Kaleidoscope (a Heartstopper fanfiction)

Hotel

Once off the coach, they filed inside the hotel, where Mr. Farouk and Mr. Ajayi were handing out room keys.

Up the stairs and into their room with its two beds. One for Tao and Isaac, one for him and Charlie, Nick thought immediately.

"Oh, nice," Charlie said, smiling in Nick's direction. "We have to share beds."

Before Nick could reply, Isaac called the bed by the window, for the morning light to read by, and Tao called the other one, so he wouldn't have to be woken up by the sun. Nick wondered if Charlie had set that up in advance. Did he not want to sleep in the same bed? Did he think ... they had never talked about when and how and even if they would move on from kissing to ... more stuff. Nick hoped Charlie didn't think he would pressure him to do anything that might make him uncomfortable.

All he had hoped for were snuggles, to have Charlie's curls tickling his face as he slept, to whisper and giggle on a shared pillow long into the night ... and now that wouldn't be happening.

He looked uncomfortably at Charlie, who seemed equally so. "I guess I'll ... share with Tao, and you can share with Isaac."

"Uh ... Yeah." It was still Paris and they were still here together, and that would be good enough, Nick told himself.

A quick dinner in the hotel and then curfew. Nick heard a few people whispering about sneaking out of their rooms tonight, but most people seemed tired enough that they weren't going to be starting anything untoward. Isaac and Tao were certainly wiped out. Both of them fell asleep almost immediately after getting into bed.

Nick lay awake, acutely aware of Charlie, so close, but so far away. Of not having been able to sit with him on the coach, of not having kissed properly all day, of not knowing what exactly Charlie wanted 'low-key' to mean. Because so far, it had meant not nearly enough Charlie.

Then Charlie rolled over in his bed, facing Nick, and Nick turned his head on his pillow to see Charlie better, and then ... then it was okay. Because they were here together, and that was what mattered. Nick held out his hand in the space between their beds, and Charlie put his in it.

The touch was enough. Reassured, Nick closed his eyes and was finally able to sleep.

When they woke the next morning, Tao and Isaac were already gone—up and dressed and down to breakfast. Charlie spent a great deal of time on his hair, fixing it just right. Nick didn't mind. He was hungry, but he could eat later. Time alone with Charlie was not to be wasted.

Looking up into the mirror, Charlie saw Nick watching him and smiled, well aware that his obsession with his hair was a bit extra ... and, Nick hoped, equally well aware that Nick found it adorable.

Exiting the bathroom at last, Charlie came to sit on the bed next to Nick. "I wanted to share a bed with you."

"Same. I'm sure we'll get to do it one day," Nick added, without thinking about how that would sound. Meeting Charlie's eyes, seeing him chuckle and look away, he blushed furiously. "Uh ... I didn't mean ... I didn't mean do it. I ... I was just talking about, you know ... sharing a bed, that's all." He didn't have the first idea how people went about talking about this stuff. "So, um ... That came out all wrong."

"I know what you meant," Charlie told him.

"Okay."

"I can't wait."

"Yeah." He leaned in, closing his eyes, and Charlie's hand slipped round the side of his neck to pull him closer.

And then the door banged open, and Darcy's voice called out, "Nick and Charlie! You two coming or—"

They turned to look at her.

"Oh," she said, picking up on what she'd interrupted. "You're being gay." She gave them a thumbs up. "Good job. Carry on." Then she left with Tara, the door closing behind them.

But the moment was broken. They couldn't help but laugh. Interrupted again.

"Will we ever get to kiss without people walking in on us?" Charlie asked.

"Well, at least I've not lost this challenge yet."

"Oh. Oh, you're going to lose."

"Really?" Because Nick was pretty sure it was Charlie who had nearly lost that time.

"Just you wait."

"Really."

By the time they made it down to breakfast, Mr. Farouk and Mr. Ajayi were already collecting people in the lobby, ready to start their first Paris day. Nick hastily loaded up a plate, noticing that Charlie only put a few things on his. Apparently Charlie wasn't much of one for breakfast. Nick's mum was like that, only picking a little first thing in the morning.

Darcy's plate was pretty full, too, and she and Nick raced a little to see who could finish first. Darcy won, but Nick was pretty sure it was cheating to shove half a croissant into your mouth at once.

He said so, too, feeling pretty safe that he was going to have the last word, since Darcy was still trying to swallow the croissant.

She was finally able to speak as they were exiting the hotel to join the others. "The idea was to finish first. I did."

"Finish means swallowing your food," Nick objected.

"Finish means a clean plate. Jonesy, back me up."

"No." Tara shook her head, looping her arm through Charlie's, and they left Nick and Darcy to agree it had been a draw and catch up with the rest of the tour just as Mr. Ajayi was clearing his throat to ask for quiet but before Mr. Farouk had demanded it.