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”It’s him!” Charlie hissed to Kate.
“Who?”
“The guy from my class, the one I mentioned!”
“Oh right, the one you’ve been simping about for weeks!”
“I haven’t been simping ,” Charlie huffed. “I think I’ve only mentioned him once or twice.”
“Riiiiiight, whatever you say. Which one of them is it?” Kate asked as she cast a quick glance toward the group of students in various costumes approaching the house on the other side of the street.
“Um, the one with the really short shorts.”
“Oh, I see,” Kate smirked and poked Charlie in the ribs.
“Oh, fuck off, he’s nice! At least I think so, I’ve never talked to him. But he seems nice.”
“So, it has nothing to do with the way his thighs look in those shorts?”
“Well he is on the rugby team. And shut up!” Charlie squeaked. “He can hear you!”
Charlie, Kate and the rest of their flatmates crossed the street and reached the front door of the house hosting the party. As they waited for the door to open, Charlie found himself standing next to the boy he had been simping over, whose group had arrived at the door at the same time.
Charlie let his eyes roam over the boy, and he felt his heart rate pick up at the sight of him dressed in tiny, short shorts and a cropped rugby shirt. He was clearly a bit uncomfortable and tried to yank his shirt down to cover his bare midsection.
“Hi!” Charlie said, cringing internally at the stuttered way it came out. He was supposed to play it cool! Not let this Adonis of a man know how smitten he really was.
“Hi!” the other man replied and blushed, his friends snickering behind him.
Oh god , Charlie thought, is it me they’re laughing at? Say something Charlie, this is your chance to actually get to know him. Don’t let him know how obsessed you are! Play it cool!
“I like your outfit,” he said with a smirk.
The other boy looked down at his exposed stomach and legs.
“Oh, thanks. I had other plans, but they didn’t pan out, so my friends helped me put this together this afternoon.”
“They did a good job,” Charlie said, still smiling. “I’m Charlie by the way.”
“I’m Nick.”
“I know,” Charlie smiled and cursed himself internally for being so obvious. To his surprise he saw Nick’s nervous smile grow a little, and Charlie felt his nerves calm slightly. “Do you want to go inside?”
“Yes,” Nick nodded, “let’s.”
As they entered the house they were met by a wall of sound and a strong smell of alcohol. The two friend groups made their way to the cramped kitchen to deposit their various bags of drinks for the night. Charlie looked over his shoulder and saw Kate talking very animatedly with the blonde girl Nick had come to the party with, waving her hands and almost knocking out a few people in the process. Kate saw him looking and beckoned him to come over.
“Charlie!” Kate exclaimed. “Me and Darcy are in the same class! It’s so weird we all haven’t met before!”
After downing a few shots of tequila they decided to venture further into the house, drawn by the loud music to a makeshift dance floor in the living room. Charlie immediately started moving, grabbing Kate’s hands and laughing as he twirled her around. He cast a glance over at Nick, who was standing still, just staring at Charlie with wide eyes while Darcy tried to get him to move. As if suddenly waking from a dream, Nick started swaying awkwardly from side to side in a way that clearly showed he didn’t possess the same dancing skills that Charlie did. Charlie stifled a giggle and focused on the beat and the pleasant buzz in his body as he closed his eyes and lost himself to the music.
He couldn’t say how long they’d been dancing when he felt Kate leaning in close to his ear, her hair tickling his cheek, and felt a puff of warm air on his ear when she spoke. “I think you have an audience.”
“What do you mean?” Charlie laughed.
“That Nick guy from your class can’t take his eyes off of you.” Kate looked up over Charlie’s shoulder. “He’s looking right now.”
“Stop looking then!” Charlie hissed before glancing back to where Nick was dancing with his friends and catching Nick looking at him. When Nick realised he was caught staring, a blush started spreading on his cheeks, and he looked away and started fiddling with the hem of his cropped shirt.
“Come on,” Kate said and tugged at Charlie’s hand. “Let’s go dance with them instead!”
Charlie let himself be tugged over to Nick and his friends and soon found himself moving next to Nick. After a few songs of awkward dancing, poorly disguised looks at each other and an occasional brushing of hands, Charlie took a deep breath and decided to let the liquid courage do its job. He placed a hand on Nick's forearm and leaned in close to his ear to make sure Nick could hear him. He felt rather than heard Nick’s breath hitch, and that gave him the extra confidence boost he needed.
“Do you want to go somewhere quieter?” He drew back so he could see Nick’s reply and was met by the widest, most beautiful brown eyes staring down at him. His gaze travelled down to Nick’s lips and caught the very breathy “yeah” that came as a response.
Feeling brave, he took hold of Nick’s hand and started dragging him towards the back door he had spotted in the kitchen. As they stumbled out the door, they both let out a big sigh of relief, the outside supplying them both some fresh air and relative silence, only the vague thump of the bass audible instead of the loud blaring in the house.
Charlie spotted a bench to the right and pulled Nick over to it by their still linked hands. He sat down and shuffled to the side to allow enough space for Nick to sit down beside him. The bench was quite small and when Nick sat down, his thigh was leaning up against Charlie’s; Charlie felt the heat radiating from him.
“Hi,” Charlie said with a giggle, looking up at Nick with a nervous smile.
“Hi,” Nick replied as that cute blush slowly spreading from his cheeks and down his neck. His right hand started twitching in Charlie’s left before he must have thought better of it and used his left hand to scratch his neck instead. “I can’t believe you knew my name.”
Charlie huffed a laugh and felt his cheeks starting to heat up. “I've noticed you in class,” he admitted.
“I’ve noticed you too, you always look so cool and clever and have the smartest questions.”
“You mean I’m a nerd?!” Charlie deadpanned.
Charlie saw the panic rising in Nick’s eyes as he spluttered, “No! No, I’m not saying you’re a nerd!”
Charlie giggled and squeezed Nick’s hand that he realised he was still holding. “I’m just messing with you, I’m definitely a nerd.”
“Oh. Good,” Nick exhaled and squeezed Charlie’s hand back. “I kind of like nerds,” he added with a small smile.
They continued chatting for a while, inching closer and closer on the bench until there were merely a few centimetres between their faces. Charlie hesitated before he took a deep breath and let his tongue dart out to wet his lips. As he did, he saw Nick’s gaze flick down to his mouth and took that as a confirmation his next move would be welcome. He slowly raised his right hand and threaded his fingers through the soft hairs on Nick’s neck, placing the palm of his hand on Nick’s jaw. He gave Nick a questioning look, to which Nick responded by leaning in and closing his eyes. Charlie leaned in too and sighed as their lips met in the softest of kisses. He drew back and saw a small, contented smile form on Nick’s lips as he opened his eyes.
Nick looked away and giggled nervously. “I can’t believe that happened. I’ve been dreaming about it for weeks.” The blush made a new appearance and spread down his neck and he raked a hand through his hair. “I just assumed it would never happen; you’re so out of my league.”
“Me? Have you seen yourself? You’re a cute rugby player that takes a class in children’s literature, you are like the epitome of out of everyone’s league.”
“Can we agree that we’re both very happy we met tonight and actually talked to each other?”
“I’m fine with that!” Charlie chuckled with a smile. “Can I kiss you again?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Nick murmured and leaned in.