Kiss

**Kiss** is the third episode of the first season of *Heartstopper*, and the third episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

*Sparks fly at a birthday party where Nick's friend Tara confides in him. Inspired, Nick shares his feelings with Charlie — and they grow even closer*.

## Plot

**SPOILERS AHEAD**
Nick is sitting in his room asking Google if he is gay, but ultimately, he just feels more conflicted than ever. While waiting for school to start the next day, Nick is invited to a Harry’s birthday party and Imogen, pushes for Nick to invite her as well.

Later on, in the locker room, the guys talk about Nick having two girls to pick from at the party. It seems that Tara and Imogen are going to be there. But Nick stands firm that he doesn’t like Imogen, which prompts the guys to go on about Tara. He doesn’t deny that this might be his chance to get with her and poor Charlie has to sit and listen to all of this.

In form, Nick asks Charlie to come to Harry’s party as well. Charlie tries to say no, but Nick really wants him to be there.

That night, Charlie shares the news with Tao, Elle and Isaac. Elle is excited for him, but Tao quickly points out that they already have plans. Charlie tries to get them to reschedule, but Tao won’t budge. Tao tries to get the others to back him up, but Isaac doesn’t even bother joining the group and Elle tells Charlie that everything is going to be fine and to have fun.

The night of the party arrives as Charlie is dropped off by his dad with the promise that if he needs to leave, then just to call. He makes his way through the party, looking for Nick, who is spending time with his mates. But, Nick seems preoccupied and when the two finally meet up, the older boy reveals that he has been waiting for Charlie to arrive this whole time.

At Tao’s house, Elle arrives, and Tao’s mom inquires about her school and how she is doing. Elle and Tao then rush upstairs to settle on the movie when Isaac sends a message claiming he is sick and bails as well, leaving the two of them all alone.

Back at the party, Nick’s friends find him and Charlie chatting together. They pull Nick away to see Tara in an attempt to get the two to rekindle their romantic relationship. Charlie doesn’t seem to know how to deal with it and rushes off.

At Tao’s house, Tao opens up to Elle about Charlie’s recent changes. The fact that he bailed on them for a rich boy party, his crush on Nick and that Nick has stolen Charlie from him. Elle doesn’t want to argue about this and goes back to watching the movie instead.

Nick is having his own awkward moment as he tries to talk to Tara and explain what he thinks is going on. Tara opens up to Nick about her relationship with Darcy and that they have decided to stop hiding it. They aren’t looking to make a big announcement but just to not hide how they feel anymore. In turn, Nick opens up about being friends with Charlie and even calls him his best friend.

When Tara and Darcy head off to dance, Nick realizes that Charlie has disappeared. He heads off to find him, but Harry and the others find Nick first. They make some pretty homophobic comments about Charlie having a crush on Nick and Nick calls them out. It turns out he doesn’t want to be friends with the crappy birthday boy after all. He doesn’t bother hanging around to see what they have to say and heads off to find Charlie instead.

Back at Tao’s house, he apologizes for making the night awkward. But Elle is right; change is good sometimes. She opens up that the party might not even be that bad since she has friends there. Tao is excited that she finally made friends at school and Elle shares that she was worried about how people would react to her, so she kept her distance. But this change is a good one. She feels safe and happy in her new school.

Back at the party, Charlie wanders off on his own when he runs into Ben while Nick rushes around looking for him. Charlie argues with Ben, who just can’t take a hint.

Elsewhere, Tao and Elle promise that their friendship will always come first. Elle thinks it is a bit dramatic, but she agrees anyway.

Nick finally finds Charlie, who tells Nick that he felt like he was in the way and that Nick’s friends are intimidating. But Nick doesn’t see them as friends anymore and shares that he really likes hanging out with Charlie instead. Charlie switches the conversation over to running into Ben, and how he handled it. Nick decides it’s too loud and the two head off to find somewhere quieter to hang out. That somewhere is a big empty room all to themselves.

Charlie finally gets the courage to ask about Tara and if Nick has a crush on someone. The conversation flows into Charlie asking if Nick would date or kiss someone who wasn’t a girl. More importantly, would Nick kiss Charlie? This leads to the two boys to progressively inch their pinkies closer, and closer till they eventually entwine them. Nick eventually says yes and the two drift closer together and it culminates in a kiss.

However, the moment is ruined as Nick hears his friends looking for him and he bolts out of the room, leaving Charlie behind. Outside he tells the guys that he must have just been in a bad mood before rushing back to find Charlie. But Charlie called his dad to come to pick him up and take him home. That night, he struggles with what happened as he falls asleep.

The following day, Charlie awakes to no messages from Nick but someone is banging at the door. As it turns out, that someone is Nick, standing in the rain.

## Cast

* 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
* Cormac Hyde-Corrin as Harry Greene
* Ashwin Vishwanath as Sai Verma
* Evan Ovenell as Christian McBride
* Joseph Balderrama as Julio Spring
* Momo Yeung as Yan Xu
* Georgina Rich as Jane Spring

## Quotes

"Would you kiss someone who wasn't a girl?"

"Would you kiss me?"