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

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen.

Charlie:
I know I've gone back and forth a bit about how I feel about today, but wow. Today is officially the best day I think I've ever had. Everything with my Dad couldn't have gone any better; I can't believe he even agreed to not tell Mum about it. Honestly, it kind of makes me think that Dad also thinks she's not going to handle the news greatly; but that's a battle for another day. Today is a win. We walk inside the house and say hello to Mum before heading upstairs. As much as I want to run into my room and tell Nick the news, he can wait for now. My best friend and biggest supporter is probably dying to tell me how his date went. I knock on James' door and stick my head inside.

"I believe someone promised me to tell me about their date," I say.

I see James look up at me and smile excitedly. 

"You sure? I can tell you later. You had a pretty big day and I'm sure you want to share the news with Nick. Probably Mia too."

I walk over to him and sit down next to him.

"They can wait, but this can't," I begin as I pull him into a hug. "I want to thank you for everything these past couple of years," I pull away from the hug as I continue. "I had no idea how me coming out to either Mum or Dad would look, and you jumping in like that to my defense before even knowing the outcome, I just ---"

My voice starts to break as I feel the tears in my eyes.

"Dad was wrong about me being the best person he knows, it's really you. Thank you for always being there for me."

I see the tears start to swell as he pulls me into another hug.

"One emotional conversation after the next," he jokes. "I told you, I'm always going to be there for you. No one can ever get to you without going through me first, okay?"

I nod with a smile.

"Okay, enough with the love fest. TELL ME EVERYTHING!" I say.

"Where should I start?"
"The beginning would be nice, James," I tease.

He rolls his eyes and smiles.

"Well you were there for the first half, which was great. It was nice to kind of start the day off with less pressure --"
"Especially because you spent a lot of your time looking at me and Nick," I say with a smirk.
"SHUT UP! I'm invested," he jokes. "ANYWAY, so we got to learn a little bit about each other on their tour of the town and before the movie started. During the movie, she had her hand on the arm rest, so I acted like I was going to grab the soda and "accidentally" grabbed her hand and said "sorry!" and she said "don't be" with a smile and held my hand --"
"Smooth."
"I know, right? So after the movie, we obviously left you guys and went to dinner at that burger place you got for Nick last week on the date you planned --"
"Wow he and his friends are so similar, even with food."
"Right?! Does that mean we're into the same kind of people?"
"I mean, I thought we already clarified that I'm gay so we're actually into ---"
"PERSONALITY WISE CHARLIE," he says, laughing. "Anyway, so we ate dinner, definitely held her hand the whole time we weren't eating. Walked her home, well, to Michaels," he says with a dreamy smile.
"AND?!?"
"And? Oh, you want to know if I kissed her."
"UM YES."
"I don't kiss ... or not kiss, and tell," he says.

I roll my eyes at him.

"You know every single detail of mine and Nick's relationship so you absolutely will kiss or not kiss and tell!"

He laughs.

"I kissed her. It was amazing. Literally Charlie, I could not have pictured a better date. We already talked about a second date."
"I'm so happy for you!"
"Me? I'm so happy for you. How does it feel?"
"Honestly? I feel so much lighter. I know Dad was the easier battle but still --"
"Don't try to make this smaller because it was Dad, this is HUGE."

Nick:
After leaving Charlie at the train station, I headed over to Michael's and met up with him, Erin and Will.

"How was your date?" I ask.
"How was yours?" Erin asks.

We both look at each other and smile.

"Amazing," we say in unison. 
"You two are already annoying," Will says.
"Soon you will be too. Once you and Mia go out on a date," I tease.
"And then you'll all be annoying to me," Michael says with a slight chuckle.

I tell them about my date and then Erin talks about her date with James.

"Yeah, I think I'll keep him around," Erin jokes. "ALL THE DOUBLE DATES WE CAN HAVE!"
"Over here. Or far away," I say with a small sigh.
"I thought you were okay with that?" Michael asks.
"I am. I am. It's just, after an amazing day like today, it's kind of a bummer to remember that it can't always be like that. But Charlie ---"
"Is worth it," they all say in unison, teasing me.
"WELL HE IS!" I say, laughing.
"We definitely agree with you there. We like Charlie," Will says.

I smile and text Charlie.

Nick: Not that I thought it would go any other way, but you officially got my friends' stamp of approval tonight :p
Nick: Let me know when you get home xx

I put my phone down and fall back into conversation with everyone. After an hour passes, I decide to text Charlie again, just to make sure he got home safely.

Nick: Just wanted to make sure you got home safely...
Charlie: Sorry! A LOT going on over here right now. Will call you soon xx

A couple of minutes later, I see that Charlie is video-chatting me. I get up from the couch and walk outside.

"Hey! I thought you forgot about me," I joke.
"After that date? Never," he says. "I have news though."
"Are you outside?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm in my backyard."
"Oooh! That must mean secret news," I tease.
"Yeah, kind of actually," he says with a smile.
"Well?!" 
"So my Dad actually came to pick us up from the train station," he begins.
"Oh?"

That's when everything hits me.

"Oh! Oh my god, Charlie. Did he see? What happened? I'm so sorry it was so dumb -- Wait, are you smiling?"
"Yes, I'm smiling. I came out, well he found out; I confirmed," he says. "He was so great and so accepting, right from the beginning."

I couldn't hide the smile on my face. I'm so happy for him.

"That's so amazing, Charlie!"
"Literally this has been the best day of my life," he says.
"I remember feeling that way when I came out to Will and my Mum."
"This is the best day for multiple reasons," he says, blushing.

I feel my cheeks turn red too.

"I've been having a lot of best days ever since I moved here. So what about your Mum?"
"That's a battle for a different day. For now, Dad is keeping it to himself and said it's up to me when to decide to tell her."
"Wow. That's amazing."
"Yeah. And now, we have one more person who knows and will help us have more actual dates," he says with a smile.
"I can't believe this is actually happening," I say. "I was nervous as to when our next public date would be."
"Does next weekend work for you?" He asks. "Because I already have an idea."

To say this boy gives me butterflies is the biggest understatement.

"Oh really? I guess I can find some time to go on another date," I tease.
"GOOD! Because I'm feeling pretty damn amazing after today and want to continue that."
"I feel pretty damn lucky after today," I say with a smile.
"Me too."

I see Charlie turn his head.

"I'm coming inside right now," he says.

I see his Dad walk into frame.

"Goodnight Nick," he says with a smile
"Goodnight Sebastian. I'm really happy Charlie has another person to confide in."
"Me too. I'm really happy he's found you."

I smile and as he walks away I hear.

"Our next talk will be the standard "if you hurt my kid, blah blah blah"", he says as he disappears out of frame.

"He definitely doesn't need to worry about that," I say.
"I'm not worried," he says with a smile. "I have to go."
"Talk tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow," he says with a smile.