Hearstopper from the edit room floor

Brain Breaks and Couples Quizzes

A/N: 

Hello loves! In early celebration of April 22nd (Tomorrow! the year anniversary  of season 1 of our wonderful little show!) here's a little short
I am manifesting that we will get news about season 2 tomorrow (given everything that's happened to day I think its more then likely!) 

Have a wonderful Friday evening and as always thanks for your support <3 (ps give me your April 22nd predictions in the comments lets have a chin wag!) 

"Babe, I'm bored," Nick announced as I finished my math homework and closed my book. We were in my room, somewhere we usually studied together. Taylor Swift (Nick's choice) was playing softly in the background, a mixture of the RED album and a couple of the "Taylor's version" albums. "Have you finished your science homework?" I asked, leaning over to observe his chemistry homework that he said he had been working on for the last half-hour. He was filling out a GCSE practice paper, and his workings out were scribbled haphazardly in the margins, a mix of blue and black ink filling the pages. Nick's hardest science was chemistry. He had told me before that he enjoyed Biology and Physics but had always hated chemistry.

One of the last questions on his paper stared up at him blankly. Nick sighed in defeat, running his hand through his hair, frustrated. I silently took his workbook from underneath him, jumbling it up in a pile of my own workbooks, but still easily findable later. "When's the homework due?" I asked as I took the hand that was currently scrunching his hair in my own. "Friday," Nick huffed. It was currently Wednesday, so he still had time. "Looks like you, my sweet love, need a brain break," I suggested, sitting up and crossing my legs.

"A... what?" Nick asked, confused. "Brain break," I said simply. Nick still had the same confused look on his face. "A brain break, as Geoff describes them, are quick structured breaks using physical movement, mindfulness exercises, or sensory activities. You can do them in groups or individually," I smiled. "I can think of a brain break that involves physical activity only accomplishable in a group," Nick smirked, raising an eyebrow, and I felt my cheeks burn. "As much as I'd love to, Oliver is downstairs," I reminded him before kissing his cheek.

I cleared my throat. "How about a couples quiz?" I suggested brightly, wiggling the mouse on my laptop. "Sounds good!" Nick agreed, shuffling up closer to me so he could also see the computer screen. After a few minutes of scrolling and completing one quiz entitled "If you were a school dinner, which meal would you be?" Nick suddenly grabbed the mouse out of my hand, announcing while clicking, "Oo, here's a good one. You and your partner share the same energy as one TV couple, so take this quiz to reveal which one you are!" Nick smiled, and I assessed the questions. "Ok, so it looks like there are five questions, so two each, and we do the last one together?" I suggested. Nick nodded. "Sounds good to me!" he smiled in agreement as one arm snaked itself around my waist, and his head plopped on my shoulder.

"Okay!" I sighed out of sheer happiness. If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be dating Nick Nelson, the captain of the rugby team, I would have laughed in your face. "First question, pick a word to describe your current love life: Annoying, Intense, Sweet, or Funny," I read. Nick was very quick to answer. "Easy," Nick smiled, a mischievous smile on his lips. "Outrageously annoying!" he said. I faked an expression of offense and flicked his head lightly. "Alright...if I have to, I'll pick intense," he smiled, kissing my mop of hair. "Correct answer," I mumbled, nudging his nose with my own. I clicked the answer, and the answer glowed red.

Nick slides the laptop closer to him so he can read the information and question properly. "Question two... I think I know which one you're going to pick," Nick says, scrolling to read the answers properly. "Pick a first dance song. Your choices are: 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars, 'At Last' by Etta James, 'Maybe I'm Amazed' by Paul McCartney, and 'The Way You Look Tonight' by Frank Sinatra," Nick informs me. I take a moment to ponder. They were all beautiful songs, each realistically having a special meaning to us both for one reason or another, so this choice was difficult. "At Last is our song, isn't it?" I ask, and Nick smiles, blushing slightly. On our first time visiting the beach together last year, we listened to "At Last" by Etta James on the way home. Sun-kissed skin, covered in sand, exhausted, hands gripping tightly together, faces with unmatched smiles as we sat together for the first time as boyfriends, heads in the others' necks, eyes threatening to close, stealing stolen kisses from time to time. I grin at the core memory, turning red. "At Last" by our girl Etta is the final answer then... Christ, we're such an old couple, our song being Etta James," I giggle, and Nick looks at me seriously and says, "We wouldn't be Nick and Charlie without our uniqueness, though, would we?" He replies simply, clicking the answer, and it lights up pink. I lean across and kiss him softly. "We certainly wouldn't be," I mumble, pulling away. I shuffle the laptop back in my direction in preparation to read the next question.

"Okay, Mr. Nelson, this one should be easy for you!" I announce, taking a sip from my water bottle and clearing my throat. "Favorite color," I ask him, my laptop's cursor already hovering and flashing over the option I knew I was going to select. "Easy, blue!" he says confidently, almost reaching across me and selecting the answer for himself. And I couldn't help but smile at my boyfriend's enthusiasm for his favorite color. There was a reason we both matched blue and yellow so well. Blue for Nick meant serenity, stability, inspiration, or wisdom. It can be a calming color and symbolize reliability. And Yellow for Charlie meant optimism, energy, joy, happiness, and friendship. Nick grins, kissing my forehead. "Match made in heaven, eh?"

"Ooo," Nick exclaims excitedly. "This one's going to be harder for you. Pick an animal: birds, dogs, snakes, and cats." Nick informs me, but I had already gotten to my answer before he'd even finished talking. "Easy, dogs," I inform him, and he looks at me shocked and surprised. "R-really?" he stutters, and I shrug. "Yeah, birds are boring, and you can't really have them as pets. Snakes remind me too much of Ben these days. Cats are cute, but they've got nothing on Nellie and Henry! So dogs it is because, well... that's how you pulled me!" I say jokingly. Nick laughs, clearly entertained by my response, and gleefully clicks the answer. "I enjoy your logic, Char. I really do," he says, sliding the computer to the middle so we could both answer the final question.

Our options for this final question were Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Beyonce and Jay-Z, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are both knobs, and the US version of The Office is a pile of shite. Neither of us listen to enough Jay-Z and Beyonce to know that much about them. Tom Hanks is wonderful, and so is Rita Wilson, but neither of them remind me of us strongly enough. So by logic, it's got to be Ryan and Blake!" Nick announces proudly. "Who is who? What's the logic?" I ask, pushing his eager hands away from the keyboard.

"Blake Lively is fit, and so is Ryan Reynolds!" Nick says simply shrugging, and I stare at him. "Ok fine! You're the one that introduced me to my obsession with Gossip Girl! You know how much I love Ant-Man and adorable couples like adorable couples!" He says gesturing between us on that last phrase but before I could react, the responses had been submitted.

Suddenly, as the results flash up on screen, the room fills with laughter at how accurate the test results had been! The screen reads Jim and Pam (they were from the TV show called The Office). Nick had informed me it wasn't something I was interested in watching, but I knew he was obsessed with it and often informed me that we were exactly like that same couple!

"Well... that's just uncanny!" Nick gasps as the text on the screen in front of us reads plainly, "You guys are the classic couple that everyone strives to emulate. Your adorable love story both gives your friends hope and makes them intensely jealous. But, at the end of the day, you and your partner know how lucky you were to find each other." I think for a moment reading the passage "Well, Isaac does say that anyone who sees us either wants to be with us or wants to be us!" I say, referring to the first sentence of the paragraph. "And I suppose our love story is pretty epic!" I joke, as Nick spots the final sentence.

He wordlessly leans forward and kisses me, as if to say, "Do we even need to say that last bit out loud?" as though the world would hear and break if we did so. "Wanna go bowling and get a milkshake?" Nick asks as we pull away. I scan over the assortment of papers and homework assignments scattered across the floor and glance at the time. 4:30 PM. I think for a moment and shrug, smiling up at him. "Go on then," I say, springing to my feet. Nick follows after me, grabbing his jumper off my bed and following behind. Our homework stacks lay abandoned on the floor of my bedroom, forgotten for another time. We had much more exciting things to be doing.