Let me take care of you

School Shenanigans

The next days were better. After the first day it seemed to get a little bit easier, like going uphill on a bike and then finally reaching the top and being able to go downhill.

Tuesday was stressful, but he got through it better than the day before, thanks to his friends who basically bodyguard him.

Wednesday passed by quicker, and he had band practice where he could play the drums, which he had fun doing.

And then after that Thursday and Friday went by like any other day of the school week, and it seemed like the eyes on him before just slowly vanished, or maybe he just didn't care as much anymore. Either way he felt a lot happier, and more normal, being surrounded by people who weren't constantly surrounding him and asking him what it was like going through what he did, like he was surrounded by journalists again.

As the weekend rolled around, Charlie didn't fear going back to school in a couple of days, he didn't dread it, or have fear about it anymore. He was falling back into his routine and he was alright with it. No matter what though, things wouldn't be normal ever again, he couldn't forget what had happened, not because of how horrifying it was, or how now their would always be a looming fear on him when he was alone in school. But because it shouldn't be the same, after what Ben did, just forgetting it would just be wrong, like it wasn't a big deal. People need to be more aware that something like this can happen. And he didn't want people to forget that.

Today was Monday once again and and exciting one, it was a band performance Infront of another school, and even though he hadn't had nearly as much practice as everyone else, he had practices all week at home and felt caught up enough.

It was still nerve racking though, the kid who was in the news for weeks, people seeing shots of him in the hospital while he was asleep, still taking muscle therapy, relearning how to walk. But as he was learning, he couldn't let his anxiety get to him, he needed to take control of his fears, otherwise he would just be scared of the world forever.

He was up early in the morning to get ready for school as he had to be dropped off extra early to rehearse a couple of times with the others and then all get on a coach to another school, where they would hold a performance for the parents and the opposing school. Still, without Nick there by his side, he would definitely be quite nervous. But his parents would be there to support him, and Tori somehow got their parents to agree to let her skip part of school to watch the performance, so she would also be their in the shadows showing her silent support.

He put on his school uniform and grabbed his phone off of his bedside table, glancing and smiling at the support messages that Nick left him, right beside a heart emoji. Charlie sent a quick heart back and went downstairs quickly and grabbed a granola bar, shoving it in his pocket. Could he eat it later though? He was getting better, it would be fine, he would be fine, he was getting better, he was getting better.

His mother called him to the car and he quickly put his shoes on and jumped into the car, grabbing his schoolbag last minute after his mum reminded him.

His heart raced as his mother spoke a distance away about how excited she was for the performance, and how proud of him she was, no matter the outcome.

Charlie nodded politely but wasn't really listening to her, just staring off out the window and thinking about all of the ways that he could mess up hitting a couple of drums with sticks. Suddenly he felt a pat on the side of his shoulder.
"Oi! Charlie, come on were here, if you keep zoning of like that I'm going to have to go up and speak to the manager of your weird little head. Okay?" Tori joked, silently chuckling at her own joke, and giving him one of her rare warm smiles.

Charlie rolled his eyes,
"Are you actually going to Karen my brain?" He said, sighing and putting a hand to his face,
"Of course, always wanted to know what goes on up their you know." She said, shrugging.
"We don't have all day you know!" Shouted Charlie's mum at the two before Charlie could give another response, Tori opened her door, winking at Charlie as she put her hood up and turned away. It was one tiny little gesture, but it gave Charlie a little warmth of confidence inside him.

He sat in the practice room, watching people slowly fill up the room, seeing all of their expressions, tired, bored, annoyed that they had to do this, wondering what little bits and stories were going on in their lives, and wondering how so many people could know so much, yet so little from people that they see at school every day.

And he texted all of his friends, sending stupid pictures to eachother and his friends sending him small messages of support which made him happy. He then got a quick private picture of Nellie and Nick cuddling in bed, Nick's hair a mess and his eyes tired and far away. He blushed heavily at the adorable picture, his heart was suddenly in his mouth, how did such a wholesome, beautiful and kind person still want to stay and support him everyday? He would never have the answer, so all he could do was except it and give him all of the love he could back.

And then rehearsals started, and they went well, people were tired, and it took quite a couple of practices and warm up of the song to get into a good rhythm, but once they were there, they certainly did not sound bad. They just had to keep confidence high, and not let the pressure of performance bring the sound down, which although they seemed to have done it hundreds of times before, still seemed like a hard task.

But the rush of the packing up of some of the instruments, the sudden excitement and liveliness of the air and people around him, he suddenly felt like he could do this, he was meant to be here right now, with all of these people who he felt interlinked to, not because he was close to them, but because they were all her to do the same thing as him, play their hearts out.

Singing songs in the coach, nervousness and happiness mixing together and almost being overwhelming, the cold morning air and warm light sun shining through the windows, it was all the same feelings he remembered, one his favourite things about being in band.

And after that it all went by quickly, rushing into the room before the audience got there, greeting the other school, getting set up, going through it once more, excited whispers, smiles and waving as the parents rushed into the room, phones in hand and ready for the show. He could pick out his family in the crowd and his jaw dropped when he saw, the one and only, Nick Nelson, of course.

He smiled mischievously, waving at him madly and whispering to the people around him in excitement, gaining a couple of annoyed glances. Charlie blushed and tried not to let the fact that Nick was there effect his performance.

And in the end, it didn't, everyone performed well, they all played incredibly, the parents loved it, their music coach loved it, and the other school was not bad themselves. And as soon as he finished he got to throw himself into Nick's warm, comforting embrace. Bombarded with compliments and excited cheers for his minor performance. It was the amazing rush that he had missed so much about band, he loved the feeling, because he didn't need to feel like he was egotistical, or to confident, because everyone around him felt the same way about the performance, it couldn't have gone better. It was all brilliant and so much fun, especially with Charlie back, the team was full again.

It is all perfect, it's all going to be perfect.