Nick & Charlie (TV WORLD)

Chapter Twenty Two

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

Nick:
We walk inside and immediately are greeted by Mum.

"Charlie! It's so good to see you. I'm glad you could make it for dinner," she says.
"It's good to see you too Sarah," Charlie says.

Now that we are here, I can see that Charlie is more nervous than he was letting on. I can't imagine what he must think walking into this. 

"I made chicken with mashed potatoes. Is that okay?" She asks quietly.

Charlie gives her a soft smile.

"That's fine. Thank you for asking me that, I really appreciate it."

How did David turn out so horrible when we have a Mum like ours? I'll never understand it if I'm being honest. We walk into the kitchen and I grab Charlie's hand before we are in David's sight. Once he sees us, he smiles.

"Look who finally decided to join us for dinner," he says looking at me.
"Well since you didn't even last five minutes without saying the WRONG thing and pissing everyone off, I figured I'd be much happier not dealing with you," I say with a fake smile.
"Hi David, I'm Charlie," Charlie says interrupting the fight that was about to happen.
"Ah, yes, the boyfriend," David says mockingly.

Mum hits the back of David's head before giving us each a plate.

"So Charlie. Nick never seemed gay before and never did anything to make us think that he was. How did you get him into guys?"

I take my hands and put them over my face. Charlie puts one hand on my leg and begins to speak.

"I mean, you know Nick is not gay, right? He's bisexual, which I believe he's told you numerous times already. I also didn't "get" him into guys, that's not how it works. We met, we developed a relationship and now we're dating; just like anyone else in the world."

I look at him and smile. I'm very impressed with how he's handling this.

"And you? Are you gay? Or are you one of those "bisexuals" as well?"

I want to bang my head onto the table. I am trying to keep it together for Mum's sake but boy does he make it really hard.

"It's incredibly disrespectful of someone to put quotes around the word bisexual. It's not some made up thing. Also, I'm gay."
"David, can you please knock it off?" Mum says.
"No, Mum, let him continue being the ass that he is."

David rolls his eyes and laughs.

"I'm not being an ass. I just don't understand how you liked girls your whole life and now all of a sudden you're dating a guy."

I feel my blood boiling. Charlie places his hand on my leg again. I take a deep breath.

"When have you ever seen me date a girl? And also, it's not all of a sudden. Charlie and I have been dating for months after getting to know each other for months. If you could stop being such an arrogant jackass, that would be great."

Charlie:
Wow. Nick was not wrong. This guy is a jackass. I'm just happy Sarah cooked a meal that I eat a lot. I can't even imagine where this conversation would go if my anorexia was brought up. I'd be bailing Nick out of jail for murder I'm sure. I look down at my phone and see a text from Tori.

Tori: How's dinner going?
Tori: Has he said anything to you?

I couldn't help but smile. Tori has been so protective of me since the summer.

Charlie: It's more towards Nick, but he is really awful.
Charlie: He did ask me if I'm actually gay or if I'm one of those "bisexuals" like Nick.
Tori: ...I will kill him.

I put the phone away and continue eating. The rest of the meal is pretty silent. I would think it's because Sarah will kick David out to a hotel if he doesn't stop. After dinner, David goes into the living room while Nick and I help Sarah clean up.

"You boys don't have to help me," she says.
"We want to," I say. 
"Charlie, I want to apologize for David's behavior."
"You don't have to apologize," I say with a slight smile.
"Yeah, he is the one that needs to apologize,"  Nick says. 

As we finish cleaning up we hear a knock at the door.

Tori:
After seeing that text from Charlie, I decide that I'm going to pick him up from dinner and walk him home. Mostly because I'm hoping this jackass answers the door so I can set him straight. Charlie has been through enough this year and Nick has been so great that I'm ready to kill anyone that wants to treat them this way. I could never imagine treating Charlie the way this guy is treating Nick. Charlie and I for sure have gotten closer these last few months but even before then, we were never mean to each other. And this isn't even mean, this is homophobic and gross. Nick shouldn't have to feel like this in his own home. I reach Nick's door and knock on it. The door opens.

"Wow, you are beautiful."

Those are the first words out of his mouth. I hate him more already.

"I'm just here to pick up my brother."
"Oh. You're Charlie's sister? Are you gay too or --"

I kick him straight in the shin.

"OW! What the hell was that for?"
"Do you want a whole list of reasons or just one? Oh, the list? My pleasure. One, you've been here for two days and managed to make my brother's boyfriend miserable for being who he is. Two, you asked MY brother if he is gay or one of those "bisexuals". Like who even are you? Who puts quotes around words you fucking douchebag. Three, you question your brother's sexuality multiple times even though he has told you repeatedly. How would you even know who he likes or anything about his life? You guys aren't even close. Four, you opened the door and hit on me before even saying hello. And five, you literally just asked me if I'm gay too as an assumption just because my brother is."

At this point, I realize that I have an audience. I'm assuming they all walked in after I kicked him. Nick's Mum looks mortified but Charlie and Nick are smiling ear to ear.

"I think I finally have to tell you that I love you," Nick says as he looks at me.

I roll my eyes but smile at him.

"Charlie, are you ready to go?"

Charlie nods with a smile.

"Sarah, thank you so much for dinner. David, it was "nice" to meet you."

Nick and I break out into laughter as Charlie walks over to Nick.

"You okay?" He asks.
"I'll be fine," Nick says as he looks at me. "Thank you for that."

I smile as I place my hand on his shoulder before looking at Charlie.

"Well, seems like my work here is done. Nice to see you again Mrs. Nelson! David, I'm not even going to pretend it was nice to meet you. I hope that kick knocked some sense into that tiny brain," I say as I grab Charlie and walk out the door.

"That was literally the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my entire life," he says as he throws his arms around me.

I'm not one for human contact but Charlie has become a soft spot for me. I wrap my arms around him before quickly pulling away.

"Careful, I'll loose all my street credit of being an emotionless and sarcastic human being if people see us hugging," I say sarcastically.

Charlie laughs.

"Seriously, thank you."

I smile.

"You're welcome."