Nick and Charlie

Chapter 1

!TW - Mention of Eating Disorder!

I wake up in the next morning and realize that Nick is not in bed. At first I'm a bit confused, but when I smell Sarah's freshly baked bread, I understand where Nick is too. The stairs creak a little as I try to sneak down to the kitchen. When I stand on the last step, I see two happy, early-morning people in the kitchen. They both have aprons on. Right now Sarah is baking while Nick is sitting at the kitchen island which is in the middle of the kitchen.
"Good morning Charlie!" Sarah says cheerfully as I wearily walk into the kitchen.
"Good morning!" I say back to Sarah as cheerfully as I can. I am so incredibly tired. I walk towards Nick yawning and sit on the chair next to him.
"Hi" He says quietly and I smile tiredly back in response. He gives me a kiss on the cheek and there we sit for a while in silence and just watch Sarah working in the kitchen. Nick suddenly breaks the silence and asks if I stole his hoodie. I look down at the hoodie I'm wearing. The orange color shines into my newly awake eyes. I look at Nick and smile slightly.
"It's okay love, I like when you borrow my clothes," Nick says cheerfully. He's too cute for his own good.

After a few minutes, Nick goes and helps Sarah take the first plates out of the oven. The freshly baked bread are golden brown and nice. But despite that, something in me is now happening. There are bad thoughts and voices around food and that I don't deserve to eat breakfast today. I try not to listen to the voices, but I also try not to show Nick and Sarah how I feel. But eventually I can't deal with it anymore and the thoughts become a bit too much. Both Nick and Sarah know about my eating disorder, they have both been a great help - more help than my own family has been. So, now that it's all just a little too much, I take the courage and I call Nick to come and sit on the chair next to me, which he do. I see him looking at me but I don't want to meet his eyes.
"What's up?" He asks calmly and tries to take my hand. But I quickly remove it and slip both hands into the sleeves of the orange hoodie I'm wearing. My glance is on my lap and I feel myself getting hotter and hotter.
"Charlie..?" Nick asks in a questioning voice to get my attention. Without saying anything, or even looking at him, I just shake my head and take a deep breath before answering his question.
"Sorry, it was.. it was just a bit much. With t.. the food" I mumble quietly to myself. Nick doesn't say anything, just pulls me into a hug. A big, warm, well needed hug.