Falling (a Heartstopper fanfiction)

Ridiculous

They all ate dinner together in the hotel, although Charlie noticed he wasn't the only one with little appetite. It had been a long day on the bus. Then they retired to their rooms. No parties tonight. Mr. Farouk was looking especially forbidding—and had promised to patrol the hallways—and everyone wanted to be up early for tomorrow's adventure. Their first full day in Paris!

Nick and Charlie both got in bed next to Isaac and Tao. The others seemed to fall asleep almost immediately, but both of them lay awake.

At last, glancing at Tao to make sure he was really asleep, Charlie rolled over to look at Nick, who turned his head on his pillow to look at Charlie. He reached out his hand and Charlie put his in it. The first time they had really touched each other all day.

Slowly their thumbs stroked the backs of each other's fingers, and to that comforting feeling, Charlie fell asleep.

They woke in the morning in the same position, although their hands were no longer touching. Charlie had a vague memory of pulling his back when he got cold in the middle of the night. Tao and Isaac were already up and gone.

Nick and Charlie smiled at one another. "I suppose we should hurry or we'll miss breakfast," Nick said.

Charlie wouldn't have minded, but if neither of them showed, people might talk, and he didn't want the stress of being outed to ruin the trip, especially not the first day. "You can use the bathroom first," he said.

"Yeah. Okay." Nick cleared his throat, then tossed the covers off and went into the bathroom. Charlie got dressed while he was in there, then took his turn while Nick got dressed, taking his time over his hair. He turned round to see Nick laughing affectionately at him.

Crossing the room, he sat down next to his boyfriend. "I wanted to share a bed with you."

"Same." Nick looked down at his hands. "I'm sure we'll get to do it one day."

Charlie laughed, then wondered if Nick had meant it the way it sounded.

Clearly not, because Nick blushed and stammered. "Uh ... I didn't mean ... I didn't mean to ... do it. I was just talking about, you know, sharing a bed, that's all. So, um ... Ah, that came out all wrong."

It was adorable that his confident boyfriend got all flustered talking about this. "I know what you meant," Charlie assured him.

"Okay." They looked at each other. Charlie didn't know about Nick, but he really wished they were kissing right now.

"I can't wait."

"Yeah."

And then he couldn't wait for the kiss, either. He cupped the back of Nick's neck and moved in for the kiss—just as the door flew open and Darcy's voice called out his name. "You two coming or—" She broke off as they turned to stare at her. "Oh. You're being gay. Good job." She gave them a thumbs up. "Carry on." She shut the door behind her and they could hear her giggling with Tara down the hall.

They were alone again, but the moment was broken.

"Will we ever get to kiss without people walking in on us?"

"Well, at least I've not lost this challenge yet," Nick pointed out.

Charlie wished he had never set such a ridiculous challenge. Who wanted to go two days without kissing? Certainly not him. But if it was going to be a challenge, and someone was going to win, it might as well be him. "Oh, you're gonna lose," he said, getting to his feet.

"Really?"

"Just you wait."

"Really?" Nick repeated, laughing.

They were in time for Nick to grab a quick croissant before they all headed out. Charlie skipped breakfast. He didn't need it, anyway.

The whole group left the hotel together, gathering round Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk. "Okay, gang. Today, you get to explore Montmartre. There are lots of shops and places to visit, like the Sacre Coeur Church, the Musee de Montmartre."

"That's 'museum' for everyone on this trip who doesn't even take French," Mr. Farouk added, glaring round at them. Everyone laughed. It was an open secret that you didn't have to be a language student to go on the Paris trip.

They were told to stay in groups, to meet back by the coach at five, and not to get lost.

Their group moved off together, stopping on the street to discuss the plan. Most people wanted to explore, but Elle really wanted to go to the museum. "But Renoir painted there."

"Yeah." Tao frowned at all of them. "It's a really important place in art history."

"Why don't you two go together then?" Sahar suggested. She managed not to smirk while she said it.

Charlie couldn't quite keep the smile off his face as he added, "We can meet you in a couple of hours?"

Elle and Tao looked at each other tentatively. "Just us?" Tao asked.

"Sure."

"Cool. We'll see you ... in a couple of hours?" They moved off.

"Have fun!" Isaac called after them, and everyone giggled and drew together. He leaned forward and whispered to Sahar, "You know exactly what you're doing."

"Mischief-maker," Darcy added with approval. "I've influenced you."

The rest of them went off exploring together, looking in the shops. Darcy bought a truly garish "I heart Paris" sweatshirt, and she and Tara teased each other, kissing openly, there on the street. Charlie wanted so much just to be happy to be here with Nick, but he wanted that, too, to be as flirty and natural together here with their friends as if they were alone.

Standing there next to Nick, he reached out his hand, meaning just to brush the back of Nick's. He could feel the electricity crackling just from being near his boyfriend. But Nick hadn't noticed anything, still looking at a postcard, so Charlie pulled his hand back without touching.