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SPRING IS FINALLY UPON US

They break apart when Manrika lets herself in to steal Charlie away, so with one final parting kiss (and a playful smack to Charlie's arse), Nick grabs his gym bag and heads off towards the sports centre. He's got plans to meet one of his friends from the team on the way there because they live fairly close by, so he moves towards their usual meeting spot, not far from their local Tesco Express.

It really has been a while since Nick has been this anxious about a rugby match, and he can't help but think back to the start of term, when he was apprehensive about joining the team in the first place. He knew he wanted to, but he wasn't sure how to navigate it while also being terrified that the experience would live up to every sports team stereotype about not accepting him because he's in love with a boy.

It would be lovely to say that everyone on the rugby team was accepting of Nick and his sexuality, and for the most part they were. As was to be expected, there were a few shitty comments on nights out and one or two on the pitch, mostly when he was promoted to captain ahead of some of the lads that had been on the team longer. Most of the lads didn't bat an eyelid, but there was a lot to be said about rugby lads and the stereotypes that accompanied them. Not only was he the only one of the team in a relationship with a lad, he was one of the only ones in a relationship, full stop.

Still, he loves the game enough to power through, and he's made some decent friendships along the way. The lads on the team all seemed pleased enough that he was made captain, even if he is one of the younger ones, and as far as he's aware, nobody has made any shitty comments behind his back about it.

Most of the lads couldn't care less anyway, and he's not really one for big uni parties where he plays obnoxious drinking games with strangers that would give them any additional ammunition against him. He's very secure in his sexuality and his relationship, and (god forbid) if it did ever come down to it, he'd give up rugby over Charlie in a heartbeat. So he's happy to keep everyone, aside from a select few of the good ones, at arm's length, and enjoy the game for what it is.

He turns the corner to Tesco Express and easily spots his friend, leaning up against the wall, typing away on his phone. Pete, the lad on the team he's probably closest mates with, greets him with a clap on the shoulder and a smirk. "Who gave you that mark on your neck?"
Nick slaps a hand up to his throat. "What?"
Pete bursts out laughing. "I'm taking the piss. I saw on Harry's instagram story that Charlie's here."
"Fucker," Nick hisses, elbowing Pete in the chest. "How did you see that before me?"
"I have Charlie's notifications on," Pete says dryly. "And that's a joke, before you go all possessive boyfriend on me. My teammate was late to meet me so I was scrolling to pass away the lonely hours."

Nick flips him off and locates his phone from his backpack. He opens Instagram to see a bunch of stories from his flatmates and Charlie, including a picture of him at one of their favourite pubs with both his hands poised under his chin, his eyes closed and a cocktail umbrella tucked behind his ear. Manrika's tagged him and captioned it: SPRING IS FINALLY UPON US, and he finds himself grinning at it like a fucking idiot as he heart reacts to it. 

"It's really sweet that he's here, actually," Pete says. "Caitlin couldn't come because her exams don't finish until Monday, so she's stuck in Preston."
"That's shit." Nick puts his phone back in his bag. "Charlie surprised me, actually. His last A-level exam was today and he wasn't supposed to come up, well, at all for the rest of the year. I didn't think I'd get to see him until I went home in a week."
"He's a good egg."

They start trudging up the hill towards the sports centre, sweating like mad even though they're both decently fit. It's just so warm. "Mate, I can't imagine anything worse than playing rugby in this heat right now, no offence."
"No, me neither," Nick says, and he sounds a bit forlorn to his own ears. "I feel like Coach is going to make us sweat before we play as well."
"All you have to do is breathe and you'll be sweating on a day like today," Pete moans. "We might actually die."

True to form, Coach Jameson has them running drills for a ridiculous amount of time prior to the match, then he forces them all inside to put on more suncream and eat a banana each to keep their energy levels up. Before they know it, it's half past 6 and they're almost ready to go out there, so Nick does what he feels he should probably do as captain (which is what Kevin used to do) and offers the team something of a rousing speech before they go out to play.

"Um, okay, right lads," he starts, praying to every god up there that his face isn't going as red as he's worried it might. "I know you beat Manchester last year so we've already got that advantage against them. Adam told me that their inside centre has a dodgy right knee, so if you can make it so he has to go left rather than right, we can use that to our advantage as well. And well..." He stands up a little taller and smirks, "It's my first game as captain, yeah? Can you make it easy for me to keep doing this, please?"

Everyone laughs and murmurs their agreements. Pete claps him on the back and shouts, "What team?!"
"Leeds!"
"What team?"
"Leeds!"

Hands go into the centre and fly up, then suddenly Coach Jameson is telling them all to get out there onto the pitch. They gather by the entranceway and then jog out in number order to a smattering of applause. The sports centre isn't full by any means but it's decently busy given that it's the end of term. There's a handful of Manchester supporters on the opposite side, but there's lots of people on their side in yellow and black, chanting Leeds Leeds Leeds over and over again.

It's really fucking warm even as it approaches 7pm, and Nick rolls up his sleeves as he jogs a couple of laps of the pitch to warm himself up.
He spots Charlie and the rest of his friends easily; he'd be able to spot Charlie in any crowd, he reckons, but it's easier when his boyfriend is wearing his own clothes. He tries not to keep letting his gaze drift over there but he can't help it. He's a silly little boy in love, and he just wants Charlie to be proud of him.

Maybe that's what all this anxiety that had been sitting hot and heavy in his stomach was all about. Sure, he wanted to play well for himself and his team, but maybe he also wanted to play well for Charlie's sake. If Charlie's final day of school is overshadowed by Nick flopping during his first rugby match as captain and they can't celebrate, then he'd feel like a prick.
So that settles it.

He's going to win this game for Charlie Spring and make him the proudest boyfriend in the world.

Just before the coin toss to see who starts the game off, he dares to look at Charlie again, and he's almost surprised to see Charlie looking straight at him. Charlie offers him a beaming smile and two thumbs up and suddenly, inexplicably, Nick feels like he could take over the fucking world.

It's going to be okay, he thinks. It's going to be okay.