A Collection of Heartstopper Oneshots

The One - aledlastnotleast

Summary:

Charlie and Nick wake up in a hotel room in Paris, alone, after their first night sharing a bed. It's sleepy and quiet and perfect.
Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:
Charlie wakes to a ray of first light warming his skin, and deep in his bones, he feels resolved to never move from this position ever again.

He hears the beat of Nick's heart steady beneath his ear. He feels Nick's fingers wrapped around his shoulder, his arm embracing him tightly. He can smell the faintest hint of a sugary alcoholic drink on his own lips — and probably Nick's, too — mixed with the clean and comfortable scent that he has come to savor as just a part of Nick.

Never again, he thinks. Never moving again.

Luckily, Nick doesn't seem to plan on moving anytime soon either. Charlie can tell by the steadiness of his breath and the stillness of his legs intertwined with Charlie's own that Nick is still deeply asleep. From where he's curled up against Nick like a human pillow, he can just make out the time on the bedside clock. It's quite early, early enough that he knows none of their friends will be stirring for a while yet. Still, the inevitability of a chaotic morning of preparation for their departure from Paris looms over Charlie. Instinctively, he tightens his grasp on Nick, pulls himself impossibly closer, like he's trying to permanently attach himself to this warm, safe embrace, and stop time in its tracks.

The action, however slight, causes Nick to stir.

Charlie's heart and mind do flips at the sounds that Nick makes when he's slowly waking. There's a soft, gravelly whine as he begins to stretch. Suddenly there's a part of Charlie that's 14 years old again, pining for a boy he's sure he'll never have. He goes back to that place of fantasy, of constantly imagining what it would be like to kiss Nick, to cuddle him, to lay with him and touch him and be close to him like this.

I'm here, Charlie thinks, and he can't help but smile a giddy smile into the fabric of Nick's jumper. It's happened. It's happening, right now. I can't believe this is real.

"Charlie?"

Hearing his own name in that raw, sleepy voice makes Charlie ache with the urge to pull them even closer and drink in every drop of the boy he adores. He obeys the urge without thinking, propping himself up and twisting around to place his hands on either side of Nick's neck and plant a kiss on his lips.

Charlie feels a surge of confidence and assuredness in himself that he's never felt before, because of the way Nick immediately leans in and pours himself wholly into the kiss. Charlie thinks he could get drunk on this feeling. It's a euphoric feeling of being wanted and cherished to the point that he doesn't even question whether it's okay for him to do things like this — like lean in and kiss this boy like it's the last time he'll ever get to.

Nick's hands find Charlie's waist under the blankets, and then his arms wrap themselves fully around Charlie's back and pull him into a bear hug, breaking the kiss and sending Charlie's face into the warm crook of Nick's neck.

"Nick," he laughs, and he can feel Nick's body shake with chuckles beneath him, "I'm trying to kiss you."

Nick hums. "And I'm trying to hug you."

"You're always trying to hug me," Charlie mumbles into Nick's neck, making Nick jump a little at the tickle of his breath.

"Because you're so huggable," Nick mumbles back, into Charlie's shoulder.

He gives Charlie an impossibly tight squeeze, which makes Charlie laugh and yelp "Ow!" in mock protest, before Nick rolls them onto their sides so they're facing each other, nose to nose, on the cushions.

"Hi," Nick says. His freckled skin is pink and creased from where it was pressed against cushions, his hair is a rumpled mess, and Charlie can't help but blurt—

"God, you're pretty."

Nick bursts into laughter and flushes crimson, burrowing his face shyly into the blankets as Charlie incredulously asks, "What?! You are!"

"Sorry," Nick says, "I just... wasn't expecting that? But, thank you? I feel like I probably look like a mess right now?"

"Oh, make no mistake, you do," Charlie deadpans. "But a pretty mess."

"Well," Nick says with a playful smirk, eyes traveling up and down Charlie, from his curls to his nose to his hands which are curled into the blankets, and back up again, "likewise."

Nick looks at Charlie as though he is the most precious thing in the world, and Charlie can feel a warm flush spread to the tips of his ears. Nick just pecks him on the nose, and Charlie gives him a face and then lays back down, directly on top of Nick, tucking his head beneath Nick's chin. For one brief moment, he's viscerally aware of how much of their bodies are touching, and where they're touching, and his stomach swoops with a nervous, excited, enamored feeling that makes his heart beat faster.

He's just beginning to wonder if Nick is thinking of this too when Nick says, "Hey, Char?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being so... just... kind. And, understanding. And, patient with me. About... you know. What we talked about last night?"

Charlie squeezes him and gets a squeeze back in return. "You don't need to thank me for that, Nick. I—"

He catches himself, reroutes quickly.

"I really care about you," Charlie says. "I meant everything I said last night, Nick. Even the cheesy stuff. But also, if we, you know, do get there eventually, I want it to be when it's something that will make you feel good, and happy, and, and, closer to me, and... yeah."

Charlie can hear the smile in Nick's voice when he responds, "I want all of that for you too, Char."

"All in good time," Charlie says in an official sort of way that makes Nick laugh. "But for right now, let's just focus on learning how to stop time so that we never need to get up from this bed ever again. Because I don't ever want to get up from this bed ever again. Hey!"

Before Charlie even knows what's happening, Nick has toppled them onto their sides so their noses are touching yet again, and he's holding Charlie around the waist like he never plans to let go.

"I don't want to get up either," Nick says. "Please promise me you'll never get tired of cuddling me. I don't think I could survive without your cuddles, to be honest."

Charlie rolls his eyes. "I promise. Easiest promise I've ever made."

Nick feigns skepticism. "You sure? Because you never know. You might get sick of this. I'm incredibly needy. Now that we've shared a bed once, I'm going to need even more regular cuddles to make up for the lack of bed-sharing that's going to happen when we get home to our parents."

"Is this a challenge?" Charlie asks, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me to go for the world record in cuddling Nick Nelson?"

"Yes, absolutely," Nick says.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Charlie proceeds to embrace Nick in the most crushing hug he can manage. Though it's probably not nearly at the level of what Nick was able to do to him the previous night with his ridiculous rugby arms, it's tight enough to get a fit of giggles and a lot of playful wrestling out of Nick, which is all Charlie could ever really want.

He daren't look at the clock, because he knows that Tao and Isaac will be back soon. But he's taking a picture in his mind right here, right now, of how this feels. Somewhere deep inside, he knows he'll look back on this moment of him and Nick play-fighting like children in this bed, sleep-rumpled and giddy, and think: That's when I knew. That's when I knew he was the one.

Notes:

Thank you for reading! This is a continuation of my random impulse to start writing "unseen scenes" from the Heartstopper series. I hope you enjoy it, and as always, I'd love to hear what you think. Kisses!