Summary of Heartstopper Volume 1

 Heartstopper Volume 1 Summary

The plot of “Heartstopper” mainly follows the story of two teenage boys; Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson. 

Chapter1- Meet

January

Set in January, right after the Christmas holidays, the chapter begins with Charlie and Ben making out in the school library. Charlie is a bit uncomfortable and soon leaves for his class with Mr. Lange. In class, Charlie sits next to Nick, which is their first meeting. A few lessons later, Nick’s pen explodes in his hands, and the two start talking. Mr. Lange sent them to clean Nick up, who is covered in ink. Busy in conversation with Nick, Charlie missed Ben’s texts.

Tao and Charlie are talking about Nick. Tao doesn’t understand why Charlie is friends with Nick, as the latter is a rugby boy. Tao tells Charlie that he might have a crush on Nick, which he denies. Later, Charlie sees Ben with his girlfriend and texts him that he doesn’t want to meet anymore.

February

Ben wants to talk to Charlie, who keeps ignoring him. Ben starts to become aggressive, but Nick appears. Nick suggests that Charlie should join the rugby team. Charlie agrees hesitantly. Despite the team’s doubts about his ability to play rugby, Charlie proves himself. During the practices, Charlie and Nick’s bond became stronger.

After a rugby practice session, Ben texts Charlie, asking him to meet up. Charlie agrees to confront him, but Ben denies all the accusations. Ben then kisses Charlie forcibly until Nick shoves him aside. Nick comforts Charlie, who is crying. After talking for a bit, both go their separate ways. The chapter ends with Nick and Charlie realizing that they have a crush on each other.

Chapter 2- Crush

The chapter starts with Nick on his laptop, looking at Charlie’s Facebook profile and thinking of all the bad stuff people have said about him after his coming out. Snapping that thought, he decides to message Charlie, asking if he is okay. Charlie explains to him everything that has happened between him and Ben. After hearing his story, Nick promises Charlie that he will protect him.

Tao once again confronts Charlie about his crush on Nick. However, this time Charlie does not deny it. Tao, who is convinced that Nick is straight tells Charlie to get over it. But Charlie tells him that he can’t.

In March, Nick asks Charlie to come his house to meet his dog. Tori also recognizes his crush on Nick and tells him to have fun. While at his house, it starts to snow, so they decide to go out with Nellie. Charlie gets wet, so he borrows Nick’s hoodie and leaves for home. Nick’s mother tells him that whenever he is around Charlie, he acts more himself. On the other hand, Nick confesses to Tori that he fell for a straight boy.

A week later, both hang out again at Charlie’s place, where Nick meets his family for the first time. After Nick leaves, Tori tells Charlie that she doesn’t think Nick is straight. Meanwhile, at home, Nick starts googling things about his sexuality, contemplating whether he is gay or not.

April

After spring break, Charlie texts Tao, telling him that he thinks Nick might like him back. Tao responds to him by saying that he is sure that Nick still has a crush on Tara Jones, his old classmate. It upsets Charlie, but he is still affectionate toward Nick.

Later, Nick asks Charlie to come to Harry Greene’s party. Charlie agrees and meets Nick at the party hosted in a giant hotel. As both of them were sitting in a corner Harry and his friends appear. Harry drags Nick away from Charlie, telling him that Tara is at the party. Tara informs Nick that she’s gay and asks him about his feelings for Charlie. Nick doesn’t give her a straight answer. Later, Nick realizes that Charlie is gone and goes off to find him.

Nick finds Charlie, who tells him that he ran into Ben. Charlie tells him that Ben tries to do the same thing he did before, but this time Charlie stands up to him. It makes Nick proud. Both of them again go to a quieter place and end up in a room alone. Charlie asks Nick if it is okay to kiss him. Nick agrees, and they kiss until Sai interrupts them. Nick panics and leaves Charlie.

Chapter3- Kiss

After reaching home, Charlie goes to bed crying while Nick is home worrying about him. The next morning, Nick visits Charlie’s house. Charlie begins to apologize for kissing him, but Nick stops him by kissing him. Nick apologizes to Charlie for leaving him and explains that he is just confused about his sexuality.

The two go to the conservatory to talk about their sexualities and realize that they like each other. They start kissing but get interrupted by Oliver. Charlie asks him to keep their relationship a secret. Also, Nick and Charlie decided not to tell anyone about them as Nick doesn’t want to come out yet.

The week at school after they start dating, their affection towards each other is more visible. Aled and Tao notice that. Tao, who still thinks Nick is straight, is disappointed in Charlie for still pursuing him.

The following Wednesday, at rugby practice, when Charlie gets hurt, Nick takes him to the locker room to get an ice pack. There Nick kisses Charlie.

On Thursday, while the two are out with Nellie, where Nick reveals to Charlie that he might be bisexual, but isn't sure yet. They are about to kiss but are interrupted by some random people. It makes Nick feel guilty, however, Charlie reassures him that it is fine.

The next day, Charlie invites Nick to his birthday party. Nick meets Tao, Aled, and Elle at the party. It is revealed that Elle used to share classes with Nick before she came out, and now she goes to Higgs, and also that Tao and Elle like each other but have not confessed their feelings to each other. 

Tao follows Charlie to the washroom and asks him to stay away from Nick as he is not a good guy. Charlie defends him without revealing much about their relationship, which surprises Nick, who has overheard the entire conversation. Tao tells Charlie that he's simply afraid that Nick will bully him the way Harry did, but Charlie reassures him that Nick is different.

After Tao leaves, Charlie talks to Nick, who thanks him. Charlie, who doesn't know Nick overheard him talking to Tao, is quite confused. After the bowling game, Nick gives Charlie his present, and they sneak a kiss and talk about what happened in the bathroom. 

Two and a half weeks later, Nick ends up coming out to Tara and Darcy, who are fully supportive of him and his choice not to tell the people at school. Nick tells Charlie about this, who is proud of him, and they kiss. However, their moment is interrupted by Tori, who tells "Well done" to Charlie. Nick begins to panic about someone else knowing, but Charlie comforts him. As Nick leaves, he invites Charlie to meet his friends next Saturday. Tori advises against going, but Charlie insists that he will be fine.

On Saturday, Charlie and Nick meet up and enter the movie theater only to find that Harry is there. After the movie, Harry starts asking Charlie very uncomfortable questions, angering Nick. Once Charlie leaves, Nick gets into a fight with Harry, resulting in the two of them punching each other. Later, Nick invites Charlie on a proper date.

The next day, Nick tells Charlie about what happened the night before. The two of them heads to a beach. As they lay down on the sand together, Nick tells Charlie he wants to come out. Nick screams about Charlie at the ocean before confirming that they are boyfriends. After reaching home, Nick talks to his mother and ends up coming out to her as bisexual.

Chapter 4 - Out

Charlie decides to reveal his and Nick's relationship to his family. Initially, they are shocked but quickly become supportive of them.

June

Christian, Sai, and Omar apologize to Nick for not stopping Harry from being rude to Charlie. A week later, Nick and Charlie got caught kissing in the equipment room by Mrs. Singh. She calls Nick to her office and appoints him as rugby captain. Mrs. Singh also reveals that she met her wife through rugby.

Nick gets home to find that David, his brother, has arrived, which doesn’t make him happy. The next morning the two decide to come out to Charlie's friends. At the Paris trip meeting, Nick and Charlie come out to Aled, who already saw it coming and informs that Elle knows too. Aled advises them not to tell Tao, as he might have been the reason, why everyone knows about Charlie sexuality at the first place.

On Monday, Charlie tells Nick that he isn't annoyed at Tao and shares how being out ended up hurting him. As Nick leaves Charlie alone to get snacks, he finds that David has been talking to him. David makes many negative comments toward Nick, triggering a fight and making Charlie leave. Later, they text each other about how complicated being out is, and Charlie nearly texts Nick that he loves him.

A week passed, but Charlie still is unable to tell Tao about his relationship with Nick. Aled tells him that it's okay. A couple of days later, the group departs for France. In the hotel, Charlie hasn't eaten much, which makes Nick worried.

The next morning, someone knock at the door. Tao opens the door, wearing only a jacket and boxers, and finds out its Elle. He gets embarrassed and slams the door. Charlie tells Tao that his crush is reciprocated, but he refuses to accept.

Later in the day, the teachers dismiss the students to explore. The only two who want to visit the museums are Tao and Elle, so everyone leaves them. While wandering, the group decides to get ice cream. Once again, Charlie opts out of getting anything, which makes Nick even more worried. He talks to Aled about it, but Aled has no idea. Meanwhile, Tara and Charlie talk. Tara tells him how she and Darcy stopped being afraid of coming out.

That night, Nick tries to talk to Tao about Elle, but again he refuses to tell her about his feelings. Once Charlie gets out of the shower, he and Nick start kissing until Charlie decides they should stop before they get caught.

While brushing his teeth, Charlie discovers that he has a hickey. Once on the bus, most of the class laughs about it. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, some students start teasing Nick, stating "may be he gave Charlie the love bite to Charlie." However, Harry steps in to stop them. As the group takes photos, Charlie tells Tao that he and Nick are dating. Tao is a bit hurt, as Charlie told everyone before him. Charlie explains his reasons, which only hurts Tao even more.

The next day, Charlie still feels bad about Tao and isn't eating. After breakfast, the group leaves for the Louvre. Tao and Elle split up with the others and finally kissed. Meanwhile, the group is exploring in the very hot museum. The heat combined with the fact that Charlie did not eat breakfast, leads him to faint. Fortunately, he falls into Nick's arms and regains consciousness immediately. Once Nick and Charlie are alone, Charlie explains why he isn't eating. Nick assures him that he can always tell him if he's having a bad day.

Their conversation gets interrupted by a call from Nick's dad. During this call, Charlie discovers that Nick can speak French. It turns out that Nick wants to meet up with his dad in person and tell him about Charlie. They both realize that they don’t know each other well and are hiding things. They hug each other though both want to say "I love you", but neither of them does.