Heartstopper oneshots/ requests

Nick's birthday

simmondsholland - this is for you, I hope you like it.. I put Daddy issues in there bc I can't not make it deep haha

Also, I'm at 28k?!?! Thank youuuu <3

Tw: daddy issues

"But it's your birthday!" Charlie protested over the phone.

Nick had never been someone who wanted to do a lot for his birthday. As a kid he never had big birthday parties and as he got older he would much rather forget them. Maybe it was because it was usually when his dad let him down so he'd learned to not get his hopes up around them.

There was a part of him that was jealous of other people who found birthdays a happy time. It just wasn't the case for him.

"So?" Nick snapped back at Charlie a little too sharply, "I'd rather just cuddle with you and watch films all day" He added more softly in an attempt to not give Charlie the wrong message.

"That's fine, we can do that!" Charlie said cheerfully and Nick smiled a little
"Okay"

Nick was relieved.

As he wanted, his birthday was one of the most chilled ones he'd ever had. He started it with opening cards and presents from his family and then took Nelli for a walk. He smiled to himself as he headed to the park, he was happy to have his birthday fall on a Saturday. Especially as he had Charlie to spend it with.

Charlie was coming over later and he was looking forward to it.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out with all of your friends?" His mum had asked, "I know you and Charlie are close but-"
"I just want Charlie to come round" He reiterated, a little annoyed. Partly at his mum but mostly at himself for still not telling his mum that Charlie was more than a friend.

Nick had only been back from taking Nellie out for a few minutes when his phone started ringing. Dad. Sighing, he let it ring for a second longer before answering.

"Bonjour, Papa" He said, trying to sound as normal as possible. They didn't talk often and Nick was always surprised by how well he could still speak French. Maybe it never left you.

As always, his dad apologised for not being able to 'make it over', as he always put it. He promised to next year, as he had last year and the year before that.

Nick just pretended to be listening and believing him. He was just grateful for the conversation to be over. They said their goodbyes and hung up.

"He is sorry" His mum told him, having listened to Nick's side of the conversation. Her French wasn't as good as Nick's, she didn't have any reason to speak it anymore. But she definitely understood the gist of conversations.

Nick just shrugged in response, having a lot of unspoken opinions on the matter floating around his head. Today was not the day to have one of those conversations though, so he decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Charlie will be here soon" He said instead and disappeared upstairs, wanting nothing more than sitting on his own for a while. Nelli followed, of course, which he was grateful for.

As soon as Charlie arrived he knew something was wrong, but he didn't say anything. Something was telling him that Nick wouldn't want to talk about it; besides, it was his birthday.

"Mum said we can order pizza" Nick smiled, chucking himself down on his bed, "And I think you should let me beat you at Mario Kart seeing as it's my birthday" He added, smirking
"No chance" Charlie laughed and, true to his word, he didn't let Nick win one game and they played a lot of games.

Then they ordered pizza and only once they had snuggled down in Nick's bed to watch a film did Charlie decide to at least ask if everything was okay.

"Yeah - sorry if I've been a bit off"
"Oh, no it's okay"
"It's just my dad being my dad" Nick laughed slightly, trying not to let his real emotion show too much. He didn't really know why, it wasn't that he didn't trust Charlie. He would just rather keep this memory happy and not let his dad ruin it; which he didn't.

The rest of the evening passed easily, Charlie let Nick choose the film and surprisingly didn't pick a Marvel one.

"I did not expect you to pick a romance!" Charlie gasped dramatically, making Nick laugh.
"I can be romantic!" He retorted, but threw a pillow at Charlie which was not romantic at all, but it did make Charlie laugh.

They missed most of the first half of the film because they were play fighting and then kissing each other; which usually happened as a result of the play fighting.

All in all, Nick had one of the best birthdays he'd ever had and he didn't really want Charlie to go.

"I would stay, but mum wants me back at 9"
"Can I at least walk you home?"

Charlie agreed and so they walked together back to his house. It was getting slightly dark now and Charlie was grateful for a tall, rugby player boyfriend for protection.

"Thanks for making this the best birthday ever" Nick said once they were at Charlie's door
"I mean it wasn't anything special" Charlie smirked, wrapping his arms around Nick's neck, "And you told me not to get you anything so" he trailed off
"Yeah, I wasn't actually mad about that. I was joking"
Charlie just smiled and leaned in, "This can be your birthday present" He muttered.

Once he was walking home, Nick kept replaying the day over in his head and smiling. This really was one of the best birthdays he'd had and his dad hadn't spoiled it.