12 - a hard day

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TW: mentions ED

The next couple of days were rough. Charlie had been staying over at Nick's because the other Springs were out of town visiting family. He tried to talk to Nick but his attempts at getting Nick to speak up about whatever was going on in his head failed. He also didn't want to pressure Nick into telling him something that he wasn't ready to share. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Nick. He knew that he wasn't okay, Nick had told him himself.

Charlie could also see that something was off. He could see it when he looked into Nick's eyes. The brown eyes, usually filled with love, passion and excitement were now dull and empty. Not like Nick at all.

-

It was 8:32 when Charlie woke up. He reached down next to him to grab his phone and check the time. It was still dark outside, which was weird for this time of year. Since it was almost spring, the sun was usually out by 7:00. But today it wasn't. Or well, it probably was, but it was covered by dark grey clouds. Charlie put his phone back on the ground and turned to face Nick. Who, to his surprise, wasn't laying next to him. Instead, Nick's side of the bed was empty. 'He must've been going to the toilet,' Charlie thought to himself. Although Nick was a morning person, he always liked sleeping in when he had a few days off. So Charlie didn't think Nick would've gone downstairs already. But when 10 minutes passed without Nick returning to his room, Charlie was convinced that Nick wasn't going to come back. So he put on one of Nick's sweaters and went downstairs.

When he walked down the last couple of stairs, he was greeted by an overly-exited Nellie. "Hi Nell," Charlie said while petting Nellie on her head. "Did you sleep well tonight?" He asked the Border Collie, who responded with a single "woof".

"Nellie!" Sarah called from the kitchen. "C'mon Nellie, come here. You know you're not supposed to bark when people are still asleep." She continued. "Oh no Nell, she caught us," Charlie whispered jokingly to Nellie. "Well, we better go to the kitchen, before Sarah is gonna come here and get you herself."

"Yeah Nellie, good girl." Sarah said when she saw Nellie walk inside the kitchen. "Good morning Sarah." "Oh hi love, good morning. Did you sleep well?" "Yeah, it was fine." "Is Nick still asleep?" She asked. "No, not that I know of. When I woke up Nick wasn't there so I assumed he'd be here."  "Oh, I haven't seen him yet today, but I'm sure he'll be here soon. Right, Nellie?" Nellie didn't respond. Instead, she got up and walked out of the kitchen. "Well okay, you're just ignoring me then," Sarah said sarcastically. She redirected her attention towards Charlie. "Would you like something to eat sweetheart?" Sarah always made sure to ask before making him any food. Cause even though it had been 4 years since Charlie got out of the mental hospital, the eating disorder still affected him. It's not something you can just get rid of. That's why she always got out of her way to make sure that he felt comfortable and safe around food. Especially on the hard days. And that was exactly what today was going to be. A hard day.

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