Nick was fairly early to the party, and he knew Charlie wasn't going to be there for a while yet, so he hung out with his rugby mates on the edge of the dance floor. He didn't know how to dance, and he'd bet neither did they, but Harry had invited pretty much everyone in the world, as far as Nick could tell, and a lot of people were dancing.

He'd forgotten that his friends could also be a lot of fun, and he was actually enjoying himself when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Imogen standing there. She hugged him, which was weird, but maybe that's what people did at parties. Nick hugged her back, briefly, trying not to think about how different it had felt to hug Charlie. How much better.

"How are you?"

"Okay."

"Yeah? Great! Do you like my dress?"

It was pink, and fussy, and he didn't know the first thing about girls' dresses. But he was also polite, and had been raised mostly by a single mum, so he knew the right answer. "Yeah!"

Imogen was called away by another of her friends, much to Nick's relief. He liked Imogen, but she had reminded him of ... everything, and now he mostly wanted to see Charlie.

He turned, scanning the crowd, lifting his head to see over them as best he could. There were so many people here by now, how would he ever find just one in the middle of all of them? He should have told Charlie to text him when he got here.

But there he was, standing across the room, looking so ... cool and handsome in his dark shirt and jeans, compared to all the overdressed partygoers around him. A smile lit Charlie's face when their eyes met. Nick felt so relieved, and so happy to see him, like somehow the party had just started because Charlie was here. He pushed his way through the dancers across the floor until he was standing in front of Charlie and could put his hands on Charlie's shoulders. "I've been looking for you," he said, just as Charlie was saying it, too.

Then Nick dropped his hands, sticking them in his pockets, and they stood there looking at each other, smiling. Nick didn't have the faintest idea what to say, or do, now that Charlie was really here. But he knew they had to get off the dance floor—or else they'd be trampled, he thought as another boy nearly trod on his foot.

"Come on," he said, clapping Charlie on the arm. He led the way toward a corner of the room where there was an empty sofa, and they both sank down on it with some relief.

Nick had forgotten, this week, how easy it was to talk to Charlie. He felt better than he had in days. At some point they got up for drinks, surveyed the dance floor and decided they preferred the sofa, and went back to it.

In the midst of the conversation, Nick reached for Charlie's hand without thinking, his heart pounding in either panic or excitement or both as he caught himself. He crossed his arm over his chest, holding on to his other arm just to keep himself from reaching for Charlie again, and with some difficulty caught up with the flow of the conversation.

They had gotten back around to MarioKart, and Nick's obsession with somehow winning at least one game against Charlie eventually, when Harry appeared in front of them. All the others were trailing behind him.

"Nicholas!"

"All right, mate."

"Why are you hanging out in here? It's a bit boring, innit?" Everyone else laughed, like somehow that was funny. Nick failed to see the joke.

"We just ... are."

Harry sat down on the sofa and put his arm around Nick's shoulders. "I've got some important news for you."

"Yeah, what?"

"Tara Jones is here."

The rest of the lads reacted with laughter and encouragement, and Nick wished they'd all just go away. "So what?"

"So this is your big second chance, mate. Let's make it happen." Harry leaned around Nick to tell Charlie, "They kissed when they were thirteen. Proper romantic." Over a whistle from one of the other boys, he added, "He should go for it, right?"

Nick was in utter hell, stuck here between Charlie and Harry, listening to Harry talk about his love life like he knew anything about it, while Charlie sat there silent. Nick wanted to tell Harry to go away, but ... he couldn't. If he said anything like it, that would create a whole thing. It was easier to go along with what Harry wanted, what the others expected.

"Come on, mate." Harry stood up, grasping Nick's wrist.

Nick protested, but not too hard, and let Harry pull him away from the sofa, away from Charlie.

Harry put his arm back around Nick's shoulders. "Come on. She's just down the corridor."

"I haven't talked to her for, like, years."

"So? She's super hot now." Harry led him to a pair of girls laughing together and broke up their conversation with a shout of "All right, ladies!" A girl Nick vaguely recognized turned to frown at Harry. "Hey, Tara, I've got someone who wants to see you." He patted Nick on the shoulder. "You remember Nick Nelson, right?"

"Uh ... yeah." She seemed to remember Nick about as well as he'd remembered her, which was basically not at all. "Hi."

"Hi."

"How are you?"

"Fine. You know, normal."

Tara nodded. "Having a good time at the party?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence. Nick just wanted to go back to Charlie, but he felt bad that Harry had dragged this girl into this situation and then disappeared. "Anyway," he said, "sorry about this. I don't know why, like, all of my friends want to set us up."

Tara laughed, and Nick realized that might have been a bit insulting.

"Not that you're not, like, um, you know ..." he stammered. "I don't ... really ... feel that way ..." He trailed off, since this was getting into dangerous territory.

"Nick, it's fine. I don't feel that way about you, either."

"Yeah." They both sighed in relief.

Tara hesitated, then said, "All of this could have been avoided if I just ..."

"What?"

"Told everyone I was a lesbian."

Whatever Nick had expected her to say, it wasn't that. He frowned. "Well, yeah. But, um, I guess that's not something you'd really want to lie about."

"Wouldn't be a lie."

Nick stared at her. "What?" She looked at him significantly, waiting for him to catch up. "Oh! You actually are?"

She turned and gestured toward a blonde girl in a black dress who was doing something crazy. "That's my girlfriend over there. We've mostly been keeping it quiet."

"Yeah." Nick could understand that. But he was surprised that this girl he hardly knew was speaking out to him. "So why are you telling me?"

"Me and Darcy have been talking, and honestly, we feel like we don't need to keep it that quiet anymore."

"You mean, like, come out?"

"Not necessarily. Um, we don't want to make a big announcement or anything, but ... Maybe just not hide so much."

"That's cool." Knowing what Charlie had been through, Nick thought it was brave of Tara to be taking this step. And since she had spoken to him, he felt maybe he could talk to her, at least a little. "I mean, I've only ever met one openly gay person before. Do you know Charlie Spring?"

"Yeah, I know of Charlie Spring. Uh, are you friends?"

"Yeah. We sit next to each other in form." Which didn't even begin to cover how important Charlie had become in Nick's life. "He's probably ... Yeah, he probably is my best friend right now." Probably the best friend Nick had ever had, if he was being honest with himself.

Before Tara could respond, her girlfriend rushed up, laughing, and put her arm round Tara's shoulders.

"Want to dance?" Tara asked her.

"Yes, please."

Tara turned to Nick and smiled. "Got to go."

Nick watched them hurry off. They looked happy. He wondered how long they had been together, and what it had taken for Tara to be ready to tell people about her relationship.

Turning back to the couch, he wanted to tell Charlie all about his conversation with Tara, at least, as much as he could without breaking a confidence, but ... Charlie wasn't there. Nick's heart sank. Charlie was gone, and all the colour had gone out of the party.