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“What do you think it is this time?” Nick asked under his breath as he and Charlie walked up the stairs, already hearing the sounds of raised voices and arguing from Tao’s room.
“Tao’s probably trying to force Elle into agreeing to watch one of the saddest movies ever made.” Charlie laughed, rolling his eyes, sighing heavily in preparation before pushing open Tao’s bedroom door.
“It is a masterpiece, you uncultured woman!” Tao exclaimed, making both Nick and Charlie chuckle. Clearly, they were correct.
“Tao, I am not crying tonight and that is final!” Elle huffed at him, finally noticing that Nick and Charlie were standing in the doorway. “Hey! You two made it!” she grinned, scooting closer to Tao on the floor so the two of them could join.
“Have you picked a film?” Charlie asked, reaching across Elle for a drink and a bag of chips for both him and Nick.
“Not quite. Tao keeps suggesting the worst ones.” Elle mumbled, rolling her eyes, then grinning when Tao let out an indignant squawk.
“Rude! Just because you have no taste…” he huffed.
“Have you all seen Endgame? It just got put on Disney+.” Nick asked, making Charlie’s heart sink. He really should’ve warned him. Charlie glanced from Nick’s too eager face to Tao’s shocked and indignant one, to Elle who also seemed to be watching the both of them like a tennis match.
When no one said anything for too long, Nick turned to Charlie, looking confused and hopeful. Charlie sighed, reaching over to give Nick’s hand a squeeze.
“It’s really not that bad. I went with him to the theater. He cried.” Charlie added to lighten the mood, blushing when it was Nick’s turn to squeak.
“You said you’d never tell anyone!” he whined, dropping his head on Charlie’s shoulder. Charlie’s face was still red with fondness for Nick and embarrassment that he’d admitted to Tao that he’d seen a Marvel movie. He looked up, expecting to see an incredibly judgemental look on Tao’s face.
Except, instead, he watched as Tao was staring at Elle, dejected, as he handed her a ten-pound note.
“What’s going on?” Charlie asked, finally making Nick notice what was going on and sit up.
“We made a bet that Nick would bring you over to the dark side. I said that you’d obviously go see Marvel movies with Nick because you’re a good boyfriend, and he swore that you’d never be converted.” Elle said, laughing as she accepted her payment.
“Charlie, how could you?” Tao asked, pouting dramatically at them.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t think I’d like it but it really wasn’t that bad!” he defended, glancing over at Nick when he made a soft squeaky noise.
“You said you’d been wanting to see it too.” he pouted and now Charlie was completely stumped.
“Okay, I lied. I just wanted to go because you were so excited and because I wanted to spend time with you. And it was very sweet how you wanted to hold my hand the whole time because you were sad.” he reassured Nick, cupping his face and running his thumb across Nick’s cheekbone.
“So now you’re a Marvel fan?” Tao asked, wrinkling his nose like he just smelled rotten eggs.
“I’m not a fan , but they’re really not that bad. Have you ever actually seen one?” Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He opened his mouth to immediately retort but immediately slammed it shut again and Charlie knew he hadn’t.
“We should all go to one. Nick puts up with our movies every week. We should go to one he wants to see for once.” Elle said, being the voice of reason, like always. She glanced over at Nick who was beaming, looking between her and Charlie. Then, she grinned and held up the ten-pound note she’d won off Tao in their bet. “My treat.”