Chapter Text
By the end of the morning, Charlie’s arms hurt, there was flour in places flour should never reasonably reach, and he was pretty sure the smell of cinnamon and vanilla had fully permeated his skin now.
And he was having a genuinely amazing time… Which felt embarrassing, because if someone had shown this exact scene to Charlie from a year ago, he would have reacted with absolute horror.
You’re spending your summer baking pies… on a farm… with the quarterback of a football team? Ew.
Past Charlie would have booed him aggressively, probably while Tao threatened to physically remove him from the situation.
But current Charlie was standing in Nick Nelson’s warm farmhouse kitchen laughing so hard he nearly dropped a measuring cup full of sugar after Nick reached into the oven without a mitt, burnt his fingers, and tried to save face by immediately posing like The Thinker as if nothing had happened.
“Yes. Perfect. You look totally unaffected.”
Sarah didn’t even look up from rolling dough. “I swear every few months I watch that boy relearn the laws of thermodynamics.”
“Pain builds character,” Nick muttered, sticking his fingers in his mouth.
Charlie glanced at him. “You say that like you’re some tragic hero in an action movie, instead of a kid baking with his mommy.”
Nick put a hand over his heart dramatically. “Mother… tell my story when I'm gone…”
Charlie had started out mostly peeling apples and measuring ingredients while Sarah guided him through things, but after a while she’d started trusting him with more complicated jobs.
He’d rolled dough while Nick washed strawberries at the sink beside him, shoulders brushing Charlie’s every few minutes.
He’d learned how to crimp pie edges properly.
Nick had taught him how to egg wash the crusts so they’d bake golden and shiny.
Sarah had put old music on through a little speaker by the window and occasionally danced badly around the kitchen while waiting for timers.
At one point Nick got flour on Charlie’s cheek and Charlie retaliated by smacking flour directly onto the front of Nick’s shirt, and then delighted in the affronted gasp and unbridled giggle he got in response.
Many hours and a handful more ingredients used as weapons later, they wrapped the last pie.
“Aaaand done,” Nick declared dramatically, pressing the lid onto the final pie container and holding up his hands like he’d just completed brain surgery.
Charlie looked over the rows of finished pies lined up across the counters and island.
Apple. Peach. Blueberry. Strawberry rhubarb.
A whole morning’s worth of work that Charlie felt strangely proud of. Maybe he should suggest to his mom that they get a second oven.
“They actually look kind of professional,” he admitted. “Despite me touching them.”
Sarah pointed at him immediately. “That’s because I'm a fantastic teacher.”
Nick rolled his eyes affectionately. “Yeah, yeah.”
Charlie laughed.
Sarah wiped her hands on a dish towel and smiled warmly at Charlie. “Seriously, thank you again for helping today.”
Charlie shrugged, smiling back. “It was fun. I’ll help anytime.” Then he added solemnly, “And I didn’t even burn myself or lose a finger.”
Nick snorted and rolled his eyes affectionately. “Mhm, show off.”
Sarah smiled. “There's still time.”
Nick bumped Charlie lightly with his hip. “Come on.”
Charlie followed him upstairs, still warm from the kitchen and the summer heat and the easy happiness of the morning.
Once they got to Nick’s room, Nick flopped onto the bed with a tired groan.
Charlie sat beside him cross-legged.
“I can’t believe people can do that every day,” Charlie said.
Nick laughed. “Yeah, my life is kind of exhausting.”
“Your mom has terrifying levels of energy.”
“She wakes up at five in the morning happy,” Nick agreed gravely. “It’s inhuman. Sometimes I think she just plugs herself into a charger for a few hours and is good to go again.”
Charlie smiled.
Nick reached over toward his nightstand and grabbed a notebook and pen, then popped the cap off the pen with his teeth.
Why was that attractive? You're getting more ridiculous every day.
Nick opened the notebook. “Okay. Summer bucket list.”
Charlie blinked. “Oh—you meant an actual list?”
Nick looked over at him, amused. “Yes?”
“I thought you meant, like… metaphorically.”
Nick laughed. “No! We need to make sure we don’t forget anything.”
Charlie grinned despite himself and shifted a little closer so he could see the notebook better.
Nick wrote SUMMER in neat capital letters at the top of the page.
Then underneath:
- Fishing
Charlie immediately wrinkled his nose. “I’m not touching worms.”
Nick looked offended. “Fishing is a sacred Southern tradition.”
“It’s fish kidnapping and it's creepy.”
Nick laughed and kept writing.
- Camping
Charlie pointed accusingly. “If a bear eats me, I’m haunting you.”
“Looking forward to that.”
- Swimming at the lake
“Hm,” Charlie said thoughtfully. “Acceptable. I like swimming.”
- Hiking
Charlie sighed heavily. “More nature. I've never been a nature guy.”
“You liked the farm.”
“That’s because you were there showing me.”
The words slipped out before Charlie could stop them.
There was a tiny pause.
Nick’s ears went slightly pink.
Charlie immediately looked away. “Anyway—”
Nick cleared his throat and kept writing, smiling a little to himself.
- Bonfires
“Okay,” Charlie admitted. “Those have proven decently fun. But we've already done that.”
“Charlie. You need at least two bonfires a week or it's not really summer.”
- Flea markets
Charlie gasped. “Wait, old people and junk shopping?”
Nick looked delighted by his excitement. “Yes.”
“Oh, I’m absolutely finding something horrifying and potentially haunted to put in Tori’s room.”
“The spirit of the South is entering your body as we speak.”
- Farmer's market
“Are you going to put me to work?”
Nick grinned wide. “Yes.”
- The county fair
“Ohhh I'm going to take you on so many spinny rides you'll puke up a funnel cake. Even if you don't eat one.”
- Driving around the back roads
Charlie smiled a little at that one, because somehow that already felt like theirs.
- Stargazing
Charlie glanced over, trying very hard to not think about how inherently romantic that one was. Nick must have known when he decided to put it on the list. “You really do country-boy activities like it’s your full-time job.”
Nick grinned. “That’s because it literally is my full-time job.”
Then, at the bottom, Nick added one final thing.
- Doing nothing.
Charlie laughed immediately. “I thought we established that’s not an activity.”
Nick looked at him seriously. “And I told you I strongly disagree.”
Charlie shook his head, smiling helplessly.
Nick tapped the notebook with the pen. “Doing nothing with the right person can actually be one of the best parts.”
The right person.
There was that feeling again. That awful warm ache in Charlie’s chest every time Nick said something accidentally devastatingly sweet without even realizing it.
Charlie looked down at the list quickly before Nick could maybe see too much on his face.
“…Okay,” he said softly. “Maybe that one can stay then.”
—
Charlie had been journaling for almost two hours.
Not continuously. There had been plenty of staring out the window involved. A few long pauses. One brief detour where he'd gotten distracted reading an old entry from March and spent ten minutes cringing at himself.
But mostly he'd been writing.
Geoff had always encouraged it.
“Get it out of your head and onto paper."
Apparently thoughts became easier to understand when they weren't all jumbled and piled on top of each other inside your brain. Who woulda guessed?
His journal sat open across his knees as he lounged on top of his bed, one leg bouncing absently.
The page in front of him was, unsurprisingly, mostly about Nick. Because apparently every road in Charlie's brain currently led there now.
He tapped the end of his pen against the paper, then wrote another line.
Nick is somehow everything I've ever wanted without even realizing I wanted it.
That sounded stupid.
He crossed it out. Then uncrossed it, because actually it was true.
A year ago, if someone had told Charlie Spring that what he really wanted was the country boy quarterback from the local high school football team who named his pets after the Marvel cinematic universe and was a proud mama's boy, he would've laughed in their face.
Then probably asked if they were having some kind of medical emergency.
Everything about Nick should have made Charlie wary.
The football. The popularity. The endless collection of friends who looked like they belonged in a teen movie. But Nick had turned out to be...
Nice. What an underrated word, but that's what he was. Just… nice.
Nick never seemed like he was trying too hard, he was kind because he wanted to be. Funny because he genuinely liked seeing people smile. Patient because that was simply how he moved through the world.
There wasn't any performance to him. No posturing. No games.
It was weirdly refreshing.
Charlie had known Tao for years, loved him to pieces, but it had taken months before they'd figured out each other's rhythms.
The same with Elle, Darcy, even Isaac. But with Nick, it had happened almost immediately.
The teasing, the jokes, the way conversations flowed effortlessly from serious to ridiculous and back again.
It felt natural.
Comfortable.
Easy.
Charlie stared down at the page.
Then, before he could stop himself, wrote:
I think he's my person.
His face immediately got warm.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered.
He dropped his pen onto the bed.
Nope. Absolutely not. That was enough emotional honesty for one morning.
He closed the journal, and before he could figure out what to do next, there was a knock downstairs.
His parents were at Oliver's camp's parent day. Tori was upstairs showering.
Another knock.
Charlie climbed off the bed and headed downstairs.
"Coming!"
He opened the front door, and found Michael Holden standing there.
Michael gave a small wave.
"Hello."
"Hey, Michael."
"Hello."
Charlie smiled.
Michael smiled.
Then they both stood there awkwardly for a second.
"Uh... come in?"
"Okay."
Michael stepped inside.
Charlie closed the door behind him.
"I didn't know you were coming over."
Michael nodded.
"Neither did I."
Charlie frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Michael considered it, then shrugged.
"I was on my way home from speed skating lessons and found myself in your driveway.”
That honestly sounded about right.
"Tori's in the shower."
"That's okay."
Michael followed him into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Very neatly. Hands folded. Back straight. Like someone waiting to be called into the principal's office.
Charlie sat across from him.
The silence stretched.
Michael looked nervous. Like visibly vibrating nervous.
Charlie felt compelled to do something.
"So... how's your summer b—?"
Michael immediately interrupted, not rudely, just with the energy of someone who physically could not keep a thought inside his body any longer.
"I'm planning to ask Tori to be my girlfriend today."
Charlie blinked.
"Oh."
Michael froze.
"What?"
“Nothing. I just—I'm surprised. I thought you were already dating.”
Michael looked relieved… Then anxious again. Then relieved. Then anxious.
Charlie was honestly getting dizzy watching it happen.
"You okay?"
Michael took a deep breath.
"I think so." A pause. "Do you think she'll say yes?"
Charlie smiled.
This was actually kind of adorable.
"I think she probably will."
Michael's shoulders loosened slightly.
"You do?"
"Yeah."
"Tori's hard to read."
Charlie laughed.
"Yeah. Tori is... complicated."
"Very."
"But she likes you."
Michael stared at the table, then smiled—a small one.
"I hope so."
"I promise you she wouldn't spend this much time with someone she didn't like." He thought for a moment. “She really doesn't even spend this much time with anyone she does like. You must be special.”
Michael seemed to think about that.
"That's reassuring."
Charlie grinned.
"Good."
Another silence settled between them, this one a little more comfortable.
Then Michael tilted his head.
"Are you still dating Nick Nelson?"
Charlie nearly inhaled his own tongue.
"What?"
Michael looked confused.
"You and Nick Nelson."
Charlie stared.
Michael stared back.
The silence stretched.
"Michael."
"Yes?"
"What are you talking about?"
Michael frowned.
“Is Nick not your boyfriend?”
"No.”
"Oh."
Charlie continued staring.
Michael continued looking confused.
"Why did you think that?"
Michael shrugged.
"You spend all your time together and every time you're in the same room he's staring at you.”
"Oh."
Another pause.
"My mistake."
Charlie opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
Before the conversation could continue further, footsteps appeared on the stairs. Both boys looked up as Tori walked into the kitchen, hair still slightly damp from her shower.
She stopped, looked at Michael, looked at Charlie, looked back at Michael.
"...Hello."
Michael stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped over.
"Hello."
Tori blinked.
Charlie was suddenly fascinated, like he was watching a nature documentary… A very awkward nature documentary.
Michael swallowed.
Then launched forward—not physically, that would be terrifying—but verbally.
"I was wondering if maybe you'd want to watch a movie."
Tori stared.
Michael continued.
"Or get ice cream."
A pause.
"Or get ice cream while watching a movie."
Another pause.
"Or watch a movie after getting ice cream."
Charlie admired the commitment.
Tori looked at Michael for a long moment, and then nodded.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yes.”
"Okay."
Tori rolled her eyes.
"Are you coming or not?"
Michael immediately nodded.
"Yes."
"Good."
She turned toward the stairs, and Michael hurried after her, then stopped, turned back and looked at Charlie.
"Good luck with Nick."
Charlie nearly choked.
"Uhh…”
But Michael was already disappearing upstairs.
Tori looked over her shoulder.
"Good luck with Nick?"
Charlie pointed helplessly.
"I DON'T KNOW."
Tori stared at him, and then a slow smirk spread across her face.
"Oh, this is interesting."
"Tori."
But she was already laughing as she disappeared upstairs after Michael, leaving Charlie alone in the kitchen staring at the ceiling.
—
The truck rattled pleasantly beneath them as Charlie guided it down another long stretch of back road.
A week ago, every gear change had felt like a life-or-death decision. Now, it was starting to feel natural. He wasn't exactly a pro, but it felt familiar.
The windows were down, letting warm summer air rush through the cab. Fields rolled past on either side, endless stretches of green broken up by fences, old barns, and the occasional cluster of trees. The afternoon sun painted everything gold around the edges.
The old radio crackled softly. Charlie drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Nick sang along badly. Charlie sang along even worse.
"I can see you—your breasts keep shining in the sun..."
Charlie lost it.
"Those are not the words," Charlie informed him through his giggles.
"They absolutely are."
"It's your brown skin shining in the sun.”
Nick pointed at him. "Drive the truck."
Charlie laughed so hard he nearly missed a shift.
For a while they just drove. No destination. No reason. Just road leading to more road.
Charlie hadn't expected to like that part so much.
Back home, everything had somewhere to be. A train to catch. A sidewalk full of people. School. Appointments. Noise. Movement.
Here, there was nothing demanding his attention.
No schedule to follow. No train to catch. Just the road winding ahead of them and the music playing through old speakers and Nick stretched comfortably across the passenger seat beside him.
It felt… Free.
Free in a way Charlie hadn't realized he'd been craving.
Eventually Nick pointed ahead.
"Pull into the gas station."
Charlie glanced over. "Why?"
"Because I said so."
"Compelling argument."
“I know.”
Charlie rolled his eyes but turned into the small station anyway.
It was the kind of place that looked like it hadn't changed in thirty years. One gas pump looked newer than the others. The sign out front buzzed faintly.
Nick hopped out.
"Be right back."
Charlie watched him jog inside.
A few minutes passed.
Through the windshield, Charlie could see Nick standing at the counter talking to the older man working the register.
And, unsurprisingly, Nick appeared to have made a friend.
The man was laughing. Nick was laughing.
Nick could probably have a meaningful conversation with a tree if given enough time. Charlie envied that sometimes. People just... liked him. Nick never seemed to be performing for anyone. He wasn't trying to be charming. He just was.
Charlie, meanwhile, had spent years carefully cultivating sarcasm and doubting and overthinking every interaction he ever had.
His thoughts were interrupted when two women approached the truck, both looked to be somewhere in their fifties.
They slowed as they reached him, looked at the truck, looked at Charlie.
Charlie immediately became aware of every single thing about himself. The eyeliner. The leather. The shirt hanging off one shoulder. The fact that he was sitting in the local football star's truck.
The women whispered to each other.
Charlie stared straight ahead.
Cool. Great. Awesome. Will this be a gay thing or a criminal thing?
Then the gas station door opened and Nick stepped outside carrying a drink tray.
He spotted the women.
"Afternoon, Miss Lynn. Miss Tammy."
The women turned.
"Oh, Nicholas!"
Nick smiled politely.
The women pointed toward the truck.
"Do you know this boy?"
Nick blinked in confusion as he looked at Charlie, then seemed to realize, and smiled.
"Yes indeed, I do. This is Charlie."
There was the briefest pause.
"My friend."
The women looked Charlie over again as Nick’s smile stayed perfectly pleasant. Almost saccharine.
"Thought maybe somebody had stolen your truck," Miss Tammy admitted.
Nick let out a short laugh.
"Interesting assumption."
"Oh, well..."
"I mean," Nick continued easily, "a boy even younger than me is simply sitting in my truck listening to music…”
The women shifted awkwardly.
"And your first thought was grand theft auto? In the middle of farm country?"
Charlie bit the inside of his cheek.
The women were clearly realizing they were being lightly roasted.
“Well, we don't get many folks who look so…”
“So, what, ma'am?”
“Unconventional.”
"Right. It's true, eyeliner is rather ominous and scary. But he's pretty good at it. Perhaps you could ask him for some tips, ma'am."
Still smiling. Still impossibly polite as the women in front of him sputtered. Charlie found it incredibly entertaining, and kind of attractive.
Eventually the women recovered.
"Well, tell your mom hello for us."
"I will."
"We'll stop by the farm this week."
"She'll be happy to hear that."
The women waved and finally moved on, giving Charlie a tight lipped smile and nod as they walked off.
Nick climbed into the passenger seat. Charlie waited until his door shut.
"Wow."
"What?"
"That was impressive."
"What was?"
"The polite Southern passive aggression."
Nick laughed.
"I wasn't being passive aggressive. I meant everything I said."
Charlie snorted.
“So you think eyeliner is ominous.”
“Ominous. Mysterious. Incredibly sexy. It's all the same, really.”
Nick casually set one of the drinks into Charlie's cup holder as Charlie attempted to not go into cardiac arrest.
Before Charlie could properly acknowledge Nick's words, his expression softened.
"Sorry they were rude."
Charlie snapped back to reality and shrugged.
"I get it a lot these days."
Nick frowned slightly.
"Still shouldn't happen."
Charlie nodded, unsure how to respond.
"Alright."
Charlie blinked.
"Alright what?"
"Switch seats."
Charlie stared at him.
"Okayyy… Why?"
Nick's grin widened.
"You'll see."
Still confused, Charlie climbed out and traded places with him. Once they were both settled again, Nick started the truck.
"You need donuts."
Charlie looked over.
"I need donuts?"
"Yes."
"I mean, I like donuts well enough, but why do I need them?"
Nick just smiled mysteriously as he pulled the truck back onto the road.
A few minutes later, they pulled into the same abandoned parking lot as before.
The second the truck rolled onto the cracked asphalt, Charlie frowned.
"Why are we—"
The answer came when Nick cranked the wheel hard and stomped on the gas.
Charlie let out a startled yelp as the back tires spun and the truck lurched sideways.
"Oh my God!"
The world became a blur of asphalt, sky, weeds growing through cracks in the pavement, and Nick laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
Charlie grabbed the nearest thing available—which happened to be Nick's arm.
"Nick!"
Nick laughed harder.
The truck whipped around again.
Charlie should have been terrified. Maybe he was terrified, but it was impossible to tell because adrenaline and excitement had fused together into one bright, dizzy rush that had him laughing uncontrollably.
"This is insane!"
"I told you you needed a lesson in being a teenager in the South!"
"This isn't a lesson!"
"It absolutely is!"
The truck spun again.
Charlie squeezed his eyes shut for a second and immediately regretted it when it made the dizziness worse.
When he opened them again, he became suddenly, painfully aware of the fact that almost his entire body was wrapped around Nick's arm like the most clingy koala. And annoyingly, unfairly, catastrophically, his bicep was exactly as solid as Charlie had imagined.
Ugh.
The man spent half his life hauling hay bales and feed bags around and it showed.
However, this was definitely not what he should be thinking about while Nick was currently trying to fling them into another dimension.
After another loop around the parking lot, Charlie finally threw his head back against the seat and shouted,
"Okay! Okay! I surrender! I'm getting dizzy!"
Nick laughed and eased off the gas. The truck gradually rolled to a stop, and for a moment neither of them said anything.
They were both still laughing. The soft kind that lingered after the joke was over but you still felt just a bit giddy from it. The kind that came from being genuinely happy in the moment.
Charlie leaned sideways without really thinking about it and let his head rest against Nick's shoulder.
The afternoon sun spilled through the windshield. Somewhere outside a cicada buzzed loudly in the heat.
Neither of them moved away. They just sat there catching their breath. Slowly, the laughter faded. Charlie glanced up. Nick was already looking at him. There was something soft in his expression. Fondness, maybe.
His mouth curved into that familiar lopsided smile that Charlie was beginning to suspect might actually be dangerous to his health.
The moment stretched like neither of them quite knew what to do with it.
Then a pickup truck drove past on the road and revved its engine loudly. Both of them jumped. Charlie nearly smacked his head on the window. Nick jerked upright. The spell shattered instantly.
Nick cleared his throat and started the truck.
"So," he said, very carefully looking at the road instead of Charlie, "did you have fun?"
Charlie smiled and nodded.
"Yeah."
“Good.”
"I just..." He looked out the window at the endless stretch of summer fields surrounding them. "Who knew something as simple as driving around aimlessly could actually be exciting?"
Nick hummed softly.
The drive back toward town was quieter. Comfortable. The radio played softly through the speakers while Charlie watched the countryside roll by outside the window.
When they finally pulled into Charlie's driveway, neither of them immediately reached for the door.
Nick drummed his fingers against the steering wheel looking oddly nervous.
"Hey," he said.
Charlie turned toward him.
Nick rubbed the back of his neck.
"I know I'm busy a lot with the farm."
Charlie waited.
"But..." Nick shrugged awkwardly. "You can come by whenever, you know. Even if I'm working."
A small smile tugged at Charlie's mouth.
"To help?"
"Or watch."
"Watch?"
Nick laughed.
"Okay, that sounded weird."
"A little."
"What I mean is..." He glanced down before looking back up. "Just… be there. Hang out, and when I'm done with chores or whatever, maybe we could watch a movie or something."
His voice got quieter near the end.
"I just..."
Charlie felt something warm bloom in his chest.
Nick looked almost embarrassed.
"I don't really want to wait until next weekend to hang out again."
God. There was something so sincere about this boy.
Charlie smiled helplessly.
"Yeah."
Nick looked up immediately.
"Yeah?"
"A movie sounds nice."
The relief on Nick's face was immediate and absolutely fucking adorable.
"I'll text you," Charlie said.
"Okay."
Before he could lose his nerve, Charlie leaned over and pressed a quick kiss against Nick's cheek. A firm, lingering moment, before pulling back quickly and immediately opening the door.
"Thanks for the driving lesson."
Nick was frozen, his entire face bright red.
"Yeah!"
Charlie stepped out of the truck.
"Yeah," Nick repeated, somehow even less coherently. "Happy to. Anytime."
Charlie was already grinning as he walked backward toward the house at how completely flustered Nick looked.
He reached the porch and glanced back one more time, just in time to catch Nick pumping his fist in celebration.
Nick immediately realized he'd been caught and transformed the fist pump into the most awkward wave Charlie had ever witnessed.
Charlie laughed all the way to his room.