Gay Panic - Heartstopper AU

13. Trip

On the sweltering bike ride home from downtown, Nick promised himself he'd try to make the last two weeks before break as normal and unexciting as possible. No lies, no confrontations, no panic attacks.

At Truham, he avoided unwanted attention by heading straight to form in the mornings, keeping his head forward in the corridors, and pretending a certain video of him wasn't circling the entire study body.

The heatwave subsided by the next week, but Coach Singh said the pitch was too dry and hard to play on, so rugby training wouldn't start again until next term. Nick was just glad he wouldn't be forced into the same vicinity as Harry until then.

The thought of Nick and Charlie's romantic backpacking trip made the last week drag on, but somehow the last day of school eventually came and went, and then it was time.

Nick made for his boyfriend's house with a rucksack packed with all the gear he thought would be necessary. When he arrived, he learned that he was, in fact, completely rubbish at packing for survival, but brilliant at packing trail snacks.

The pockets of Charlie's ultralight backpack were stuffed with every tool a hiker might need: a compass, map, torch, canteen, camp stove, pot, hammock, sleeping bag, tent, and lots more Nick stopped paying attention to. It was hard to focus on Charlie as he packed his bag not because it was boring, but because the excitement on his face was too adorable.

"My family doesn't like to go camping, and neither do my friends, but I've been holding onto this stuff in case I ever found someone who'd go with me."

Nick felt honored to be that someone.

Now that he thought about it, this might've been Nick's first time camping, too. Maybe his dad took him camping when he was much younger, but that didn't matter now. It wasn't like he could call up his father to confirm it, and Nick knew better than to talk to his mother about anything related to that man. So for all intents and purposes, Nick would be considering this his and Charlie's first real camping trip.

Charlie designated space in his pack for the bulky camcorder, which they hadn't really touched in weeks. Everything else in Charlie's expensive-looking rucksack was chosen to minimize weight, so he must've decided it was worth weighing him down. Charlie also brought two replacement batteries so they wouldn't have to worry about the camcorder dying early into their trip.

Now their only concern about the camera was what they were going to use it for.

Luckily, on their road walk to the Rochester city limit, Charlie mentioned the idea to stage interviews with each other when they took breaks on the trail.

About an hour after reaching the trailhead and stepping onto its worn footpath, Nick and Charlie took their first well-deserved water break at the top of a mountain ridge. Calling it a ridge was generous, but it still offered pleasant views. To the east was their tiny city of Rochester, and to the west, a patchwork of fields and moors.

Nick lay his pack down on the grass, sat on a boulder of chalk, and took a big swig of water from his canteen. He almost choked when Charlie pulled out his camcorder and asked the first question.

"So, Nick... have you thought about whether you'd like to get married someday?"

"Christ, Charlie. You're leaving no room for filler questions."

"Please, the viewers are dying to know."

"I've always assumed that's what I'd end up doing."

"In a church?"

"Yeah, where else?"

"You can sign papers at a register office and get married right there. We don't have to have a big ceremony."