'Cause I'd Find You In Any World (Nick and Charlie - Alternate Universe)

Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN:

Nick:
Wow. Charlie is gay too. Say something, Nick! 

"You are?" I ask.

Charlie puts his hands in his pockets and continues to walk. I can tell that this conversation is making him uncomfortable. I continue to walk next to him in silence, waiting for him to speak again.

"My whole life, only James knew. Today, I tell two people."

Silence again.

"Me and Mia?"

He nods.

I remember the exact feeling Charlie is having. I came out to my Mum and a couple of my close friends back in my old town just over a year ago. Before that, no one knew or even suspected anything. It's heavy, keeping such a huge part of yourself locked away. At this point, we are so far behind Mia and James, I can barely see them.

"When did you tell James?" I ask. 
"Years ago. I think when I was like, 12."
"Wow. I didn't come out to anyone until last year," I say.
"James is basically my diary," he says as he lets out a small laugh. "It's exhausting, having to be the person everyone thinks you are."
"Do you think your parents will react in some sort of negative way?"
"More nervous to tell Mum than Dad. James has Dad's personality and I have a similar relationship with him as I do with James. Mum is more me. A bit neurotic, over obsessive, stresses easily. I'm not sure how she would handle it."

We reach Mia's house and see James and her standing there.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow?" She says.

We all nod.

"It was really great meeting you today," I say.

She smiles.

"Always great to make new friends." 

She hugs us all and goes inside. James looks at Charlie for a second, then back at me; then Charlie again.

"I um.. I'll take the long way home and meet you there if you want to walk Nick to his house?" James asks, looking at Charlie.

Charlie looks at me and then back at James.

"Um, yeah. I'll see you in a little bit."

James says goodbye to me and trails off on his own. The silence in between our short conversations is deafening. 

"Was it hard to come out to your Mum?" He asks.
I sigh. "It's complicated. It was hard building up the courage to tell her; though I don't know why, she's only ever been supportive of me. But I guess, well I'm sure you know, people can change when they hear those words. Once I told her, she immediately hugged me and told me she loved me. So did my best friend actually," I laugh. "I told them together."

I pause for a second.

"Was it hard to come out to James?" I ask.
"Honestly, no. There was never a doubt in my mind that he wouldn't be supportive. He's never given me any reason to think that he'd think differently of me or look at me different."
"And your parents? You have that doubt with them?"
He sighs. "I just, I don't talk to them about these things. I don't know their views on certain things, how they would react."
"And Mia?" I ask.
"With James leaving next year; I wanted to have someone here that knows me, really knows me. I was scared to tell her but also knew that it would be fine. I tend to stress out about things for too long and then the thought of telling someone what I was stressing about will send me to a straight panic," he says with a chuckle. 

We reach the front of my house and I sit down on my stairs.

"And me?" I ask, looking up at him.

He sits down next to me.