I Can Hear Your Heart (A Heartstopper FanFic -- BOOK 1)

1. Witness

A/N: This Heartstopper fanfic loosely based on the plot of the 2016 series 'Eyewitness' (created by Adi Hasak) -- but if you do not have to have watched that to enjoy this fic! In fact, I'd say you would enjoy this more if you haven't watched it :D

I will try and update this every other day. Enjoy! x

♡

The afternoon at school had been ordinarily dull. The minutes dragged on as both Nick and Charlie sat through their separate lessons, hopelessly watching the clock, counting down the seconds until the bell would ring to signal the end of the day -- and the moment they could be back in each other's company.

Nick and Charlie had been together for almost a whole month now.

One amazing month.

Secret. But amazing.

Although it was no longer entirely a secret. Charlie's friends knew: Tao, Aled, Elle, Tara and Darcy. And Charlie hadn't been able to keep it from Tori no matter how hard he had tried.

Charlie had understood completely when Nick had asked for their relationship to remain a secret for the time being. Charlie had first-hand experience with being outed before he was ready, and he would absolutely hate for Nick to have to go through the same thing.

Anyway, Charlie himself wasn't sure he was ready yet, to deal with all the unwanted attention that would undoubtedly come once they did come out as a couple.

No, they were both quite content to be together in just their own little bubble for now.

Finally, the bell rang. Charlie gathered up his things and headed quickly through the school toward the changing rooms. Even if it meant occasionally being shoved to the ground by a group of loud, gross rugby lads, it was worth it to spend an entire extra hour with his rugby lad.

But when Charlie arrived outside the changing room door he found several members of the team huddled around it instead of going inside.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked.

"Practice is cancelled?" Sai exclaimed in disappointment from near the front of the group.

Charlie stood on tiptoe to read the notice pinned to the door. Apparently, Mrs Singh had come down with a sudden bout of the flu and was therefore unable to run their rugby practice this afternoon.

As the other team members grumbled and complained to one another, discussing what they were going to do with their extra hour of free time, Nick arrived and Charlie's vision tunnelled as it always did.

Nick's face lit up when he saw Charlie, and they both had to restrain themselves from wrapping each other into a hug. Instead, they settled with a playful shoulder bump. Nick couldn't stop himself from reaching out to flick Charlie's curly fringe affectionately.

"Rugby's been cancelled," Charlie told him. "That means we have an entire hour to kill before we have to go home."

Nick's disappointment about no rugby faded only slightly slower than Charlie's had. Nick grinned.

"Cabin?"

Charlie nodded, returning the grin enthusiastically.

"Cabin."

Without a single glance back at the rest of the team, Nick and Charlie headed down the corridor, back the way they had come, out of the building and across the school towards the gates.

"I missed you a lot today," said Nick as they headed across town toward the park.

"I'm kind of glad rugby got cancelled, to be honest," said Charlie with a laugh. "Don't get me wrong, I love getting to spend the whole hour with you. It's just sometimes I'd really rather I made it through to the end of the day without getting tackled into the mud."