"Alright, listen up." The class went silent and looked over at the teacher as he continued. "Your class trip to Paris is next week and only half of you turned in your permission slips. I need them by Friday or you will not be attending." Charlie huffed and looked down at the table. Nick glanced over at him and quickly concern washed over him. "Hey..." Charlie looked up at him. "Are you okay?" Nick asks and Charlie smiles reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm fine." Nick stares at him. He knows he was lying. Charlie knows he knows he was lying but Nick just nods and looks away. Charlie does the same.
For the rest of the day the only thing Nick could think about was Charlie and what was wrong with him.
At lunch, Nick walks by the table that Tao, Issac and Charlie usually sit at but Charlie was nowhere in sight. He decides to go over and ask his friends about it. "Hey, have you guys seen Charlie?" They look at each other then up at Nick. "No, we thought he was with you." Nick huffs. "No, something's wrong and he won't tell me." He tells them. "Us too. He's been skipping lunch a lot lately. I think he might be in Mr. Ajayi's classroom." Tao says. Nick nods. "Alright, I'm gonna go find him." They nod and Nick turns and walks back into the school. He stops at the doorway when he reaches the art room and he stares at Charlie staring down at his tray in disinterest. He gulps and walks into the room. "Charlie..." He looks up at his boyfriend quickly as he sat beside him. "What's going on?" Nick asks in a soft voice, looking into his glossy blue eyes. Charlie looks down. "Nothing." He mumbles. "Char..." He grabs Charlie's hand and he looks back up at him. "Talk to me." Charlie stares at him for a long moment before looking back down. "I just- I've been struggling a lot lately. Tori's been helping but it's still hard some days." Nick furrows his eyebrows, watching him closely. "Me and mum keep getting into these arguments about it and it's just so hard to keep it together." "Struggling with what?" Charlie tenses up. Nick notices. "What is it? What are you not telling me?" Charlie begins stumbling over his words until finally he inhales deeply and looks up at his boyfriend. "I..I have an eating disorder." This time Nick tenses up and his eyes begin to water. His grip on Charlie's hand tightens. "When was the last time you ate something?" That probably wasn't okay to ask but it doesn't seem to bother Charlie because it was Nick who was asking. He probably would've reacted differently if it was someone else. "Three days." He says. Nick lets out a shaky breath. "Charlie..." He pulls the brunette close to him and he holds him, their heads resting against each other. "Eat.. Please." He couldn't say no, especially, how he says it. He sounds so hurt and full of concern and hope. It broke Charlie's heart like how what Charlie told him did to Nick's heart. "I'll try..." He says, truthfully. Nick holds him even closer, relief washing over him.
