Marriage, a Heartstopper Fan-fiction

Chapter 143 Charlie's acting off

Nicks perspective
It was almost time to go to the reunion, I wanted to finish getting ready, but Charlie was in the bathroom and insisted he needed to take up the whole space. I was on the couch and so was Oliver, he was on FaceTime with his new friend, she was a cute girl and Oliver seemed to be quite obsessed with her already, so she must be a pretty cool. I nudged him and he turned red as soon as he saw me giving him the look, me being Olivers new older brother I knew I had to be cool for him so I stayed quiet to not embarrasse him, but he soon hung up after realizing I could hear them. "Don't look at me like that" he said right as he put his phone down in his lap, his face still beat red which I could understand and relate too, I remember talking about Charlie to my mom for the first time once I told her we were dating, it was awkward but got easier the more I did it. "I'm not looking at you like anything, but should I be... is she your girlfriend?" I asked. he smiled, barley being able to contain his newfound excitement for this special girl "maybe" he said shyly as if he was waiting for me to lecture him or make fun of him. I patted his shoulder "Hey don't be scared to tell me stuff, I'm happy for you... wanna tell me about her?" he hesitated but agreed "we have been going out for just a little bit but she's the best she's so sweet and she plays tons of sports, she struggles with school sometimes, but I have been studying with her a lot in the library and were starting to get it, she is a cheerleader and is so good at it, shes kinda of good at everything"when he spoke of her all I could remember was talking about Charlie in that way, I could talk about how perfect Charlie is for hours. This girl sounds like the perfect person for ollie I'm so happy he felt confident enough to tell me about it, I will admit I feel this new pressure weighing on me now being sort of a parental figure to Oliver, it's scary knowing what you say or do affects kids so much, what may not seem like a big deal to you can feel like the end of the world to them, I can't mess this up I don't want to let down Charlie or Oliver. "She sounds lovely maybe we could meet her sometime, I know Charlie would like that" The tension in the room completely flipped from happy to a more serious tone I could feel his bad energy, he was about to say something and I have a feeling it was a more serious topic that's probably been bothering him, he looked nervous and I picked up on it right away "Oliver what's up" he turned to face me his face reminiscing with worry "Speaking of Charlie is something going on with him today he seems off" My chest dropped and I didn't even try to hide it but I promised Charlie that I wouldn't drag Oliver or worry him with Charlies mental health stuff as he thinks it will weigh him down so I changed my worried expression and quickly said "Ollie Charlie is fine hes just a bit-tired today that's all" after I reassured Ollie he smiled and went back to playing on his phone, although I cleared that up I couldn't help but think was Oliver right was something going on with Charlie and I am just ignoring it... No no its fine I'm getting in my head hes told me hes fine I have to trust him and take his word. I walked into the bathroom and he didn't notice me yet, it's like I was a bystander watching him throw a looking glass, his every move entranced me, but that broke when I saw his face he looked miserable, the worst of it was I couldn't figure out why. I knocked on the frame of the door "Char" I managed to say my voice slightly cracking, he quickly jerked around to face me changing his expression instantaneously to a smile "Mmhm babe" he hummed grabbed my forearms with both of his hands gently pulling himself closer to me "Somethings going on isn't it" I questioned, he dismissed me "Nope, well maybe the fact you aren't ready yet" he then sarcastically said "Seriously what is taking you soooo long" I laughed before saying "You brat you know why because you insist you need the WHOLE BATHROOM" he laughs then kisses me and when he pulls away he asks teasingly "Still mad" I lie and say "yup still mad" hiding my grin, he grabs my hand gently sliding it over his butt then continues to kiss me, the kiss was passionate and intense when we pulled away I was gasping for air, he smirked "how about now, mad?" I shook my head no still to flustered to speak I don't know how this boy still manges to knock me off my feet but I love it.

Charlie's perspective
I kissed Nick on the cheek exiting the bathroom allowing for him to finally use the washroom and get ready, I was ready well physically, mentally I was nervous my hands were sweating and on top of that i'm lying to Nick about how I feel about this, I feel like i'm scared for one reason and one reason only, ben. I don't think he would be one to bother with these sorts of things, but who knows! If he's there I don't know what i'll do, just thinking about him makes me sick I can't imagine seeing his face, but i'm trying to be positive Nick has been so amazing he can obviously tell i'm a little off and he's just showered me in cuddles in hope to cheer me up this is why I have to do this for him, so I can make him happy because he always goes out of his way to make me happy, he would truly do anything to make me happy and I want to do the same.

Authors Note
Hey you guys!!!! next chapter will be them going to the reunion so yay the wait is over! On another note I did promise a few chapters ago that I was going to reveal the AU I want to do for my next book!!! (I have no idea when this book will happen ) I have been so excited to start working on it but still with this book going on I don't know when it will happen that's why i've been so hesitant with sharing this because I don't want to disappoint anyone or keep them waiting!!! but please do share your opinions with me about when you want to see this happen or if you even like the AU.
The AU timeline will be at the very start of episode 1 of heartstopper (the start of volume 1) But the story will obviously be altered (aka AU) Nick will be a new student just moving in, he will also still be Charlie's neighbour but Nick will be deaf that's the big change in the storyline charlie will make friends with him and then soon develop feelings for him( sort of how it originally happened) 🤭🤭 he will learn sign language for Nick and Nick melts as no one has every done that for him before, this story will be very different as The dynamic between the two will almost be shifted Nick obviously will be more shy as he will face bullying stigma and stereotypes due to him being deaf, he will still talk as he became deaf at around 4 or 5 so it won't affect his speech plus he will have a cochlear and will be able to hear a little with that but chooses not to use it that often as he's gotten so used to the quiet over the years so that he's really sensitive to noise :))) (obviously there's a lot of things i'm not saying yet! but please ask any questions!!!) love you guys hope you like the AU idea XX