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Charlie bustled around the flat, ensuring that all of the decorations were just right. He adjusted the silver and gold tinsel curtains that he’d hung on the walls, and the fairy lights that he’d tried to artfully drape from various parts of the ceiling.
"How's it going?" Nick called from the kitchen, where he was busy preparing the food for the party, "Do you need any help?"
"No," Charlie called back, "I'm just going to clean up the bathroom a bit."
"Sounds good," Nick replied, "Once I'm done with these, I'm going to run to Tesco and grab a few more bottles of Prosecco. Do you need anything?"
"No, I think we've got everything else we need."
Once he was in the bathroom, Charlie got to work, scrubbing the toilet and the inside of their shower, leaving cleaning chemicals to sit in both places so that they'd be sparkling.
Though it wasn't strictly necessary, he organized the products both on the countertop, and those that were stored underneath, ensuring that there was enough toilet paper stocked up for at least three parties of the size they were having.
"I'm heading out," Nick called from the hallway, "I love you."
"Love you too," Charlie called back, narrowly missing hitting his head on the underside of the sink as he sat up.
Once he heard the door to the flat slam shut, Charlie snuck into the bedroom and went for his side of their shared closet, pulling the box out of the right shoe that belonged to a pair of rarely-worn old Converse.
The box creaked when he opened it, and his heart rate sped up as he looked at the simple black band with a thin stripe of blue opal that, if things went right, would decorate Nick's finger for, ideally the rest of their lives. He slipped the box into the pocket of his joggers, making a mental note of the fact that he'd need a better hiding place when he got changed into the clothing he'd be wearing for the party.
With the ring out of its hiding place and the bathroom as clean as it was going to get, Charlie made his way out into the kitchen to survey the food that Nick had been working on. He raised his eyebrows as he surveyed the fairly impressive spread. Satisfied that there would be more than enough food for the party, and that Nick was taking care of the drinks, Charlie went back into the sitting room and pulled out his phone to text Tao and Elle.
please don't forget to bring your camera tonight. nick's mum will never forgive me if we don't get good pictures.
Elle: it's already packed up, don't worry. you should be more worried about explaining to nick why we have it for a casual party.
it'll be fine. he might not even see it until after.
Elle: okay love. i know you're wearing a hole in the carpet by pacing back and forth, but stop stressing. it's going to be perfect.
Tao: seriously, nick is such a massive fucking loser with how in love with you he is. he'd never say no.
Charlie let out a laugh at that, and the knowledge that Tao was correct helped the anxiety melt away. Lacking anything better to do but still having about two hours until their guests were supposed to arrive, Charlie went back into the bedroom and laid out a few outfit options.
Charlie tried out a few options, switching between black jeans and a more traditional blue wash, and then pairing each with an array of tops that varied from a silvery cropped shirt, to one that featured a black lace panels on the sides.
After looking into the floor length mirror and scrutinizing the options for far too long, he decided to go for the black jeans and the shirt that featured the lace panels, knowing that he'd likely get cold and put on a jacket over the top of it all anyway.
By the time he'd decided on the appropriate outfit, the front door of the flat opened, and he went out to greet his boyfriend.
"They had a fucking brilliant deal," Nick said, cheeks red and a bit breathless from the stairs that led up to the flat, "So I got four bottles instead of two. You look lovely, by the way."
Nick set down the reusable shopping bag he'd been carrying and gripped Charlie by the waist, pulling him in for a rather intense kiss, "I missed you," he said quietly.
"Shut up, dickhead," Charlie replied, giggling, and then a bit quieter, "I missed you too."
The two of them stood in the entryway to the flat, giggling and kissing for a bit longer than necessary, especially considering that there was still work to be done to prepare for the party.
Finally, Charlie pulled away, "I need to go clear off the deck. I think it'll be nice for people to be able to go out there and cool off or smoke if they want to."
Nick nodded, "I'm going to fix up a few more appetizers. I know people are bringing things but, I just want to make sure we have enough food."
Charlie gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Sounds good, love."
The two went their separate ways, though if he craned his neck a bit, Nick could see Charlie out on the balcony, sweeping away dead leaves and drying off rain-dampened patio furniture. Nick smiled to himself, admiring his boyfriend for just a second longer, before grabbing a bread knife and slicing into a baguette so that it would be ready for toppings.
—
Once the balcony had been cleaned off, Charlie went into the bathroom, giving Nick a little wave as he walked past. Locking the door securely behind him, Charlie pulled out the ring box once more and buried it behind the excessive number of toilet rolls that he'd organized under the sink.
After a moment, he turned on the sink to decrease the chances of Nick hearing him, and then scrolled through his contacts to find Sarah.
She picked up on the first ring, "Hello, darling, how are you doing?"
"I'm good!" Charlie replied, chewing on the side of a fingernail, "I just wanted to let you know that everything seems to be going just like we planned it. Do you think he has any idea?”
“I’m sure he knows it’s going to happen at some point, but I don’t think he suspects it’ll be tonight. You’’ get pictures, won’t you darling?”
“Of course ,” Charlie replied, “I’ve already got Tao and Elle bringing their good camera over and they know when I’m going to do it.”
Sarah squealed on the other end of the line, “Can I see the ring?”
“Did I not send you a picture of it yet? God, sorry, I’ve been so stressed out that I must’ve forgotten. Let’s switch over to FaceTime so I can show you.”
Charlie tapped the necessary buttons to switch to a FaceTime call and then set the phone on the counter so he could dig out the ring once more.
“Char?” Nick called out, banging on the door, “Are you okay in there?”
Flicking his eyes down to where Sarah sat on FaceTime trying to stifle her giggles, Charlie had a brief panic.
“Uh… yeah, I’m… uh…. Stomach trouble. You know how it is. I think maybe the coffee I got earlier was … regular instead of oat milk? I’ll be out in a second. Sorry.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, love,” Nick replied, and Charlie could almost see the sympathetic look on his face, “Do you need anything?”
Charlie closed his eyes, willing himself not to laugh, “No, I’ll be right out, babe, thank you.”
Once Charlie heard Nick’s footsteps retreat down the hallway, he picked up his phone again, he and Sarah both dissolving into a fit of laughter. Quickly, Charlie opened the ring box, displaying the jewelry to Sarah.
“Oh, he’ll love that,” Sarah replied, a sheen of tears in her eyes, “I can’t wait to hear about how everything goes.”
“I’m sure we’ll call you and give you all the details. I should probably go before your son breaks down the door to rescue me, but I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good luck!” Sarah replied, “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
With that, Charlie hung up his phone, gave the toilet a flush so that his cover story was a bit more convincing, and then made sure to hide the ring box once more.
—
As the time of the party neared, Nick got changed as well, while Charlie gave himself a spritz of cologne, and went back out into the sitting room to move food from the kitchen onto the tables that they’d set up for the party.
“Fuck, maybe I did go overboard on food,” Nick said from behind Charlie, nearly scaring him out of his skin.
“Jesus, Nick,” Charlie laughed, “Really snuck up on me there.”
“Sorry love,” Nick replied, wrapping his arms around Charlie’s waist from behind, “How can I make it up to you?”
Though he wanted to give in, wanted to tilt his head back so that Nick could kiss and suck at his neck, the upcoming party be damned, he knew he couldn't, especially not with everything riding on it going smoothly.
“I’ll figure something out,” Charlie replied cheekily, “But for now – I think we should have a little Prosecco just for ourselves.”
“I won’t argue with that,” Nick said, stepping into the kitchen and grabbing two of their champagne flutes. He popped the cork on one of the many bottles and poured a bit into each of the glasses.
Charlie grabbed one of the champagne flutes and clinked it with the one in Nick’s hand, “To us, and to tonight going smoothly.”
“And to nobody vomiting in the house plants like last time.”
Charlie laughed at that, and then raised the glass to his lips, taking a sip of the bubbly, sweet liquid. The two of them worked through their Prosecco as they added a few finishing touches to their setup, Charlie starting the playlist they’d curated for the event while Nick plated up the appetizers he’d waited on to avoid them becoming soggy.
Sai and his girlfriend Eva, were the first to arrive, a platter of brownies and a bottle of wine in their hands.
Nick gratefully accepted both and then pulled his friend and girlfriend into a one-armed hug.
“Feel free to grab a snack, pour yourself a drink, whatever you’d like, really,” Nick said, welcoming the two into the flat. Nick took the bottle of wine into the kitchen, placing it in the refrigerator so that it’d be cold by the time they’d worked through the bottles of Prosecco that had already been set out. Charlie had been chatting quietly with Sai and Eva when Nick returned to the sitting room, but he got to his feet once more when someone knocked at the door.
Elle and Isaac stepped inside and were quick to hug Charlie and then Nick.
“Tao’s here too, he’s just parking the car,” Elle said, “Parking around your flat is always such shit.”
Charlie laughed, “Yeah it’s terrible. Come on in, grab a drink!”
A dam seemed to break then, and the flood of people into their flat really began, Tara and Darcy showing up just as the door had closed behind Tao, followed by Sahar and her partner, Christian and Otis, and then a bit later, Tori, Michael and Olly With Charlie’s playlist and all of the guests packed into their small flat, things got a bit noisy but still enjoyable.
As the night progressed, Charlie kept an eye on the clock that they had projected on the television so that they’d know when midnight had arrived, bringing the new year with it. As the clock neared 11, Charlie gave a subtle nod to Tao and Elle, who gave him one in return. He went into the bathroom to retrieve the box, and then sidled up next to his boyfriend, who had just shoved an entire bruschetta covered slice of bread into his mouth.
“Hi,” Charlie said, wrapping an arm around Nick’s waist.
“Hi,” Nick replied, his mouth full of bread and tomato.
“It’s a bit loud in here. What do you say we go somewhere a little quieter?”
Nick looked around the room for a brief second and then shrugged, “The balcony?”
Charlie nodded, feeling his stomach churning with an anxiety that he knew wasn’t necessary to have.
The balcony was cold, a fairly unsurprising fact for nearly-midnight at the end of December, but the two of them didn’t really feel its full extent, wrapped up in each other as they looked out over the city.
“Nick,” Charlie said, looking over his shoulder to confirm that Tao had the camera pointed at the two of them, and that Elle was recording with her phone, “Can I just… Um.”
Charlie took a deep breath, disentangling himself from Nick’s embrace so that he could face him fully, “I’m in love with you, like… to an absolutely fucking unbearable degree. I know that I should have something better to say than this but, I don’t. I love you so much that it confuses me sometimes because I didn’t know that it was even possible to feel this good. I had no idea that something like this, what we have, existed out there for me and sometimes it still doesn’t feel real but, being loved by you is the most real thing that I’ve ever known and,” he pulled the box out of his pocket, “Will you please just fucking marry me already?”
Not even bothering to look at the ring, Nick threw himself at Charlie with such force that for a moment, he worried that he’d topple over, but he managed to steady himself as Nick sobbed into the junction of his neck and shoulder.
“Of course I’ll marry you,” Nick managed between sobs, “Fuck, oh my god, I love you so much.”
Charlie laughed and rubbed at Nick’s back, “I love you, too.”
Once his breathing evened out a bit, Nick wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt and pressed forward to kiss Charlie, cupping his face with one large, warm hand.
“I’ve got to call my mum,” Nick said, still sniffling a bit, “She’s going to lose it.”
“She knows,” Charlie giggled, “Um, earlier when I told you I had the shits… I lied. I was on FaceTime with her, showing her the ring.”
“What?!” Nick asked, letting out a little laugh, “How long has she known? She’s evil! I literally called her to talk about proposing to you last week .”
Charlie stifled a laugh, “She’s known for over a month now, love. This whole thing has been pretty meticulously planned,” he gestured toward the open balcony door, “Tao’s been taking pictures with his fancy camera, and Elle recorded everything, but I don’t know how good the audio will be.”
“God,” Nick said, laughing a bit wetly, “I can’t believe this. Right before midnight, too.”
Charlie waved a hand dismissively, “I’ve had enough New Year’s Eve kisses with my boyfriend. I wanted to have one with my fiancé.”
“You’re so sappy,” Nick laughed, “Come on, god knows we’ve got enough Prosecco to celebrate with.”
The two of them reentered the sitting room, and everyone, having known exactly what had been happening, greeted them with congratulations.
“They all knew?” Nick asked, turning to Charlie, who blushed and nodded.
Nick threw his arms around Charlie’s neck once more, and kissed him senseless.
Isaac and Elle got busy pouring fresh glasses of Prosecco into enough plastic champagne flutes for everyone, while Tao turned his camera around and showed the proposal pictures to Nick and Charlie first, and then to the gathered crowd.
Once everyone had a champagne flute in hand, Elle raised a toast, “To two of the best people I’ve ever known, and their unbreakable, inspiring bond. I’ve known this day was coming since I was 16 years old, and now, nearly 10 years later, I can’t believe we’re finally here. Congratulations on forever.”
Charlie leaned into Nick further, pressing his head into the taller man’s muscled shoulder, an embarrassed but pleased flush on his cheeks as he toasted to that, and took a long drink from his glass.
Nick and Charlie didn’t separate for the rest of the night, always pressed up against each other or holding hands as their various friends came up to congratulate them, or offer advice on their futures.
“As a professional in gay marriage,” Darcy started, only to be interrupted by Tara.
“We’ve only been married a year!”
“As a professional in gay marriage,” Darcy said louder, not acknowledging her wife’s comment, “I’ll tell you the secret. There’s two secrets, really, the first one is to make sure to pay attention to the little details and don’t stop dating each other, you know? Pick up the discount flowers from Tesco or a takeaway when the other is having a bad day.”
“That’s good advice, actually,” Tara said, interrupting her wife once more.
“The second secret is don’t let the sex get boring. Don’t be afraid to try new things, but take it from an expert: tingly lube is a mistake you don’t need to make.”
Tara let out a loud laugh, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle the cackle, “Normally, I’d say you’re being a bit too personal but, that’s worth saying actually. Don’t make the tingly lube mistake.”
“Thank you, Darcy,” Nick said with a laugh, “We’ll keep both of those bits of advice in mind.”
With that, and the fact that it was very nearly midnight, everyone who had a partner sought them out and began to count out loud with the countdown on the television. Despite all the noise around them, Nick and Charlie managed to drown it all out, feeling just as content in the bubble of them as they had that night so many years ago on a ballroom floor at some rich dickhead’s 16th birthday party. Their lips slid together, the most familiar feeling in the world to each of them, and once the moment had passed, Charlie rested his forehead against Nick’s, not wanting to pull out of the bubble just yet.
They eventually pulled away, though, as the party resumed around them. More alcohol and snacks flowed for a couple more hours until, one by one, their guests said their goodbyes and made their way out the door. Nearly endless hugs and congratulations later, the freshly engaged Nick and Charlie were finally alone in their flat.
“I can’t believe you did all that for me,” Nick said, his words a bit slurred from the amount of alcohol he’d consumed, “You’re the best boyfriend in the world.”
“I’m not your boyfriend anymore,” Charlie replied, picking up a few stray cups from around the sitting room before making eye contact with Nick once more, “I’m your fiancé.”
“God,” Nick breathed, “You're my fiancé. I get to spend the rest of my life with you, for real.”
Charlie set the collected cups onto the table and made his way back over to Nick, “You and me, forever, for real. No take backs.”
“I’m the luckiest man in the entire world. The entire universe, probably,” Nick said, cupping Charlie’s face between his hands and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.
Charlie stepped up onto his toes to capture Nick’s lips once more, and the two of them remained like that for an unknowable amount of time, lips and tongues sliding together as Nick cupped Charlie’s face, and Charlie gripped Nick’s biceps tightly enough that he was sure his fingerprints would remain there for eternity.
“We should go to bed,” Nick finally said, breathing heavily as he pulled away.
“Yeah, we should,” Charlie replied with a smile, “Lead the way.”