Hey, look, I finished a thing. Which I started back in, like, October with the intention of just quickly churning out something light and simple as a palate cleanser after having finished the unexpected 70k fic, and before diving into what would likely be another longer fic.

It should not have taken me this long to write, and it absolutely should not be 36k in itself. But here we are.

find a way to make it make sense again (35921 words) by kaydeefalls
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nicholas "Nick" Nelson/Charles "Charlie" Spring
Characters: Charles "Charlie" Spring (Heartstopper), Nicholas "Nick" Nelson, The Paris Squad (Heartstopper)
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, University, Future Fic, Light Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Romantic Fluff, They're In Love Your Honor, minor relationship hiccups that come with growing up, Happy Ending, Non-Explicit Sex, Long-Distance Relationship
Summary:

"I promise you," Nick says, "literally the only thing getting me through this last term is knowing I finally get to be with you properly once it's over."

There's a note of desperation in his voice, and Charlie thinks about Nick's unplanned visit last weekend, the anxiety that seemed to pull him taut at unexpected moments, the underlying tension he couldn't quite put words to. Maybe it really is just Nick's mounting stress as his graduation approaches: a big, scary, looming Life Event that he's struggling to wrap his head around, and the extraneous stress is just spilling out all over them both.

Charlie hates the niggling doubt in the dark recesses of his brain that whispers, but what if it's something else? What if the problem is you?

University!fic. In which they're so close to not being long distance anymore, but something's clearly bothering Nick, and Charlie would really appreciate it if he would just talk to him about it already.

Someday I will gather the spoons to actually make a RL update post. Today is not that day.

Amongst the many and varied stressors of the past few months, I've comfort-fandomed HARD into Heartstopper. Which I've loved since the TV show first dropped on Netflix a couple of years back, but apart from occasionally reading a few fics, never really tilted fully into it as a fandom. Until recently. Because I just need optimistic queer joy in my life right now, apparently. It feels a bit odd writing teenage characters again, but after so many HP Marauders and History Boys fics, slipping back into the British schoolboy genre is weirdly comforting in its own way.

Fun fact: when your most recent primary pairings as a writer include a Charles (Xavier) and Nicky (di Genova), writing Charlie and Nick instead has led to...a lot of typos. Mostly for Nick. Seriously, if someone outside of the fandoms were shown photos of the TOG and Heartstopper characters side by side, and asked which of those dudes went by Nick vs. Nicky, they would NOT guess correctly.

So anyway this is happening. Once again foolishly trapping myself into posting a WIP before I've finished writing it, but I've already got almost 40k written and I'm very, very determined to complete it before season 3 drops in October, so here we go. Updating twice a week to get in under that self-imposed deadline, but I won't spam those updates here, just post once more when the full thing is up.


and we have all the time in the world (to get it right) (7848 words) by kaydeefalls
Chapters: 1/6
Fandom: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nicholas "Nick" Nelson/Charles "Charlie" Spring, Minor or Background Relationship(s), James McEwan/Charles "Charlie" Spring
Characters: Charles "Charlie" Spring (Heartstopper), Nicholas "Nick" Nelson, Tao Xu, Isaac Henderson (Heartstopper), Elle Argent, James McEwan, Tara Jones, Darcy Olsson
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Romance, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, Mental Health Issues, past charlie/james, Minor Benjamin "Ben" Hope/Charles "Charlie" Spring, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, as per canon, First Love, not so much slow burn as two idiots standing around on fire
Summary:

Charlie: NICK NELSON KNOWS I WAS IN HOSPITAL?!?!?!?!?!
Elle: It's ok Charlie I promise! He was really worried when you went awol this summer, it didn't feel right to lie to him
Isaac: srsly it was like kicking a puppy!! we just couldn't any longer
Isaac: Tao even lets him sit with us at lunch sometimes now, that's how bad it got.

In which Charlie's friend group adopted his impossible straight boy crush while he was in hospital, and now he might just have to deal with the fact that Nick is...maybe not so impossible after all.

(Canon divergence AU: Charlie already has a proper boyfriend when he first meets Nick in year 10. It changes some things. They still get there eventually.)