A Collection of Heartstopper Oneshots

A Winter Fairytale - noarel (Part 2)

Summary:

"Christmas break was over, snow had melted down weeks ago, and Nick still hadn't found Charlie. There were way too many Charlies in this uni, the city was too big, and he was ready to give up."
Notes:

Yeah I know I said I will update the second chapter soon and that it's already finished, but then I decided it actually wasn't finished, changed the ending, hated the ending, changed it again, and finally just gave up and decided that this will do. Thank you for the lovely comments and kudos! They always make my day.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text
2

Christmas break was over, snow had melted down weeks ago, and Nick still hadn't found Charlie. There were way too many Charlies in this uni, the city was too big, and he was ready to give up. He didn't even know what Charlie studied! He just knew that he played the drums.

Nick decided that he had done enough moping for this spring. Tara had invited him to see the uni orchestra play, and that sounded like a good distraction. Nick always found himself getting nervous for the performers before concerts, even when they were professional. He knew that Tara was really excited for this gig. She would be the soloist for one piece, and Nick was very proud of her. So was Darcy, who sat next to Nick in the audience, almost jumping up and down with nervous energy.

There were drums on the stage. It made Nick think about Charlie right away, but he tried to focus on Tara when the musicians finally walked on stage. There were a couple of songs without drums and then came the song where Tara stood up from her orchestra seat and walked in the front of the stage with her clarinet. Darcy grabbed Nick's arm so hard it almost hurt.

Tara started playing. Nick could hear drums in the background. And then he looked at the back of the stage and saw the drummer.

"Darcy," Nick whispered urgently. "Darcy, Darcy, Darcy."

"I know, she's so beautiful and talented," Darcy said, eyes sparkling with pride as she looked at her girlfriend.

"The drummer," Nick said. "It's him."

That made Darcy take her eyes off of Tara.

"Bus Charlie? Are you sure?" She whisper-yelled. "Okay, we have to talk this through later. I can't miss Tara's solo."

Darcy was a good girlfriend. Nick didn't feel like a good friend, because he couldn't take his eyes off the drummer's curly dark hair. The clarinet faded in the background until all he could hear was the drums. He's so talented and beautiful, Nick thought.

*

"Our orchestra Charlie is your bus Charlie? Okay, that's it. You have to come to our afterparty."

*

Charlie almost didn't go to the pub. Later, he was really glad that he did. He sat down on the table with the cellists, his back to the door. Charlie wondered where Tara Jones was. She was secretly Charlie's favourite from all the orchestra people.

Tara appeared at the table soon after Charlie had thought of her. Maybe he had a superpower. If he thought about Nick, maybe he would appear here too...

Everybody gathered around Tara, hugging her and thanking her for her amazing solo. Tara caught Charlie's eye.

"Charlie! I was just looking for you! I have some important people I want you to meet. Darcy is just ordering and they will be here soon."

Charlie knew that Darcy was Tara's girlfriend. She talked about her all the time but Charlie hadn't met her yet. But who could the other person be?

"Here they are! Charlie, this is Darcy, my girlfriend. And here's our friend Nick."

Charlie stared at Nick. Nick stared at Charlie. Time stopped.

"Hi."

"Hi."

*

It was Nick who suggested that they could go to a quieter table, just the two of them. Charlie followed, feeling like he was struck with lightning.

"I looked for you," Nick said. "But there are too many Charlies who study here, it was impossible. I don't know how I didn't think of Tara's orchestra. I mean, I knew you played the drums!"

"I looked for you too," Charlie said, almost smiling. He was so nervous. It felt like he was on a date. Were they on a date? "I even went to a rugby game, but you weren't there!"

"Oh," Nick said. "I had a cold and couldn't go."

"My final theory was that you were some kind of a fairytale prince who just disappeared. Didn't even leave a shoe behind, just took a photo of me and stepped out of the bus. You probably turned into a pumpkin after that."

Nick buried his head in his hands.

"Please, don't remind me of the photo. It's so embarrassing! I panicked! I should've asked for your number like a normal person."

"Did you buy the shirt?"

"Of course not. I just wanted you to know that I like guys, that's why I complimented the shirt. And the photo was a silly way to have some kind of memory of the best bus ride I've ever had. Wait, you think I'm a prince?"

"Wait, you wanted to ask for my number?"

"Of course I did! I regret it so much that I didn't."

It was such a ridiculous situation that both of them started to laugh. After they had giggled together for a while, they finally exchanged numbers.

Outside, it started to snow.

"I thought the winter was finally over," Charlie moaned.

"Snow isn't that bad," Nick said. "Do you want to walk me home? In this snowfall?"

Charlie didn't hesitate for a second when he said yes.

*

They walked in silence for a while. Charlie kept stealing glances at Nick. He couldn't believe Nick was really there. It was annoying that Charlie felt so nervous, when he had been pining for this bus man for two months. Then Nick started talking.

"Have you noticed the whole world gets quiet when it snows?"
"Not really. I've just noticed it gets cold."
"Wow, you're a poet."
"I know. That's why I study literature."
"Really? You look like a literature student, I don't know why I didn't think of that. With that black curly hair, mysterious looks..."
"Ha ha."

They stopped in front of an apartment building that was probably Nick's home.

"I like your hair," Nick said. "And your mysterious looks."
"I like you," Charlie answered, before he could think about it too much. Nick's smile lit up his whole face.
"If I asked you out, would you say yes?"
"I just said that I like you, of course I want to go out with you!"
Nick laughed. Then he took a step closer to Charlie.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked.
"Yes," Charlie said, and Nick leaned in and kissed him. The snowflakes falling from the sky had turned into big, wet rags, but Charlie didn't care. He felt warm, sunny, and safe.

Maybe Charlie could learn to like winter after all.

Notes:

It was fun to write this one, even when I struggled a bit with the ending. I hope you enjoyed it!