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Isaac had bought a French version of Where's Waldo? at some point in his travels, and both Nick and Charlie were wiped out enough from the emotional day that they were more than content to hang out on the bed with Isaac and hunt for Wally.

They were stuck on a tricky page when Tao came out of the bathroom. "I have something to share." All of them looked up at him, waiting, as the smile he couldn't hide spread across his face. "Me and Elle kissed."

The three of them sat frozen for a moment. "No way," Charlie said. Then all of them were up on their feet, cheering for Tao. And for Elle.

Charlie swung him around and knocked him onto the bed. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Oh, my God, Tao, you have to tell us everything right now," Isaac said. Nick really loved how supportive he always was of his friends.

"Well, she kind of initiated it. And then we kissed again. Ah, but I kissed her that time."

"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."

"So you need to talk to her. I'll text the girls." Charlie pulled his phone out.

"Wait, wait, hang on!"

As Tao tried to stop him, Nick asked, "What are you sending?"

"'Well, we should explore the hotel'."

The girls' response was immediate and enthusiastic, so the four of them snuck out of the room, looking both ways to make sure there was no one around. Nick was a little surprised none of the other lads were out sneaking around—it seemed like the kind of thing Harry would love to do—but they seemed to be the only ones. Not that he minded.

The eight of them met up near the ice machine. Elle grabbed Tao and pulled him away, and Charlie took Nick's hand and followed them.

Charlie and Nick ended up in a secluded corner near the vending machines. "Finally," Charlie breathed. Nick agreed, and was just going in for a kiss when Charlie stopped him. "If you even think about giving me another hickey—"

Nick had no intention of doing so. In fact, he still felt guilty about it. "I wasn't thinking about that!"

"You so were."

"How are you feeling?" Nick asked. He also still wasn't quite over that moment when Charlie had fainted into his arms, or the moments after when he didn't wake up and Nick was so scared and unsure what was happening, or what to do.

Charlie smiled, clearly not thinking about that at all. "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."

"I get stressed about everything. You're not special."

"Charlie."

"And it doesn't matter how I feel about it, anyway," Charlie went on. "It's your coming out. You're the one who's going through it—"

"Charlie." Nick didn't want him to duck out of this. He wanted to know how he felt. "It matters to me."

They leaned toward each other, nearly kissing.

"Boys!" Mr. Farouk and Mr. Ajayi were coming toward them down the corridor. "It's past eleven. You should be in your room. Go on now."

They went past the teachers, heading back to the room, the moment broken. Nick lay awake for a long time that night, thinking about Charlie and his eating thing and the way Nick's inability to come out had added to that stress; thinking about his dad and his mum and their family and why they all lived such separate lives.

The next day was Tara's birthday. They all sang to her at breakfast, and then some of the girls gave her gifts. Nick wondered if he should have gotten her something. Then he saw Darcy's gift—a shirt printed all over with her face—and decided nothing could top that.

They wandered Paris together, the group of them, everyone feeling happy. It was like a real holiday. They took all sorts of pictures and selfies together and separately. They nearly lost Isaac in a bookstore. Every time Nick saw him the pile he was carrying got larger. Charlie browsed the books, too … and Nick just took pictures. Taking pictures of Charlie had become one of his favourite things to do.

At some point, they walked together down a street with rainbow umbrellas above their heads, the sun filtering down through their bright colours. Nick watched a couple walk down the street, their arms round each other. And no one cared that they were two men, or even noticed.

He looked at Charlie, and Charlie looked at him, and they clasped hands. Because they were together, and they could, and no one would notice, or care.

That night, after their lovely day, was the final night in the hotel, and Darcy had planned a big party in their room for Tara's birthday. Isaac and Tao got ready quickly, but both Nick and Charlie took a bit longer.

"We've got like five minutes before Tara arrives," Tao said, trying to rush them along.

"You go ahead," Charlie told him. "We'll meet you there."

"All right." They left.

Charlie came over to the bed where Nick was tying his shoes, gesturing at the green jumper he was wearing. "You sure you're okay with me borrowing this?"

More than okay. He'd get it back eventually smelling like Charlie, which was the best feeling. "As long as you don't steal it like the last three you borrowed. I actually quite like that one."

"I didn't steal them! I just … forgot to give them back."

"You forgot to give them back?" Nick mocked him.

Laughing, Charlie turned to the mirror to fix his hair.

Nick watched him for a moment from the bed, then got up to stand behind him. He found Charlie's obsession with his hair a little fascinating. It always looked good to Nick, who could never tell exactly what Charlie did to change it. Reaching round, he used his fingers to tilt Charlie's mouth up at the corners in a smile.

"Excuse me."

He draped his arms round Charlie's neck and rested his chin on Charlie's shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

What was he doing? Getting comfort and energy and a sense of security from standing here and holding his favourite person in the world. "I'm just … recharging." He dropped a gentle kiss on the back of Charlie's neck.

"We could … just stay here for a bit."

"Mm?"

Charlie turned in his arms, his hands on Nick's shoulders. "Yeah."

"Why's that?"

"We haven't kissed in, like, two days."

When he put it that way, it did seem like a long time. Nick rested their foreheads together, then their mouths met, gently at first, and then with growing urgency. He grasped the back of Charlie's jumper.

But they did have a party to get to, and Nick wasn't quite sure how far he wanted to take this right now. He pulled back. "Right. Come on. We're going to be late."

Charlie laughed. "I hate you."

"No, you like me!"

"Hmm …" Charlie opened the door and looked back at him, his eyes dancing. "I really don't."

Nick laughed and followed him out of the room.