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Nick Nelson was painfully indifferent to the whole soulmate business. It was difficult not to be when his experience with people in his life finding their soulmates was practically zero. Nick knew from a very young age that his parents weren’t soulmates. If the differing soulmarks was not an indication then their divorce when he was 7 certainly was. It wasn’t like people who weren’t soulmates couldn’t live happy lives together but his mum and his dad just weren’t those people. His brother, David, was absolutely a lost cause in the soulmate matter. It was difficult to get David to take anything seriously, but trying to get him to care about someone he may or may not find? That was a lesson in insanity. None of the friends Nick interacted with on a daily basis had found their soulmates and none of them seemed particularly eager to either which Nick mainly attributed to normal teenage boy apathy. It wasn’t that Nick didn’t care about his soulmate because he did. Every time Nick stared at the trail of leaves that wrapped its way around his wrist and up to his forearm, he couldn’t help the spark of giddiness that ran through his body at the thought of the perfect partner for him. Nick just wasn’t under any false illusions that he would find his soulmate any time soon. That brought Nick to the next thing he had learned to be wholly indifferent about; who his soulmate was. Up until relatively recently, Nick had assumed his soulmate would be a girl. He wasn’t sure if it was because of their heteronormative society or if Nick just hadn’t had the imagination. But a few too many times watching Pirates of the Caribbean and one too many google searches late at night and well, if the universe had planned out the perfect person for him, Nick figured he didn’t have the right to be too picky about whether they were a boy or a girl or someone in between.
This widely indifferent attitude had been a constant for Nick, that was, until he met Charlie Spring. The brunette boy had stumbled into Nick’s life one cold January morning, all dimpled smiles and doe eyed. Nick couldn’t dare complain when Charlie showed him his matching soulmark especially when his soulmate looked like that. There was something about Charlie’s skinny frame, soft features and dark curls that made Nick want to tumble head first in love with the boy. But Nick settled for getting to know Charlie first before declaring his love for him for the whole world to witness. Nick figured that might be a bit much.
Being with Charlie was easy and getting to know him was like a dream Nick never wanted to wake up from. Charlie’s shy demeanor and quick wit melted perfectly with Nick’s outgoing attitude and teasing remarks. Their friendship fell into an easy rhythm that made Nick feel like they had known each other their whole lives but that wasn’t enough for him. He found it more and more difficult to restrain himself from kissing Charlie every time he blushed or wrapping him into a tight hug when he smiled. Nick wasn’t sure whether Charlie felt the same and was just really good at pretending or if he wasn’t ready for something romantic. Nick got his answer on the night of Harry Greene’s birthday party of all nights.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Charlie teased, nudging Nick slightly, his voice echoing in the empty ballroom of the St. George’s Hotel. Nick could vaguely hear the party hammering on downstairs.
“I’m just thinking,” Nick replied wistfully.
“I thought I smelled smoke,” Charlie giggled, his dimples appearing on his cheeks as he did. Nick laughed but it must’ve fallen short because Charlie’s expression faltered slightly. “What’s wrong, Nick?”
Nick looked over at Charlie, his brows were furrowed, a few stray curls fell into his eyes and he was nervously biting his lip. Nick’s eyes dropped from Charlie’s eyes to his lips and back up. “I’m not sure how to say it,” Nick breathed.
He heard Charlie hum. The air seemed to shift very quickly into something serious and Nick held his breath.
“What does it have to do with?” Charlie asked, eyes never leaving Nick’s face.
“Us,” Nick replied. Another hum from the brunette.
“What about us?” Charlie prompted softly. Nick could feel his heart rate pick up and he wanted nothing more than to spill his feelings to Charlie, presenting them to him in hopes that maybe he might feel the same too. But, the nagging voice of anxiety in his head held him back.
“I- I, um-” Nick stuttered. It was like the words were caught in his throat despite his heart screaming at him to just get on with it.
Charlie seemed to notice his hesitance. “Are you happy with us being soulmates?”
“Yes!” Nick replied quickly because it was the truth. Nick was beyond happy to have found Charlie. Nick finally understood what it felt like to be whole when Charlie was near him.
“Are you happy being friends?”
Nick hesitated. He was happy being friends with Charlie because Charlie made him happy but he wanted nothing more than to hang off the brunette, pressing kisses to anywhere he could get his hands on. “Y-yes,” Nick replied.
Whatever it was that made Charlie catch on, Nick was thankful for. Charlie shifted, intertwining their fingers together. Nick could see the matching soulmarks next to one another on each of their arms. “Would you kiss me?” Charlie asked, looking at Nick with hopeful eyes. Nick melted.
“Yes.”
People say that kissing your soulmate is special. Whoever said that grossly understated what they meant. It wasn’t just special. It was everything. From the moment Charlie’s lips touched his, it felt like everything. It was warm and gentle and a bit hesitant but it was everything. Charlie pulled back for a moment, eyes flickering over Nick’s face but Nick really didn’t have time for Charlie to ask if things were okay. He needed to kiss Charlie like yesterday. He needed that feeling of rightness to wash over him and wrap itself around him. Charlie’s free hand found its way to Nick’s jaw, his thumb on his cheek near his ear and the rest of his fingers wrapped around the base of his neck. They kissed again after slowly drifting back towards one another like they were powerless against the pull. Nick brought his hand to Charlie’s shoulder and held on tightly. Nick lost himself in the kiss. It was difficult not to when their movements match one another so perfectly. Nick had no idea how long they had kissed for but when they pulled away, Charlie’s lips were red and a little swollen, shining slightly. Even the purple lighting that bounced around the room wasn’t enough to hide the pink blush that graced Charlie’s cheeks.
“Wow,” Nick breathed, feeling a bit dazed. Charlie giggled and let his head fall onto Nick’s shoulder. “Charlie, I really like you.”
Charlie pulled back to look at him, blinking. Nick had the distinct impression that his admission shocked Charlie. “You like me?” he breathed.
“Wasn’t that obvious? Aside from the whole soulmate thing, of course I like you,” Nick said through a chuckle, shaking his head slightly. Charlie giggled but didn’t say anything. “Do you like me?” Nick asked, having half a mind to scold himself for how nervous he sounded.
“Yes! Obviously! I asked to kiss you,” Charlie said, beaming. Nick smiled and brushed the few stray curls out of Charlie’s eyes. They wrapped their arms around each other and Nick could feel Charlie bury his face in Nick’s neck. Yeah, this felt right.
“Nick?” Charlie asked after a little while of silence but didn’t make any moves to pull away.
“Yeah?”
“Does this mean we’re boyfriends?”
Nick pulled back cradling Charlie’s face in his hands. He sent the other boy a look of disbelief. “Um, yes,” Nick said through a laugh. “Was that not already established?”
Charlie giggled and shrugged slightly. “Oh! Yeah, I don’t know. We never, like, said boyfriends.”
Nick leaned forward and pressed another kiss to Charlie’s lips. It was a bit awkward because they were both smiling so widely but Nick didn’t mind.
“Yeah. We’re boyfriends.”