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Nick Nelson prided himself on not judging people before meeting them himself. But even he had to admit a bit of anxiety shot down his spine when he learned he’d be sitting next to Charlie Spring in his form group. He’d never actually met the guy, but he knew bits and pieces through gossip and rumors, which the rugby guys were never short on.
He’d first heard about the infamous Charlie Spring at the beginning of last year when he’d been the talk of the school for being gay. Nick still didn’t know if he’d actually come out or if people had just spread the information like wildfire. He hadn’t paid it much mind. He had no idea who the guy was, and him being gay didn’t exactly bother Nick. He wasn’t sure why everyone cared about it so much. The world kept spinning.
That was, until a couple months later when friends and teammates alike would show up to school, games, practices, what have you looking worse for wear. Black eyes, broken or bloody noses, busted balls, so on and so forth. He was incredibly shocked when he found out Charlie Spring was the one behind all the injuries. By this point he’d at least seen Charlie a few times in passing, and it made his brain short circuit trying to connect him to this level of violence. It’s not like he was breaking people’s bones or anything like that, but it was still pretty violent. And once more, not to judge people before he knew them, but the rugby lads weren’t exactly small, and Charlie wasn’t exactly big.
It was Sai who had told him, shocked he didn’t already know. Apparently Charlie wasn’t taking people’s shit anymore, and apparently a lot of the rugby lads had learned that the hard way. Sai didn’t have much information about exactly why the fights were breaking out, and why Charlie had suddenly become so hostile. Just overheard something from one of the older guys that Charlie ‘apparently couldn’t take a joke anymore’ and left it at that. Nick thought there was likely more to it than that for things to suddenly get violent.
And now this year, it looked like he’d be sitting with the now year ten boy. He’d been sitting at his desk anxiously doing his work when he heard the chair next to him scrape against the floor. He glanced up to meet eyes with Charlie Spring himself, being met with a shy smile. “Hi.” Charlie spoke softly, taking his seat.
Nick couldn’t help but return a shy smile of his own. “Hi.”
Nick learned extremely quickly that Charlie was nothing like what rumors would suggest. He was a bit awkward, incredibly kind, and a tiny bit teasing and mischievous. There was no hint of the kid who was apparently taking down rugby players twice his size left and right the year before. At least not that Nick could tell. He found he actually quite liked sharing a table with Charlie Spring.
~
Nick got over his apprehensions of Charlie Spring quicker than he thought possible. He found himself feeling guilty that he ever felt nervous about being around him. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt more at ease around Charlie than he did any of his other friends. Charlie just felt… other worldly. It was so hard to connect the boy he’d come to know to the boy he’d heard so many rumors about over the previous year and a half.
Which is why it was a shock to his system when he met the boy from the rumors.
Nick had known Charlie for all of a month and a half when it happened. He had been sitting at a table in the lunchroom when Harry had approached him, which in itself wasn’t unusual. Harry tended to show up whenever they had free time, whether that be lunch time or even before school. “Oi, is that Nick Nelson I see there?”
Nick looked up, plastering a smile on his face at the sight of Harry and a few of the rugby lads sitting across from him. “Hi, Harry.”
“So what’s this I hear about you and the little gay boy?” Harry inquired, a shiteating grin on his face as he swung his bag off and onto the ground.
Nick’s face scrunched up in confusion at that. “Um, do you mean Charlie? What about him?”
“Yeah yeah, the gay kid.” Harry replied flippantly with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Heard he’s attached himself to you like a leech recently, what’s up with that?”
Nick’s look of confusion warped into one of apprehension and slight annoyance. “He’s not a leech, Harry. He’s just a guy. We got sat next to each other in form, and now we’re friends. What’s wrong with that?”
“Oh come on. You can’t actually be friends with the gay little year ten. Do you just feel sorry for him because he’s gay?” Harry sneered, a laugh evident in his voice. Nick was too taken aback to respond, so Harry kept going. “Wait, do you think he has a crush on you? That’s so pathetic. No wonder he’s so attached to you. The little gay boy has-”
Nick startled at the sudden loud thud that echoed throughout the room, and thankfully it seemed Harry had too. “Harry Greene.” The name was sneered, and Nick almost didn’t have to look up to guess who it was. However the voice was so juxtaposed to the one he was typically used to hearing out of Charlie Spring’s mouth, he couldn’t help but to glance up and stare at the man in question.
Charlie was feigning friendliness, a tight smile on his face where he stood leaned over the table. His palms were flat on the surface from where he’d slammed them down, and he was borderline towering over Nick’s shoulder in order to face Harry. “Are we gonna have a problem here, mate ?” He asked tensely, fluttering his eyes a bit at Harry.
Harry and his goons just started laughing at the response. “Aw, does little Charlie have a crush?”
“Oh, yeah,” Charlie started casually. Nick was a bit shocked when his heart skipped at the idea. “He’s part of my legion of boyfriends. You know, same as how I must have a crush on Tao, and I must have a crush on Issac, and I must have a crush on every single one of my male friends, right, Harry?” Charlie spoke in a sing-song-esque voice, now looking at Harry with confusion and a raised eyebrow, however Nick could practically feel the tension radiating off Charlie above him.
Harry had the nerve to laugh again. “Come on, Charlie. We’re just joking around with our friend Nick here.” He rationalized, reaching across the table and pushing Nick’s shoulder in what was meant to be a playful manner.
Charlie glanced down towards Nick at the action, and Nick couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact or respond to Harry. After a moment he felt Charlie turn back to Harry. “Your friend Nick doesn’t seem to be in on your joke. And I don’t think I particularly find it funny either.” He answered easily, tone now reflecting the seriousness of his words. He was now completely glaring at Harry.
“So what are you gonna do about it, gay boy?” Harry sneered back, shit eating grin still intact as he stood up to lean over his own side of the table to match Charlie.
Charlie chuckled darkly, eyes falling closed and head falling briefly, before he composed himself and returned his glare to Harry. “I think my reputation speaks for itself, mate. Piss. Off.” He practically growled, face finally turning to proper anger as he clenched his jaw and continued to glare at Harry.
Harry just laughed, but clearly something must have gotten through as he backed away. “Whatever, Charlie. Let’s go boys.” He spoke, acting unphased as he and his goons walked away.
Charlie let out a deep breath, all tension leaking out of his body before plopping down next to Nick. “Guess the gay by association shits starting to catch up with you. I’m sorry. I should’ve warned you that would happen. Burden of getting stuck with the gay kid.” When Nick didn’t respond, just staring at him, Charlie raised an eyebrow. “Uh, Nick? You alright there?”
Nick seemed to blink back to reality at that, now actually seeing Charlie rather than just staring, and catching the concerned look on his face. “Yeah. Sorry, I’m fine. Just took me off guard.” He spoke, sounding a bit dazed even to his own ears.
Charlie’s face remained confused, but an endearing smile broke out on his face. “Harry Greene generally being a dick took you off guard?” He questioned, setting his own bag down on the ground next to them.
It really didn’t. Harry was his friend, had been for years, and he had always been kind of a dick. The homophobia was new, but somehow not all that surprising to Nick. He’d never really heard Harry say anything about Charlie the year before, but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. No, Charlie is what shocked him. Charlie and his stone cold voice and threats. He wanted to say Charlie wasn’t like that, but Nick knew that wasn’t true. He’d heard all about Charlie, seen the people who’d gotten on his bad side in person. He knew exactly what Charlie was capable of. But after the last month or so of getting to know Charlie, sweet, kind hearted Charlie, it was shocking. Shocking to see this boy who was usually all smiles and teasing be so threatening.
“Yeah.” Nick settled on, not really wanting to tell Charlie it was him who threw him off. “I mean, I knew Harry was a bit of a dick, guess I just didn’t realize he was also a homophobic dick.”
Charlie gave him a look before scoffing and pulling out his small lunch box. “He’s a stuck up rich kid. I feel that comes with the territory.” After a moment, Charlie seemed to rethink and he sighed. “Sorry. I know he’s your friend.”
“Yeah…” Nick trailed quietly, a bit unsure, because really, was he? Charlie was his friend, and Charlie didn’t make him feel uncomfortable any time he came up to him. Charlie didn’t make him tense up with dread whenever he heard his voice. And Charlie also wasn’t a homophobic dickhead who insulted Nick’s other friends to his face. Hell, Charlie just apologized to him for insulting Harry based on their friendship despite the fact Harry had just said awful things to him.
“You realize I’m not gonna stop fighting with those fucks just because they’re your friends and we’re friends, right?” Charlie asked, giving Nick a calculating look. Like he was trying to figure out how Nick was going to take that information.
It wasn’t exactly something Nick had thought about. “You know not all the rugby lads are my friends, right?”
Charlie gave him a deadpan look. “You sure seem to hang around a lot of your not friends a lot.” He replied with a roll of his eyes
Nick shrugged. “I mean, I’m part of the team. I’m kind of expected to hangout with the team. Comradery and all that.” He explained. It made sense to him. He loved rugby, and that included loving his team, even if he didn’t always agree with everything each individual member did or said. He’d practically grown up playing rugby with the lads. They were like a second family to him.
Charlie huffed, propping his head on his arm so he could look over at Nick. “So do you actually have any friends, Mr. Rugby King?”
“I mean, Sai, Christian, and Otis are pretty cool. I’ve always got on best with them.” Nick replied sheepishly. It was true, and something Nick had known for years, but nothing he’d ever actually thought about. He always hung out with the whole team. They were doing things as a whole team. Whether that be victory dinner after a game, staying in the same hotel during travel leagues, or even just going to the cinema. If he was hanging out with his friends, he was hanging out with the whole rugby team.
“Good news for you then.” Charlie replied easily. “Never heard of them, which means they’re probably cool guys.”
Nick couldn’t help but laugh softly at that. “Oh really now? Is that how we determine who’s good or not?”
Charlie gave a breathy laugh of his own, grabbing his lunch box and book bag. “Hey, after last year, if I know your name and you’re not my friend, that pretty much solidly puts you in the homophobic dickhead category. So considering they’re rugby lads and I’ve never heard of them, that gives them a pretty good chance of being decent people.” He explained, standing and slinging his bag over his shoulder.
“Hey, where are you going?” Nick asked, confused and a bit taken aback by Charlie suddenly standing up.
Charlie gave him an endearing chuckle, leaning over to gently flick him on the forehead. “Sorry pretty boy,” He teased, beginning to walk away while still facing him. “But unlike you, I actually have friends who expect me to have lunch with them.” He gave Nick one last smile before exiting the lunchroom.
Nick flushed at the nickname. Yeah, he really liked being friends with Charlie Spring.
~
Nick was naive to think that Charlie’s fighting days were over. Just because the novelty of ‘Charlie the gay kid’ had worn off, didn’t change the fact that people were still homophobic.
He was smacked upside the head with his naivety one morning in form when Charlie didn’t show up until halfway through the class, looking a bit worse for wear, and haphazardly throwing a late pass at Mr. Lange. Upon looking closer, Charlie looked pissed, walking over and practically throwing himself into his seat next to Nick. He was slouched over with his arms crossed, but that didn’t stop Nick from spotting the clear swelling and slight discoloration around his nose and left cheekbone.
“Holy shit, are you okay?” He whispered, not wanting to get in trouble but generally concerned for whatever happened to Charlie to put him in such a state.
Charlie rolled his eyes, not even looking at him. “Peachy.” He grit out.
Nick didn’t buy that for a second. “Charlie, you look like you’re gonna have a black eye by the end of the day, that’s not peachy.”
Charlie threw his head back and groaned, but was sure to keep it quiet. “Nick, I’m fine, just drop it.”
“Charlie, your nose is bleeding.”
Those seemed to be the magic words as Charlie sat up with a start, panic in his eyes as he brought his hand up to his nose, coming away red and sticky. “Shit.”
Nick himself felt the same panic that had just appeared briefly on Charlie’s face. He had to have been hit pretty hard for his nose to start bleeding this long after whatever had happened. “Come on. We can go to the bathrooms and we can-” Charlie swatted his hands away.
“Nick, I can take care of myself. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a nose bleed. Just leave it.” Charlie urged, annoyance clear in his voice.
“Charlie!” Nick exclaimed, reaching out to place his own hand over Charlie’s. His heart was racing. “Please.”
Charlie looked at him, really looked at him for the first time that day, and his eyes seemed to soften after a moment before he groaned. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”
Nick didn’t waste a second. “Mr. Lange!” Charlie’s eyes widened and he jumped just slightly at Nick’s sudden volume. Nick felt a bit guilty, but this was an emergency. “Charlie’s got a nose bleed.”
Mr. Lange’s eyes had widened at the words, seeming to widen a bit more when he actually took in Charlie’s appearance. “Right. Please take him to the nurses office, and take the box of tissues from my desk so you don’t make a bloody mess.” He spoke, keeping his voice even and calm.
Nick stood up quickly, pulling Charlie behind him with the hand that was still holding his. Charlie kept his head leaned back to slow the drip, making sure to grab the box of tissues on their way out and quickly grabbing two to hold to his own nose. Once they were in the hallway, Charlie spoke up, voice muffled a bit by the tissues. “We are not going to the nurses office. I just spent most of my morning there, I am not going back to that stuffy room. If I’m letting you do this, you’re taking me to the god damn bathroom.”
Nick wanted to protest, but he chose to keep his mouth shut. He couldn’t exactly blame Charlie. He hadn’t been to the nurses office often, but he didn’t think it would be a particularly fun place to be. He was counting his luck that Charlie was even letting him do this.
He’d never seen Charlie after a fight before. Well, not really. He couldn’t say for sure if he’d ever seen him in the halls the previous year after a fight. He didn’t usually pay that close attention. But given the amount of fights Charlie had been in, Nick was sure he’d probably seen it at some point. He couldn’t say he enjoyed the sight.
He got Charlie into the bathroom and situated him near the sink, finally releasing his hand that he hadn’t dropped. Charlie sat the tissue box on the edge of the sink and threw the bloody ones in the nearby trash can whilst Nick went to grab actual paper towels from the dispenser. “What the hell happened? School’s only been in session for like half an hour.”
“You're telling me.” Charlie replied sarcastically, crossing his arms. Thankfully, his nose bleed wasn’t overly gushing blood, so he could leave it unattended temporarily. “Maybe tell it to the assholes who decided to start shit at eight o'clock in the morning.”
“That, uh, still doesn't really tell me what happened.” Nick spoke, looking up at Charlie with a nervous smile. He quickly walked over with the paper towels in hand, noticing the blood slowly coming out of Charlie’s nose and tilting his head back. “Hold still.”
“I. Am.” Charlie growled, barely concealed anger seeping through his voice as he gave Nick a pointed look. Nonetheless, he allowed Nick to tip his head back and hold the paper towels to his nose. “Second god damn nose bleed of the day.”
“Second?” Nick asked, surprise coating his tone.
Charlie gave him an annoyed look. “Yes, Nick, second. That’s what happens when some asshole gets a lucky shot off and decks you.” He complained.
“Jesus.” Nick breathed, wiping the paper towels under Charlie’s nose before pulling them away and inspecting it to see if it was still bleeding. “Who has the ability to be that much of a prick this early in the morning?” He mumbled, almost to himself, but in the quiet of the bathroom, Charlie easily heard him.
“Homophobes, apparently. Turned the corner after practicing drums and got woken up with a punch to the face. Kids got sent home for starting the whole thing. That and they weren’t exactly in any condition to stay here, if you know what I mean.” Nick knew exactly what he meant. Charlie had beat the shit out of them. It made him smile inwardly. He usually didn’t condone violence, his mum preaching that to him often, but the knowledge that Charlie had defended himself from worse occurring made up for it.
He had been busying himself with wetting new paper towels to try and clean some of the dried blood when he heard Charlie sigh. “I’m sorry I’m being kind of a dick. I’m just pissed. But that’s not an excuse to be an ass to you, especially when you’re just trying to help.”
Nick just smiled, dabbing the wet towel around his nose and upper lip. “I wasn’t taking it personally. I’d be pissed too if I got decked in the face for no reason at all at eight o'clock in the morning.”
Charlie seemed to stare at him wide eyed for a long moment whilst Nick cleaned him up, before eventually the tension leaked out of his body and he slumped a bit. “Why are you so perfect?” He sighed.
Nick tried not to stutter in his movements as he felt his face flush.
Why did Charlie always have this effect on him?
~
Nick didn’t know why he was feeling so pent up. He couldn’t even honestly identify the emotions he was feeling. The easiest way to describe it was excitement, but it was definitely more than that. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. He’d had friends over loads of times before. But none of those friends had been Charlie Spring, and as usual, Charlie had to be different. Charlie was always different, and Nick still didn’t know why.
Charlie was pretty much his best friend now, and Nick has realized hard and fast he’s never really had one of those before. He loved the rugby lads, and Sai, Christian, and Otis were great, but no one knew him the way Charlie did. It was like he had a sixth sense in tune to Nick Nelson, and Nick had no idea how. Charlie felt wise beyond his years, and Nick didn’t want to think about the reasons behind why that might have happened.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door, causing Nellie to perk up and easily follow him when he stood to answer it. There, in the flesh, at his house no less, stood Charlie Spring, a bright smile on his face. “Hi.” He greeted, hands in his coat pockets.
Nick couldn’t help but laugh when he took in Charlie’s choice of attire. “Freezing cold with snow in the forecast and you still wear the ripped jeans?” He teased lightly, looking him up and down.
Charlie made an offended noise. “Hey, rude! Unlike you, I care about how I look, and I have an aesthetic to uphold.” He defended. Before Nick could reply to that, Nellie barked from between his legs, being sure to remind Nick that she was there too.
“Right, sorry Nells. Charlie, this is Nellie.” He introduced.
He watched as Charlie’s eyes lit up when they landed on Nellie, clearly having not noticed her prior to her very vocal introduction. “Well hello, Nellie!” He spoke excitedly, quickly crouching down to pet her, which Nellie happily leaned into. It shocked Nick a bit. Nellie usually stayed away when he had friends over. She didn’t go hide in a corner or anything like that, she was a very people-y dog, but at the least she’d go to another room after she realized who was there with him. But as usual, Charlie was different.
“Oh, you are adorable, aren’t you, sweet girl?” Charlie cooed, scratching around Nellie’s ears. It was then that Nick’s eyes were drawn to Charlie’s hair, and they widened slightly as he watched Charlie stand up. Charlie giggled at the look on Nick’s face. “What?”
“Your hair.” Nick replied, a laugh coating his own voice as he reached out to mess with Charlie’s curls.
“What, is it bad?” Charlie asked, a smile on his face to accompany his teasing tone.
“N-no!” Nick was quick to defend. He quickly pulled his hand away, realizing he hadn’t even asked before touching Charlie’s hair.
Charlie chuckled under his breath before walking fully inside and shedding his coat. “Good. It needed cut. It was starting to get difficult to handle.” He spoke, Nick taking his jacket from him to hang up. Nick was happy to see that despite the ripped jeans, the rest of Charlie was more prepared for the colder weather, wearing a black sweater under his jacket.
“You play Mario Kart?” Nick asked casually, walking Charlie into the kitchen where he had prepared two cups of tea.
Charlie gave him an awed look that slowly morphed into a competitive grin. “Oh, you are on, pretty boy.” He replied, taking the cup Nick offered him.
Nick hadn’t planned on spending his afternoon getting his ass handed to him in Mario Kart, but Charlie Spring was always one step ahead of him as it seemed. “How are you so good at everything?” Nick exclaimed after Charlie beat him in their seventh race in a row.
Charlie shoved him playfully. “Hush, you. I am not good at everything, you’re just an incredibly sore loser.”
“Name one thing you’re not good at.” Nick challenged, pausing their game and setting his controller down.
“Easy. Rugby.” Charlie responded without hesitation.
“Um, last I checked, you’ve never played rugby, so that doesn’t count.” Nick countered. “Besides, I happen to think you’d be pretty good at rugby.”
Charlie raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like a rugby player to you?”
Nick had to laugh at that, because no, Charlie didn’t. “Maybe not, but that’s not exactly my reasoning. You’ve spent the last year beating people up who were twice your size. I think you’d be plenty strong enough to hold your own. Plus, you’re extremely fast.”
“Oh god, that’s what this is, isn’t it?” Charlie groaned, setting his own controller down. “The rugby king is trying to infect me.” The boys dissolved into laughter after that. Nick had to admit, the thought of Charlie joining the team was enticing. It would be a great excuse to hang out with him more, and it would solve their reserve problem. Maybe even get some of the lads to leave Charlie alone if they actually got to know him and realized he was just a cool guy.
Nick’s thoughts trailed off when he realized Charlie had gone quiet, staring out the window of his bedroom. “What’s-woah.” He cut himself off when he got a good look for himself, seeing the snow falling outside. The duo shared a look before bolting upright and booking it down the stairs.
They were practically tripping over themselves in an effort to get ready, Nick himself nearly falling over whilst putting his shoes on. After a quick warning to be careful and come in if it got too cold from Nick’s mum, the two were out the door, Nellie not far behind, and almost immediately engaged in a rather heated snowball fight.
“Ow! Jesus, why do you throw literal bullets!” Nick complained loudly after being pelted square in the shoulder by one of Charlie’s snowballs.
The man in question just smirked devilishly, tossing a snowball up and down in his hand. “Gotta have some strength and precision if you wanna, in your own words, take down people twice your size.” He explained, before not hesitating to throw the snowball he had right at Nick, once more connecting with a resounding thud.
“Alright, that’s it.” Nick stated, before running at Charlie and tackling him to the ground. The duo rolled around for a bit, fighting for dominance before Nick had the upper hand long enough to shove snow down Charlie’s coat. He squealed as the freezing snow made contact with his skin, immediately throwing some loose snow at Nick’s face in retaliation.
“Alright, alright, off, off.” Charlie spoke breathlessly, gently shoving Nick off of him and standing up. “At this rate we’ll have to take your mum’s advice and go back inside soon, because I am now FREEZING.”
Nick carefully stood up as well, dusting the loose snow off of him. “I’m not sorry.” He replied with a grin.
Charlie just rolled his eyes, reaching out to grab his hand and tug him along. “Come on! Snow angels with Nellie time!” He spoke loudly with a laugh, the duo moving to a clearing in order to plop down and make snow angels. Nick couldn’t help but pull out his phone to take pictures of them. Nellie and Charlie were too cute of a duo to ignore, and he wanted to be sure he remembered this sight.
It wasn’t until later that night, long after Charlie left, tha Nick realized just how many pictures he took. He hadn’t been able to look at them yet, and he wanted to see how they had turned out. He hadn’t expected to see tens of pictures staring back at him. He never usually took pictures when friends were over, usually not even thinking about it. He was usually too distracted by whatever the lads were doing to think it necessary. Yet now he had all kinds of photos of him and Charlie just sitting in his phone, most of them not even that different from each other.
What was wrong with him?
~
What Nick was not prepared for, was bearing witness to one of Charlie Spring’s infamous fights. He supposed it was inevitable. The closer he and Charlie got, the more likely it was. He had already helped patch Charlie up a few times since he met him, but it was usually long after whatever confrontation had already occurred.
The day had started as usual, Nick arriving at school and spending the morning with the lads and form with Charlie. It wasn’t until lunch where shit really hit the fan. Nick had been opting to eat lunch with Charlie, who had temporarily left his friends to eat lunch with him so he wouldn’t be alone. Nick had no desire to stick around Harry anymore than he was required too. He didn’t want to be the reason for tension between the lads, so he had opted not to say anything aloud. But after abandoning them during the lunch period, Nick didn’t have anyone else to sit with, so in walked Charlie.
The duo had been sitting in the courtyard just chatting, their lunches already consumed, when Harry had approached them. “Nicholas Nelson!” Harry greeted, but Nick recognized it quickly as more of a jeer than anything. He saw Charlie look up at the voice, a glare making its way onto his face before he even fully saw Harry. The duo had both been sitting in rather relaxed positions, both with their legs spread out in front of them and leaning back on their hands. Nick opted to sit up at Harry’s arrival and cross his arms, whereas Charlie stayed in place.
“Hi, Harry.” Nick replied, apprehension in his voice as he cautiously eyed Harry. He thankfully only had two of his goons with him.
“Out on a date, are we?” He ‘joked’, having a laugh with his friends.
Nick felt his face flush at the accusation. “I-uh-”
“We’re eating lunch, Harry.” Charlie piped in, voice deceptively calm. “What of it?” He asked with a head tilt.
“Relax, mate, just wanted to check in on my buddy Nick here.” Harry answered easily, to which Charlie just rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet. “Come on, mate. Why don’t you come have lunch with us?”
Nick tensed a bit at just the thought. “I already ate, Harry. I hung out with you and the lads this morning, and I’ll see you all at practice later. Just wanted to have a more quiet lunch break, that’s all. You know how the lads can get.” He was pretty proud of himself for that response, and it was partly true. The lads were rather rowdy, no matter what time of day it was. It really was nice to just have some space from them sometimes. Extra time with Charlie was just a plus.
“Oh come on!” Harry drawled, walking closer to Nick. “You’re the rugby king! You gotta be with your team! We’ve got plays and strategies to discuss!” He reasoned, nudging into Nick’s shoulder with his leg.
“Harry-” Nick started, trying to lightly shove Harry away from him to little effect.
“We can’t have our star player ditching his team! We’re your friends! Come on Nicky, get your head back on straight and come back-” Harry was cut off abruptly by a much harsher shove than what Nick had been giving him.
“Nick doesn’t want to talk to you, Harry. Piss. Off.” Charlie spoke gruffly, having stood up to properly get into it with Harry and put some distance between him and Nick.
Harry just laughed, showing no signs of backing down. His eyes were looking past Charlie and right at Nick, who was still sitting on the ground. “Come on, mate. Are you really going to let your little gay boy speak for you?”
Charlie sidestepped to be back in Harry’s line of sight, blocking Nick. “Yeah, because like I said, Nick doesn’t want to talk to you, Harry. Now go on. Fuck off.” He spoke, standing up just a bit straighter.
“This doesn’t concern you, mate .” Harry sneered, giving Charlie a good shove of his own. Charlie stumbled just slightly, but mostly held his ground.
“You’re treating my friend like shit right in front of my face, so yeah, it does concern me.” He spoke the last bit through gritted teeth, getting closer to Harry once more. Nick could practically feel the tension growing between the two. Charlie looked proper pissed, and while Harry was still sporting his usual grin, even Nick could sense the underlying annoyance hiding under it.
“Oh come on, Charlie. He’s our friend too. You can’t keep stealing him away from us.”
Charlie rolled his eyes in the most exaggerated manner Nick thinks he’s ever seen. “Nick’s not a toy to steal, Harry. He can make his own decisions, and like he already told you, he spent time with you this morning, and he’ll see you at practice later. He’s not abandoning you, which considering your piss poor attitude, you should be incredibly grateful for.”
Harry’s goons ooed and awed at Charlie’s words, clearly wanting to egg the two on. “So what? You wanna have a go at me, mate?” Harry spoke, finally appearing like he was taking the confrontation seriously.
Charlie downright cackled at that. “Harry, if you swing on me, I’m gonna beat your ass. If I swing on you, you’re gonna go cry to a teacher. That’s the difference between you and me, Harry. I handle my business myself. You’re just a pussy.” The words did exactly what Charlie had intended, Harry instantly cracking and swinging on Charlie. The punch landed, Charlie staggering backwards, head whipping to the side after the connection.
“Charlie!” Nick cried out in alarm, bolting to his feet.
Charlie himself merely smirked as his head lifted back up, eyes boring holes into Harry’s as he spit blood from his mouth. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He grinned, and immediately bolted from where he stood. He was so fast, Nick wasn’t even sure if he saw him move until he had suddenly taken Harry to the ground.
Harry’s friends seemed smart enough to stay out of the brawl, opting to simply cheer along with the small crowd that had gathered after Harry had thrown the first punch. The two rolled around on the ground, fighting for dominance for a few seconds before Harry wound up on top, having the strength advantage. Unfortunately for him, that’s the only advantage he had on Charlie, who quickly wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist and thrusted forward whilst releasing his hold. The move put some distance between the duo, allowing for Charlie to swiftly position his knee in order to get Harry in the dick, who quickly doubled over.
Charlie rolled on top of him, punching him one, two, three, and a powerful fourth time in the face. Charlie was panting, just slightly, moving to stand up over Harry. He hadn’t punched him hard enough to concuss him, or even knock him out, but Harry looked incredibly dazed nonetheless, not moving from his place on the ground. His nose was not only bleeding, but definitely looked broken from Nick’s distant view.
“Charlie!” Nick called out. Charlie looked up at him, confident smirk taking Nick aback slightly. He didn’t look bothered by the confrontation at all. The only remnants being the bruise slowly blooming across his right cheekbone where Harry had initially hit him. Nick felt frozen at the sight. Charlie looked good.
“Come on.” He spoke eventually, walking over to Charlie. He gave Harry a once over, who was so out of it from getting his shit rocked, he didn’t even seem to notice. “Let’s go. Before you get in trouble.”
Charlie shrugged, smirk not leaving his face. “Hey, that was self defense. We have plenty of witness testimonies that he threw the first punch.” He answered, sending Nick a playful head tilt.
“Still. Come on.” Nick urged, gently pushing Charlie to get him to start moving.
Charlie groaned, but there was no real heat behind it. “Alright, whatever you say, pretty boy.” He teases, but let Nick guide him away from the fight and back into the school.
When they continue to pass by bathrooms, and eventually even the nurses office, Charlie stops them. “Nick, where on earth are you taking me?”
“You’ll see.” Nick replied, continuing to guide Charlie through the school. He was in go mode, not letting anything interrupt him. Eventually, he leads Charlie into the locker room.
“The rugby locker room? Why have you brought me to the rugby locker room?” Charlie asked as Nick sat him on one of the benches.
“Privacy.” Nick replied simply. “And it’s just a locker room, not the rugby locker room.” He added, rummaging through different cabinets.
Charlie looked at him with genuine confusion. “Privacy?”
Nick finally seemed to be brought back to reality, flushing with embarrassment as he turned to face Charlie. “I mean, you uh, don’t seem to like the nurses office when you’re hurt. And you usually don’t even like me being around you, so.” He replied sheepishly, vaguely gesturing to the room around him. “And uh, it has medical supplies.” He added as an afterthought, waving around an ice pack he’d pulled from a cooler that was by the cabinets.
Charlie looked momentarily taken aback, before quickly regaining his usual confidence and laughing softly. “You are something else, Nick Nelson.”
Nick snorted, walking over to Charlie and crouching in front of him. “Says the guy who just punched the shit out of Harry Greene just because he wouldn’t leave me alone.” He retaliated, gently pressing the ice pack to the bruise on Charlie’s face. He gave a barely noticeable flinch at the cold, but other than that didn’t react.
“Don’t get too big headed about it. I’ve been looking for a reason to knock him silly since the year started. The opportunity just finally presented itself.” Charlie replied with a teasing grin.
Nick chuckled, taking the ice pack away to inspect the wound, which was now a proper bruise. “Not as bad as the first time I saw you with a bruised face.”
“Yeah, that’s cause Harry hits like a bitch.” Charlie answered easily as Nick reapplied the ice pack to his face. “You enjoy your first front row seat to a Charlie Spring fight?”
“I liked seeing Harry get taken down a peg.” Nick answered with a small smile. “But can’t say I liked watching you get punched.”
“Awe, does big softie Nick Nelson care about me?” Charlie asked teasingly.
Nick’s face heated up at the teasing words.
Yeah. He really did.
~
Nick finally got all his questions answered when he went to Charlie’s house for the first time. Most of the day had passed as usual. He’d tried Charlie’s drums to absolutely no success, with Charlie relentlessly teasing him for having absolutely no rhythm. He’d tried to help him out, but had made it clear to Nick that it was ‘cheating’ and ‘didn’t count’ if he didn’t do it himself. Nick had barely paid attention, face flushed from Charlie being so close to him and grabbing his hands, much to his continued confusion.
They’d had to take a pause on their hangout to actually finish their homework, which took longer than it should have with Charlie unable to resist giving him shit. It didn’t help that Nick was starting to get better at countering Charlie, turning what would usually be teasing remarks into back and forth banter. At one point, Nick had even started tussling with Charlie over his maths homework. He’s not sure why he did it. He knew that if Charlie wanted to he could fairly easily throw him off. But unsurprisingly, Charlie made no move of the sort, just playfully fighting him back.
Once they finally got their work finished they’d moved on to Mario Kart, which Charlie unsurprisingly destroyed him at. Despite never winning, it was a game Nick had loved his whole life, and getting to play it with Charlie was all the better. And eventually when Charlie’s family returned, he got to play with all three Spring siblings, much to the delight of one Oliver Spring.
But it wasn’t any of that that did it for Nick. It was what transpired at the end of the night. The duo had been watching a movie, but Nick couldn’t help but curiously peek over at Charlie when he realized his sarcastic comments had dwindled to a stop. The other boy had fallen asleep, slumped a bit on the couch and blanket falling off of him. Nick couldn’t help but smile. Charlie looked so… soft. He wasn’t used to it. Charlie was all sharp edges, tough attitude, and silver tongue. He wasn’t used to seeing the boy with his guard down, all tension zapped from his body.
Nick felt honored that Charlie felt comfortable enough to let him see that side of himself. This much more vulnerable side. That’s when he noticed that Charlie’s hand was facing up towards him. Just lying limp there on the couch.
He reached out slowly, as if to take Charlie’s hand before quickly pulling it back, tucking it close to his chest. His heart was racing again. Why did he want to take Charlie’s hand? He couldn’t remember ever wanting to do that before. Was it just tempting to him because his hand was just laying there?
Nick reached out again, even slower this time, hand just barely hovering over Charlie’s. He felt his heart rate spike again in what he assumed to be panic and quickly pulled it back again. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he want to hold Charlie’s hand? And more importantly, why was the thought so terrifying to him? Was it just because he didn’t know the reason?
He didn’t have anymore time to contemplate it as a groan rang throughout the room, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked over as Charlie sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “Did I fall asleep?” He asked calmly, sending Nick a questioning glance.
Thankfully it only took Nick a second to get a hold of himself. “Yeah. You missed the end of the movie.” He explained, watching as Charlie looked at the screen as the credits rolled. “And I should probably be getting home now.”
Charlie yawned. “I suppose that makes sense, given the time of night.” He replied, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb anyone else in the house. He carefully wrapped the loose blanket tighter around himself and stood from the couch. Nick took that as his cue to stand as well, heading towards the front door with Charlie in tow. He turned towards Charlie as he was putting his coat on and couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight before him.
“Excuse me, what’s so funny there, pretty boy?” Charlie responded in mock offense, hands on his hips.
“No, it’s nothing, just…” Nick trailed off, eyes darting around as he contemplated his next words. “You look so cuddly like that.”
Charlie gave him an unimpressed look, a goofy smile on his face. “Cuddly? Really Nelson?”
“Yeah.” Nick replied softly, not really having anything else to say. He contemplated his next move for a brief second before stepping forward and pulling Charlie into a tight hug. He felt Charlie tense for a brief moment himself before slowly wrapping his arms around him and sticking his head in his shoulders.
It felt right. Nick still felt incredibly panicky and confused, but for the first time in over a month, he felt a sense of calm. And it scared him. He loved spending time with Charlie. It had been such a source of joy for him in the few months he’d known him. But it always brought up weird feelings. His heart rate always increased, he always felt surges of panic and confusion, his face was on fire a majority of the time, but at the same time he always felt so happy. Like his face was going to split from smiling and laughing so much.
The realization hit him so hard he audibly gasped out loud. Thankfully, it seemed Charlie didn’t notice as he hastily pulled away from the hug. “Okay, g-gotta go. I’ll see you Monday.” He spoke quickly, trying to put on a smile as he turned and quickly walked out the door. He needed to get out of there.
Because holy shit.
He had a crush on Charlie.