Hearstopper from the edit room floor

Flowers

~Charlie's POV~

It's been six weeks since Nick moved to study sports science and psychology at Leeds University. Things have been going so well; we had our weekly structure: Monday - hangout, Tuesday - crafty / wild card, Wednesday - Nick has rugby stuff on Wednesdays, so we do breakfast dates in the morning, Thursday - study date / hangout, Friday - Dinner and a movie, Saturday - A-Z date, Sunday - Movie night. Then we take it in turns to visit each other every three weeks. This time around, not only is it my turn to visit Nick, but our visit can be longer because we have two weeks off for reading week!

It's currently Friday, which means dinner and a movie. We order takeout for each other and watch a movie (we've got different ways of doing this). While that plan has been working as well as it could (and has actually been very fun), there have been difficult moments, days, and sometimes weeks. We've been open about everything and communicated constantly, making the most of it. It doesn't stop my bed from feeling colder, our houses feeling bigger, and school feeling emptier and less full of life. Today was sadly no exception.

The house is empty when I get home. Oliver is still at school, possibly at some practice of some kind. When eight-year-olds tell you things at half-six in the morning before school, you kind of go into autopilot. Tori is at work, mom has a doctor's appointment, and dad is away at a conference. I make a beeline for the stairs, kick my bedroom door closed with my foot, throw my school bag down on the floor, and play some random music on my phone to fill the silence. I'm usually super excited for date night, and I am still today, but the feeling that I am about to cry is overwhelming. Still, I push on regardless.

Nick and I like to dress fairly nicely when we have our date nights like these. We say it makes us feel more "connected," but in all honesty, it's just an excuse to dress up a bit and look nice for ourselves and the other person. I choose a simple but comfy and classic outfit: a beige chunky knitted cardigan, white t-shirt, and stretchy jeans. I wash my face and switch my contacts for glasses. The feeling of wanting to cry and burst into tears is still there.

I make myself comfy on my bed, and as I do, my phone rings. My heart rises, and I suddenly feel lighter when I realize, albeit a few hours early, not that I was complaining, that Nick was phoning. "Hey sweetheart, what's up?" Nick says almost instantly when I pick up the phone. And honestly, he looks great; he's wearing a white shirt rolled at the sleeves but I couldn't quite see what he was wearing on his bottom half. "What, nothing honest, you look great by the way," I say as I watch a tear fall from my eye and land on my knee. Nick shoots me a small smile and a very understanding look. The look of understanding on his face, waiting for me to reply, is the moment that breaks the dam.

Hot tears stream down my face. I'm not angry; I'm just missing my boyfriend ridiculous amounts. "God, I wish I could be there with you right now, Char, what's up?" he asks again, seemingly even more gently this time. "No, you're going to think I am absolutely pathetic and a total hot mess," I say, drying the tears away from my eyes but still crying. "You're far from pathetic, and you're my hot mess," Nick tells me in an attempt to make me giggle, admittedly it does. I let out a tearful laugh. "If it's any help, I miss you so much that I think it's actually becoming physically painful, and Macie said that's possibly dangerous." This makes me laugh again. "Only four more days," I say as though it is a question. "Only four more days," Nick confirms in a voice that's almost a whisper. I break a comfortable silence with, "I love you so much, baby." Nick smiles; I can see tears prickling his eyes. "I love you most," he tells me gently.

We talk on this a while longer, making plans and cheering each other up, just generally catching up about god knows what before I change the subject and ask, "Wait, hang on, why are you phoning me from your laptop?" wiping a few stray tears away as Nick scrolls through his phone doing something. "Ah, nothing, I just needed to use my phone for something," he says brightly. Nick was a crap liar at the best of times, but this time something in my subconscious believed him. Nick taps his phone a few more times before placing it back on his desk. "What would you like for dinner tonight - what are you feeling?" Nick asks as I open my phone and flick through my Deliveroo app. "Umm, how about that Chinese takeaway we both love?" I ask. Nick nods, putting in my order to the app without even having to ask. "On its way," Nick says, bringing his attention back to me. "What do you want?" I ask, already prepping the Five Guys section of the app; I'd had Nick's order ready to go in my phone for hours. "Five Guys, please, if I can?" he asks. "Of course, my love," I say, hitting the order button.

Our meals arrive quickly. We talk about what the next two weeks in Leeds are going to be like. Nick tells me more about his new housemates: Macie (studying to be a physiotherapist), Kelly (studying for a degree in musical theatre), Blake (studying law), and TK (English literature and language). He also tells me that Macie and Blake are bi, TK is nonbinary, and Kelly is gay. As the date goes on, I am already feeling lighter and happier. We end up watching The Greatest Showman. Nick had sneakily ordered me pudding without telling me, so I ate that as we watched. We both agreed that Zac Efron was a total hottie. We belted out all of the songs, and we both cried at "Tightrope." It was a beautiful movie, and I could probably watch it every single day.

As the movie ends, there is a knock at the door, and the doorbell rings. I look in the direction of the hallway and then back at Nick. "Nicholas Luke Nelson, what have you done?" I say, a smile seeping onto my confused face. Nick shrugs nonchalantly; he grins, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, why don't you go and answer the door and find out?" I take a pause; the doorbell knocks and rings again. "Go on," Nick says, flapping his arms, shooing me through the door. Through the screen, I let out a laugh, the first genuine one I think I've let out all day. "Okay, I'm getting, I'm going," I say, almost throwing myself off the bed. "Be careful," I hear Nick call, genuinely concerned but also laughing.

I open the door, the evening air hitting me, a DPD delivery driver standing in my doorway. "Are you Charlie Spring?" the driver asks. "Um, yeah," I say, slightly confused. The delivery driver hands me a bouquet of neatly but professionally wrapped flowers; the outer packaging reads "Appleyard Flowers." "Thank you," I say, feeling a blush warm my cheeks. "Whoever sent you those must love you an awful lot," the driver explains. "He really does," I say, a hopeless grin on my face. The driver smiles at me again and backs away. I quickly get the flowers sorted and I am greeted with a beautiful bunch of sunflowers, pink roses, daisies, and greenery. The thoughtful gesture all but takes my breath away.

The note on the flowers reads:

Charlie,

Four days, seven hours until you're in Leeds for two whole weeks! Macie, Kelly, Blake, and TK are very excited to finally meet you properly, and I would be lying to you if I said I can't physically wait another four days. Wipe those tears and hold your head up high.

I love you always,

Nick xxxxx

I carefully take the vase upstairs, manoeuvring the flowers to their new home. "Baby, these flowers are stunning," I call as I come back into the room. "Thank you so much; you did not have to do this, they must have cost you a fortune" I say, grinning from ear to ear as I place them on my bedside table, clearly in the shot. "Anything to see you smile again love, I'm glad you like them" Nick gushes and we admire the beautiful array of flowers together for a few moments.

At around half-past two in the morning, just before sleep overcomes us, we finally but reluctantly hang up. I check my phone for any outstanding messages, suddenly realizing that I had created the Instagram post to gush over my boyfriend but never actually made it public enough to allow comments and likes, which came flooding in as soon as I did... apart from Nick, who was on my close friends' viewership.

Safe to say, I went to sleep anxiety-free and with a smile on my face that night.

FIN

A/N: I am kinda interested to see what Nicks life is like at uni in my telling of this universe and what his housemates are like if I wrote something like that would anyone here read it? Let me know what you think!