Evermore :||: Nick & Charlie

Chapter 32: Darling, the Future's Better than Yesterday

Charlie's POV
April

It's been three months since my relapse. I hate that I have to even say those words, but Geoff says I need to get better at admitting when I have blips in the road.

I know that healing and getting better isn't always gonna be easy, if anything, it's harder than most people think it is, but I still struggle sometimes admitting when something has gone wrong.

Nick's been helping a lot, same with Tori. I talk with both of them now if I'm having a bad day, instead of just shutting them out and getting angry when they're only trying to help.

Honestly, I think mine and Nick's fight made us stronger. I'm not really sure how that's possible, but we genuinely feel like we can open up and talk to each other about things instead of just making out whenever we didn't feel like talking, which, granted, was mostly me, but I know that Nick's done it a few times too.

Over these last three months, Nick and I have been spending a lot of time together. Moestly, we go over to each other's houses and do homework, or play video games, or cuddle...

Okay, okay, we make out a few times too, but nothing else has happened beyond that. I know from our talk in Paris, Nick's not ready, but that was also what feels like a lifetime ago. A lot has changed since then, and not just for me, but for him as well.

Today is my sixteenth birthday which is yet another sentence I find odd to say. Not to get too dark, but a little part of me didn't really think I'd make it to sixteen.

I mean, I was bullied really badly at fourteen, dated an awful person who just used me for his own amusement, and struggled silently with mental health issues. Going through all of that, who'd really think they'd make it this far?

Luckily, and by some damn miracle, I did. For that, I'll be forever grateful.

To celebrate this, I've decided to host a sleepover with all my friends this weekend, including Nick. I'm a little nervous about that because the last few times we've kissed, something about it gets really intense and then when it's over, it just gets awkward. I'm not really sure what's going on with that, but I'm trying my best to not overthink it, which is nearly impossible, but I try not to think about it.

As I'm drumming in a practice room, I hear the door open and turn to see Nick. Once our eyes meet, I stand up and he drops his bag to the floor.

"Happy birthday!" He scoops me up, my feet lifting off the ground as he spins me around.

"Nick!" I groan before he sets me down. "Will you ever get tired of doing that?" I ask when he finally puts me down.

"Oh no, no, absolutely not."

"You're such a weirdo."

"What, so it's weird now to pick my beautiful boyfriend up, spin him around, and give him a gift on his birthday?" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"You didn't give me a-" Before I can finish my sentence, Nick pulls something out of his pocket. I look down as he taps something on my shoulder.

"Surprise." He says softly, making me look up at him. Slowly, I take the envelope out of his hand and begin to open it. I pulled out two tickets for a book signing for one of my favorite authors ever, Jack Maddox. "I know how much you love him and I found out he was doing a book signing on Sunday. I got the tickets as fast as I could." I look back up at Nick.

"Wait, we actually get to meet him?"

"Yeah. I figured we could go after the sleepover or-" I cut him off by throwing my arms around him.