Nick and Charlie life after high school one shots

How deep is the ocean how high is the sky?

Charlie has this theory that there is something wrong with the way gravity affects him. He knows very little about the science behind gravity, having opted not to take a-level physics, so it is entirely guesswork. And he knows that his theory is not true, so he does not tell anyone about it. But he thinks about it every few mornings when he is unable to pry himself out of bed.

The theory goes like this. His gravitational pull is different than everyone else's, adding at least thirty invisible kilos to his body. It doesn't show up on the scale because gravity doesn't actually affect mass, that always stays the same, but fuck, he can feel it. He can feel it attaching itself to his bones, making it harder to lift his legs, his arms, changing the way he looks in mirrors and photographs. Making him forget, or even not believe, numbers on the scale, clothing sizes, and measurements taken when no one is looking in the middle of the night.

His doctor calls this body dysmorphia and depression. He would probably call Charlie's theory a delusion. But all of this is too boring for Charlie. He has been in this game for too long for the medical terms to mean much of anything anymore. His gravitational force being inhumanly strong is far more interesting, more fun.

But it's not real. He knows this. Charlie knows this.

He just forgets sometimes.

...

The sound of Nick's alarm ricocheted through Charlie's head, pulling him, just barely, out of his dream. He did not open his eyes; they were too heavy. Nor did he roll over to kiss his boyfriend awake. He simply couldn't move. It was one of those moments where he forgot that his center of gravity, logically, was normal and that there must be something else pulling him down into the bed. Part of him, the irrational part, was totally convinced that if he stood up or even moved, he would go crashing through the earth's crust and straight into the lava-filled center, as the only thing keeping his absurd weight from breaking the very fabric of the universe, was his warm bed. This was all subconscious, of course. Charlie did not waste time and energy thinking about all of this at such early hours of the morning. All he could think about, all he could put words to, was how badly he did not want to move.

After a moment, the alarm turned off, and Charlie relaxed. He drifted back to the land of sleep but was interrupted once again by gentle hands moving up and down his spine. Unlike the alarm, this was a welcome wakening. He let a small noise escape from his throat, something halfway between a purr and a moan. It wasn't a sexy sound, not quite, but Charlie was sure that it drove Nick mad, as soon his hands were joined by his mouth, kissing up Charlie's neck.  Charlie wanted to turn around. He wanted to open his eyes and drink in the sight of his lover, all raw and disheveled from sleep. He wanted to catch Nick's mouth with his own and spend the entire morning there, making Nick late for work, and making them both sore. But he couldn't. He just couldn't move.

"Good morning, my love," Nick said into Charlie's neck, causing his skin to rumble, before returning to kissing his jaw. His stomach began doing backflips, the good kind, which gave him enough energy to turn around and open his eyes a crack.

"Morning," he croaked. He didn't know why his voice sounded like literal hell, he wasn't sick or anything. Maybe gravity was pulling his vocal cords down too. He opened his eyes just a little wider to get a better look at Nick. His boyfriend was propped up on his elbow, looking at him with so much love in his eyes. Nick's hands had moved from Charlie's back to his forehead, brushing the unruly hair from his eyes. Charlie tried to focus on the feeling of Nick's fingertips, now running across his scalp, instead of the weight sitting on his chest, practically begging him to close his eyes again.

"Sleep, okay?" Nick asked. He moved back down to the pillow, as it was becoming clearer that Charlie had no plans of sitting up. Charlie didn't answer, just groaned in response. "I'm sorry love, do you want to go back to sleep?" He made an effort to look Nick in the eyes. Maybe it would fix things a bit.