Sleepover

                                    

                                          

Charlie was incredibly nervous as the weekend approached. Their first group sleepover; his and Nick's first official sleepover as boyfriends. And then to have Nick be counting on him to help him come out to Imogen ... It was a lot. He kept checking and rechecking the bowls of snacks while he waited for everyone to arrive. 
Tori appeared in the doorway, the way she did, and he looked up at her and smiled. "Are you staying to hang out with us?"
"I will be going upstairs." 
He laughed. Of course she would. "Mum and Dad hardly ever go away at weekends. You can invite some of your friends over."
"I treasure my alone time. Why exactly did you purchase the entire Tesco snack aisle?"
"It's a sleepover. We need snacks." He hesitated before admitting, "And everything about tonight needs to be perfect."
"Are you getting graded for it?"
Sometimes it felt a little bit like that, like he had to prove he was good enough for Nick. Not that Nick felt that way ... but everyone else must. Charlie was sure of it. 
"I'm helping Nick come out to one of his oldest friends."
Before Tori could respond, the doorbell rang and Charlie hurried to answer it, sure that by the time he opened the door she would have disappeared, not to be seen again as long as there were people in the house. 
Nick was the first one there, going in for a hug as soon as the door was open.
"Hi."
"I made cupcakes."
"Wow. Well done. Proud of you."
"It's very unlike me," Nick said, pulling back to smile at him.
"We have a snack table you can put them on." He led Nick into the living room. The cupcakes were so cute—he could tell Nick had decorated them himself. Maybe he'd have one later. Just one. For Nick.
Two by two, and Isaac, the others arrived, and separated into their pairs naturally almost immediately. Charlie meant to be a good host, but everyone seemed to be having fun, Isaac deep in his book, and sitting here with Nick talking about nothing, while Nick kept edging closer so their knees and then their shoulders and finally their hands were touching felt so amazing he completely lost track of time.
Then the doorbell rang again, and Nick's eyes widened immediately in panic.
They hadn't told the others they had invited Imogen, so when they all raced for the door and saw her standing there, it was a bit of an awkward moment. 
"Come in, come in," Charlie told her, seeing the hesitancy in her smile. "Let me show you where to put your bags."
"Yeah, Charlie will give you a tour," Nick said.
"Yeah, um ... Yeah, a tour." He wondered if Nick was coming on this tour, to get Imogen alone and tell her straight off.
Nick did join them in the kitchen later while Charlie was making Imogen a cup of tea. They all stood at the sink, with her in the middle. Imogen looked up at Nick. "Your friend group is so nice. How did you get to know everyone?"
Charlie smiled at Nick in support, but he could see his boyfriend was still struggling with this moment.
"Uh ... Well, um ... I guess it was Charlie first. Um ... 'Cause me and Charlie, we're like ..." 
He held his breath, waiting, but the moment passed.
Nick went on, "You know, we're in the same form, and um ... Yeah."
Imogen waited to see if there was more, and when it was clear there wasn't she said, "Cute!"
From the other room, Tara called that they were ordering pizza, and Imogen took her mug and hurried back in to place her order.
Charlie went to Nick immediately. "It's okay."
"I don't know why it's so hard to just ... say it."
They went back in to order their pizzas, Charlie wishing he had words of advice, but ... he'd never had to come out. It had been done for him. Little as he had enjoyed that, it had certainly saved him a few steps.
While they waited for the pizzas to arrive, the girls put on music and started dancing. They tried to pull Isaac in, but he clung to his book. Imogen was glad to jump up and dance, and she called for Nick to join in, but he claimed not to be able to dance. Maybe he couldn't. Charlie couldn't, either.
When they all ran to get the door, Charlie leaned his head against Nick's shoulder, wanting Nick to be sure it was okay if he wasn't ready, but he didn't think Nick got the message.
After the pizzas were gone, and most of the snacks as well, they all clustered in front of the TV watching together. Imogen leaned across Nick, asking quietly, "Charlie, can I use your bathroom?"
"Yeah, sure."
Nick looked at Charlie, and Charlie gave him the supportive smile he'd been practising. "Um ... I'll show you where it is." Nick got up to lead her out of the room. He glanced back quickly once Imogen had passed through the doorway, to a chorus of thumbs ups and "Tell her!" From the small, uncertain smile Nick gave him, Charlie wasn't sure if that had helped, or if it had just increased the pressure. He hoped it was the first one.
When he came back, he gave everyone a thumbs up, to their vocal approval, and Charlie reached out a hand to him as he returned to the couch. There was something weird about him, but Charlie put that down to having just come out, which was a pretty big deal.
Eventually, everyone excused themselves one by one to change into pyjamas, and they set up blankets and mattresses on the floor.
Charlie and Nick lay down head to head, as close to each other as they dared. Instead of whispering, they texted each other.
Nick started: "I told her"
"omg!!!!!!!!" with lots of hearts.
"Coming out is a lot harder than I thought"
Charlie reached a hand out and Nick took it, holding it like it was his lifeline. They fell asleep like that, and woke up still hand in hand, to Darcy leaning over them with a goofy grin on her face. "You two are too cute for words."
Yes, they were. And Charlie had never been happier.