Falling (a Heartstopper fanfiction)

Hanky-Panky

In the morning, everyone got dressed and got ready to head out. Charlie saw them to the door, everyone laughing at something Darcy had said, and hugged everyone goodbye as they left.

Nick was the last one, and they hugged for a long time. As usual, Charlie never wanted to let Nick go. Eventually he had to, and Nick hovered there, looking at Charlie like he wanted a good-bye kiss. He glanced over his shoulder at the others, then back at Charlie, looking more awkward than Charlie had seen him in a while, before turning to head down the walk.

Halfway down, as Charlie stood on the doorstep to watch them all go, and the others hovered round the entrance to the sidewalk, Nick stopped. Then he turned around, smiled at Charlie, and came back for the kiss. Taking his time about it, both of them losing track of everything—

Until Tao loudly clearing his throat reminded them of where they were.

They turned, surprised to see everyone still there. All the others giggled, and Darcy said, "I can't believe people think you're straight."

Nick laughed, too, and looked at Charlie like it wouldn't take much for him to kiss him again. But this time he said, "Bye."

And Charlie said "Bye."

Joining the others, Nick stopped and turned round and waved one more time before he left. Charlie waved back, unable to keep the smile off his face. Right now, everything was ... perfect.

He had everything almost cleared up by the time his parents got home. Good enough even for the critical eye his mum passed over the downstairs. "Hm," she said, accepting that it was all right.

When Charlie came in to get his breakfast, his parents were both at the table, sitting over their own breakfast dishes. His dad read a book, while his mum started clearing up. "Oh, Charlie, I signed that form. For the Paris trip? It's on the fridge."

"Oh, thanks."

"Are all your friends going, too?" his dad asked.

"Yeah. It's a joint Truham and Higgs language students trip," Charlie said, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Well, then. Your Spanish GCSE will come in very useful."

Charlie laughed. He knew his dad wished he took Spanish more seriously, and he had tried. It was one of the few subjects he didn't ace easily.

He poured the milk, still thinking about this morning. The sleepover, and Nick coming out, and the good-bye kiss. Maybe it was time to tell his parents. If Nick was ready to tell people, Charlie should be, too. "You know my friend Nick?" he asked, before he had time to think better of it.

"Yes." His mum didn't sound that interested. Nick was far from being her favourite person. Too rugby-ish, Charlie imagined. But she was looking at him, which was a good sign.

Charlie turned toward the table, bowl and spoon in hand. "I thought I probably should tell you ... He's my boyfriend." He smiled, nervous but happy, waiting for their response.

Which was open-mouthed shock.

"You're surprised," Charlie said, vaguely disappointed that they hadn't already guessed.

"Uh, well, I ... You know." His mum glanced at his dad and then back again. "He's a— He's a very sporty, laddish sort of boy. I—I wouldn't have assumed he was gay."

"Being gay has nothing to do with that," Charlie told her. He'd been out to them for how long now, and she still didn't get it? "And actually, he's bisexual."

"Gay or bisexual, uh ..." his dad began. Tori whooshed past Charlie while his dad was still trying to figure out how to finish the sentence. "Nick is ... banned from sleepovers from now on."

"What?" Charlie tried to realise they were treating him the way they would have if he'd been dating a girl, who certainly wouldn't be allowed sleepovers, but mostly what it felt like was that they didn't trust him.

"Yeah. There will be no hanky-panky in this house."

"Please don't say 'hanky-panky'," Tori said.

"And I suppose Nick's going on this Paris trip as well?" His mum didn't look at all pleased by that idea.

"Yeah."

His dad sighed. "So that's why you've been talking about it nonstop for weeks."

Charlie couldn't believe how they were being. With a noise of disgust, he took his cereal, which there was now no chance of him eating, and left the room.

"Bedroom door open at all times," his dad called after him.

"I'm leaving."

"No hanky-panky till you're married."

"Stop saying 'hanky-panky'," Tori snapped impatiently.

Charlie left all of them there, wishing they understood. Wishing, for once, they could just be happy that he was happy. He set his cereal bowl down on the bedside table and reached for his phone.

Tori pushed his door open quietly, standing there with her drink. "You're telling people, then?"

"Yeah." Charlie smiled. Tori, at least, was happy for him. She understood. He was so glad to have her.

"And ... you're not worried?"

"About what?"

"About getting bullied again?"

He thought about that for a second, realising he wasn't, really. He had Nick. And Tao and Elle and Isaac, and Tara and Darcy. He wasn't alone. "It's not going to be like when I got outed. We just want people to know we're together." Nick, now. Nick wasn't going to get bullied. Not if Charlie had anything to say about it. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure Nick doesn't have to deal with what I did. I can protect him. I can make sure that he never feels pressured or stressed or ... scared." He smiled. "Everything's going to be perfect."

Tori looked at him, silent. From across the room it looked like her eyes were filled with tears. But it must be a trick of the light, Charlie thought. Tori couldn't be that worried about him. Everything was fine.

He glanced at the bowl on the side table. Well, everything was going to be fine. Someday. He and Nick would be out, everyone would know, and it would be ... perfect.