Nick and Charlie One-Shots

Sprained Ankle

In only a second, Charlie felt Nick's body next to his, slipping their hands together. "Charlie? Are you okay?" Nick asked frantically, genuine concern in his words.

"No," he replied, pointing to his ankle and holding back tears. "I rolled it and I think I sprained it—or broke it, I don't know."

"Okay. Don't worry, Char. But you're going to need to stand up so I can take you to the first aid room."

Nick offered his arm, and Charlie took it, using his strength to pull himself on to his feet. Christian appeared at his other side to balance him, and they both helped him hobble to the side of the field.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team was celebrating an unlikely victory—especially Harry, who was cheering like it was he who scored the winning points.

They met Miss Singh on the grass and she took him inside for first aid while Nick and Christian stayed on the field. Charlie sat on the bed, putting his ankle up so she could examine it. She made him move it up and down, and side to side, though that hurt a lot.

After touching it a bit, she concluded: "It's definitely sprained. You can move it, so it's not broken, which is good. When you get home, you should elevate and ice it, and I suggest you don't do any sport-related activities for a few weeks. If it doesn't get better after a month, you might want to try to get in to physiotherapy."

"Okay, Miss." Charlie said solemnly. "Thank you."

"Hopefully, I'll see you next year." Miss Singh left the first aid room, shutting the door behind her, leaving Charlie alone. For the first time, he glanced at his ankle and noticed that it was swollen and already beginning to bruise. He sighed, keeping it up on the bed.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Nick appeared, smiling sadly. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Is your ankle okay?"

"Miss Singh says it's sprained. And look at it." He gestured to his foot, and Nick peered down. "I'm not allowed to do anything sport related, like running, and I'm supposed to ice it and elevate it."

"Oh," Nick said. "Does it still hurt?"

Charlie shrugged. "A little," he admitted, casting his eyes down. "At least we won, though, right?"

"Yeah, but that hardly matters. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Charlie smiled at his boyfriend, moving over and gesturing for him to sit next to him. Nick came over immediately, and Charlie leaned his head on to his shoulder.

"There's a party tonight, to celebrate," Nick said, frowning and scratching his head. "But I don't want to go. I want to make sure you're okay."

"You should go! Hang out with your friends and eat pizza. I'll be fine."

"I'd rather hang out with you."

A comfortable silence fell between them, and Charlie took the time to look at his foot again, which was even more purplish than before.

"I can drive us back to your place?" Nick asked, bouncing his leg.

"Yeah, that'd been great! Let me text my mum about what happened, and that you'll be coming round."

"Okay!"

Charlie shot her a quick text, and then he moved his foot off the bed, placing it gingerly on the floor before he stood up. He wobbled, and Nick was immediately beside him, his hand in his to steady him.

"Good?" Nick asked and Charlie testing out the floor.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied, taking a few steps. "Let's go."

Charlie and Nick walked carefully out of the first aid room, then out to the parking lot. The rest of the rugby boys were gone, probably off to their victory party. They hopped into Nick's car, then they drove back to Charlie's house, Nick's hand in his the entire time.

When they got there, Charlie's mum was already in the front yard, and she looked worried.

"Hey Nick, nice to see you! Charlie, is your ankle okay?"

"Yeah, I just sprained it at the game today. I'm fine, I can walk on it. I just have to take it easy and ice it and stuff."

"All right, sweetie."

"Do you mind if I stay a bit and make sure Charlie's okay?" Nick asked.

"Of course not," Jane said. "Come on in."

"Thanks Mrs. Spring."

Nick helped Charlie up the front steps, into the house, and then upstairs. When they got to the top, Nick slowly scooped Charlie up in his arms and carried him bridal style through his door and placed him on his bed.

"I love you, Nick," Charlie said, giggling softly.

"I love you too. Now I'm going to go downstairs and get you some ice for your foot."

Nick smiled and left the room, coming back a minute later with a plastic bag full of ice. He then grabbed some of Charlie's books and made a large stack, finishing it off with pillows on top.

"Put your foot up there, Char."

Charlie lifted his foot, resting it on the giant stack. Then, Nick placed the bag of ice on to the outside of his ankle, positioning it carefully.

"Thank you," Charlie said. "You seem to know exactly what you're doing. Have you gotten injured before?"

"Yeah, a few times. Nothing too bad though, just pulled some muscles and stuff. I've always gotten better after. The ice really helps with the swelling." Nick sat down on the bed next to Charlie as he spoke.

"Hm," Charlie replied, gesturing for Nick to lie down with him.

They curled up together warmly under the blankets, Nick wrapping his arms protectively around him, making him blush. Charlie always felt butterflies when they cuddled like this, and today was no exception. Nick's embrace was better than anyone else's—even Tao's and Tori's.

"Do you think this will ruin my entire summer?" Charlie whispered.

Nick turned his face to look at him. "Nah," his boyfriend said. "I mean, it might bother you for two weeks or so, but after that, it should be fine. Don't worry, Char. You'll be okay, you're strong."

Charlie smiled, nosing his head further into his neck. "Okay."

"Do you want to kiss?" Nick had a grin playing on his lips.

"You really don't have to ask me that anymore, Nick."

"Well, I should...you never know."

"Regardless, the answer is yes." Charlie spoke quickly, then smashed his lips on to Nick's, his hands nesting in his blonde hair and twirling it about his fingers. Nick kissed back immediately, one hand finding his cheek and the other resting on his thigh. The positioning was a bit awkward with Charlie's leg up, but they made it work. Charlie moved away from Nick's lips and kissed his way to his neck, making his boyfriend's breath catch.

"Charlie," Nick said, groaning. "I love you, but we can't—your parents are home. And you are also physically...not well."

With a sigh, Charlie replied, "Okay." He moved away from Nick, hugging back into his arms like before. "Thank you for always being there for me," he said after a few seconds of silence.

"Of course, Charlie. That's how we are, right? We're always there for each other."

"Yeah. Yeah, we are."