Heartstopper oneshots <3

8: I'm not okay

words: 2194

Charlie wasn't doing well. It was obvious. Anyone that looked knew that. Every day Charlie looked like he had gotten little to no sleep, his eyes drooped and he struggled to focus in class. He was on auto-pilot, his feet brought him from class to class without thought. Overall, Charlie wasn't doing well.

Nick noticed the change in Charlie, he noticed how he always ate lunch in the art room, how he avoided everybody's eyes, how he almost fell asleep in form 3 times this week, and most importantly how he's been avoiding Nick. Nick didn't know what to do, what if he was the problem? What if Charlie just needed space?

Nick watched Charlie from a distance, he watched as he tiredly grabbed his binder from his locker and put it into his backpack. Charlie looked over, but the second he made eye contact with his boyfriend he quickly looked away and began walking the opposite direction. Nick felt his heart break, Charlie couldn't even look at him.

Nick let out a sigh before walking to his next class.

•at lunch•

Nick put his things into his locker, as he was doing so, Harry came over to him and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Nicholas, are you coming to hang out with us?" Harry questioned.

"I already have plans," Nick replied dryly.

"With who? A girl?" Harry teased.

"Uh no," Nick answered.

"Who then? C'mon mate, don't tell me it's a secret."

"It's not a secret, I'm hanging out with Charlie at lunch," Nick said.

"That nerdy little year ten? Why do you hang out with a gay boy? He's so pathetic," Harry laughed. Nick turned to face Harry.

"I hang out with him because he's the nicest person I've ever met. He never makes fun of people for anything, he never makes people feel like shit just because it's funny, and he never, ever, makes me feel like I'm a bad person for hanging out with people I like hanging out with," Nick ranted. "So overall, he's way better of a person than you ever will be." 

Harry visibly tensed at what Nick said.

"Oh so he's better than me?"

"Yeah, he is," Nick admitted with a shrug. Harry shoved him up against the locker, holding onto the collar of his shirt. Nick didn't fight back, he knew Charlie hated when he got angry so he tried to stay calm.

"What? Can't handle the truth?" Nick asked teasingly. Before Nick could process it, he felt a fist hit his cheekbone. His head flew to the side as he winced. He heard a crowd gather around them as they chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight".

Nick shoved Harry off of him and walked away, he had to find Charlie. He heard the shouts of teachers telling him to stop and go back, he also heard the argument of Harry and a teacher. Nick didn't care about any of that though, he just needed to see Charlie.

He made his way to the art room and saw Mr Ajayi sitting at his desk. He looked around the room and saw Charlie curled up on the ground in the corner. Mr Ajayi looked up at Nick and softly smiled, not saying a word. Nick walked into the room and made his way over to his boy, sitting down next to him. Charlie kept his gaze on his hands. Mr Ajayi left the room silently to let the pair have privacy.

Nick placed a hand on top of Charlie's and rubbed the back of his hands. Charlie looked up at Nick and made eye contact. His eyes spoke a thousand words, which were a thousand more than he could think of at the moment. In that eye contact Nick understood that Charlie wasn't okay, that he needed him. Charlie began breaking down, causing Nick to pull him into a tight hug. Nick placed a soft kiss on Charlie's forehead.