Work Text:
"They'd find us in a week (Lay here for years or for hours)
When the weather gets hot (So long we become the flowers)
I'd be home with you"
Finals week was upon hellton, which just emphasized the point of the first syllable; it was rigorous exams one after another and candle-burning nights of studying. A rumor around their first year even circulated that someone died of dehydration and since then, everyone feared the dreaded week. Anyone who valued being alive in their right mind knew to do well.
Charlie Dalton was no exception.
For the first time ever, the poets saw Charlie actually doing his best, coming with Meeks and Cameron to the (temporarily open 24/7) library before breakfast or asking Neil to help him revise before bed. Partially, it was Charlie wanting to give the last big push as it was their senior year but it was also because of his aim to attend Stanford University, a prestigious school far, far, FAR away from Vermont, where Charlie’s judgmental, abusive parents would not be seen.
(...and it may also be where Knox got accepted to their law school program)
So Charlie knew he had to give it everything he got. If he failed, there was no way he would be able to run away to California with Knox and he would have to live as a disappointment to his family. This pressure helped Charlie stay motivated.
But it was also the driving force that made him stay awake, even at times when he should be sleeping. The fear and doubt in his mind that he wasn’t going to succeed was constantly brewing and brewing and he figures if he can’t sleep, he might as well study.
It was a week before finals week when Charlie started to look...off.
“He seems like...not himself” Neil whispers to Knox beside him, as they cower behind books, pretending to study. They were, however, spying on a studying Charlie a few tables away, his nose buried in a textbook. Neil glances at the grand clock on the wall.
2:35 am.
“How long has he been out?” Neil asks turning to his friend who eyes Charlie worryingly. “I don’t know, last time I saw him was at dinner. He didn’t even stay that long to eat. And we had spaghetti and meatballs!; Charlie loves spaghetti and meatballs!” Knox says a little too loud and Neil shushes him with a whack on the arm.
They look back at Charlie, who was busy rubbing his eyes before returning to his book and immediately, Knox’s heart sank; he loved that Charlie was being proactive and doing his best, but he was treading on thin ice.
“You need to talk to him, Knox” Neil says and Knox looks at him in disbelief.
“What? Why me?”
“Cuz you’re his boyfriend?”
“You’re his best friend! You talk to him!”
“He’ll just think I’m being silly. Plus, he doesn’t know that I know you guys wanna run away to California!”
“Neil, I’m not talking to him”
“We need to talk” Knox says as soon as Charlie enters their room. It was the next day and Knox knows not to bother asking if the other went to sleep because he knew the answer. Charlie sets down his books on the desk with a soft ‘hmm?’, prodding Knox to continue.
Knox, rather quickly, explains their concern and almost believed Charlie didn’t catch his sentiments until the other bursts into laughter.
“It’s finals week, what the hell are you talking about? Of course I’m gonna overwork myself!” He says nonchalantly, reaching for his uniform. “I already don’t do work to begin with so yes, this is me doing more work than normal”
“But Charlie, we’re concerned you’re doing too much-”
“Listen Knoxious, I appreciate the concern but I think I know my limits. Why don’t ya chill out?” Charlie says, clearly starting to get irritated with the series of comments Knox was giving. Charlie gets his point but doesn’t Knox see what he’s trying to do here?
Both stand in silence as Charlie faces the mirror on his dresser, frustrated as he fails on his tie. And Knox could see his boyfriend’s reflection on the mirror; Charlie’s cheeks looked sunken and the bags under his eyes were getting heavier. This was a completely new territory Knox has never dealt with and he didn’t want to be the dick boyfriend who stopped his boyfriend from reaching his goals.
Knox doesn’t notice it but Charlie catches him staring at him through the mirror and he sighs before saying “After finals, I’ll be back. But until then, I have to do what I have to do.” He tries to give a smile to the other but Knox could see it barely reached his eyes. He doesn’t realize he does the same back.
“Just one more week” Charlie says with a wink.
One more week was anything but “just”.
This week’s Charlie was nothing compared to last week’s Charlie and it just worried Knox more as he barely saw him anymore; he stopped attending dead poet meetings, and he barely slept. If you told any of the poets he disappeared, they wouldn’t be surprised.
“Where’s Charlie?” Meeks asks, when he visits Knox one evening. It was the night before the first day of exams and everyone was one full panic mode. Students were either running around trying to ask for notes or in the library, stress studying. “He said he’d come with Todd, Pitts and I to study Latin” he adds.
Knox shurgs his shoulders, explaining he hasn’t seen him all day. And as if on some miraculous cue, Charlie enters the room and Knox’s eyes widen at the sight of him.
Firstly, Charlie walked in with as much speed as a slug. He dragged his feet across the floor and had barely any life in his movement. His face was now ghastly, his cheekbones protruding out and the color he once had,all flushed away. His eyes were bloodshot and half-awake with his hair disheveled, sticking up in all sorts of directions. Even his posture, that wasn’t already the best, somehow has gotten worse.
This wasn’t Charlie. This was whatever version Welton made.
“Charlie!” Knox blurts, genuinely thinking he had the black plague or something. Meeks, sensing a storm coming, tries to slip himself out of the door but not before building up the courage to remind Charlie about their study group, to which Charlie replies with a small nod in his direction.
“Pitts, Todd and I will be waiting-“
“You’re not going to that study group” Knox interrupts, quickly showing dominance by standing. And Charlie turns to look at him, suddenly getting a burst of energy like he was ready to body slam a man. “The fuck did you just say?” he says, his eyes starting to flicker with rage.
Meeks slips out the door quietly before closing it behind him and he runs.
Inside, both men have a stare down. And everyone knows, when a fight breaks out in the Dalton-Overstreet residence, it.breaks.out.
“You’re not my mom, Overstreet so you can butt out” Charlie says, angrily picking up a sweater from the floor.
“Charlie, you’re not yourself anymore! When’s the last time you’ve eaten? Or slept?” Knox tries to explain as Charlie runs around, trying to get his books for the study group.
“Some of us have to work hard. Not everyone is as smart as the great Knox Overstreet over here!” Charlie sarcastically says, and Knox suppresses the migraine he could feel arriving. Charlie’s sarcasm was great for jokes, not for arguments. And it ticks him off, bad.
“Charlie, I’m not saying your dumb.” Knox exasperates, pinching the spot between his brows “I’m saying you need to take care of yourself! What’s the point of studying if you’ll barely be able to take the exams?”
“Jesus Christ, why does no one believe I can do it?!” Charlie screams, throwing a book on the floor. “I’m just as smart as Meeks or Cameron, okay?!” his voice starting to crack and his lips quivering. Knox stares at a completely different Charlie, the once overconfident, joyful boy was worn out, and afraid.
“I will take those exams! I will pass and I will graduate! And I will get to Stanford! Because I would rather be dead than stuck here!” he adds with tears brimming on the sides of his eyes, threatening to fall. Charlie was tired, Knox was tired, they were all tired.
And when Charlie leaves, making sure to slam the door behind him, Knox sits back on his bed, feeling like the worst boyfriend in the world.
It doesn’t take long for the sleep to catch up on Charlie.
60 hours of non-stop consciousness was bound to come back to him.
He was just hoping it didn’t have to happen at the lake.
P.E. required for them to do rowing as their final, which Charlie knew he was a pro at. The confidence gave him a little pep in his step as the test was simple; using the proper rowing techniques, rescue a buoy in the middle of the lake and return back. Easy Charlie thought.
It was easy for the most part. Charlie reaching the center, the bright red buoy greeting him with its bobbing up and down. However, as soon as he turned his boat around, he suddenly felt sick. Because at this point, the hot sun had been beaming on him for too long and with no sleep and no food inside his tank, his vision begins to blur and within a second, he sees nothing but black. His body shuts down and he falls sideways, and into the water, also causing his boat to capsize. Gasps were heard on shore where the entire class watched and it wasn’t until they realize Charlie wasn’t trying to swim, that they alerted the authorities.
The poets burst in the school’s medical wing, frantically trying to find where the paramedics brought their friend. It didn’t help that all they heard from their peers was that “Dalton fell in the water” and is “unresponsive”. They expected him to be in pain or fighting for his life, with nurses bustling in and out of the room, but the second they enter the nurse’s office, a great hall where crisp, white beds lined up in rows, they spot a peacefully sleeping Charlie in bed, with an empty soup bowl on his bedside table. He had some color back to his face, and he oddly seemed...happier. Could be because he finally had the chance to sleep and eat that was long overdue.
but it could also be because cuddled up next to him, was a sleeping Knox; in a strange position with his head on Charlie’s shoulder and legs bent as both boys clearly didn’t fit the bed. They could imagine how the arguing for their arrangement went down; Knox telling Charlie they’ll get in trouble and Charlie telling him it’s fine because he heard the head nurse talk about gay rights (but they unanimously agree that Charlie must have used the “I can’t sleep without you” line, prompting Knox to give in).
The sight was a stark contrast from their moods a few days ago. There was joy even in their sleeping faces, the happiness radiating even from the other end of the hall, making it seem like the sun had come out again.
Their friends decide to leave them alone, letting them enjoy this unconventional time with each other.