Running into the room, they looked around. It was big, and empty, and incredibly fancy. "Whoa!"

"Yeah."

"How did Harry hire this entire place?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, he's, like, extremely rich."

"He should have gone on My Super Sweet 16."

"So he could cry when his parents got him the wrong color Lamborghini."

Charlie laughed. "Exactly."

Nick was still trying to catch his breath. What he had been thinking when he asked Charlie to race, he didn't know. He sat down against the wall, leaning back.

After a moment, Charlie sat down next to him, and any progress Nick had made toward more normal breathing went away entirely. By the time they left this room, something would have changed between them, and he didn't know what it would be or what he wanted it to be.

It was the least comfortable he had ever felt in Charlie's presence.

For once, Nick was at a loss for words, not knowing where to start or even what he wanted to say. Charlie was the one who broke the silence. "So ... Was Harry being serious? Do you like Tara?"

"What? No! No, definitely not." At least that was easy.

"Uh ..." Charlie was breathing hard, too, clearly struggling to decide what to say next. Nick wondered if he was as nervous as Nick was, if he felt any part of what Nick felt. "So you don't have a crush on anyone at the moment?"

Nick looked at Charlie, then away. He could say no, and this whole conversation would end, but it wouldn't be the truth. And he didn't want to say no. He wanted to tell Charlie the truth. If he could only get the words out. "Well ... I didn't say that."

"Oh."

Another silence, as Charlie looked away again. Nick felt so torn—he wanted to talk to Charlie, to tell him everything he was feeling, how confused he was, but he was so afraid of what would happen if he did. Or what wouldn't happen. Or whether he wanted anything to happen.

"What's she like, then?" Charlie asked.

"You're just ... gonna assume they're a she?" It was a relief even to say that much.

Charlie stared at him, completely surprised. "Are they ... Are they not a girl?"

Oh, God, what had he said? In sudden terror, Nick looked away, unable to find a single word that seemed right. "Um ..."

"Would you go out with someone who wasn't a girl?"

That was so hard to answer. "I don't know." He thought about it some more. Looking at Charlie, it was possible to imagine wanting to go out with someone who wasn't a girl, but how would that work? Who would he be if he was going out with another boy? "Maybe."

Nick could see Charlie breathing more heavily at the answer. Slowly, Charlie's foot moved closer to Nick's. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Charlie rest his hand on his knee, and then put it down on the floor next to Nick's.

If he could only remember how to breathe properly, this would be so much easier.

Charlie looked at him, hesitating before he asked the next question. "Would you kiss someone who wasn't a girl?"

Nick felt tears stinging the back of his eyes. Why was this so hard? Why couldn't he just say yes or no and be sure about it? "I don't know."

Slowly, Charlie moved his pinkie on top of Nick's. If it had been hard to breathe before, the jolt of electricity that went through Nick at the contact made it just ... impossible. He stared at their hands in a panic, and then he looked at Charlie. He thought he knew what the next question must be, and he still didn't know what he was going to say.

Then Charlie asked it. "Would you kiss me?"

Nick was filled with a sudden fear. This was it. This was the moment where everything changed. Charlie had come this far for him, but the final decision was Nick's, and he wasn't going to be able to dodge it with an "I don't know". And if he decided wrong, he would never be able to take it back.

And in this moment, he knew he didn't want to. Looking at Charlie's eyes, his lips that suddenly seemed made for kissing, Nick knew he wanted to kiss him. It was a tremendous relief to be sure of something at last. He moved his pinkie so that it was curled around Charlie's, feeling a shower of sparks spreading all through him as they touched. Then he looked up and into Charlie's eyes, trying to get out the word. He managed a nod, swallowed hard, and finally was able to say it. "Yeah." It was more of a breath than a word, really, but it was enough.

Slowly, slowly, they leaned toward each other. Nick looked at Charlie's mouth, then back into his eyes for reassurance. This was Charlie. He trusted Charlie. If ... if this was going to happen, he wanted it to be with Charlie. He let his eyes close, and then—it did happen. He, Nick Nelson, was kissing Charlie Spring.

It was soft, and sweet, and scary, and when they broke apart they both pulled away, but they left their fingers entwined.

So. It was done. They had kissed and nothing would ever be the same. Nick could still feel the touch of Charlie's lips on his. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest the rest of the party could be dancing to its rhythm so many floors below. But up here—up here it was just him and Charlie. The way it should be. The way he wanted it.

Nick turned to look at Charlie again, untangling his finger so that he could instead slip his whole hand into Charlie's. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Charlie's hand, losing himself in Charlie's eyes, leaning toward him. He closed his eyes again and surrendered to what he wanted.

This time when their mouths met it wasn't so soft, or so sweet. This time it was ... everything.

Charlie's hand curved round the back of Nick's neck, and Nick grasped Charlie's shoulder, holding on to him tightly, as the kiss went on and on. He never wanted it to end.

But at last, it did. Nick pulled back, opening his eyes and looking into Charlie's. He was trembling, exhilarated, frightened, shocked by what he had felt. He'd never known a kiss could feel that way. He'd certainly never imagined he could feel so much kissing another boy. But it wasn't a boy—it was Charlie, and Charlie was different from anyone Nick had ever known. Did that make a difference? Did it explain how Nick could suddenly feel things for Charlie he'd never felt for anyone before?

Charlie grasped the collar of Nick's shirt and asked, "You okay?" He was smiling a little.

Nick had really hoped that in this situation, he would have been able to answer an immediate yes or no, but he seemed to have forgotten how to form words—or even to think them. He had never felt anything like that before. His head was spinning from that kiss, his heart pounding. It was—so much. Too much. "I—"

But before he could find the right thing to say—or anything at all—they both heard Harry's voice calling for Nick.

The last thing he could let happen was for Harry and the lads to find him in here having just kissed a boy. What would he say? How would he explain? In a panic, Nick got to his feet.

Harry called again, "I just want to talk, mate. Why are you hiding?"

Nick looked at Charlie, still sitting there on the floor where everything had changed. He should say something. Anything. But what? He didn't know what to think, much less what to say.

And then he turned and left the room without another word.