"C'mon, we need to get off the train," Charlie said when Nick almost started to dose off again. He took Nick's head between both his hands. "You can sleep when we get to your house." He whispered. "Hhm," Nick sighed, still sounding really tired.
It was a cold April night. Neither of them was dressed for these weather conditions. So they made it their mission to get to the station's car park as soon as possible. Nick took Charlie's hand while they were walking down the stairs. He looked into his eyes for a brief second, before looking down at the ground again.
"What's up?" Charlie asked, trying to find Nick's gaze. Nick looked up. He opened his mouth to say something. But no words came out. He wanted to tell Charlie. He wanted to tell him so badly, but he simply just couldn't. He shook his head. "It's nothing." "Are you s-" Charlie wanted to ask, but he got interrupted. "Nicky! Charlie!"
It was Sarah, Nick's mom. Who embraced them both in a big group hug once they were within reaching distance from her. "Oh darlings, I've missed you both so much. Did you have a safe journey?" She asked while she hugged them even tighter. Ever since both Nick and Charlie went to university she'd been all alone, so she was always really pleased to see them come home.
"It went well. Thanks for picking us up mom," Nick said, all of a sudden sounding much happier and more awake. Charlie smiled while side-eyeing Nick's sudden change of mood. This wasn't like him. Why was he acting like this? Charlie decided to just leave it. He was probably just tired and reading into it too much.
-
"So how have you been Charlie? Did you get to finish that one paper you were working on?" Sarah asked once they drove away. She'd been very invested in Charlie's schoolwork and private life since Nick and he started dating. Especially after all that had happened. Charlie loved this. His own parents weren't that invested in his school life and he didn't have the best bond with them. So it was really nice to have someone who truly cared and was interested in him.
... "How about you, Nick?" Sarah asked. It stayed quiet. "Nicky?" She asked again. Charlie turned around to look behind him at the backseat of the car. Nick was asleep. He always looked so peaceful when he was asleep. Charlie smiled. "He's sleeping." Sarah looked in the rearview mirror and let out a small loveable giggle when she saw Nick. The question remained unanswered.
After listening to the radio for a couple of minutes, Charlie looked at Sarah. "Sarah?" He said. "Yeah?" She said kindly. "I think Nick might not be feeling so well. I'm not 100% sure, but I've been worried about him. He isn't really acting like himself lately. And he seems really down." Is what he wanted to say. But the words never left his mouth. "I-... I just wanted to say thank you, for picking us up." He said instead. "Oh honey, no need to thank me. You know that."