Nick and Charlie - A Heartstopper Fanfiction

Chapter 2 - Elle

It was my birthday! I had awoken at 6:30 in the morning, hours and hours before Tao, and hadn't been able to get back to sleep since. Instead I'd made myself a cup of tea and a slice of toast and curled up on the sofa, turning on my favourite television documentary about the life and times of Sylvia Rivera. It was only once I'd got myself comfortable that I noticed a small, wrapped package just sitting there on the table. I leaned forward and took the gift, turning over and reading the note attached.

To Elle,
Open ASAP
Love Tao xx

I grinned. Of course he would get up in the middle of the night to put a present here for me.

The gift was soft and squishy, like an item of clothing, but it seemed too small to be a shirt or a dress. I began tearing off the paper and immediately recognised the pale colours of blue, pink and white. I pulled it out and unfolded it. It was a trans flag! I clasped it to my chest and fumbled around in the wrapping paper. There was something else, too. Something hard and- ow! Sharp!

An enamel pin fell onto my lap. It was circular, with the colours of the trans flag on it. And in the middle it read 'beat the cis-tem'. Ha. Funny. And sweet. This was the best present I'd ever received.

After my documentary was over, it was 8:00. I made a cup of coffee and took it upstairs to my bedroom, the flag wrapped around my shoulders and the pin attached to my shirt.

I was sitting on the edge of the bed, wafting the coffee under his nose, when Tao woke up. 'Thanks,' he muttered when he smelled the caffeine, sitting up and taking it in his hands. Then he looked up and saw the gear I was wearing. He immediately went red.

'I see you opened my present,' he sighed, taking a long sip of coffee.

'I did,' I replied, smiling. 'I love it. Thank you.' Tao's face was getting redder by the word.

'Yes, well, I saw it and figured you'd like it. Same with the badge. I know how much your pride means to you.' Before I could stop myself I leaned forwards and threw my arms around him, and he held up the coffee cup desperately.

'Jesus, careful! Don't make me spill my coffee!' He cried and I laughed. 'Aren't Charlie, Nick, Tara, Darcy and Aled coming round later?' I nodded, my head still on his chest.

'Yeah, I've made a plan for lunch. It's nothing super fancy so I should be able to make it all myself. I was planning a light chicken salad first, then my good ol' reliable cheesy chicken pasta, and I've made a cheesecake for afters!' I wouldn't say I was good at cooking, but I wasn't bad either, so it shouldn't be too hard.

'Sounds good.'

Later on, I posted a picture to my Instagram. It was a photo of me wearing my flag and pin, and I gave it the caption Best Birthday Gift Everrr.

Comments
nicholaszzzzz: damn that is a good present
cfspring: ah shit that's way better than my gift 😡
the.xu.tao @its_elles_universe: anything for my beautiful wife
its_elles_universe @the.xu.tao: 💖
tara.jones.xo: wow nice one Tao where did you get that
the.xu.tao @tara.jones.xo: just found it
darcytheegg: hah beat the cis-tem

I was so happy when I realised I was trans. I'd finally figured out who I was and why I'd never felt like a boy, and having friends who supported me just made it so much sweeter. And years ago, when Tao and I kissed that first time in the Louvre... that was probably one of my best days ever, second only to maybe when I had my bottom surgery*. Transferring to Higgs** was pretty awesome too, and I'll never forget that first day, when Tao was waiting for me outside the school gates. He walked me in and risked being late for his own school just to make me feel comfortable. I didn't know it at the time, but I supposed that was when I started liking him. I remember when I came out to him as trans. His reaction was perfect - everything I could have asked for and more. He simply glanced at me and said, 'okay.' Nothing more was said about the matter until I wanted to talk about it. He was by my side when I started getting all the shit and transphobia from other Truham students, and he was one of the only friends I had back then. He helped me through all that and then shortly after had to be Charlie's shoulder to cry on when he was going through all the 'being outed' stuff***. Wow. Tao really was an amazing person.

*Bottom surgery is a type of gender reassignment surgery that you have when you transition, and it involves changing your genitals to match your gender.

**Higgs is the all-girl's school that Elle transferred to. Tara and Darcy go there too. Truham is the all-boy's one over the road.

***When Charlie was in Year 9, he told a few of his closest friends that he was gay. Bearing in mind, this was before he met Nick. Tao accidentally spoke a bit too loudly about it to Aled and people overheard. It eventually spread around the whole school, and Charlie got a lot of shit and homophobia about it. He was the only out gay kid in the school at the time, and people would tell him he was disgusting right to his face. Because of this, he would obsessively control his eating (eating disorder) and he also used to cut himself occasionally. Some sixth formers ended up getting the worst bullies to stop, but Tao was basically the only one on his side back then, and Charlie had been terrified to even come to school.