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Nick Nelson was not a negative person, but as he sat in the cold, overly bright waiting room at 5:55pm on Valentine's Day with a dull ache radiating through his jaw, he thought Valentine's Day as a concept could go screw itself.
On balance, this Valentine's day was at least going better than last year; being dumped three days before the big day, forgetting to cancel the restaurant booking, and therefore being charged an obscene amount of money for food he didn't even get to taste, had been a particularly low point of his dating life.
But honestly, Nick couldn't remember a year when he had had an enjoyable Valentine's. Not since he was about eight and his mum made him heart shaped pancakes before school, anyway.
So, yeah, Valentine's Day sucked and it could go screw itself, and he would very much like to be at home with a ready meal for one, and his dog Daisy for company, and not in this fucking depressing waiting room waiting for the dentist to see him and fix his cracked, and rather painful, filling. Especially when said dentist was running late and Nick really just wanted this over and done with.
Nick hated dentists.
He shuddered and cursed the dentist with poor time keeping under his breath.
///
Charlie Spring fucking hated Valentine's. He also hated patients who showed up late for their appointment and created a knock on effect for everyone else. He hated running late. And he hated emergency appointments just squeezing in right before his day was meant to end, making him late home.
Home where he had very exciting plans with the love of his life: Achilles, his cat. Plans that involved a ready meal for one and some shitty TV.
As his second to last patient mumbled a thank you and left the room, Charlie checked the time and sighed.
Achilles was used to his dinner being served at 6:05pm and no later. But that wouldn’t be the case tonight. Which meant that Charlie would be getting the cold shoulder this evening.
"Happy fucking Valentine's…" he muttered to himself as he checked the computer to bring up the details of his last minute emergency appointment.
"He's usually one of Sahar's, but he called at three and begged for us to fit him in, so… Yay us?" his assistant smiled with a roll of her eyes.
"And remind me again why she couldn't stay late to see him?" Charlie stretched, running a hand through his hair as he stared longingly at the clock.
Imogen shrugged, "Her and Tom have big plans tonight, and for all your withering looks and grumpy exterior, you're actually a big ol' softie who loves romance. And you'll never leave a patient to suffer if you can see them today." Imogen chuckled at him. All Charlie could do was huff and finish preparing for the last minute patient.
"Go on then, call him in, let's get this over with."
Imogen left the room and Charlie continued to fidget with his tools as he heard an overly cheerful voice talking a hundred miles an hour approaching his room.
"... so grateful you could fit me in. Honestly I knew just looking at the cupcake that it was a bad idea, but when she looks at you like that and asks you if you like her baking… Well what was I meant to do? Refuse to eat it?"
Charlie heard Imogen giggle… Actually giggle.
"Well, I think you sound very noble. Anyway, just in here…" Imogen opened the door and shot Charlie a wide eyed, cheeky grin.
"Right, thank you, sorry I'm rambling, I sort of hate dentists and when I get nerv-" A tall, ridiculously broad shouldered man with dark blonde hair and soft looking stubble smiled at Imogen as he walked past her into the room. He stopped talking as he turned and locked eyes with Charlie.
“It’s a good thing I’m used to people telling me how much they hate me, I suppose…” Charlie joked to the tall man, Nicholas Nelson according to the computer screen, as he stood motionless, swallowing nervously and looking like he’d seen a ghost.
God he was handsome.
Charlie really was used to patients coming into his room claiming to be petrified of dentists, and he found the best way to calm them was to distract them with what Imogen called ‘dad jokes’.
The man, Nick, flushed an attractive shade of pink. “Oh… No, no I don’t hate dentists… I’m sure you’re lovely… really lovely…”
Charlie laughed and gestured to the slightly reclined chair in front of him.
///
“Right, well… Thank you?” The beautiful, curly haired dentist chuckled at Nick, and waved his hand in the direction of the chair. “If you want to lie back then, we can have a look. What exactly happened?”
The man - Nick wished he had paid better attention to the receptionist now when she had booked him in with a different dentist than usual - turned around and bent slightly as he opened a small drawer behind him. Nick’s heart had started to race the moment he had stepped through the door and locked eyes with the deep blue ones of the dimpled man in front of him. The moment the dentist turned and Nick was graced with the man’s pert arse clad in tight, dark blue fabric that left very little to the imagination, his stomach joined in by doing somersaults.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
The dentist turned back and smiled at him with a slight raise of an eyebrow. “All OK? I promise I won’t bite?”
Nick realised he was still stood like an idiot in the doorway. He gave himself a mental shake and moved towards the chair. “No, I mean yes… all fine. Sorry… umm… long day!” he laughed nervously while he tried to climb into the chair with as much grace as his 6ft 1in frame would allow.
The gorgeous dentist smiled down at him softly as he tilted Nick back until he was staring at the ceiling.
“So, you’ve broken a filling?” the dentist asked kindly as he fiddled with something on the tray next to him.
“Oh, yeah… this morning. I knew it was a bad idea to eat it, but Maisie just gave me this look you know, and I couldn’t really say no,” Nick grimaced. “But yeah, I don’t know what chocolate chips she used but they were like bullets and I felt the filling go straight away… only I couldn’t just spit it out could I? Not with her looking at me with those eyes… so I just had to sort of swallow and pretend… yeah. And I thought actually it would be OK? But then at lunch… god the pain was fuc- I mean, the pain was awful. A baguette and an apple really were the worst choices I could have made today! I just… it's been so painful ever since, so I called as soon as I could and… yeah. Here I am?” he finished with a mumble, realising he had been rambling and the dentist was looking down at him with an amused smile.
///
The man was clearly nervous. He kept trying to talk while Charlie had his fingers in his mouth, which normally would have made him want to scream, but something about the bumbling giant of a man with flushed cheeks who was laying in his chair made Charlie smile instead.
“Nick, it’s Nick, right?” Charlie rested a hand on the side of his patient’s face and locked eyes with him. The man swallowed and nodded. “I know it’s not the nicest feeling in the world, and lots of people get nervous at the dentist, but I promise you won’t feel anything. Me on the other hand… if you keep trying to talk you’re going to end up biting me, and I-”
“Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean… I mean, sorry. I’ll shut up.” Nick flushed an even darker shade of red and closed his eyes.
“It’s fine, just try to relax, OK?” Charlie had to stop himself from stroking the man’s face as he went back to numbing the area in preparation.
///
Nick was nervous, he really didn’t love dentists (although maybe he could love a specific dentist quite easily, especially if the dentist in question had dimples, stunning blue eyes and the most beautiful dark curls that he had ever seen); he didn’t enjoy the sensation of laying back and having someone prodding around inside his mouth, it unnerved him. However, that wasn’t why he had been rambling nervously at this new dentist. No, that had everything to do with the aforementioned dimples, curls, and smiling eyes. Also the man’s voice. And the butterflies in Nick’s stomach.
He had always had a habit of turning into a bumbling idiot around beautiful people, male or female. And Gorgeous Dentist was certainly beautiful.
As he lay with his eyes squeezed closed in an effort to focus on calming his butterflies while he reminded himself why he was under the man’s gaze, he wondered if it was inappropriate to ask your dentist out on a date minutes after they'd had their fingers in your mouth. In other circumstances Nick thought he would probably quite enjoy having his mouth around Hot Dentist’s fingers… as well as another body part or two.
Even if it wasn’t inappropriate (he thought it probably would be, sadly) he decided that given how numb his mouth currently felt, and the fact that he had no idea if Beatiful Dentist was a) single or b) into men, it would probably be a stupid idea to ask him out anyway. So he laid with his eyes closed and fantasised about Cute Dentist asking him out instead.
///
Charlie’s patient stayed still and quiet for the rest of the appointment, his eyes closed as the man seemed to concentrate on breathing in and out calmly. The silence was only broken when Charlie spoke quietly to Imogen as needed, working as quickly and carefully as he could.
“Right, all done.” Charlie pushed back and slowly raised the chair so the man, Nick, was no longer laying so flat. “Unfortunately you need to make sure you don’t eat anything for at least two hours now, and no sweets or sticky treats!”
Nick blushed, to Charlie’s confusion. And then it dawned on him: Valentine's Day. Obviously this man had plans with his girlfriend (Charlie may have checked for a wedding band…) tonight that probably involved a treat or two. For some reason this thought made Charlie's stomach clench uncomfortably.
“Probably not the best Valentine's evening you’ve ever had…but if you want to avoid another dentist trip…” Charlie trailed off.
Nick snorted. “Suds etta thun arst ear. Luckee Aisee won ind.” The tall man swung his legs over the edge of the chair and made to stand. “Un ank ou. Ope I nock uined yur nigh.”
Charlie looked at Nick, trying to work out what the man had just said.
“Ser-ree…” Nick stood in front of him and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He waved a hand in front of his mouth. “Eels eird!”
Charlie laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah, it will wear off quickly though, so hopefully you and… Maisie, was it? Can still have a good evening. Just… maybe encourage her not to bake you anything for a while.” He forced a chuckle, not understanding why the idea of this (gorgeous) man heading home to a girlfriend was making him feel so… weird.
Nick cocked his head to one side, and for a second Charlie got a strange sense that he was looking at a confused puppy, watching his owner for clarification. “Aisee?”
Charlie pulled his gloves off and started towards the door. Linda, the receptionist, would have left at 6pm on the dot; it would be up to Charlie to sort out the paperwork and payment while Imogen tidied up.
“Yeah… was that what you said your girlfriend was called? She made you Valentine's Day cupcakes, right? For breakfast?” Despite himself, Charlie found himself scrunching his nose up at the thought of cupcakes for breakfast. Really?!
Nick made a funny choked noise behind him and Charlie turned as he reached the front desk to see a rather pink man looking (adorably) flustered following behind him.
“Wot?! No! Aisee is aight un my uupul! Poopool… poopull…”
Charlie frowned. “Pupil?”
Nick nodded enthusiastically. “Es! I each ear thees.”
Now it was Charlie’s turn to cock his head as he tried to navigate both the computer’s ridiculously complicated system to find this man’s information, and tried to understand Nick’s slurred speech. “Each? Oh… teach? You’re a teacher?”
Nick nodded again, smiling widely and looking proud (and cute). “Es! Mmm…Mmm-aisee ikes to ake… b-ake.”
“Oh,” Charlie smiled to himself as he finally found Nick on the system. But then he remembered what he’d said after Charlie had told him no sweet treats tonight. “Sorry, I thought you said Maisie wouldn’t mind no sweet treats tonight… or something. That it would be better than last year- Sorry, ignore me. Right I just need you to sign this please, and we only accept card payment now I’m afraid. Not my idea by the way… is that OK?” He felt his cheeks start to burn and he kept his head down as he passed the form across the small desk towards the blonde.
Nick didn’t take the form though. Or say anything. So eventually Charlie looked up to find the man staring at him with a funny look on his face. Then something seemed to click and he started to laugh. He had a nice laugh, even with a numb mouth.
“Aisee! D-D-aisie! My og! D-og!”
Charlie could tell he was trying hard to enunciate clearly even though it sounded like he had a mouth full of cotton wool. It was rather adorable.
“Daisy? You have a dog?”
“Es!” Nick grinned and nodded excitedly.
Charlie laughed softly. “So Daisy is your Valentine's Day date tonight then?”
Nick nodded and smiled, looking very happy about this fact.
“Oh… that’s… that’s nice. My date tonight is my cat, Achilles.” He looked at the clock behind him quickly: 18:40. “Although I’m not sure he’s going to be in the mood for cuddles by the time I finally get home to feed him!”
He hadn’t meant to make Nick feel guilty, but the tall man’s face instantly fell. “Sooee,” he attempted to apologise.
Charlie shook his head as Nick finally bent to sign the form. “S’fine. I don’t actually care about Valentine's Day anyway. Load of crap if you ask me. Just a day for smug couples to smugly rub- Sorry… don’t know why I’m… I’ll shut up.”
“On’t.”
Charlie looked up to see Nick smiling softly at him and holding out his debit card.
“V-val-enines is gust a gay… d-ay. Un I um ery uch sung-gul,” Nick continued as he tapped his card to the card reader.
Charlie smiled back at the honey brown eyes that were looking at him far too intently, causing his heart to flutter. “Oh.” He didn’t really know how to respond to that. “Yeah… just a day,” he finally settled on mumbling.
Nick sighed and gestured to his mouth. “En-ay, anks ag-gen.”
Charlie nodded and made his way back around the desk to see the man out and start locking up. “Anytime… well no… I don’t mean anytime. I hope I never see you again.” Nick’s face actually fell and Charlie once again thought he resembled a puppy; this time one who had just been kicked. He forced out an awkward chuckle. “I mean… just stay away from those baked treats, and hopefully you’ll never need to see me… because Sahar is your normal… OK… umm... Well, enjoy your evening with Daisy!”
Charlie wished the ground would swallow him whole as he bumbled his way through a half conversation with the unfairly attractive man who couldn’t talk properly, and probably thought he was an idiot.
Luckily the man chuckled and gave a half wave as he made his way through the door. “No eets…seets…s-w-eets.” He grinned and walked backwards down the steps outside… until he missed one and stumbled, only just catching himself on the railing in time to stop himself landing on his arse. ”Ucks! K…eye!” he laughed, before he finally turned around and walked away.
Charlie sighed with a half smile on his face, “Bye…” Then he closed the door to the practice and locked it securely before he headed back to check on Imogen, and let the two of them out the back door, directly into the small staff car park.
///
After nearly falling down the last three, rather steep, stone steps outside the dentist practice, Nick finally turned away from the man’s captivating blue eyes and headed down the street towards his car. He couldn’t help looking back over his shoulder as he reached the corner though, hoping for one last look at the curly haired man whose name he still didn’t know. But the door to the practice closed quietly just as he turned around, and with it Nick felt his chances of ever talking to the beautiful man again close too.
He sighed heavily and hurried towards his car, telling himself it was ridiculous to feel attracted to someone he had only spent half an hour or so with, in a professional setting, where they hadn’t even managed to have a conversation.
Utterly stupid.
Completely illogical.
Batshit crazy.
Yes, the dentist was stunning, and yes Nick had felt butterflies at the mere sight of him which had only grown as the man spoke and his beautiful voice calmed Nick’s slightly frazzled nerves, but it was a silly crush, he would likely never see the man again. He couldn’t exactly request to switch dentists just to see him, could he? Even if there wasn’t some ethical code that prevented dentists from dating patients, it would be plain stalkerish to start going for regular check ups just to glimpse the man.
The man who was probably straight anyway.
Nick had a knack for trying to flirt with straight men.
He sighed, put his car in gear and started towards home, Daisy, and his ready meal for one that he now couldn't eat for at least another two hours.
///
“ Oh, what did you say your girlfriend was called again? Maisie? Are you straight, hot tall man who blushed every time I spoke to you? Are you taken? Will you marry me? ”
Charlie flushed red, but he ignored Imogen’s sing-song tone as he grabbed his coat from behind the door and started turning off the lights. Imogen squealed and hurried out of the room behind him.
“ Don’t indulge in any sweet treats with your girlfriend… indulge in them with me. I’m very gay, very single, and very much interested in sampling your goods,” his assistant carried on in what she clearly thought was a good impression of his voice, as she had to practically jog along the corridor to keep up with Charlie, who was already at the backdoor and entering the alarm code, ready to lock up.
“So… did you get his number?” she winked, finally speaking in her normal voice again as she reached the door and stepped out into the cold February air.
Charlie pulled it shut behind her, checking twice that it was definitely locked as he waited for the double beep to sound inside to indicate the alarm was fully set.
Beep, beep.
“No, of course I didn’t!” Charlie turned and headed towards his car. “Night, Imogen!”
“Charlie!” she whinged and he heard her running up behind him. “Come on, he was totally checking you out!”
Charlie laughed humourlessly and started to unlock his car. “Don’t be stupid.”
“I’m not!” Imogen reached him and pushed herself in front so she could lean against his car door, effectively blocking his escape. “He took one look at you and turned into a blushing, rambling mess of a man. And I definitely saw him drool over your awesome arse when you turned around,” his friend and colleague cackled gleefully. “You should have asked for his number!”
Charlie rolled his eyes and gently tried to shove her out of the way. “Even if that man was single, gay-”
“Or bi! Bisexual people exist too!”
Charlie groaned, “Yes, or bi-”
“And you know he was single! I heard him tell you so!” Imogen grinned wickedly as she stepped back into Charlie’s space and stood her ground.
“Ugh! Fine! But that doesn’t mean he would be interest-”
Imogen scoffed. “Charlie you are blind-”
“AND! Even if he was it doesn’t matter. He’s a patient-”
“Sahar’s patient-”
“And I know nothing about him-”
“You know he’s a teacher, who has a dog, likes men and is single. AND he’s the type of person to consume a questionable looking cupcake, just to please a little girl.”
Charlie could practically see hearts in Imogen’s eyes.
“Well, if you think he’s so great, why don’t you ask him out!” He once again tried to push past the woman to open his car door, but Imogen just crossed her arms and laughed.
“Oh trust me I would be all over him in a second if I thought I stood a chance! And, you know, if I was single… Charlie, that man’s jaw dropped when he saw you!”
“Goodbye, Imogen.” He walked around to his passenger car door, opened it and started to climb across.
Imogen opened the driver’s door and stuck her head in. “I want to believe in romance! Please Charlie!”
Charlie finally shuffled into his seat and started the engine. “Bad idea. He’s a patient-” Imogen started to interrupt him but he just spoke louder, “AND even if he’s not technically my patient, because of that I’m likely to never see him again. Achilles is waiting. Go see Sam and have a nice evening, Im.” He sighed, “Night.”
Finally, Imogen sighed and relented. “Fine. Bloody logic. Bloody realism. Just wanted… romance. Ugh! But if you see him again…”
“Yep, yep… if I ever see a random guy I once repaired a filling for again, outside of the practice, I will absolutely ask him for his number.” Charlie rolled his eyes.
Imogen grinned, clearly missing the sarcasm in his voice. “Good. That’s all I ask. Night Charlie!”
Charlie scoffed softly. “Night, Im.”
///
It was four days after his emergency filling repair at the hand of Hot Dentist, AKA Charlie Spring. The first thing Nick had done once he had got home, after feeding Daisy of course, had been to head to his dental practice’s website and click on the ‘ Meet our Team’ button. Right there, second from the top, had been a photo of the smiling, dimpled man who had just made his heart stop simply by smiling at him, with his name underneath: Charlie Spring BDS, MSC
Something about those extra letters after the beautiful man’s name had created a whooshing sensation in his stomach. The man was clearly smart, and good looking.
But Nick wasn’t stupid, and he knew spending half an hour in virtual silence with a cute stranger he was unlikely to see again was not enough to start fantasising about having a potential relationship (and hot, steamy, glorious sex) with the man.
So he forced himself not to think of dentist Charlie Spring again for the rest of the week.
Until he was stood in front of the cafe’s cake counter with Darcy bouncing up and down beside him, not so gently encouraging him to get both the carrot cake and the lemon slice.
“Oh, go on Nick! Just have both!” She squeezed his bicep and looped her arm through his. “Go on, strong rugby man like you… you’ll burn it off. And it’s not like you have anyone at home to impress anyw-”
“Darcy!” Tara, Darcy’s girlfriend, turned around and hissed at her.
Darcy shrugged. “Just saying.”
Nick smiled at Tara, letting her know he wasn’t offended by yet another reminder that all his friends were happily in relationships, while Nick was, apparently, destined to be alone.
Tara rolled her eyes. “You just want him to pay for your cake, Darce. Just get the bloody lemon sponge and I’ll pay… ridiculous woman,” she added under her breath.
“Doesn’t taste as good if we pay for it… tastes better when Nicky boy pays!” Darcy grinned.
“Ugh, fine.” Nick, as always, relented. “Grab your drinks, go find us a table and I’ll get carrot cake and the lemon slice.” He pretended to huff exasperatedly, but really he loved this about his friendship with Tara and Darcy. They were less friends and more family. Slightly annoying, but deeply loved, family.
He paid for his order and waited for his two slices of cake to be served. As he stood waiting for the carrot cake to be added to his tray he couldn’t help but laugh a little to himself at what Hot Dentist, Charlie, would say if he saw him with not one cake, but two.
The teenager behind the counter placed the second cake on his tray without a word and turned away, presumably to start on the next order.
“Thank you,” Nick smiled genuinely at the boy before turning away from the counter to scout the busy cafe for his friends. He took a step forward, his eyes still darting around the crowded space, and immediately collided with someone who had been walking towards the counter.
“Shit, I am so sorry!” Nick tried to stop his large hot chocolate (with extra cream, marshmallows and a flake) from toppling, but it was too late and he watched in slow motion as his top heavy cup tipped and went flying all over his tray, and the man staring up at him in surprise.
Nick’s heart stopped and he could do nothing but stare, open mouthed, into shining blue eyes.
///
Charlie hadn’t thought about Nick Nelson, Nicholas Nelson, once since Tuesday.
He hadn’t.
OK, maybe he had spent Wednesday weighing up the hypothetical ethics of hypothetically dating a hypothetical patient.
And maybe on Thursday he had daydreamed once or twice about walking out into the waiting room to find Nick there, asking to speak to Charlie, saying he was finding a new dental practice.
And maybe on Friday night he had laid in bed and maybe used his… imagination to picture what Nick could do with his rather strong looking arms.
He had then maybe spent Saturday morning feeling guilty about his objectification of an unsuspecting man, and so he had headed out for a run to try and clear his mind and shake the tall, broad blonde man from his head.
His run had been long but just what he needed, and as he reached the far edge of the park he had decided to treat himself to a coffee and something to eat from the cafe. They made a delicious apricot and pumpkin seed slice.
He hadn’t expected to get covered in (thankfully lukewarm) hot chocolate by Nick Nelson within seconds of entering the busy coffee shop.
///
“Charlie!” Nick squeaked, before realising he probably wasn’t meant to know the man’s name.
Charlie jumped back, knocking into someone behind him, before quickly jumping forward again and knocking into Nick’s tray. The two cakes clattered, but stayed put.
“Sorry!” The curly haired man flinched as he steadied the cakes, at the same time as Nick started apologising profusely and trying to mop at Charlie’s (tight - Nick swallowed) black top with the single yellow napkin from his tray.
Nicks stopped with his hand still on Charlie’s chest when he realised the position they were in, and he looked up to see the slightly shorter man smiling up at him. He quickly dropped his arm.
“So, the whole no sweets thing is going well then?” Charlie smirked at him.
Nick gulped. “I’m… they’re not… I’m sharing them!” he stuttered, feeling his cheeks burn under Charlie’s teasing smile.
Charlie laughed, quietly but beautifully. “Uh huh.”
“I am! Look, see…” Nick looked around until he spotted Darcy and Tara looking at him with wide, laughing eyes. He waved and they waved back, not bothering to rush over to help him.
“My friends, Tara and Darcy…" He turned back to look at Charlie again, noticing the slight glisten to his skin and how his curls stuck to his forehead. God he wanted to get to know this man. He drew in a shaky breath. "Can I, can I get you a drink? I am so sorry for… that.” He waved his hand at Charlie’s damp chest and prayed that this beautiful man didn't hate him, and that he would take Nick up on his offer. "Please," he practically begged, feeling slightly breathless all of a sudden.
Nick didn't believe in fate, not really.
But, come on, this had to be fate, right?
///
Charlie was sticky and damp. But he could cope with his top clinging to him uncomfortably if he got to see Nick flustered and smiling at him like that.
"Won't I be interrupting?" he asked as he looked across to where Nick had just been waving. Two very pretty women were grinning in his direction and he suddenly felt a little nervous.
"Oh god no! In fact you'd be doing me a favour. You know those smug couples who celebrate their smug relationships? Well, that's Tara and Darcy. Only they're really lovely and try not to rub it in… But yeah, I'd love it if you could join us. Please?"
Charlie considered for a moment, feeling hesitant. But then he let his eyes wander back up to Nick's warm, honey brown gaze and all he could do was gulp and nod.
"OK then… if you're really su-"
"Yes! I mean… Yeah, I'd really like that," Nick beamed down at him.
Charlie's heart rate, which had been calming down post run, sped up again. "Me too…" he said quietly, and he was rewarded with the widest smile he'd ever seen, as butterflies burst into life in his stomach.
///
Tara and Darcy had made an excuse to leave over an hour ago. Something about walking their pet. Arnold, a gecko, was the only pet they owned, but Nick hadn't called them out on their blatant lie. He had waved them off quite happily in fact. Because sat opposite him was Charlie Spring.
Charlie Spring with his kissable looking dimples, sparkling, teasing deep blue eyes, and a wicked sense of humour that had made Nick blush, laugh, or snort out hot chocolate almost constantly since they'd sat down together nearly two hours ago.
Nick couldn't deny that he was grateful that Tara and Darcy had been present at the beginning though. Because the blonde haired, chaotic lesbian had managed to get Charlie to confirm his sexuality - gay. Massively one hundred percent gay. His words, not Nick's - within five minutes of them joining Tara and Darcy at their table.
Charlie liked men.
And Charlie was very much single.
Thank you gay gods for Darcy Olsson, her gay intuition and her straight to the point questions.
///
Nick was definitely single, and he had been for over a year. Ever since his last boyfriend had dumped him, three days before Valentine's.
Boyfriend.
Nick was bisexual.
His friends, the blonde one in particular, had seemed a little excitable and very, very sociable, something Charlie usually found overwhelming. But they had also been a well of useful information about one, rather flustered, Nick Nelson.
Charlie now knew he was bisexual, that he lived a five minute walk from his mum, who he saw at least twice a week, that he baked (and baked well, apparently. No chance of a broken tooth eating one of Nick Nelson's cupcakes, according to Tara) and that he spoke French, fluently. Oh, and that those arms that Charlie might have fantasised about the night before were a result of rugby training and a home gym that he actually used. Regularly.
So, Charlie had been pleased to meet Nick's friends. But he had been even more pleased when they'd left to walk Arnold, who Charlie assumed was their dog, and left the two men alone to carry on getting to know each other.
Charlie was especially pleased when Nick reached across the table and asked if he could hold his hand.
Charlie's brain turned to a puddle of goo and all he could do was nod enthusiastically.
Then his brain came back online, and he made a joke about that only being possible because, luckily, none of his bumbling patients had managed to bite his fingers off this week.
Nick blushed beautifully, and Charlie decided right then and there that his new goal in life was to see how often he could make Nick Nelson blush.
///
*~*~*
///
“Steak, jacket potato and salad tonight?” Nick called from the bedroom as he wriggled into his work trousers and started pulling on his shirt.
“Sounds good,” Charlie shouted back from the small en-suite.
“And then for pudding I thought-”
Charlie walked into their bedroom, already dressed in his dark blue scrubs that accentuated his arse perfectly. Not that Nick could see his boyfriend’s arse at that moment in time, he was too busy watching his smirking face as he stalked towards Nick with a look on his face that made his stomach swoop in anticipation.
Charlie reached him and started slowly doing up the buttons of Nick’s shirt.
“I thought I told you last Valentine’s dear, too much sugar is bad for you. But I did have a… salty treat in mind, to finish off the meal.”
Nick’s heart raced as Charlie looked up at him from under his long, dark eyelashes, his nimble fingers now playing with the button at the top of Nick’s shirt.
“Yeah?” Nick managed to whisper.
“Mmmhmm… I think you’ll enjoy the… dessert that I have in mind. A special Valentine’s Day treat, shall we say.”
Nick finally unfroze and brought his hands around his boyfriend’s waist before letting them slowly wander down until he was grasping Charlie’s perfect behind in his large hands. He gave a slow, firm squeeze and was rewarded with a quiet moan falling from Charlie’s lips.
Nick leant down to capture the moan in his mouth. When he pulled away a minute or an hour later he was pleased to see Charlie’s cheeks were flushed and his smirk had been replaced with a dopey grin.
“And here I thought you said Valentine’s Day was a load of crap…” Nick teased.
Charlie stepped away from Nick’s hold with a roll of his eyes. Nick moaned at the loss of his hands on his chest.
“I said it was a day for smug couples, and what can I say… we’re a couple, and I’m rather smug about it.” Charlie grinned and then sauntered out of their bedroom with a purposeful and exaggerated sway of his hips.
Charlie knew what seeing him in scrubs did to Nick.
Tease.
///
“Charlie,” Linda stuck her head around his door as Charlie prepped for his next patient. “We’ve had a patient call, apparently broken a tooth on a Valentine’s day toffee and wanting to know if we-”
“Ask Sahar, Linda. I can’t, sorry, plans tonight. Tell her she owes me one,” Charlie cut her off, not even bothering to look up. He heard Linda sigh and leave the room.
Beside him Imogen chuckled. “Pretty sure you owe Sahar one… after all, if she had taken Nick’s emergency appointment this time last year, you’d never have met him, and that ring that’s burning a hole in your pocket wouldn’t be needed, would it?”
Charlie hummed. “We’d still have met… at the cafe. Or… somewhere. We’d have met each other, somehow.”
“Hmmm…” Imogen didn’t sound convinced. “And here you are, Mr Grumpy himself, Mr ‘Valentine’s Day is for losers’, about to propose on Valenti-”
Charlie looked up with a glare. “I am not proposing on Valentine’s Day…”
Imogen cocked one eyebrow, “Oh, really?”
Charlie felt his cheeks flush. “It’s just… it’s the day we met, you know… nothing to do with it being Valentine’s…” he mumbled.
“Uh huh, yep. Sure. You keep telling yourself that,” she laughed.
///
Charlie did keep telling himself that, all day long, right up until the moment that he took one last, steadying breath as he stood outside the small two up, two down house that he and Nick had moved into together, only eight weeks earlier.
The best eight weeks of his life.
Hell, the last fifty one and a half weeks had been the best weeks of his life.
With only slightly trembling hands, Charlie unlocked their freshly painted blue door, shouted out his usual greeting to Nick, and after kicking off his shoes, followed the sound of music down their narrow hallway to the kitchen.
///
Nick waited with bated breath for his boyfriend to finally arrive home as he pottered around the kitchen, doing his best to keep calm. Achilles was doing his best to trip Nick up every ten seconds, and Daisy was doing her best to guilt Nick into sharing the rather tasty looking steak that sat on the side resting, ready to be cooked when the moment was right.
Nick hoped that moment might be a little while off yet.
Usually he and Charlie arrived home within ten or fifteen minutes of each other and took time together to unwind, enjoying a cup of tea as they fed the pets and talked about their day, before they started cooking together a little while later. Not today though. Today, Nick left work almost as soon as his children had all been collected. He was glad he had. It had taken him far longer than he had anticipated to cover every inch of their kitchen in candles (battery operated, he didn't have a death wish), rose petals, to lay the table with their fancy new table cloth in the way that YouTuber had done, and to string up the banner that he had spent weeks creating.
The banner that was a collage of photos that they'd taken together over the last year, printed, cut out and then stuck down so the photos arranged the words 'Be mine… Forever?'.
The banner he was now stood under, as he heard Charlie walk down the hall towards him.
The banner that he now dropped to one knee under as Charlie finally, finally, walked through the kitchen door.
The banner that he now knelt under, small velvet box in hand, as he locked eyes with the brightest, most beautiful eyes in the world and watched as his boyfriend of fifty weeks took in the scene around Nick.
Charlie's mouth fell open, eyes wide and shining with unshed tears, as he brought one hand up to cover his mouth in surprise while the other dug into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out an identical box to the one in Nick's hand.
Nick's heart had been racing all day, as his plan got closer and closer, worried that he was being too much, too soon, too sappy.
But as Charlie, still having not said a word, crossed the small space between them and dropped to his knees in front of Nick, box still in hand, and cupped his face, his heart stopped.
It restarted a moment later as their lips slowly, languidly brushed together and then his boyfriend pulled back, a teasing smile on his face as he asked, "Will you be my Valentine, forever? Will you marry me?"
And all Nick could do was laugh and tackle his boyfriend, his fiancé, to the ground as he peppered his face with kisses.
Daisy joined in the laughing, squealing ball of limbs and love on the floor a few seconds later.
Achilles brushed past them and headed upstairs, throwing them a look of vague frustration as he passed. Nick hadn't even fed him yet.
Bloody humans.
Ridiculous, overly excited golden retriever.
And Daisy was just as bad.
The End.