Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring first met when they were sat next to each other in form at Truham Boys. It was love at first sight for Charlie, who was only 14 at the time. It took some time for Nick who was 16 to realise he was bisexual and in love with Charlie. Since then they haven't been apart and now 5 years down the line, Nick graduated from York St John University with a degree in sport education as he wanted to pursue his rugby and Charlie in his final year at University of York studying Classics. They both live together in a small one bedroom flat in York with their dog Daisy - it was perfect for them. While Charlie is studying for his degree, Nick had a job coaching a local schools rugby team during the week and working in a local coffee shop on a Saturday morning.

It was an early autumn Saturday morning when Nick rolls out of bed - he has to be at the coffee shop at 7am to open up ready for the early risers who seek out their caffeine fixes before their daily activities. He goes and does his usual routine - heading to the bathroom to have a quick shower and brush his teeth. Once he has done this, he heads back to the bedroom to get dressed. He stops at the door and looks at the bed where he sees the sleeping beauty of his boyfriend Charlie. He admires him from the distance - smiling because he still can't believe how lucky he is to have found the one so early in life. He gets dressed and then heads to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and some toast for breakfast. 

Daisy is now sat down next to him at the table looking up to him. "Oh Daisy, you're wanting your breakfast aren't you?" Nick laughs while bending down to ruffle her fur. He gets up and feeds Daisy then he writes a small note for Charlie.

Char my darling. Daisy's been fed! Be home at 1pm. Love you <3

Nick heads to work - he knows it's going to be a busy day so he always tries to get there a little early so he can make sure everything is ready for when the shop opens. He gets to work just before 7am which gives him around 30 minutes to set up ready for open at 7.30am.

Once the shop is open it is filled with a lot of customers so he was so happy to see Imogen come in for her shift at 8am. Nick and Imogen have been friends since school - best friends in fact. He feels like he could tell her anything and she was always there for him when he came out as bisexual and started dating Charlie - even when he turned down their date because he only saw her as a friend.

The hours fly by with the amount of customers that come in so when Nick is about to finish his shift at 12.30pm he serves one more customer. A tall gentleman in a suit with a briefcase. He orders a coffee and sits down at the table in the corner. Nick goes ahead and makes the coffee order and then heads to the table to hand over the coffee.

“One medium latte” Nick says while placing the coffee on the table. “Thank you” the gentleman says. Nick turns to head back to the counter but the gentleman stops him.

“Excuse me?” he says. Nick turns thinking he’s done something wrong - like made the coffee wrong or it’s cold. “Yes sir?” Nick replies. “Oh don’t worry you’ve not done anything wrong” he says as he could tell Nick was nervous. Nick sighed in relief.

“I work for a talent agency and my superior is looking for someone for an upcoming TV show on Netflix. You fit the criteria for the lead role and was wondering if you were interested?” he continues.

Nick looks stunned. “Me? I-I’ve never done any acting in my life.” he stutters.

“Think about it and if you do want to try out then please give me a call” he says while handing Nick his contact card. Nick couldn’t believe it, someone actually thinks that he looks like he could be in a show? Nick nods “thank you”.

Nick scurries off back to the counter and Imogen is looking at him. “What was that about?!” she asks. “Apparently I fit the criteria for a TV show that Netflix is filming and he wanted to me to think about it” he says while rubbing his neck with his hand. “What?! No way! That’s so exciting! That would be so amazing to see my best friend in a TV show!!” Imogen shrieked. Nick laughs - “I haven’t decided yet but we will see! Anyway I’m heading off now - me and Charlie got plans for this afternoon” he smiles.

Nick heads out the back to grab his coat and bag and waves at Imogen and head on home back to Charlie.

Chapter Text

A few hours after Nick had left for work, Charlie rolls onto his back and lifts his arms up in a stretch then rubs his eyes. He shifts himself to sit up and sees Daisy has made herself comfortable at the end of the bed. He grabs his phone to check the time and for any outstanding notifications and he sees one that Nick had sent once he had got to work. He smiles and replies to him quickly before getting up so he could take Daisy for her walk.

Once Charlie gets out of bed, he shivers and sighs wishing he could get back into the warm bed but he knows he needs to do chores before he can spend the afternoon with Nick when he gets home from work. He had heads to the bathroom and takes a long hot shower which he is glad for after the long hard week of studying for his exams before the Christmas break.

After his shower, he stands in front of the mirror to try and tame his curls but in the end he gives up as he knows Nick loves his curls even when they’re unruly. He brushes his teeth then heads back into the bedroom and gets dressed in his black skinny ripped jeans, a blue top and his flannel shirt. He walks into the kitchen to get his breakfast and sees the note that Nick had wrote for him on the fridge and smiles.

He quickly has his breakfast and then goes towards the front door and puts on his converse and jacket then grabs Daisy’s walking lead. He whistles “Daisy, walky times!”. Daisy comes galloping through the flat and sits in front of Charlie wagging her tail. He puts on her lead and opens the front door to let Daisy walk out in front of him. He closes and locks the front door and decides to take Daisy to the park for a run around as he knows he has a few hours until Nick gets out of work.

After a very long walk around the park, Charlie heads back to the flat with Daisy. He unlocks the front door and opens it, takes Daisy off the lead and she runs straight to her little bed in the living room and settles down. Charlie giggles at her antics. He takes his shoes off and heads into the living room and decides to do a bit of revising before Nick gets home as they’re planning on going over to Tao and Elle’s later for a movie night with Tara, Darcy and Isaac.

Charlie must have dozed off on the sofa as he gets woken up by the front door unlocking and Nick taking his shoes off and dumping his keys on the table. “Char?” he says calmly. “In here babe” Charlie replies yawning.

Nick walks into the living room and sees a very sleepy  Charlie sat on the sofa and smiles at how cute he looks. “Oh babe did you fall asleep while studying?” Nick asks. Charlie looks at the table at his notes that were scattered about “Seems so -  I guess I’ve studied way too hard this week” he replies. Nick chuckles and nods at him.

Nick heads to the kitchen to get a drink “Want a cuppa babe?” he asks. “Yes please darling” Charlie replies. Nick makes two cups of tea in their N + C cups that Sarah had bought them a few years back as a Christmas present each as Charlie would always be round their house when they first started dating. Nick walks into the living room with the two cups and sees Charlie moving all his notes to one side in a pile which he will probably go back to later and puts the cups down on the table.

Nick sits down on the sofa and Charlie lays down with his head on Nick’s lap and looks up at him smiling. “How was your shift babe?” Charlie says while looking at him. “Well it was good but very weird” he replies with a look on his face. “Oh? Why’s that? Did a customer get in a huff again this week?” Charlie asks. “Oh nothing like that babe - I, erm, got approached by a talent agent saying they wanted me for a new Netflix show” Nick replies flabbergasted.

Charlie sits up looking very shocked at Nick. “What? Are you being serious or playing me right now?” he says. “I’m being very serious Char. He said I looked like a certain part for a show that Netflix is doing and it’s a main lead if I wanted to try out for it” Nick replies while putting his hand in his pocket to retrieve the contact card. He hands the card to Charlie to show that he wasn’t lying.

“Oh my god. Are you going to try for it?” Charlie replies excitedly. “I don’t know - I have no acting experience, I mean I’m just a rugby lad who works in a coffee shop and there’s no way I’d get it” he replies. “Well think about it babe - you can always try it and if you don’t like it then you still have your rugby” Charlie smiles. “Yeah you’re right - I’ll think about it and maybe give them a call on Monday when the office opens again.” he replies.

They sit and watch some RuPaul’s Drag Race while sipping on their teas when both Nick and Charlie’s phones buzzes on the table. Charlie leans over and picks up his phone to check and it’s the group chat.

DarcyTheEgg: GUUUUUUUUUUUUYS WHAT TIME WE MEETING TONIGHT????

TheMarvelHater: 8pm our place. Don’t forget the snacks

TaosWifey: Don’t worry about the alcohol - we have some here.

Charlie smiles and looks over at Nick who has now picked up his phone. “I think I’m gonna mention it in the chat” Nick says to Charlie. Charlie nods.

RugbyLadNicky: GUYS I NEED YOUR OPINIONS.

TheMarvelHater: Isn’t that Charlie is for?

RugbyLadNicky: He already knows about this.. I want my friends opinions!

Jonesy: OH?

DarcyTheEgg: OH?

TheBookWhisperer: I am now intrigued.

RugbyLadNicky: Okay so I got approached by a talent agent at work today, they want me to audition for a Netflix show…

Jonesy: NICK???? OH MY GOD?????

DarcyTheEgg: NICHOLAS!!!!

TheBookWhisperer: Is it legit though Nick?

TheMarvelHater: Same question as Isaac - there’s always some creeps out there.

TaosWifey: Yeah I agree.

RugbyLadNicky: Yeah I thought that too but they gave me their contact card and I have checked it out myself - it’s legit and there is a show that they’re going to be recording. So what do I do???

DarcyTheEgg: NICHOLAS. YOU COULD BE A TV STAR. I WOULD GO FOR IT!! OTHERWISE I WILL COME OVER THERE AND SLAP YOU

Jonesy: Ignore her Nick. But yes go for it! You never know if you don’t.

TheMarvelHater: I’m skeptical but no matter what I say you’ll do it anyway…

Charbug: Let’s discuss this later when we’re all in the same room then we can come up with a plan for Nick when he rings them up on Monday..

*Everyone reacts with a thumbs up*

Charlie puts his phone on the table and hugs Nicks. “Whatever you plan to do I’ll be here every step of the way because I love you” he smiles. Nick looks at Charlie with a big smile and hugs back. They go back to watching TV before they have to head out.

Chapter Text

A few hours had gone by since Nick and Charlie had messaged the group chat about what had happened at Nick’s work. They had been watching some RuPaul to pass the time before they had to head out to Elle and Tao’s for their weekly movie night that they had been doing since they were teenagers at school.

They both had fallen asleep on the sofa when Daisy starts licking Nick’s face. Nick starts laughing “okay okay Daisy!” he says while pushing her down. Charlie starts stirring while this is happening and looks over at Nick with Daisy and smiles. “I guess I better feed Daisy.” Nick says while going to the kitchen. Charlie looks at his phone and it was now 7pm “I’m going to get ready for tonight, we got to leave in 30 mins!” Charlie shouts while going to the bedroom.

Nick feeds Daisy then let’s her outside for a bit so she’ll be good while they’re out for the evening. He heads back inside and towards the bedroom where he sees Charlie going through his clothes trying to decide what to wear. “Charlie, it’s only our friends you don’t need to panic on what to wear” Nick says while walking over to Charlie and putting his arms around his waist. Charlie sighs “I know” he says while leaning back into Nick. “Just be you” Nick says then heads to the wardrobe and grabs a jumper to put over his t-shirt but as he’s about to put it on Charlie grabs it off him and wears it instead. “CHARLIE!” Nick laughs. Charlie looks at Nick with a smirk on his face and shrugs. Nick chuckles and grabs another jumper and puts it on.

It’s now 7.30pm so they make sure Daisy is okay for the evening and then head out for the short walk towards Elle and Tao’s house. Once they arrive they knock on the door where Elle opens the door to greet them “NICK! CHARLIE!” she screeches while jumping on them for hugs. “Okay okay Elle! You saw us the other day, no need to smother us” Charlie laughs. “Sorry! I just love you guys!” she says. Tao walks up behind her “Let them in Elle - it’s cold outside” he says.

They all head inside and head for the living room. Nick hands Tao the bag of snacks they had bought with them and goes to sit with Charlie and Elle on the sofa. About fifteen minutes later the door rings again and this time it was Imogen and Isaac, they come in and sit with the others and they all make small talk while waiting for Tara and Darcy so they could start the movie. In true Tara and Darcy fashion they arrive ten minutes later and when they do Darcy bounces right now and jumps onto Nick and Charlie “NIIIIIICK! CHARLLLLLIIIIIE!” she shouts while jumping onto them. They both squeal “DARCY!” at them and they all start laughing.

They all settle down and watch a random movie that Tao had put on because he was always the one to choose the movies and with hatred towards Marvel movies he will never let Nick choose any movie. During the movie Nick looked round and found the usual scenario - Charlie asleep on Nick’s shoulder, Tao and Elle cuddling but watching the movie, Tara and Darcy giggling to themselves, Imogen and Isaac pretending to watch the movie but reading a book that Isaac had brought with him. Nick starts wondering if he did go for this opportunity would he still be able to do this? He loved hanging out with his friends on Saturday evenings watching random movies but if he went for this then he may have to drop these evenings.

Once the movie finishes Charlie stirs from Nick’s shoulder and looks around to see everyone was moving about to clean up apart from Nick who was still sat with him. He looks up at Nick with a smile “Hi” he says sleepily. “Hi” Nick whispers back and gives Charlie a kiss on his forehead.

It was getting late now but Nick knows he needs to talk to his friend group about this opportunity that he’s been given so he decides to do it now before they leave.

“Guys - can we discuss this thing I tried talking to you about earlier in the chat?” Nick says while fidgeting on the sofa. Charlie grabs his hand to calm him. Everyone looks at Nick and sits down in front of him. “Okay so I had a look earlier before I told Charlie about this. There’s a Netflix show coming out next year called Heartstopper.” Nick says. “Oh my god I heard about this! It’s based on a comic” Darcy squeals. “Yeah and they wanted me to audition for a lead role?” Nick replies. “They want you to go for the lead role of Kit or Joe?” Tara says shocked. “I mean that’s the two main characters in Heartstopper” she continues. “I guess?” Nick shrugs.

Imogen gets up and takes Nick’s hand “Nick, I know you have no experience in acting as we all know you’re a rugby lad through and through but you should at least try? I mean if it doesn’t work out then you still have rugby and all of us. If you do get it then you will still have all of us but you’d be A TV STAR!” she says gleefully.

Nick looks at her with tears in his eyes “You’re right. I’ll have all of you no matter what. I’m just worried I’d miss out hanging out with you guys if I become famous” Nick says getting up to hug Imogen. “Nick we’ll still hang out - we’d just have to work round your busy schedule!” Isaac chimes in. Nick nods “yeah you’re right. I’ll ring them first thing Monday morning then!” he replies.

“We should all make a move - it is almost 11pm!” Charlie says. They all get up and do a big group hug. “Let us know how it goes when you ring them Nick!” Tara says. “Yes! Let us know - we need to know if you get an audition!” Darcy adds. “Don’t worry - I will tell you all once I've told Charlie” Nick replies.

They all head out the door and wave to Elle and Tao and they all take their separate ways home.

Chapter Text

The rest of the weekend seemed to go by too quickly for Nick and Charlie. They spent the Sunday watching TV, taking Daisy out to the park and Nick helping Charlie with his studying - not like he was much help as he had no clue on anything about Charlie’s degree. They decide to have an early night as Charlie had a lecture to attend first thing in the morning and well Nick just wanted to be in bed with Charlie, he didn’t care about it being early.

At 6am on the dot Charlie’s alarm goes off. Charlie groans then rolls over to turn off his alarm before it wakes up Nick. He flops back down and looks over at Nick, he smiles at the sight and brings his hand up to move the hair that has managed to make its way in front of Nick’s eyes. Nick stirs a little but goes straight back to sleep.

Charlie gets out of bed and goes ahead with his morning routine as he has to be at university at 9am for his first lecture of the day. He makes a cup of tea for Nick and brings it into the bedroom. He sits down on the edge of the bed and starts stroking down the side of Nick’s face. Nick stirs but doesn’t wake up so Charlie leans down and gives Nick a kiss on his forehead. “Nicky darling - I’ve made you a cup of tea” Charlie whispers in Nick’s ear. Nick sighs and slowly opens his eyes “There’s my gorgeous baby” Charlie says while stroking Nick’s face. Nick smiles “morning babe” he says groggily while leaning into Charlie’s touch. Charlie gives Nick another kiss on his forehead before saying “There’s a cup of tea there for you - I got to run otherwise I’ll be late for class. Don’t forget to ring the agency.” Nick yawns and nods. “Okay” he replies.

Charlie gives Nick one last kiss and heads off to campus for his lectures while Nick lays in bed. He grabs his phone and starts scrolling through all his socials while drinking his cup of tea. He looks at the time it’s now 8.30am so he quickly sends a text to Charlie telling him to have a good day and that he loves him lots and lots. He gets up and gets ready for the day by brushing his teeth and getting dressed in his gym clothes, he forgoes the shower as he wants to get a workout in at the gym. He takes Daisy out for a walk and then decides to head to the gym for a few hours before he has to be at the school for his daily rugby lesson that he teaches.

After a good workout at the gym Nick heads home and has a quick shower as it is now almost 1pm. He gets out of the shower and wraps a towel around himself then walks towards the bedroom when he hears his phone ding and vibrate on the bedside table. He picks up his phone and checks to see who it was.

Nick smiles to himself. He dries himself off and gets into his white tank top and grey joggers ready for the rugby lesson that he’s teaching. He heads into the kitchen and quickly feeds Daisy then sits down on the sofa where he finds the contact card for the agency on the coffee table.

He picks up the contact card looking at the details, he gets his phone out of his pocket and types in the number, his hands are shaking. He takes a deep breath and dials the number and it starts ringing. After a few rings a gentleman answers the phone.

*phone dialogue*

“Hello this is Kandy Star Agency, Malcolm speaking, how can I help you?”

“Yes hi, this is Nicholas Nelson, I had someone from your agency come into the coffee shop I work in and give me their contact card because they were looking for someone for a new show”

“Oh yes! That was me. I was wondering when you would take up the offer.”

“Yeah I had the weekend to think about everything and I am very interested in auditioning for whatever role you think fits for me”

“Okay, give send me an e-mail, the address is on the card and I’ll get all the details over to you later this afternoon, does that sound good?”

“Yes sounds great. Will pop an email over in a moment - thank you so much”

“No problem - looking forward to hearing from you Nicholas”

“Thank you - bye”

“Bye”

*end phone dialogue*

Nick puts his phone down and breathes a sigh of relief - that was one of the hardest parts done, he just has to actually audition and get the part! He gets up and gets himself a drink of water then heads back into the living room to pick up his phone and writes an email to the agency then sends it. He decides to send a quick text to Charlie even though he would be heading to the library to do some studying.

He notices that the time is 2pm so he gets up and heads to the kitchen to get a quick lunch consisting of a ham sandwich and an apple along with a glass of water. Once he has eaten he goes and puts on his trainers, grabs his coat and bag then his keys on the side and heads out to rugby.

Nick loved it when he was at the local school teaching all the 7 years old how to play rugby, it was hard work as a lot of the time the kids wouldn’t listen to him but he knew he had to be patient with them. He picked up his love for rugby when he was 6 and would play with his father and even when his father left he continued playing and became the “rugby king” in high school.

Rugby practice lasted until 4.30pm and Nick stayed until all the kids were picked up by their parents. He picks up all the equipment that they had used for the practice and puts it all back into the sports shed that the school has. He locks up and then makes his way home.

Nick gets home half an hour later and unlocks the front door. He pushes the door open to Daisy jumping up and down at him and Charlie leaning against the living room door smiling. He closes the door, puts his keys down on the table, dumps his bag onto the floor and takes his shoes and coat off. He walks up to Charlie and gives him a kiss. “Hi” he whispers. “Hi” Charlie giggles.

Charlie grabs Nick hand and takes him into the living room and sits down on the sofa. They look at each other and giggle, they’re still in the “honeymoon phase” as Isaac says but even after five years together they’re so madly in love with each other. Nick gets his phone out of his pocket and notices that he has an email from the agency.

Nick opens the email

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Heartstopper Audition

Hi Nicholas,

Thank you so much for the email. Please see below the information about the role and when the auditions are.

Netflix UK has teamed up with See-Saw Films and the author Alice Oseman to make an adaption of the number one best selling comic series Heartstopper which follows the story of Joe Anderson, a 14 year old gay schoolboy who falls in love with his classmate Kit Riley.

We are looking for someone who can take on the role of Kit Riley.

The actor must be around 5ft 9, red-blonde hair, brown eyes and loves rugby.

They must be comfortable with being around people in the LGBTQIA+ community as this series is based around this.

Auditions are being held at:

Clements Hall

Nunthorpe Road

York

YO23 1BW

Monday 17^th October 9am-5pm

If you are interested please pop by during these hours.

Also I have attached a piece of the script for the audition please look through it when you can.

Thank you and  good luck!

Malcolm Tilsy

Kandy Star Agency

Nick looks at Charlie after reading the email and Charlie is smiling at him. “You got a week to practice your lines and you are going to smash the audition babe” Charlie says. Nick smiles and gives Charlie a kiss “I really hope so” he says.

Chapter Text

The week seemed to fly by for Nick as it was now the day of the auditions. He can’t believe it’s come already, he knows he’s ready for this as he had spent all week practicing his lines with Charlie’s help every evening. He even did his research and read the comics that the show was based on so he knew what the character Kit Riley is like and he even joked with Charlie saying how much he was like that character - the looks, rugby and even his sexuality. He also joked saying that Charlie was so much like the other character Joe Anderson.

It’s the morning of the audition and Charlie’s alarm goes off at 6am as he has lectures like every week. Charlie rolls over and turns his alarm off and rolls back towards Nick and gives Nick a kiss on his cheek and gently rocks him. “Babe, it’s time to get up and get ready for your audition” Charlie whispers in his ear. Nick groans and throw his arm across his face. Charlie giggles, he knows Nick isn’t a morning person and it’s always a mission to get him out of bed for anything that early in the morning. “Come on babe, you need to get ready and smash this audition” Charlie says while running his fingers down Nick’s cheek. Nick turns his face and slowly opens his eyes to see Charlie smiling at him “There’s my beautiful boyfriend” he says. Nick smiles and blushes.

They both get out of bed, well Nick takes his time and sits on the edge of the bed while looking at Charlie getting a towel and heading to the bathroom. Nick gets up off the bed and heads to the wardrobe to find an outfit for his audition and starts pushing hangers aside when he finds two tops that he likes the most - a basic white top which shows off his “rugby arms” as Charlie calls them and the other a light blue top. He picks them up and places them on the bed and heads to the dresser and picks out a pair of black trousers and places them with the tops.

Once he had done that he heads to the bathroom just as Charlie gets out of the shower. He gives Charlie a quick kiss and gets into the shower while Charlie brushes his teeth and sorts out his curls in the mirror. After his shower he quickly brushes his teeth then heads to the bedroom where Charlie has just finished getting dressed into a white top with a flannel shirt over the top and skinny ripped jeans. Nick smiles and puts on his trousers and then picks up the two tops and stands in the mirror trying to decide which one to wear.

Charlie comes up behind Nick and gives him a peck on the cheek “I think the white top is the best option babe” he whispers in his ear. Nick spins round, throws the tops onto the bed and then grabs Charlie by the waist and whispers back “oh really?” Charlie starts giggling and is blushing. Nick gives Charlie a kiss and then grabs the top and puts it on. “Looking amazing babe, you’ll smash the audition you know” Charlie says. “I hope so, I’m just so nervous that I’ll forget the lines even though we’ve been practicing them all week” Nick replies while rubbing the back of his neck. Charlie hugs Nick “You’ll be fine darling, any problems you know you can ring me or even your bestie Tara” Charlie says reassuringly.

It’s now coming up to 8am when they both leave the flat, they both walk towards the bus stop holding hands, it had been a while they had left the house together in the morning as Charlie usually has university and Nick doesn’t usually start his day until the afternoon. They get to the bus stop and Charlie gives Nick one last kiss “good luck and any issues you know to contact one of us okay?” Charlie says while holding Nick’s face. Nick nods. Charlie walks off giving Nick a little wave which Nick waves back.

After ten minutes the bus finally turns up and Nick gets on and sits at the back. He knows the bus will take around 30 minutes to get near the place he needs to get to but it is Monday morning so there’s definitely going to be traffic. He gets out the script from his bag and goes over his lines again, he knows them by heart now but he doesn’t want to forget them and ruin his chances.

It’s just after 9am when the bus drops him off because of the insane amount of traffic in the area. He walks down the street towards the hall, he’s really nervous but he tries to calm himself down. He sees the hall in the distance and sees the huge queues and he starts to panic cos he now thinks he has no chance of getting it as there’s definitely someone else more talented and experienced than himself. He knows he needs to calm himself down but he is struggling. He fumbles around in his pocket looking for his phone while pacing back and forth down the street. Once he finally gets his phone out of his pocket and struggles to unlock his phone as he’s shaking too much, he takes a deep breath and unlocks his phone and randomly calls someone, he doesn’t know who he’s called until he hears Tara’s voice saying his name over and over again. “Tara he-help me, I can’t d-do th-this” he stutters out. “Nick, breathe. You’re at your audition yes?” she asks. Nick nods then realises she can’t see him “Ye-yeah, well I-I-I’m walking up a-a-and d-down the st-street” he replies shaking. “Okay stay there, I’ll be ten minutes” she replies. He puts his phone back in his pocket and continues walking back and forth.

It seemed forever but Tara runs down the street towards Nick and grabs him by the hands. “Okay you need to calm down. You can do this” she says. Nick is shaking his head “I can’t, I can’t do this, I have no experience, I-I’ve not done this before” he cries out. “Nick I’ve known you for what 8 years now? You can do this. Yeah you may not have the experience to do this but look at you - you were the captain of the rugby team at school, everyone loves you, you can blow them away with being yourself - the amazing Nick Nelson!” Tara smiles. Nick sniffs “Tara why do you always know what to say?” he says. “Because I am your best friend and I hate seeing you sad. Now go in there and blow them away!” she says giving him a hug. Nick nods “Thanks Tara. I’ll ring you later to let you know how it went okay?” he says while still sniffing. “Yes! I’m now going to work so I’ll speak to you later” she says. She gives Nick another hug and waves while walking back down the street.

Nick takes a deep breath and heads towards the hall and stands in the queue for the auditions. He goes over the lines in his head, he can do this. He must have been in queue for hours but eventually he gets to the front of the line, he takes another deep breath and walks in.  He’s standing there waiting for them to call him onto the stage when he hears “NEXT!”. He walks in, heads to the stage and stands in the middle.

“Hi I’m Nicholas Nelson and I’m auditioning for the role of Kit Riley” he says with a croak in his voice. He’s nervous but he knows he has to do this now he’s here.  “Okay Nicholas, this is James, he will be playing Joe so if we can go through the lines that you’ve been practicing so we can see what you got as this is also like a chemistry screening” the director says from in front of the stage. Nick nods and turns towards James - he looks so like Charlie but he definitely didn’t have Charlie’s piercing blue eyes.

Nick takes a deep breath and stands in front of James and starts the lines that he had been given.

“I don’t want to break up.” he breaths heavily. “I know people have hurt you and you feel like I’d be better off without you, but… I need you to know that my life is way better because I met you.” James looks at him and shakes his head a little “You don’t have to say that.” Nick continues “I do and I’ll keep saying it until you believe me.” Nick takes a deep breath. “Look, I don’t care about getting into fights or pissing off my mates or anything like that. It’s all worth it to be with you.” “You are the kindest, most thoughtful and caring and amazing person in the whole world…” James interrupts him with “Kit” “…and if you want to really break up then I would respect your decision but I want us to be together”. James walks closer “Kit” “You’re my favourite person, I need you to believe me” he continues. James comes closer “Kit!” and places his hands on Nick’s face. “I believe you.” “I believe you”. Nick is breathing really hard now.

“Perfect!” he hears the director. James removes his hands from Nick’s face and he turns to the director. “We will be in contact Nicholas” the director continues. Nick nods “thank you” and he heads out the door. He breathes a sigh of relief and heads home, he is glad he hasn’t got to do rugby today, he just wants to go home and relax after all that.

He gets home and notices the time is now 3pm so he decides to take Daisy out for a walk as she had been indoors all day while both Nick and Charlie were out busy. He takes her out on an hour long walk around the park and once he gets home Charlie was just taking his shoes off as he had just got home from University. Charlie spins round and sees Nick and gives him a big hug. He grabs Nick’s hand and takes him into the living room so they could talk.

“So how did it go?” Charlie starts. Nick sighs “well at first I was too scared to go in that I got myself into a mess and rang Tara without realising, she sorted me out though.” Nick laughs weakly. “But in the end I think the audition went okay - the guy who’s playing Joe looks so like you though except he doesn’t have your piercing blue eyes” he smiles. Charlie blushes “well Im glad it went fine, do you know when you find out if you got it?” he asks. “They didn’t say, they just said they’d be in contact” Nick replies. Charlie nods and gives Nick a big hug. They spend the evening together on the sofa watching random stuff on TV.

Chapter Text

It had been a whole month since Nick had gone for the audition to be in the upcoming Netflix show ‘Heartstopper’ and he was starting to wonder if he will ever hear back from the agency about if he got the role or not. He had been going around doing his daily routine as normal, jumping every time his phone rang as he always thought it was the ‘call’.

It was now almost December so work was getting busier with the Christmas shoppers and Charlie now doing his exams so everyone was majorly stressed. Nick was doing extra shifts at the coffee shop to help out with staff sickness and the fact it was busy so they needed the extra pair of hands to make the coffees.

After a fairly busy shift on the last Friday of November Nick gets home to greet Charlie who had just got home from one of his exams. It was their weekly movie night and it was Nick and Charlie’s turn to host it so Nick quickly tided up the flat while Charlie got together the snacks in the kitchen.

A few hours must have gone by when both Nick and Charlie are startled by the door bell ringing. “I’ll get it!” Charlie says while walking out of the kitchen. Charlie opens the door to see Tao and Elle standing there “Charlie!” Elle screeches while giving Charlie a big hug. “Hi Elle” Charlie laughs. “Okay Elle let the poor boy go” Tao sighs. “Come in before Daisy thinks we’re going out” Nick says from the living room. Charlie laughs “come on you two - get comfortable while we wait for the others”.

Over the next twenty minutes Tara, Darcy, Imogen, and Isaac arrive and they even got a surprise when Sahar turned up as she had been out of the country working and they didn’t even know she had come back so they were all happy.

They all sat down chattering away mostly talking about their week and Sahar telling them all about her adventures to Spain and Portugal. The evening was flowing nicely when Tara spoke up “Hey Nick have you heard back yet?”. Nick sighed “Not yet - it’s been a month now! I’m starting to think I didn’t get it”. “Heard about what?” Sahar asked. “Nick had an audition for a show last month!” Charlie said very excitedly. Nick laughs at Charlie. “I’m still waiting to find out if I got the part or not but I’m starting to think they’ve already got someone.” Nick replied. “Nah I think you’ve got it and they’ve got round to telling you babe!” Charlie says while smiling at Nick. “Maybe” Nick sighed. “Let’s watch a movie and get drunk!” Darcy squeals. They all cheer and grab their drinks.

A few hours into the movie Nick quickly pops to the bathroom when his phone rings in the living room. “NICK! YOUR PHONE” Charlie yells. Nick runs into the living room to see Charlie holding his phone up towards the door. Nick grabs the phone while Tao pauses the film and answers.

“Hi” he says shakily and heads into the kitchen while the others sit looking at each other whispering wondering who was ringing  Nick at this time. They could hear Nick umming and ahhing in the kitchen then hear “thank you so much” and Nick coming back into the living room.

“So who was it babe?” Charlie asks. “That was the agency about the audition.” Nick says shakily.

Everyone looks up at Nick. “Well?” Tara asks. “They said my audition was great and I fit the part but I need to work on my nerves as my voice was a bit shaky and... and... I...” he says quietly.

“I GOT THE PART!” Nick yells.

Everyone jumps up and all rush to hug Nick. They all congratulate him one by one and Charlie even gives him a big kiss. Nick laughs “I can’t believe it, I got it, I’m going to be on TV.. oh my god I need to ring my mum like now” They all laugh “Go ring your mum Nick then we’re all getting very drunk to celebrate!” Darcy cheers.

Nick heads to the bedroom and rings his mum. “Hi Nicky” she answers after three rings. “Hi mum!” he says cheerfully. “Are you drunk Nick? You sound very happy and it is quite late for you to ring on a Friday evening!” she laughs. “No mum! I rang because I had news about that audition I told you about, the one I went for last month” he says. “Oh yes! And what’s the news darling?” she replies. “I got the part mum! I’m going to be on TV!” he squeals. He has to pull his phone away from his ear and his mum is literally screaming on the other end “OH MY GOD NICKY! THIS IS SO AMAZING!” Nick laughs “I know, I can’t believe it - I start filming in the new year!” “That’s so exciting! We definitely have to celebrate when you come and visit for Christmas!” she says excitedly “We will - I better get back to my friends as we were in the middle of our movie night!” he laughs. “Okay darling - I am so happy for you! Will speak to you tomorrow okay?” she replies. “Yeah mum, speak to you tomorrow, love you” he says “Love you too Nicky” she replies and hangs up.

Nick heads back into the living room, sits back down next to Charlie and grabs his beer. Darcy picks up her glass of wine and lifts it up “TO THE TV STAR NICHOLAS!” she yells, they all laugh and put up their drinks “TO NICK!” they all say together. Nick laughs and they all drink. “Let’s finish this movie then we’re totally going out on the town to celebrate” Nick says. They all laugh “amen to that!” Imogen nods.

They finish the movie and they all grab their coats and head out to their local nightclub where they danced and drunk the night away. They all left at around 4am when Nick and Charlie stumbled through their front door at 5am into their bedroom and fall asleep on their bed still fully clothed.

Chapter Text

Nick wakes up the next day with a raging headache, he knew he shouldn’t have drunk that much but once Darcy gets going they bring shot after shot and that’s it. He lets out a grunt and throws his arm over his eyes when he hears the bedroom door creak open. “Morning babe” Charlie whispers. “Don’t shout” Nick whined. Charlie laughs “bought you some paracetamol and water as I know you drank way more than me” he says while walking over to the bed.

Charlie puts down the glass of water on the bedside table along with the paracetamol and sits down on the bed next to Nick. He brings his hand up and rubs Nick’s cheek and Nick leans into the touch. “Come on babe, take the painkillers and I’ll go and make you some breakfast” Charlie says. “Okay” Nick whispers. Charlie gets up and heads to the kitchen while Nick groans and rolls back over in bed.

After about twenty minutes Nick smells the food that Charlie is cooking in the kitchen and smiles to himself. He slowly gets up and takes the paracetamol that Charlie had left him on the bedside table and then heads to the bathroom for a quick shower which he definitely needed after that night out they had.

Ten minutes later after a nice hot shower and brushing his teeth Nick heads into the kitchen to see Charlie plating up their breakfast while singing along to ‘Lover’ by Taylor Swift. He smiles at this and walks up to Charlie and wraps his arms around his waist and rests his head onto his shoulder. “Recharging?” Charlie asks. Nick mumbles his yes. “Darcy really did a number on you last night didn’t they?” Charlie laughs. Nick sighs. “Go sit down babe, I got your favourite hangover food here ready -pancakes and bacon” Charlie says. Nick pouts but does as he is told.

Once they had eaten breakfast Charlie gets up from the table and picks up the empty plates and cups and heads to the sink to wash up. Nick follows Charlie and wraps his arms around him again like earlier. Charlie laughs. “Oh darling, go lay on the sofa and find something to watch and I will join you in a bit. We will have a lazy day so you can recover from Darcy’s antics last night” Charlie says. Nick goes to protest but Charlie turns round and stops Nick by giving him a kiss.

Nick goes to the living room and grabs the blanket that is hanging over the side and wraps it around himself then picks up the remote from the table and lays down on the sofa. He turns on the TV and puts on his comfort show Glee. In the kitchen Charlie cleans up everything from breakfast and comes into the living room to see Nick snuggled up on the sofa and smiles. He walks over to Nick, bends down and kisses him on the forehead. “I’m going to take Daisy out for a quick walk and then I’ll come back and snuggle with you okay babe?” Charlie says. Nick looks up at Charlie and nods. Charlie smiles and gives Nick another kiss.

About thirty minutes later Charlie comes home and let’s Daisy off her lead so she can go and get a drink and then settle down for the day. He takes his coat and converses off and then heads into the living room to check on Nick. He knows from experience that when Nick has a hangover and is laying on the sofa he will have dozed off so when he checks on Nick he was right. Charlie giggles to himself and bends down and gives Nick a kiss on his forehead. Nick stirs a little but settles down very quickly so Charlie decides to tidy up the flat a little as they didn’t get a chance to after last nights movie with the friends before they went out.

Once Nick had woken up for his nap, they spent rest of the day watching Glee and texting the group chat to work out the schedule for their secret santa and when to meet up before Christmas to do the exchange.

** 3 weeks later **

The Paris Gang decided to do their exchange three days before Christmas as everyone was going back to Kent to their respective families and they decided that they would host it at Nick and Charlie’s flat as it was bigger than everyone elses.

Nick and Charlie had spent the previous week decorating the flat ready for Christmas, they had a beautiful tree decorated in red and gold tinsel with baubles that their friends and family had donated to them.

Everyone turned up at 6pm like they had all agreed so Charlie put on some Christmas music and Nick bought in the alcohol and snacks so they could celebrate together. This year Isaac did the honors of organising the secret santa.

Secret Santa:

Darcy > Nick

Nick > Sahar

Sahar > Tao

Tao > Imogen

Imogen > Isaac

Isaac > Tara

Tara > Charlie

Charlie > Elle

They spent the evening drinking and dancing until 11pm when everyone went back to their respective flats then Nick and Charlie cleaned the flat up so they didn’t have to do it before they left for Kent the next morning.

** 2 days later **

Nick spent Christmas morning with his mum and their dogs Nellie and Henry while Charlie stayed with his parents, sister Tori with her partner Michael and his brother Ollie. After lunch Charlie went over to Nick’s mums and spent the evening there with them.

** 1 week later **

It’s now New Years Eve - the Paris Gang are all back in York ready for their annual New Years Eve party that they have. This year the party is going to be at Tara and Darcy’s flat as they all take it in turn hosting the party.

They knew it’s going to be a wild party with Darcy hosting as they will make the most random concoctions known and everyone will get drunk very quickly and knowing them they will start a spin the bottle game as well. Everyone arrives around 7pm ready to ring in the new year with a bang so Darcy starts handing out drinks to everyone while Tara controls the music for the evening.

The evening is going well, everyone drinking and having a laugh dancing around and chatting (while Isaac of course is sat reading a book). It must have been 11:55pm when everyone was sat in their couples on the sofa or floor giggling to each other and when the clock hit 12am everyone shouted “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” and kissed their partners (with exception of Imogen, Sahar and Isaac as they were all single but they raised their drinks)

** 2 weeks later**

Nick receives a phone call confirming the start date of shooting for the TV show that he got cast in so he rings his mum to let her know that he’ll be staying with her while this happens as it’s going to be filmed in the Kent area and it’d be easier to stay while Charlie stayed in York so he can complete his studies.

He lets Charlie know about going back to Kent for the filming and Charlie is happy for Nick but sad that’ll be alone for a while but he knows he can always go to Kent and see Nick at the weekends until the filming is over.