Nick and Charlie life after high school one shots

Thank you for calling char

Nick had a five step bedtime routine. It was always the same, never any interruptions, no confusion. That was how he liked it.

First, he changes into comfy clothes. This is the most vital step, hence why it is first.

Second and third go together, he has a two step skin care routine as insisted upon by Tara. He washes his face with actual face wash that smells of lavender and Tara, then applies a facial cream that says unscented, but if you focus it smells like the color blue.

Fourth step is to brush his teeth, and the fifth step is to get into bed.

Or, that's how it would normally go.

Nick got all the way through to step three when his phone rang. It was Charlie. His hands were still soapy, so he rushed to dry them off before answering. He held the phone up to his still slippery face and answered. Nick would break any routine for Charlie.

The boys often called at night, though it was normally Nick that called Charlie, not the other way around. It was step six, of sorts. Talk to Charlie before falling asleep.

"Hello!" Nick said. He held the phone between his face and shoulder as he grabbed for the toothbrush, momentarily forgetting that his face was still slippery. The phone almost fell, but Nick caught it just in time. The issue is he managed to fling his toothbrush to the other side of the room. He could deal with it later.

"Did you just break something?" asked Charlie.

"I almost broke my phone, but sacrificed my toothbrush instead," Nick explained. He hadn't picked the toothbrush up yet, instead opting to sit on the bathmat to focus on Charlie.

"Ah, yes, a noble sacrifice," Charlie laughed. Nick couldn't help but notice he sounded a little stuffed up. Perhaps he was getting a cold. Nick sympathized with this, he too wanted to be as close to Charlie as possible when he wasn't well.

"Are you doing okay, love?" He finally picked up his toothbrush and stood up to continue the process of brushing his teeth, this time smart enough to put Charlie on speakerphone before continuing.

Charlie laughed through his nose and hummed deep in his throat.

"Yeah..." he paused. Nick put toothpaste on his toothbrush.

"I'm just feeling a bit..." There was a longer pause.

"A bit what?" Nick said, speaking with a mouth full of toothpaste. He spit and went to put the brush back in his mouth when Charlie replied.

"Um. You remember our conversation? Where you asked me to tell you if I felt... like that?" Nick's heart skyrocketed, making him dizzy from the sudden change.

"I kinda... " Charlie started, but his voice fizzled out before he could finish.

Nick didn't know what to say, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Do you want me to... I mean, can I come over?"

"You don't have to, I just..." Charlie sniffled. "Just talking to me is fine."

Nick would've left right there and then, but if Charlie really didn't want to see him...

"If I told you I was coming over, what would you say?" Nick said hesitantly. He didn't want to cross any boundaries and it was kind of late...

Charlie started to cry, hard. Muffled sobs filled Nick's head and he made his decision. Charlie needed him.

"I'm on my way, love. Hold on tight for me, okay?" Charlie took a shaky breath and whispered his thanks before hanging up the phone.

Toothbrush completely forgotten, he started putting on his shoes; not once did he consider he should probably put real clothes on. Nellie came up and bumped her nose into Nick's back.
"Not now, Nellie," Nick absentmindedly pushed her away. She, in turn, bumped her nose into Nick again.