Off To Uni! (Written after Nick & Charlie by Alice Osmen)

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven.

[THE NEXT MORNING]

Charlie:
I wake up to the smell of coffee and Nick sitting on a chair at his desk.

"Hi," Nick says as he gets up to hand me my coffee.
"Wow, you look so... studious," I say with a slight chuckle.

He sits down next to me and pulls me closer.

"I just wanted to check my schedule for today. I only have two classes today that start at 2PM. So I figure I'll just take you and Tao home around 11:30? Should get me back around 1:30 - 1:45."

I couldn't help but let out a sigh. This is it. Nick is officially moved into Uni and I'm officially leaving. I know I'll see him Saturday morning, but, besides when I was at the Treatment Center and when Nick went on vacation, this is the most time we'll be spending apart. Nick interrupts my thought by kissing me on top of the head.

"I love you."

I look up at him and give him a small smile.

"I love you," I say.

We lay in bed, mostly in silence until it's time to get ready. Before we walk out the door, Nick goes into one of his drawers, pulls out a jumper, sprays it with his cologne and hands it to me.

"I know I gave you one already, but I know you love wearing them," he says.

I pull it close to me and smile. This is even harder than I thought it was going to be. We stop by Darcy's so I can say goodbye before heading over to Elle and Tara's school to get Tao. After picking up Tao and saying goodbye to Tara and Elle, we start to make our way back home.

"Tao, if you want to come up to see Elle on Saturday, I'm sure my Mum wouldn't mind driving you up with Charlie," Nick says.

I squeeze Nick's hand and smile. Tao and Nick's relationship has obviously gotten much better than it was years ago, but it still makes me smile when Nick offers to help him out with anything.

"That would be great, thanks. Ah, Charlie, looks like it's just you me and Aled this year. What are we going to do?"
"Be miserable?" I reply sarcastically.
"You guys will be fine," Nick says. "And whenever I come down or Charlie comes up here, we'll make sure to tell you and Elle in case you want to see each other."

We get to Tao's and say goodbye before Nick drives me to my house. He walks me up to my door and we just stand there staring at each other.

"Four days," I say.
"I'll call you everyday."
"I know, and I know it's crazy because I'm going to see you in less than a week. It just, it feels different this time, ya know? You're not coming back for good. Just brief amounts of time.."

Nick pulls me close.

"Then we'll just have to make the most of the time we do have together," he says as he touches my nose with his.

I look at the time and sigh.

"You better get going, you don't want to miss your first class," I say.
"Who needs Psych 101 anyway?" He asks with a small laugh.
"When are Rugby tryouts?"
"Not for another month, should probably start getting in shape soon though."

I squeeze his arms and let out a small laugh.

"Seem pretty in shape to me."

I wraps my arms around him and bury my head into his chest. Nick is the one person who makes everything better. I worry how I'm going to be without him. I know I need to be more independent, but it was much easier to be that way when I knew Nick was there just in case. I feel his hands running through my hair. I pull away from our embrace just enough to crash my lips into his.