Work Text:
CHARLIE'S POV
I hold tight into the strap of my bag as I wait for most of the students to leave the classroom so I can move without feeling like I'm in a huge crowd. Two of my colleagues stay behind with me, one of them my roommate, Clara, who was the first person to welcome me on my first day of University, and the other one being Dom, a guy I met on the first week after we noticed we had pretty much the same classes.
"Ready to go back to the dorms?" She asks and I nod, glancing at the door and noticing that most people already left. It's the last class of the day and only after 4pm, meaning that I will probably have the time to go home and shower before starting to prepare the list of things I'll need for the weekend, when Nick is coming to visit for the first time. It's only Thursday, but we haven't seen each other in a month and the prospect of having him over is truly the one thing keeping my energy at the max this week. I miss him so much that it is actually starting to drive me insane - I could swear I saw him walking into my building this afternoon as I walked to class, which would be impossible because he is only arriving on Saturday, but apparently my Nick-less brain is finding his doppelgängers around campus now.
I mindlessly listen as Clara tells me a story about her morning adventures at the gym, and we run into Hunter, another one of our roommates, in the middle of the corridor and start to walk together to exit the building.
When we walk through the main doors into the open campus area, my eyes catch a familiar figure on the other side of the garden, leaning against a tree and with his eyes already on mine.
Nick?
"What the…"
"Go hug your man, Spring, see you later." Clara taps my shoulder lightly and steps back, but I'm already halfway moving towards my boyfriend, who leans down to place two coffee cups on the grass before getting back up and opening his arms when I am only a few steps away. I half jog, half run to him, my bag dropping on the floor just before I throw myself in his embrace, my arms wrapping around his neck as I hide my face there, breathing him in. He holds me tight, only the tip of my toes touching the ground as he holds me impossibly close.
"Hi." He whispers into my ear and I can't help the tears that fill my eyes. God, I missed him.
"Hey you." I whisper back, my lips against his neck, pressing a featherly kiss there before I lean my head back to meet his eyes. "I missed you." I say, still a bit breathless, and he giggles.
"I missed you too." He starts to lean his face forward and I meet him halfway, being thankful for his arms around me because of how weak my legs feel the second our lips touch again. It's a long but chaste peck that somehow makes the butterflies go wild inside my stomach and my heartbeat get its own crazy rhythm. I feel his smile against my lips and lean back again to look at his honey-brown eyes. Then I remember something.
"Didn't you have to be in class like… Right now?" I raise my eyebrows at him, who simply laughs before stepping back to lean down and retrieve the two cups he set on the grass earlier. He hands me one and takes the other, leaning down again to grab the bag I dropped on the ground, placing it on his shoulder. He reaches out for my free hand and I smile before intertwining our fingers and starting to walk next to him, making the way back to the flat.
"I finished my assignment a few days back, so I was able to send it to the professor already. And tomorrow's class is not that important." He shrugs and I smile, taking a sip of the coffee and trying not to swoon over the fact that he always seems to know the exact type of coffee I'm craving.
"Oh my God… It was you that I saw at the building earlier!" I say, squeezing his hand playfully, and Nick looks down with a smile, his cheeks blushing a little against the afternoon sun.
"Yeah, Hunter opened up so I could drop my bag and everything. I dmed Clara to ask if you were still home and they helped me out." He explains and I try to hide my stupidly large grin behind the almost finished coffee cup.
"You are the sweetest person on the planet, Nicholas Nelson." I state, grabbing my keys as we reach the front of the building, opening the door and pulling him inside. When I open the door to the flat and guide us in, I notice Clara in the living room, a book laying sloppily on her lap and her smile so wide it's almost comical.
"Well, hello there. Introduction time?" She says, jumping out of the sofa and taking a few long strides in our direction.
"This is Clara, as you probably guessed by now. Clara, this is Nick." I wave between them and she leans to give him a quick hug.
"It's so nice to meet you!" She clasps her hands together, beaming at the both of us. "I won't interrupt because this boy has been moping around for days-"
"Hey!" I protest, but she simply winks at me.
"So I'm gonna retreat to my room to get ready to go have dinner somewhere else. Don't worry, I'll drag Hunter along so you have the place to yourselves. Bye, lovebirds!" She winks at me before disappearing down the corridor and I bite my lip, feeling my cheeks warming up.
"Is it just me or does she have a bit of a Darcy energy?" Nick asks after we hear the door closing.
"Never stops talking and carries absolutely no filter? Sounds accurate." I laugh, nodding at him and taking a step forward, cupping his face in my hands. "I'm so happy you're here."
"... Now I understand why you had to come here and drop your stuff first. How many jumpers did you bring again?" I ask teasingly, while removing the fourth jumper from one of Nick's bags and letting out a laugh.
"I mean… I had to make sure you'd have enough, what kind of boyfriend do you think I am?"
"The type who likes seeing me in his clothes, apparently." I smirk, looking up at him from my spot on the floor where I was kneeling next to his bag to find his phone charger.
"Are you complaining? I can take them back, you know…" He smiles, leaning back against the headboard on my bed. I find the charger and stand up, grabbing one jumper with me as I go to my desk and plug his phone on the charger.
"Oh, no, no jumper is leaving this room and you better behave or neither will you." I quickly put on the jumper I'm holding and jump on top of him on the bed, Nick letting out a surprised oof and wrapping his arms around me, leaning my head on his chest so he can raise his hand to slowly caress my hair.
"Darling, that's not as much of a threat as you think it is." I giggle, smiling against his chest and snuggling closer.
"Nap first, then dinner?" I suggest and he laughs.
"Yes, absolutely." He drops a kiss to the top of my head and I close my eyes, taking in the closeness and comfort that I've been missing so much and falling asleep almost immediately.
In the end, we only wake up on the next day when my alarm rings in the morning. I groan and reach out for it, turning it off before getting back to the comfort of Nick's arms, who seems to still be fully asleep. Apparently, we sleep better when we are together because I feel more rested than I had the whole month. I lean my chin on his chest and take a moment to just admire his soft cheeks and peaceful smile, the string of light escaping from the curtains reflecting on his nose and making his freckles more prominent.
I raise my hand and caress his cheek with the tip of my fingers, noticing when he starts to stir awake and move below me. He seems confused for a second, but then looks down at me and lets out the sweetest smile.
"Morning, sleepyhead." I whisper, and he yawns, flipping us around so he can lie on my chest and hide his face on my neck, snuggling closer. “Oh, hi there.”
“Missed this.” He whispers back, his muffled voice tickling my skin.
“Me too.” I reply, honestly. “You’re my favorite pillow.” I tease, and the giggle he lets out makes my heart jump inside my chest, just like it always does when he’s around.
We stay in bed for another ten minutes, just enjoying each other’s presence and lazily making out, until Nick’s stomach growls and we both laugh.
“Ok, need to feed you. Let’s go.” With one more kiss to his lips, I slowly get up from the bed and go to the bathroom, coming back to the room just to pick another one of Nick’s jumpers for me to change into. We’re not wasting any opportunities here, afterall.
“You do realize that we have like, six fully functional chairs there, right?” Is how Clara greets us when she walks into the dining area, finding me sitting in Nick’s lap - him in one of the chairs, both of our breakfast plates on the table in front of him. She laughs and rolls her eyes when I flip her off, and points at the mug I’m holding. “Did you make coffee?”
“Yeah, Nick did, it’s in the kitchen.” I point, and she nods, going there in a quick jog and coming back a minute later, mug in hand.
“What are you two doing today? Besides the obvious.” She winks and I roll my eyes, feeling Nick hiding his face on my neck again. I fluff his hair and laugh, dropping a kiss on his forehead.
“You’re a demon.” She shrugs, taking another sip of her coffee. “We’ll probably walk around campus and go to the Cafe or something. I’m just gonna show Nick around.” I answer.
“Some people from the LGBT club are going to the pub later tonight if you want to join, like around six or some shit.” Clara turns around to leave, and then looks over her shoulder. “Everyone is dying to meet your prince charming, you should show up.” Winking, she grabs her bag and laptop and leaves the apartment.
“Should I ask?” Nick says, smirking at me.
“No.” I say and, before he can ask again, I lean down to kiss him, which ends up distracting us both for quite some time.
We spend the afternoon walking around campus and I show Nick some of my favorite places that I have discovered so far. We stay in a coffee shop for a while, eating and having a coffee (tea for Nick), and we run into 2 of my classmates as we are leaving. Nick quickly introduces himself to them as my boyfriend, all cute and flustered, and I bite my lips to keep me from grinning too big at how happy it makes me to see him being so confident in himself in front of people he’s never met before.
I tell him that later, after we went back to the flat to shower and change, and we are back in the street, walking hand in hand in the direction of the pub to meet with Clara and some other people.
“It’s easier when you’re with me, holding my hand. You make me feel safe.” He answers, his eyes fixed on our steps. I pull him to the side, stopping. He frowns in confusion and I hold his other hand in mine too, pulling him closer to me. “It’s still hard… Back in Leeds, but… I’m trying.”
“And I am so proud of you.” I search for his eyes and he looks back at me with a vulnerability that takes my breath away. “I have always been proud of you, sweetheart. Always.” I repeat and he nods, a shy smile on his lips. He leans forward until our foreheads are touching and lets out a shaky breath.
“I’m proud of you too, you know.” He lifts his hands and cups my cheeks, making me smile. “I’m so happy to know that you are happy here and have good people around you.” I open my mouth to reply, but can’t seem to think of a single sentence that truly covers all that I feel, so I just kiss his lips instead, my arms encircling his waist and pulling him closer.
“I love you so much.” I whisper against his lips, and he leans in to kiss me again.
“I love you too. More than anything.” He gives me another peck before leaning back again and reaching for my hand. “Now let’s go and meet those people.”