A Collection of Heartstopper Oneshots

It Was Me - 7ate9

Summary:

Nick didn't come out at Tara's party last night.

Instead, he comes out on the coach in the morning.
Work Text:
Nick was at the end of his rope.

For a full day now, people were speculating about who gave Charlie Spring the hickey. It was a bit ridiculous; they were in another fucking country, and all anyone cared about was that someone had a love bite. Ridiculous.

Regardless of what Nick thought of the situation, it went on, with more people speculating about where it came from. More importantly, who. The first while saw mostly speculation that it was from the only other out kid, James McEwan. Then, people started to branch out, pointing out some people who'd been suspiciously quiet about the whole thing despite not knowing Charlie at all. As if the only people who wouldn't care about the gossip were the ones who were involved.

As time went on, more illustrious rumors circulated the class, with some saying Charlie had met up with a French boy he'd met the day prior, and some conceiving stories about some older man. There were even a few people throwing around the idea that Charlie had gone with the desk clerk of the hotel.

It set Nick's teeth on edge. By the time they were getting on the coach to go back home, there was speculation about nearly half of the students having given Charlie the hickey. There were even some posing a theory about him having gotten it from Darcy.

Maybe Nick should've been relieved that no one suspected him, but it just made him upset. What was it about him that made it so impossible that he was the one who'd given Charlie the hickey? He knew Charlie was worlds out of his league, with his dimples and curls and sharp wit and clever brain, but Nick thought some people found him attractive. He thought that enough people would think he and Charlie were close to the same level.

Besides, there was no one on this trip with more access and time than Nick. Hell, they even shared a room together! They spent all their time together, they were best friends, they were always together, Nick literally punched someone a few months back for insulting Charlie, he walked off the pitch to take Charlie's hand and leave. There had to be someone who would put it all together.

It seemed that he was wrong, because no one said a word about it. Nick ground his teeth together as he found a seat on the coach, this time beside Isaac, and watched Charlie sit in the back with Tara, Darcy, Imogen, and Sahar.

Why did fucking Darcy seem like a more likely contender for having given Charlie the hickey than Nick?

"I bet it was Tao Xu," Nick heard someone say. "They've been best mates for years. They're probably more."

"No," someone replied. "It's gotta be Harry Greene. With how pissy they always get with each other? It's about time they hate fucked."

Harry Greene. Harry Greene?

He heard another conversation, "You think it was Elle?"

"What, the trans girl? Nah, probably not. I still think it was James McEwan."

"No, James totally has a thing for that guy who's always reading."

A few seats down, Nick heard, "I bet it was one of the lesbians. Probably just a joke that got out of hand."

Somewhere else, someone was saying, "How would it have been Sai? He's not even on the trip!"

Another person, "How much you wanna bet it was Harry? Years' worth of tension between them."

Then, in the seat right in front of Nick, clear as day, "I wonder if it was Ben Hope who gave Charlie Spring the love bite."

Nick snapped. Before he could figure out what he was doing, he stood. The din on the coach was pretty loud, but he was able to shout above the noise, "Everyone, shut up! I'm the one who gave Charlie the hickey! It was me! We're boyfriends. Obviously. It wasn't Harry fucking Greene or Ben Hope or anyone else. It was me! "

With that, Nick threw himself back into his seat, crossing his arms in frustration. Slowly, the conversation started across the coach, no doubt with Nick as the main topic amongst the students. He could feel even Isaac's shock beside him. "That certainly was one way to come out."

Nick groaned. He slouched forward, his forehead resting against the seat in front of him. "I cannot believe I just did that."

Isaac snorted. He didn't say anything else, just went back to his book. Nick's phone dinged, making him tense. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to look, but he pulled it out anyway. He had an Instagram notification from Charlie. With a sigh, he unlocked his phone, revealing the message:

???????????????????????????

Yeah. That was warranted.

I may have lost it for a sec

Yeah, I would say so

You're amazing

And a complete idiot

Nick sighed. This was also warranted.

I guess I just didn't like all the gossip

And I especially didn't like that not a single person thought it was me

I feel like it's pretty obvious atp

Well I think no one would be able to deny it now, yeah

Nick rolled his eyes and turned around, finding Charlie's gaze. Charlie raised his brows and Nick sighed heavily. He stood and made his way to the back of the coach, where Imogen immediately stood to offer her seat to him. Nick gave her a smile as they traded spots and watched to make sure she found his seat easily.

"Nick, you ridiculous boy," Darcy said fondly. "Quite the coming out."

Nick groaned. "I didn't like the way everyone was talking."

"Seems to me like you didn't like that there were question marks surrounding your handiwork," Darcy said with a smirk. Tara chuckled.

"Maybe also that," he admitted. "It's just ridiculous that people would sooner think it was Harry Greene or Ben Hope instead of me."

"You're the most obvious person," Tara pointed out. "It's not fun to say the most obvious answer. Then, there's nothing else to talk about."

Nick sighed, though he couldn't argue with her logic. "I didn't like it."

"Clearly," Sahar muttered.

Nick turned to Charlie, leaning his head down so only his boyfriend heard him. "I'm sorry. I should've thought that through. I just heard someone say it was from Ben and... I lost it."

Charlie shook his head fondly. "You're ridiculous."

Nick let his head fall to Charlie's shoulder. "I cannot believe that's how I came out."

"It was certainly showstopping."

Nick lifted his head to glare at his boyfriend. "I feel like you should have more sympathy for me right now."

Charlie's grin widened. "Why's that? Because you outed yourself because you got jealous over gossip about something that never happened?"

"Exactly right," Nick answered.

Charlie giggled. "You're lucky you're cute."

Nick smiled. "You know what this means, though?"

Charlie raised his brows. "What's that?"

"We can do this," Nick told him, then leant in and pecked him on the lips. He pulled back, delighting in the warm gaze Charlie gave him.

"Definitely an upside," Charlie agreed.

Nick rested his head on Charlie's shoulder again, just letting himself take this in. He would certainly be paying for his outburst later, but for now, he had Charlie, and that was all he needed.