Chapter Text
The euphoria Charlie feels walking next to Nick - holding hands - cannot be compared to anything he’s ever experienced. They keep bantering just like they did before they kissed, as if nothing had changed, but now they are - wait, are they? They haven’t discussed it. Charlie is in the middle of gathering the courage he needs to ask if they’re dating or something, and just before he’d blurt out a word, it suddenly starts raining, heavily so. It’s pattering down on the pathway agressively, the trees barely shielding the boys with their scanty foliage. Nick runs, pulling Charlie along towards the nearing buldings, but he stops without any foreshow.
He grabs both of Charlie’s hands, same as before they kissed. His hair is all wet and matted to his forehead, his entire face is covered in raindrops, and he keeps blinking to avoid any water falling into his eyes, yet he still takes Charlie’s breath away.
“I’ve always wanted to kiss someone in the rain,” He says. Charlie can easily guess that he’s blushing, even if he’s not able to distinguish the cold-induced flush from the embarrassment-induced one. Disregarding the fact that they were freezing their asses off, Charlie is certain Nick would be furiously red after suggesting a kiss in the rain.
“I knew you were a romantic, but you’re down this bad?”
“Oi,” Nick feigns offense, but smiles regardless. “So.. can I kiss you?” He asks falteringly. Charlie absolutely melts on the spot. Except, he doesn’t because the rain brought by such a sudden chill that he’s positive he’s halfway to getting hypothermia. He doesn’t give a damn about that though. He prioritises his own well-being, and he has a hunch that this kiss will contribute more to that than getting to a warm, dry place would. Any sickness be damned. Nick Nelson is more important.
Charlie’s reply is a fulfillment of Nick’s wish. He leans in, and it is as sloppy as it is perfect. The air is way too bleak, the raindrops are falling down so violently that they hurt his exposed skin, and his shoes are becoming soaked, but - Nick. Nick is so delicate, sweet, and he really is a bottled up sunbeam in Charlie’s head full of dark clouds. He feels them vanishing as Nick’s light takes up all the space.
“Nick, I’m…” Charlie murmurs after they separate. He glances up at Nick, caressing the back of his hands. Nick appears to be quite concerned, which is a result of Charlie’s timid use of voice. “I’m so fucking cold.” He contorts, a frolicsome grin on his face.
Nick rolls his eyes and fights a smile that is threatening to take over his face. “Come along then, Char.” He says, beckoning with his head for Charlie to follow him.
Charlie doesn’t remember the last time he felt as relieved as he does when he sees a couple standing up from a table in the café that functions as a haven for them from the atrocious weather. The place is otherwise packed, so he’s infinitely grateful to jump at the opportunity and sit down with Nick.
“Pick whatever you like. My treat,” Nick suggests with a smile on his face that can’t be described as anything else other than ravishing. Or, well, as he thinks about it a bit more, he can think of a number of words: charming, delightful, tender, mushy, dazzling, angelic, magnificent, exquisite.. and so on. Yeah. Charlie is enchanted.
“I’d like a hot chocolate with macadamia milk,” Charlie annunciates after a few minutes of silent consideration. “Oh, and I want whipped cream on top of it!” He continues, looking up with a childish grin. He finds Nick already inspecting him, beaming, his elbow propped up on the table supporting his head. Charlie’s heart almost falls out of his arse at the sight. It feels like all of his pubescent fantasies coming to life. “What?” He mumbles sheepishly, averting his gaze down back at the menu.
“You’re just.. really pretty.” Nick tries to play it cool, but despite his efforts to seem self-assured, his rosy cheeks let Charlie confirm his shyness. The flush isn’t the only telltale sign; he exhales rather noticeably and avoids Charlie’s eyes like they’re something too bright to look at.
Charlie gapes at him, certainly matching Nick’s redness. “I can’t believe you just said that. The only worse thing you could’ve done is say something French.” He chuckles, shaking his head. Nick throws his head back, laughing, and Charlie is officially on the verge of a mental breakdown. And this was only the tip of the iceberg, because Nick decides to actually do something ghastly.
“You know, I can be worse-“
“No, you absolutely cannot-“
“Mon amour,” Nick teases, looking at Charlie dead in the eye, ending his sanity with those two words. His voice warm, comforting, reminds Charlie of dipping a spoon in honey and watching it drip in slow-motion. If that makes sense. He’s always found speaking French fluently considerably attractive, so naturally, when Nick does it, it affects him more than it should. The butterflies in his stomach are seriously acting up.
“Nick!” Charlie nags, altough he can’t restrain a snicker coming out in breathy exhales. “You’re unbelievable. If you say something else in–”
“J’aime tellement te taquiner.” Nick interrupts, putting on an act of dramatic passion. Charlie can see how much he’s basking in the joy of pestering him, and he won’t go and say he’s not having fun, because that would be a big fat lie. He’s loving this and he’s not entirely sure that’s normal, considering that he’s the one getting bullied here. (Affectionately bullied, but that’s not relevant right now.)
“If only I could understand what you're saying, I swear to God – You’re a dick!” Charlie ends up in stiches, as it seems to be the case every single time he hangs out with Nick. Now this is making it terribly difficult for him to differentiate between the pain caused by uncontrollable chortling and the flutter of his tingling nerves.
-
Then, a waiter comes up, and they try scraping themselves into some semblance of normal people who weren’t just on the brink of suffocating caused by laughter. They both give their orders and Charlie shoots Nick a look of sharp scolding before he’d utter another sentence in French. Nick gets the message.
“You’ve got a bit of whipped cream on your nose, Char.” Nick observes, smiling while reaching over to clean it off with a gentle swipe of his finger. He then licks it off and giggles at Charlie’s blush.
“At this point I’m just genuinely glad you didn’t say that in French,” Charlie grouses. If Nick catches him grinning into his hot chocolate, he has enough sense in him not to comment on it.
“God, I’ve never felt this blessed to know French. Just so you know, I’ll never let you live this down.”
“Oh, I know.”
-
“Yeah. They are really godawful people. I’m not really like, out or.. I’m only out to a few of my friends and my mom. There’s one guy I like in my dorm - Sai - but I haven’t even told him,” Nick explains in a low voice. “It’s not that I’m ashamed or anything, it’s just that - like, I know they’d never stop hassling me if they knew. Harry and Mark, that is. It’s easier this way. For now,” He pauses. Charlie acknowledges a knot forming in his stomach with bitterness. He knows Nick is nothing like You Know Who, but he can’t help getting that sense of being a secret, someone not worth being seen together with. That is before Nick goes on. “I’d really like you to know that if, ugh, you’d say yes to being my boyfriend, I’d come out, because - honestly, because I’d hate forcing you back into the closet.” He discloses, moving his hand so that he could fondle the back of Charlie’s. “Plus, I wanna show you off."
Charlie feels the familiar burn of tears behind his eyes and in his throat, but this time, unlike most of the time he cries, it’s because he’s relieved and elated. He berates himself for letting his brain think that Nick would do anything even remotely unkind to him. He puts his other hand on top of Nick’s, and squeezes it. The soft soft gleam in his eyes has Charlie teetering on the edge of bursting into tears.
“I know it’ll be hard, I’m not naive, but I also know that it’s worth it for you.” Nick continues. “So, ugh, will you, like - be my boyfriend?” He proposes.
Charlie is fairly certain that Nick could ask him just about anything and he wouldn’t hesitate half a second before screaming “Yes!”, but taking his current state into consideration, he is unable to talk without weeping vehemently. He jumps out of his seat, rounds the table in two quick steps, and thanks to Nick’s astonishing reflexes, he’s up on his feet just in time for Charlie to throw himself into his arms. Charlie nods into Nick’s shoulder and sniffs as silently as possible.
“Are you alright, Char?” So it wasn’t that silent after all. He needs about a minute to compose himself and be able to conjure up a sane reply.
“Yeah, just overwhelmed. You’re so amazing,” Charlie mumbles. He’s fully aware of Nick’s arms tightening around him, one of his hands finding its way into Charlie’s hair. He’d close his eyes at that sensation if they weren’t closed already.
-
“Can I ask you why you stopped ordering pizza?” Charlie inquires with furrowed eyebrows, on their second round of hot chocolates, now both of their orders adorned with different pastries. Nick barely avoids choking on his sticky toffee pudding.
“Funny story,” He begins after making sure he won’t drown in his favourite cake. “After that very first time I saw you, I really wanted to meet you again. I literally ordered pizza twice every day to see when you were working, and by the time I met you again, I had all the prices memorised from how much I ordered everything.” He chuckles to himself. Charlie is gawking at him, not believing his ears. “I tried all kinds of pizza and as soon as I got your name, I was so fucking happy to finally be able to stop having to eat it. I think I hate pizza now.”
Charlie snorts up a bit of whipped cream into his nose at that, and goes into a coughing fit. “You’re ridiculous, Nick.” He remarks, nevertheless reaching over to lay his hand over Nick’s forearm. “You’re the best boyfriend I could ever wish for,”
“We’ve literally been boyfriends for like twenty minutes-“
“Yet I can still confidently say this.”
-
“I have a feeling you have incredibly important news to share,” Elle notices his exhilaration as soon as she lays her eyes on him, as always. They’re perched on the sofa with Isaac, Tao sitting between Elle’s legs on the floor, who’s playing with his hair. One of his art movies is on the TV.
Charlie abruptly finds the carpet remarkably more fascinating than this conversation, but he can’t keep the delightful grin off his face. “And you’re right about that.” He nudges his head in agreement.
Tao’s eyes find his at that, and Even Isaac regards him by glacing at him instead of his book. Elle’s forehead creases encouragingly.
“Nick and I are official.” Charlie announces. Telling it to his friends brings about a surge of pride and bliss that he hadn’t expected. Elle’s instant, genuine smile makes him even more exuberant.
“I’m so happy for you, Charlie!” She exclaims, getting up to embrace him. Isaac follows her - neglecting his book - and they begin interrogating Charlie about his day. He occasionally catches Tao trying and failing to conceal a smile, which is all he needs to know he has his approval. He values Tao’s opinion to a great extent, so this moment is crucial in the development of his relationship with Nick.
“There’s no fucking way he actually said that.” Tao snorts. Charlie would agree, if he hadn’t been there to hear Nick profess it. Nick did keep ordering pizza just to see Charlie again. It’s still as improbable as it first sounded.
“He did!” Charlie exclaims. He scans the room to see his friends’ facial expressions, to find Elle gawking at him in amazement, Isaac grinning, and Tao laughing in disbelief.
“He’s whipped for you, Charlie.” Tao declares. He’s smiling at Charlie with such obvious appreciation in his eyes that Charlie tears up. He quite literally launches himself into Tao’s arms, who – very uncharacteristically – doesn’t dither over wrapping him in them. “I’m really happy for you.” He mumbles into Charlie’s hair.
When he goes to bed that day, his very last thought is that this had been one of the best days of his entire life.
The morning after, he texts his boyfriend, (grinning like the lovesick idiot he is when he remembers that he has a boyfriend,) if he’d like to hang out. A few hours pass, noon is nigh, and after contemplating if he should go see Nick for a great part of those hours, he gets a reply at last.
Hi boyfriend sorry I just woke up
Want me to come over?
The grin on Charlie’s face at the sight of Nick’s first text is so embarrassing that he’s thanking the Saints nobody sees it. But then, he frowns. It’s unlikely of Nick to sleep in, so Charlie is getting a bit wary, but he remembers Nick mentioning that he sometimes can’t control his Doctor Who addiction, so he might’ve just been up until dawn, having a marathon. Regardless of the reason for him sleeping until midday, Charlie is just honestly glad to hear from him.
yes boyfriend
do come over please
It doesn’t take long before there’s a knock on his apartment’s door. The speed with which he rushes to open it is inhuman. Altough if anybody asks, he wasn’t hurrying at all. And on his doorstep stands – an extremely sickly looking Nick. His nose is all red, his eyes are glassy, he has an unnecessarily huge amount of clothes on, and yet his smile makes Charlie’s knees go wobbly. Before he could comment on Nick’s condition, the boy embraces him with one of his hands, holding – a box of tissue paper in the other one. Hm. Peachy.
“I don’t think you’ll be mad when I say I won’t give you any kisses today,” Nick rumbles into Charlie’s shoulder, his hand caressing Charlie’s back in a comforting and grounding way. His voice sounds hoarse and powerless.
Charlie slightly pushes him away to inspect him more carefully. “Nick, I don’t give a shit about getting sick. You just – come in, for God’s sake.” He pulls Nick inside by his forearms then drags him into the living room. Nick complies easily, probably simply thankful to be seated. Upon laying his eyes on Nick for the first time, he got the intense urge to make tea for him, so he gives in to this impulse and starts boiling some water. “What were you thinking when you suggested you come to my place instead of the other way around?” Charlie scolds him with a light tone, not serious, but a tiny bit annoyed that Nick stepped out on the streets in that condition.
Nick is in the middle of putting on a blanket when Charlie throws the question at him, which makes him stop in his movement. “I feel much more comfortable here.” He replies. He smiles at Charlie tentatively. Charlie’s chest feels as if it’s being burned. He rushes over the kitchen counter with the intention of gently settling down next to Nick and embracing him, but he’s way too emotionally overwhelmed for that, so he actually just throws himself on the sofa and hugs his boyfriend overzealously. This is partly deeply apprectiated by said boyfriend, seeing as he happily wraps Charlie in his arms, although he does fail to conceal the urge to cough. So, Charlie quickly gets off his chest and plants a kiss on his flaming forehead.
“You’re really burning up, Nick,” He laments, returning to the kitchen to resume working on the remedy to Nick’s affliction. He pours out the scorching hot water, adds some milk, honey, sugar, then puts the mug onto the coffee table. In addition to the tea, he brings out some antipyretic medicine as well as some crackers. “The ulimate package for when you’re sick.” He clarifies, a proud grin on his face. He – now truly moderately – takes his place on the couch beside Nick.
“Thank you, Char. You’re the best,” He has the audacity to sigh softly, as if Charlie isn’t utterly overwhelmed by his tenderness already.
“No need to thank me. This is my duty as your boyfriend,” He declares, emphasizing the word “boyfriend” by rounding his eyes and leaning closer to Nick.
“Is it also your duty to look at me in a way that makes me want to light myself on fire?” Nick asks, his face deadpan. Charlie is caught so off-guard that he has no idea how to react. What Nick just said makes no sense, but somehow he understands what he meant, for he feels exactly the same.
“No, actually. I’m just simply an excellent boyfriend. This is just a bonus added to the regular boyfriend package.” Charlie retorts, drawing a snort-turned-into-a-cough out of Nick. “Oh, sorry, love. I don’t mean to be so funny, it just comes so naturally.”
“Stop making me laugh, Char!” He chides, wheezing in a mixture of pain and laughter.
“Oh my God. Wait. I just realised something. I’ve connected the dots – this all is because of your I-wanna-be-in-a-romcom moment yesterday!” Charlie proclaims abruptly. Nick groans, confirming Charlie’s cunning theory.
“Don’t tell me you think it wasn’t worth it.”
“I’m saying no such things. And anyways, out of the two of us, I’m not the one choking on snot,” Charlie points out.
“Oi!” Nick says, warning, but his grin betrays him.
-
Charlie is roused by a monotone rumble of voices. The very first thing he registers is Nick pressed to his chest, his nose in the ginger boy’s hair. He inhales deeply. Then, he comprehends that he’s laying on his sofa. After that comes the realisation that he’s hearing his sister’s familiar tone. He sits up, perplexed, stirring Nick awake. Before making sure his sister is actually present, he checks Nick’s temperature with his lips, happy to feel no semblance of the previous hotness.
“Wake up, Nick,” He whispers, removing a few strands of hair from Nick’s face.
“The lovebirds have arisen!” Tao announces ceremoniously. Charlie turns in the direction of the source of the sound. He finds the aforementioned boy, Elle, Tori, and Olly standing in his kitchen. All eyes in the room flicker to Nick and him, and he can sense the unmistakable flow of blood filling his cheeks. Nick looks precisely about how Charlie feels; drowsy and mentally disoriented.
“Say hi to your brother and his boyfriend, will you?” Tori nudges Olly, attempting and wholesomely failing to hide her-older-sister-grin.
Olly runs up to them and without a warning, jumps on the couch – right on top of the crumpled mess that is Nick. His response is a startled huff at the impact, then a breathy “Hi,” followed by a kind of affectionate smile that only kids bring out of people.
Charlie hurries to pull his brother off Nick’s chest, apologising profusely to his very much sick boyfriend, who just chuckles indulgently. “I’m so happy to see you, Olly!” He says to his little brother, hugging him tightly. It’s quite an odd position; Olly is half sitting on his lap and a little bit of his legs are on Nick’s pelvis, but it doesn’t matter, because he rarely sees his siblings. “Is there a special occasion I was not informed about?” He inquires, beaming at Olly for no particular reason. He’s just happy to see him.
Nick is working on sitting up next to them without breaking Olly’s legs in half and what Charlie assumes is trying to hold back severe coughing. He astonishingly manages both, then – as the gentleman he is – joins the others in the kitchen to greet them.
“Well, actually,” Olly begins with a childish glint in his eyes, “there isn’t. Tori came home for the weekend and she asked if I wanted to come visit you. And of course I said yes!”
At that, he ruffles Olly’s hair then flips him on his back to be able to tickle him. Over Olly’s frantic shrieking, he can detect Tori’s and Nick’s voices. The only words he catches are from his sister, and they sound suspiciously like “hurt him” and “kill you”.
Charlie is concerned. Nick’s absolutely terrified facial expression is what he needed to confirm he heard those words right.
“Tori, are you terrorising my boyfriend?” He asks his sister pointedly.
“Just making sure he knows what’ll happen to him if he turns out to be a knob,” She replies with her quintessential expressionless countenance. “You’re alright so far.” This is directed at Nick, whose relieved sigh couldn’t be louder. (Maybe because he ends up coughing.)
Tori joins her siblings on the sofa. “To be fair, when you called and told me he kept ordering pizza just to see your pretty face again, I already decided I liked him.” She whispers, extremely unlikely of her. Not the whispering part – the optimism concerning people. Or anything, for that matter. Charlie widens his eyes in amazement, then smiles fondly.
After a few hours of practically all of Charlie’s friends and siblings interrogating Nick about his life, the medicine starts working for him, therefore they decide to go out to get something hot to drink, and much to Olly’s appreciation, to a playground.
Watching as Olly warms up to Nick and drags him to the jungle gym to play with him, Charlie’s entire body feels content. His chest is filled with gentle, pleasant flutter. He couldn’t stop beaming if you paid him to. He has tears of pure joy in his eyes at the sight of his boyfriend chasing Olly throughout the entire playground, then throwing him high up in the air as he finally catches him.
“Thanks for holding my cup for me, sweetheart,” Nick says in short exhales, approaching Charlie when he’s exhausted of running after Olly. He goes on about something else, but Charlie’s brain short-circuits after the petname. His brain goes blank. Blue death. He gapes at Nick, completely unaware of anything and everything else but his lovely face. His gaze slides down to Nick’s lips and without hesitation, he gets on his tiptoes and grabs Nick’s neck eagerly to press his mouth agaisnt his own. He hopes to put each sweeping emotion he feels into the kiss, and when Nick draws him closer by his waist, he’s certain he succeeded.
“Ewww!” They hear Olly expressing his disgust loudly, both of them giggling into the kiss.
“You know, I didn’t catch anything you said after you called me sweetheart,” Charlie admits, gazing at Nick sheepishly.
“I kind of had that feeling. You kinda just went – like a fish.” Nick teases, laughing as Charlie shoves him slightly in response.
“Oh, shut it, Mr. Pizza Expert!”
-
“Are you sure you’re okay with holding hands here?”
“Absolutely. I don’t wanna like, come out directly - you know - I just don’t wanna hide you.” Nick shoots Charlie a knowing look. The fact that he doesn’t pointedly mention You Know Who is deeply appreciated by Charlie. He nods, smiling at his boyfriend reassuringly.
“I’ll walk you to class, then. And you come to get me after my last lecture, then we go to mine to watch Notting Hill. As a part of your healing process, of course.” Charlie recites their plan, his heart skipping a beat when Nick squeezes his fingers at the mention of his favourite movie.
When Nick doesn’t react verbally, he glances at him to check if he’s alright, to find him anxiously staring at some people who seem to be whispering about them. His gut is yelling at him to drop his hand, but Nick confidently stated he wanted to do this, so Charlie’s utmost goal is to be strong and help him through it.
He stops walking. Waits until Nick’s eyes meet his. Caresses Nick’s hands with his own, trying his best to ground him. Desperately looks for the glint in Nick’s gorgeous eyes that appears to be absent due to his apprehension, and he’s unbelievably relieved to finally see it after a few moments of silent soothing gestures. “You’re okay. I’m here.” He assures. “Let’s take a few deep breaths, hmm?” He suggests, to which Nick nods in reply. He counts for Nick, and with joined forces they accomplish the mission that is to slow his breathing somewhat.
“Now, how are you feeling?” Charlie questions, attempting to look reassuring.
“Amazing, actually. I think you’re the only person who can do that to me. You’re the absolute best, did you know?” Nick smiles at last, easing Charlie’s nerves. He then does the thing Charlie had least expected him to. He pecks Charlie on the lips, and with newfound confidence, continues walking towards their school, tugging Charlie behind him by his hand.
Charlie is left startled by the sudden display of affection, but quickly joy takes the place of astonishment as he struts along his proud boyfriend’s side.
He once thought that being the power couple of the university with Nick was a mere daydream. Now, as Nick says hi to a couple of his friends while holding Charlie’s hand, his memories get lost in unadulterated bliss.
“Char, I think..." Nick mutters, his steps getting delayed as they're near the lecture hall where he's about to have a lesson. Charlie halts to a stop, his thoughts contorting at that instant. Nick's voice sounds small, which is making him gradually more troubled. “I think we'd find each other in any universe," He says, just loud enough for Charlie to hear.
Maybe the moment would be more intimate if they weren't surrounded by students rushing to their classes, some even bumping into them. It takes away a bit of the sentiment. Regardless, all of Charlie's senses are taken over by the unmistakable feeling of yearning.
As their eyes lock, something about Nick's soft facial expression tells him that they're endgame. Nick is The One. Nick and Charlie, forever.
"I couldn't agree more." Is all he utters as an answer before Nick kisses him. It can't really be described as that though, because it's all teeth as a result of their giggles.
Man, Charlie is so glad to have attented that job interview.