Nick and Charlie - A Heartstopper Fanfiction

Chapter 3 - Charlie

I didn't even know why I was upset. Just remembering how Tao had caused all that pain that I had gone through... but then again he didn't mean it... and he also was essentially the only person that was on my side... and in the end I felt it was better in the long run that I was out. It may have been awful at the time, but now basically everyone accepted me (with the exception of Harry Greene*). I checked my calendar and gasped audibly. Of course! 1st of June. Pride Month! I grinned widely, my sadness evaporating as suddenly as it had appeared. It was the first day of Pride Month, so I absolutely had to do something special.

I found a photograph from relatively recently on my phone - from the day we adopted Daisy. The memory made me chuckle. I couldn't believe Tori thought we were adopting a child! I guess that's why I should have been more specific. Nick and I were NOT ready to adopt a child. No way. Definitely not.

I put the picture on my Instagram and waited for the likes to come rolling in. I didn't have to wait long. I was starting to get some comments too. Most were supportive, Pride Month, cute dog, blah blah blah... wait. What?

sciencesucks10: aw, what a cute picture! It would be my dream to adopt a dog with my best friend! Friendship goals!

I stared at this comment for a while, but I wasn't mad. I was just amused. This person thought Nick and I had a totally platonic relationship! My God... hah.

cfspring @sciencesucks10: you do know he's my boyfriend, right? We've been dating for like ten years.
sciencesucks10 @cfspring: but your two boys? How does that work?
cfspring @sciencesucks10: firstly, learn to spell you're. Secondly, let me tell you about this little tiny thing, it's not very common knowledge or anything, but it's called... gay?
sciencesucks10 @cfspring: whoops sorry
cfspring @sciencesucks10: ahh, it's all good! Don't worry about it.

Another comment popped up underneath. This one I recognised.
nicholaszzzzz @cfspring: you're my boyfriend, yeah?
cfspring @nicholaszzzzz: yeah... what exactly are you getting at?
nicholaszzzzz @cfspring: okay so I know I could literally just ask you in person since I'm in the next room but I'm too much of a chicken so imma do it over Insta instead
cfspring @nicholaszzzzz: right... what is it? I'm low-key scared
nicholaszzzzz @cfspring: 💍
cfspring @nicholaszzzzz: huh?
nicholaszzzzz @cfspring: dammit I hoped you'd get it just from that. I'm asking you to marry me. I'm proposing. Jesus.

I didn't reply. I couldn't. My hands were shaking too much. It felt like the air had been knocked out of my lungs. Nick was... proposing? This was so sudden! Why would he propose to me? Granted, it was a creative way of doing it... but what? The worst thing was... I had no idea what I was going to say. I loved Nick. I should want to say yes without question, right? But I had no clue whether or not I was going to accept.

The idea of a wedding, like a proper one, with lots of people and fancy outfits... it was a bit overwhelming. I didn't even know if we could afford a wedding. I didn't want a big wedding. But it wasn't about the wedding, was it? It was about the marriage. And to be honest, we already acted sort of like we were married. It would essentially be no different.

nicholaszzzzz @cfspring: Charlie? Is that a yes?
I still couldn't reply. I still didn't know...

Nick came into the living room holding his phone, frowning at me in a concerned way. I was just staring across the room, mouth slightly open, incapable of moving.

'Charlie?' he muttered, sitting down beside me. He put his arm round my shoulders and just his soft touch sent shivers up my spine.

'Um.' I didn't look at him. 'Shit.'
'Is that a good 'shit' or a bad 'shit'?' Nick asked, probably getting more and more worried. 'You don't have to say yes. I know you love me. And I love you.'

In that moment, I knew exactly what I was going to say. I did love Nick. And I knew he loved me too. I loved him more than I'd ever loved anyone else. More than Ben. I'd never loved Ben**. Not really.

'Yes,' I said quietly. 'Fuck, yes.' Nick's eyes brightened and his frown melted away to give way to a cute smile.

'Wait, like, seriously? An actual yes?'
'Yes. An actual yes.'
'So, just making sure, that's an actual y-' I stopped his flow of words by kissing him.
'An actual yes.'
'Oh, my goodness,' Nick gushed. 'We're engaged. That feels so weird to say. Engaged. I have a fiancé. That feels good. It's nice. Wait, so this is happening?'

I hesitated. I was pretty sure I'd made the right decision... but then again, had I? But I couldn't really change my mind now. We could just push back the whole wedding thing until we were ready, right?

'Yeah. This is happening. On another note, check out this hilarious comment I got on the picture.' I proceeded to show Nick the comment from poor old sciencesucks10, and he found it just as funny as I did.

Later on in the bathroom I started crying. For absolutely no reason. Why was I like this? Why did I always manage to mess things up? Why couldn't I just be happy?

That got me thinking. What if I was too sad all the time? What if Nick decided he didn't want someone who burst into tears at the drop of a hat and who had a tendency to slip back into his old ways? I didn't know how I'd handle it if Nick left. He held me together. If he weren't here, I'd be in a million pieces.

*Harry Greene is one of Nick and Charlie's worst enemies. He's very homophobic and says a lot of nasty stuff about Charlie, leading to Nick eventually (spoiler alert for Heartstopper Volume 2) losing his temper and punching him in the face. Harry later offers an insincere apology, but Charlie realises that he doesn't have to forgive people who have hurt him.

**Ben Hope is Charlie's sort-of ex-boyfriend. In reality, they were never technically dating, even though to Charlie it seemed as though they were. It started when Charlie was outed and most of the bullying had died down. He formed a connection with Ben and they would regularly meet up in private to mostly just make out. Charlie thought that they were dating until he realised that Ben didn't want anyone to know about them, and Charlie also saw Ben with his girlfriend a lot outside of school. This was when he realised that Ben was using him when he just felt like making out with a boy, since Charlie was the only gay person he knew. He expected Charlie to drop everything for him and got mad if he didn't reply to his text messages. Nick and Charlie eventually got him to leave Charlie alone.