Heartstopper oneshots/ requests

Charlie quits rugby (Nick angst)

Hi everyone! So this one kinda incorporates a bit of the last episode when Charlie quits rugby, but with a twist..

The beginning is Nick struggling with ADHD. In this oneshot he's got ADHD. This oneshot by no means fits into Alice's storyline, it's just kinda inspired by. Anyways, enough rambling..

Tw: ADHD, exam/ school stress, anxiety/ anxious thoughts

Exam season had started for Nick and he was really feeling the pressure. Although he was lucky in the sense that he didn't really struggle with any of his subjects, it did mean that he felt a certain sense of obligation to do well.

His teachers expected it, his friends expected it and most of all, his parents expected it and he couldn't let them down.

Usually, under normal stress, Nick could control his ADHD urges. Over the years, he'd learned to mask it. Whether that be forcing himself to sit down in class when he just wanted to stand and pace, or fight extra hard to keep himself focused when the ticking of the classroom clock sounded louder than usual.

Now though, with exams looming, he was failing to fight them. Opting to ask to be excused for a toilet break instead of being able to sit still through the lesson was one of the only coping mechanisms he could use.

The worst thing right now was forgetting to do his homework. It wasn't that he didn't want to. He did and he knew he was good at it. It just slipped his mind more than he'd like it to and it really stressed him out. Not to mention getting him into trouble with the teachers.

"You've got to start applying yourself more, Nick. Rugby won't pay the bills unfortunately" His English teacher told him this lesson as he had to tell her for a second time that he didn't have the homework.

Nick didn't protest though, he stayed quiet. Unable to even begin to explain what was happening to him. What was happening to him? Why was his ADHD playing up so much?

The school knew of his ADHD, but they didn't do anything to help him during lessons. They only promised to sort him some extra time for his exams. Which was something.

Nick watched as the teacher went around the classroom, taking last week's homework from all of the other students. His finger tapped absentmindedly on the desk. Once he noticed what he was doing he tapped on his English book.

It made a duller sound than the table. So he tapped on the table, then the book. Pairing the sounds together, Nick was tapping a beat with his two fingers.

"Nick?"

His English teacher was looking at him from the front of the room. She was clearly half way through the lesson now and Nick had missed all of it. He cursed under his breath.

"Excuse me?!"
Oh no. Nick stayed silent, keeping his eyes locked on hers. Silently pleading with her to understand that he wasn't swearing at her.
"Get out of my classroom now! How dare you use that language in my classroom!"

Nick did his best to hold in a sigh as he picked his bag up and his books and left. He could just make out the teacher protesting about not actually completely leaving the lesson over the noise of his brain. Why was everything so loud?

Walking out wasn't really in Nick's nature to do, but he felt different. Strange even. Like he wasn't really in his body. It was someone else making him do these things and he was just an onlooker. Watching it all happen to him. Helpless.

English was the last lesson of the day and he had rugby practice after school. Seeing Charlie, the new rugby recruit, was about the only thing that made him stick around until then.