Heartstopper oneshots/ requests

Our Daughter P1

Hi everyone! This is for mati_A10 - I kinda took your idea and ran with it so I hope you like it. There is one more part which I'll publish straight after this.

Tw: Bullying, homophobia, being in care, slight conflict and insinuation of self harm

Everything was going so well, Charlie loved Nick and Nick loved Charlie. They were both loving their new life as parents to the beautiful Shell. The most resilient girl that had grown into the strongest teenager they'd known. Or so they thought.

The problem, as with most teenagers, was that Shell was really good at hiding things and so when Nick and Charlie went to parents' evening they were more than surprised to find out Shell was quiet at school.

"She's the opposite at home" Nick explained, trying to get Mr Robins to understand the situation, "Do you think there's something wrong?" He looked at the teacher desperately, waiting for him to have all the answers but he just offered a tight smile and a shrug.

"High school is an intimidating environment" Mr Robins said with a sweet smile which made Nick grimace, "Sometimes children find it hard to adjust" He continued, holding his sweet smile and even Charlie shook his head.
"It just doesn't seem like Shell" Charlie said, racking his brain for any signs of this supposedly shy girl that showed herself in school.

Thankfully, Shell wasn't with them as she had Trampolining on Wednesdays. Which meant the couple could talk objectively about their daughter. A subject that they'd both suddenly become increasingly concerned about.

"If it's a concern, the school could look into it" Mr Robins suggested, adjusting his arms further onto the table to show his concern in the matter, "As I say, I am just her English teacher so she may well be behaving differently in other lessons" He continued, "I could always talk to Shell's other teachers and find out what they think about her"

Charlie and Nick glance at each other, quickly communicating their concern and willing to let Mr Robins do what he has suggested.

"If you could" Charlie says politely, nodding in agreement, "We are going to speak to her other teachers tonight, but maybe asking them directly will be useful"

After their meeting with Mr Robins, the couple speak to the other people who teach their Daughter. With their first conversation with Mr Robins in their mind, they ask the other teachers how their daughter is in their class. Much to their dismay, their answers are much the same.

Shell appears to be shy and keeps herself to herself, not talking too much to her classmates. Only appearing chatty with her close friends; Eliser and Bonny.

Neither Charlie or Nick can make sense of this. Shell is so bubbly and, dare they say it, loud and confident with everyone she's around at home. They just can't make sense of it.

After pondering over it for a week or so, they decide to bring it up over dinner one evening as it was one of the only evenings in the week they were all together.

Shell had after school clubs most days of the week and if she was free, Nick was coaching the local Primary School rugby team.

"So you know all your teachers said you were doing really well" Nick started, scooping up a forkful of Lasagne.
"Yeah?" Shell immediately answered, her striking blue eyes snapping to meet her Dad's, making her long curly hair fall away from her face.
"Well one of the things they all said was that you're quite quiet"

Shell's heart was racing at this point, this was the conversation she'd been dreading for a while. Ever since the parents' evening, she knew that this would come out of the woodwork.