Nick woke up, rolling over sleepily. As was becoming habit, his eyes traveled up the wall to the pictures of him and Charlie that were tacked up there, and he smiled. Any day was better now because Charlie would be in it. He closed his eyes again, relaxing into the pillow, completely content.

But there was no going back to sleep—he was awake for the day, it seemed. He reached across the bed for his phone. First thing, he opened his Instagram, and suddenly he just knew—it was time. He was happy with who he was, with the people he shared his life with. And anyone who was really his friend would be happy for him. He was sure of that, too.

Smiling, he scrolled through pictures until he found one, an adorable pic of him and Charlie in the hotel room in Paris, looking so happy together. With it, he added the caption "Boyfriends (I'm bi, actually)" and a heart. And when he clicked "OK" he was smiling, because now everyone would know how completely his life had been changed by the extraordinary person who was his boyfriend.

Within moments, he had a text from Charlie. "omg you're amazing!!!! come over right now"

Laughing, Nick got out of bed, hurrying to get dressed, giving his mum a quick hug on his way through the kitchen. "Going to Charlie's."

"All right, darling. Will you be home before prom tonight?"

"Well, I have to get my suit, but I don't think we're doing the whole pictures with parents thing." Too late, it occurred to him that maybe she would want that. "Is that okay?"

She smiled. "Fine. Just send me a selfie or something, and have a good time."

"We can do that."

"Oh, and David and I will both be out this evening, so call my mobile if you need anything."

"Thanks, Mum." Nick hurried out the door and jogged to Charlie's.

He didn't even have time to knock before the door was opening and a beaming Charlie was leaping into his arms. He whirled them round and round while Charlie said, "You, you are the best!" Then, when he put him down, Charlie's smile faded a bit. "Have you seen the comments?"

Nick hadn't, actually. He'd been so focused on getting to Charlie that it hadn't even occurred to him to look. They went upstairs to Charlie's room, snuggling on his bed, while Nick scrolled through. Most of them were incredibly supportive, hearts and happiness, but a few made the usual comments about Nick not seeming gay. He imagined he was likely to get that a lot. It was a useful, but sobering, reminder that coming out was a never-ending process.

"I guess we knew this would happen."

"Are we going to get mobbed at prom tonight?"

Nick felt the familiar tension. He was happy with Charlie—he didn't need anyone else's comments or opinions. But of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to get them. "There might be some stares. Are you sure you want to go?" As always, he would just as soon stay home alone with Charlie.

Charlie propped himself up on an elbow and smiled at him. "This is the best my life has ever been. I don't have to hide my amazing boyfriend anymore. I'm not getting bullied—everything's perfect."

He wasn't sure he believed the perfection, but he did believe that Charlie had been stressed out by his silence and that he deserved to be able to walk into a room openly with his boyfriend. It was an experience Charlie had never had, and Nick wanted to give it to him.

"So we're going to go to prom and be the cutest couple there," Charlie continued. "And everyone will see."

Nick smiled and put his arms round Charlie, holding him close, but he couldn't help worrying. If it wasn't perfect, what then?

But he was with Charlie right now, just them, and he decided not to worry about it. The magic of being together was that they could just hang out on Charlie's bed, scrolling through their phones, playing on the Switch, and be perfectly content. Nick had never known anyone like that before.

A text popped up in the Paris Squad chat from Tara, begging for help setting up prom. Nick called Charlie's attention away from the Switch to it. "Me and Charlie are free!" he texted back. Yes, they were finally having a day just to themselves ... but there would be other days like that, and their friend needed help. Everyone else said they were on their way as well. Everyone but Darcy, it appeared.

The five of them got to the school at the same time, walking in together, and Nick immediately understood why Tara was so stressed. It was total and complete chaos. Decorations all over the floor, nothing set up, people milling about aimlessly not getting anything done.

He wasn't really good at the creative stuff, but he could move ladders and staple things and manage a hammer. He hoped that would help. As they stood there, a balloon popped loudly.

"Oh, God," Elle said, surveying the mess.

Tara came up to them, looking frazzled. "Guys—I'm having a breakdown."

"Don't worry." Isaac actually closed his book. "We'll help you."

"Yeah. We've got this." Elle put an arm round Tara's shoulders and walked with her toward the mess. "We just have to figure out where to start."

Fortunately, Elle was well enough known for her artistic skills that people listened when she assigned them things, and she and Tara and Sahar consulted about the vision while assigning tasks to various groups. Soon enough, the chaos started feeling productive.

"Where do you think Darcy is?" Tao asked softly while he and Nick and Charlie were waiting for an assignment.

"I don't know." Nick didn't know enough about Darcy to venture a guess, but it felt wrong that she wasn't here. Darcy might be a scatterbrain, but she would never have left Tara like this. "I hope she's okay."

"Me, too."