- 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 !

21. 𝘘𝘜𝘈𝘋𝘙𝘜𝘗𝘓𝘌... 𝘋𝘈𝘛𝘌.

" chapter twenty—one. "
.QUADRUPLE... DATE.

☆•. 21. | THE eight people sat all together on the bench underneath the canopy. Nick sat in front of Henry, Darcy sat in front of Tara, Tao sat in front of Elle and.. Charlie sat in front of Louis. "—Why'd you agree to come if you thought it would be boring?" Charlie looked at Tao who sat beside him.

"Because I'm a very nice and supportive friend, obviously—"

"No, he came for the milkshakes and the milkshakes only." Elle Interrupted Tao, looking around at everyone.

"I said that to you in confidence!"

"How did you two become friends?" Darcy asked while Henry stirred his practically empty vanilla milkshake.

"I was friends with Charlie first and Tao came along as a package deal." Elle explained. Tao let out a screech of shock with a shocked look on his face, mouth wide open and eyebrows furrowed.

"Rude!" Tao rolled his tongue. "You're lucky to have me."

"You make a cute little pair." Darcy smiled, looking between the two. There was a small awkward silence as most of the table turned around and gave Darcy a 'shut-up' look. Tao finished his milkshake before turning to the group.

"So, we're ordering a second round, right?" He asked.

"Yeah." Most of the table agreed.

"We can go and get them." Nick said, referring to him and Henry. Henry stood up from the table as orders were shouted out to them. As the two got to the milkshake van, Henry tried Nick's newly-made milkshake. The Rugby boy watched as Henry's face twisted and changed from disgust to meh to back again.

"Nuhuh." Henry shook his head with a small disgusted face. "I mean, it's not bad but... not for me at all."

"I cannot believe you're disrespecting bubblegum flavour in front of me." Nick said, shaking his head as Henry's milkshake arrived. "Right. Let me try yours." Henry crossed his arms, watching Nick with a raised eyebrow while the boy took a sip from his milkshake. A small look of shock washed over the boy's face. "Wow."

"See? I'm the best decision maker. I'm not, actually, don't trust me to decide shit." He muttered the last part.

"We should swap." Nick said, placing Henry's milkshake back.

"Nuhuh! Hands off my milkshake! You made your choice." Henry poked him slightly while Nick thought for a moment.

"Well, okay, we can share." Nick stole another two straws, placing them in both milkshakes. "We are on a date."

"So, that's the official rule of dating? Sharing milkshakes?" Henry chuckled with his arms still crossed as he looked at Nick.

"Yeah."

There was a small silence. "You know, we should go on a date. No one else. Just us. I mean, like, only if you'd want to." Henry explained to the boy, glancing up at him. A smile took over Nick's face as he watched him. "It's Fine if you don't want to. That was stupid. I'll shut up."

"No, no, We should." Nick smiled. "I'd like that."

"Look at me," Henry smirked to himself. "I just asked Nick Nelson on a date." The Boy sighed, glancing back at the table where Charlie and Louis were staring at one another, smiles on their lips. "Did you know about this?"

"What?" Nick questioned, stealing a sip from the milkshake they now shared.

"Them." Henry motioned toward the other two boys. Nick watched them for a moment. "I mean, why didn't they tell me?"

"I mean, Charlie is your brother and Louis is your best friend..." Nick look toward Henry who just continued to stare. "I think they thought you'd get angry."

"Angry?" Henry furrowed his eyebrows, finally looking at Nick. "I mean, I'm sort of annoyed but only because they didn't tell me... but I'm not angry. Just... shocked, I guess." He shrugged. "I mean, they do look like a good fit for each other."

"Maybe you should tell them that." Nick suggested with a small smile. Henry hummed with agreement before letting out a sigh.

"Yeah..." he agreed before looking at all the new glasses. "Oh, shit, right. Uh, can someone help us carry the glasses?" He called toward the table causing Tao and Louis to jump to their feet and walk over to help the two. As Henry turned back to Nick, he saw him sneaking another sip from his milkshake. "You're gonna finish it before I can even get any!"

"There's still the other one." Nick smiled, referring to the bubblegum one.

"Nope. No thanks, I'm good." Henry chuckled, picking up two glasses from the counter and holding them in his hands. "Bubblegum is so boring."

"No, Bubblegum's more interesting." Nick said, shaking his head with Disbelief. Spotting Henry's somewhat disgusted look on his face, he repeated himself. "It's more interesting!"

A cough echoed from behind them, causing both boys to spot Tao and Louis. "Not interrupting anything, are we?" Tao questioned awkwardly.

"Hm? What, no, no." Henry shook his head with a smile, holding the two milkshake glasses in his hands. "Course not, we're just talking."

Tao glanced around with confusion. Louis shrugged. "Okay then." There was a small silence. An awkward silence. One that was killing Henry from the inside. "You take those back, we'll wait for the last ones." Tao suggested, pointing to the milkshakes.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right..." Henry smiled awkwardly, walking back to the table as Tao and Louis waited for the remaining milkshakes. "Is this a private conversation?" He asked with a smile as he sat down in his original spot, placing the milkshakes on the table.

"Did you know this too?" Elle asked, looking at the two with a sort of annoyed look. Henry furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at the others with complete confusion. "The me and Tao thing."

"Was I sleeping during the planning or something? I don't remember." Henry shrugged as he sat down.

"You were fast asleep." Charlie looked at his brother. "But.. Yeah."

"So this whole thing was just a setup?" Elle asked.

"We thought it would be fun to go on a.. quadruple date." Nick looked at Elle. She tilted her head back slightly, raising an eyebrow with a small smirk.

"Quadruple date?"

"Yeah. You and Tao, Tara and Darcy..." Nick glanced at Henry. "Charlie and Louis, and..."

"You and Henry." Elle's eyes widened. "You two are together?" A smile passed over Henry's face as he nodded. "Henry! I'm so happy for you! I mean, I'm happy for you too, but you didn't have to witness all the months of —"

"Elle, shush!" Henry gasped, looking at the girl.

"Do Tao, Louis and Isaac know?"

"Well, to be honest, Isaac definitely guessed almost immediately. Tao and Louis... not yet. Gonna tell them soon but, you know, gotta find the right time." Henry chuckled nervously as he looked down at his hands.

"But they're the only ones who don't know." Henry didn't respond as both of the boys came back to the table, milkshakes in hand. Quickly, the two sat down.

"Concert starts in 15 minutes." Louis blurted out in slight panic. This caused all of them to instantly start drinking their milkshakes, trying to finish them as quick as possible. Soon enough, they were all on their way toward the concert. Henry, who was walking with nick, glanced back at Charlie and Louis.

"Hm. One second." He smiled at Nick before slowing his pace to walk beside the two boys. "So, You two, Yeah?"

Charlie closed his eyes. "I'm sorry—"

"Hey, woah, woah!" Henry wrapped his arms around both boys shoulders. "I'm not mad. I'm just a bit... annoyed that you didn't tell me. But, hey, I get it! My best friend and my twin brother... together. Feels a little strange but I'll get used to it." He simply smiled at them before unwrapping his arms from their shoulders and speeding up to walk beside Nick Nelson once more.

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