Chapter Text
The sun had just begun to dip below the horizon, its light reflecting gloriously on the calm sea. Most of the beach-goers had packed their belongings and journeyed home for the day, leaving Charlie lying peacefully alone next to his boyfriend on a blanket in the sand.
Charlie’s eyes were closed, and he listened faintly to the washing tides, overhead gulls, and Nick’s steady breathing.
For the past six or so months, things had been particularly hectic in his and Nick’s lives.
The final months of university before graduation had seemed to drag on for what felt like eternity to Charlie, but it was finally done with. Nick anxiously prepared to begin his new job as a primary school teacher next month, and even though Charlie knew his boyfriend would be an amazing teacher, Nick’s nerves and doubts had a tendency to consume him at times.
On top of everything else, they had been living together for two weeks. Moving had been rather stressful, and their flat was still very much a work in progress, but Charlie was happier than he’d ever been.
They were both utterly exhausted, though, so when Nick suggested they go to the beach for the day, Charlie thought that sounded lovely.
The day had been perfect; they window-shopped and shared ice cream and posed for pictures inside the photo booth, and to end the day, they were watching the sunset together on the sand.
Charlie wouldn’t have changed a thing.
As the sun continued to fall, the cool sea breeze that the evening brought caused him to shiver. And as if Nick sensed his very slight, almost negligible discomfort, he pulled Charlie into his side, wrapping a warm arm around him.
“We had our first proper date here, remember?” Nick said suddenly, a level of fondness in his voice that made Charlie grin.
“You wouldn’t tell me where we were going, you wanted to surprise me.” Charlie recalled fondly.
He remembered sitting next to Nick on the train, their thighs pressing against one another in the seat; the way Nick held his hand as they walked toward their destination, his other hand covering Charlie’s eyes; the sound of seagulls and excitedly running toward the water as the surprise was revealed.
“I’d been planning our first date in my head for like, literal months,” Nick sighed, fingers combing absentmindedly through Charlie’s curls. “I wanted it to be perfect, special. And it was, it was so special.”
Charlie wasn’t sure if he was hearing things, but it almost sounded as though Nick was getting choked up. He lifted his head from his boyfriend’s chest to look into his eyes, and sure enough, he was met with a watery gaze.
“Nick?” He asked, the worry clear in his voice. What was going on?
“Sorry,” Nick chuckled, blinking the tears from his eyes. “I just…that date, this place, it really means a lot to me. I think it’s because I…realized a few things that day.”
Charlie swallowed a lump he didn’t realize had been forming in his throat. Why was he crying now? He wasn’t sad, just…concerned.
He supposed after so many years of dating, he felt Nick’s emotions almost as strongly as he felt his own. It was impossible to imagine his life without Nick in it after all of the time that had passed in their lives together; it was almost as if their souls had begun to blend into one another somewhere along the way.
Rubbing his thumb gently along the skin of Nick’s hand, Charlie asked, “What did you realize?”
Nick parted his lips as if he was about to speak, but appeared to second guess himself. Charlie watched as his eyes trailed to the side, looking out at the magnificent shades of orange and pink that had painted the sky as the sun dipped further.
After some time, he said, “I realized that this, us, was possible. I knew that I liked you, and I knew that I was bisexual, but for some time, I thought that you were…too good to be true,”
He turned his gaze back toward Charlie, and there was something unreadable in his eyes. “Do you remember what you said on that day? About not believing you would ever get to be in a…a real relationship?”
Charlie nodded. “I never thought this would happen to me,” he had said through overwhelming tears of joy. And he hadn’t believed it — he never pictured himself getting his happy ending, falling in love and being loved in return.
But then Nick had come along and tilted his world beautifully upside down.
“I believed that about myself, too. It was like…I was scared of just how perfect it all felt. Does that make sense?”
Propping himself up on his elbow, Charlie reached forward to gently wipe a tear from his boyfriend’s cheek. He didn’t retreat his hand, though, instead extending his fingers to caress the side of Nick’s face. Nick leaned into the touch, closing his eyes and pressing a kiss to Charlie’s palm.
“It makes sense,” he assured. “And look where we are now.”
Years after that defining first date at the beach, and there they were — they’d gotten through the initial process of coming out as a couple, learned to navigate personal struggles together rather than alone, dealt with a period of long-distance dating during Nick’s first year at university, made time for one another even during stressful times as they crossed the fine line into real adulthood, moved in together, and now they were here, back on the beach. Charlie soaked it all in for a moment, the course of their relationship and how grateful he was.
“Look where we are now,” Nick repeated, and Charlie simply had to lean down to plant a sweet kiss to his boyfriend’s lips.
When they parted, Charlie stroked his thumb gently on the skin of Nick’s cheek. He was smiling, and it was the most beautiful thing Charlie had ever seen. He wanted to ingrain the image in his brain for eternity.
“I realized something else that day, too,” Nick spoke, eyes slowly trailing down to their locked hands.
“Yeah?” Charlie prompted.
“Yeah,” Nick huffed a laugh, playing with Charlie’s fingers. One finger, in particular, on his left hand.
“I knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.” Nick whispered.
Oh. Oh.
Charlie couldn’t help the soft gasp that he inhaled. What was Nick saying? What was going on?
“Nick…” Charlie started, brows knitted as he met his boyfriend’s eyes.
“It was just an idea at the time, we were still so young and I knew it may have been…unrealistic of me to think like that. But you’ve taught me so much, Char — shown me so much love. You’re always there for me, on good days and especially on bad days, and I…I want to be there for you, too, always. And over the years, even though we had to overcome some obstacles, my love for you has only grown stronger. That idea in my head of us spending forever together just kept becoming more and more realistic, more inevitable. Because I love you so much, Charlie Spring, and I want to spend eternity loving you.”
The tears Charlie had been attempting to keep at bay streamed down his cheeks. His lip quivered as he looked at his boyfriend, and despite the tears blurring his vision, he saw that Nick was crying, too.
But they were both smiling, so full of love.
“You really have a way with words, Nick Nelson,” Charlie laughed, brushing a stray piece of hair from Nick’s forehead.
“To be clear, that absolutely wasn’t what I’d rehearsed,” Nick chuckled, pulling away slightly to wipe his own tears. “But just in case the message wasn’t clear, sometimes actions speak louder than words.”
He had a small inclination as to what would happen next, but it still took his breath away when Nick reached into his bag, retrieved a small velvet box, and repositioned himself so he was balancing on one knee on their little blanket in the sand.
Charlie wanted to grab his face and pull him into a kiss, but he was able to keep the urge subdued long enough for Nick to actually ask him the question of the evening.
“Charles Francis Spring,” Nick began, and Charlie giggled, finding himself nodding before Nick had even continued.
“Will you marry me?”
He couldn’t contain himself any longer. Charlie threw his arms around Nick’s neck, knocking them over with the force of the embrace. He tucked his face into the crook of Nick’s shoulder, tears flowing freely. Nick hugged him firmly, and he felt him shaking. Perhaps it was nerves, or maybe even just adrenaline, but Charlie found himself just as unsteady.
“Is that a yes?” Nick chuckled, and Charlie pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes like he was utterly insane for even asking that question.
“Yes,” Charlie breathed out, and he wasted no time before connecting their lips in an inevitable kiss.
It was almost completely dark now, the sun just barely peeking out over the horizon, but Charlie wanted to savor this moment for as long as possible.
When they parted, Nick delicately plucked the ring from the velvet box. Charlie held his hand out, and they both shared a laugh at his shaking hand as Nick slid the glistening ring onto his finger, sealing the deal. It was beautiful, and it looked as though it had always belonged there on Charlie’s finger.
“Remember when you asked if we were boyfriends?” Nick chuckled, voice still shaking slightly from the moment. “As if it hadn’t been established the last ten times we’d made out?”
Charlie’s forehead rested against Nick’s chest, and his body shook with laughter. “Well, does this mean we’re fiancés?”
Fiancé. Charlie liked the sound of that word, quite a lot.
Nick’s smile was wild. “Yes, we’re fiancés.”
Looking out at the water, Charlie said, “Is this the part where you carry me into the sea and announce our status to the world?”
“Do you want it to be?” Nick said playfully.
Charlie shrugged, but the smirk on his lips was telling of his answer.
Before he had time to process what was happening, Nick was scooping him up into his arms and sprinting toward the water. Charlie held on tightly to his neck as water splashed beneath them.
“I’m your fiancé! You’re my fiancé! We’re fiancés!” Nick yelled, spinning them around in a circle gleefully, without a care in the world.
“I wouldn’t pull the whole pretending to drop me stunt this time, because I have a feeling the mood will turn sour if I lose this ring.” Charlie laughed.
Nick looked as though he had been contemplating it, but decided against it upon hearing Charlie’s logic. “Fair point.”
Charlie unwrapped one arm from Nick’s neck, holding out his hand and admiring the ring.
It really wasn’t just a piece of jewelry; it was symbolic of everything they had gone through together. Because they had started dating so young, they had played major roles in shaping each other as adults. Charlie truly could not imagine where he would be now if he had never been sat next to Nicholas Nelson in their form group all the way back in Year 10.
Nick guided the hand that Charlie held out to his mouth, pressing his lips to his ring finger.
Charlie’s heart tugged as he was reminded of a night a few years back. He had been visiting his boyfriend at university for the weekend, and they were spending the night together after attending a party.
That had been the first time that the topic of marriage was brought up between the two. They had been laying in bed in Nick’s flat, and out of nowhere, Nick had stated that he was going to marry Charlie someday.
Then, he had kissed Charlie’s bare ring finger, just as he had moments ago. Except now, that finger was adorned with a ring, a promise.
He didn’t know exactly what would happen from here, but one thing he knew for sure was that he couldn’t wait to be Nick’s husband.
He couldn’t wait to spend eternity together.