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Charlie and Nick were assigned to tack tinsel on the edge of the stage. Nick held it while Charlie stapled. Charlie looked so cute, so focused, making sure each staple was absolutely right, that Nick couldn't resist—as Charlie pulled the trigger of the staple gun he cried out and snatched his hand back like he'd been stapled.

"Did I—" Charlie asked immediately, panicked. "You're—" Then, as Nick dissolved into giggles, he couldn't help but laugh, too. "That wasn't funny."

"It was a little bit funny."

"You two." Sahar was frowning at them, hands on her hips. "When you finish there, I have other things you can do."

"Right. Of course." Nick smothered his smile, but as Charlie lined up for another staple, he couldn't help chuckling a little bit.

"You're terrible."

"Nick! I need a tall person." He turned to find Tara nearly smothered by a big sheet of plastic tasselling.

"Okay. What do you need?"

"Crouch down."

Obediently, he did so, a little bit surprised when she climbed on his shoulders. "Okay, take me to the doorway."

"I don't want to drop you."

"Then don't."

"Easy for you to say." He got up carefully, holding on to her legs, and she guided him to the doorway. By the time they'd put up the third one, they had the balance down perfectly.

Nick knelt down to let her climb off, and she smiled at him. "Thanks, 'boy I'll never kiss again'."

"Anytime, 'girl I'll never kiss again'."

He went off to hold a ladder for Charlie, who was putting up balloons. As Charlie climbed down, they both heard someone near them say "Oh, my God. Do you think they're actually dating?"

Nick tried to ignore the group, who seemed to be daring the girl who'd spoken to ask them. He focused on the ladder and where it needed to go. But two people broke off from the group and came over to them, and he couldn't ignore it any longer. Really, what more did they need? He was bi, and Charlie was his boyfriend. He thought he'd been pretty clear about it.

"Is it true you guys are going out?" the girl asked.

Charlie tensed up, and Nick glanced at him before confirming. "Yeah."

The boy, a guy Nick knew a little from some of his classes, said, "I didn't know you were gay, Nick."

"Well, I—I'm bi, actually, but yeah."

"I think you guys look so cute together," the girl offered. The two of them returned to the group, with her loudly whispering, "I told you!"

Left alone, Nick looked up at Charlie. He wanted a break from all this, from all the people—to just be somewhere with Charlie. "Do you want to stop and get something to eat?" Too late he realised that probably Charlie didn't, not after the questions. "We can walk to the shop."

"I'll eat later." Charlie smiled as he said it, but Nick worried anyway. "I had a really late breakfast, so … You can, though."

Nick had been with him most of the late morning, so unless Charlie's idea of late was before Nick had woken up this morning, that wasn't the truth. He wished Charlie didn't feel like he had to pretend with him, but he thought he understood that once you got used to making that kind of excuse, you just kept doing it.

He dropped the subject, although he did manage to convince Charlie to take a quick water break. Then Charlie got called away to help Isaac and Elle with the artistic arrangement of some decorations. Nick spied Tao sitting along the wall with a snack, and crossed the room to sit next to him.

"Looks good," he said, gesturing at the paintings of clouds that were drying along the wall near where Tao was sitting.

"Well, Elle did most of it."

"That makes sense."

Tao offered him a crisp. "I saw your Instagram post."

"Yeah."

"And the comments." Nick nodded, and Tao said, "They're all idiots for assuming you're straight. And I'm including myself in that statement."

Nick chuckled. "Thanks." Tao's approval had been a long time coming; he appreciated the gesture.

"Charlie must be really happy."

He started to give an easy answer, but … this was Tao. Charlie's best friend. If anyone knew what Charlie had been through, how to help him come out the other side, it would be Tao. "In some ways, yeah," Nick said thoughtfully. "I mean, he—he says he's really happy, but … I don't know. I think he's been finding all the attention, like, a lot." Nick had, and if he had, Charlie must feel completely weighted down.

"Well, yeah. He hates attention, so …"

"I'm just worried."

"How come?"

Nick chose his words carefully. What Charlie had told him was Charlie's to tell, and he treasured that Charlie had trusted him enough that he wouldn't want to repeat it … but he did want Tao to know some of his concerns, so they could look out for Charlie together. "I think … the more I learn about him, the more I think that the bullying and all the things that happened to him in the past, they all really affected him. And … and he still carries it all with him. Even though it's over. It still causes him a lot of pain." He turned to Tao. "I don't know. Do you think that's true?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I—I do. I think when something really bad happens, it can affect you for a really long time. Like … my dad died when I was twelve, and, you know, I think a lot of the reason I get so freaked out about losing my friends and … losing Elle … is because losing him was just, like …" Tao stopped, and Nick could hear the strain in his voice, just talking about it. "Yeah."

"I—I didn't know about your dad."

"Oh. Don't … don't be weird about it."

Nick smiled. He wasn't sure what would make it weird, but maybe that just meant dropping the subject. "I'll try?"

"Good." After a moment, Tao said, "You know, the bullying? You know how bad it was, don't you?"

He really didn't. Not the way he should know. Not the way he wished he had known, so he could have stopped it, or helped with it. "I mean, I heard some stuff, but, um, yeah, Charlie never really talked to me about it."

"Me, neither."

Nick looked at Tao in surprise. "He didn't?"

"No. I mean, I was there, but … Charlie never wanted to talk about it, and I—I didn't know how to help, so …"

"You did help, though. Just being there. All four of you—you got each other through."

"I suppose."

"I—I want to help him," Nick said. "I just wish I knew how."

"Me, too."