The Escape; A Heartstopper Story

Boredom, In The Purest Form

Dedicated to heartstopperxo, Ames_22, JayMari-lyn, Narlieship, Robin_Writes_12, Dabisxhawksgirl, nappol, Heartst0pp3r_l0ver, michelle_1456, sachas_diary, Love4Locke, Kind_Butterfly5032, shykidDebs, antoniaeppensteiner, and heartstopp3 for all of the incredibly kind support you've shown every chapter of this story so far! I could not be more grateful!

"Oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time."

"You and I drink the poison from the same vine."

"Oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time."

"Hidn' all of our sins from the daylight."

"From the daylight, runnin' from the daylight."

"From the daylight, runnin' from the daylight."

"Oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time."

"God, I wish I was with you right now, Nick," Charlie thought to himself, his hazel brown eyes blinking absentmindedly at the empty document that was supposedly one of the most important reports involved in his coursework assignments for the year pulled up on his laptop's screen.

He wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed by since he'd continued or rather, began, the grueling process which was his multi-page essay on the Battle of Hasting.

Only that time seemed to have slowed down to a speed even a sloth would call slow since the moment Nick had left Charlie's gaze in Truham's front grounds.

A fact which he firmly attributed to the sun's rather leisurely fall from the sky, its once vibrant hues shining their faint, warm-paletted light in through the open window beside his twin bed.

Not that I think logic really has any place when it comes to Nick Nelson, anyway. But it helps to have loads of backup reasons for when I inevitably complain about all of this to Elle and Tao later tonight.

Nick.

Even just thinking about him brought a sudden wave of both euphoric longing and guilt to Charlie's heart, making his stomach churn with a sort of form of dazed butterflies.

The little flutterings of emotion clumsily finding their way around his chest, his breaths uneven and his mind the exact opposite.

I want to be there for Nick, to hold his hand through all of this like he always does for me.

During, well, everything.

But at the same time, can I really say that's what's best for him if I can't keep that promise?

If I can't stand up for myself long enough to do the same for him, too?

And if I can't even stand up to my parents, how am I ever going to be a good enough boyfriend to protect Nick while he's coming out?

A thought which Charlie was quick to dismiss with a simple shake of his head, the fabric of his fuzzy forest green and azure knitted sweater rubbing gently across his tired shoulders as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.