Kaleidoscope (a Heartstopper fanfiction)

Good-night

As the six of them walked from the milkshake tent to the concert, they naturally fell into couples. Nick looked over at Charlie and smiled. It was nice to be able to think of them as a couple for once.

Most of the other musicians were already in the gym when they arrived, and the chairs for the audience were still being set up. The music teacher from Higgs rushed Tara and Darcy to their seats while Charlie started inspecting the drum set-up.

"So what are you playing tonight?" Nick asked.

"Let me show you." There was a second chair nearby, and Charlie pulled it up, showing Nick where to put his foot on the pedal and handing him the drumsticks.

"Okay."

Charlie put his hands over Nick's. Remembering the last time they did this, the way Nick had felt with Charlie sitting so close, the way he now understood, he looked over at Charlie, who smiled at him and proceeded to lead him in a simple rhythm. Nick still couldn't follow it, but he appreciated Charlie wanting to share with him this part of who he was.

Letting go of Nick's hands, Charlie leaned closer to him. "I'm glad you came."

"It seemed like you didn't want me to."

"No, I did. I just ... I thought you were trying not to be rude."

"No. I just ... I like being with you." He didn't just like it; he loved it. He wanted to be with Charlie all the time.

Charlie laughed happily and looked away, blushing a little bit, and Nick decided he was going to make that point more firmly after the concert, so Charlie would believe it was true.

"Also," Charlie said hesitantly, "we've been hanging out a lot and ... If people guessed we were together, if they started saying stuff about you, then ... Well, I really don't want you to have to deal with that."

Since Charlie already dealt with that more than anyone should have to, Nick thought it was generous of him to want to spare Nick from it, and he regretted that he had been so scared. It felt like the right time to tell Charlie what he had been thinking.

"I, um ... I've been researching about ... being bisexual. Uh ... I think that might be me. But I ... I'm not sure."

Charlie smiled at him, and Nick felt a tension inside him ease that he hadn't even known was there. It occurred to him that he had been worried that Charlie wouldn't accept him if he wasn't fully gay, just as he had been worried that his friends and his mum wouldn't accept him if he wasn't fully straight. Being neither and both felt like something of a no-man's-land.

Before either of them could say more, they heard the teacher asking about Tara and Darcy, who had apparently left the gym at some point. "I'm about to open the doors for the audience," she exclaimed.

Getting to their feet, Nick and Charlie gestured for Tao and Elle to help them look for their friends. They ran down the hall, knocking on doors and calling the girls' names.

Eventually, they found them locked in the instruments room. "Hey," Nick said as he burst through the door. "You guys are supposed to be on stage, like, right now."

They ran back down the hall, separating into couples again, Tara and Darcy and Nick and Charlie holding hands, with Elle and Tao lagging behind.

"Come help me," Tara said urgently to Nick, so he followed her to her chair, holding her instrument case as she hastily fit her clarinet together. "Thanks, 'boy I kissed one time'."

"No problem, 'girl I kissed one time'." He looked down at her in concern. "Are you going to be okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'll be okay. You?"