Chapter Text
Nick wasn’t looking forward to his family’s Menorca holiday.
Usually, going to Menorca was something he looked forward to all year round; he was able to spend time with his auntie, uncle, and little cousins, he loved feeling the warm sand beneath his feet at the beach and lazily lounging in a sun chair near the pool, and the food was always heavenly.
However, this year was different in every sense of the word.
He hadn’t yet given much thought to his plans for university, and would look like an unprepared fool when his family inevitably asked where he would be attending or what he would be studying. His older brother David had always been insufferable to be around, but things had gotten much worse after Nick came out as bisexual a few months ago, his sexuality becoming the most common target for David’s unwanted remarks. He was going to miss his friends.
Missing his friends hadn’t always been an issue for Nick – he’d never truly had friends to be missed. When his friend group was made up entirely of the rugby lads, he almost wanted to have a two week break from them and their antics.
Nick never had fit in quite right with that crowd; they shared virtually nothing in common beyond the sport that they played together, and most of the boys were just plain knobs. They bullied the boys in the years below them, they chucked stuff at people as they entered the school gates, and they never shut up about the Higgs girls they fancied. Nick felt like he was putting on an act whenever he was around them, like he was portraying some other version of himself that was entirely artificial.
Then he met Charlie Spring, and his entire world was flipped on its head.
Nick met Charlie in January, when they were sat next to each other in their form group at the beginning of the term. Of course, he’d known of Charlie for a while, he was in the year below him after all, but their paths hadn’t crossed until Mr. Lange penned their names next to one another on his seating plan.
Despite coming from two seemingly different walks of life – Nick being a star rugby player and Charlie the more quiet, shy ‘nerd’ – the two boys had clicked instantly.
Nick quickly found himself going out of his way to greet Charlie when they passed each other on their way to their lessons. Then, they began spending weekends hanging out at each other’s houses. They texted and spoke on the phone nonstop.
Along with Charlie came some other individuals of whom Nick had grown fond. Isaac, Elle, and Tao were Charlie’s closest friends, and then Elle introduced them to Tara and Darcy, and their little group became virtually inseparable.
Sure, he didn’t instantly connect with all of them the same way he had with Charlie; Tao in particular didn’t warm up to him for the first few months of their friendship, and while Nick never discovered exactly why Tao didn’t like him at first, he tried not to let that get in the way of the relationship they had eventually been able to build.
Suddenly, Nick had friends. Real friends who he could trust, who cared about him, who he could be himself around. It was like a breath of fresh air, a relieving exhale of a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding deep inside himself.
Friends who he was going to miss.
“Nick, can you come down to the kitchen, please?” Nick’s mum called up the stairs.
“One second!” Nick replied. He leaned forward from where he was sat cross-legged on his bed to pause the music that played from his laptop.
Descending the staircase, Nick made his way to the kitchen. When he passed through the walkway, he saw his mum sitting at the table, laptop open and various papers scattered about around her. David leaned against the wall behind her, one hand shoved in the pocket of his jacket and the other holding his phone, which he scrolled through with disinterest.
“Alright, I’m just about to book the tickets. We’re going to be leaving next Saturday to meet Rich, Diane and their little ones at the airport. I know you teenagers like to stay round each others’ houses late, but remember we’ve got to be on the road at five that morning, so please plan to get enough sleep, okay?”
The plan was the same every year, but Nick still appreciated his mum confirming all the details with him. She tended to stress herself out whenever they went to Menorca, so he was just going to let her do what she needed to do to feel organized.
“Sounds good. Thanks, mum.” He leaned down to where she sat, wrapping one arm around her in a short hug.
Behind him, suddenly, he heard David scoff.
“What?” He turned to glare at his brother.
“Nothing,” David rolled his eyes, but there was a smirk on his lips. “Just another year without a plus-one, but I suppose I’m not surprised, that’s all.”
“David, that’s enough-“ their mother warned, but in true David-fashion, he continued.
“I’m starting to think you’re not actually gay, you’re just really bad at chatting up girls and needed an excuse.”
“I’m literally not gay, I’m bi!” Nick bit out through gritted teeth, standing up a bit straighter. This was why he wasn’t looking forward to this stupid trip. David never passed up an opportunity to get under his skin.
“By yourself, that is,” David snickered. God, how childish could he be? “It’s not like you’ve got a boyfriend either, so my point stands.”
“I do !” Nick clenched his jaw, immediately regretting those two words. Oh, shit. Shit shit shit . He gulped.
David smirked at him. “Oh yeah? What’s his name?”
He sounded like he was mocking him, like he didn’t buy the lie that had just slipped from between Nick’s teeth in the slightest. He couldn’t panic. He had to just say a name.
“Charlie,” Fuck. “It’s…it’s Charlie.” Why the fuck did he say that? He was just going to give a random name and try to play it off! Why did he say Charlie?
David stared at him, brow raised skeptically as if he still wasn’t convinced. Before he could say anything, though, their mum spoke.
“Oh, Nicky! You and Charlie are going out?” She smiled up at him, setting down the pen she had been using to mark important details on the page in front of her.
Nick nervously scratched the back of his head, suddenly feeling far too hot in his jumper. “Yeah.” He gave her a grin that he hoped came off as more confident than he felt.
He was a bit taken aback by how purely excited she looked. She was giving him that same loving smile that she wore when he had come out to her.
“I always did think you two made a cute little pair. You should ask him if he’d like to join us in Menorca! I can pull some strings and get him a ticket, I do love that boy.”
Oh my god, Nick thought. This was going to be impossible to maneuver.
“Um, yeah! He’d probably like that, I’ll ask him later this afternoon when I go to his house!” Nick tried to sound excited, but on the inside, he was in a full panic. “Speaking of, I have to shower and leave for Charlie’s soon, actually,” he dismissed himself, adding in a polite “Thanks, mum.”
Before he turned to head back to his bedroom, he locked eyes with his brother. David was glaring straight through him, and while Nick couldn’t quite read his exact expression, he knew one thing for sure.
David didn’t buy into his lie. And for some reason, Nick felt the urge to prove him wrong, to make him believe him.
Charlie could tell that something was wrong with Nick from the moment he stepped through the front door of his house that afternoon.
He didn’t say anything at first. He had learned over the course of their friendship that patience was important; he was patient with Nick as he began to distance himself from his friendships with the rugby lads (though he kept in contact with a few of the kinder boys) even though it meant Charlie had to endure Harry Greene’s snarky comments about him for a longer period of time, and he expected Nick to be patient with him whenever he found it difficult to eat or open up about the storm that was raging on in his head.
So, they had gone up to Charlie’s room to spend time together without a word from Charlie about how Nick seemed like something was bothering him.
Besides, it was likely just something small occupying his mind.
The boys sat on the edge of Charlie’s bed, controllers in hand as they raced their virtual Mario Kart characters. They had played this game together for months now, and Nick had only beaten him a handful of times (usually by cheating, which he always denied as he would soak in the adrenaline of his uncommon victory).
They were both quite competitive. But Nick was uncharacteristically quiet today.
He wasn’t whining about Charlie being too good, or becoming so immersed in the game that he began moving his whole body with every turn and jump of his virtual kart, or nudging Charlie’s elbow in an attempt to throw him off course and take him over on the leaderboard.
After the victory screen lit up Charlie’s side of the screen for the third time, he finally set his controller down on the bed and turned to face Nick.
“It’s no fun winning against a competitor who’s not even trying,” Charlie said lightheartedly.
With a sigh, Nick also tossed his controller onto the bed behind him, pulling his legs up from where they were hanging off the edge of the bed and crossing them as he faced Charlie.
“Sorry, just…thinking.” Nick’s eyes were glued to his hands, where Charlie noticed him picking at the beds of his fingernails. A nervous habit, Charlie recognized. Why was Nick nervous?
“Thinking about…?” Charlie pressed gently, aiming to nudge Nick in the direction of opening up, but also leaving him the opportunity to back out.
“You’re going to be mad at me.”
Oh? Charlie thought. “I highly doubt that, Nick.” He smiled, inviting his friend to continue.
“Okay…two things. First, you know how David’s a proper dick, right?” Charlie nodded. Nick’s older brother was a menace, picking on him in such a way that went far beyond sibling banter and crossed into the realm of straight up bullying.
Nick continued, “Well, we were talking about Menorca this morning with our mum, and for whatever reason he just kept pestering me about how I’ve never brought a…partner along with me. And then one thing led to another, and I, uh…ended up blurting out that I’ve got a boyfriend.”
“Oh,” Charlie felt slightly confused, not quite following what Nick was saying. “Why would I be mad at you for that? Have you actually got a secret boyfriend I don’t know about?” He tried his best to sound teasing, but deep down, he really hoped Nick didn’t actually have a boyfriend.
“No!” Nick cleared up instantly, and Charlie felt relieved, until…
“It’s just…he totally didn’t believe me, because then he got this dumb look on his face and asked me for a name. And I, um…I said it’s you?”
Oh. Oh.
David was one of the few people in this world that Charlie could confidently say he hated.
At first, he only knew about David’s general unpleasantness through stories told to him by Nick. But since David had come home from university for the summer, Charlie had a few less than favorable encounters with him. Nick’s older brother referred to him exclusively as Nick’s little queer mate, and in general, David reminded him of an older, less-avoidable version of Harry Greene.
“Nick, you’re an idiot,” Charlie laughed.
He wasn’t exactly sure why Nick gave David his name specifically. Charlie assumed that it was the most believable filler name for the lie he had gotten caught up in, though, considering their close friendship and Charlie’s sexuality making the whole thing actually plausible from an outsider’s perspective.
“So…what do we do now?” Charlie smiled upon seeing Nick physically relax. He was clearly relieved that Charlie wasn’t upset with him.
“Well, that’s kind of the second thing I needed to talk to you about.”
Nick suddenly looked somewhat nervous again, but also…shy? He didn’t continue his thought immediately, and Charlie assumed he was struggling to find his own words.
“Charlie, will you come to Menorca with me and pretend to be my boyfriend?”
Oh. And just like that, Charlie was no longer amused at the situation. Oh, no. He felt like he was going to be sick.
He supposed it was quite naïve of him to think that Nick’s little white lie wouldn’t have gone beyond the conversation between him and his brother. He just hadn’t expected to be asked to travel to Menorca with him, to pretend to be his boyfriend.
Because Charlie hadn’t answered for some time, Nick began to ramble.
“You totally don’t have to agree, I know it’s asking a lot. But my mum said she’s more than happy to get you a ticket, and we’re actually only going for two weeks this year instead of three like we normally do, and I…I just really want to prove David wrong, because he’s all convinced that I’m not actually bisexual which is why I got so defensive, because learning to accept myself was hard and he’s just so dismissive of that-“
“Yes.”
The word slipped from between Charlie’s lips before he could fully comprehend exactly what it meant for him. For them.
“Charlie, you really don’t have to if you’re not comfortable with it…you’re sure?”
He wasn’t sure, he was literally more unsure than he had ever been in his life. “I’m sure,” he said firmly, forcing a smile to ease Nick’s worries. “What could go wrong? I get to go to Menorca with you, and I don’t have to sit here missing you for two weeks? Yes, I’ll do it.”
Nick exhaled a sigh of relief, the biggest golden retriever smile taking over his features. He lunged forward, tackling Charlie backwards into his pillows in a crushing embrace with a laugh of disbelief.
“You’re the best, Char. Really, thank you.”
“You know I’d do anything for you. It’s no problem.”
It was a problem. This was going to be a problem.
The thing was, Charlie had developed feelings for Nick back when they first became friends. His crush on Nick Nelson was intense and overwhelming and all-consuming, and it had taken literal months of time coupled with numerous lectures from Tao to subdue.
Even though he had semi-successfully tamed his feelings for his best friend, sometimes his heart tugged with a longing pain following a post-rugby-match hug, or a smile that was a little too bright, or an accidental brush of fingertips as they walked beside each other in the hallways of Truham.
Later that evening, long after Nick had gone home, Charlie couldn’t sleep.
He stared at his ceiling, his mind racing with a million scenarios playing in his head on a loop about how this whole situation was going to play out.
Charlie was going to meet Nick’s family, and Nick was going to introduce him as his boyfriend. How would they behave? Were they going to have a plan just in case questions about their relationship were asked? Were they going to hold hands? Oh god, were they going to kiss?
Not having any real control over this situation made Charlie’s anxiety skyrocket.
He only saw two potential outcomes of this situation. One, they pull this off and convince David that their fake relationship is real. Two, his very real crush on Nick makes him do something so awkward that Nick won’t even want to be his friend anymore after they return home.
Charlie had a sinking feeling that the second outcome was the most likely to occur.
At just past one in the morning, he sends a text message to the groupchat of himself, Elle, Isaac, and Tao.
Charlie: emergency
Okay, perhaps that had been a little dramatic, but Charlie kind of needed them to reply. Elle replied first, just about a minute later.
Elle: What’s wrong ??
Tao: Charles it is 1am what emergency could you possibly have rn
Charlie: Nick emergency
And then Elle started a group facetime call. Charlie took a deep breath, then answered.
“Where’s Isaac?” He asked.
“Probably sleeping like a normal human,” Tao said, but his expression softened before he asked, “What’s up?”
“Alright, so big news, I’m kind of going to Menorca with Nick next Saturday?”
“Oh, Charlie! That’s exciting!” Elle smiled, clapping her hands together in delight. “But I thought that was his family holiday? How did he convince his mum to let his best friend join them?”
“Well…that’s kind of what the emergency’s about…”
Charlie began to explain the entire situation he had gotten himself in. From Nick‘s argument with his older brother, to the lie it had led Nick to tell, to Charlie’s role as fake-boyfriend, he filled his friends in on his predicament in great detail.
Elle looked at him sympathetically.
“I don’t think he’ll mean to, Charlie, but…he’s going to hurt you.” Tao said, his tone serious.
Charlie felt a lump form in his throat. “I know.”
“Are you sure you can do this?” Elle asked. “You know Nick wouldn’t be upset with you if you change your mind. He really cares about you, Charlie.”
Charlie knew that her words held truth. Nick was the one who stood up for him against the boys who bullied him, even going so far as to get into a physical altercation with Harry after the boy spat a rather…unkind word at Charlie. If they were ever in town and Nick noticed that he was uncomfortable or anxious, he would find a quiet area for them to sit so Charlie could recharge. He was always quick to offer cuddles with his dog Nellie when Charlie had a bad day.
He knew Nick wouldn’t resent him if he decided that he couldn’t do this fake-dating thing. But Nick was always doing things to help him, and it was Charlie’s turn to return the favor.
“I can do this,” Charlie said firmly. “Besides, it’s only two weeks. I’m not sure anything could happen in that short amount of time that, like, actually changes our friendship.”
Saturday approached rapidly. Before Nick knew it, he was walking through their airport next to Charlie, who had officially made the outward transition from the role of “best friend” to “boyfriend,” which he would play for the next two weeks.
They walked a few paces behind Nick’s mum and older brother, rolling their luggage behind them.
Nick hoped he looked more confident than he felt, because on the inside, his nerves threatened to consume him from the inside out.
All of the details of their plan had been worked out during the week leading up to the flight to Menorca. First and foremost, they went over their boundaries; they were both comfortable with hand-holding, hugging, and touching in general, but consent needed to be given before any sort of kisses occurred.
They formulated answers to any potential relationship-related questions that were bound to come their way; for the most part, their story remained consistent with the development of their friendship, but they simply added when they began officially “going out” to that timeline.
Nick had even come up with a story about exactly how they’d begun dating, just in case.
The story aligned with an actual day out he had shared with Charlie. They’d gone into town, browsed the shops and gotten ice cream and people-watched. When they’d come across a photo booth, they clambered in enthusiastically to take photos together, splitting the end results in half so they could each have some of the photos to keep.
That was all true, except if he was asked, Nick would add in that he made a comment at the end of the day about how much it had felt like a date, that Charlie shyly agreed, and that Nick had proceeded to ask him out on a proper date.
The thing was, that was only a partial lie. While he didn’t actually share with Charlie that he felt like they’d gone on a date, nor had he asked Charlie out that day, he had really, really wanted to.
Nick realized he was bisexual around the same time he realized he had a crush on Charlie Spring.
When they had been friends for just over a month, Nick had invited Charlie along with him to Harry Greene’s birthday party. Even though he knew parties weren’t necessarily his favorite thing, Charlie agreed to come, much to Nick’s delight.
They had ended up in the rooftop ballroom of the obnoxiously large venue Harry’s parents rented for the party. For nearly an hour, the boys sat with their backs to a wall while talking about everything and nothing, from their favorite songs, to Nellie’s adoption story, to Charlie’s experience with Ben Hope (a boy who had used Charlie as some plaything after he’d first been outted, a boy who Nick thought would look much better with a black eye), the music of the party lightly vibrating the floor beneath them.
Nick wasn’t sure exactly what had come over him, but he’d felt the urge to kiss Charlie in that ballroom.
He had actually nearly built up the courage to lean in, but then Charlie’s dad had texted that he was there to pick him up, and that was that.
Nick discovered two things later that night: he was bisexual, and he had a crush on his best friend, a crush that held the potential to ruin things if he slipped up.
Maybe that was why he had given Charlie’s name when David pressed him that morning in the kitchen. Because when he thought of himself having a boyfriend, the only boy he could imagine was Charlie.
“Nick? Are you okay?” Charlie’s voice pulled him from his spiraling thoughts, and he felt his hand gently touch his arm in worry.
“Yeah,” Nick breathed, licking his lips. “Just nervous.”
“Me too,” Charlie admitted, his hand retreating from Nick’s arm. “But we can do this. Promise.”
Nick gave his friend a lopsided grin. He tried to push past the guilt he felt creeping into his chest, because he can’t even imagine how much anxiety Charlie was dealing with in that moment, yet he was worried about Nick.
As they approached their flight gate, Nick took a deep, grounding breath before reaching down to take Charlie’s hand in his own. He laced their fingers, and Charlie gave his hand a comforting squeeze.
“Alright, let’s do this.” Nick stood up a bit straighter, feigning confidence as they approached the flight gate where his Auntie Diane, Uncle Rich, and his two four-year old cousins stood.
“Nick!”
Two children ran at him as fast as their little legs could take them. They barreled toward him and nearly knocked him backwards as they each latched onto one of his legs.
Nick chuckled fondly as he leaned down to properly hug his little cousins. He ruffled the small boy’s hair. “Hey, guys.”
“Is that your boooyfriend?” Charlotte whispered with a giggle, but since she didn’t fully grasp the concept of volume control yet, everyone around them heard her clearly.
And so it began.
“Yeah,” Nick confirmed, standing up from where he had crouched on the linoleum floor of the airport to greet his cousins. “Can you two say hello to Charlie?”
“Hi, Charlie!” The kids each gave him a toothy grin.
“Hi!” Charlie replied warmly, and while Phillip remained attached to Nick’s leg, Charlotte darted to Charlie to wrap her tiny arms around him.
Nick watched fondly as Charlie lifted her up into his arms, which had sent Charlotte into a fit of giggles.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Charlie.” His auntie stepped forward to greet his “boyfriend,” with a warm embrace. Nick shot him an apologetic look, but Charlie didn’t appear to mind.
“He’s a handsome young man. Well done, Nicholas.” His uncle ruffled his hair fondly, nodding at Charlie in approval, and Nick couldn’t stop himself from looking Charlie up and down. He did look really good, dark green flannel complimenting his black curls nicely. Nick’s cheeks heated ever so slightly.
He pointedly ignored the scoff he heard from David’s direction.
Over the loudspeaker, the boarding period for their flight was announced, which Nick was thankful for. They had gotten the introductions out of the way rather easily. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
As if on cue, he overheard Charlotte ask Charlie, “Are you guys in looooove ?” She batted her eyelashes innocently.
Both Nick and Charlie instantly turned matching shades of red. Thankfully, before Charlie had to formulate some sort of answer to her loaded question, his mum spoke up.
“Charlotte, Phillip, why don’t you two go help your mum gather your luggage so we can get on the airplane?”
His cousins raced over to the corner that their luggage occupied, nearly tripping over their own feet in the process.
“Sorry about those two,” his uncle Rich apologized with a slightly awkward chuckle. “You know how kids can be.”
This was going to be a long two weeks.