Chapter Text
“Charlie, right?”
Looking up from where he was rearranging a tray of cinnamon buns, Charlie found himself face to face with a thoroughly drenched Nick Nelson.
“Um. Yes. Hi?” he agreed after a brief period of open mouthed staring - because he was not qualified to address that kind of unexpected situation with even the tiniest shred of self control. Or dignity, apparently.
“Hi. We went to Truham together? I’m Nick.”
Charlie blinked a few times, because… well, for one, as far as he knew, Nick fucking Nelson was supposed to be 230 miles away in Leeds preparing for his first year at uni and not randomly appearing at Charlie’s place of work. And, two, apparently Nick fucking Nelson knew his name. Nick. Fucking. Nelson. Knew. His. Name. (Also, three, he really needed to stop calling him Nick fucking Nelson in his head - although he was definitely blaming Tao for that last one.)
“So. You work here?”
Right. Yes. Conversation? Apparently they were having one.
“Yeah, my parents own the bakery so I kinda help out sometimes?”
“Wow, that’s cool.” Nick gave the neat rows of baked goods an impressed look. “I mean, I once tried to help mum at work, but I think it took her a lot longer to undo what I did than if she’d done it all by herself to begin with. Never asked me to help out again, that’s for sure.”
He peeked up at Charlie through his eyelashes, looking half amused, half embarrassed at the memory. Charlie just nodded dumbly, mere seconds from going full on starry eyed Disney princess on him, because… well, Nick. Fucking. Nelson.
“Not really a lot that can go wrong with baked goods, though,” he mumbled instead, ending the sentence with an awkward lift of one shoulder.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” Nick looked even more embarrassed. “Last week I was making cupcakes and half of them exploded. I was smelling of chocolate for days.”
“Exploded?” Charlie repeated, because… exploded??
“Mm. Misread the recipe and overheated the oven. Took me ages to clean up, too. Mum was not happy. So yeah. Cupcakes? Not to be trusted.”
Charlie automatically looked down onto two rows of innocent looking cupcakes.
“I’ll make sure to keep the bomb squad on speed dial,” he mumbled indistinctly, not really aware of what he was saying since his brain was basically draining and Nick Nelson was standing right in front of him and was talking to him and smiling at him and what the fuck was Nick doing there in the first place anyway?? Apart from catching pneumonia, going by the state of his hoodie. “Um. Your hoodie is soaked,” he pointed out in case Nick hadn’t noticed.
“Yeah. It’s raining,” Nick agreed with a careless half shrug. “I didn’t really check the forecast-”
“You should take it off.”
Charlie could see the moment his words hit Nick’s brain and he really hated his life, because…
“I should… take it off?” Nick repeated, eyebrows raised in a very unconvincing expression of polite inquiry.
So, yeah, because of that. Because of the raised eyebrows and the slow, amused drawl, and the small, lopsided smirk, and…
“Not like that! I didn’t mean it like that! I meant that dad’s got a couple of spare jumpers in the back so you could borrow one of them? Because you’re wet and they… aren’t?”
The last sentence stuttered to a hesitant stop and Nick’s smirk softened into something warmer and less teasing.
“I know what you meant, Charlie.”
And, oh fuck, Nick was being nice to him. And it wasn’t like Charlie didn’t already know that Nick was nice - there were very few things that Charlie didn’t know about Nicholas Nelson after four years of pining after him like a bloody Christmas tree - but to have that niceness directed straight at him? With no distractions? Well, the unrequited crush he’d spent half the summer actively trying to… well, crush, after Nick had graduated out of both Truham and Charlie’s life? Apparently not quite as crushed as he would have hoped for. Crap.
“Shut up,” he mumbled and ducked his head before glancing up at Nick, hoping that he didn’t appear quite as lovesick as he felt. He couldn’t really tell, though, since Nick just looked kind and happy and completely unbothered by the situation - while Charlie was basically dying on the spot from pure mortification.
“And yes, I’d love to borrow a jumper if that’s okay,” Nick said, tugging at the wet hoodie clinging to his chest. “This one is getting a bit uncomfortable to be honest.”
“Right, I’ll just…” Charlie gestured towards the door behind him and fled before Nick could do anything more than nod.
🍃🍂🍃🍂🍃
It didn’t take Charlie long to rifle through the messy pile of clean jumpers in the combined office- and changing room. His hands hovered over one of his own knitted jumpers for a couple of extra seconds, wishing he could lend Nick that one - but the odds of Nick Nelson being able to squeeze into any jumper Charlie owned were pretty much slim to none so he just grabbed a towel and the best looking of his dad’s jumpers before returning to where Nick was still slowly and patiently trickling rainwater onto the bakery’s dark hardwood floor.
After pulling the soaked hoodie over his head - and leaving Charlie with a much appreciated glimpse of a well defined midriff (until the white t-shirt Nick wore underneath it was firmly dragged back into place) - Nick handed it to Charlie in exchange for the towel. Charlie unthinkingly leaned in for a subtle sniff while Nick was drying off his face and hair, but all he got out of it was the smell of rain with a hint of wet dog. Crap. Again.
Nick finished off by quickly rubbing the towel over his arms and hands before handing it back to Charlie. The white t-shirt still looked a bit wet around the neck and shoulders, but there was no way Charlie was going to suggest that Nick should take that off too after the previous faux pas, so he just handed Nick the dry jumper to put on.
“You could leave the hoodie here for now,” he suggested hopefully, not quite prepared to give up on that unexpected prize just yet. “I could hang it up in the back and your mum could come by and pick it up for you once it’s dry? Since you’re off to uni soon, I mean? Unless you’re bringing it with you to uni, which you probably are, so that was a stupid idea, nevermind, I’ll get a bag and you can take it with you and wash it when you get home so it doesn’t, you know, start to smell all musty or something.”
“I’m not leaving until Sunday so it would be great if you could keep it for now and I could come back for it tomorrow or whenever your next shift is?” Nick interrupted, calmly taking Charlie’s jumper induced ramble in his stride. “I’m supposed to meet up with Immy in about fifteen minutes anyway, since neither of us have any organisational skills whatsoever and just yesterday realised that our accommodations don’t provide any kitchenware. So if we plan on ever eating again, then… well, Dockside it is.”
Ah. Right. Imogen.
“So is Imogen going to Leeds too?” Charlie asked, too polite not to ask a question he really didn’t want to hear the answer to.
Nick frowned, tilting his head like a confused puppy.
“No, she got into Queen Mary so she’s going to London?”
“Oh.” Charlie hesitated, biting his lip. “I just thought… like, why didn’t you apply for London too, then?”
“Have you seen the prices for accommodations in London?” Nick asked, pulling a horrified face. “Also, Leeds has some really good rugby facilities and I liked the city when mum and I went to an open day there last year.”
“But won’t the distance be a bit shit?” Not that it was any of his business really, he just thought that… well, okay, so you shouldn’t decide on uni depending on your girlfriend, but… still?
Nick looked even more confused.
“I’m… sure we’ll manage?” It took him another couple of seconds before his furrowed brow cleared and he gaped at Charlie instead. “Wait, do you think Immy and I are going out?”
Now it was Charlie’s turn to look confused.
“Yes?”
“No. No!” Nick shook his head emphatically. “God, no. I mean… Immy is great and I love her a lot, but… like, I don’t love her like that?”
“Oh.”
Charlie had a momentary idea of asking if there was anyone that Nick did love like that, but… well, that was probably another question he didn’t want the answer to. After all - and as Tao so frequently reminded him - sometimes people really were straight.
“And how do you know I’m going to Leeds, by the way?” Nick asked, grin growing as he zoomed in on a topic Charlie would have preferred him not to approach, thanks.
“Umm…”
“Because I’m very sure I haven’t told you, since every time I tried to talk to you, you brushed me off.”
“Excuse me, but I did what??” Nick had tried to talk to him? What? When? Charlie blinked a couple of times, trying to digest this brand new information.
“Yeah, I tried to talk to you a few times in form, but you never really replied. And since you usually hung out with Evil Glare Guy, I was not about to try outside of it.”
Evil Glare Guy? Yeah, Tao would probably enjoy that description way too much.
“Tao just has a severe case of resting bitch face, he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Charlie protested, carefully ignoring the first part of Nick’s remark.
“If you say so, but half the rugby team was absolutely terrified of him. Harry used to take a detour around the science block after practice just to avoid him, it was hilarious.” Nick’s gleeful expression indicated that that hadn’t been a completely unappreciated outcome.
“Well, Harry is a wanker anyway,” Charlie grumbled, shooting Nick a dark glare in case he was about to object. Which he apparently wasn’t.
“Massive. Massive wanker,” he agreed instead before going back to the topic Charlie had hoped he’d forgotten. “Now, about how you knew that I’m going to Leeds…?”
Charlie groaned.
“Everyone knows where the Rugby King is going, Nick. You’re Truham royalty. There is even an update account on you on the school’s message board.”
Nick looked absolutely mortified.
“Oh God, I’ve asked them to take it down so many times but it just keeps popping bac-“ He halted and gave Charlie a suspicious look, “Wait, are you following a Nick Nelson update account?”
“What? No! Of course not!” Okay, so maybe he was - but that was on a strictly need to know basis, and Nick most definitely did not need to know. “It’s just… well, it’s common knowledge?”
“Hm.” Nick did not look convinced but to Charlie’s relief he dropped the topic anyway. “So. Is it always this quiet in here?” he settled on instead, looking around the bakery where a handful of empty tables were randomly scattered around the area - before realising that the question could be interpreted as an insult and quickly continued, “Not that I doubt that this is a very successful business, the, uh, display counter looks… really nice…?”
Charlie watched as Nick blushed and scratched the back of his neck, looking like he regretted ever having learned to talk.
“I guess most of our customers aren’t idiots who are out in a rainstorm that would have Noah reaching for a hammer and a couple of planks,” he pointed out, tilting his head and trying not to grin too widely at Nick’s faux offended expression.
“Excuse me, but did you just call me an idiot?”
“Um. Yes? Possibly?”
“Wow. Wow. Well, I see how it is. No respect for your elders and betters.”
“None whatsoever.” Charlie agreed, scrunching up his nose, trying to look haughty - but only managing to look crosseyed and slightly deranged instead.
Nick opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by his phone going off.
“Immy’s at the Waterfront so I have to go.” Nick smiled at him before turning towards the door. “But it was nice to finally talk to you, Charlie. See you around.”
Yeah, somehow Charlie didn’t much believe that.
“Wait!” he called after him. Nick turned around and Charlie waved at the shop window, “It’s still raining, I’ll get you an umbrella.”
Now, if there was something the bakery had an abundance of, it was umbrellas. People always came back for their phones and such, but umbrellas? Orphaned in a surprisingly high number. Charlie grabbed the biggest one he could find and shoved it at Nick, deciding that if that particular umbrella owner showed up, they could have the pick of any other umbrella in the stand, umbrella roulette style.
“Thanks, Charlie. See you.”
Right. Nick was definitely leaving now.
“Yeah. See you.”
Charlie stared as the door shut behind him, because… did that really happen? Had he basically flirted with Nick. Fucking. Nelson? Okay, so there was a very high possibility that only one of them knew that there had been flirting going on, but still. Flirting.
He looked down at the row of cupcakes and made a snap decision. Shoving a couple of them into a paper bag he quickly ran out of the shop, looking for the almost fluorescent yellow of the umbrella he’d sent Nick off with.
“Nick! Nick!!”
Nick turned around, clearly surprised at Charlie’s sudden appearance.
“Um. Did I forget something?”
The rain had let up a bit, but Charlie still had to blink raindrops from his eyelashes when he stopped in front of Nick and looked up at him.
“Cupcakes,” he explained, which… clearly wasn’t explanation enough if Nick’s confused face was anything to go by. “I thought you and Imogen might want cupcakes. So. Cupcakes,” he clarified, handing Nick the bag.
“Oh. Thanks. That’s… really nice of yo-”
“Ok, bye,” Charlie interrupted him, shooting him a quick smile before turning and running back towards the bakery, very much not thinking about the surprised look on Nick’s face when he’d run up to him. Or the warm tone in Nick’s voice when he’d thanked him. And definitely not thinking about what his mum would say if she knew Charlie had left the bakery unsupervised, even for the minute and a half he’d been away.
The second he got back behind the counter, he pulled out his phone and opened up the group chat, determined to make Nick’s visit to the bakery everybody’s problem.
Charlie: so guess who just came into the bakery?
Elle: No.
Tara: no
Tao: quentin tarantino
Darcy: no
Charlie: you guys suck.
Charlie: and you hate tarantino, tao
Tao: wouldn’t want someone i like to walk in when i’m not there, would i?
Tara: fine, i’ll bite. who was it?
Charlie: well i’m not telling you now because you’re all being mean to me 🥺
Elle: Please, Charlie, you know we love you, now please tell us who it was. And if it wasn’t Beyoncé then I’ll be very disappointed.
Charlie: soooo beyoncé just walked into my bakery and bought two shortbreads and a hot chocolate
Elle: CHARLIEEEEEEE!!!
Charlie: fine. nick nelson.
There was a short pause in the texting while everyone seemed to calibrate their reactions before a pandemonium broke out.
Elle: Charlie. Sweetie. No!
Tao: god no!!
Tara: no
Darcy: YES!!
Tara: darcy, no
Darcy: but… FUN!!!
Tao: oh god no!! not fun
Tao: opposite of fun
Tao: unfun
Tara: is that even a word
Tao: not the issue right now. focus.
Elle: Isn’t he supposed to be in Leeds anyway?
Tao: you mean instead of being at spring’s rolls, regenerating charlie’s painfully awkward crush on him?
Charlie: i’m still here you know
Tao: we know
Elle: So what happened?
Charlie: nothing. i don’t even know why he came in, i think he was just trying to get out of the rain. we talked for a couple of minutes, i gave him an umbrella and a couple of cupcakes and then he left
Tao: you gave nick fucking nelson free cupcakes? i never get free cupcakes?! this is tao erasure and i won’t stand for it
Tara: “not the issue right now. focus.”
Tao: ha ha, very funny. and free cupcakes are always the issue. especially if nick fucking nelson is getting them and i’m not..
Elle: Awww, poor baby. I’ll bring you a cupcake next film night, promise.
Darcy: so what did you talk about, did you ask him out? are you going to get married and have a dozen ginger haired rugby playing babies? did he swear off leeds to be a stay at home dad while you go get your oxbridge degree?
Charlie rolled his eyes at that.
Charlie: none of those subjects came up, no
Darcy: booo!
Tao: don’t encourage him, nick fucking nelson is straight, darcy
Isaac: Or maybe he isn’t.
Charlie: THANK YOU!!
Tao: isaac, for the love of ingmar bergman, dON’T ENCOURAGE HIM!!
Darcy: isaac, my main man! love to have you with us! and yes, encourage him!
Isaac: I just want to believe in romance.
Elle: Nick does give off very straight vibes though.
Tao: and he did kiss tara in year eight which wasn’t very gay of him
Darcy: excuse me, tara’s girlfriend is sitting right here thanks
Tao: which statistically makes it even more likely that he’s straight. maths.
Charlie: that’s not really how maths works, you know
Tao: don’t care. except for nelson getting free cupcakes. i care about THAT
Charlie had never been so grateful for the bell over the door to jingle as a customer entered the bakery.
Charlie: customer, gtg
He straightened up and turned towards a middle aged woman, sporting his best customer service smile. While picturing Nick standing in that same spot just minutes ago. It was going to be a long shift.