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Charlie loved his boyfriend, he really did but being ushered out the door into the freezing cold on christmas eve wasn’t exactly what he’d expected when he woke up in Nick Nelson’s childhood bedroom that morning.
They’d arrived back in Truham a week ago to spend the holidays with family. They’d spent the previous day with the Springs and were now enjoying christmas eve with the Nelsons. It hadn’t been a hard decision to make, since his parents still invited their extended family over— and they weren’t exactly nice to him or Tori. Ever since he and Nick started spending holidays together, the comments had only gotten worse. With Tori spending the day with Michael doing.. whatever it was Tori and Michael did (he still wasn’t sure, but it worked for them and he just wanted his sister to be happy), Charlie allowed himself the luxury of spending christmas somewhere he didn’t feel any pressure to be anything other than himself. Somewhere no one watched his every move, especially when it came to food.
The only downside to a Nelson family christmas was Nick’s older brother David being there, but over the years he’d kind of softened toward Nick and Charlie. They weren’t ever going to be best friends or anything but they could manage a civil conversation now that David understood Charlie wasn’t going anywhere. He and Nick were a forever thing.. or so he hoped.
All that to say, he thought they would be spending the day lazing around, getting ready for the big day while spoiling Nellie, Henry, and Daisy.
Apparently, Nick had other ideas.
It was still dark outside. Far too early, everything eerily quiet under a blanket of pure, undisturbed white. It wasn’t like Charlie hated being out in this weather, he’d just assumed they’d take the dogs for a walk after dinner, while Sarah set up for the arrival of his boyfriend’s extended family. Instead of heading downstairs to make his famous gingerbread biscuits like he usually would, Nick had tugged on Charlie’s sleeve, begging him to go on a ‘winter walk’ and honestly, Charlie couldn’t think of anything worse but Nick was looking at him with those big pleading puppy-dog eyes he’d never been able to refuse. That’s how he found himself pulling on one of Nick’s jumpers, his coat, a hat, scarf and gloves before grabbing the dogs’ leashes from the hook.
They were immediately taken from him and put back, a sheepish smile on his Nick’s face.
“Just us, please?”
Charlie looked from his boyfriend to the three dogs, who he swore looked just as confused as he did. Before he could say anything about it, Sarah was calling the dogs for breakfast, sending them scampering away. Shaking his head, he followed Nick out the door, their hands immediately finding each other, slotting together just as they had for the last ten years.
As they walked, it was mostly silent. Nick would bring up a random memory from their past every now and then. Good ones and bad ones. The smile never left his face, and though Charlie was freezing, he couldn’t help but smile too. He loved the sheer delight it brought Nick to reminisce about their past and whisper into the quiet about his hopes and dreams for their future. Sometimes it was hard to believe he’d ended up with such an amazing, sappy boyfriend. Over the years Nick had shown him over and over again that there was nothing he wouldn’t stay by his side for and though it had taken Charlie a lot of time and therapy, he truly believed that Nick loved every single part of him— just as he loved every single part of Nick.
Charlie took another step and bumped into something, or rather someone, hard. He grunted in frustration, earning a little huff of amusement from Nick. When he looked up, his cheeks were pink and his teeth were chattering, and if Charlie didn’t know any better he’d say Nick looked nervous. Which made no sense. What on earth would he have to be nervous about?
“Don’t you know where we are?”
A moment passed as he looked over Nick’s shoulder, rolling his eyes when he realised what he was referring to.
“Of course I do!” Charlie laughed, like it was the most ridiculous question he’d ever heard. “It’s Truham Grammar School. I only went here for, I don’t know, five years.”
It was weird that they'd stopped outside their old school. Looking up at it now, it seemed so small compared to how huge it had felt back then. He wasn’t sure if that was because he’d grown or because his memory had exaggerated it thanks to everything that had happened within those walls. Either way, it was strange being on the outside looking in, knowing that part of his life had been behind him for almost seven years. It felt both longer and shorter than that.
“Wrong.” Nick interrupted his thoughts, his signature lopsided smile appearing.
“What?”
“It’s not just Truham Grammar School, Char. It’s where it all began.”
Before Charlie could ask what he meant, Nick was pushing open the gates— gates that Charlie was pretty sure should’ve been locked up over the holidays. Nick marched towards to the building with purpose and all Charlie could do was follow a few steps behind, not questioning anything until they reached the doors. That’s where he stopped. Nick pulled them open and stepped inside, leaving Charlie more confused than ever, and admittedly a little worried.
“What are you—”
“Come on. Don’t you trust me?”
And he did. He trusted Nick more than almost anyone else in his life. So when a hand was offered, he took it without hesitation, laughing in surprise when Nick pulled him inside and down the halls of their former school.
Nick was like a man on a mission, knowing exactly where to go, while Charlie looked around at the familiar walls. The displays were different, new names he didn’t recognise written at the top of the pages but everything else looked the same. Despite his trust in Nick, anxiety started to bubble in his chest and he immediately blurted it out between breaths as he tried to keep up.
I don’t think we should be in here.
I think this is trespassing, Nick.
I don’t think either of us would do well in prison.
Just as he was about to add another reason they shouldn’t be doing this, Nick stopped outside a room and turned to him with a grin, looking at him like he expected Charlie to know exactly what was going on.
.. he didn’t.
“This,” Nick pointed behind him, hands braced on his knees as he panted, “is actually where it all began.”
Now that Charlie had caught his breath, he realised he did recognise the corridor, and the room. It lined up perfectly with Nick’s words but before he could say so, Nick pushed open the door to the first form room they ever shared together, that year the teachers decided it was a good idea to have mixed forms. A decision that had changed Charlie’s life forever.
Peeking over Nick’s shoulder, he froze and his eyes widened, tears already threatening to fall.
Most of the desks had been pushed to the back of the room, probably so the janitors could clean over winter break, but their old desk was still in it’s original place, two chairs pulled out. A blanket sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by fairy lights, a picnic basket placed on top. His feet carried him inside on their own and something on the wall immediately caught his eye. It was a photo. Not just any photo, it was one of the two of them from the photo booth on their very first date at the beach. As he looked around, he realised the walls were covered in photos from every important moment of their lives, arranged in order from the door all the way to Mr. Lange’s desk. Their very first snow day. Paris. Prom. Graduation— both school and uni. Their first day at their new jobs. The day they adopted Daisy.
The last one was a photo he’d never seen before though, a picture from that morning. Charlie asleep, Nick holding the camera, a little black box in his other hand.
“Nick, what..”
He turned to look at his partner and there Nick was, on one knee, staring up at him with all the love in the world. Charlie almost missed the open black box from the photo entirely, a ring nestled inside.
“Yes!” Charlie gasped, stepping forward, wanting to kiss him immediately.
“You have to let me ask first! I had a whole speech, Char!”
Charlie clapped a hand over his mouth, barely containing a giggle as he nodded, looking down at his boyfriend, who was still kneeling, which couldn’t be good for him with all his past rugby injuries but Charlie wasn’t about to say that now.
“Charlie Spring,” Nick began. “I thought a lot about where I wanted to do this. There were so many places that felt right. The beach where we had our first date, outside my house where we had that amazing snow day, the place Harry rented for his birthday where we had our first kiss. Our apartment. They all seemed special, but when I tried planning something in any of those places, it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right because this is where we met. In this room, when different year groups were mixed together and we were sat next to each other, having no idea that tiny decision would be the start of something beautiful. I like to believe we would’ve found each other no matter what, but this was our beginning, even if I didn’t understand my feelings at the time.” Nick cleared his throat and reached out for Charlie’s hand, which he squeezed immediately. “I know this place holds some bad memories too, so I hope I didn’t mess this up. I just wanted to ask you somewhere that meant something, and this was the only place that felt right, because it’s where I met my favourite person. My best friend who became my boyfriend— a boyfriend I’m hoping becomes my fiancé. Char, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want us to go through the good and the bad together. We’ve already been through so much and I’ve never been more sure of anything, than I am that I want us to be Mr. and Mr. Nelson-Spring. Or Spring-Nelson. I don’t care. I just want you—”
“Nick!”
Big hazel eyes blinked up at him, head tilted. Even though he’d long grown out of his baby face, he still looked like that sweet golden retriever Charlie had met in this very room. For a moment, it felt like they were teenagers again, about to get detention for sneaking into an empty classroom to steal kisses between lessons.
“Ask me. Please.”
“Charles Frances Spring.. will you marry me?”
Charlie tugged Nick up from his knees, arms wrapping around his neck, tears rolling down his cheeks as he nodded over and over again.
“Yes!” he laughed. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
Nick lifted him off the ground, spinning him in a small circle as Charlie sniffled. When he set him down, he gently took Charlie’s hand and slid the ring onto his finger. Charlie had imagined this a million times over the years, even when they were kids with no idea what the future held, but this felt unlike anything he could’ve imagined.
It felt right.
🍃 🍂 🍃
“You don’t think we’re going to get arrested for breaking into the school, do you?” Charlie asked as they walked back to the Nelsons’ house, having spent a few hours eating the picnic Nick had packed and reminiscing over all the photos.
He’d found out that his boyfriend, no, his fiancé, had woken up even earlier than usual to set everything up while he was still asleep. Sarah of course was in on it too.
“No, we won’t be arrested. I had two elves helping.. Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk.” Nick paused, eyes widening. “Please don’t tell Mr. Farouk I called him an elf.”
Charlie laughed, pretending to consider it. “I make no promises.”
He reached for the front door, and when he opened it, he was met with smiling faces, not just from Nick’s family but his own. Sarah, Diane, the twins, even David looked happy, as did his parents, Tori, Michael, and Olly. And not just their biological families but the one they’d created— Tao and Elle, Isaac, Tara and Darcy, Imogen and Sahar.
They were all staring at them like they already knew and Charlie realised they probably did. He’d once said when he got engaged he’d want to bask in the moment with everyone who mattered, and Nick had made that happen. On christmas eve. For him.
“He said yes then.” someone teased— probably Nick’s aunt Diane.
“Of course he did. They’re insufferable. They could’ve gotten engaged ten years ago and no one would’ve been surprised.”
That was definitely Tori, and everyone laughed because it was true. They probably could have eloped as teenagers and no one would’ve batted an eye. It was obvious they were always going to end up together. Just like the grass was green, and the sky was blue— Nick and Charlie were meant to be.