A Collection of Heartstopper Oneshots

The Arcade - MysticFirez

Summary:

This question was asked and I decided to write a short little one-shot for it!

Alternate Universe where Tao sees Charlie and Nick kiss at the arcade.

This is my personal opinion on what would have happened. Don't come for me LOL!
Work Text:
I do not own any of these characters- they were created by the incredible Alice Oseman who is our Queen! I apologize for any grammar errors- I do have a learning disability that makes it hard for me to remember more than the most basic grammar rules. I really hope you love the story I am creating for you! This is based ONLY on the TV series.

The Arcade

Alternate Universe

Tao felt sure that he was losing his mind. He had to be hallucinating. He had to have taken some type of drug without realizing it. There was no other explanation to what he was seeing.

Nothing else would explain why his best friend was kissing the Captain of the rugby team in the middle of the arcade area in the bowling alley.

Okay, it wasn't in the middle of everything, they were hidden away from sight by the claw machines, but they could still be seen by anyone who walked over this way.

He wasn't spying on them, at least not intentionally. He'd seen the stupid donuts and impulsively decided to try to win one for Elle because she mentioned that they were cute... and he kinda liked her, as in liked her. Tao knew she'd never return his feelings so he kept them buried fairly well, but her thinking the donut was cute had pushed him to want to surprise her.

Which is what had now led him to the current predicament he was in. When he'd come around he'd seen Nick and Charlie, the rugby captain and his best friend respectively, leaning against one of the game cabinets. They looked deep in conversation so Tao held back. The truth was Nick looked... distressed.

'Well, Good,' Tao thought to himself. Maybe he was realizing that messing with Charlie would not be good for his health.

He couldn't hear what was being said, then Nick laughed a little before handing Charlie the present he'd brought. Tao felt a flush of embarrassment. He hadn't brought Charlie's present, he'd forgotten it at home. It hadn't seemed too bad when neither Issac or Elle brought anything, but then Nick showed up with a gift. Because... of course he did.

It was probably why Charlie thought he was perfect.

He wasn't though, even if Charlie couldn't see it. While Nick might not be bullying them, he was still okay with letting it happen. For a moment it seemed like he was going to stand up for them the day before, but then Harry accused him of being gay and of course, Nick said nothing. Someone who really liked Charlie, like Charlie had been suggesting back in March, wouldn't do that. He didn't care if people thought he was gay for defending Charlie. Charlie was his best friend. Charlie had been through so much hell and he would never let someone hurt him again if he could help it.

Then, Charlie had the biggest smile on his face. Tao wasn't sure what Nick gave him, but clearly it made Charlie very happy. When was the last time he'd seen Charlie smile like that? Never? Charlie always kept part of himself guarded, especially since he'd come out and been outed at school.

Tao swallowed hard a he remembered that. He hadn't told Charlie, but it was his fault. He'd been so happy that Charlie trusted them that he'd been talking about it with Issac and hadn't made sure there was no one else around. Literally, the next day Charlie was plunged into hell, all because of him. He couldn't let that happen again.