Music sounds better with you

Chapter 2 : find your way

Charlie meets his roommates

Charlie's first university party is exactly what he expects and also not at all what he expects at the same time.

He spends most of the morning at Nick's place, catching up with his housemates before they all get ready for their days, because all of them will inevitably be heading out tonight for the first night of freshers week. It's one of the biggest nights in the university calendar year and everyone goes out regardless of what academic year they're in.

Nick's heading out with Ben and Harry, while Manrika, Claire and Holly have all signed up to be freshers reps, second year students who show the first years around the town, letting them know which bars are best and making sure they join up with other groups of freshers, helping them integrate and make friends with students in other flats. Unfortunately, none of them are repping in Charlie's building, but knowing he'll be able to find at least three familiar faces out in the town makes the anxiety knot in his stomach feel less tight.

When he gets back to his flat, he's disappointed to find out that he's still its lone occupant for now. The kitchen and hallway look exactly as he left it yesterday, with no signs of any of the other three doors having been opened at all since the day before. The only thing that's changed is there's a note waiting for him under the front door saying there's a flat party taking place in one of the apartments two floors below him.
He supposes he's going to that then.

The note says bring your own booze, so he grabs his keys and heads down in the lift to the campus Co-op to buy a pack of cider and something for dinner. When he gets back upstairs, he sets his ciders in the fridge and sets the oven to preheat, then he jumps in the shower and washes his hair. Once he's out, he dresses in Nick's jumper and a pair of his old rugby shorts to cook in, then he eats his dinner alone at the dining table.

Once he's finished, he heads back to his room and gets dressed into his proper outfit for the evening. It's nothing fancy, just some black jeans with rips at the knee and a large flannel over a plain black t-shirt, with red Converse on his feet. He styles his hair and spritzes himself with cologne, then he checks his watch and sees he's got twenty minutes to go until he's due to go to this flat party.

He doesn't want to be that guy , but he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't anxious about going to the flat party by himself, so he decides to give Nick a quick call for a pep talk.

Nick answers on the second beep and there's a shuffling noise on the other end as he props his phone up so Charlie can see him. There's loud music playing in the background, and when he comes into focus, Charlie can see he's shirtless and half dressed, wearing tight grey jeans that cling to his legs just so.

"Hey, baby," he greets, then drops down onto his desk chair and beams at him. "Missing me already, are you?"
"Obviously," Charlie drawls. "No, it's, um... none of my flatmates have moved in yet and I've got this invitation to a flat party downstairs. I got ready and everything but, like..."
"You're worried about going?" Nick finishes for him. "Do you want me to come to you and come with you?"
"No," Charlie scoffs. "I'm anxious about going but I'm not a total embarrassing loser."
Nick levels him with a look. "Charlie. I'm just offering, babe."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Charlie sighs. "I'm the one that called you, aren't I? I just... I don't know how to do this. I haven't had the immediate flatmate bonding like you got to have and I feel like it's a big thing to do this alone, I dunno."
"It is," Nick agrees. "It's a big deal and it's shitty, really, that nobody else is in your flat yet. I don't know if I'd have gone to do anything by myself like this." He tilts his head to the side. "Does it say on your invitation who your freshers reps are going to be? I might know them."
Charlie shakes his head. "No, sorry."
"The banned word," Nick says in a low, dramatic voice. "Enough now. You're gonna be fine, darling. I mean it when I tell you you're the bravest person I know. And you never know who you're going to meet at these things. You could meet another Tao or another Isaac." He reaches over to the side and grabs his t-shirt, pulling it over his head. Charlie pouts. "Yeah, alright. Am I just a piece of meat to you?"
"My big muscly boyfriend," Charlie coos. His cheeks are pink and he knows it. "Okay, you're right. I could make some of the best friends of my life tonight and all I need to do is grow a pair."
"That's the spirit," Nick hums. "Are you okay now, babe? Is there anything else I can do to make you feel okay?"

"Just... tell me you love me and remind me I've always got you even if I don't make any bloody friends."
"You'll make friends, daft boy." Nick stands up and his torso fills the screen for a second, then he plonks back down with his cologne in his hand and spritzes his neck. "And while I appreciate that I may be biased, I think anyone would be a fucking fool not to want to be your friend immediately. In fact, maybe I should advise you not to go because someone is guaranteed to fall in love with you, and again, while I can't blame them, I don't want that."
"Shut the fuck up." Charlie's cheeks are flaming. "I love you, idiot."
"I love you so much, my wonderful perfect boyfriend." Nick grins at him like he's treasure. "Have a great evening, yeah? And remember, even if it's embarrassing, I'm still only a phone call or message away."
"Thank you, Dad."
"Don't call me that," Nick says with a grimace. "Don't ever call me that."
"Goodbye, Dad, I love you!" Charlie chuckles to himself as Nick flips him off and hangs up the phone.

Even if Nick is a bit overprotective at times, he knows he means well and wants to make Charlie's life easier wherever he can, but it's also nice to have the reminder that he is a capable soul and that Nick, the popular, charming, perfect boy that he is, thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread. When he's not feeling trapped by his own anxieties, he's got a lot of friends who love being in his company. He's always found it relatively easy to make friends and while it would be nice to go into this flat party with some fellow flatmates, he knows he's perfectly capable and absolutely should go alone.

I can do this, he thinks. I am going to have the university experience I deserve and besides, everyone there will be in the same boat. Most people will have come to uni alone and will need to make friends. I can do this.

He takes a couple of deep breaths in the way that Geoff taught him to in order to level himself out, then he stands up and heads to the kitchen to fetch his ciders. He slides them into a carrier bag and, with one final glance over his appearance, he locks his bedroom door and heads on down in the lift.