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Worn out by an emotional day, Nick and Charlie were both happy to get back to the hotel and just chill in their room. Isaac had acquired a French version of a Where's Waldo? book, and the three of them piled on the bed together and hunted for the striped jumper on page after page.
They were stuck on a page about halfway through when Tao came out of the bathroom. "I have something to share."
The three of them turned to look up at him, waiting.
"Me and Elle kissed." He couldn't keep the smile off his face.
Charlie sat up, grinning. "No way. No, you didn't!"
Then all three of them were on their feet, shouting questions and congratulations at him.
Grabbing Tao by the waist, Charlie spun him round. "I'm so proud of you!"
As they collapsed on Tao and Charlie's bed, Isaac followed them. "Oh, my God, Tao, you have to tell us everything! Right now."
"Well—she kind of initiated it. And then we kissed again. Ah, but I kissed her that time."
"Oh, my God! No, you didn't!" Isaac was squealing with happiness.
Charlie loved that about him—he was always so genuinely enthusiastic about anything that happened in their lives. He thought he should really ask Isaac more about what was happening with him, but Isaac never seemed to want to talk about himself.
"Wait, so what does this mean?" Nick asked. "Are you two dating?"
Tao frowned at him. "I don't know. We literally had our first kiss like five hours ago."
"You need to talk to her," Charlie said, remembering the night after his and Nick's first kiss, and how they really should have just talked to each other. "I'm going to text the girls."
"Wait, wait, hang on!" Tao reached for the phone.
"What are you sending?" Nick asked.
"Well, we should explore the hotel." They hadn't done that yet, and they'd already been here for two nights. It was time to stop being boring and start having adventures.
They all snuck out, running into the girls near the vending machines. As soon as Elle saw Tao, her face lit up like a candle, and she grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hall. Charlie caught hold of Nick's hand and dragged him along as well, then Darcy followed with Sahar.
Tao and Elle lost them all immediately, and Charlie made sure he and Nick did, too. They found another set of vending machines and Charlie backed into a corner near them. Nick followed, and Charlie's breathing came to a stop. Nick was so tall, and so close, and they were here alone in a hotel in Paris …
"Finally," he whispered. As Nick smiled and leaned in, he said, "If you even think about giving me another hickey …"
"I wasn't thinking about that!"
"You so were."
Nick laughed. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"Fine."
"Charlie, you literally fainted on me today."
"But how are you feeling about seeing your dad? You wanted to come out to him."
"I know I've been stressed about coming out, but … I don't think I realised how stressed out you've been about it."
Charlie dropped his head so he didn't have to look into Nick's eyes and show him how true that was. It wasn't fair to put his stuff on Nick and add to how hard it already was to come out to people. "I get stressed about everything. You're not special." The eating thing was partly the coming out thing, yes, but it was also his mum, and school, and just … life.
"Charlie," Nick murmured, not believing him.
"And it doesn't matter how I feel about it anyway. It's your coming out. You're the one who's going through it—"
"Charlie," Nick said again, cutting him off. "It matters to me."
They both leaned in this time, and were about to kiss, when they heard Mr. Farouk's voice. "Boys!" They looked at him round the corner of the vending machine. "It's past eleven. You should be in your room. Go on now."
Nick went, and Charlie followed, their bare feet silent on the carpeted floor.
As they got closer to their room, Nick reached out for Charlie's hand again. "We are never going to stop getting interrupted."
"No, it doesn't seem like we are." Charlie's phone pinged and he pulled it out of his pocket. "It's from Darcy. Oh! Tomorrow's Tara's birthday. Did you know that?"
Nick shook his head and leaned over Charlie's shoulder to look at the phone.
"She wants to have a party tomorrow night. We'll have to make some plans, and figure out how to sneak into their room without Mr. Farouk and Mr. Ajayi catching us." Charlie grinned. "That's more like it."
"Oh, has our Paris adventure been boring for you?"
Nick was teasing, but Charlie was serious, looking up at him. "Mostly just haven't had enough time with you." He smiled a little.
"Is there any such thing?"
"No." Sometimes, Charlie thought he liked Nick too much, that Nick would be annoyed if he knew how Charlie literally wanted to be with him all the time. And then Nick would remind him that he wanted that, too, and it always felt like magic. "You think we'll ever get to a point where we don't want to spend all our time together?"
"God, I hope not." Nick grinned and kissed him. Quickly, since they were still standing in the hallway and anyone might walk by. Then the smile faded from his face, and he held Charlie's hand tight. "I hope you're always my favourite person, Charlie Spring."
"Well, I'm pretty sure you're always going to be mine, Nick Nelson."
"Good." Nick looked like he wanted to kiss him again, a lot. He sighed. "You know, I think I'm almost looking forward to going home, just so we can go in my room and shut the door and not be interrupted."
"Me, too," Charlie said with feeling. "Me, too."