture his friends even has stage directions. Imogen is sitting perched on the picnic table, apart from the others, her hands clutching the side of the table as she looks off into the distance, her hair ruffling in the breeze. Sure enough, Tara, Darcy, Isaac, Tao and Elle are a clump of nervous looks and muttering, a short distance away. Nick keeps them in the corner of his eye and pretends not to see them, keeping his gaze fixed on Imogen instead.
He stops. He stares at Imogen, sitting on her bench. He does his best to look torn while he hesitates, and then to make it look dramatic as he turns away and strides towards the music block.
As Charlie predicted, Nick is followed. Hearing them hurry in after him, squeaking and shuffling over the hallway floor, he has to bite back a grin. As he hears them come in, he looks up and tries to summon his best expression of bi panic.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Nick! We have to talk to you!’ Tara, Darcy, and Tao rush up to him like anxious puppies, with Elle and then Isaac a more measured step or two behind.
Tara literally grabs Nick by the lapels of his jacket. ‘You can’t go out for milkshakes with Imogen!’
Nick lets his eyes widen. ‘Oh no, why not? Did something happen to the milkshake tent?’ He is not a very good actor so they must be pretty upset to buy that as sincere.
‘Shut up, you moron! How could you possibly do that to Charlie?!’ Nick eyes Tao, reasonably but not a hundred percent sure that Tao isn’t going to punch him. He thinks his injury was just recent enough.
‘To … Charlie …?’ he says, trying to look confused. He brings to mind some of the feelings of the past week when he didn’t know for sure they were together and it’s suddenly easy to look a bit tortured.
Nick takes a deep breath and looks into the air. ‘I suppose I have been having these … feelings …’ He looks around at his friends, trying to look like he’s just realised something earth-shattering. ‘For Charlie,’ he whispers, and his name comes out reverentially because, always.
‘You have to talk to him, right now, and tell him how you feel!’ Darcy is actually screeching.
Nick tries not to wince, and stares at her. ‘… Right now?’
‘Don’t wait any more …’ This, from Tao. There are all looking misty, like the five of them are watching a rom-com play out its final act.
‘To tell him … how I really feel …’ Nick supplies. He rocks back on his heels. ‘And which one of you would win your bet if I do go up to him right now?’
‘Nick, this isn’t some nineties romantic comedy! None of us are trying to trick you!’
‘Nick you know we’re not making this up. We’ve seen the way you look at him …’
‘Tao would win,’ says Isaac, thoughtfully.
‘ISAAC!!!’ Tara, Tao and Elle’s heads all swivel towards Isaac as they yell at him. Isaac just stares at Nick. ‘Tao refused to bet but he did say, ‘it won’t take them more than a couple of weeks, for heaven’s sake,’ so, technically, he would win. But I don’t think it is his win, actually.’ He points at Nick. ‘You’ve been messing with us.’ Elle and Tao both shriek.
‘What?!!’
Nick starts laughing.
Isaac is still looking thoughtful with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. ‘Is Charlie filming this?’
Nick shakes his head, still giggling a little. ‘Oh come on, we wouldn’t do that…’
‘No, I would,’ Charlie says, stepping out from behind a wall. He’s holding up his phone. His friends shriek in surprise and then outrage.
‘Charlie,’ Nick says, shocked, although then, not actually shocked at all. ‘You’re evil,’ he adds, admiringly, as Charlie puts the phone down and drifts closer to him, and then Nick remembers their charade is played out, so he leans in for a kiss. Charlie’s hands fist in his shirt, and Nick feels the thrill of kissing in front of people, which he thinks he’s probably usually going to be more embarrassed by, but right now, it’s thrilling, because now they all know he’s Charlie’s boyfriend again. He’s showing them. He should probably stop showing them now, though. They are all right there. And they’re at school. He breaks away, and the way Charlie looks when he’s just been kissed like that settles into his heart.
‘Aww, that’s the bit we should have been filming,’ Isaac says, sounding disappointed.
‘Don’t worry, I was.’
‘AAAHHH’ everyone shrieks again, as Tori steps out from behind a different part of the wall, holding up her own phone. She pans around their faces, then lowers the phone and puts it in her pocket. She pats the pocket once. ‘Saving this for the bucks’ night,’ she says, and then smirks and wanders away up the corridor.
‘Did anyone even ask her to do that?’ Nick wonders aloud.
‘… ohmigod I love her?’ Darcy whispers in awe.
‘Charlie,’ Elle says, and Nick is horrified to see that she’s burst into tears. Tao closes her in his arms in a close embrace.
‘Hey, hey, shhh,’ he says, curving around her.
Nick and Charlie grasp each other’s hands, sharing a stricken glance. ‘Oh no, we went too far …’ Charlie says.
Elle sniffs. ‘No. I mean, yeah, you did, but I’ll forgive both of you if you just tell me you still,’ she sniffs again and chokes back a sob, ‘—still love each other. We were so worried about both of you!’
From here it’s a bit of a scrum of apologies and hugs and reassurances and tears. Nick sends a message to Imogen and she rushes in from stage left.
‘Ohmigod I just realised you were in on it!’ Tara says, smacking Imogen on the arm and then laughing and pulling her in for a hug. Imogen looks startled but gives her a quick hug back.
‘Sorry,’ she laughs. ‘They’re really persuasive, those two.’
‘I can’t decide whether I am relieved or really angry at you two,’ Tao says.
‘Why don’t you let me read the messages in the group chat Nick and I weren’t in from the past week,’ Charlie bats back. He and Tao stare each other down, for a good thirty seconds.
‘Let’s just … go outside,’ Elle says, to break the standoff.
Tori is waiting for them outside, a wicker basket and a backpack at her feet. ‘You all are going for a picnic in the park,’ she says. ‘Sahar and Michael are both meeting us there. I am calling an end to any more stupid plans, revenge, or secret-keeping.’
‘Are you the umpire, then?’ Charlie asks.
‘Don’t talk back to the umpire,’ Nick says back.
Charlie smirks. ‘Sorry.’
-
The hilarity and recriminations as they set up the picnic are almost a bit much, but Nick supposes he and Charlie only have themselves to blame. The digs are entirely at the two of them for being evil, with Imogen getting a free pass and he suspects a cleaner slate than she’d had before. Charlie’s warmth is soaking into him, though, so Nick can put up with anything. He hasn’t let go of his hand, even to eat. Even to let Charlie eat, which his returning memories and scribbled diary entries and the urgent feeling in his chest all tell him is something he still makes maybe too important. Charlie seems to understand his boyfriend’s extreme clinginess. Today was fun, and it did just what Charlie had needed it to, diverting everyone from asking them overly-invested questions about where the two of them are up to. And they need some time to figure that out. The dynamic between them is still a little tender and a little strange. Charlie gets to be deeply in love with the full, complex person he knows inside and out, surprising him over and over with how well he knows the inside of Nick’s brain. While Nick himself is still star-struck, love-stuck; a little bit infatuated with his perfect, dream guy, who he woke up to find and who tortured him for a week before pulling him into his arms. Nick still wakes from dreams of him and Charlie every night, and there’s a lot that’s still mixed up and wispy in his head.
Every day they spend together Charlie is getting a little less perfect, a little more flawed and frustrating and real. Nick’s heart is filling up with every precious imperfection. He’s currently being annoying about the group chat again, even though everyone else is clearly so ready to move past it. Nick smooths a curl back behind his ear, watching his face as he gives it up and relaxes, listening to the chatter instead.
-
Charlie lays with his head in Nick’s lap and looks up at the clouds. He hears Nick repeat his little mantra to someone that we never actually weren’t together, though, and holds a bit tighter to the hand that’s laced in his over his chest. He should get back to helping his boyfriend feel a lot more secure about the two of them now. Charlie turns it over, and it settles in his gut that being together, and love confessions, and getting one over on their friends, none of that will automatically fix everything. That doesn’t matter. What matters is they are them. They can take life and anything it throws at them as it comes. Stronger than before.