A Collection of Heartstopper Oneshots

A Winter Fairytale - noarel (Part 1)

Summary:

He loved wearing oversized sweaters, but hated winter coats that hid them away. Autumn was the best season for him, and he didn't even mind if the snow never came. It was nice being in the dark. If there was snow, everybody expected him to be cheerful, frolicking outside, doing all kinds of activities. He'd rather be inside, having a movie night with his friends. Maybe the snow could be a good background for a romantic date, if he had someone to be romantic with. Still, he was doubtful that even the most perfect man would make him like winter.

A meet-cute on a bus.
Notes:

Sorry about the cheesy title, but this fic is quite cheesy. I wanted to write something simple and fun, and I got inspired by a bus ride and the freezing cold temperatures we've had here in Finland.
Chapter 1

Chapter Text
Charlie Spring hated winter. He hated being cold and he hated wearing layers upon layers of stuff but still shivering when he was outside, immediately sweating when he went inside with his winter clothes on. The only thing he hated more than winter was getting inside the crammed, cheap bus that would take him home for the holidays. Home. Where his parents were. Ugh. And when you combined the two, it was utterly miserable.

Here he was, having luckily found a window seat for himself, watching as someone sat down on the other side of the aisle. They were wearing a long, knitted scarf around their neck and had their long hair in a bun. Charlie was intrigued. He was very quick to fall in love with strangers and he knew that. But who would it hurt, if he imagined a very gay wedding with this person he hadn't even met yet? Maybe the guy would notice him, ask about the book Charlie was reading, and then ask for his number. Unfortunately Charlie's dreams came crashing down and his feelings of future love turned into hate when the person started watching loud videos without headphones on. Charlie hated the bus.

The heating was too high (how was it even possible when it was freezing cold outside, Charlie didn't know) so Charlie took a couple of layers off, wearing a t-shirt and a cardigan. He loved wearing oversized sweaters but hated winter coats that hid them away. Autumn was the best season for him, and he didn't even mind if the snow never came. It was nice being in the dark. If there was snow everybody expected him to be cheerful, frolicking outside, doing all kinds of activities. He'd rather be inside having a movie night with his friends. Maybe the snow could be a good background for a romantic date if he had someone to be romantic with. Still, he was doubtful that even the most perfect man would make him like winter. It definitely wasn't the bus guy.

Charlie put his winter jacket between him and the bus window using it as a pillow. He just wanted to listen to some music (with the headphones on, he wasn't a monster like some people) and fall asleep. Even though it meant that when he woke up, he would be further away from his lovely uni dorm and nearer to his mother who was disappointed in everything he did.

Charlie woke up feeling someone shuffle next to him. It was a guy, cheeks still red from the cold outside, getting rid of a puffy winter jacket and a woolly hat. His blond, short hair was standing up and it should've looked ridiculous but Charlie thought sleepily that it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.

"Oh, hi," the guy said and smiled so brightly that Charlie couldn't help but smile back.

"Hi," he said.

"I hope I didn't wake you up," the guy said. "I was in such a hurry to catch the bus that I forgot to buy a ticket beforehand. I'm lucky that there were any seats left. I hope you weren't saving this for a friend? I can move to the back if you want to."

"There's no need," Charlie said, baffled about the amount of talk from a stranger. "I don't mind."

"That's good. It's nicer to travel with company, don't you think?"
"Maybe," Charlie said. If this was any other person he would've been very against the idea but this golden retriever sitting next to him was so nice that he wanted to scratch behind his ear and give him a treat to keep him wagging his tail.

"I'm Nick, by the way."

"I'm Charlie."

*

It turned out that they studied at the same uni. Nick was a second year education student so it was no surprise that Charlie hadn't seen him before. Nick also played in the rugby team and was very impressed when he saw the ends of Charlie's drumsticks sticking from his backpack.

"You play the drums? That's so cool! I really admired Ringo Starr when I was like four. I pretended to be the drummer of The Beatles all the time. My mum keeps teasing me about it."

"John Lennon would be a more obvious choice," Charlie said.

"Yeah, I know. Maybe I just have a thing for drummers."

Was he... flirting? No. That couldn't be possible. It was all in Charlie's mind. He was planning another wedding with a stranger, and he needed to put a stop to it. He hated cancelling imaginary invitations all the time. It was better to not let his imagination take over.

The bus ride went better than expected. They had the same kind of teasing humour and found so many things to talk about that it felt like a miracle. Charlie, the gay nerd, and this rugby guy who probably made friends with strangers everywhere he went, and still they really clicked. Something just felt right.

Nick's stop came before Charlie's. He was quieter than he had been for the whole bus ride.

"It was nice to meet you, Charlie," he said when he was standing on the aisle in his winter jacket, the bus slowing down. "I hope we meet again? In uni?"

"I hope so too," Charlie said. He was sure that they would never meet again. It was just his luck.

"By the way, I like your shirt," Nick said just before he was leaving. "Can I take a photo of it?"

"Umm, sure?" Charlie said. Taking a photo of the shirt meant that he would be in the photo too. He started ruffling his hair knowing that it was a mess and nothing would help at the moment, but apparently Nick was a fast photographer and had already snapped the photo. The bus came to a stop.

"See you, Charlie," Nick said. And then he was gone.

Later that day, when Charlie looked in the mirror in his childhood bedroom, he realised he was wearing his shirt with the gay nasa logo.

*

"He sounds like a typical rugby guy, are you sure he wasn't straight? I don't think he was flirting." You could always count on Tao to bring Charlie back on the ground.

"I don't believe for a moment that he wanted to take a photo of you just to look at your shirt later," Elle said. "That's a ridiculous excuse."

"It's ridiculous he even took the photo," Isaac said. "But also maybe kind of cute?"

"Well, I don't know why we're using this facetime talking about the bus boy anyway," Charlie said. "None of this matters, because I'm never going to see him again."

"What shirt were you wearing?" Elle asked.

"The gay nasa one."

"Are you serious! He was obviously trying to give you a hint!"

"Why didn't he give me his number, then?"

"Because he's an idiot."

"Maybe he's an ally," Tao said. "Maybe he wanted to buy the shirt for his gay friend."

Elle and Isaac both rolled their eyes very loudly.

"Maybe he's an idiot," Charlie sighed.

*

"How was your semester, dear?"

Nick looked up from the screen. He had been looking at the very blurry photo of the boy he had just fallen in love with.

"I'm an idiot," he mumbled.

"Didn't quite catch that."

"The semester was fine," Nick answered his mum.

A photo? Of his shirt? Why hadn't he asked for Charlie's number like a normal guy? He hadn't realised there was so little time left, the bus had been already slowing down, he had panicked... And he was a bi disaster.