A Heartstopper Fanfic

Chapter 54: 7:00 am

TW: Mention of self harm

(Third person POV)

Black, loose curls splayed out on the pillow supporting his head, Charlie's frame is barely visible amongst the darkness of the room. A mountain of blankets are laid just above his waist, leaving his chest exposed to the early morning coldness of the bedroom. The digital clock on his bedside table reads, "5:00 am".

It's finally Saturday.

Slowly stepping forward, glad that it takes a lot for Charlie-a notorious deep sleeper- to stir, Nick keeps his finger up to his mouth, signaling to Lily, their energetic puppy, to stay quiet.

  Luckily, she tiredly lays her head back down in response with a huff. Beneath Nick, a floorboard creaks, momentarily disrupting the dead silence.

First, Nick takes off his belt, which lands on the wooden floor with a loud thud. "Shit." He thinks to himself, "How did I manage to miss the rug?"

Granted, it's pitch black, and squinting isn't helping him to see any better.

Next, his blue striped dress shirt comes off, leaving Nicholas's hair tousled and messy.

Once Nick is just in his boxers, he folds back the sheets and lays beside Charlie, the weight of his much denser body on the mattress weighing down his side of the bed.

Before properly settling in, Nicholas is quick to pull all of the sheets up to Charlie's neck.

In response, the slightly shorter one of the two, Charlie, softly groans before instinctively turning to face Nick, nuzzling his face into Nick's chest. Nick is quick to reciprocate his affection, by placing a large hand of his over the small of Charlie's back.

A sea of charcoal-colored curls presses against the older one's chin. Their interlocked bodies mimic the anatomy of a hug. Hearts in contact with each other, skin touching.

____________________

(Charlie's POV)

When it comes to being a dog parent, I've learned many things. For one, when they want you to wake up, you will wake up. They're relentless beasts. Beasts that we chose to domesticate, not knowing the consequence of doing so.

I can't say for sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I do know that I'm biased.

Having somehow avoided being woken up by Lily, I'm contently smiling to myself. My mouth is dry and I feel like I've suddenly come out of a trance. Two signs that indicate I've slept well. "Hm." Lazily, I lift my head just enough to take a peek at the time. It's nearly the afternoon, yet I'm reluctant to get up.

The bed is just so warm and cozy.

"Five more minutes." I think to myself, allowing my eyes to flutter closed.

Annoyingly, sleep doesn't take me.

"Fine." I groan and then sit up. 

"Good morning." A husky voice suddenly says from in front of me, at the doorway of the bedroom.

  Caught off guard, I jump. "Jesus Christ, Nicholas!"

Holding off from saying anything else, Nick takes back his spot in our bed and lays down, pulling me down with him by gripping my hips. "Mmm." The familiar heat that his body radiates is oddly soothing. "When did you get home?"

"At around four in the morning, but I didn't get into bed until five." A hand of his moves up and towards my arm. He caresses it and then presses a soft kiss on my shoulder. "Lily woke me up to go in the backyard, so I took her out a bit ago because she got too loud."