A Collection of Heartstopper Oneshots

Snuffles on the Bus - BluestJM

Summary:

Charlie hears a strange noise on the bus that leads him to a beautiful stranger.
Notes:

This is nothing like Down East. This is part of my one shot meet cute collection. It is cute. That is why it exists.

This week I've seen a snuffling dog on the bus, eaten a leftover work burrito, and seen Tegan and Sara (who inspired the title of this series) in concert. So here you go.

Thanks so much to my betas TeenyB81 and jivey
Work Text:
Charlie squeezed himself against the window as closely as he could, trying not to touch the man sitting next to him. Avoiding the gaze of the elderly man beside him was also imperative — he was a walking Cambridge stereotype with his tweed jacket and the bicycle he had affixed to the front of the bus. Charlie self-consciously lost himself in his phone, clicking between his favorite discord server, a short fanfic, and that paper he was supposed to be reading for his seminar that afternoon.

The bus was full, and traffic was a nightmare — as usual, of course. So, Charlie turned inward and shut the world out until he was nearing his stop.

But then a snuffling noise caught his attention, even above the loud chatter of the woman yelling into the phone in front of him. Was there a pig on the bus? A child with a realistic barnyard animal toy? A very loud YouTube video? What was disturbing his peace now? Charlie glanced around quickly, but his seatmate looked ready to launch into a discussion of whatever the fuck he wanted to complain about, so he returned to the safety of his phone and the window. What a day to forget his headphones. Though truthfully, he forgot them more often than he remembered them.

Snuffle snuffle snuffle. Charlie was beginning to think he was hallucinating this sound. He glanced around again, and a squishy black face greeted him—an adorable black bulldog. Snuffling like a pig.

The elder gentleman exclaimed to the entire bus, "Oh, it's a dog! I thought you were inflating something back there!" Because everyone cared what he had to say, obviously.

Charlie turned around to roll his eyes in solidarity with the others on his bus, only to meet the eyes of the man holding the black dog protectively in his lap.

Oh.

Oh.

Warm brown eyes, a lopsided grin, and a sweep of strawberry blond bangs greeted him, and all of the tension melted out of Charlie's frame. What a gorgeous human being.

The next stop was the first stop in Harvard Square, and the bus cleared out, folks looking for their bus connections or heading off to class. Charlie's seatmate strolled to the front of the bus and removed his bike from the rack, but no dogs and no handsome strangers passed him.

Now that there was more room to move, he looked again behind him, and his eyes caught those of the handsome man with the dog. He gasped involuntarily.

"Hi," the man said.

Charlie turned crimson as he breathed out, "Hi."

The bus slowly approached the next stop. Charlie's stop. He briefly considered staying on the bus forever and following this man wherever he would go. But then the man stood up, carefully maneuvering his dog in his arms.

Oh fuck, those arms. I'd like to be maneuvered in them.

Charlie stood up too, clutching onto the yellow pole as the bus jerked into the stop. He looked up and smiled again at the man. They disembarked together, stealing shy glances at each other.

SAY SOMETHING SPRING!

"Your dog is cute!" Charlie managed to get out as he adjusted his backpack onto his shoulder.