In every one of us. || Nick + Charlie

11- Void

A/n: Hey :)
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Since knowing Charlie, Nick hadn't gone longer than two days without seeing him, he didn't know how long he'd be gone, but he knew things like this took time, and he'd be there to lift him up when he came back home. Today was Wednesday, he'd missed Monday and Tuesday, telling his mum he felt ill, but she knew he had been lying, understanding that something was going on, and he needed some time to get himself together, at least well enough to face the kids that had bullied him, he'd be alone this time, he didn't know what kind of a person he was without Charlie.

"You uh..you gonna be alright today then?" David asked.
"Think so," Nick looked out the window, seeing his friends from rugby at their usual table.
"Er, call me if you want to leave, I'll come get you"
"Okay, thanks"
"Bye"
"Bye."

Nick exited the car, trying not to make it too obvious that he was avoiding his friends, he hadn't spoken with them since he'd been outed, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what they had to say about it, the thought of them saying something distasteful made him anxious.

"Oi! All alone today then Nelson? Where's your boyfriend? He finally break up with you because you aren't real?" Someone tried to get his attention, Nick pretended like he didn't hear anything.

"I know you hear me, tranny"

Nick stopped, but he didn't turn around.

"See I knew you heard me, just needed to use the right vocabulary. Oi tranny! Why don't you walk yourself over to Higgs, it's where you belong and you know it, ugly girl"

Ugly girl. That was the name he was given, hardly anyone ever called him by his first name, it was only ever Nelson or ugly girl. He usually always had Charlie there to defend him, but he was alone now, and he just couldn't find it in himself to say anything back.

Nick took a deep breath and continued walking, with all the shit he had going on, this was the last thing he needed.

"Higgs is the other way, ugly girl," he heard people laugh, he couldn't shake the way it made him feel, like he wasn't even a person at all, like he was nothing.

~

Nick sat at his shared table alone, he knew Charlie wouldn't be in for awhile, but for some reason when he heard someone approach him, he couldn't help but hope he'd see Charlie when he looked up from his notebook.

"Nicholas," Mr. Lange.
"Sorry, is my depressing aura bothering you?"
"Er..no, I've just come to check up on you, you doing alright?"
"Perfect, thanks," he went back to jotting random thoughts down in his notebook, hoping he'd get the message and leave.
"Well..if you need someone to talk to...yeah"
"Okay.."

Mr. Lange nodded awkwardly before patting Nick's shoulder and walking away. The reality of knowing he couldn't speak with anyone about anything hit him hard, if he were to tell someone, specifically an adult, they'd send him off to a psychiatric facility, never to see the outside world again. What do you mean you went to alternative universes and saw your boyfriend die horribly in your arms? Immediate check in to the psych ward.

He felt people staring at him, which wasn't abnormal, it'd been that way since he'd been outed, it was so common that he'd begun to get used to it, but there were more eyes on him than usual, or at least it felt like it. Nick looked around, seeing people staring at him, whispering things to their mates and laughing, some were terrible whisperers, and he was able to hear, not only the things about him, but the things they said about Charlie's absence. Charlie was hardly ever out, and when he was, it never lasted this long, and Nick had been absent for two of the days so that only heightened their suspicions, he heard them speculating on what could be the reason for Charlie's absence, some theories worse than others. The ones about Charlie killing himself stuck out to him the most, because they didn't just leave it at that, they made jokes about it, it took everything he had to not get up and beat the living crap out of every single one of them. He felt shit, they could say whatever they wanted, and if he did anything he'd be the one getting in trouble.