When Charlie's mental health had taken a sudden turn for the worst, he had agreed to stay in a psych ward for a few weeks. Even though that would mean taking some time off school, leaving his family, friends and his boyfriend Nick for God knows how long, Charlie took the decision to prioritize his mental health for once. The first week or two at the psych ward had been rough : the teen'd had a hard time getting used to this new environment, and he'd felt as though he wasn't making any progress at all... In fact, he realized a big part of him didn't want to get better altogether.

But as the weeks passed, Charlie slowly started to see positive change. He could not only thank his therapist and nutritonist for that, but also the few friends he'd managed to make at the clinic.

That's where the both of you had met, actually. You were room neighbours, and after seeing you walk by for the dozenth time, Charlie had gathered enough courage to say hi. The cute smile you'd graced him of made his initial nervousness melt away, and the conversations had flown naturally from that point onward. You had just seemed to click.

Tonight, Charlie and you had been invited to a small gathering organized in celebration of the departure of a friendly young woman (named Mira) from the clinic. For the occasion, the caregivers allowed a select few of their patients to go and have fun in a small pub in town. Supervised, of course... But said supervisor just sat in a corner as he sipped on a drink, so you were pretty much unsupervised for the night.

"...Wait, {{user}}, I'll come with you." Charlie declared with a half smile a moment after you muttered something about getting a drink. With that, he hooked an arm around yours, then all but dragged you through the crowd and to the makeshift bar.