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Charlie was freaking out. In hindsight, he should’ve started planning their date night earlier. But he hadn’t because he had trusted his spreadsheet. The “Date Ideas” spreadsheet was the one he was most proud of, and his best kept secret from Nick.
Charlie had been collecting date ideas from friends, movies, books… anytime he came across a good one, he noted it down. And then he added to the spreadsheet with all the necessary information: planning time needed / distance / duration / viability / cost… He had a great system –colour coded and all– to find the perfect date for each occasion.
But today, the spreadsheet had failed him. It was the first time in years that Nick and Charlie would have a whole day and night to themselves. With their oldest staying at a friend’s house and their youngest having a grandma day with Sarah, Saturday will be all for them alone. So, after a busy week, once the kids were already in bed, and while Nick took care of the dishes, Charlie had sat down with his laptop to look into his spreadsheet for a suitable date, only to find he had been neglecting the file for so long that they were out of possible dates, they had done it all.
So, yeah, on a Friday night, Charlie was freaking out, and he must have huffed too loud because Nick noticed it and got closer. He stood behind Charlie’s chair, putting his hands on the tense shoulders and dropping a quick kiss into his curls.
“What’s bothering you, sweetheart?” Nick asked.
Consumed by his frustration, Charlie couldn’t act quick enough to close the tab and the spreadsheet laid there in full display to his husband’s eyes. He tried to close the laptop, but it was too late.
“It’s nothing!” Charlie replied.
“It doesn’t look like nothing. What’s that?” Nick insisted.
“Fuck it, it doesn’t matter anymore” Charlie said. “It was all the date ideas I collected over the years”.
“You have a spreadsheet for date ideas, you massive adorable nerd?” Nick looked at him lovingly.
“I had…” Charlie huffed. “It’s over. We have exhausted them all”.
Nick grabbed Charlie’s hand, inviting him to get up. As he hugged him, he said into Charlie’s ear: “Don’t worry, love. I have all the day planned”.
Charlie looked up at him with adoring eyes, “You do?”
“Yes. I’ve already gotten everything we need to spend the whole day together. I think I can add some time between our bubble bath together and making dinner to plan some future dates to add to your lovely sheet”.