'Cause I'd Find You In Any World (Nick and Charlie - Alternate Universe)

Chapter Five

[THE NEXT DAY]

Charlie:
I woke up feeling revived. Usually school is very mundane for me, but the idea of seeing Nick definitely makes it better. Mia is meeting up with James and I on our walk to school and I think I'm ready to tell her. She is one of my best friends; our parents are friends so we've pretty much known her our whole lives; they use to call us the three musketeers actually. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified about telling another person that I'm gay; I mean I was even terrified to tell James even though he is my absolute best friend. I'm trying to do my best not to talk myself out of telling her, but it's definitely hard. I meet James downstairs as we put on our shoes.

"Mia on her way?" He asks.
"Yeah, she should be here any minute," I reply.
"You got this," he says matter of factly.

I look at him and nod. I wish I had his confidence.

"Do you want me there? If not, I'll hang behind."
"Pretty sure I won't be able to do it without you there," I say.

Mia texts me that she's here so James and I head outside and greet her with a hug. We begin walking to school.

"You guys don't see me enough that you're actually scheduling morning meet ups?" She asks, laughing.

James and I chuckle but Mia can tell something is up.

"Okay, what's going on? You guys are acting weird," she says.

I keep trying to speak but nothing is coming out. James put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

"I uhh ... I want to tell you something. It's nothing actually, well it's something but I don't want you to ... I don't want things to ..." my voice trails off and Mia stops walking and faces me.

"You're freaking me out to be honest, Charlie. When have you ever been at a loss for words talking to me? What's up?"

I look over at James for some sort of encouragement. He puts his hand back on my shoulder and gives me a nod.

His words before leaving the house replay in my head. "You got this."

I take a deep breath and try again.

"There's just something I want you to know. But first, please know that this doesn't change anything about me. I'm still the same Charlie you grew up with. I'm just ... I'm gay..." I say, my voice trailing off, but still remaining eye contact with her.

She immediately pulls me into a hug and I feel James joining in.

"Why would it matter to me who you like? Who you love? I love you and want you to be happy. I'm sorry if I ever put you in a position that had you thinking I would react differently to this."

I let out a huge sigh of relief. James was right, my friends love me and won't see me any differently. We all pull away from our group hug, where she proceeds to slap us both on the arm.

"Sorry, but you guys nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you guys were moving, or something was dying!" She exclaims.
We all laugh. "So does that mean we can fill Mia in on who is hanging out with us today?" James asks as he smirks at me.

I roll my eyes.

"What is he talking about? Who are we hanging out with after school?" She asks.
"Oh, this guy in my year. He's new. His name is Nick," James said.
"And James is VERY MUCH under the impression that Nick has been flirting with me," I say.

We reach the school and see Nick walking inside.

"Nick, wait up!" James exclaims.

He turns his head around, waves at us and starts walking towards us.