Chapter Text
'Do I really have to do this?” Nick asked as he followed his coach. Pierre was a good coach, firm but fair. He was also known for his unusual forms of discipline which Nick was finding out the hard way.
“Do you want to be unsuspended from the team or not?” Pierre asked impatiently.
“Well yeah but-”
“But nothing. You keep up your training. Less aggression, more skill.”
“It's just skating. How hard could it be?”
Pierre let out a dismissive laugh. “That right there is exactly why I'm making you do this.” He said as they approached the rink. At this time it was closed to the public but it wasn't empty. Nick looked out to the ice. There was a boy there who couldn't be much younger than Nick himself. He was delicate, graceful and so captivating that Nick must have zoned out. He jumped when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. It was just his coach and he forced the tension to leave him. “This is Nick.” Pierre said warmly. It seemed he was quite familiar with this other coach. Great Nick thought to himself. Another hardass coach who was going to be in charge of punishing him for something that wasn't even his fault.
“You can call me Sasha.’ The man said in a thick Russian accent, extending his hand.
“Nice to meet you.” Nick said awkwardly as he took the man's hand. Sasha had a firm handshake, really it felt less like a handshake and more like he was aiming to break bone. It was a relief when he let go, turning his attention to the boy on the ice.
“Charlie!” He called switching from French to English. “Come here please.” His voice sounded like it could command a room. He was actually quite intimidating. Nick imagined if you put Sasha and Pierre in a room and asked people which one was a hockey coach and which one was a figure skating coach people would not guess correctly. The boy who Nick now knew to be Charlie skated towards them fast, coming to a stop at the edge of the rink. His eyes were shining brightly, he looked like he was in his happy place, unfazed by Sasha's harsh tone, some of his dark curls clung to his face. He ran a hand through his hair to move them aside. “This is Nick. You're going to be teaching him.”
“Hi I'm Charlie-” he started then looked a bit embarrassed. “Wait, does he speak English should I uh…Je m'appelle Charlie?” His pronunciation actually wasn't terrible but Nick decided to put him out of his misery.
“He speaks English quite well actually.” He said playfully.
Charlie blushed. “Right, I probably shouldn't be talking about you in the third person when you're right there.”
“Probably not but we can start over.” Nick turned away from him then turned back around to face him as if he was seeing him for the first time. “Hi, I'm Nick. Nice to meet you, I didn't catch your name?”
Charlie couldn't hide his smile at Nick's commitment to the bit. “I'm Charlie.”
“Well.” Sasha interrupted. “Now that you've been acquainted, let's get to work.”
Pierre gave Nick a sympathetic look and mouthed good luck before turning to walk off. That didn't fill him with much hope this would go well. He sat on a bench and unzipped his bag to take out his skates. “Ah ah ah” Sasha tsked. “Not those sad excuse for skates.” When Nick looked puzzled by this Sasha let out an exasperated sigh. “Charlie, go find him some skates that fit. I'm going to get a coffee. It will be a long evening.” He walked off without another word.
“Well.. he's..”
“A lot.” Charlie finished for him as he sat on the bench beside him to put on his blade guards. “Don't worry you get used to it.” He assured him, getting back up on his feet once his blade guards were secured.
“Well I'm hoping I won't have to get used to it.” Nick said as he followed him. “No offense or anything.” He quickly added, grateful that Charlie was walking ahead of him when he said it
“It's okay. I heard about what happened, making you take figure skating lessons is a bit of a weird punishment though.” Charlie said as he came to a stop at some shelves. They were all labelled by shoe size. “Did you really punch one of your teammates?”
“He was being awful to this girl.. like creepy kind of and then angry when she wasn't interested. I shouldn't have hit him, but I guess I just kinda went into fight or flight mode or something I don't know.” He didn't know why he was overexplaining. He could hear his mother's disappointment voice in his head telling him you know fighting’s not the answer. He would give anything to hear her voice out loud again even if she was disappointed. He longed to be explaining this situation to her, not to a stranger he had barely just met. Thankfully he didn't get to stay in his thought spiral beyond a few seconds before it was interrupted.
“So you're kinda stuck with rental skates.” Charlie looked a bit apologetic as he took out a few pairs. “The sizes can be a bit weird so I'd recommend trying a few on first.”
He nodded, reaching for a pair that was the same size as his own skates and hoped for the best. They weren't the most comfortable but they seemed to fit okay so he began lacing them up.
“Wait stop.” Charlie said then suddenly looked embarrassed. “I mean, let me help you.” He knelt down in front of Nick and began lacing up his skates.
“It's not like your usual skates. You don't want the lace to be tight the whole way. It needs to be tight in some spots for support but it also needs to be loose enough for jumps and turns.” He explained as he fixed it for him.
“Jumps?” Nick almost jumped right then and there off the bench he had sat down on from the thought of doing that.
Charlie let out a soft chuckle. “Don't worry about any of that just yet“ he looked up at him from where he knelt on the floor. Nick looked down at him, their eyes meeting. He wasn't sure why but his heart had started to race and for a moment it seemed as though time stood still.
“Let's go! We don't have all night!” Sasha's booming voice called from the distance. Charlie quickly got to his feet. Nick was grateful for the distraction, he didn't know what that moment was or why he had that fluttering feeling in his chest. Maybe it was embarrassment for knowing so little about something he thought was easy, maybe it was nerves about trying something new or just good old fashioned anxiety. He shook it off as he stood up and followed Charlie back towards the ice.
As soon as he got to the ice he could feel the difference in the skates. The longer blades gave him a slightly different centre of balance but he quickly managed to steady himself. This will be easy, he thought to himself however he was quickly proven wrong. When he pushed off to start skating he lost his balance, falling face first towards the ice. He tried to reach out to catch himself but it was all happening too fast. He felt an arm circle his waist firmly steadying him. He gasped like the air had been knocked out of him. Charlie quickly let him go. Nick wasn't sure how he'd gotten to him so fast. “Thanks.” He managed to force out.
“You lean too far forward” Sasha said, unbothered by what Nick was sure was a near death experience. “Watch Charlie.”
Nick turned his attention to Charlie as he glided along the ice. He looked like he belonged there. Like he was one with the ice. He had speed, precision, he made it look easy. Nick had skill but this was different. It was beautiful or maybe it was just that Charlie was beautiful.
“I'm home!” Charlie called, dropping his bag by the door. He felt lighter somehow for the first time since he and his family had arrived to Paris. The house seemed nearly quiet for a moment Charlie thought he was home alone until Tori appeared.
“You seem cheerful.” She said matter-of-factly.
“Do I?” He tried to sound casual but he could already feel himself blushing. He felt like she was staring into his soul so he quickly went to change the subject. “Where is everyone?”
Tori shrugged. “Out.”
“Wow descriptive as ever Tori.” He said playfully before walking past her to head to his room before she could ask him any questions. He threw himself down on his bed and unlocked his phone. He had planned to text the group chat to tell them about Nick when as if by fate he got a notification, Nick's name appeared on his screen Nick has requested to follow you. Charlie felt his heart skip a beat as he clicked on it. He accepted the follow and followed him back, waiting anxiously to be accepted. He refreshed the page for what felt like a million times before his request was accepted. He began to look through Nick's posts. There were lots of pictures of him with his hockey team, pictures of him with his friends and it looked like he was also on a rugby team. He's probably straight Charlie thought to himself, feeling a wave of disappointment. He opened the group chat.
Charlie: I need opinoms ASAP
Elle: On?
Charlie: How likely is it that this guy is straight?
Charlie sent an image of Nick's profile
Tao: As your token straight friend I can confirm he is 100% straight.
Charlie sighed and muted the group then put his phone down not waiting for anymore responses. He shut his eyes. Why did he always do this? Why did he always fall for straight guys. He was starting to spiral. Stupid stupid stupid- he stopped himself. No he couldn't spiral he couldn't know for sure Nick was straight. Maybe it was hope, maybe it was delusion but he wasn't letting himself fall apart over the an answer to a question he didn't have in the first place. He unlocked his phone again. He opened Instagram and clicked on Nick's profile again. He clicked message. He stared at the blank conversation for what felt like an eternity before sending a simple messsge.
Charlie: Hi
Then he waited, staring at the chat. Nick is typing… kept appearing and disappearing then finally
Nick: Hi
Now what? Charlie wasn't sure what to say.
Charlie: You did great today 😊
Nick: I was terrible 🤣 but thanks for trying to save my ego
Charlie: Haha anytime
Charlie: Don't worry you'll get better at it. If it's any consolation I wouldn't be any good at hockey
Nick: I think you're underestimating yourself. You should definitely try it sometime.
Nick: Thanks for your help today by the way. I'm pretty sure my life flashed before my eyes 🤣🤣
The two continued texting for the rest of the night until they had both fallen asleep. Charlie slept soundly, it was the first time he'd felt truly happy since the move. This was his chance for a fresh start, to make a new friend and maybe, just maybe if he was lucky something more. He knew it was wishful thinking, that Nick most likely didn't feel the same way but he wasn't letting himself be negative. He had spent so long feeling like that, for once he wanted to feel hope. He let that hope follow him into his dreams, deep in sleep. He didn't know what was to come but he knew he felt excited about it.