A Collection of Heartstopper Oneshots

What Did It Take? - 7ate9

Summary:

Nick had been working up the courage to ask Charlie on a date. Unfortunately for him, he finds himself asking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, Charlie thinks he's another one of those cruel rugby lads who bully him for kicks. How do they fix this?
Work Text:
Charlie couldn't believe his luck. He'd been sort of friends with Nick for several months now, resulting in a whirlwind of emotions as he was swept up in a rather consuming crush. He could barely hide how smitten he was with the older boy. And, mostly, he didn't really care to try.

And now, Nick was standing in front of him, nerves making his voice shake as he stuttered his way through asking Charlie on a date.

Charlie blinked at him. "Sorry—what?"

Nick's blush somehow deepened. It was so pretty. "I, um—" He huffed a laugh and scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Well, I was, uh, I was wondering if, maybe, you'd want to... I dunno... go out sometime? With—with me?"

Charlie couldn't hold back the grin taking over his face. He could very well feel his features lighting up at the question. Here was Nick Nelson, Rugby King of Truham Grammar, heartthrob, wonderful young man, who Charlie wouldn't have even guessed wasn't straight, all nervous to ask Charlie out on a date. It felt too good to be true.

Charlie bit his lip to curb the frankly ridiculous size of his smile. He was trying to figure out the best way to sound cool and collected and not like his insides were bursting with joy at the question. Then, he caught something over Nick's shoulder.

There were a few boys standing down the hall, laughing. Normally, Charlie wouldn't pay much attention to it, but he was always in tune with his main tormentors' whereabouts. And when four of them were standing clumped together down the hall, that usually was more than enough to trigger Charlie's fight-flight-freeze response. And then, he watched them all as they glanced over at him and Nick, snickering amongst themselves, not at all trying to hide.

Charlie's smile faded. His stomach turned and he thought faintly that he might be sick. It had felt too good to be true because it was. Sure, the majority of the bullying had faded away by now, but he still dealt with a lot of homophobia on a daily basis. And these ignorant rugby pricks had pulled this stunt before.

Charlie swallowed heavily, fighting back tears by sheer will. "I really thought you were different, Nick."

Nick's brows furrowed. "W—what do you mean?"

Charlie rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Come on, Nick. I know what this is."

This only served to confuse Nick further. "I'm not sure what you mean, Charlie."

"You honestly think I wouldn't figure this out? Come on, Nick. I know guys like you don't go for boys like me." Fuck, this hurt. This hurt so fucking bad. "And besides, even if that magically did happen, I know you're straight, Nick. And I know you just want to fit in with the team, but I really thought you were different from the rest of them." He huffed an incredulous laugh that was void of humor and glared at his former friend. "What was it? Was it a dare? A bet? Whoever asks out the pathetic gay boy gets to lord it over everyone else's heads for the rest of the year?"

Nick's eyes went wide. He had the fucking audacity to look hurt. "What—no, Charlie—"

"Forget it, Nick," Charlie spat, voice dangerous. "You can tell your little friends that it's not going to fucking work. I'm not stupid enough to fall for that a second time, and you can fuck right off for even trying."

With that, Charlie turned on his heel and sped away, shoulders bunched up to his ears, breaths rapid as he made his way out of the school.

God, he was so embarrassed. Knowing that, even for just a brief moment, he'd really been happy, he'd believed Nick, he'd been about to say yes. It was pathetic and humiliating.