Warning: THIS BOOK WILL EXPLORE MENTAL HEALTH AND OTHER SERIOUS TOPICS, LIKE HOMOPHOBIA
THIS BOOK IS ALSO LIGHTHEARTED, don't worry!!
Summary: Nick and Charlie are adults now, but their story is far from complete 🍂
A snippet from the book:
"Char...
Author's note: Sorry about yet another short chapter, especially since it has been a while since I last updated this book. I had more, but cut it out and saved it for later, because it didn't fit well.
Also..mini time skip (by a day LOL 💀)
Enjoy!! 🫶🙌
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(Third person POV)
Mental health struggles were once described to Charlie Spring as a form of cancer. They never truly disappear. Instead, they lie dormant, waiting to pounce, waiting to kill you. And in the slim chance that they do disappear for good, it's a miracle.
Charlie can no doubt resonate with that statement. He's rang that bell quite a few times, yet still finds himself returning to the moment in his life when the term "severe depression" felt like a weight being dropped on his already heaving chest. Being able to confront the shadow head-on because it now had an official name, "severe depression", was both comforting and terrifying. Charlie now knew what he was battling, but the battle seemed to be more intimidating. It wasn't just him being uncontrollably sad, but instead, it was a matter of unbalanced chemicals in his brain. Psychology and biology aren't beatable. Rather, they're a matter of understanding and forcibly gasping for air when it feels like you're choking.
Geoff is always sure to remain both encouraging and realistic. In the beginning, he had warned a freshly released Charlie Spring that the meds would make him feel better, but that he's never going back to the sweet innocence of his childhood, happy and bubbly twenty-four-seven. It wouldn't be like flipping a switch. Serotonin wouldn't rush his receptors and keep him feeling optimistic from the very moment that he popped the pill.
And even then, medication isn't for everyone.
In all honesty, Charlie wrestled with dosages and the exact drug that he'd be taking. Some made him feel worse, so much worse that his progress suddenly no longer mattered. Instead, a sweet release did. Others caused an unbearable numbness that also had him thinking, "I just want to feel something. Fuck, I'm so desperate that I'd rather feel depressed again." Neither of those outcomes were comforting. And they both resulted in the outcome. Dual relapse.
Eventually, Charlie found himself taking any. antidepressant of sorts that left him feeling okay enough to feel stable. Not buzzing, just alright. From there, it became a game of cat and mouse. Pages of coping mechanisms and learned skills began to fill Charlie's brain, preparing him for tackling those off days, as well as to help him to find that joy himself, rather than search for it, because it'll never turn up. Especially chemically.
Top of his year, Charlie Spring is no stranger to possessing an envious sort of intelligence. The kind that labeled him a nerd and has Nick hooked. He's book smart, an infinitely expanding sponge for new knowledge if you will.
"Charlie." Geoff's suddenly serious-sounding voice snapped Charlie out of a trance that he hadn't even known he was in. A constant loop of grabbing and squeezing at his sleeve, a recently revived habit of his.
