Heartstopper one shots

Alone in The Locker room

TW: Ben, anxiety, mention of assault

"I was far too scared to hit him, but I'd hit him in a heartbeat now. That's the thing with anger, it begs to stick around." - Seventeen Going Under by The Afterword

Charlie sighed as he packed up his stuff when rugby practice was over.

Nick had to stay home today because he had the stomach bug, so practice wasn't the same, it wasn't fun. Nick made it so much better, with his excited golden retriever energy and the way he made sure Charlie was included. He also joined rugby to be closer to Nick, so he felt out of place without him. At least he has gotten close to some of Nick's friends in the past term, Christian, Sai, and Otis made sure he was included during practice, thank god for them. He made a note to himself to tell Nick how wonderful they were to him, and to thank them himself. Charlie pulled on his shoes and was about to leave the locker room when the door swung open, almost knocking him to the side.

He stepped back and had to prepare himself for what could happen next as he saw who stood there, his attacker, the guy who caused him so much pain, and trauma...

Ben.

Why was Ben in the locker room? Did he come there just to talk to him? Was he that desperate to be alone with him?

Charlie's mind spiraled as Ben shut the door behind him and stepped into the locker room. They were alone, just like how they were in the music block. Why did this keep happening to him?

"Oh Charlie, I'm glad you haven't left yet. I need to talk to you." Ben tried.

Charlie stared at Ben, his flight instincts were kicking in as he glanced at the door behind him. Hadn't he told Ben to leave him alone multiple times? At sports day and he was damn clear after Elle's art exhibit with Nick standing behind him.

Ben didn't care about what he thought, he made that clear before. Of course, he waited till the moment Nick was out sick and couldn't be there to protect Charlie. "I thought I told you to leave me alone." Charlie managed to say through nerves. He wanted to be able to stand up for himself, without Nick's help when he needed to.

"Just please hear me out." Ben took a step forward, scared that Charlie was going to bolt at any second.

"I don't want to." Charlie seethed and tried to walk out but yelped in pain as Ben grabbed his arm and yanked him back inside the locker room, causing the door to shut once again. "Don't touch me!" Charlie stated loudly, praying that anyone who walked by may have heard before the door shut.

"God, why are you being so difficult?" Ben let go of Charlie's arm once he had his full attention. "I just wanted to tell you that I came out." He said.

"Good for you." Charlie shrugged, he didn't understand why Ben needed his approval for everything. He didn't want to talk to Ben at all.

"Don't you care? Aren't you proud of me? You wanted me to come out when we were together." Ben said, beginning to get irritated. Charlie had to think of a way to get out! It wasn't good when Ben was mad, that's what started the assault in the music block he didn't want it to repeat in the locker room.

"Ben, you need to accept that we aren't together anymore. Yes, congrats for coming out. But I'm dating Nick and you need to move on! Stop harassing me!" Charlie stated tears began to form in his eyes out of frustration.

"Jesus Christ, stop acting like you're so much better than everyone else just because you are dating Nick Nelson." Ben scuffed in jealousy.

Charlie ignored Ben, he was done with this conversation. He grabbed his bag, he pushed past Ben as he walked out of the locker room. He decided that if Ben bothered him again after this, he was going to go to the office and report him if he had to; this was getting ridiculous.

He walked to the bus stop and pulled out his phone to call Nick. He wanted to check in on his boyfriend, the other part of him also didn't want to wait at the bus stop alone since Ben could show up behind him at any second. A phone call with Nick would help.

"Hi, Luv," Nick answered after one ring, he must be bored laying in bed all day. His voice sounded raspy, his throat must be sore.

"Awh baby, your throat sounds sore. Are you feeling any better?" Charlie wondered, he sat at the bench since the bus might not be there for a while. He kept looking over his shoulder to make sure Ben wasn't standing there. God, he hated feeling so paranoid.

"I am," Nick assured, smiling softly as Charlie called him baby, "Hearing your voice helps too."

"You're such a dork." Charlie chuckled but was smiling himself. "The bus just got here so I got to go. Let me know if you're going to school tomorrow! Please rest up luv." He said as he got onto the bus and sat at his usual seat.

"I will." Nick assured. "I Love you,"

"I Love you too!" Charlie set his phone on his lap after they hung up and stared off into space. He was right, the phone call with Nick did help.

A/N:  I hope the ending wasn't too corny!

This one-shot was inspired by a short story 'I know we weren't perfect' by TheWalkingGames on AO3 make sure to check it out! It inspired me to write this idea, same with the song I quoted in the beginning. Hope you guys liked it! Xx