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Darcy ushered them into the girls' room with an exasperated "Finally!" Tara wasn't there yet, but she was expected at any moment.
"You did all this?" Charlie asked, looking round. Streamers were everywhere, and balloons, and there was music playing and people dancing. It all felt like a lot for a small hotel room, and Nick wondered how Darcy had managed it all.
"Everything has to be perfect for Tara," she said. "She's a princess."
The knock on the door was soft enough that only the three of them heard it. Darcy shushed everyone, and then the door opened, revealing Tara and Elle and Sahar, and everyone yelled "Surprise!"
Tara evidently was actually surprised, and she seemed quite pleased, rushing in to hug Darcy.
Darcy pulled out a bottle of what looked like either vodka or gin. Nick clapped with the others, wondering yet again how Darcy had pulled all this off.
Tao and Elle commandeered the bathroom for an extended make-out session, which meant anyone actually having to use the bathroom needed to find one of the girls from the next room over. As the party was ramping up, Ben came in. No one looked at him or talked to him—he'd been isolated the whole trip, ever since the scene at dinner. Nick could see the way Charlie deflated when he walked into the room, though. More than anything else, he hated Ben for the way him just being in the room stole Charlie's confidence.
He took Charlie's hand. "Come on."
They ducked through the window and sat there on the balcony, looking down on the street. No one had noticed them going, and so it was just this peaceful, quiet place, just the two of them.
Nick leaned over, smiling. "We keep escaping parties to hang out with each other."
"Are we going to do it every time?"
"I hope so." He looked at his boyfriend, remembering the last party, the way his heart had pounded, the magic and the terror of those first kisses, the panic that had sent him fleeing the room. Hard to imagine now, when all he ever wanted was to be where Charlie was. "Not running away this time, though."
"No. Please don't."
"Sorry to interrupt your very obvious flirting," Darcy said loudly at just that lovely, interesting moment, climbing out onto the balcony with them, "but it's alcohol time!" She held up the bottle, which was surprisingly full, given how freely she'd been sharing it. Or maybe it was a different bottle.
"Okay," Charlie said, laughing, as he held out his cup of punch.
Darcy filled it to the brim, spilling a little, then disappeared back into the room. "Enjoy!"
Charlie stared at the full cup. "My parents never let me have alcohol."
Nick had tried it a few times. It wasn't bad, but he didn't much care for how it made him feel. Still, this was a good time for Charlie to try it for the first time. "Well, your parents aren't here now."
"Okay." Charlie tried a swallow and made a face. "Oh, that is disgusting."
"Wait, I've got to try it. I'm sure it's not that bad."
"No, it is. Trust me."
Nick took a sip, grimacing at the immediate burn from the alcohol. "Oh, wow. That hits you immediately."
They went back inside to dump out the rest of the gross punch, stepping into the room to see Tara and Darcy at the door with Harry and one of his friends. "Come on, man," Harry was protesting, "everyone's here. Can I not just talk to Nick and Charlie?"
"No, they don't want to talk to you!" Tara said.
"What do you mean they don't want to talk to me?"
Nick and Charlie had made their way to the door while this conversation was going on. "What do you want?" Nick asked.
"Look. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know I've said some homophobic stuff in the past, but I feel like I know better now, and I'll never say anything like that again. So …" Harry glanced back at his friend, grinning. "We cool? Can we come in?"
"No." Charlie reached out and shut the door without hesitating.
Tara and Darcy both hugged him, exclaiming in pride. Nick was proud of him, too. He had stood up for himself, he had done what he needed to do. Maybe someday Charlie would be willing to accept Harry's apology—or Harry would give him a better one—but today he didn't have to.
After a bit more dancing, someone suggested Truth or Dare. Nick was never sure about these kinds of games, but everyone else seemed excited to play, so he took his seat next to Charlie. And for a long time, it was just fun. Tara had to chug a cup of that horrible punch concoction; Tao was asked for details about his and Elle's first kiss and loudly, blushing, refused to comply. Isaac was asked about his celebrity crushes and unable to think of a single one, to everyone else's vocal disbelief. Sahar's truth was about Imogen dropping her as a friend last year when she got a boyfriend. Nick was sad about that, and he hoped the two of them could make up.
Tao was dared to kiss someone in the group, and of course, everyone thought he would pick Elle, but then he looked across the circle and grinned at Charlie. "Come on! I know you've loved me for years." He crawled across on his hands and knees and planted a kiss on Charlie's lips, then took a bow.
Then the bottle landed on Charlie. A girl Nick didn't really know said, "I dare Charlie to kiss …" She looked round the circle. "James."
James froze, looking first at Charlie and then at Isaac. It was very clear, at least to Nick, that he wanted no part of this dare.
"You're only saying that because of the hickey rumour, and … it wasn't James," Charlie said.
"Yeah. I mean … I don't care, so …" James stammered.
"Fine," the girl said. She looked round the circle again. "I dare Charlie to kiss ... Ben."
Of all the people. Everyone had heard Imogen at the dinner. Nick still didn't know who this girl was, but he really didn't like her. She seemed determined to stir up drama.
"Come on!" Imogen cried out. "Like, we've literally—we've literally just broken up."
"Come on," someone else said. "It's just a dare."
"No." Charlie shook his head, refusing. "No way."
"That isn't even funny," Ben said. "I barely know Charlie."
Honestly, Nick didn't know what was worse—that Ben was here at all, that he couldn't leave Charlie alone, or that he was still pretending in public that they didn't know each other.
"Don't be boring."
"It's just a game."
"No." Ben got to his feet. "This game is so stupid. I'm tired, anyway." He walked out of the circle, shoving Nick in the process, and left the room.
Charlie glanced at Nick, who would have gladly left as well if Charlie had wanted to, but then Charle gamely looked across the circle at the darer. "Can I do a truth instead?"
"Okay, then. Who gave you the hickey?"
Half the room protested at that one.
"What? Can we just move on from this?" Elle demanded.
"It's too personal. Someone might get outed," Tara said.
"What's the point of Truth or Dare if we're allowed to keep secrets?" the first girl asked.
Nick hated this. He hated that he had put Charlie in this position, and that people couldn't let it go. Well … he wasn't ashamed. He was proud to be Charlie's boyfriend, and he wasn't going to hide it any longer. Into the din of everyone arguing, he said, "I know who it was." He looked at Charlie, seeing the smile he should have put there a long time ago, and he reached for Charlie's hand. Then he faced the circle. "Me. We're dating."
There was a chorus of what sounded like happy voices. Someone said they'd called it, and someone else said it was cute. Someone else asked how long they'd been together.
"A few months," Charlie said.
The original girl was looking at them in shock. "I never would have guessed Nick was gay."
Pretty much together, they said he was "bi, actually".
"So … do you want us to keep it a secret?" James asked.
No. No, he didn't. Not any longer. He glanced at Charlie for reassurance, seeing his smile. "We're okay with people knowing."
And then, Darcy. Being Darcy. "I'm sorry to ruin this very lovely moment, but I think I'm going to be sick."
They got up and hurried with Tao and Elle behind Tara and Darcy down the halls to the teachers' room.
Once they'd explained the situation, Mr. Farouk crossed his arms and looked down at Darcy. "I'm going to pretend I believe you have food poisoning."
"Just try and take some deep breaths," Mr. Ajayi said calmly. "I'll get you a sick bag—"
But it was too late. Mr. Ajayi's comforter turned into Darcy's sick bag.
Mr. Farouk sighed. "Why did I get into teaching?" He turned to the others. "We'll take care of Darcy. You four, back to your rooms."
"Yes, sir." They reached out and patted Darcy on the shoulder on their way out of the room, hoping she would be okay now that the horrible punch concoction was out of her system. Nick said softly to Tara that she should text him if she needed anything, and then he followed Charlie into the hall.