•˖* ℘
【 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙎𝙏𝙐𝙇𝙏 】
— ⚡︎ ℘ heartstopper
•˖* ℘

——      𝕿her rest of the term went by swimmingly for Skylar and her friends. Although, she was beginning to get slightly concerned with the distance being put between herself and her boyfriend.

        It had been quite a few days since the pair had met up after school, so they only really saw each other for a couple of minutes before their academic day started.

        In fact, Nick had even forgotten to visit her because he was too busy hanging out with Charlie Spring after school. So, with the weight of meeting her boyfriend everyday after school off her her shoulders, Skylar decided to focus more on her rounders.

        The season was starting up again and she had gotten news of a suspected game in the half-term and she was super excited. It felt like ages since she had played so now she could finally show off her growing skills and make Nick proud of her.

        The cafeteria was loud and bustling, Skylar and her friends being the main cause of all this noise. She silently pulled out her phone and swiped onto her chats with Nick.

nick❤️‍🩹.

hey! i have a rounders game in
the break, sometime between the
first saturday and the first tuesday
do u think u could make it? xx

of course, i'll keep those days
free just for you❤️xx

thanks you're the best🤭xx

——        𝕿hankfully for Skylar, Nick was supposed to be coming around to her house later that day, so perhaps she could approach him about the Charlie situation. It wasn't something she was too worried about, but it was a small concern that floated in the back of her mind.

        "You alright, love?" Nicole asked, their arms linked together as they walked towards Truham.

        "Yeah, I'm fine." Skylar nodded, smiling at her friend. "Just have to talk to Nick about something."

        "If he's done something wrong, I'll smack him." Nicole threatened, making Skylar burst out laughing.

        "No, he's done nothing wrong. It's just something that's been bothering me recently." She replied once she has her giggling controlled.

        "Alright, well... if you ever need to talk, you know I'm still here, right?" Nicole nudged her shoulder, "Like, you don't need to talk to that ginger prick all the time."

        "You only think he's a prick because he's dating me!" Skylar chuckled, looking up at her friend with a shocked look.

        "Well yeah! You were my girlfriend first!" Nicole joked, her smile fading as she got more serious. "But seriously, I'm always here."

        "I know, and you know the same goes for me." Skylar smiled, resting her cheek on the leather of Nicole's jacket as they waited outside the boys school.

        It was silent for a few moments, as students filed out of the school gates and the Higgs girls continued to walk down the street. Skylar saw Tara and Darcy and gave them a wave, which they gladly did back.

         "Y'alright, ladies?" Harry's voice sounded from behind them, making the pair turn around.

        Ignoring the blond boy, Skylar skipped over to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around his neck, going for a hug, but he brought her into a long, deep kiss.

        The boys around him oooed and awed at the interaction and Skylar move back, slightly taken aback by the sudden greeting. The couple themselves had decided to try and keep PDA to a minimum, so why was Nick being so outward?

        "What was that for?" Skylar smirked, her fingers dancing along his blazer lapel.

        "Do I need a reason?" Nick chirped back, slightly impressing his girlfriend with the unusual public boldness.

        "Ewww!" Ollie hurled, walking out of the gates alongside his friends. "Keep it for the bedroom, jeez."

        Skylar flipped her brother off, pulling a face at him just for extra effect.

        "Yo, Skylar, is your skirt always that short?" A random boy whistled, very obviously checking her out in the most unflattering way.

         "Oi, are you weird?" Harry immediately jumped to the girls defence, kissing his teeth at the very ugly boy.

        Instead of saying anything, Nick stormed over and shoved the boy in chest hard. The action caused him to fall to the floor and Nicks aggression caught everybody off guard. He was usually very peaceful when confronting someone so it was extremely out of character.

        "Don't talk to her like that." Nick gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching in anger.

        The boys being themselves, cheered and hyped the ginger boy up, trying desperately to instigate the fight further. Even Ollie's year seven friends were joining in.

        Skylar rushed forwards to grab Nick as she could see the other boy was standing up. She took a hold of his bicep and pulled him away from the crowd, and they made their way over to her house in complete silence. Ollie was ahead of them, picking leaves off of the hedges as he went.

        Once she opened her front door and closed it, Nick engulfed her in the largest hug she'd ever received. She could hear and feel his heavy breathes and it worried her.

        "Let's go upstairs." Skylar offered, taking his hand in her own and pulling him into her room.

        She laid down on her bed and Nick came to be next to her, until he decided that he wasn't comfortable and lay his head on her chest instead. His arm came to lay across her stomach and he inhaled deeply.

        "So... are we going to talk about it?" Skylar started, running her fingers through his ginger strands.

        "Talk about what?" Nick sighed, pretending to be oblivious. Of course he knew what she was on about.

        "Fine, I'll start." She huffed, "What was that about? Why did you push him so hard?"

        "I'm sorry, did you not hear the way he spoke to you?" Nick retorted, a new hint of annoyance in his tone.

        "First of all, drop the tone." Skylar sassed back, moving her head as she spoke. "Second of all, yes I did hear how and what he said but, Nick, you're never violent."

        "I'm just— I don't know." Nick mumbled, hiding his face in her chest. "Things have been weird lately."

        "What do you mean?" Skylar pushed, flicking some of his hair around.

        "I don't know. I can't explain it." Nick frowned, bringing a hand up to scratch his jawline.

        "Okay, let me talk about something else then." Skylar said, breathing out. "Charlie Spring."

         "What about him?" Nick immediately sat up, the name of the year 10 striking his attention.

        "You're spending an awful lot of time with him recently and I..." Skylar took a moment to pause, she really needed to think about her words. She wanted to express her feelings without offending anybody. "He's gay. Right?"

        "Yeah. So what?" Nick spluttered out, his eyebrows furrowing as he listened to his girlfriend. "What's wrong with him being gay?"

        "No no no no no! I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it!" Skylar quickly denied, shaking her head profusely and sitting up straight, as did Nick. "I'm just saying that maybe you... maybe you should try and put some distance between the two of you."

        "What? No!" Nick exclaimed, moving to stand, but Skylar grabbed his hand and stopped him. "No, he's my friend!"

        "And I think that's a wonderful thing, that you've made new friends but, Nick, you have to understand where I'm coming from too!" Skylar scoffed, rubbing her forehead with her hand as the other lost grip on Nicks. "You are a very attractive person. And, I wouldn't blame him if he had a crush on you but you can't lead him on! One, you have a girlfriend — which, hi, by the way, in case you forgot — and two, last time I checked, you weren't remotely interested in guys and if that's changed, tell me! Tell me if I'm wrong!"

        The couple were now stood up to the side of Skylar's bed, facing each other and panting. The girl was out of breath from her long rant and Nick was struggling to grasp what she was saying.

        "So, you want me to stop being friends with someone because they're gay and you're insecure?" Nick questioned, looking at his girlfriend with shock.

        The room went dead silent and the Nelson boy immediately regretted the words that left his mouth. Skylar's stomach felt like it had been flipped inside out. Nick opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

        "That was low." She whispered, her voice breaking as tears welled up in her eyes. "And I am being reasonable! I am looking out for someone because you can't seem to grasp that you are leading him on!"

        "I am not leading him on! Sky, stop saying that!" Nick stressed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm going home, this conversation is going nowhere."

        Skylar's face dropped as she watched Nick walk over to pick up his things and leave. Was he really being this immature? Leaving in the middle of an argument because it's 'going nowhere'? The girl was speechless, not uttering a word to him, only staring in disbelief. She heard the front door slam from downstairs and bent down to sit on the edge of her bed, hiding her face in her hands.

        Skylar didn't know what she had done wrong— had she done anything wrong? She definitely felt like she could've worded things a bit better but what was wrong with Nick? Why was he being so off recently? Guilt flooded her brain and she was beginning to regret ever opening up in the first place.

        The last week until half-term and she'd managed to fuck up. The couple were supposed to be hanging out over the break and now she wasn't sure if he'd even be coming to her game.

        A knock came from her door and there, Ollie stood. He had a cup of tea in his hands and gave his sister a sympathetic smile. "This was going to be mine, but you can have it." He walked into her room and placed the mug on her bedside table.

        "You alright, Sky?" Nicole's voice called out from downstairs, the sound of the front door closing gently behind her. "I saw Nick leave a bit angrily."

        Skylar said nothing, only waiting for Nicole to see her state and then she'd speak. "Oh, darling." The moment her blonde companion spoke, she broke down, crying in Nicole's arms. Ollie walked out of the room, sensing that this was a girl-to-girl moment and one that he didn't need to get himself involved in.

        "What happened?" The Sheridan girl asked, rubbing her hands up and down Skylar's back.

        "I just tried to talk to him. I wanted him to know how I felt it and it turned into an argument and I feel like such a screw up." Skylar shook her head, really hoping that the last fifteen minutes had been a horrible dream. "He just got so defensive and then I didn't know what to do because sorting things out with Nick is always easy but he's just not himself right now and I'm really struggling to help him."

        "Okay, just breathe." Nicole sighed, her heart breaking because she could hear the sadness and regret in her voice. "It sounds like a job for the boys too. Maybe we can get their insight."

        When Skylar nodded, Nicole pulled out her phone and texted in the groupchat.

harry hateclub🤑.

nicole🩷
you lot get over to skylar's
house rn

harry😡
is she alr?

luke🌚
do we have to? i'm kinda busy
with my cat atm.

nicole🩷
if u don't get over here in the
next ten minutes i'm gonna
come to ur house and drag u
out by the ear myself.

luke🌚
yes ma'am🫡

harry😡
omw rn

—— 𝕿he moment Luke arrived, Skylar felt so much better. Simply just his presence was enough to enhance her mood, so Nicole was right in the idea of inviting the boys over.

Harry, not so much. The boy was terrible at advice but he gave them a laugh so having him around never did any damage.

"You know it's good when Harry's invited!" He cheered as he walked into her room, holding up cans of redbull and packets of squashies. "I bought the depression curers!"

All four of them sat on Skylar's bed with a movie on in the background while she explained what had just happened. "I was just trying to tell him how I feel about him being so close with Charlie and he got so defensive and turned it into a massive argument. Now I feel horrible and like I said things I shouldn't have but I don't know what!"

"You want me to fight him?" Harry smirked, taking a swig of his redbull. The three heads turned slowly in his direction. "What?"

"Since when have Charlie Spring and Nick been close?" Luke questioned, an odd but familiar feeling bubbling in the low of his stomach.

"Let's face facts here." Harry said. "Charlie Spring is a pussy. If some big man comes up to him and says 'run me your shit' he's gonna cry like a little baby. Me, however, I would tell him to fuck off and then batter him. So, you say the words and Charlie won't be a problem."

"Did you really just try and boost your own ego while we're trying to comfort Sky?" Nicole scoffed, rolling her eyes at the rich boy. "And no one is beating up anybody. This is a matter between Nick and Sky and I think they need space."

"No, yeah yeah yeah, you're right." Luke nodded with his thinking face on. "Think about it, Sky, you and Nick have been all over each other for two years, you're bound to have an argument at some point. Have you ever had one before?"

Skylar thought for a minute, "A few times but not big like this."

"There we go then. It's not unusual for couples to argue. If anything, it's better that you are. A perfect relationship is a scary thing to imagine because arguments are going to happen. Don't stress about it too much, you and Nick will be all happy again by tomorrow, I know it."

Nicole and Skylar looked up at Luke, who smiled down at them. The dirty blonde girl nestled into Luke's side and Nicole lay on her, leaving Harry on the side by himself.

"You man are on crack if you think I'm doing that gay shit."

"Harry!" They all exclaimed, slightly laughing. That was so typical of Harry, but that's what made him different to the group. Although the three agreed that sometimes they worry for him because he does struggle to show basic human empathy.

— 𝒋𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔

next chapter is her rounders gameee.
do we think nick is gonna show up
or not?

ik the answer🤑🤑