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The reminder on his phone announces Imogen’s birthday. Right! It’s my bestie’s birthday. Perfect. I will be a good friend and send her a birthday wish.
Bestiesssssss
Nick: Happy birthday, Immy! Love you! 🎂 🎈 💙
So now, even though he hasn’t contacted her in a while, she’ll know he cares. I mean, three emojis! That’s what you send your bff.
Immy: Thanks, Nick!
Immy: Hope you’re doing well
Nick stares at the text. He is not doing well. But he doesn’t want to tell Immy that. It’s her birthday. He could lie, but he loves her too much. So, he doesn’t respond. She doesn’t really want a response, anyway, right? She’s surely got birthday plans with her boyfriend and her sorority friends. All the people who aren’t Nick.
Nick’s two hours away at his own college, so doing something together would have involved planning. And she didn’t ask, so he’ll just ignore it. Ignore the pain. Not reply.
She knows how important she is to him, anyway. Right?
Just, telling her about David and his Dad… it would be… too much. On her birthday. Maybe he’ll write back tomorrow and let her in. But maybe he shouldn’t.
People don’t like sad sacks. David has always made sure he knows that no one wants to hear about his feelings.
So, he stares at the text some more. And thinks about Immy. He misses her. But… what is he supposed to do? She has her own life.
Nick goes back to his desk and starts rifling through his books to start some homework. He has a paper due soon on student development theory, so he really needs to focus on that.
On Saturday, Nick’s got what he calls “bad brain.” Last night he had a few beers, and he was feeling loose and happy. But too loose and happy. He teased his friends and was surely too much. He must have upset them, as they all decided to go back home soon after. If he hadn’t been there, maybe they’d have stayed out later.
Did he hit a sore spot when he joked about Sai’s car and its litany of problems? Was Christian mad that he prodded him about that boy on the opposing team who came on to him after the game last week?
What’s the line between teasing and being mean? Of lovingly ribbing someone and pointing out flaws?
To make him even more self-conscious, Nick’s been super active on the frat and team chats, lately. He doesn’t really want Aubrey Plaza to tie him up and call him a good boy, so why did he spam all of his group chats with this information. Because she looks really hot in that promo for Agatha All Along. He knows he’s trying too hard to be funny. Now people are calling him out on it, and it all feels like a lie. He’s a lie.
How does one… friend?
Was he sick that day in Kindergarten?
Was David supposed to teach him how to friend?
Did Harry’s mean antics in middle school destroy those lessons and leave him an empty shell who couldn’t communicate with people that he likes without being a massive jerk?
Nick curls up on his bed and withdraws from his fraternity brothers. Surely, he was Too Much last night—this week—and they’ll appreciate not having to see him today. Not having to pretend he’s fun to be around. He’ll just watch Avengers all day and not bother anyone.
If only Nellie was here, he’d have someone to curl up with. He misses being touched.
A few hours later Christian knocks on his door. The frat’s party is starting soon, and he hasn’t seen Nick all day.
Nick knows he’d spend the party either drinking too much to try to pretend he fit in—and therefore, probably be Too Much. Or he wouldn’t drink—which he doesn’t like to do when he’s sad, anyway—and get asked what’s wrong. So instead, he runs away.
Nick grabs his backpack and leaves the house. He ambles around campus, not quite sure where he’s going, until he finds himself standing in front of the library. The library is open twenty-four hours, so he can hide here.
He runs his hand over the strap of his backpack to comfort himself before taking a breath and breaching the doors of the imposing building. He wanders around until he finds the fun chairs on the third floor. A very 1960s aesthetic, they feel a bit like a space pod, white plastic outsides cocooning the sitter and bright-colored cushions contrasting the plastic. Otis says they look like egg shells with a side cut off at an angle, but Nick wants to be in a spaceship right now, okay?
He falls into one and swivels around to face the wall. He doesn’t look in his bag, he doesn’t check his phone, he doesn’t think. He just stares ahead. He can feel tears rise up in his eyes when the sound of soft footsteps disturbs his hideaway of anxiety.
The footsteps halt, and then he hears the woomph of a backpack falling to the floor, and the squeak of a nearby chair twirling around on its white plastic base.
He has company.
He’s in no shape for company.
Hopefully the interloper won’t notice him.
He hears a sigh and a soft, “fuck.”
A pause.
“Um, excuse me?” A soft voice approaches him.
Nick grumbles. He may be Too Much, but he’s always polite. He hopes. He tries. “Yes?”
“Hi, um. Oh?” The voice stops, and Nick looks up. There’s a boy, a beautiful boy. Probably a first-year student. He has curly dark hair, ocean-blue eyes, and soft olive skin. Nick desperately tries to wipe the tears forming in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” the boy asks tentatively.
Nick huffs out a sarcastic noise. “Well…. “ Nick pauses and takes another breath. “Instead of being at my frat’s party, I’m hiding in the library staring at a wall?”
The boy smiles gently, and a perfect dimple peeks out of his cheek. Fuck, Nick is toast.
“I mean, I’d rather stare at a wall than go to a frat party…,” he offers with a muted giggle.
Nick chuckles. “Perhaps.” Nick shakes his head. “So, you were going to ask me something, um….?”
“Oh, Charlie. My name’s Charlie.”
“Charlie,” Nick repeats, managing a genuine smile. “I’m Nick.”
Two dimples appear at the grin the boy—Charlie—rewards him with. “Well, I was going to ask you to watch my stuff while I ran back to my dorm to get my laptop charger….”
Nick starts opening up his backpack. “Maybe I have one that’d work,” he says, head half in his bag. “Obviously I’m not using it right now.”
“Um, no. I think. Um. Do you want to talk about it?” Charlie asks hesitantly.
No, Nick thinks immediately. “Talk about what?” he asks.
“Um, why you’re staring at a wall in the library at 11pm on a Saturday night?” Charlie presses his lips together thoughtfully and angles his head while looking at Nick.
Nick lets out a dark laugh. “No, I do not need to trauma-dump on you.”
Charlie’s eyes dance at Nick’s admission.
“Anway, why are you in the library at 11pm on a Saturday?” Nick asks instead, trying to deflect the question.
“Well, Frat-boy Nick, I’m a big nerd,” Charlie replies with a sassy tilt of his head.
If Nick weren’t sad, he’d be in love with this boy. But he’d never want Nick, anyway. Nick would scare him off in no time with all his sadness. “A nerd, hmmm? I suppose that’s acceptable.”
Charlie pokes Nick in the shoulder playfully. “I think you’re avoiding the question, Nick.”
“Yes, yes I am, Charlie.”
Charlie rolls his eyes. “This is much more interesting than my problem set. C’mon, trauma-dump. I’m good at this.”
“Errr, no?” Nick is perplexed. This beautiful sassy boy is asking for him to unload all of his problems? No way in hell. “I honestly don’t know why anyone, let alone a stranger, would want to hear any of it.”
“Oh, well I don’t have to be a stranger,” Charlie answers in a faux-seductive tone, drawing out the final word.
Nick’s neck breaks a land-speed record as he snaps around to look at Charlie’s face.
Charles giggles softly. “I just mean, would it be easier if I trauma-dumped on you? Unless… you don’t want to listen.”
“No! Why would I not want to listen to you?” Nick asks bewildered. He’s about five seconds from devoting his entire life to this boy’s left dimple, so he can surely listen to him speak.
“Well, why wouldn’t I want to listen to you?” Charlie asks with a raised eyebrow.
Nick blushes. “Um, because my stuff is stupid.”
“I don’t believe that. If it’s got you down, it’s important.”
Nick huffs. “Please, Charlie, trauma-dump on me.”
“Okay,” Charlie smiles deviously while settling down onto the floor next to Nick, legs crossed in front of him. “When I was a freshman in high school, I was outed. Then I was bullied for being gay—like, really bad. Then this boy kept meeting up with me to kiss in dark corners of the school, but he ignored me in the hallways, and the entire relationship was always on his terms. When I ended it, because he had a girlfriend,” Charlie pauses here to laugh bleakly. “He… he did not take it well. That I ended it. And, let’s see, my mom is an anxious mess and treated me like a problem, instead of a human being. And, well, I ended up with an eating disorder, OCD, and time spent in an inpatient facility. Ta-da.” Charlie offers a half-hearted jazz hands motion to end his story.
“Jesus,” Nick says under his breath. His eyes are wild with the pain Charlie’s been through. “How are you so good at just telling people what your problems are?”
“Lots of therapy. Group therapy, solo therapy, all of it. And friends who won’t let me hide… anymore,” Charlie replies thoughtfully.
“But see, you have real problems. I’m just… a frat boy with daddy issues.”
“Oooh, daddy issues! Love it, tell me more,” Charlie teases in a way that makes Nick feel heard.
“But, like, it’s nothing like what you’ve been through, so… I should just get over it? You know?” Nick’s voice rises in a question at the end of his response.
Charlie presses his lips together to think. “It’s not a competition, you know. We all have our shit.”
Nick sighs. “I just feel so dumb. Why would you want to hear it?” Nick wonders why he's meeting this gorgeous boy when he's having a bad brain day and feels like living the rest of his life curled up in his bed.
“I’ve literally asked! I want to hear what’s bothering you, Frat Boy. Please tell this gay nerd all your trauma!” Charlie pleads in exasperation.
“Excuse you, if you get to be a gay nerd, I get to be a bi frat boy.” Nick hopes that’s flirting. He definitely missed flirting class in middle school along with that ‘how to friend’ day in kindergarten.
Charlie's quiet gasp gives Nick a flush of glee. “Apologies, Bi Frat Boy. I'm ready for your trauma. Besides, I’m sure a bi frat boy has a bit of trauma, especially one that looks like you.”
“Looks like me?” Nicks asks.
Charlie looks him up and down appreciatively. “Like your thighs could crush a watermelon,” he states with twinkling eyes.
Fuck. “Uh, I play baseball. Catcher.”
“Oooh, queer in sportsball. Trauma! Let’s go!”
Charlie is literally egging him on to spill his life story, so here goes. Nick pulls his legs up so his heels are on the edge of the seat and curls up in his chair.
“Uh, well, okay. The whole story? My parents divorced when I was young. My dad moved out and then was shitty. He never showed up, never made time for me, never bothered to learn anything about me. My older brother, David, took out all his anger about the divorce on me. My mom had to work so much to support us both while Dad fucked off to Canada. So, I was alone with my abusive older brother, a lot.
“Then I figured out I was bi, and he’d basically yell at me to just admit I’m gay. I’m not gay, really. I’m just not.” He looks at Charlie apologetically. “That’s just not me.”
“So, then he finally went to college, and I got a break from him. But I felt like this person no one really knew. And, I guess, I still feel that way. Like I’m this jock frat boy baseball player.” Nick gestures to his general appearance. “But I’m queer, and I bake, and I’ve never had sex.
“And actually, I’ve never done anything with a boy, because I’m too scared to go to queer spaces and not belong. Do you know what it’s like to not belong anywhere? I’m too gay to be straight and too straight to be gay. I’m the only out queer male athlete at this school. I don’t know. Am I queer enough? Am I really bi?
“So anyway, now my dad is sick. And I should go visit him, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to. Because he doesn’t care about me. But will I regret it, if he dies? I would. And David keeps sending me updates and pestering me about visiting him, because he’ll just eat up any shred of attention Dad will give him. And I can’t. And Dad’s wife is a total pain in the ass, but also, she’s really overwhelmed. I keep suggesting times I could visit, and she pretty much tells me not to come. But fuck you, he’s my Dad. But also, I don’t really want to see him, so I don’t want to try any harder.
“And then this week, I’ve been making a lot of jokes and pretending everything’s fine with my team and my frat, but nothing is fine. So, then I make more jokes. And then I wonder if I am making too many jokes?
“Like, on Thursday, my friends went out after their class without me. I was just at the gym and would have joined them if I’d known! Are my friends upset? Are they sick of me?
“Do I laugh too much? Am I too much generally? So, yeah. I just feel like too much. And then I want to hide so no one has to deal with me and my feelings.” Nick ends his word vomit rather abruptly at that point and looks panicked.
Charlie takes a deep breath. “Thank you for telling me all of that.” He grins a sweet little thoughtful smile. “I have a few things to say. First, how do you feel when someone tells you what’s bothering them? Like, how did you feel when I trauma-dumped on you?”
Nick looks thoughtful. “Oh, well, I don’t mind! I like learning more about people. And if something’s bothering someone, I’d like to at least listen. You know?” Nick’s response was so sure and adamant.
“Nick,” Charlie pauses. “Do you think, maybe, some people might like to hear about your life? And what’s bothering you, too?”
Nick’s eyes scrunch up and then he nervously runs his hands over the short hairs at the nape of his neck. “Um, honestly? I’ve never considered that?”
Charlie lets out a slow breath. “That’s something that, admittedly, I needed therapy to learn.” A wry smile and a self-effacing eye roll cross Charlie’s face. “But, maybe—and I know this is hard—try to give yourself the same grace you give others.”
Nick looks thoughtfully at his hands for several long moments. “But…,” he trails off. He looks up at the ceiling. “Wow.”
“Mind-blowing, isn’t it?” Charlie jokes conspiratorially.
Nick blows out a dark laugh. “Yeah.”
“Also, you said that your friends went out without you on Thursday?”
“Yeah?”
“And that you were at the gym, but they all had a class together?”
“Yeah.” Nick looks dejected.
“Maybe it’s not that they intentionally didn’t invite you. Maybe they…forgot? Or thought you were busy?”
“Oh.” Nick looks forlorn.
“Not that being forgotten about or making assumptions about you feels good, but maybe it’s a bit different from feeling like you weren’t invited on purpose?”
“Oh,” Nick repeats, looking thoughtful. “Yeah, like, I still feel sad that they probably just forgot me, but maybe they didn't actively not want to be around me.” Nick continues to ponder this shift in the way he experienced this situation.
Charlie nods and puts his hand on Nick’s knee comfortingly. Nick blushes at the touch, but then Charlie turns slightly so his back is facing Nick and stares up at the ceiling.
“You know, I had this art teacher in high school. He used to say to me, ‘Don’t let anyone make you disappear, Charlie.’” Charlie turns back to look at Nick. “Don’t let anyone make you disappear, Nick.”
Nick gasps and can feel tears form in his eyes, again. But not the lonely tears he felt at the beginning of this conversation. Rather the tears of feeling seen. “Thank you, Charlie.”
The two boys sit in quiet rumination for a few moments.
“Charlie?” Nick asks tentatively.
“Hmmm?” Charlie replies.
“May I—may I kiss you?” Nick looks at Charlie imploringly.
Charlie’s eyes widen and then turn stony, the blues quickly melting into a steel-gray. “To prove you’re bi?” Charlie asks warily.
Nick blushes. “Um, no. Because you’re kind and your eyes are pretty?”
“Oh.” Charlie’s face brightens and the blue in his eyes return. “Well, then, yeah. You can. You can kiss me.” Charlie sits up on his knees so he’s within kissing distance of Nick’s lips.
“Good,” Nick replies, but he feels frozen, inches away from Charlie’s face. He stares for a moment, gazing at this gorgeous, sweet boy who has helped him so much here in the library, late at night on a Saturday. Finally, finally, Nick moves his face even closer to Charlie’s and closes his eyes. A tentative press of lips, and Nick feels a swoop of giddy affection in his stomach. Charlie tilts his head slightly, improving the angle, and suddenly it feels like a real kiss. Nick’s hands cup Charlie’s ears, and the slight burn of stubble tickles his thumb as he sweeps it down. The kiss is sweet, and tender, and better than he’d ever experienced before.
Charlie pulls back first, a dreamy smile on his face.
“Wow,” Nick murmurs.
Charlie giggles and Nick closes his eyes to appreciate the sound. When Nick opens them, Charlie looks self-conscious.
“Um, we probably shouldn’t be kissing in the library. In public. Like. Um…,” Charlie nervously prattles on.
Nick nods in understanding. This is not a romantic spot. “Oh, yeah. I should let you do your homework?” It’s a question, not a statement.
“Well, I still don’t have that charging cable, and I missed my window to go back to my room. So, maybe I should go to Isaac’s room.”
Nick’s face falls. Of course, this cute, sweet, gay nerd has someone to be with on a Saturday night.
“Isaac’s my friend!” Charlie says quickly. “My roommate’s girlfriend is over tonight, so I’m sexiled. I was going to do my homework here until Isaac’s partner went back to his apartment, and then go sleep at Isaac’s. In his roommate’s bed. His roommate, Aled, is away visiting his sister in the city this weekend. Oddly, I’ve never seen Aled and Isaac in the same room at the same time, even though I’m friends with both of them and they live together. I don’t think they’re the same person—they don’t look alike or anything—but it’s like they live in slightly different worlds.”
Nick’s eyes twinkle in delight at Charlie’s absolute word vomit explanation.
“So, you were going to sleep at Isaac’s because your roommate’s girlfriend is over,” Nick summarizes.
“Uh, yeah.” Charlie blushes profusely. It’s so cute.
“I should—I should let you go, then,” Nick answers in resignation.
“Wait, what will you do?” Charlie asks.
“Huh?”
“I mean, presumably your entire frat house is a loud shit-show right now?”
Nick’s face falls and he scrunches up his mouth in disgust. “Oh, yeah. Guess I’ll try to sneak past everyone and get some sleep.”
Charlie looks unimpressed. He holds out his hand, “Come on, Bi Frat Boy, let’s go visit Isaac.”
Nick takes Charlie’s hand, because that makes sense and is exactly what he should be doing. “I’m not going to bother Isaac, am I?”
“Errr, let me text him.” Charlie releases Nick’s hand when he reaches for his phone and quickly pockets it again when he’s done, taking Nick’s hand back. Charlie leads Nick down the main stairs of the library and out into the bracing night air. Nick shakes his head a bit to adjust to the change in temperature as Charlie pulls him away towards the freshman dorms.
Nick pouts when Charlie drops his hand to swipe into the dorm and doesn’t take it back. Not all is lost, however, because Charlie does look back at him and grins. They go up in the elevator and down a hallway of identical doors with leaf-themed name tags attached to the door frames. They stop in front of one with “ISAAC” in a green leaf and “ALED” in a pink one, and Charlie knocks.
Nick hears an amused voice yell “Come in!” Charlie opens the door and directs Nick into the room ahead of him.
“Hi, I’m Nick?”
“Are you?” Isaac asks.
“Isaac!” Charlie admonishes his friend. Charlie turns to Nick and rolls his eyes. “This is Isaac.”
Isaac stands and holds a hand out to Nick. Nick shakes it tentatively. “My roommate Aled is out of town today. I hear you’re… staying with us?”
“Isaac!” Charlie hisses in embarrassment.
“Look, I just want you two to know that you are not having sex in my room. There will be no hanky panky in Aled’s bed,” Isaac teases them.
Nick’s eyes widen, and Charlie turns scarlet. “Isaac! I swear I don’t go picking up cute boys at the library!”
Nick laughs. “Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s what a gay nerd would do!” he retorts. “Also, I’m cute?”
Isaac smiles up at Nick and then turns to Charlie. “Oh, I like him.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Charlie mutters under his breath.
“Also, you literally did pick up a cute boy at the library, Charlie. Still no sex.”
“I WAS NOT PLANNING ON HAVING SEX TONIGHT, ISAAC!” Charlie screams. The three boys hear laughter from the next room over through the thin wall. “I’m going to have to drop out of college now. Bye.” Charlie feigns leaving the room dramatically, and Nick catches his wrist.
“Don’t go, Char,” he says softly, big brown eyes pleading with him.
“Yeah, Char, we’re just teasing you!” Isaac butts in.
“Oh fuck,” Nick whispers.
Charlie smirks at Nick. “Char?”
Nick hangs his head. “I’m never calling you that again.”
“I like it! It’s cute.” A raised eyebrow from Charlie renders Nick speechless.
Isaac clears his throat. “So, the rule is…”
“No hanky panky!” Nick replies brightly.
Isaac shoots Charlie an approving look. “Okay, good. Now, as Charlie knows, I need to sleep.”
“Um, where should I sleep?” Nick asks, noticing there’s no couch or even a comfortable chair.
Charlie blushes. “Um, in Aled’s bed? With me. If that’s okay,” he explains. “And obviously, we won’t, like, do anything.”
“Because there will be NO SEX in my room,” Isaac interjects.
Nick pretends to consider it before whispering into Charlie’s ear. “But, can we cuddle?”
Charlie blushes again. “I think we’ll have to! It’s just a twin bed.” He starts fidgeting with his hands, picking at his cuticles.
Nick loosely grabs his wrist with one hand and looks into Charlie’s eyes. “Sounds perfect.”
“And there will be NO SEX, Isaac,” Charlie calls over his shoulder as Isaac was preparing another admonishment.
Isaac smiles gleefully as he climbs into his bed and starts reading.
Charlie goes into the ensuite bathroom and changes into the sleep shorts he packed for his overnight adventure and brushes his teeth. Nick looks through his backpack and sees his laptop, a textbook, that speaker with his face on it that Christian gave him, ten fountain pens, some Aveeno hand cream, a notebook, and some hand sanitizer. No pajamas, toothbrush, or anything else of use. Oops.
“Psst, Charlie,” he whispers when Charlie re-enters the room.
Charlie looks up, all blue eyes and pink skin. Nick forgets to speak. “Yes, Nick?” Charlie asks.
“Oh.” Nick blushes. “Um, I didn’t pack anything for an overnight. I literally just grabbed my backpack and left the frat.”
“Oh. Oh! Right. Um, you can borrow some toothpaste and brush your teeth with your finger?” Charlie grimaces.
“I guess that will do. Um, I sleep kinda warm. So is it okay if I just. Uh. Wear my boxers?” Nick asks carefully.
Charlie blushes again. He squeaks out a reply, “Yeah! That’s fine. Totally fine.”
“NO SEX!” Isaac bellows. He literally has a book open on his face, and Nick and Charlie had both assumed he’d fallen asleep.
“I swear to God he reads by osmosis,” Charlie mutters.
Nick disappears into the ensuite for a few minutes and comes back clutching his clothes. He quickly shimmies into bed next to Charlie, and they spend a few moments trying to get comfortable in the too-small bed. Finally, Charlie is tucked snugly between Nick and the wall, and they both stop squirming.
Nick breathes a big breath. “Charlie,” he whispers.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Nick,” Charlie replies sleepily. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Charlie,” Nick answers, kissing Charlie’s hairline before wrapping him up a bit tighter in his arms.
Morning light shines through the flimsy curtains of Isaac’s dorm room window, bathing the entire room in a warm yellow glow. Charlie grumbles as he wakes up, much too early. Hasn’t Isaac considered closing his curtains? He tries to move, but he’s thwarted by… the very large, very warm body wrapped around him. As he tries to pivot, two arms cuddle him against a large chest.
“Mmmph?” A sleepy noise from his companion. A pause. A raised eyelid. “Char?”
“Hi Nick,” Charlie replies, unable to control the smile creeping across his lips.
“Hi,” comes a warm reply.
“Morning, sleepy heads! Everyone decent? Good!” Isaac calls, as he grabs the covers and pulls them off Charlie and Nick. Charlie shoots Isaac death glares.
“Fuck, Isaac. What the hell?” Charlie complains. Nick has curled up into a ball, like he’s trying to hide something.
“Up, up! I have to go to work. You have to go have breakfast.” Isaac looks pointedly at Charlie. “And Nick probably has a party to clean up after.”
Nick uncurls himself as his face scrunches in disgust. “Fuck, I am on clean-up duty. FUCK.” Nick reaches for his joggers and starts getting dressed as Charlie looks on in quiet despair. He never got a good look at Nick, since it was dark, and they were all wrapped up in each other. Not that he’s complaining that he spent the night with a supremely attractive and sweet boy wrapped around him. He enjoyed that quite a bit, actually.
Nick gets up, and Isaac opens the door to the room, looking expectantly at Charlie. Charlie grabs his stuff and heads out the door right behind Nick. Isaac closes the door and locks it with a flourish.
“Lovely to meet you Nick,” he trills. “Charlie, we’ll discuss! Bye!” And Isaac is off down the hall to go to his morning shift at the library.
Charlie looks at Nick apologetically. “Um, sorry about Isaac throwing us out.”
Nick laughs gently. “Nah, he was great. And he has to go to work. I get it.” Nick and Charlie just kind of stare at each other for a bit. Then Nick rubs the back of his head and looks at his feet before saying. “I guess I should go, then.”
“Yeah, probably. But, um, in case you ever want to… talk… I could give you my number?” Charlie asks.
“Yeah?” Nick’s eyes light up. “Yeah, I’d love to have someone willing to… listen.”
“Always, Nick,” Charlie blushes. “Also, I could give you some resources about therapy? If you’re interested. It helped me a lot.”
Nick laughs. “Are you trying to tell me that one night with you isn’t going to fix all my problems?”
Charlie giggles back as Nick hands him his phone. He types in his number and texts himself.
Charlie Spring: this is the gay nerd
Nick smiles down at his phone. “Before I go, can I hug you goodbye?” He asks tentatively.
Charlie grins and nods his head. “Yeah,” he whispers.
Nick grabs Charlie and pulls him into him, and Charlie relaxes into his arms. The hug is unusually long, neither boy willing to end their magical first meeting yet. Nick’s phone dings and he reluctantly checks it, groaning.
“Ugh, it’s Christian from my frat. They’re wondering where I am. I need to go.”
“Bye, Nick.”
“Bye, Char.” Charlie smiles at the nickname. Nick heads towards the elevator to leave the building, and Charlie walks down the corridor towards his own room. Once the doors close behind Nick, he picks up his phone.
Gay Nerd
Nick: guess what?
💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙 : what?
Nick: I met a cute boy last night
💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙: Isaac is quite a looker….
Nick: Charlieeee
Nick: I meant you! I was wondering.💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙: still typing there, Nick?
Nick: Would you go on a date with me sometime?
💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙: yeah, i’d like that
Nick: 🎉
💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙: smooth
💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙: but cuteNick: Are you free Wednesday night?
💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙: yep, no plans
Nick: Great, see you Wednesday! xx
💙 🩵Charlie Spring 🩵💙: see you then, Nick xx
Nick slips his phone into his pocket and walks back to his frat house feeling pretty excited about the coming days. He knows he has work to do, and he’ll think some more about Charlie’s suggestion of therapy, but he’s already feeling better after opening up to Charlie. And kissing him. He hopes that soon he’ll be on the way to improving both his mental health and his lonely heart.