Boyfriend

**Boyfriend** is the eighth episode of the first season of *Heartstopper*, and the eighth episode of the series overall. It is also the season finale.

## Synopsis

*As the boys and girls schools meet for a Sports Day, Charlie's on the brink of breaking it all off with Nick while Elle and Tao share a special moment*.

## Plot

Charlie tries to unsuccessfully to reach out to Tao . When he doesn’t respond, he turns to his music to try to help him escape. But his sister Tori doesn’t want to deal with the noise and tries to get Charlie to open up about what is going on. Charlie blames himself for Nick and Tao’s fight with Harry, but Tori knows that isn’t the case and she wasn’t even there. Charlie opens up about how much Ben messed with his head and how now Nick is suffering because of him. Charlie then admits to feeling like perhaps if he weren’t around, then everyone would be okay. Tori knows this isn’t true and continues to comfort him.

The next day Charlie shows up at school and while Isaac is willing to talk to him, Tao is giving him the silent treatment. The sports day between Truham and Higgs is coming up and because he is on the rugby team, he will be expected to participate with them and not with his friends. After class, Charlie runs into Nick in the hallway and blows off his request to get lunch together.

Instead, he heads to coach Singh and quits the rugby team. She tries to get him to tell her if it was any of the boys that brought this on, but he doesn’t out anyone. He just claims that rugby isn’t for him.

Elsewhere, Nick confronts Tao during lunch to figure out what is going on with Charlie. Tao is over trying to protect Charlie from everything when he doesn’t even act like he exists. Nick tells him that Charlie must have been really nervous about telling him about them because Charlie cares about Tao’s opinion and doesn’t want to disappoint him.

The conversation flips to why Charlie is ignoring Nick. Nick thinks it is because he doesn’t want to have to keep lying about their relationship. Tao gives him some insight into how Charlie thinks and that he constantly blames himself for other people’s problems. He also might be too afraid to tell Nick that he wants to be something more.

Later that night, Nick tries reaching out to Charlie again, but he doesn’t answer him.

Meanwhile, Elle, Darcy and Tara arrive at Truham. It’s the first time Elle is around everyone she left behind and while she is nervous, she wants to be there. As the school gets ready for the event, Charlie keeps on avoiding Nick. Tao finds Elle and tells her that he hasn’t even signed up for anything. Isaac eventually shows up and when Elle asks about Charlie, no one has seen him.

Inside, Charlie meets up with Mr. Ajayi to hideaway. He realizes that something must be going on with Charlie and even if he doesn’t want to open up about it, he gives him some advice. It might seem easier to hide from one’s problems, but the loneliness can be just as bad, if not worse. He tells him that he won’t kick him out of the art room, but he needs to not let people make him disappear.

Outside, coach Singh catches Tao and assigns him the 200-meter run even though he sucks at running. Thankfully, Charlie comes to his rescue and swaps jerseys with him. Charlie apologizes to Tao for all of the trouble he caused before heading over to the race. Ben is there as one of the participants for the event. Once the race begins, Charlie pulls ahead of Ben and beats him in the run. Finally, Charlie stands up for himself and puts Ben in his place!

Afterward, Charlie and Tao apologize to each other and move past their fight. They both understand that they could have been better friends but are willing to work together to get past this. And maybe a few dozen movie nights with all of Tao’s favorites.

Tao leaves Charlie to wander the halls with Elle while the rest of the school watches Tara in the high jump and Isaac in the javelin throw.

Inside, Elle and Tao sneak into the art room. He shares his terrible landscape with her and she debates telling him about her feelings. But, Elle chickens out at the last minute and instead tries to rub his facepaint off. The two almost kiss twice before Elle dips off to find her old locker.

At the field, the rugby match kicks off. Charlie leaves his little hideaway with Isaac to watch the action and cheer Nick on. But Nick isn’t up for playing rugby and leaves the field, grabs Charlie’s hand and drags him off in front of everyone.

Inside, Nick confronts Charlie about all of this breakup stuff and tells him that he doesn’t care about getting into fights with his mates or making people angry because Charlie is worth it. Being with Charlie is the best thing that has happened to him and he isn’t willing to throw it away.

Nick asks Charlie if he is free this upcoming Saturday and the two finally go on their very first date. Except, Nick won’t tell Charlie where they are going. There is a train and then some seagulls before Nick finally reveals that he has taken Charlie to the beach! They spend the day riding rides, taking photos, getting food and doing boyfriend things. While laying on the beach, Nick opens up to Charlie about deciding that he wants to come out.

This excites Charlie, but he wants to make sure that this is something that Nick is sure of. He feels like he knows who he is and doesn’t want to sneak around anymore. He wants them to be able, to be honest with their friends and family and be honest with themselves. So now they are officially boyfriends. Nick eventually picks up Charlie and runs around while telling the world how he feels about him and nearly dropping Charlie into the ocean.

At home, Nick finds his mom in the kitchen. With his newfound confidence, Nick sits down and tells his mom that Charlie is his boyfriend, and she supports him.

## Cast

### Starring

* Kit Connor as Nick Nelson
* Joe Locke as Charlie Spring
* William Gao as Tao Xu
* Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent
* Corinna Brown as Tara Jones
* Kizzy Edgell as Darcy Olsson
* Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson
* Rhea Norwood as Imogen Heaney
* Sebastian Croft as Ben Hope
* Jenny Walser as Tori Spring
* Fisayo Akinade as Mr. Ajayi
* Chetna Pandya as Coach Singh
* Stephen Fry as Headmaster Barnes (voice only)
* Olivia Colman as Sarah Nelson

### Co-Starring

* Fin Milne as Student #2
* Bradley Riches as Student #3
* Alice Oseman as Train Passenger