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There was one thing that Charlie loved equally as much as Nick - listening to him breathe. He wanted lay his head on Nick's chest and just listen as he took breaths in and out. He loved the way it would push his head up, then down, then up again, and down once more. 

So he did just that - as Nick fell peacefully asleep, he would put his head on his chest and go on his phone, content with the love of his life living and breathing beneath his head. 

He would go through Instagram or Twitter, sparing glances up at Nick whenever he would come across a photo of him doing something, anything - rugby, cooking, reading, just being him being him - and Charlie would smile.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Charlie would hear Nick's heart beat in his chest. It would thump, a comforting sound which soothed him to sleep every time it did so. 

He loved him. 

This time was no different.

Nick was asleep underneath him, and he was sitting on his phone, the time at the top reading 23:45. He was supposed to be asleep fifteen minutes ago. He knew he would regret it when it came to school in the morning, but his nightmares had been worse. 

His throat was sore and his stomach was empty, he hasn't eaten much that day. He had noticed that Nick was worried for him, but he ignored it. Perhaps he could go grab a bar of chocolate or a packet of crisps and eat it while Nick was asleep. 

"Mon amour," he felt Nick's chest vibrate underneath him with both words, interrupting his thought process, and he looked up up the older, "va dormir."

"The hell did you just say to me?" Charlie laughed. It was known that he wasn't the best when it came to French, despite having to take the subject for two years a long time ago - he didn't remember much. 

"I said, 'mon amour, va dormir.'" Nick spoke again, shuffling slightly but still keeping Charlie pressed against his chest. 

Charlie crossed his arms, rolling his eyes and narrowing them at Nick, "Yeah, I gathered that, idiot. I'm asking you to translate it." 

"Ask nicely." Nick grinned, voice still overcome with sleepiness from previous sleep. 

Charlie scoffed, sitting up in the bed. He ignored the way Nick groaned at the movement, speaking with fake sincerity, "Please translate it."

"There you go," Nick laughed, "I said, 'My love, go to sleep.' Which you should, here," he spread his arms out, inviting Charlie in, "I'll hold you so that if you get a nightmare, I'll be able to wake up with you."

"I don't want to wake you up," Charlie told him, moving to get out of the bed, "I don't get that many nightmares now anyway," he lied.

"What about Ben?" Nick asked.

"The shit with Ben happened months ago." Charlie told him, stretching his legs and arms.

"You don't have to be okay straight away." Nick smiled sadly at him, eyes softening. 

"I'm hungry and my throat is dry. Want anything?" He asked, not replying to his boyfriend's earlier statement. He was halfway to the door when Nick answered.

"Could you bring me water please?" He asked, seemingly past the 'nightmare' topic as he rubbed his eyes and let out a small yawn. He looked like he was still half-asleep, and Charlie wouldn't doubt if he was. 

"What temperature? I can boil water if you really want it that hot," Charlie joked, "but otherwise I could use the hot tap or put ice in it. We have plenty in the freezer." 

"Cold, please." Nick answered, shooting him a lousy smile. It was cute, Charlie thought, it reminded him of a golden retriever. He softly smiled at the thought, causing Nick to send him a confused glance.

"Anything to eat?" He asked before Nick could say something, and the other nodded his head up and down. "What do you want to eat?" 

"Whatever you're having." Nick replied, laying back down in Charlie's bed and curling up in the covers. 

"I'm not having anything. We have crisps, chocolate, biscuits-" he began, before he was cut of by Nick's eyes moving back over to him with furrowed eyebrows. 

"You said you were hungry," Nick pointed out. "That means you're having something to eat, does it not?"

"Not right now." Charlie replied. He ignored the way that Nick looked at him with a sad gaze, he ignored the way Nick's mouth fell down at the edges. 

"That's okay," Nick told him, and he was happy with that. "Can I please have a biscuit? Any kind will do."

Charlie nodded, "I can get that." Was all he said, and he began to walk out of the room. 

"Merci." He heard Nick say behind him - he knew what that meant. It was a common word that he had learned in primary school for god sake. Most people in their school knew the word for a simple 'thank you'. He had used it himself a few times.

He smiled as he walked the rest of the way.

**

School sucked. 

It was simple.

Charlie would go to school after barely any sleep, not pay attention in any classes aside from music, and go home without any new information planted within his brain. That's all that it was. 

Until Nick showed up.

He would go to school every day simply to see Nick in their form class, to speak to him at break and lunch and sit with his friends. He would go to school, and he would feel happy. 

Sure, sometimes it was all too much and he wanted to stay home - which he did. Nick would worry about him if he went to school with messy hair and dark circles beneath his eyes, and he didn't want to worry Nick. He had done that too much.

Charlie looked up at the school, ignoring whenever a shoulder would brush with his. 

He walked into the school, heading for his locker to grab some books for his classes. First came form. He would see Nick. He smiled at the thought, opening up his locker. 

When the bell rang, he walked to form as any other would. Slow, not quite eager to begin the school day. He was inwardly happy, however, the school would know that. It had been a while since Nick and him had come out, before the rumours began to spread and they confirmed them by showing affection anywhere and everywhere, regardless of people. 

"Bonjour amour." Nick greeted when he entered the class, smirking at him with playfully narrowed eyes. 

Charlie just smirked back, placing his books on the table as he sat down, "I know that one," he nudged Nick, "It means 'hello love', am I right?" 

"Damn it," Nick sighed, "and here I thought I was going to make you be polite again. Oh well," he shrugged, "Les souhaits ne se réalisent pas toujours." 

"Wait," Charlie sighed, "Why do you have to do this to me? I'm not smart enough for this."

"C'est marrant." Nick smiled. 

"I know that one," Charlie groaned, dropping his head down on his books, glaring at them when his head didn't hit the table, "It's not funny."

"C'est assez marrant." The older hooked an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders, pulling him close and resting a chin on his head. 

"Fuck you." Charlie rolled his eyes, but pushed his head into Nick's shoulder either way. 

"Tu m'aimes." He replied, closing his eyes as he cushioned his head in Charlie's hair comfortably. 

"I don't know what you just said but you're probably right." Charlie said, shuffling about in his seat to sit himself in a more comfortable position.

"I'm definitely right." Nick replied, flicking Charlie on the head and laughing as the younger made a sound of distress and smacked it away.

Nick smiled as he looked down at the love of his life. 

There was no doubt that he was right.

***

Ice skating was never one of Charlie Spring's talents. 

He would fall over every ten or so minutes, though people around him would just laugh. He couldn't blame them, he thought, it was funny to even himself, he would typically join in with the laughter.

Though really, he never had anyone with him to help him stay up. He never had anyone's hand to hold, or shoulder to lean onto. He and Tori had gone ice skating together once, when their parents were away having dinner at a fancy restaurant, but neither of them knew how to ice skate. Tori fell just as much as he did. 

But as he slowly glided across the ice, hand in hand with Nick, he realised that perhaps it was easier with someone who knew what they were doing. Nick knew how to ice skate. 

"I know how to do everything." Nick had told him, a smirk plastered on his face while his hands were on his hips, mimicking some kind of superhero.

"Except playing the drums." Charlie had replied, as he struggled to tie the shoe laces of the ice skates. Nick had mocked offence, ridiculously walking away with surprising balance.

The song playing in the background was slow, a love song written by an artist that he had never heard of. Nick didn't seem to know it either, as he closed his eyes and listened without saying a word. 

"Ice skating is nice," Nick spoke out of the blue, he didn't so much as indicate that he was about to speak, he just said it, "It makes me feel calm. Like I'm flying, you know?" 

"Yeah," Charlie replied, moving closer to Nick and holding his hand tighter, "Except for when you fall. That isn't so great."

"I'd like to see you fall," Nick teased. He looked down at Charlie, a smile gracing his face, "Then I'd get to be the hero who saves you. I'd hold a hand out to you and you'd look at me like I'm an angel sent from Heaven."

"I'd just get up myself. Spit on your hand maybe. Who knows?" Charlie rolled his eyes, but moved closer to Nick nevertheless. He was quiet for a moment, before speaking once more, "What would your superhero name be?" 

"Hm," Nick hummed, putting a hand up to his chin, stroking it as if he was an old professor thinking for an answer, "I think I'd just be Nick. People would trust me more if they knew who I was. You can be my sidekick."

"Does that mean I'd just be Charlie?" He replied, his eyebrows furrowed, "Nick and Charlie. Honestly the best hero duo I've ever heard."

"Les amoureux," Nick said, "We don't need to have our names as the duo name. Les amoureux, it would be sweet and unique."

"Ok, what does that mean?" Charlie asked, clutching Nick's hand tighter as he felt himself begin to tip over. Nick just laughed, putting an arm securely around his shoulders.

"Lovers." he replied. The music playing from speakers above him stopped as the song ended. A new one began to play, beginning with a simple lyric - 'After you leave, I'll be so alright, it's true'. 

"Lovers?" Charlie thought for a moment, before nodding his head and smiling, "I like it. Why not boyfriends?"

"Doesn't have the same ring to it," Nick shrugged, wrapping his arm further around his partner, holding him close, "Petits amis."

"Doesn't petit mean small? Are you calling me small again? Really?" Charlie laughed, watching as the older began to deny it - it was just as he had done when he had asked Charlie to join the rugby team.

It was quiet between them for a moment, before the song's chorus began to play - 'I wanna be with you, I wanna be with you, I wanna be barely hanging on.'

Nick spoke again, "I think boyfriends has a nice ring to it, though. Not in French, maybe, but I still like the word. I like it with us."

"I do too."

The song was still playing. 

'I wanna be with you all of the time. 

I wanna be loved by you every night.

I wanna be dancing, dreaming, bawling and weeping,

Over you all my life.'

***

Charlie didn't like Harry Greene. He didn't like the way he fought Tao, and he didn't like the way he had fought Nick. He couldn't help but think that it was his fault both times. Tori had assured him that they were both Harry's fault, but he didn't listen. 

Nick had fought him because Harry had called Charlie pathetic, a fag, and Tao had fought him for a reason that he had never really told Charlie. He had just gotten mad at him and that was that. 

He was fine when Harry said something to him, he was fine with the jabs that Charlie would never admit were hurtful - not even when Harry had asked him questions in the cinema, or thrown things at him as he walked of school. 

Charlie also didn't like Ben Hope. Ben Hope, the older boy who had 'dated' him for a year. A full year of deception at the hands of Ben, only to end with a forced kiss and yelling. 

He would admit, he didn't like being mean to people, but when he had confronted Ben on sports day, he felt a swelling of pride inside of him. 

He could handle them alone. He could handle Ben giving him side glares and he could handle Harry brushing a shoulder against his own and making a sly homophobic comment disguised as friendly conversation. 

But when they were together - he didn't like that.

"Oi! You two!" Charlie could swear that Harry had some form of accent of his own - a recognisable voice that would make someone scoff as soon as they heard it. 

Nick seemed to be one of those people, rolling his eyes and giving Charlie an annoyed look before turning to face Harry. He did the same, seeing the teen standing with his friends - Ben included. It reminded him of the cinema.

"Alright, mate?" Harry sat down next to Nick, clapping a hand on his shoulder. 

Nick pursed his lips, looking at Charlie for a second before turning to Harry, "Alright." 

"We were planning on heading around to the shops later," Ben joined in, still standing, "Want to come with us?" 

Ben knew that Nick didn't like him. Ben knew that Nick was the one who witnessed him assaulting Charlie. Ben knew that Nick would never want to hang out with him. Charlie didn't know why he was even asking. 

Nick shook his head, "I'm going to Charlie's later, sorry mate. Maybe next time." He knew that there would he no 'next time'. Not one that he would agree to, at least.

"You're going out with that guy again?" Harry scoffed as if Charlie wasn't in the same spot as them, "Come on, mate. People are going to start thinking that you're into guys as well." Charlie saw the way that Ben shifted as that, and he looked away when their eyes met.

"Peut etre que je le suis." Nick spoke under his breath, and Charlie didn't quite know what he had said. He knew that it was French, and he knew that it was something that would cause the group of boys to start making comments towards Nick.

"What?" Harry asked, and Nick didn't repeat himself. He just stared down at his hands and pushed his thumbs against each other. 

"I was just saying how homophobic that makes you sound." Nick lied, looking up at Harry. 

Harry just laughed, waving his hands about, "Listen, mate, we're not homophobic here."

"You definitely proved that at the cinema, didn't you? All of you," He looked at the others behind Harry. They shifted slightly, and Nick looked over at Ben, "Except you. You ran off." 

Charlie vaguely realised that he hadn't actually told Nick about his and Ben's conversation after the movie. He didn't tell Nick that Ben had asked if he and Nick were dating, and he didn't tell him what Ben had said about only feeling sorry for him. 

"I talked to Charlie after he left," Ben gestured a head over to Charlie, "He ran off as well." 

"Because Harry made him uncomfortable," Nick told him, "and you didn't do anything about it. None of you did, you all just laughed."

"Nick, come on-"

"Go away." Nick simply spoke. Most of the group began to clear out, but Harry and Ben stayed for a moment - they only left when Nick gave them an uncharacteristic glare. 

"Are you okay, chéri?" Nick asked, placing an arm around Charlie's shoulders. 

Charlie nudged him with his shoulder, "What does that one mean?"

"Dear," Nick smiled, "Is that okay with you?"

"I like it," Charlie smiled, "What did you say earlier, back when Harry said you would look like you're into guys as well?"

"I said 'maybe I am'," Nick looked prideful, looking at Charlie with happy eyes and a wide grin, "but Harry doesn't need to know that, now does he?"

"Nope," Charlie laughed, leaning into the arm around his shoulder; he felt safe, like Nick's arm was all he needed to protect him from the world, "Not at all."

***

Charlie didn't know French. He knew simple words, the ones you would learn in primary school.

"Hello", "Goodbye", "Thank you", and "Please". 

He didn't know complex sentences. He didn't know what Nick meant when he would whisper, "Je t'aimerais encore dans un autre univers, je le sais" under his breath when he thought that Charlie was asleep. 

He didn't know what Nick would say when he got angry on the phone with David, yelling words in French that sounded like he didn't want to know what they meant. 

And he sure as hell didn't know how to do his assignment.

"No, no," Nick laughed, "An 'e' on the end makes it feminine, so unless you're trying to say I'm a girl then that word doesn't need an 'e' on the end."

"All I want to say is that you're intelligent!" Charlie exclaimed, "Why is that so hard?" 

"Maybe don't lie on the assignment," Nick suggested, "Then maybe you'll be able to use some words that you can actually understand."

"But you are intelligent." Charlie protested, pulling another piece of paper out of his drawer and writing down what he already had, but removing the 'e' on the end of certain words.

"Sure," Nick agreed, before looking down at the first sentence he had written, "That's wrong," he pointed at a word, "You have the idea right, it would be pronounced, 'Nick Nelson est ma personne préférée', but you only added one 'n' and no 'e' on the word 'personne'."

Charlie corrected it, smiling up at Nick. Nick just smiled back, patting him on the shoulder and placing a kiss to his head, "There you go! Now you have an entire three sentences down! Out of what? Four paragraphs?"

"I hate you." Charlie crossed his arms. 

"Nope," Nick shook his head, "We're doing French right now. It's pronounced 'Je te déteste'."

Charlie groaned, grabbing a pillow off of his bed and throwing it at Nick. He smiled slightly as Nick startled from the attack, "You're lucky I need you here. Otherwise I would've kicked you out."

"No you wouldn't have," Nick put a hand on his chest as he leaned back against the frame of Charlie's bed, "You couldn't bare not having me here."

"Fine. You're right," Charlie agreed, placing his pen down and moving to sit beside Nick, "je t’adore."

Nick smiled, happy that Charlie had remembered how to say simply 'I love you' in French. 

"Je t’aime aussi."