Archive of Our Own ^beta

Charlie had a very strict rule about having crushes on coworkers.

Which was, he just didn’t.

There was nothing worse than longing over someone, looking like a complete idiot in front of other coworkers, and becoming someone who was gossiped about.

That was his least favorite thing, being the center of attention for any reason, so he just didn’t do anything to give anyone a reason to do it.

And of course, if he did hook up with a coworker, when it inevitably ended, they’d have to still work together and that would be messy and annoying and yeah, Charlie was better off leaving any aspect of his love life out of his well maintained and coveted work life.

He’d done a really good job of it, so far. Sure he had maybe a tiny crush on Luke when they first met but he was Certified Straight and Charlie also gave up on crushing on straight guys too. And there was Mariah’s misguided attempt to set him up with, of all people, Julia, which he quickly deflected.

(He meagerly squeaked out, “I’m gay” to Mariah after her 5th time saying “Julia’s single you know, and oh, isn’t she just so pretty and nice?” at the staff holiday party.)

Overall, Charlie’s love life was just fine as it was. Occasionally looking at guys on Tinder, sometimes allowing Tao or Elle to tell him about “available single men” in his area, and every once in a while occasionally staring at hot guys at bars that never, ever stared back.

He was totally and completely fine with the way things were. He didn’t need romance, in or outside of work.

Then he had to go and meet Nick Nelson.

If Charlie’s life was one of those cheesy gay rom-coms, there would have been little hearts floating around his head when he first saw Nick walk into the staff meeting. Their eyes would have met and the room would have gone completely silent, except for some cheesy love song (probably Taylor Swift if the movie could afford her if not some 90’s pop love ballad would work too) that would start playing out of nowhere. They’d gravitate towards each other, two magnets adrift and maybe they’d exchange giddy little hi’s before introducing themselves and well, the rest would be summed up in a montage of longing looks and kisses.

But life wasn’t a movie, or at least, Charlie’s was more of a dark comedy and definitely not a rom-com. Nick did look Charlie’s way for a second, their eyes did meet and yes, there were hearts on Charlie’s side but Nick looked away as quickly as their eyes caught and then sat on the complete opposite side of the room.

So yeah, Nick Nelson might have made Charlie’s heart stop the second he saw him, but that was it.

“Welcome back,” Principal Graves announced to the room at large, quieting everyone immediately. “I’m so happy to have you all back this year and to welcome some new faces to our Covington family. And while I know how much we all love awkward introductions, if you make your students do it, I feel only obligated to make staff do it too.”

Generally, Charlie liked Principal Graves, he was an older man, a Santa Clause-eqs man if there ever was one. A jolly face, a bit of a tummy, and he often sported a dark gray beard during the winter months. He was also very LGBTQ+ friendly and allowed Charlie to have as many of those types of books in his library as possible, so he rarely had a bad thing to say about him.

“Our first new teacher this year,” Principal Graves continued. “Is Mr. Nicholas Nelson, teaching Year 3 students. Stand up Mr. Nelson and tell us something about yourself!”

Principal Graves did this every year, making new staff (teachers and others because why discriminate when you can embarrass everyone) introduce themselves and say something about them. When it was Charlie’s turn 3 years ago, he was still a bit too awkward for his own good, only managing to stand up and tell everyone he was Charlie Spring, Librarian, and that he liked books. Which, given his job, was pretty obvious but instead of saving face or mentioning anything else, Charlie sat down and stayed painfully quiet the rest of the meeting.

(And pretty much all of his first year at the school, if he was being totally honest.)

Nick Nelson, it seemed, had no such awkwardness in his gorgeous freckled, muscular body. “Hi, everyone! I’m Nick, it’s wonderful to get the opportunity to work with you all. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Covington, both staff and students. And yeah I know I already have the job, no need to butter anyone up,” he said and then paused for the light laughter. “Anyway, aside from teaching kids, I love dogs and playing rugby. If you spend more than a minute with me, I will show you pictures of my dogs, Henry and Daisy as well as my childhood dog, Nellie. Sorry in advance for that.”

Charlie was pretty sure everyone, male or female or other, fell in love with Nick at that moment, Charlie included. Nick looked around before sitting down, catching Charlie’s eye for more time, smiling a little wider (or at least, that’s how Charlie interrupted in his stupid crush driven brain).

The meeting went on for ages, as the first meeting of the year usually did and when they were finally set free to their classrooms (or library in Charlie’s case) he was up and out of the door before anyone could ask him a question.

It wasn’t until he was in the safety of his library, did he take his phone out and open his group chat.

charlie warlie: jesus christ
charlie warlie: there’s a new teacher here who is the very definition of a wet dream
charlie warlie: sos i am f r e a k i n g o u t
t-t-tao: lol this is going to be fun
eye-zac: oh indeed, send pictures.
eye-zac: of the hottie, not you freaking out
elleington: oh charlie, just be careful.
charlie warlie: i know i know he’s probs straight but either way definitely taken because i cant see how someone that gorgeous can be single for more than a minute
charlie warlie: lemmie see if his photo is up on the school website yet
charlie warlie: www.covingtonschool.com/staff/nicholas-nelson
t-t-tao: yeah that’s the straightest bloke i’ve ever seen
eye-zac: 🥵🥵
elleington: I mean, you’re not wrong for having a gay crisis
charlie warlie: ugh

Charlie pocketed his phone, regretting having even told his friends about Nick, let alone sending a photo. It was a moment of weakness, it’d been a hot minute since he even had a crush on someone, and he was acting out of character.

(Or okay whatever, so he did often have moments of gay panic any time a cute boy looked at him. Or stood near him. Or was across the room. Okay, reflecting on himself made Charlie realize just what a hot mess he was anytime a cute boy was anywhere within his vicinity.)

“Get your head in the game,” he mumbled to himself, going over to the empty center display. Today was the day he could spend getting his library ready for students next week. It was his only mandatory day, the teachers had to come in every day this week for this and that, so at least he wasn’t doomed to see Nick again for a whole week.

He saw Nick the first thing the following Monday morning. Charlie was early by nature, if he was 10 minutes early, he might as well be late. Usually he was one of the first people in the building, save for Graves and some of the support staff. Nick was standing outside of the teacher's entrance, a worried look etched on his gorgeous face.

“Um, hi,” Charlie said, clearing his throat as he approached. “Do you need help?”

Nick resembled a bit of a lost puppy dog, his hair was even a little floppier, his shoulders sagging, nothing like the exciting golden retriever energy he had in the meeting.

Still attractive though.

“Yes, hi! Mr. Spring right? Librarian?”

“Yes?” Charlie said, more like a question than an answer. “I mean, yes, hi.”

“Hi, again, well Mr. Spring, I don’t have an ID on me and I can’t get in without one. Can you help me with that?”

Charlie chuckled. “It’s Charlie and sure. I’m surprised you didn’t get it last week.”

Nick grimaced. “I did, but I was so nervous I accidentally left it in the classroom on Friday and I was hoping someone would come and let me in.” He let out a nervous chuckle and shifted to give Charlie room to stand next to the door.

“Just be careful,” Charlie warned, taking his lanyard and tapping the proximity lock. “Graves is pretty chill but he’s super into security. You’ll get dinged for not having your badge, not to mention not having access to half the building.”

The door buzzed, and Charlie opened it, stepping aside so Nick could walk in. “Oh thank you,” Nick said, rushing inside with Charlie behind him. “I’m going to remember it today, I swear. I’m usually far more put together than this, I promise. I was just really worried about making a good first impression.”

“I think your little speech at the staff meeting was a good impression, I’m pretty sure quite a few ladies were swooning.”

Charlie bit down on his lip, stupidly admitting that and feeling his face burn with embarrassment.

“Just the ladies?” Nick questioned as they walked down the hallway. Nick’s classroom was near the library, much to Charlie’s chagrin, so they were forced to walk together.

“Well, I mean, maybe a few guys,” Charlie offered, not really sure where Nick was going with this.

“What about any librarians?” Nick asked, oh so quietly but Charlie heard it. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking at Nick with what he was sure was an all too comical look. Was he fucking with him? He was a rugby player, after all, maybe Charlie gave off the please bully me energy he did throughout school.

Charlie tried to laugh, or smile, but it was probably very stilted and stupid. He didn’t have nearly enough caffeine in his system to survive any of this. He was hoping, beyond hope that Nick would turn the other direction, but he seemed to just follow alongside Charlie.

“My classroom is this way,” he said, casually. “So is the library, yeah? You’re just right down the hall from me.”

“Er, I guess,” Charlie said, although he knew without a doubt that the universe hated him just enough to make it true.

“Have you been here long?” Nick asked, casually. There was something so wonderful about how he just held his bag over his shoulder. His strong looking shoulders, attached to the strong arms were way too distracting. Nick was wearing a tight button up too, Charlie wanted to poke his fingers in between the fabric and touch the skin underneath.

“Um, yeah three years now? How about you?” he asked and then stopped. “Shit, sorry, I’m not normally this dumb. I usually have more caffeine in my system than this but my sister is trying to get me to cut down so I’ve been only drinking tea and it’s not working out for me.”

Charlie rambled on, refusing to look Nick in the eye.

“You’re good,” Nick said, laughing but not unkindly. “Well this is me anyway,” he said pointing to the next closest door. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, have a good first day and stuff, bye.”

Charlie did not run (okay he did) down the hall in his bid to stop acting like a complete fool in front of Nick.

charlie warlie: i asked nick, whose first official day of teaching is today, which i totally knew, how long he’s been working here
charlie warlie: if anyone wants me i’ll be yeeting myself into the sun
charlie warlie: nice knowing all of you
charlie warlie: tao can have my drums
charlie warlie: isaac you can have my books
charlie warlie: elle you can have my converse
elleington: why would i want your old dirty converse? Have you ever seen me wear those types of shoes? Do you even know me?
t-t-tao: i have zero musical ability. I will be delighted to take your drums
elleington: DO NOT GIVE TAO YOUR DRUMS I WILL KILL YOU
charlie warlie: already dead but also i like how none of you are concerned about me at all. Why. so nice. So friends. So worried.
eye-zac: i’m going to miss charlie, sometimes i can still hear him complaining or read his texts. Such a shame.

Charlie saw Nick a lot during the first two weeks of school.

Which was a pretty impressive feat because Charlie was a bit of the school’s hermit. He took lunch in his library, wanting to keep the door always open for any student who needed it. He spent nearly 95% of his time in his library unless he had to go into one of the classrooms to bring in books the teachers requested. There was a very rare occasion when he got into the teacher’s lounge to get tea when he couldn’t be bothered with the electric kettle he kept in his little tiny back office.

(Okay it was more of a store room he made into an office, filled with Charlie approved snacks and enough tea for the whole school district and coffee, lots of coffee).

Nick seemed to appear when Charlie least expected him to.

It felt like every time Charlie was out of the library, Nick was in the hallway, coming or going. Their rooms were so close, so it wasn’t completely abnormal but it felt sort of, non accidentally?

Charlie was pretty sure Nick didn’t need to be standing by his door when his class was in P.E. or Art.

(And yes, Charlie might have looked up his schedule because he did like to know where classes were, he just didn’t do it for anyone else.)

He always without fail, offered Charlie a little wave as he passed. He seemed to be coming in around if not the same time Charlie did every morning and while he always had his badge, he’d wait by the door and walk in with him.

They probably exchanged little, “Hi” about 5 or 6 times a day at Charlie’s count. It was usually accompanied by a small wave and a grin from Nick like he was finding the whole thing amusing and not confusing, like Charlie was. They really didn’t actually talk, everything was so brief, and yet, Charlie found the little encounters to be the highlight of his day.

charlie warlie: what does it mean when a cute boy keeps saying hi to you
elleington: you know you sent this to chat and not google
charlie warlie: yah answer my question
t-t-tao: according to google hi is used as a friendly greeting or to attract attention.
charlie warlie: no shit but what does it mean when a cute boy says it to you
eye-zac: as far as I know the cuteness factor of a boy doesn’t change the overall meaning of the word

He really should have known better than to ask his friends but Charlie had always been a bit of a glutton for punishment. Instead of Googling it or asking for more advice, he went with the normal Charlie Spring reaction to unknown situations, he was anxious about it and tried his best to ignore it.

Which wasn’t easy when Nick just kept showing up and smiling and waving and generally a very gorgeous person. Charlie was pretty sure Nick Nelson was walking sunshine and Charlie was getting dangerously close to being burnt alive at the rate he was going.

He finally caved three weeks in and walked into the teacher’s lounge when he knew there’d be a few others around. Mary Ellen saw him right away, clapping her hands in excitement. “Charlie Spring! What a miracle it is to see you here!”

“Yeah,” Charlie said, coming to sit at her table, where she was eating a big salad and reading a book. “Hi.”

“What brings you around to the social parts?” she asked, not unkindly. Charlie liked Mary Ellen, she taught Art and was generally a nice, bright, warm, and fuzzy person who would probably hug Charlie if he didn’t give off the please don’t hug me vibes often.

“No real reason,” Charlie lied, pulling out his sandwich from the lunch tin Tori had given him.

Mary Ellen chatted amicably with him, updating him on some mild teacher drama, student drama, and then, her personal life drama. It wasn’t too bad, she didn’t go into much unnecessary detail and Charlie did enjoy some good tea when it wasn’t about him. When she’d stopped to take a breath, Charlie decided it was now or never.

“What do you think of the new guy, Nick?”

“Nelson?” she questioned. “Oh, he’s a dear. The kids love him to bits already, I’m pretty sure most of the girls in his class have massive crushes on him. It’s actually quite adorable!”

“He’s friendly with everyone?” Charlie questioned. He wasn’t really sure what he was hoping her answer would be at this point. If Nick was friendly with everyone then he was just possibly a straight hot friendly dude, but if he wasn’t then he was possibly a straight hot boy flirting with Charlie. Neither of those options seemed all that ideal.

“I’d say, why? Did something happen?”

“Oh no, I just, he always says hi to me but we haven’t really spoken and I’m just wondering.”

Mary Ellen eyed him up and down, making Charlie flush with anxiety. He shoved a bit of sandwich into his mouth, looking pointedly away from her.

“Hm,” she hummed, but Charlie knew the damage had been done already.

Charlie had several mixed emotions when it came to the day Nick was bringing his class into his little library for the first time. He hosted each classroom at least three times a year, showing them around the library, explaining what his job was, and making sure everyone knew his door was always open. The age group for Nick’s class was a good age to really show kids how exciting reading could be and to put them on the lifelong journey of an avid reader.

Nick’s classroom was very polite as they entered in, single file line and took seats around the tables. Charlie had prepared little welcome packs for everyone, bags containing a new pencil and eraser, a few misc bookmarks all kid friendly, a list of Charlie’s favorite books for that age group, an introduction to the Dewey Decimal System, that highlights the area he knew that group would have to study on later and a welcome letter.

“Can I have one?” Nick asked him, as the students settled in their seats and began looking at their little bags.

“Oh,” Charlie said, looking around his desk and grabbing one of the extra ones he had at the ready anyway. “It’s just kinda dorky. I want kids to have a good experience when coming in here and I always think getting a surprise gift is a good thing.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Nick said brightly before turning his attention back to his students. He cleared his throat and almost everyone stopped talking and looked over at him. “I would like everyone’s attention please,” he said, despite nearly everyone already giving it to him, but it was in a very polite and gentle tone. “Thank you,” he added when everyone was looking up at him. “Let’s all give Mr. Charlie a big Classroom Seven hello and our best listening ears!”

The room was filled with twenty little “hello Mr. Charlie’s” from the group of children, making Charlie feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings (that had absolutely nothing to do with the gorgeous teacher standing beside him).

“Thank you, Mr. Nelson, and welcome Classroom Seven to the library! I see many familiar faces,” Charlie said, making sure to make eye contact with a few of them. “And some new ones! But no matter what, I hope you all enjoy your time with me in the library. As Mr. Nelson said, I’m Mr. Charlie, but it’s okay if you just call me Charlie,” he said, a little conspirator, making a few kids giggle. “I don’t mind very much at all.” He paused to smile again, looking around the room at all the happy young faces.

This was one of his favorite things, being a warm and welcoming present in the lives of children. It was why he went to school in the first place. Being a librarian was a no brainier for him, a lifelong love of books and research was enough to point him in that field. But instead of focusing on public or bigger academic libraries, Charlie wanted to be a pillar of support for kid’s a young age. He never wanted anyone to feel like he did in primary or secondary school and if he could help just one student, it was more than enough for him.

Charlie launched into his explanation of the library, taking care to answer any questions and explain things in a way that was a mix between interesting and informative for little minds. Nick had taken a seat at one of the tables, his large frame looking almost comical in the small child size seating. Charlie couldn’t help but look over at him, trying very hard not to blush in front of kids or stammer his way through something.

When his speech was done, he passed around a worksheet/scavenger hunt for everyone. “You can work in your table groups if you’d like or if you want to go it alone, you can too! Just remember to be careful and if you need help, please come and ask me, that’s my job!”

The scavenger hunt was a fun activity, most kids seemed to enjoy it and it helped them better understand the Dewey system and how to find resources in the library. Once all twenty students had gotten up, Nick did too, coming over to stand at Charlie’s desk.

“You’re good with them,” he commented.

“Ah, thanks. They seem to like you too.”

Nick smiled. “Yeah, it’s a good bunch of kids, really made me feel welcomed to the school.”

“You’re enjoying it then?” Charlie asked casually, trying so hard not to flirt with Nick, especially while working and with little ears everywhere.

“Yeah, it’s a great school.”

“Staff being nice to you?”

“Oh yeah, everyone’s been really great too.”

Charlie was about to ask another stupid fishing question, when a duo of students, Clara and Anna, best friends Charlie knew since they were in Year 1, came running up to them.

“Mr. Nelson, Mr. Charlie!” Anna said in a loud whisper. “We finished!!”

The girls waved their paper at him and Charlie took it, gazing over the questions. “Excellent job ladies! For being first, you can go over and each take one item from the prize cart.”

Both girls looked delighted, walking (okay well it was pretty much a run) over to the small book cart Charlie filled with kid friendly prizes. Most of the items he purchased himself, along with books he bought at second hand stores for his purpose alone. The school had a good budget, but not a lot of it went to his library.

Clara and Anna each grabbed a book, waving them at Charlie who smiled and nodded. “That’s really nice of you to have that,” Nick commented. He had yet to stop smiling at Charlie like everything he was saying was delightful. It was unnerving and a little unfair at that. Charlie was never good at being smiled at, especially by a cute boy. It was his number one weakness if he was being honest.

(Which was a terrible weakness because it resulted in a lot of comically bad misunderstandings and crushes that went nowhere and the primary reason why Charlie didn’t like to crush or date people because who gets weak kneed over smiling?)

“Oh yeah, I mean it’s mostly just cheap stuff I can afford and second hand books but it does help to keep little ones motivated.”

Nick grinned and Charlie had to look away to avoid blushing again. All too soon another group of kids arrived and Charlie had his hands full of excited kids, regrettably taking his attention away from Nick.

charlie warlie: what does it mean when a cute boy won’t stop smiling at you
eye-zac: what is the name of Charlie’s autobiography for a $100, Alex
charlie warlie: that is a very outdated and american reference, 10 points from ravenclaw
eye-zac: 🙄
t-t-tao: maybe he just likes smiling
elleington: or maybe, get this, he likes charlie
charlie warlie: false
elleington: 🙄
t-t-tao: 🙄

“Charlie?”

Charlie looked up from his lunch to see Nick, of all people, standing at his doorway.

“Oh hi,” he said, wiping his mouth and hoping he wasn’t covered in peanut butter or jelly because that would be peak Charlie Spring. “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to ask for your advice on something, if you have a minute?”

The library was empty, it was still early enough in the year that students didn’t always need help right away with schoolwork. He had a set of Year 4's in at the start, but once they finished eating they'd gone outside with the rest of their classmates.

“Yeah sure, come on in.”

He pointed towards the small chair in front of Charlie’s desk, once again seeing Nick sit his large frame in the chair made him giggle.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nick said. “I know, big man, small chair. I should be used to it at this point, but you know.” Nick cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’m getting ready to start planning the big research paper for this year and wanted to see if you had any suggestions on topics. I mean, I’m not asking you to do my job for me but I wanted to know if there was a topic that’s easier for you to get books for. Or one that might not be as popular.”

“Oh,” Charlie said, taken aback. “No one’s ever really asked me that before. Teachers usually just pick from the list and I make do. It is part of my job too, to find things and have them available.”

“Oh, yeah, no not saying you can’t do your job. I just, do you have a favorite subject? Or maybe one that you don’t think gets enough done on it?”

Charlie knew he was blushing up a storm now, but he felt really stupid for it. This was just Nick being a good teacher, not flirting with him. He had to stop thinking everything Nick did was flirting, it was going to get really embarrassing really soon.

“I’ve always been a fan of Greek mythology, personally. I don’t think it gets picked often enough although it might be a bit too much for your kids.”

“Nah,” Nick said. “I’m sure I can make it work. I admit, I don’t know much about Greek mythology myself, is there something you can recommend for me to read so I’m prepared?”

“You're in luck, reading recommendations is my favorite thing,” Charlie answered truthfully, completely unable to keep the grin off his face. He might have given Nick way too many books to read, but Nick just kept engaging him in conversation, asking more questions, jotting down the names of all the books Charlie gave him on a scrap of paper with a beautiful felt tip pen he took from his pocket.

Nick left all too soon, leaving Charlie way too flustered.

The following day, Nick wasn’t waiting for him by the door and Charlie sighed, yup, he came on way too strong, and now Nick knew what a giant gay nerd he was. He should have lied and pretended like he wasn’t smart.

But that was stupid because Charlie was smart and screw rugby lad Nick Nelson if he didn’t like Charlie if he was smart.

His sour mood was only alleviated when he walked into his classroom and found a mug, white with a yellow C on it, a few tea bags, and a small note.

Charlie,
Thank you for the book recommendations. I thought I’d recommend some of my favorite teas since you're giving up on coffee. Let me know what you think of them. Maybe we can have a good book discussion when I'm done reading too.

Nick

charlie warlie: what does it mean when the cute new guy who says hi to you and smiles at you leaves you some tea and a mug after you basically just do your job and maybe a bit overzealous give him some book recommendations
t-t-tao: advice column exist charlie
eye-zac: or reddit, they live for this shit
eye-zac: My (25M) coworker (26M) keeps flirting with me and now is leaving me gifts. Do you think he likes me? Or am I just being a stubborn git?
charlie warlie: AITA? I (25M) stopped talking to my friends (25M, 26F, 26M) because they were mean to me when I asked for completely normal friend related advice.
t-t-tao: YTA
eye-zac: YTA
elleington: ESH

There had been a lot of people in Charlie’s life who had attempted to play matchmaker. Most notable were his friends, who thought Charlie was completely helpless when it came to romance (which was true, yes, but rude to bring up). Occasionally his sister, who less suggested someone to date and more suggested people not to date, which was much nicer.

(It was also advice that teenage Charlie could have used with his first boyfriend, who was a knob and terrible human, and also set off a track record of Charlie exclusively dating knobs and terrible humans. Which meant Charlie, himself, was not a good matchmaker for himself.)

The one person he didn’t think would ever dabble in matchmaking was Principal Graves. But apparently, the universe liked to prove Charlie wrong.

Once a quarter the teachers and staff of Covington did some type of team bonding thing. Charlie, as usual, hated it but sucked it up every single year. It wasn’t really that bad usually it was some sort of speaker, some lame game, free lunch, and then the afternoon to “do as you will” which in Charlie’s case, meant reading in his library and avoiding his coworkers at all costs.

(Again they weren’t bad people but Charlie really wasn’t in the market for more friends or crushes.)

The speaker was boring, some motivational guy who made his living telling other people to always smile even when they’re screamed at by customers (or in this case parents) and that you have to empathize with everyone, which included apparently, bullies.

There was no assigned seating, Charlie went to the back and was surprised when Nick came to sit next to him, despite the ample amounts of seating available. A few teachers looked disappointed when Nick sat next to him and Charlie tried not to let that go to his head.

“This is dumb,” Nick said once Mr. Happy (not his real name but apparently the name he swears everyone called him) started going on about how being happy is the only way to succeed in life.

“Being happy all the time is overrated,” Charlie agreed. “Way to dismiss people’s mental health struggles.”

Charlie rarely brought up his own mental health struggles, mainly because he was still actively working past them, and bringing them up was rarely a good thing. No one just casually told someone they used to starve themselves or otherwise hurt themselves for shits and giggles.

“I know right,” Nick whispered back, moving his chair so close Charlie was sure the next step would be sitting in each other’s laps. Mr. Happy continued his terrible advice, talking about how mean people used to make him sad until he realized mean people were also sad, and somehow, that made it okay.

Charlie snorted, leaning in to talk to Nick again without thinking. “Okay, Mr. Happy, the bullies who used to push me into lockers were just really sad? What was I supposed to do, try to get them to talk about their feelings? I’m sure that would have stopped them.”

“Sorry you had to experience that,” Nick said and Charlie immediately regretted the slip of information. He slammed his mouth shut, sitting back in his chair, away from Nick. Nick, apparently, didn’t get the memo and moved closer, leaning back into Charlie’s space.

Which just reminded him of all those times Ben would crowd him, or the bullies, or anyone else who tried to intimidate him.

But Nick was nice, he smelled good (god, Charlie hated that he realized that) and nothing about it screamed I’m about to yell or push you around. Charlie braced himself for something else to come out of Nick’s mouth, but he just sat there, paying attention but clearly amused.

Mr. Happy ended his presentation by asking everyone to tell the person next to them something that makes them happy.

“This presentation ending makes me happy,” he announced to Nick, just as Nick said the same thing.

Whatever tension Charlie had been feeling evaporated as the two of them giggled together.

Principal Graves came up, thanking Mr. Happy and then launching into his little speel. “For our team bonding, I’ve paired everyone up with someone they normally don’t talk to.”

Charlie groaned, that could be literally anyone.

“And you’ll be playing six degrees of separation,” he continued. “Each pair is to make a list of five things they have in common with one another. Once the list is completed, each person must find a new partner who shares at least one of the items on her list. They must then make a new list of five things in common. This continues until everyone has at least one thing in common with everyone in the room.”

“Nightmare fuel,” Charlie grumbled, as Nick giggled again.

Graves started to read off pairings alphabetically and Charlie couldn’t help but hold his breath when he got to Nick Nelson and announced, “Charlie Spring.”

“Good,” Nick said, sending another smile at Charlie.

“You’re just glad you don’t have to move around,” Charlie said, with nervous laughter.

“Nah,” Nick said. “Out of everyone here, I was hoping to be paired with you.”

Not knowing how to react, Charlie got up. “I’ll go get us the,” he gestured towards the table with notepads and pens, scampering off and trying to calm his erratically beating heart.

When he returned, he sat down leaving a seat in between him and Nick, where he could put his leg up, creating a barrier between them.

“So,” Nick said with a smile. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself, I’m sure we have something in common.”

“I like reading,” Charlie said dumbly, regretting it immediately. “I mean that’s obvious, right?”

“I’d hoped so, but honestly, reading has never been my favorite. I like movies.”

“Marvel, I take it? I noticed the Iron Man button you have on your lanyard” Charlie asked, a little happy when Nick’s face blushed.

“Yeah I know it’s a bit juvenile but I can’t help it, Iron Man is just so cool. Do you like them too?”

“Oh, no,” Charlie said, shaking his head. “My favorite movie is Moonlight, so yeah, not a match.”

Nick frowned, actually looking a bit disappointed. “Do you play sports?”

Charlie actually laughed in his face, which just made Nick giggle again. “Does that answer your question?”

“Come on, you could possibly play sports! Just because you’re small doesn't mean anything.”

“Thanks, Nick, love that you think I’m too small and weak to play sports,” Charlie deadpanned, making Nick sputter out an apology. “I’m kidding,” he added. “You’d be correct on that front. I do play video games, Mario Kart is my specialty.”

“Ha! I play too, so that’s one thing we have in common.”

Charlie laughed. “Really? I mean aren’t you too busy playing real sports? Can’t you let us little gay nerds enjoy pretend ones?”

Something glinted in Nick’s eyes and Charlie resisted the urge to run away. “Write it down,” Nick encouraged. “And we have our second thing in common.”

“Oh?” Charlie questioned, busing himself to jotting down “Playing Video Games” as the first one. “What’s that?”

“I’m bisexual,” Nick said proudly and Charlie had to resist looking up. He was pretty sure his face would show every single thought in his head. Nick Nelson, Certified Straight, was in fact, Not Certified Straight. He was Bisexual, which means he could possibly date Charlie Spring, Certified Gay.

Although that had to mean Nick fancied guys like Charlie, which was likely not the case, but whatever, he still gained a sliver of a chance.

“Ah,” Charlie finally said, then jotted down “Team LGBTQ+” as item number two. “Cool.”

Cool was a very lame response, one that made Nick laugh. “Alright, what else do you do, Charlie Spring?”

“I play the drums,” Charlie supplied, risking a glance up at Nick, who was smiling at him.

“Now that’s cool, too bad I have zero music ability. Can you bake?”

“Nope, I set fire to anything I attempt to make even if it doesn’t require fire.”

“I have a dog!” Nick offered, immediately pulling out his phone. “I had one growing up named Nellie but now I have a puppy named Daisy and my Mum has our family dog, Henry.” He showed Charlie pictures of each of the dogs, who were all very adorable.

“I don’t have any but I love animals, that counts yeah?” he asked, having to look away from the cuteness of Nick's dogs, to write down Likes Animals.

“Well then,” Nick said, pulling his phone back into his pocket. “You’ll have to come by and meet them.”

“Oh,” Charlie said, still trying not to look back up at Nick. This was turning into such a bad idea, one look, and Nick would know Charlie had a massive crush on him. “Yeah, maybe. Um, what else can we possibly have in common? Where did you grow up?”

“Kent, Rochester to be exact.”

Now Charlie had to look up for that. “Really? Me too. I went to Truham.”

“I went to St. John’s,” Nick laughed. “I bet we met and didn’t even know it.”

“Ah no,” Charlie laughed. “I had nothing to do with rugby, we would not have crossed paths. Not to mention the fact that I would have remembered those big rugby arms.”

As soon as Charlie said it, regret flooded every part of his brain. “Er, I mean…”

“Oh you like my big rugby arms, do you?” Nick said, flexing and grinning like a complete mad man.

Charlie shook his head. “Nope, nope, total lie. Um, what else can we have in common?”

“I speak French,” Nick said and then, just to prove his point, spoke French.

Which promptly shut Charlie’s brain down. Charlie.exe is no longer working. He wasn’t sure how long he just stared, slack jawed at Nick.

“Oh,” Nick said brightly, proudly, happily. “You like the fact that I can speak French.”

“Nope,” Charlie said, probably not quick enough because Nick just kept laughing. They were, by far, the loudest group, everyone else was head down talking quietly. A few people had even moved on to new partners. “It’s cringe, you’re embarrassing me.”

“You don’t look embarrassed, Charlie, you look like you're blushing.”

Charlie cleared his throat. “I sort of speak Spanish, but not well, so we can just skip that one.”

“What's your favorite food?” Nick asked. “Or better yet, favorite restaurant?”

“I really don't have one,” Charlie answered truthfully. “I’m not a big food person.”

“Hm,” Nick said, tapping his chin before smiling. “Are you currently seeing anyone?”

Now that took Charlie by surprise, he let out a small squeak which just made Nick laugh. “Um, like, well, uh, no. Not at the moment.”

A pause.

“Are you?”

“Nope,” Nick said casually. “You should write that down, both single, it counts.”

“It’s embarrassing,” Charlie intoned. “I really don’t like sharing my relationship status with my job.”

“Alright then,” Nick grinned. “I like olives.”

“Hate them.”

“I love bubblegum flavor.”

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”

“I like felt tip pens, especially the sound they make on paper.”

“I have no loyalties to any type of pen,” Charlie said, with a frown. It didn’t matter how pretty Nick Nelson was, if they didn’t have anything in common, then they might as well give up now. It was a long shot, in Charlie’s mind, that this strong rugby boy would even look Charlie’s way, let alone like him.

“I like Formula 1,” Nick offered, Charlie just leveled him a look that made Nick burst out into tiny giggles. “Okay, okay, moving away from sports, I get it.”

“I don’t think we have much in common,” Charlie admitted, biting his lower lip. “Which I mean, duh.”

“Ah, you don’t know that. I like all sorts of things, how about rain? Or drawing on shoes? Disneyland? Minimalism?”

Charlie smiled at Nick’s persistence (and only that, not just how cute he was, Charlie wasn’t that far gone thank you). “I guess I can get behind the rain thing, although I’m not a big fan of getting caught out in the rain. It destroys my hair, honestly.”

“I like your hair,” Nick offered, making Charlie blush a violent shade of red. Nick Nelson needed to stop being so wonderfully nice, it was all going straight to Charlie’s heart.

“Well I don’t, so I’ll just put down rain for now,” Charlie mumbled, writing “Rain” down on the sheet of paper that was looking oddly pathetic with their common list.

“We need one more,” Charlie said.

“Well,” Nick said, leaning in closer than he had before, Charlie instinctively followed, getting so close he could count the number of freckles on Nick’s face. He could see the honey color of his eyes, and how beautiful they looked. How his hair was just so shy of being a ginger or a blonde.

Butterflies erupted in Charlie’s stomach.

“I think I know something else we have in common that’s pretty obvious.”

“Yeah,” Charlie breathed, willing himself not to move an inch forward and kiss his perfectly kissable pink lips.

“I think we both like each other.”

Charlie’s heart was hammering like a hummingbird and he thought for sure, he was about to take flight, out of the room, out of the school, out into the unknown wilds. But then Nick reached across the spare chair, his hand on Charlie’s arm.

Charlie cleared his throat, breaking out of the trance but keeping a smile plastered on his face. “Hm, I think you might be right, Mr. Nelson.”

“And,” Nick continued, making Charlie feel giddy and untethered and probably in way over his head. “I think we both have a date on Saturday night.”

“Hm,” Charlie said, pretending to think for a minute, eyes never leaving Nick’s. “I don’t know where I’d get one on such late notice…”

Nick laughed.

charlie warlie: nick’s bisexual
charlie warlie: spoiler alert he likes me
charlie warlie: and we have a date on saturday
charlie warlie: in case you all wanted to know
elleington: oh no whoever would have thought that was possible??? it wasn't like there were any signs!
eye-zac: what a thrilling plot twist
t-t-tao: what will you do with your no crushes at work rule, now Charlie?
charlie warlie: i’m in my rebel era, rules are meant to be broken