Plenty of shows have scrapped ideas and plotlines that never see the light of day. Most of those only make it to a brainstorming phase or even become part of the show’s script but sometimes, those ill-fated ideas get as far as being filmed. Such was the case with an abandoned plot point of Heartstopper season 3 from an episode that would’ve been called ‘Secret’. It fit the coming-of-age genre of the beloved show and the cast members involved were fine with the big scene involved but after filming more of the season, the powers that be decided neither the episode nor the aspect of the season’s story fit like they wanted, convincing them to have the whole idea cut out of the season. This is how the major scene of the lost episode went on filming day.

The camera crew was in position and the lighting and sound engineers prepared to film the scene per usual while the series’ main stars sat on Nick Nelson’s bed, with Kit Connor and Joe Locke looking over their lines one more time to make sure they knew them. Kit wore a pair of gym shorts and a simple t-shirt with crew socks while Joe sported a similar outfit but with a hoodie, the respective outfits simultaneously showing off how much muscle Connor had put on and how slim Locke was in comparison.

“Alright, fellas, I know this scene is a bit involved but I’m confident you two won’t have any trouble. If at any point, either of you feel uncomfortable, just say you want to stop and we’ll take a beat to reassess. Oh, and have fun with it. The lines are important but a little improv wont’ hurt either. You guys good?” the director questioned. “Yeah, sounds good” Kit answered. “Yep, me too” Joe agreed. “Let’s get going then” the older man decided as he moved back to his spot to watch the monitor and his actors. “You think I should shed a tear?” Kit questioned with a cheeky, fake sincerity. “Oh, shut up” Joe dismissed with a toss of a pillow at him, making Connor laugh at how easy it was to tease his co-star before the director shouted action and both boys snapped into character like the pros they were.

The 20 year old ginger’s giggly smile suddenly became a worried expression, subtle but obviously concerned about something while Joe’s eyes took a few glances between him and the book in his hand. “Why do you look like you’re waiting for the sky to fall?” Locke asked. “What?” “You. You have the most serious look on your face” “Oh…I didn’t realize” Kit half-way laughed. “Something’s bothering you. I know that look” the 21 year old pointed out as he closed his book to give his screen boyfriend his full attention. “It’s nothing, really” “Just tell me. Even if you buried a body in your backyard, I’d at least want to know” Joe added with a warm smile, putting a small one across Kit’s face too.

“…I thought I’d had myself figured out…like I understood everything but I guess I’m not as simple as I thought” Kit as Nick explained. “Sometimes we realize things about ourselves; that’s part of being a person I think. What did you realize?” Joe questioned as he scooted a little closer with one leg under him and his other hanging off the bed. “Well, you know how I tickle you sometimes?” “Yeah…” “I realized…I really like it…I think I love it actually” Kit explained with a perfect mixture of anxiety and a heartfelt hope for a good reception. “That was what was worrying you?” Joe asked. “Yeah…I thought you might think it was weird. I mean, I know couples tickle each other but I don’t know, I guess I didn’t think anybody enjoyed it…like I do” “Nick, I know you’re a tickle monster. It’s annoying because I’m so ticklish but it’s not weird. It’s not like you told me you think you were abducted by aliens or are secretly a robot” Joe laughed. “Yeah, that would be stranger I guess. I looked around online about it though…just to make sure I wasn’t the first person ever to like tickling and wow, I’m really not” Nick laughingly explained, earning more curiosity from Locke.

“Did that make you feel better about it?” Joe asked. “Yeah, it did…apparently it’s like, a fetish or kink, whatever you want to call it” Kit answered like he was talking about something he didn’t fully understand. “Alright…so, when you tickle me, what are you thinking?” Joe questioned, making Kit smile with a bit of reluctance. “Come on, tell me!” Joe pressed with a playful shove of his shoulder. “Usually, I’m thinking about how cute you are and how much I like your laugh and how you try to get away from me…and I usually want to keep going. I think I could tickle you all night if you let me” Connor elaborated as a look of maybe he’d said a little too much came over him. “Really? All night?” “Yeah…” Kit admitted with a different look down at the bed like he wasn’t sure how to navigate the revealing conversation.

“I love you, Nick…I want to be with you and make you happy. I don’t expect you to fully understand everything I’m into or may become into in the future…and as ticklish as I am and as much as it drives me crazy, I’d be willing to experiment more with this if you want” Joe explained in a sweet, reassuring way that made Kit look back up at him with a tenderness in his eyes, the kind that came from being heard and accepted. “Experiment, huh?” Kit asked with a new smirk. “I didn’t mean right now…I was just saying, you know, in the future…” Joe tried to clarify as the specific look in Kit’s eye grew more mischievous.

“Who has the patience for that?” Kit grinned as a hand secured across Joe’s knee. “No! Nick, come on! Stop it!” Joe argued as he tried to shuffle away but couldn’t before Kit started squeezing a little, making Locke squirm with a giggly yelp before he could put an embarrassed hand over his mouth. “That’s not what I meant! You’re taking the piss right now!” Joe protested as he managed to yank his leg free or Kit let him, either way it didn’t stop Connor form prowling toward him like a tiger stalking his prey on the bed with a playfulness that put a smile of anticipation on Joe’s sweet face.

“No! No, enough! Come on!” Joe laughingly argued and tried to half-way kick Kit away but Connor just caught his leg. “Feet first, Charlie? I like it” Kit smiled as his grip on the ankle tightened. “NO! That’s not what I wanted! Let go of my foot!!” “You gave it to me” Kit laughed back before his other hand pounced on the socked foot with spidering fingers, the kind that always made Joe laugh. “NNOoAohAOHA!! K-NIiiIhiCCKKK!” Joe burst with bubbly laughter, nearly calling Kit by his real name as the tickling fritzed his brain. Kit grinned like he was enjoying it as much as his character was supposed to as he dominated the slender foot with rapid fingers of spirited enthusiasm, gliding across the white socked sole with incredible ease as Joe floundered on the bed.

“OOkoohOAHOoKk!! DDOOoNNnTTbbEEAaDDiIICCkK!” “Name calling now? That’s pretty rude of you, mate…I’m gonna have to teach you a lesson” Kit played along as he took the edge of the sock between his fingers and started peeling it off. “NO! Not the sock! I wasn’t calling you a dick! I said don’t be one!” Joe argued while trying to retain the line of protection but couldn’t keep Kit from stealing it, leaving his pale 9 ½ even more defenseless. “Oh yeah, now we’re talking” Kit smirked before wrapping his arm around the ankle, telling Joe he was really in trouble now. “NO! No more tickling!! I meant we could experiment laAhahAATTEERRAohaohA!!!” Joe erupted with wilder laughter than before, the kind Kit would’ve bottled if he could.

His strong fingers scribbled all over the narrow foot while his co-star went bonkers behind him, throwing pillows and trying to pry him off with his other leg but nothing phased the ginger gym rat. “SSTtoHoHOHPPP! AOAOhohOOHmMyYGGoOHoHODD!!” “Why?” “BBeECCAaUUuSSSEe!!” “That’s a horrible reason to not do something, Charlie” Kit teased while flying up and down the baby-smooth sole as it wrinkled and fought against him. “IiIitTTTiIiCCKKLLleESS!! IiItTTTiIcCCkKLLEeSsAHAOoKk??!” “Really?” Kit smiled before ascending to the toes and spiking Joe’s already outrageous laughter. “AhAHhAhAHANNOoOAohAOHA!!” Locke nearly shrieked once Kit’s dull nails found the undersides of his rosy toes, invading the supple row with a kind of friendly fire to keep Joe howling behind him.

“What soft toes you have” Kit added as the camera caught every bit of his handsome, devious smile, the kind that would endear audiences to Nick Nelson’s playfully evil side as he tormented his boyfriend. “TThheEyYyRREenNooOTTFFoOoORR TTiIICCkKLLiINnNGAHAH!!” “Oh, I totally disagree there…they’re perfect for tickling” Kit assured as he turned back around to face Joe and surprise him again by holding the foot with both hands, one cradling the heel and the other the top, before bringing it to his mouth and nibbling/licking along the middle of his sole. “AAAAHAHAHHAhHAAOhANNOoHAOhAOH!!” Joe became a nuclear meltdown of laughter and thrashing around while Kit snacked on his bare foot with cartoonish noises and excited chomping.

The crew watched with wild entertainment and surprise as the scene unfolded, unsure before it’d started how it would go but impressed once again and Kit and Joe’s chemistry, that and the way they both fell into tickler and ticklee roles so well. A stray kick to Kit’s stomach cut the nibble tickling short, forcing Connor to take a second. “Oh my god, I didn’t mean to actually kick you” Joe assured with guilty eyes as he sat up and looked on to make sure Kit was ok. “Nice shot actually…” Kit answered as with a smile of ‘I’m all good’ toward Joe. “Thanks” Joe lightly laughed. “But, I am gonna have to make you pay for that though…” Kit added as his eyes shifted from reassuring to eager again. “What? You were tickling me! I couldn’t help it!” Joe whined with another giggly smile as Kit grabbed the comforter and pulled Joe closer to him before he could roll away, allowing Connor to wrap both hands around his waist and go to town.

“AAHAGghoAohAOhANNoOONOO!! NOOoOMmMoOohORREEAOhAA!!” Joe couldn’t help but explode with another wave of boyishly distressed laughter as Kit’s fingers wiggled into his waist, even nestling in below the band of his shorts to really get at him. “You could at least apologize for kicking me” “AhoAIiIMmSSsOHOhRRrYY!” “Really? You sure?” “YyeAeAssShAHAHA!!” Joe tried his best to convince as the hip squeezing tickled him to pieces, Kit’s hands able to lock around his slim frame with total dominance. “I don’t know…your belly doesn’t look too sorry to me” Kit added before hiking up Joe’s shirt the rest of the way to expose his stomach and blew a giant raspberry right on the middle, rocketing Locke’s adorably out of control laughter to a new momentary high.

“OOkOOhohOHKK!! OhAohAhAACCoOmMmEEOOoNnAHA!!” Joe argued the best he could but Kit started doing the same chomping technique on his stomach and side like he had his foot, even more exaggerated this time a wider jaw. “NNOOoHAOhAOhAOhNNiiICCCkKKK!!” It was a shock he even remembered not to call him Kit in that moment, overwhelmed by the insanely ticklish attack and trying to think of something Charlie would say to convince Nick to stop but nothing came to mind as Connor and his bit of slight stubble nommed on his stomach like a hungry dinosaur with dull teeth.

“You taste better than I remember” Kit teased as he came up for air and saw the delightfully frazzled look on Joe’s face, waiting to see what Connor would do next. “OK! OK! You have to have gotten it out of your system by now…honestly” Locke added as he caught his breath. “I don’t know, it seems like there’s somewhere I forgot…” “Nope, there’s nowhere you forgot…you got all the spots, I promise” Joe assured. “Maybe you’re right” Kit agreed as his attention shifted from Joe to nowhere at all, seemingly done with his tickle monster rampage, until he jumped back onto Joe. “NO! No more!” Joe laughingly protested as Kit forced his hands out to his sides, the kind of protest that told him Joe wasn’t actually trying to hit the eject button. They knew each other well enough by now.

“You’re cute when you’re worried” Kit added as they stared at each other, another surprise, this time to not be getting tickled. “Great. Good to know” Joe answered with a bit of sass. “I’m glad you weren’t weirded out about what I told you…I was worried then” Kit admitted as he kept Joe pinned down. “You were cute then too” Locke answered like he was preparing for a kiss, reading the mood shift as Kit lowered his head a little and their lips got closer but 10 wiggling fingers sprang into his armpits instead. “OoHAohAOhAOHANNNoOAohAOhAOhAA!!!” erupted out of Joe and his legs kicked around as Kit filled his pits with two handfuls of tickle fury. “I couldn’t forget about these” Connor pointed out with a cute, sadistic grin while Locke floundered under him with hilarious laughter.

“Oh, the ribs too, can’t skip those” Kit soon added as his hands started jumping from the pits to the ribs with the same insatiable fingers, digging around in the underarms one second and drilling up and down his ribs the next with no rhyme or reason for Joe to expect to be destroyed by. “AaHAOoAOAALLLlRRIIiGGhhTTT!! AOhAOHAOhASSSTTOhOhOPP!!” Locke bubbled over as he tried to grab Kit’s hands but stood no real chance at stopping him. “You were gonna let me forget about these spots…what kind of boyfriend are you?” Kit teased before grabbing Joe’s hands again and forcing them out to the sides so he could bury his face into Locke’s neck, nibbling and even licking a little again and ratcheting Joe’s laughter to distorted outbursts of cute giggles and shouts of protests through his lovable smile.

But just when Joe thought Kit might never stop, he did. He lifted his head up and watched Joe from above catching his breath, prepared to endure another tickle surprise. With his hands still pinning Joe’s wrists, Kit leaned down and the pair kissed with a different spark than before, like the bond between them as friends had changed a little. When they separated, they had a similar look, one that made both of them laugh a bit. “Now I think I’ve gotten it out of my system” “I don’t know if I believe you” “I swear, really” Kit assured but Joe wasn’t buying it, instead shooting into Connor’s sides before he could get him again.

“hEhEEYY!” Kit burst with his own, deeper laugh. “I know you’re ticklish too!” Joe reminded as he did his best to get Connor back a little but quickly lost the upper hand when Kit broke away. “I was done but you started it again so this is your fault” Kit pointed out with a fresh smile as he dove for Joe’s socked foot. “NO! No, you already got me!” Joe tried to scramble away as Kit locked his grip around the ankle and ripped the sock off, holding his naked foot in the air before launching onto the cotton candy sole with the same charmingly vicious energy. “NNoAOoAHoHAOhAAOhaohAH!! YYOoOoUUWWiIINN!! IiIGGiIivVVEeuUuPPP!!” Joe surrendered in hopes of sparing his poor foot from Kit’s relentless fingers currently scribbling away.

Unfortunately, the world wouldn’t see the fantastic tickle scene. The titular secret of the episode was rewritten to be something else and the footage will likely never reappear unless it winds up on some deleted scenes release somewhere. But even if the scene never made it out, at least everyone on set and especially Kit, knew just how ticklish Joe Locke was now and likely wouldn’t let him forget it.