Nick & Charlie - A Neverending Story || Heartstopper

Chapter 1: Reconciliation

At Truham and Higgs sports day, Charlie had been avoiding Nick all morning. Since he couldn't tell him the day before that it would be best if they broke up because they were interrupted by a boy from Truham yelling that Harry Greene was having a fight with someone in the yard, they ran off. It turned out it was Tao, then Nick got in the way and finally the teachers came to separate them. Tao ended up telling Charlie to him to leave him alone cause it was all his fault.

Charlie couldn't stop thinking about it and he was more and more convinced, although it hurt him deeply, that what he had with Nick had to stop for the common good. He couldn't keep letting all the people he cared about get into fights because of him. He felt guilty and was determined to resign himself.

He managed to sneak out of the gym when he saw the rugby captain approaching him, he ran and managed to lose him. Nick wasn't going to give up and he had already texted him many times since the day before. Charlie was fighting with his feelings and he swore to himself that he wasn't going to let them beat him, because that would screw everything up, even more so than it already had.

He walked out onto the campus lawn and there were Tao, Elle, Isaac, Tara and Darcy lounging on the grass.

Elle raised her hand briskly to tell him to come over there.

Charlie walked over and sat down in front of everyone. Tara and Darcy said hi to him warmly.

Elle: Charlie, what are you supposed to be doing sneaking around?

Silence.

Tao didn't even look at him, it was clear that he was still upset with him, and he didn't blame him for that, cause he had come out badly from that fight and although Harry had been expelled for a few days, Charlie found out that they had let him come to sports day. So the fight had been for nothing. Well, yes, for him to lose his best friend.

"I can't deal with all this, it's too much for me to handle," he kept repeating to himself over and over until he finally said it out loud. Such was the level of frustration and disappointment he had with himself that he began to cry right there. Instantly they all came over and surrounded him in a group hug. Even Tao and Isaac, who as usual was focused in his reading.

Tao (downcast and sad): I'm worried, I don't like seeing you like this, you shouldn't feel as you do, forgive me Charlie, please, I don't like being away from you either, so let's forget everything and be friends again as we've always been.

Charlie: Come here.

They hugged each other and Charlie felt comforted, as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his back.

Tara: And now would you please tell us what else is going through that little head of yours, because we know there's something else going on and we're not going to let you go on like this...

Charlie: I know you're going to say I'm wrong, but it's not even questionable that Nick and Tao are in trouble because of me and I have no right to let others constantly risk themselves because of me.

He stared at Tao and said, "You don't deserve it, either of you."

Isaac: But is it really what you want or is that what you think you should do?

Elle: Even if it is, you can't keep escaping from Nick like that and expect him to stop looking for you because he doesn't care about you anymore, Charlie, that's not going to happen.

Tara: The best thing to do is that you two talk and decide together what's the best for both.

Darcy: As the president of your fan club, I strongly refuse to allow CharNick cease to exist. So you better be back together ASAP.