My Pain Fits in the Palm of Your Hand by kingdomfaraway [T]
He spots him right away, it’s hard not to, the stall is tiny, barely enough space for one person. There’s a boy shoved between the toilet and the wall, his knees up to his face, covering it completely. All Nick can see is a tuft of curly black hair, a little messy and wet looking, covering any part of his face his knees aren’t.
His arms are wrapped around his knees, making himself an impossibly small thing. He can see blood stains on his sleeve, but thankfully there’s none around him on the floor.
“Hi,” Nick says, standing partially inside and out.
The tiny ball of a human squeaks out, “Hi,” but doesn’t look up.
“Do you want to come out of there? I’m sure it’s a little gross in there.”
The boy shakes his head, hair flops back and forth, curls moving just enough that Nick catches something black on his forehead and he frowns. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Charlie,” the boy answers. “Charlie Spring.”
this is our place, we make the rules by citydreaming [E]
Nick gulps, clears his throat and then just spits the words out, fast and broken “me and Charlie have split up.”
And there it is, the truth just hanging between them. The thing Nick swore would never happen, the thing he brushed off every time someone told him that teenage love doesn't last.
Nick and Charlie break up during Nick’s first year of university, this is the story of them finding their way back to each other.
this love is glowing in the dark by lovelyclouds (mylovelycloudsss) [G]
Nick is changing. In a good way, Sarah thinks. Ever since he befriended Charlie he’s become much more relaxed and comfortable in himself than she previously thought he was. She can’t help but be grateful for him, for being such a good friend to Nick, because at the end of the day that’s who it all comes down to.
Charlie.
or; Nick and Charlie’s relationship, through Sarah Nelson’s eyes.
out of focus, eye to eye by thetomkatwholived [T]
Nick made it to the station in seven minutes thanks to his run. He stopped in the lobby, panting as he surveyed the waiting travelers, but everything looked like a blur.
“Nick!” The voice was coming from the blob of people Nick was looking at. He quickly located the source of the yell and spotted Charlie; suddenly, everything felt just a bit brighter. There he was, Nick’s favourite person.
Or, Nick is late picking up Charlie from the train station and revelations are had in the aftermath.
(nice to meet you) where you been? by peaceoutofthepieces [T]
Realising he doesn’t have a plan and will most likely freak the blond out even more than his clearly unwanted date if he simply continues to shout in his face, he decides to quickly clue him in as sufficiently but covertly as possible. He doesn’t want to grab hold of him—well, that’s very clearly a lie, but he knows better than to simply grab hold of an incredibly attractive and muscular stranger—so instead, he leans in under the pretense of setting his empty glass on the bar and gets his mouth to the man’s ear.
“I’m Charlie. Go with this if you want to,” he murmurs, as loudly as he dares over the noise of the bar without clueing the other man in. He only hopes he’s heard enough to be understood.
Then, out of nowhere, the dark-haired man is dubiously asking, “You know Nick?,” and making Charlie’s job even easier for him.
Then the blond—Nick, how fitting, how perfect, why is everything about him so fitting and perfect—smiles at Charlie and says, “Oh my god. Charlie?”