Nick & Charlie (TV WORLD)

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

[THE NEXT DAY]

Nick:
I got to school early today and knocked on Ms. Singh's office door.

"Come in!" I hear her say from inside.

I open the door slightly.

"Nick, good morning," she says. "I'm assuming you have an answer for me, please sit down."

I smile and sit down.

"Thank you for offering me Co-Captain. I'm sorry if I didn't sound as excited as you imagined when you told me on Friday. But I'd like to accept and I am really thankful that you thought of me for this."

A smile forms across her face.

"I'm so happy to hear that! You sure that you'll be okay working alongside Harry?"

I nod my head.

"I talked with him over the weekend. I think we'll be okay for the sake of the team."
"Nick, I know you didn't want to tell me what happened between you and Harry, and that's fine. But if something happens during the season; if he says anything to you or to anyone on the team that makes them uncomfortable, you let me know and he will no longer be Co-Captain and his future on the team will also be undecided. He may be a good Rugby player but I think we have plenty of those; I'd rather my team be full of good people."

I smile at her again.

"I will Ms. Singh. Thank you again for this opportunity, I won't let you down!"
"I know you won't, Nick. You were picked because you're an amazing rugby player but you are also a great human being. The team is in good hands."

I thank her again and head over to Charlie's locker and put my hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" I whisper.

He turns around and faces me. 

"You didn't guess," I say, frowning.
"I think it's pretty obvious who it was," he says with a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," I say laughing. "Just got out of Ms. Singh's office; I officially accepted."

He hugs me quickly.

"Sorry. I'm just so happy for you," he says with a nervous laugh.

I pull him close and kiss him.

"I told you to stop using the "s" word; especially don't apologize for hugging me, ever," I tease.
"I just get nervous at school still," Charlie says.
"Well just know that I'm not nervous at all. I love you and I love us," I say as I walk Charlie to his class.

I walk into class and see Otis, Sai and Christian.

"You guys aren't going to believe it," I say as I sit down at my desk.
"What happened?" Sai asks.
"Ms. Singh asked me to be captain this season."
"THAT'S AMAZING!" Christian exclaims.
"With Harry."
"That's definitely less amazing," Otis adds. "You're still going to do it, right?"

I sighed.

"Yeah. I officially accepted this morning. I talked with Harry over the weekend and --"
"You talked to Harry?!" Otis exclaims.
"Yeah and it went as terribly as you are all probably imagining. BUT we agreed to be civil for the sake of the team."

They all look at each other.

"So I give it two weeks maybe before Harry says something awful and gets kicked off the team," Sai says.
"Two weeks? I was going to say a day," Christian adds.

I laugh.

"I don't think he's willing to mess things up and get kicked off the team. I think he'll behave, at least during practices and games."

Charlie:
The bell for lunch rings and I start walking over to Nick and see that he's with Otis, Sai and Christian. I go to turn around but hear Otis yell over to me.

"Charlie, over here!" 

I smile and wave as I begin to walk over.

"Hey guys," I say. 
"Charlie, how long do you think it'll be before Harry says something stupid and gets kicked off the Rugby team?"

I look at all of them and laugh.

"Are you guys betting on this or something?"
"They are, I'm not," Nick says with a smile.

I smirk.

"I think he'll be able to hold in his true self for awhile because he loves Rugby so maybe a month?"
"Wow, I'm starting to think saying he'll get kicked off the first day is way off base," Christian says as we all laugh.
"You guys want to eat lunch together?" Sai asks.

Nick looks at me and even though I'd rather eat with Tao and Isaac, I know Nick is happy about finally reconnecting with his friends.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," I say with a smile.

I take out my phone and text Tao.

Charlie: Going to eat lunch with Nick, Otis, Christian and Sai.
Charlie: Isaac with you?
Tao: You don't need to make sure I have someone to eat with
Tao: I'll be fine ALL BY MYSELF
Tao: But yes. He is here :p
Charlie: See you later (:

We all grab our lunch and sit down together.

"So lets go bowling or something this weekend, we miss you," Sai says as he looks at Nick. "And we would also really like to get a chance to get to know you," he says, now looking at me.

I smile and look at Nick. I think it's really sweet how hard they are trying to fix their relationship with Nick. I told him that some of the Rugby boys were nice.

"That sounds like fun to me," I say.

Nick smiles.

"Yeah, that works. I miss you guys too. This summer was the longest we all went without talking to each other."
"I know. We should have reached out sooner but I am glad we're back to how we were," Otis says.
"Better than we were," Christian adds.
"You guys sound like you're all in love. Do you need a minute?" I say with a smirk.
"HAHA very funny Charlie," Sai says laughing. "But actually yes we are all in love."

We all start laughing. Nick's friends are actually pretty great. I can see why he was so disappointed when he started to see how a lot of his "friends" really were. But Otis, Christian and Sai, they're not like the other guys on the team. They seem really genuine and seem to really value Nick's friendship. I know this must mean so much to Nick; how much of an effort they're putting in. He's gotten pretty close in my group of friends but I'm sure he still missed having his own little circle. The bell rings and the rest of the day is pretty normal. After school I walk over to Nick's locker. He closes it and smiles.

"Hi."
"Hi," I say. "You look happy."
"I am. It was a good day."
"I'm happy your friends are making such an effort. I know you missed them."

He puts his arm around me as we walk out of the school and suddenly, I'm not as nervous as I usually am. Maybe it's the fact that we have more people in our corner than I ever imagined. It feels good. I just hope that it stays that way, even though I have a feeling it won't. But for now, today was a good day and I'll take it. I look up at Nick and kiss his cheek as he smiles. Nick's phone rings and he picks up.

"Hey Mum. I'm coming home right ---"

He gets cut off by his Mum and suddenly see the color leave his face.

"David's here?!"