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Charlie couldn’t help but smile as he sprinted up the stairs to his room with a bowl of popcorn in his hands. It was their one and a half-year anniversary. He and Nick had officially been together for one and a half years. Celebrating it was cheesy, so incredibly cheesy, but Charlie loved that he had a boyfriend who wanted to celebrate their incredibly cheesy one and a half-year anniversary. Celebrating it had actually been Nick’s idea. Truth to be told, Charlie had been secretly hoping that his boyfriend would bring it up first, and when Nick suggested that they should go out on a date, Charlie had been thrilled.
They didn’t have to go out. Their one and a half year anniversary coincided with a wedding that Charlie’s parents were invited to. One of Jane’s cousins was getting married to her long-time boyfriend, and it was an adults-only wedding. Since Charlie was under 18, he had to stay at home. Tori, even though she was 18, had chosen to stay at home to study for an important exam.
Charlie’s parents rarely spent a night away, but this time they had booked a hotel room close to the venue so that they could properly enjoy all of the wedding festivities. Charlie was pretty sure that meant that his parents were going to drink plenty of wine and enjoy themselves.
It worked out pretty well for Charlie and Nick, because that meant that they’d have the house to themselves. Sure, Tori would still be home, but she’d be holed up in her room, and she wouldn’t disturb them. They’d get to have their date at home, and they’d just have to remember to set the alarm, and make sure that Nick was out of the house before noon.
Sadly, Charlie’s parents still didn’t allow Nick to spend the night at their house. Nick wasn’t even allowed to come over when Charlie’s parents weren’t home. However, that rule had been broken many times already.
Charlie balanced the bowl of popcorn as he hurried to his room. Once Charlie appeared in the doorway, Nick looked up from his spot on the floor and his face lit up at the sight of Charlie. It made Charlie’s heart swoon. How could they still be so in love with each other after one and a half years?
The cute moment was over once Nick noticed the bowl of popcorn. “Oh, gimmie,” he said and made grabby hands as he reached for the bowl of popcorn.
“And here I was, thinking that you were just happy to see me, your boyfriend,” Charlie rolled his eyes as he placed the bowl in his boyfriend’s lap.
“I’m always happy to see you,” Nick smiled up at his boyfriend.
“You’re forgiven,” Charlie smiled back and took a seat next to Nick on the floor. They had spread out a thick blanket and thrown a bunch of pillows out on the blanket. Charlie didn’t want to put his head down on a pillow though, he wanted to use his boyfriend as a giant pillow so he laid down and rested his head in Nick’s lap.
Nick immediately started to card his fingers through Charlie’s dark curls, and he used his other hand to put a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “Wow, Charlie, go easy on the salt,” he coughed. It started out with a soft cough, followed up by a violent cough that sounded like Nick was choking.
Charlie quickly sat up in panic before he noticed his boyfriend’s mischievous grin. “I hate you sometimes,” Charlie groaned once he realized that his sweet puppydog-boyfriend had successfully pranked him.
“No, you don’t,” Nick grinned as he gently poked Charlie in the ribs. “You love me. You love me so, so much,” he teased.
Charlie bit his lip to stop himself from smiling, but it was pointless to even try, he knew that he was smiling and he couldn’t stop himself.
“Do you want to watch a film?” Nick asked and nodded towards Charlie’s laptop that was placed on the nightstand.
“Not really,” Charlie admitted.
Nick smiled and leaned forward and captured Charlie’s lips in a kiss. They got lost in the kiss, and Nick placed a hand on Charlie’s chest and gently coaxed the younger boy to lay down. Nick’s hand found its way under Charlie’s shirt. “Is it okay if I take this off?”
Charlie nodded his consent. They had made love for a number of times now, and yet Nick still asked if he could take Charlie’s shirt off each and every time. Nick was always making sure that Charlie felt comfortable.
They undressed each other and giggled as they struggled to get Nick’s tight t-shirt over his head.
“This is our first time in your room,” Nick suddenly said.
“Yeah, it is,” Charlie agreed. “Can we move to the bed? I kind of want to make some memories in my bed that I can reminisce over when I have to sleep alone.”
They wordlessly moved to the bed where they continued to kiss and explore each other’s bodies.
“Should I get something?” Nick asked breathlessly. Charlie nodded wildly. Nick slipped out of bed and picked up his backpack from the floor and pulled out a bag of toiletries. “What do we need?” he asked and looked at Charlie.
That was Nick’s way of asking what Charlie felt comfortable with. “Lube, and a condom. If you want?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” Nick grinned and practically hopped back to the bed with the bottle of lube and a condom in hand.
They kissed some more, and they laughed when they got all sticky from the lube and Charlie had to help Nick put on the condom. For some it’d be an embarrassing moment, but not to Nick and Charlie. They had always been able to be silly together.
Charlie wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and closed his eyes and just allowed himself to get lost in the moment.
“Happy one and a half year anniversary,” Nick whispered into Charlie’s ear.
…
“CHARLIE!”
Charlie abruptly woke up from his peaceful slumber. He blinked a couple of times to regain focus, and that’s when he noticed his parents standing there in the doorway to his room. Charlie froze in shock. The commotion had woken up Nick who stirred behind Charlie.
“Charlie!” Jane Spring yelled again. Her face was completely read and Charlie had never seen his mother look so angry. Charlie’s father, Julio, didn’t say anything, he just remained silent and the look of disappointment was evident on his face.
Charlie bowed his head down in shame. His parents had found him naked in bed with his equally naked boyfriend. Sure, they had a blanket over them that covered their bottom halves, but it was still evident that they were naked and anyone would be able to figure out what they had done.
Nick sat up in bed. “Uhm, Mr and Mrs Spring, we’re really sorry,” he apologized.
“Nick, I think it’s time for you to go home,” Julio Spring said.
“Mum?! Dad?!” Tori exclaimed when she came out of her room. “It’s only half eight. What are you doing home already?”
“You knew about this?!” Jane Spring motioned towards Charlie and Nick.
Tori didn’t reply to that.
“Get dressed, and come downstairs,” Jane ordered and closed the door to Charlie’s bedroom.
Nick and Charlie got dressed in silence and reluctantly made their way downstairs.
Charlie’s parents sat there, waiting in the dining room.
Nick nervously toyed with the hem of his shirt as he stood in front of his boyfriend’s parents. “Please don’t be too mad at Charlie. This wasn’t-“
“You should go home Nick,” Julio Spring cut off Nick’s speech.
Nick nervously glanced at Charlie before he wrapped his arms around him and mumbled “goodbye” and “I love you”.
“Love you too,” Charlie nervoulsy bit his nail as he watched Nick leave.
Once Nick was out of ear-shot, the interrogation started. The Springs wanted to know when Nick had arrived, how often Nick and Charlie had broken the rules, and for how long “this”, meaning sex, had been going on.
Charlie could feel his muscles twitching from all the anxiety. He kept his head down and tried to inhale and exhale properly.
“Did Nick pressure you into anything?” Jane asked.
That made Charlie’s head snap up. “Nick?” he couldn’t believe what his mother had just insinuated. “My boyfriend who is the sweetest, most kind person ever?”
Jane crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, he’s older than you, and he might not want to wait-“
“No!” Charlie yelled, and his sudden outburst shocked both of his parents.
“Charlie,” Julio warned.
“No,” Charlie shook his head vehemently. “”You don’t get to do this!” he had had enough. “It was our anniversary, and we had a lovely evening.”
“You lied to us,” Jane reminded her son, “You told me that you and Nick were going out for dinner.”
“I lied because you never allow me to be alone with my boyfriend!” Charlie exclaimed.
“And this is exactly why we don’t allow it,” Jane’s face was completely red now. “You and Nick, you…”
“We what?” Charlie challenged. “Had sex?”
The word ‘sex’ definitely made The Springs squirm uncomfortably.
“You can say it. Sex. It’s not a dirty word,” Charlie cried.
“You know how we feel about you and Nick, alone, in this house,” Julio sternly reminded his son.
“Did you just think that I was never going to have sex?” Charlie cried helplessly. “Did you just think that ‘Oh Charlie, he’s so damaged that nobody’s ever going to want to have sex with him’?”
“Charlie, you’re not damaged,” Jane’s shoulders slumped and she looked sad.
“You’ve never even talked to me about sex,” Charlie furiously wiped away the tears from his cheeks. “I had to get the safe sex talk from Sarah. My boyfriend’s mum actually had to educate me on something my parents should’ve talked to me about.”
Jane and Julio Spring wrapped their arms around their son.
“Why can’t you just accept me?” Charlie cried.
“Oh, Charlie, we’ve always accepted you,” Jane hugged her son closer.
Charlie angrily took a step back. “No, you haven’t. You treat me like a child, and you think that I can’t make my own decisions about my own body. You thought that Nick had forced himself on me?!”
“We shouldn’t have said that about Nick,” Julio admitted. “You’re right. It is your body. We’ve just been scared. You’ve been through so much already.”
“I love Nick, and he loves me. Our relationship is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Nick has been nothing but wonderful to me,” Charlie replied. “My body has been through a lot of trauma, but trust me when I say that being with Nick is the furthest thing from traumatic on my body. It’s actually quite healing.”
Charlie exhaled and sat down. “My body has been through so much abuse. I love how Nick treats me with such care. You don’t have to be thrilled that Nick and I are having sex, but you could at least be a bit understanding.”
Jane and Julio Spring sat down next to their son.
“I guess we haven’t prepared ourselves for all of this,” Jane sighed. “You’re right. We should’ve talked to you about safety.”
“We should thank Sarah Nelson for having that talk with you,” Julio nodded and squeezed his son’s shoulder. “And if you have any further questions, I want you to know that you can come to us.”
“Thank you,” Charlie snivelled and wiped his nose.
Jane pulled her son in for a tight hug. “I’m glad you’ve found Nick. He should be able to come over more often,” she said. “Even when we’re not home,” she added, and that caused Charlie to let out a happy squeal.
“Thank you,” he was practically bouncing with excitement. He had never liked lying to his parents.
Julio lovingly ruffled his son’s hair. His own parents had been strict, and he had vowed to never be like them, but without even realizing it, he had treated his own son in a way that he wasn’t proud of. “I want you to feel comfortable talking to us about everything in your life.”
“I want that too,” Charlie smiled.