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Nick set his and Charlie’s suitcase down so that he could fumble with his phone, trying to open the Airbnb app to see the access code for the door.
"Fucks sake," he mumbled, once he'd finally found the code, "I don't know why they need a 15-digit code."
Charlie let out a laugh, "Maybe they've got a really fancy coffeemaker they don't want people to break in and steal."
Nick held the door open so that Charlie could enter first, "What's to keep us from stealing it? We have the code."
Charlie rolled his eyes as he stepped into the entryway, "Well they'd know if we stole it, dipshit, we're the only people staying here."
"I suppose you have a point," Nick agreed, following Charlie into the small cottage.
The space was a bit crowded but would serve their purpose well, a decently-sized kitchen beside the sitting room, and a single bedroom with a king-sized bed and an ensuite, but the real draw to the cottage was the back garden, which featured a hot tub that he and Charlie intended to utilize to its fullest extent.
"Why don't you roll us some joints while I get dinner ready?" Nick suggested, setting their luggage down in the bedroom once they’d done a small tour of each room.
"Already need a smoke, huh?" Charlie teased, following Nick back into the kitchen area. He placed the paper grocery bag on the kitchen counter and then took a seat at the small table.
Nick smiled at his boyfriend, “The faster you roll joints, the faster we can get stoned and eat a cheese board out in the hot tub.”
“God, this is the best birthday ever,” Charlie said with a laugh. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out his stashbox, getting to work on rolling joints as Nick had requested.
The two of them chatted quietly as they went about their separate tasks, Nick slicing and artfully arranging cheese, olives, and cured meats as Charlie ground weed and sprinkled it into prepared rolling papers.
“Did you bring your lucky lighter?” Nick asked, popping a green olive into his mouth as he watched Charlie pick up one of the joints, licking and sealing the paper.
“Obviously,” Charlie replied with a smirk, “You know I don’t go anywhere without it.”
Nick put the finishing touches on the cheese board and then uncorked the bottle of champagne he’d brought, pouring a bit into two wine glasses. He set one of the glasses on the table by Charlie and leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of his head, “You almost done?”
Charlie nodded, picking up his champagne glass to take a sip, “Yeah, I think I’ll just do one more, maybe? You think two joints each is good for us?”
“I think that’ll be fine, yeah,” Nick replied, “If you’re about done, I’ll go put my swimming trunks on, then.”
“Not going naked? Even on my birthday?” Charlie teased, a hint of mirth in his eyes.
Nick rolled his eyes good-naturedly, “You know why I can’t. Not after what happened that one time…”
Charlie threw back his head and laughed at the memory of Nick, absolutely stark naked and panicking on the beach when they’d decided to go for a cheeky nighttime skinny dip in the ocean but had failed to account for the tide, which had washed their clothing out to sea. Fortunately, the two of them had been able to sneak back into the rental house without being caught by Nick’s mum, or, god forbid, either of his grandparents, but the whole ordeal had really put the two of them off the concept of future skinny-dipping attempts.
—
They were forced to take two trips out to the hot tub, one to bring out their cheese board and champagne, and another to bring out their weed and towels. Nick placed everything on the table beside the hot tub while Charlie opened it up, and then the two of them climbed inside.
“Oh my god,” Charlie said, throwing his legs over the top of Nick’s as he laid his head back, “Literally the best birthday ever.”
Nick leaned out of the hot tub a bit, grabbing two of the joints and Charlie’s lucky lighter - a shitty blue one he’d picked up on one of their Spain holidays. He passed Charlie’s joint over to him.
“What makes it lucky, Char?” Nick asked and slotted the joint between his lips. He knew the story, he’d heard it a hundred times before, but hearing Charlie tell the story always made butterflies erupt in his stomach.
Charlie smiled affectionately as Nick lit up his own joint and then passed the lighter over, “You know why it’s lucky.”
Nick took a drag and then exhaled toward the sky, “Tell me anyway.”
Charlie half-smiled, “It’s kind of stupid, but, it was back when you’d gotten hurt while hiking on one of our holidays in Spain, and I didn’t know if you just had a concussion or, I don’t know, fucking brain damage and broken limbs, and I wasn’t allowed to go back with you.”
“I was fucking scared too, I don’t speak Spanish,” Nick replied, remembering the moment, “They were nice but I was so fucking confused and I kept making it worse by speaking French because my brain said that would be better. It was not.”
The two of them laughed at that, and then Charlie spoke again, “I couldn’t just sit in the waiting area. After like, two hours II was going fucking insane, so I went to a corner shop next to the hospital to buy a pack of cigs and a lighter,” he held up the lighter in question with a smile, “And literally as soon as I lit it, they called and told me that you were going to be fine and that I could come pick you up. And like, I know that lighting the lighter didn’t… do anything, but… it still felt lucky in the moment.”
Nick exhaled a puff of smoke toward the sky, “I love you,” he said quietly.
“I love you too,” Charlie replied, sparking up his own joint and then sinking deeper into the water.
The two of them sat in comfortable silence as they smoked, just the bubbling of the hot tub jets and the occasional rumbling of a car passing by to fill the gaps in sound. As Nick’s joint neared the roach, he ashed it and leaned over the side of the hot tub to pull the cheese board close enough that the two of them could reach it. He popped an olive into his mouth and turned to look at Charlie.
“You need anything?”
Charlie shook his head, a trail of smoke escaping out the corner of his mouth, “I’m about done with this one and then I’ll get some food,” he said, a raspy edge to his voice.
Nick nodded, necking the rest of his champagne and pouring himself a second glass. As the high began to seep into his bones, he picked at the assorted cheeses and cured meats, with the occasional green olive. Charlie was quick to join him, a lazy smile on his face.
“You’re pretty,” Nick murmured, cupping Charlie’s face with his free hand.
Charlie moved into Nick’s space for a moment, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “And you’re gay.”
Nick laughed and flicked Charlie’s forehead gently, “Alright, homophobe. Eat your cheese.”
The two of them chatted quietly as they picked at the cheese board, just high enough that the world felt a little bit softer around them.
“Are you happy?” Nick asked quietly, his eyes flicking down to meet Charlie’s, “I know that … there are other ways we could’ve been spending this weekend, but…”
Charlie smiled, “Of course I’m happy, Nick. I didn’t want to go to my parents’ house anyway. If my mum hadn’t caused a fight last week and caused us to cancel, you know she would’ve just caused one during my birthday dinner.”
Nick nodded, “I just want to make sure that you feel as celebrated as you deserve to be.”
“Nick,” Charlie laughed, setting his champagne glass down so that he could cup Nick’s face with both hands, “As long as I get to spend time with you, I don’t fucking care about anyone else.”
Nick pressed forward and captured Charlie’s lips with his own, the taste of champagne and marijuana intensifying as their lips and tongues slid together.
“Now who’s gay?” Nick teased, pulling away.
Charlie rolled his eyes affectionately, “I guess we both are.”
They picked at the cheese board a bit more, draining their champagne glasses as they basked in the warm water that surrounded them. Charlie placed his glass on the table and then curled up next to Nick, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend’s waist.
Nick set his own glass down and then draped an arm over Charlie’s shoulders, cuddling up to his boyfriend like the two of them weren’t already sat in 40° water. Sinking a bit deeper into the water, Nick rested his neck against the hot tub's edge so he could gaze up at the stars.
“I think that one might be that bear thing,” he said, squinting at a cluster of stars.
“ Ursa major?” Charlie asked with a laugh as he tried to locate what Nick was talking about, “Oh, you’re right, I see it. Well spotted.”
“I remembered what you told me last time,” Nick said proudly, “About trying to find the Big Dipper first.”
The two of them remained like that, with Charlie resting against Nick, and Nick resting against the hot tub edge, so that they could search for constellations without straining their necks. They worked their way through their remaining joints as they gazed up at the sky, a bit unpracticed and uneducated, but interested in the cosmos nonetheless.
Once their joints were ashed and they’d run out of constellations to try and see, they climbed out of the hot tub and scrambled into towels as quickly as possible. Grabbing the nearly empty cheese board, glasses, and champagne bottle, they hurried back inside.
In the bedroom, they shucked their wet swim trunks and dried off as quickly as possible to combat the chill in the air. Once he had a pair of joggers on, Nick grabbed Charlie’s discarded swim trunks and brought them into the bathroom to hang beside his own in the shower.
In the lit bedroom, the high was more evident on Charlie’s face, with his bloodshot, half-lidded eyes and a seemingly permanent smirk.
“You’re high,” Nick commented, moving into his boyfriend’s space to leave kisses up his throat and jaw.
“So are you, dipshit,” Charlie shot back, laughing at his boyfriend, but tilting his head to that Nick had better access to his neck.
“Time to brush our teeth so that we can cuddle up in bed and put on a film, I think,” Nick said quietly, resting his forehead against Charlie’s shoulder.
The two of them made their way into the ensuite where they took care of their nightly routines, cleaning teeth, emptying bladders, and applying nighttime skincare, all while they bantered back and forth. Once they were finished with everything, they climbed into the king-size bed and curled up together, Charlie flat on his back with Nick tucked under his arm.
“What do you want to watch, birthday boy?” Nick asked, slipping his hand under the edge of Charlie’s t-shirt and stroking a hand across his stomach.
Charlie brushed a hand through Nick’s hair, as he contemplated his options, “We should do a little Scooby Doo marathon, I think.”
Nick leaned off the side of the bed and grabbed his laptop, “That sounds perfect, darling.”
He navigated to the correct webpage and passed the laptop over to Charlie and climbed out of bed, “Find the one you want to start with, I’m going to grab a glass of water for each of us.”
Charlie nodded, so Nick smiled and made his way into the kitchen, filling two glasses with a handful of ice and water from the tap. Once he returned, he set a glass on each nightstand and climbed back in bed, pressing a kiss to the side of Charlie’s head.
“What are we starting with?” Nick asked, settling into a comfortable position.
“ Witch’s Ghost ,” Charlie replied, setting the laptop up so that both of them could see it, but not accidentally kick it over, “An absolute classic.”
“Ah yes,” Nick agreed, “Tara and I have had many conversations about The Hex Girls being a sexual awakening for the two of us.”
Charlie let out a quiet laugh and started the film, and moved back to his original position so that he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend. Nick’s arm found its place around Charlie’s waist, and the combination of exhaustion, alcohol, and weed allowed the two of them to slip into an easy contentment, tangled up together as a children’s movie stole the last bits of their concentration.