heartstopper oneshots

coffee with a side of homosexuality and social awkwardness

A/n: coffee shop au, nick (he already knows he's bi) and charlie meeting for the first time. inspiration credit goes to my friend.

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Snow cascaded from the gray skies above as winter reached its coldest peak. Nick shivered as he walked past several shops lining the streets, most of them sporting Christmas decorations in reds and greens. He passed a small, charming cafe and paused.

"I could go for a cup of coffee." Shrugging to himself he opened the door and a small bell dinged to announce his arrival at the shop.

Nick walked up to the counter, "Um, hi?" There was a small clatter behind and a teenage boy with dark brown curly hair and ears that stuck out appeared, "H-hi," he stuttered almost breathlessly with a smile, "What can I get you today?"

Nick felt a small smile on his own face, "I'll get a..." He looked at the menu on the wall, "Small latte with chocolate syrup please?" The boy wrote the order down in messy handwriting, "Can I get a name for that order?"

"Nick," he replied, "I'm Nick." The boy looked back up, holding the paper in his hands, "That'll be out in a few minutes. Do you want that to stay, or to go?"

Nick looked around the small cafe, several people sat in different spots, either chatting or typing away on laptops, "I'll have it to stay, thanks." Nick felt like he was sweating bullets in his heavy coat, which had been nice in the freezing cold, but now that he was inside a warm room, it had to go.

He caught a glimpse of the boy's name tag as he turned away to make the drink. 'Charlie' he thought, 'that's a nice name, he's pretty cute too.' Nick mentally slapped himself as he peeled off his coat and placed it next to him and sat down in a booth, 'You can't just go around thinking people are hot, Nick. Besides, he's probably not even gay.'

Nick half-heartedly scrolled through his Instagram feed, 'Although, he did have a little rainbow sticker on his name tag.' He shook his head, 'But that doesn't automatically mean he's gay.'

Little did he know, Charlie was having similar thoughts, 'That guy, Nick I think, is cute. I would ask him out but... I doubt he's gay. Or worse, maybe he's homophobic. I've already had enough to deal with enough of that from Harry and his mates... What if he's one of them?'

"Charlie, you alright over there?"

"Huh?" Charlie dropped the cup he was holding and the partially made drink spilled onto the counter, "Agh!" Charlie's coworker and friend, Elle, grabbed several paper towels and started to help him mop up the drink, "Thanks," Charlie muttered, tossing the lump of sopping paper towels into the garbage can.

"You seem a little out of it," Elle said, rinsing off her hands and going back to making a drink for a different customer. Charlie grumbled and started the drink for Nick over again, "See that guy in the booth by the window, with the blonde hair?"

Elle peeked over her shoulder, "The one with all the muscles? Yeah, I see him."

Charlie paid attention to how he was pouring the drink this time, "Don't you think he's cute?" Elle looked at Nick again.

"Charlie if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, it's a bad idea. That is the straightest-looking guy I've ever seen," Elle snapped the lid onto a coffee cup and leaned over the counter, "Frappe for Alice?" A lady with curly brown hair came up and claimed her drink, throwing a 'Thank you!' over her shoulder as she hurried out the door with her book bag.

"Maybe he's bi? Pan? Omni?" Charlie shrugged. Elle stopped to look at him, "Look, I just don't want you to get your hopes up and then get hurt."

He chuckled, "You sound like Tao." Elle rolled her eyes as Charlie finished up the drink. Instead of calling Nick's name, he slid behind the counter. Elle looked at him in curiosity, "Worth a shot, huh?" Elle smiled, "You got this."

Charlie took a deep breath and walked to the booth where Nick sat. As he got closer, he realized he made a mistake. Nick sat at the table in a tight, white t-shirt that clung to his upper body, making his toned muscles stand out. Charlie's brain sounded the alarms, he was short circuting, the gay panic making him hyperfocus on Nick's strong-looking arms, "H-h-hi."

Nick looked up at Charlie, his own heart fluttering at the sight of his adorable smile, and upon further inspection, his eyes that were deep blue like the ocean, which sent him spiraling as he tried to keep his face from becoming a tomato.

"Hi."

Charlie gently set the cup of coffee down on the table, "I uh- here's your drink," he stammered, wondering why he couldn't be more confident.

"Thanks," Nick shot him a warm smile that make the butterflies in Charlie's somach errupt. Both of them had a blush spreading across their cheeks, "So, um..."

"Do you want to hang out sometime?" Charlie blurted, "I mean, sorry, you probably don't want to. It's okay if you don't, I shouldn't have asked anyway-" he rambled, starting to slowly back away.

"Wait- Charlie," Nick interrupted. Charlie froze, "How did you know my name?" Nick smiled like he was holding back laugher, "It's on your name tag."

He looked down at his apron, "Oh, right... Um, I better get back to work," he could feel his own awkwardness radiating and wanted to get out as soon as possible, but Nick wasn't letting him.

"Actually, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out too."

Everything seemed to stop for a moment, Charlie stood frozen, the butterflies going insane, "Really?" Nick smiled.

"Really."