Nick and Charlie - A Heartstopper Fanfiction

Chapter 6 - Charlie

At 12:30, we pulled up to Tao and Elle's house in Nick's old car. There were already two other cars parked nearby, and I recognised them as Aled's Volkswagen Golf and Darcy's bright pink hippie van. Tara was not happy when she brought that home.

Their house was situated in a small village named Rexford, and they lived in a cosy cul-de-sac. The house was small but tidy and neatly-kept, with cute hanging baskets filled with pink and blue flowers and a gravel path leading up to their front door. It was reminiscent of a French cottage, like where an old spinster lady would sit in a rocking chair out on the porch and weave patterns on her loom.

Elle must have seen us walking up to the house, because she was at the door before I'd even had a chance to knock. I was carrying the wrapped picture frame in my hand so I gave her a one-armed hug and wished her a happy birthday. I rubbed the finger on my right hand where my ring would be when we went to go pick them out, and remembered that we weren't telling them yet. Wouldn't want to outshine Elle.

'I see everyone else is already here,' I remarked when we walked into the living room to see the entire Paris Squad arranged on the sofas. Aled texting on his phone (probably Daniel*); Tara and Darcy with their arms around each other chatting with Tao. (AN: Yes, Tara and Darcy are dating. I don't think I mentioned that before. Das right bitches! We got another same sex couple in da house!!)
'Yeah, but you're not that late. I'll go get some tea, and then you give me my present... I mean we can catch up!' She scurried off and we laughed. Elle was so precious. (AN: Can you tell that I really like Elle? Hey that rhymed!)

We took a seat beside Aled, but Nick apparently wasn't happy if we had even the slightest gap between us, because he literally pulled me onto his lap and brought me so close I thought I'd suffocate.
'Jesus. Don't choke me.'
'Alright, Mr Uptight,' he replied, and I scoffed.
'It's not exactly uptight to want to be able to breathe.'
'Whatever.'

'So Charlie. How's Oliver doing?' Tao asked me, and I shrugged.
'He's doing good, but he's trying to get over his latest failed romance.'
'Name?'
'Olivia. No wonder they split up with matching names like that.'

Elle soon came back in, balancing cups of tea and trying not to spill them. She served us all without spilling a drop.
'Forget sewing, you missed your calling as a waitress,' Nick snorted, and we all fell about laughing. Elle had always loved to sew and made a lot of her own clothes for fun. When she started getting short on cash from her cashier job at the supermarket, she decided to begin taking commissions. She put out an ad online with the business name Clothes by Elle, and soon the money was pouring in. She ended up quitting her day job because it was only eating up her time and she didn't even need the money from it anymore.

'Shut up, Nelson,' she retorted, but she was hiding a smile too. She sat down beside Tao, took a long gulp of tea and said, 'So. Presents?'
I handed over my tissue-paper-wrapped gift to her, and she handled it carefully, trying to figure out what it was.
'Is it a book?'
'I dunno. You tell me.'
So she unpeeled the tissue paper and held the gift aloft, examining it with shiny eyes.
'Charlie,' she sniffed. 'It's amazing. Thank you so much. Although I am cringing at how young I looked.'
'Yeah, me too.'
Elle set my present aside and opened the rest. She got a set of jewellery - necklace, earrings and ring - from Aled, who I was started to realise was pretty damn loaded. She also received a biography of Sylvia Rivera, who I believed was a famous transgender woman, from Tara and Darcy. She just managed to hold in her tears.

Then it was lunchtime. We all went into the dining room and sat round their table, Nick's feet entwined with mine. Elle quickly entered the kitchen and brought out a large bowl filled with crispy lettuce, red tomatoes, cucumber and juicy pieces of chicken breast. It was covered in a mayonnaise sauce and the smell was mouth-watering.
'This is just a small starter course, so don't fill up!' Elle told us, setting out plates in front of us all and serving us each a small portion of salad. She left out the chicken for Tara, who had become vegetarian.
'So, Charlie,' she said. 'It's been a while. What's new?' I glanced at Nick.
'Oh, ah, nothing much.'
'Really? Come on, there's got to be something.'
I looked at Nick. Nick looked at me. His face said should we tell them? I gave him an imperceptible nod, but I tilted my head like I was waiting for an answer. He nodded back.

'Well, actually... there is something. We didn't want to tell you today because it's Elle's day, so we didn't want to upstage her, but I guess we can tell you now,' I shrugged.
'Right... what is it?' asked Aled.
'Oh my God... are you adopting a child? Are you getting a dog?'
'We have a dog, Darcy. And we're not adopting a child.'
'Well, are you getting another dog?'
'No! We, um... we're getting... married...'
A silence ensued.

'Really?' asked Tao.
'Really,' I replied. The room erupted into excited conversation, full of congratulations and questions alike.
'Who's going to be your best man? Which one of you is going to have a best man?' Darcy asked. I responded, 'Well, we were thinking we could both have a best man. I was going to ask Oliver, since he's always wanted to be my best man someday. We haven't really discussed the details yet. He only proposed this morning.'
'Today?' Elle exclaimed, and we both nodded.
'Yeah, and I was actually thinking of asking... you, Tao. To be my best man,' said Nick. I looked at him, eyes wide. I never thought he'd ask Tao!
'Me?'
'Yeah. You. I just really appreciate all that you've done for Charlie, even before I knew him. You were his shoulder to cry on when he was going through all that shit at school. Even after the whole thing with Ben, you still gave me a chance. You didn't trust me fully; you thought I would hurt Charlie in some way. And even though I would never, ever do what Ben did to him, I love how concerned you were for him. You have always been his best friend, and honestly... I wish I could be as good a person as you. So that's why I'm asking you to be my best man.'
Tao blinked back a few stubborn tears. 'That means a lot,' he smiled. There was a short silence before Elle broke it.

'Right, lunch!'

*I don't really know much about it, but apparently Aled has this friend named Daniel who he has known since they were really little, and apparently it's becoming something more romantic between them. Again, I don't know a lot about it. There's more info in Alice Oseman's Radio Silence (most of the books are in the same universe), which I have not read, so... yeah.

Update: I have now read Radio Silence! It's absolutely brilliant haha. Anyway, I now know about Aled and Daniel's relationship, so I will be adding that in a little more. I've also read Solitaire now, and because I'm a major Sprolden shipper, I'm planning on having Tori and Michael in a sort of casual relationship. If you have a problem with it... sorry :/