Change | Heartstopper

Trap

Nick's head rested delicately on his palm, elbow propped against the wooden table. His other hand whirled a blue pen around the table, his eyes boring into the board at the front of the class.

He hated to admit it but for his first day back at school, the majority of what he'd been thinking about was the texts from Harry. Every time they came to his mind, his thoughts would become dark clouds and fill him with feelings that made his skin crawl. It didn't help he woke up to another one asking for a yes or no.

Nick tried to distract himself. He adjusted himself and sat back in his chair, reaching into his school pants and grabbing his phone. He quickly entered his passcode and opened Instagram, going straight to Charlie's DMs.

Nick: Meeting for lunch today? ❤️

As he expected, he barely had to wait for a response.

Charlie Spring: ofc, i'll be at the tables

Nick: Can't wait to see you tbh

Charlie Spring: ❤️

Nicholas eyed the teacher quickly who droned on about formulas and other stuff that Nick was so disinterested in before shoveling his phone back into his pocket again. He folded his arms across his chest and gazed off to the side, his eyes meeting the window and allowing his mind to wander.

The thing he wondered most was if he should tell Charlie that Harry Greene had been messaging him. On one hand, he thought, it might be good to keep him informed on what was going on in his life. Especially something as dramatic as an ex-friend begging to hang out again.

On the other... Charlie had been doing so good lately. He'd been eating regularly and he'd promised Nick that he wasn't really hurting; that everything was going great. He feared that if he told him, Charlie might feel frightened or confused and suddenly relapse. 

That was the last thing he wanted. 

The mere thought of it made the ginger boy's heart sink like an anchor to his stomach and his throat sore like he was holding back a sob.

Nick sighed and shook his head, messing with his hair faintly. No, he wouldn't tell Charlie, he decided. It wasn't like it was going to matter anymore anyway, so long as Harry stopped messaging him.

Lunch time came around as slowly as it always did on the first day. The second the bell rang, Nick hopped to his feet and gathered up his pens and books, hurrying off to his locker to put it all away and grab his lunch.

He approached the picnic tables on auto-pilot, knowing exactly where to go.

The boy's chest tightened and a smile planted itself on his lips as he got close enough to spot the brown fluffy locks belonging to none other than his boyfriend. He began walking faster.

His boyfriend. He would never get tired of that.

"Hey Nick," Isaac chirped with barely a glance up from his book.

Within an instant, Charlie whipped his head around like lightning, his smile like the sunshine itself over his features.

"Hi," he greeted Nick. Nick wondered if he just saw Charlie's eyelashes flutter or if it was just because he was blinking up with the sun's light in his eyes.

Regardless, his heart melted.

"Hi." Nick chuckled airily, craning his neck down quickly to plant a soft kiss on Charlie's lips before swinging his legs over the picnic seat beside his boyfriend and placing his lunch on the table.