Off To Uni! (Written after Nick & Charlie by Alice Osmen)

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Twenty Nine.

[FRIDAY]

Charlie:
This week went by pretty smoothly. To be honest, every week this year so far has gone by pretty smoothly. Now that Harry's gone, school is no longer a place I dreaded going to. I don't mind learning and now I can just hang out with Tao and Aled without a care in the world.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to adjust with Nick here. He had become such a staple part of my routine, my life that I was afraid I was going to implode. I mean, I definitely had a moment there with Jacob but I feel much better about that now. I feel like Nick leaving, along with Elle, Tara and Darcy, has forced me to become more independent; although I do still have Tao and Aled. 

"Going to see Nick again this weekend?" Tao asks, breaking my thought.

I nod.

"Yeah, going to go home now to pack and then get on a train. You want to come? I'm sure Nick will drive you over to Elle's."
"Her parents are actually bringing her down here, she has a family party on Saturday."
"Oh okay, so I'll see you guys on Monday?"

They nod and we say goodbye. I get home and run upstairs to begin packing.

"Can I come with you?" Oliver asks as he peaks his head into my door frame.
"Maybe next time," I say with a soft smile.

I see his hopeful smile turn into a frown. I sit down on the bed and tap my hand on it, inviting him to sit next to me. He walks in with his head sulking.

"Hey, Nick starts Rugby soon and I was thinking that I'll take you up for his first game and we can totally surprise him. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

He looks up at me with his little puppy dog eyes.

"You promise?"

I smile and mess up his hair with my hand.

"I promise. He's going to be so happy to see you there. You're one of his best friends, you know that right?"

He smiles and nods his head.

"I'm not leaving for another half an hour or so. So if you wanted to make him a card or something, you can and I'll make sure he gets it."

Oliver looks excited and runs out of my room. I smile and shake my head. It seems like I'm not the only one that is obsessed with Nick in this family. I finish getting ready and peer my head into Oliver's room.

"Are you almost done? I need to get to the train before I miss it," I say with a smile.

Oliver runs basically into me with a drawing of me, him and Nick with the words "I miss you" written next to it.

I bend down to his eye level and smile again.

"I'll send Tori a picture of where Nick puts this up in his room because he definitely is going to hang it up," I say.
"What are you sending me?" Tori says as she appears out of no where like she usually does.
"Charlie is going to send me a picture of Nick's room after he hangs up this picture I made for him. Do you want to make one too Tori?"
"Absolutely not," she says. "You can tell him I said hi though."
"Careful Tori," I tease. "Nick might get the impression that you actually care about him."

She glares at me.

"I only have enough room in my cold heart to care about you two," she says gesturing to me and Oliver. 

I laugh and say goodbye to everyone and start to walk to the train station.

Nick:
I told Charlie I would drive down to get him but he insisted on taking the train. I had a late class today anyway, so by him taking the train, I'll see him earlier than I would have if I drove down there. Plus, I have an old car and adding all these miles on it every week can't be good. I walk into my room and see Adam sitting down, playing video games.

"Hey," I say as I place my bag on my bed.
"What's up?" He asks as he hands me a remote control to play.

I grab the remote and sit next to him.

"Nothing. Going to pick up Charlie from the train station soon. You want to grab dinner with us? Invite Jacob?"

He looks at me, kind of unsure.

"Do you think people will assume we're on a double date?"
"I thought you didn't care so long as you were here and not at home?"
"I don't know, I keep going back and forth," he says. "I just don't want you and Charlie to be all lovey-dovey and then Jacob and I are just, there, you know?"

I laugh a little bit.

"Charlie and I are not really super PDA kind of guys, unless we're alone; but not really in group settings. Come on, it'll be fun. You can invite more people if you want."

He sighs.

"Fine, fine!" He exclaims as he beats me at the game.
"You're really not that great at video games."
"I know. Charlie reminds me almost every time I see him," I say as I lightly toss the remote at him. "I have to go get him. Text Jacob and see if he's free!"

I get into my car and drive to the train station and see Charlie waiting for me out front. I pull over and he jumps into the car and kisses me.

"I missed you," he says.
"Not nearly as much as I missed you," I say.
"Oliver wanted me to give you this," he says as he hands me a drawing.

It's of him, Charlie and me. I smile.

"I love that kid," I say.
"He wanted to come with me today," he says with a chuckle. "I told him I'm bringing him to your first Rugby game so act surprised when you see him."

We drive back to campus and as we're walking up the stairs to go inside, we see someone aggressively kicking a trash can.

"Darcy?" We say in unison.
"Tara and I got into a really big fight," she says as she kicks the trash can again. "I don't know if she wants to be with me anymore."