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

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen.

[THE NEXT DAY]

Charlie:
I hear the door open and can hear Adam trying to quietly sneak inside.

"Adam, you don't have to tiptoe into your own room," Nick says.

I pull the blanket over my head.

"Yes he does," I joke.

Adam laughs.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to wake you guys up."
"I've been up for a couple of minutes. You only woke Charlie up. He tends to sleep late," Nick teases as he pulls the blanket off of my head.
"This is usually true, but to be fair, we only went to bed like four hours ago," I whine.

I look at my phone and see that our group text is going off.

Elle: Do you guys want to grab breakfast together?
Darcy: YES PLEASE. Nick has not offered to bring me to Tara at all this weekend :p
Nick: Ah, I didn't realize I started an Uber service :p
Tara: LOL you guys! Nick, you want to grab Darcy and come up this way with Charlie?
Nick: Sounds good
Charlie: I'm literally still sleeping
Nick: He's lying (:

Nick looks at me and throws a pillow at my face.

"Adam, do you want to come eat breakfast with us and our other friends?" I ask.
"I was actually going to sleep for a little. Do you guys want to grab lunch or something later today?"
"Yeah just text me when you wake up and we'll figure it out," Nick says. 

Nick walks out of the dorm to go grab Darcy. I look at Adam who is still awake and sitting on his bed.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.
"I'm okay, I promise," Adam insists.

I throw my hands up in the air.

"I'm sorry. It's kind of my personality to overthink things and annoy people," I say with a slight chuckle.

He laughs.

"Don't be sorry. I appreciate that you guys are worried about me; but really, I'm fine."
"Okay, if you're absolutely sure --"
"CHARLIE"
"Sorry!"

We both erupt into laughter.

"I know we got off to a rocky start, but I'm glad you're Nick's roommate. He's a great person to have in your corner and he's been where you are in a way. He only came out a couple of years ago."
"And you?" He asked.
"Me? It was more that it got found out more than me actually coming out. Still not one hundred percent sure about how but my best friend Tao was talking to my other best friend Aled about it and we think people overheard."

I can see the panic in Adam's eyes.

"Was it awful?"

I let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, it was. At school only, really. My family was really cool about it."
"When did it get better for you?"
"When I met Nick. Well, actually, that's not entirely true. The bullying probably stopped when Nick punched the main reason I was bullied in the face. So maybe a year after everyone found out."

Nick and Darcy walk in as I'm finishing my sentence.

"You just enjoy punching people in the face?" Adam asks, laughing.

Nick looks at me and shakes his head with a small smile.

"Only when they deserve it," Nick says.
"Still wish I could have seen you punch Harry," Darcy says.
"Honestly same," I say with a smile.
"Ready to go?" Nick asks.
"Ready!" I say.