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Charlie found his way inside the party, and then followed the pounding beat of the music into the main ballroom.
There were people everywhere. Apparently Harry had invited everyone in the world to his party.
At the top of a flight of stairs, he found a mirror and did a final hasty check of his hair. Still fine. The closer he got to the ballroom, the more nervous he felt. What if this was all a big mistake? What if Nick had invited him only to laugh at him? In his heart, he knew Nick wasn't that kind of person, but at the moment his stomach wasn't so certain.
He reached the main ballroom, threading his way through the dancers. And finally he found Nick. God, he was so hot. Charlie was so used to seeing him in his uniform, or the plain T-shirts and jumpers he favored out of school, that he hadn't been prepared for a dressed-up version. Still in a plain T-shirt, but it hugged his body in a way his T-shirts didn't usually do, and he wore a short-sleeve patterned button-down over it that fit his muscular arms like it had been tailored for him.
Across the room, their eyes met, and the immediate answering smile on Nick's face made Charlie feel instantly more confident. They met in the middle of the dance floor, and Nick reached out to put his hands on Charlie's shoulders.
"I've been looking for you," they said to each other at the same time, then laughed. For a moment, they just stood there smiling at one another.
"Let's get something to drink," Nick said at last. He had to lean very close to be heard over the music.
Charlie nodded. Anything to get off the dance floor.
They found an empty sofa in a quieter hallway, and sat down. And then it was just like any time they were round one another's house, talking so easily about nothing.
But Charlie should have known it wasn't going to last. He looked up and saw Harry Greene standing in front of them. "Nicholas!"
The smile faded from Nick's face as though he dreaded having to deal with Harry as much as Charlie did. "All right, mate."
"Why are you hangin' out in here? It's a bit boring, innit?"
All the others were behind Harry, and they laughed like he had said something really funny.
"We just … are," Nick answered.
Harry plopped down on the couch, throwing his arm over Nick's shoulders. "I've got some important news for you."
"Yeah, what?"
"Tara Jones is here."
The rest of the lads made noises like that was a big deal, and Charlie wondered why. In a party full of people, they were all just hanging around behind Harry. Couldn't they go off and meet girls on their own? Why did they care so much if Nick went out with a girl?
"So what?" Nick asked. To Charlie, it was obvious that he was uncomfortable, but Harry didn't notice—or didn't care.
"So this is your big second chance, mate! Let's make it happen." Across Nick, he said to Charlie, "They kissed when they were thirteen. Proper romantic. He should go for it, right?"
Charlie didn't answer. He hated to see Nick this uncomfortable, and he trusted Elle when she said Tara wasn't interested.
Harry got up, reaching for Nick's hand to pull him up as well. "Come on, mate."
"Harry," Nick protested, but Harry put his arm round Nick's shoulders and walked him down the hall.
Charlie stood up and watched as Nick was drawn in front of Tara Jones. She looked nicer dressed for the party than in the picture Tao had shown him.
All the others closed in and followed Nick and Harry. Charlie tried to see over them, but could only catch a glimpse.
Nick and Tara were talking, and Charlie felt a rush of nervousness. Maybe Elle had been wrong. Maybe Charlie had been wrong about Nick. Maybe the two of them were going to be a couple.
The last thing he wanted was for the rest of the rugby team to turn their attention to him, so he ducked through the nearest door to get out of the way.
Charlie lost himself in the corridors. It seemed that everywhere he turned there was another one, and so many people. He wouldn't have been surprised if every teenager in England was here. And of them all, there was only one he wanted to see, and he was with someone else.
After all his twists and turns, he found himself in a darkened corridor with no one else in it. No, there was one other person, walking toward Charlie. Ducking his head, Charlie tried to get out of the way, but ended up bumping the other boy's shoulder. "Sorry."
They turned and looked at one another, and Charlie found to his surprise that it was Ben. It hadn't even occurred to him that Ben would be here—in the anticipation of seeing Nick, Charlie had forgotten Ben existed.
They stared at each other. "Hey," Ben said.
Charlie stood frozen, not sure what to say.
Ben came closer to him. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened. Okay? Have you finished sulking about it?"
How dare he? Physically assault him and then act like Charlie was overreacting? Charlie pushed past him. "Leave me alone."
"Oh, come on." Ben reached out and grabbed Charlie's arm.
"Do not touch me!" Charlie whirled round and shoved at him, pushing him back against the wall. He couldn't believe he had ever fallen for this kind of open manipulation.
Without another word, he turned and went back to the party. He couldn't find Nick, suddenly sure that he was with Tara and all Charlie's imaginings were for nothing. Eventually, he ended up just sitting alone on a sofa off the dance floor, trying to decide if it was worth calling his dad and going home early.
Then, suddenly, Nick was there, sitting down next to him, smiling at him, and everything felt right again.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"You left." Nick said it like he'd been looking for him ever since, like Charlie was the only person at the party he wanted to see.
"Sorry, I … I felt like I was in the way. And your year 11 friends are kind of intimidating."
"Yeah. I don't know if I want to hang out with those guys anymore. I'd rather hang out with you, anyway." Nick looked him in the eyes. He really was so beautiful; it was hard to breathe, looking at him. Charlie wanted to reach out and smooth back the length of red hair that spilled across his forehead.
To keep from doing that—or any of the other things he wanted to do right now—he changed the subject. "So, I just ran into Ben."
"Ben?"
"Yeah. I mean … I dealt with it. He tried to, like, apologise for what happened, but I pushed him into a wall and told him to go away." He suddenly couldn't believe he had done that. Last fall he would never have had the courage to stand up for himself like that. "I think he got the message this time."
Nick smiled. "I'm so proud!" He put his hand on Charlie's.
"Shut up," Charlie said shyly. Their eyes met, here in the middle of the party, and Charlie couldn't help but be aware that Nick Nelson was holding his hand, and didn't seem to be in a hurry to stop.
"It's kind of noisy in here, isn't it?" Nick asked after a moment.
"Yeah."
"Shall we go somewhere quieter again?"
Oh, yes. Whatever it was that was in Nick's eyes, Charlie wanted more of it. He smiled. "Okay."
"Come on." Still holding on to Charlie's hand, Nick got up and led him through the crowd. In a doorway next to a stairwell, Nick stopped and looked at him. "You want to race?"
Charlie grinned. "Oh, you want to race me?"
"No! No, no," Nick called after him, but it was too late.
Charlie hit the stairs running, hearing Nick's feet pounding after him. Nick was complaining all the way up that Charlie was going too fast, but he was right there behind him, so Charlie kept going. He left the stairs and ran down a corridor, with Nick calling after him, "I'm dying!"
"That's because you're old." Charlie pulled open a door and found himself alone in an empty room, so far from the party that even the bass line from the dance floor was barely audible. Alone—with Nick.