Heartstopper Future

Chapter 12: Tara's Birthday

Date: Wednesday 3rd July 2024

Nick’s POV

It’s Tara’s birthday, so this evening the Paris Squad is going to the bar where Darcy works to celebrate. I am a bit nervous for Charlie, as bars aren’t exactly the most pregnancy friendly and I don’t know how he’ll cope, especially as I know he likes to drink.

I walk out of school and towards my car as I need to get home so I can get ready for later.

When I get home, I spot Charlie on the sofa, fast asleep, with a used plate (probably from lunch) beside him. He hasn’t gotten dress yet today, but I honestly don’t blame him – I would have done the same if I was at home with not a lot to do.

I take his plate into the kitchen and go back to the living room waiting for him to wake up. He begins to stir, not long after I sit down, and when he wakes up he whispers “Hi,”

“Hi, how was your day?” I reply.

“It was good. I didn’t do a lot, just watched some movies. How was yours?”

“Good. Are you sure you want to go to the bar later?”

“Yes, I think it’ll be good for me to get out the house.”

“Ok, I think we should have dinner before we go and we need to leave at 6, so how does dinner at 5 sound?”

“That sounds good, provided that until then we can snuggle and watch movies”

Upon this request, I don’t even answer. All I do is pull him close to me, and rest my hands on his stomach, while he puts on a movie.

At 16:45 I whisper into his ear “I need to go make dinner now.” So I slide him off my lap and stand up and head into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he follows. I made dinner, and once I had dished it up, I joined him at the table where he was sat, and placed his plate in front of him, before proceeding to take a seat next to him and begin eating.

After we have both finished eating, we go upstairs to change into something a little more appropriate for the event, as it was decided that school suit and lazy day shorts and baggy jumper weren’t appropriate.

Once we have both changed and are ready to leave, I shout “Goodbye!” to mum, and we get in the car and we leave. Charlie is driving, just in case anyone spots us as that is going to be our excuse for him not drinking, as people are bound to pick up on it as he usually drinks a lot.

When we arrive, we are unsurprisingly the last to arrive, and as we make our way towards the bar where everyone else has gathered, Darcy shouts over all the people laughing and chatting, from behind the bar “Nick! Charlie! What can I get you?”

“Just 2 lemonades, thanks, Darcy.”

I will probably move onto alcohol later on tonight but I want to make sure Charlie is comfortable first.

Charlie’s POV

I am very thankful to Nick for ordering something non-alcoholic for the both of us as it makes it less obvious I’m not drinking. Although, I am very aware Nick plans on drinking later on, but at least it keeps the spot light off me for a while.

As the evening continues, Nick has a couple of beers, and Isaac and I are the only sober people left, although people were starting to notice that I hadn’t had anything to drink. But I was expecting this and just used the excuse that Nick and I had planned in advance, when I was accused by Tao, which seemed to satisfy everyone, especially knowing we live reasonably far away.

Well, everyone except Isaac accepts this as a response. He just gives me this knowing look, and when I ask him “What?” he just replies “Nothing,” with a slight smirk. I knew he had probably figured out I was pregnant, especially with the head start of me telling him I might be, but I know he won’t tell anyone. Not going to lie, but if he had asked me straight up tonight, I probably would have told him the truth anyway. I mean he had figured it out anyway so he might as well have it confirmed. But I didn’t want to bring it up with this many irresponsible drunks around, so I just kept quiet.

When we got back and were getting into bed, I told Nick that Isaac had guessed I was pregnant, just in case Isaac mentions it to him, although he probably won’t, but just in case.