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Chapter Text

He stared down at the papers on his desk without really seeing them. Charlie knew he should be reading them. He had work to do, but Ben was laughing and flirting with some girl on the other side of the wall of his office and Charlie couldn’t focus. He knew Ben wasn’t interested in the girl, whoever she was. Ben was just mad at Charlie and trying to make him jealous, but that wasn’t going to work anymore. Charlie was done. He wanted more than secretly making out with Ben behind closed doors and he was done hoping that one day Ben could give him that. People didn’t really change and Ben was not the exception to the rule.

Charlie had made the right decision and he knew it. The problem was that Ben didn’t seem to want to accept it. Hence the very public display in front of his office.

A part of him wanted to just open the door and make a scene out of spite, but he knew he would never. Not even Ben deserved to be outed against his will.

The giggling and flirting outside his office got louder and Charlie groaned, laying his head down on the desk. He wasn’t getting anything else done today.

Just then, the sound of his office door opening made him look up. There stood his emotionally unavailable -- never technically his boyfriend anyway -- ex and the woman he was pretending to be interested in. Bisexual people existed, but Ben was not one of them.

“What do you want, Ben?” Charlie groaned.

“Don’t look so gloomy,” Ben grinned. “I have a proposition for you.”

“We have a proposition for you,” the woman on his arm corrected Ben.

“You can’t have my parking spot,” Charlie said tonelessly.

Ben laughed, that fake laugh of his he always used when he was trying to be someone he wasn’t.

“Well I know it’s been a while since you got a date,” Ben said pointedly, like he didn’t know exactly the reason why Charlie hadn’t been publicly dating anyone lately. “And Linda here says she has someone perfect for you.”

“As much fun as that sounds,” Charlie said sharply, trying to hold back the anger. “I don’t think my boyfriend would be happy about it.”

“Oh, I did not realize you were seeing someone,” Ben replied with a smile, but Charlie could see the hidden jealousy under his fake expression. Charlie knew Ben hated the idea of Charlie being with someone else, even if Ben wasn’t actually capable of speaking to Charlie in public without a woman on his arm. No one could say he wasn’t possessive.

“Oh, ah yeah,” Charlie continued, reveling in Ben’s misery against his better judgement. “So I don’t need a set up. I’m taken.”

“I must meet this boyfriend of yours,” Ben declared.

“He’s shy,” Charlie decided, trying to keep the lie going.

“I still want to meet him,” Ben counted. “We could double date.”

Charlie might be idiot enough to make up a pretend boyfriend but he didn’t hate himself enough to agree to a double date with Ben.

“Uh no thanks,” Charlie replied. “We just keep to ourselves.”

“Well even so, I’m happy for you,” Ben said, once again all sweetness, but Charlie could hear the underlying annoyance. He knew Ben didn’t mean a word he said.

Charlie smiled awkwardly, hoping they’d leave, but instead they just stood there in his office… not leaving.

“Umm… I have a lot of work to do,” Charlie tried to drop a hint. He hadn’t realized how much better it had been when the door had been closed.

“Right, well then,” Ben said quickly. “We will just have to meet this new man of yours at the staff party on Saturday then.”

Before Charlie could say no, indeed before he could even open his mouth to speak, Ben turned and left, giving Charlie not the slightest chance to rebuke his statement.

Once the door was shut, Charlie locked it behind them and thanked his stars that his door both had a lock and didn’t have a window.

How the hell had he gotten into such a ridiculous situation? After all, he was a smart guy. Law degree, passed the bar, practicing lawyer and all that; yet somehow this stupid man had the power to turn him into an idiot.

Lifting his head, Charlie banged it once on the desk. Then again. It was satisfying, but he didn’t feel any better.

Despite everything that happened, Charlie did at least take comfort in the fact that he was okay. Ben was turning out to be a worse ex than he’d been a secret snog, which Charlie supposed he should have guessed given the secret part. Even so, Charlie didn’t feel like he had to book an appointment with Geoff or focus really hard to eat anything later. He was okay.

He was, however, pissed, and feeling like an idiot, but that was normal. Charlie slumped down into his chair and just focused on some deep breaths for a while. Then he decided his work could wait and opened up solitaire on his computer. Charlie loved this game. It was simple enough to calm him without being so boring as to prove not enough of a distraction.

Charlie decided to give himself permission to play solitaire until this ridiculous day came to an end, or in other words, five o’clock.

The last few hours of the day passed uneventfully and Charlie was just about to exit his game when there was a knock at the door. Dreading seeing Ben again, Charlie didn’t look up right away.

“Who is it?” he called, his voice dull.

“That depends,” the voice replied. “Who exactly are you trying to avoid?”

Smiling with relief, Charlie got up to let his friend Isaac into the room. Isaac worked at the publishing house across the street from Charlie’s office. They sometimes meet up for lunch and usually take the skytrain to and from work together.

“Who died?” Isaac asked upon seeing the look on Charlie’s face.

“Oh just my self-respect,” Charlie replied.

“Ouch,” Isaac said sympathetically. Then he sat down in the seat usually taken by clients, and asked Charlie what was going on. Charlie recounted the entire ordeal with Ben for his friend. Isaac was the only one he’d ever told about meeting up with Ben in the first place so it made sense to update him on the new developments.

When he was done telling the story, Charlie laid his head on the desk again with a thud.

“You are going to get brain damage if you keep that up,” Isaac told him.

“Nah,” Charlie said. “Just a bruise I can’t explain.”

“The forehead is not a typical place for a hickey so I’m told,” Isaac chuckled. “Or do fictional boyfriends do it differently?”

“This isn’t funny,” Charlie protested.

“Oh, come on,” Isaac sighed. “You broke it off, what, like a week ago?”

“Monday,” Charlie muttered. “And I don’t think it counts as a break up when you were technically never together to begin with. I couldn’t tell anyone but you about it.”

“If only Ben wasn’t such a good paralegal, then maybe you could get him fired.”

“Urg!” Charlie groaned.

“Anyway, what was I going to say?” Isaac started up again. “Oh right. It’s been less than a week since you ended whatever that was, so it’s not like Ben will be expecting you to be in a serious relationship. All you have to do is get a date for the office party. Easy.”

“Not easy,” Charlie sighed. “Ben either wants to be able to accuse me of cheating on him or he is just jealous and wants to emotionally abuse any guy I show up with. Either way it’s a bad idea.”

“You know, if you could just not care what Ben said then you wouldn’t care enough to make up pretend boyfriends when he tries to mess with you,” Isaac commented.

“See I know you’re right but somehow it doesn’t seem to matter,” Charlie lamented. “He still gets under my skin.”

“Like a leech,” Isaac laughed.

“He certainly leaches all the happiness out of work these days,” Charlie sighed. “Never fool around at work.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” Isaac laughed. Charlie laughed too. Isaac wasn’t the type to fool around generally, let alone at work and they both knew it.

“You know maybe it isn’t a date you need,” Isaac suggested. “Maybe you just need a friend to stand beside you and pretend with you for a couple hours and put up with Ben’s rudeness.”

“Ben knows all my friends.”

“Well then you need a new friend,” Isaac suggested.

“You think I can make a new friend by Saturday,” Charlie laughed.

“It’s possible,” Isaac replied.

“I haven’t made a new friend since high school.”

“Well if you think it might be easier you could just go to a bar and try and get a date instead?”

“But I told Ben I had a boyfriend though,” Charlie whined, determined to be miserable. “Not simply a date.”

“How would he know the difference?”

“He’ll ask the guy, and my date will explain that this weirdo asked him out on a first date to a work function, and then Ben will know I lied and he will just love that way too much,” Charlie complained.

“Okay, so a first date won’t work then,” Isaac corrected. “The friend option might be better.”

“Ah yes, very helpful,” Charlie said sarcastically. “Should I try ordering one online? Or do you think Amazon has a mail order service for new friends willing to pretend to date me for an evening so my ex can harass them. Should I try eBay?”

For this he received a rather elegant eye roll. “Go out, scope some rooms. Use that excellent gaydar of yours, find someone, then go up and ask if they’d like to spend an evening on your arm telling small white lies in exchange for free food and a great story to tell.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Charlie sighed. “But who’d want that?”

“Lots of people,” Isaac shrugged.

“You know sometimes I wish I could be happy just being alone,” Charlie said, with a sigh. “It sounds peaceful.”

“Sometimes it is,” Isaac replied.

“And other times?” Charlie asked.

“Other times I wonder what it would be like to actually know what all the fuss is about,” Isaac answered.

“In my experience it either really sucks or is really great,” Charlie explained. “Depending on the other person.”

“Seems like a lot of power over your life to give to another person if you ask me,” Isaac said.

“I suppose that’s true,” Charlie said. “I hadn’t really thought about it before.”

It was times like these when Charlie was beyond grateful for his friendship with Isaac. Charlie loved all his friends, but it was always Isaac who knew exactly what Charlie needed to hear when he needed to hear it.

“I expect an update on this situation as it unfolds,” Isaac said with a smile. “Just remember that even if you have to go to the staff party on Saturday alone the world won’t end.”

“It feels like it might,” Charlie complained.

“There, there,” Isaac said, patting Charlie’s arm consolingly but the huge smile on his face ruined the whole effect.

“You have two whole days to figure this out,” he continued. “The rest of today, all of tomorrow, and most of Saturday. Cheer up.” Charlie plastered a fake smile on his face as he looked back at his long time friend.

“Oh yeah, lots of time then,” Charlie replied sarcastically.

“I give up,” Isaac laughed. “You ready to leave yet?”

Charlie sighed. “Yeah, I talked your ear off, sorry,” he said.

“It’s all good,” Isaac smiled. “I do like to be in on the office gossip. Makes for an interesting story and you know how much I love stories.”

“I do,” Charlie chuckled lightly. Before they left, Charlie got up and gave his friend a huge hug.

“Thanks,” Charlie said.

“That’s what friends are for,” Isaac replied. “But we really gotta get going now or we are going to miss the next skytrain.”

Charlie had long believed that everyone should have a friend like Isaac. Loyal, kind and understanding, Charlie always appreciated his presence in his life.

When it came to friends as close as family, Charlie Spring had gotten lucky, but when it came to love, he seemed to always end up losing.

Chapter Text

Nick Nelson had never been any good at making friends. It had taken him far too long back in high school to realize all his friends sucked. After his first year at uni he’d managed to get on good terms with some of the guys on his rugby team, but it wasn’t like they really talked about anything that mattered.

When Nick really needed to talk about something important he usually told his mom, not that he admitted that to his teammates or anything. Nick wasn’t even really sure if they’d want to keep in touch after graduation.

As far as romance went, Nick had a bit more luck in that department. Getting a date was never the issue. Nick got asked out a lot, by men and women, but mostly women. Almost everyone Nick met assumed he was straight the moment they saw him. The amount of times he’d had to say ‘I’m bi, actually’ since coming out of the closet was mind blowing.

Nick had been on many dates with many attractive people. The problem was that he wasn’t sure he really liked any of them enough to keep dating them, but he had at least learned that he had a type. Nick was pretty sure he was some kind of walking cliche: a bisexual, ladish rugby player who was mostly into skinny, dark haired nerds with blue eyes. Like come on. He was basically the plot to a bad movie.

Anyway, those friends of his, who never really seemed to know him all that well, had dragged him out to this pub tonight. Nick liked pubs and the whole team was going so it seemed obvious that he’d come along too. It was fun hanging out, laughing and joking with his mates. It just wasn’t more than that.

Someone shouted something Nick didn’t hear and suddenly everyone was raising their glasses up in the air. Nick followed only a few seconds behind. He really liked playing rugby, and he liked the culture around the sport for the most part. It was just sometimes isolating being the only not-straight person on his team.

Just then Nick heard the door chime and looked to see who was here. He hadn’t really thought about it, but once he saw the new guys’s dark curly hair and a lean frame Nick was glad he’d looked up. Nick watched as the man turned to look around the room, taking in the large group of very obvious rugby players at Nick’s table.

The lean guy was wearing a warm jacket with a black scarf and a beanie which he took off before sitting down at the bar. Nick watched as his dark curls bounced free from the hat. He was probably staring but the new guy wasn’t looking so Nick didn’t see the harm. The man was worth staring at.

To Nick’s surprise the lean guy banged his head against the table in a frustrated sort of way. Then he did it again. Nick couldn’t resist his curiosity.

Nick told the team member next to him, Otis, that he’d be right back, got up and went to stand beside the bar near the new guy.

“Hi,” Nick said.

The man jumped and then turned to look at him. Nick couldn’t help but smile. His eyes were a deep blue colour and he was even more stunning up close. Yep, Nick definitely had a type.

“Um hi,” he said.

“Is there a reason you keep banging your head against the table?” Nick asked.

“Obviously there is.”

“You’ve been at it a while,” Nick added.

“Also true.”

“Do you always answer questions so indirectly?” Nick laughed.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m Charlie.”

“Nick.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Nick,” Charlie said. Then he turned and laid his head on the table again.

“Oh I see how it is,” Nick said. “You don’t want me to know why you are trying to dent your forehead in.”

“If you really want to know, I have a very stupid problem and it’s basically all my fault,” Charlie explained.

“If that’s a line, it’s not one I’m familiar with,” Nick replied with a laugh.

“Oh it wasn’t! Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was hitting on you or anything,” Charlie babbled nervously. Well at least that satisfied some of Nick’s curiosity.

Just then Nick heard one of his teammates call to him across the pub. Might have been Sai, but he couldn’t be sure and at the moment Nick didn’t care. He ignored it, keeping his eyes fixed on Charlie’s face.

“I think your friends are wondering why you are talking to me,” Charlie said.

“Let them wonder,” Nick replied, taking a seat beside Charlie at the bar.

“O-kay,” Charlie said very slowly as if confused.

“You still haven’t told me what your stupid problem is?” Nick said.

“Umm well it’s kinda ridiculous when I say it out loud,” Charlie admitted.

“More ridiculous than trying to dent your head in?”

“Maybe.”

Nick laughed. “Okay now I have to know!”

Charlie sighed and then spoke in a small voice. “I well- I kinda have this horrible ex, if you could even call him that anyway. I unfortunately work with this guy, and he is so deep in the closet that he might as well be living in Narnia. So long story short I broke things off. But no one knew about us in the first place so it’s beyond awkward. It got worse when he decided to pretend to be the supportive straight friend at work and set me up with his new girlfriend’s gay friend.”

“Yikes,” Nick said. And he thought his romantic drama was bad. This was some next level stuff.

“Anyway, in a moment of true idiocy on my part, I told him I had a boyfriend to take to a work party that starts in-” Charlie checked the time and added, “three hours.”

“That is a rather ridiculous problem,” Nick agreed with a smile. “It sounds like you need a pretend date.”

Charlie laughed humorlessly. “It’s too late for that now. I was thinking of just pretending I got food poisoning or something.”

“It isn’t too late,” Nick replied. “You said you still have three hours, right?”

“Oh yeah three whole hours,” Charlie replied sarcastically. “Plenty of time to find someone who doesn’t mind coming to a work event with me so that my sort of an ex can interrogate them the whole time.”

“Is this event catered?” Nick asked, smiling.

“Um yeah,” Charlie said, confused.

“Sounds like it might be fun,” Nick replied.

“Wait, are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Charlie sounded stunned.

“Maybe,” Nick said, grinning. He was having all together too much fun flirting with this guy, though he wasn’t entirely sure if Charlie had picked up on it yet. Like everyone else Nick ever met, Charlie had probably assumed he was straight.

“What kind of person agrees to help someone they’ve known for oh, three minutes, with something so inconvenient and ridiculous?”

“I have been meaning to get out more,” Nick explained, feeling cheeky. Admitting that he just wanted an excuse to spend more time with Charlie felt like too much, especially if Charlie wasn’t yet aware that Nick was trying to flirt with him.

“And this is your idea of getting out more, is it?”

Nick shrugged. “What do you do for work?”

“I’m a lawyer,” Charlie answered.

“Ohh fancy,” Nick smiled. “Well I am a uni student with nothing better to do on a Saturday night who loves free food.”

“You’re really okay with doing this?” Charlie asked, sincerely.

“Yep,” Nick said. “Next time I need free legal advice you can do me a favour.”

“Deal!” Charlie agreed enthusiastically, looking relieved.

Nick just stared at Charlie for a moment. He had a strong chin and his eyes weren’t just simply blue, there was also a kindness to them. Nick found himself quite enchanted. He wanted to go to this party with Charlie, no matter how ridiculous the reason.

“Um the entire office will be there,” Charlie said, looking anywhere but directly at Nick while he spoke. Nick thought he saw him blushing and couldn’t hold back his grin. Maybe he had noticed the flirting. “Something about celebrating years of excellent lawyering or something. Do you have a suit? It’s a formal dress party.”

“I do in fact own a suit,” Nick informed him.

“Do you want to meet at the party then?” Charlie asked. “Or I’m happy to pick you up. Whichever would make you more comfortable is fine by me. I still can’t quite believe you are willing to do this.”

“Oh yes, such a chore,” Nick laughed. “Free food and good company.”

“I’m not the best judge on if the food will be any good,” Charlie replied. “And I can really only vouch for one of my coworkers being good company.”

It was quite obvious that Charlie had not included his own company in his statement. Nick was quite intrigued. Charlie was either very humble or slightly clueless but either way it suited him somehow.

“Why don’t we meet there,” Nick said, feeling like he should be the decisive one in this situation. “Where is it exactly?”

“The Ramada hotel.”

“Okay,” Nick said. “And you said three hours, right?”

“Yep,” Charlie said.

“Great,” Nick smiled. “So I’ll see you then.”

“Um yeah okay, that would be great,” Charlie replied.

“Well if I am expected to look respectable in three hours then I should probably get going,” Nick said.

“Oh yes, me too!” Charlie said standing up at once and turning towards the door. Then he stopped and turned back. “Thanks Nick.”

Nick wasn’t sure what to say back and before he got a chance, Charlie had turned and headed out the door. Nick listened as the door chime went off again before turning to head back to his table.

He sat down beside Otis again and his friend turned to talk to him.

“What was all that about?” Otis asked.

“I think I have a date tonight,” Nick replied.

“Just like that?” Otis asked.

“Yeah,” Nick replied.

His friend groaned. “That is so unfair. Sometimes I wish I could date men too. They seem so much easier to land.”

Nick laughed. “Really depends on the person,” Nick replied. “Also I’m gonna take off.”

“We just got here,” Otis reminded him.

“Yeah but my date’s in three hours,” Nick said. “And I have to iron my suit.”

“Your life is so strange,” Otis informed him.

“Tell me about it,” Nick replied. “Anyway I’ll see you in practice on Monday. Can you make my excuses to the team?”

“Yeah no problem,” Otis sighed. “Go have fun on your date.”

“I said I think I might have a date,” Nick replied. “Either that or I’m doing someone a favour. I’ll find out when I get there.”

“Once again I feel like I need to mention that your life is a mystery to me, Nelson,” Otis laughed. “What kind of answer is that?”

“If you are so curious I can give you an update on Monday,” Nick laughed before getting up from the table and heading to the door.

Making his way to his car, Nick got in and started the engine. He knew the drive well so it was easy to let his mind wander back to Charlie’s beautiful curly dark hair while he drove. Nick rather hoped he’d get the chance to run his fingers through it tonight.

When he arrived home, Nick got his suit out of storage and laid it on the bed, inspecting it for wrinkles. It wasn’t as bad as he feared, which was good since Nick had never managed to develop great skill with an iron. He was at least able to get it looking a bit better before jumping into the shower.

Nick did his hair and put on his suit before looking up the address of the hotel on his phone. It was a bit farther away than he’d anticipated. There was no time left to worry that he’d picked the wrong shirt. Nick grabbed his keys and left out his front door feeling excited about what the night might bring.

Chapter Text

Charlie was dressed in a mostly charcoal black suit. His bowtie matched the black of his jacket and he had on a light purple shirt with silver threaded embellishments.

Sitting in the lobby of the Ramada hotel, waiting for Nick to show up, Charlie couldn’t help but wonder again why Nick had agreed to this. Was he really that interested in the food? That was a concept Charlie definitely didn’t understand but he supposed it was possible.

Just then the doors to the hotel opened and revealed Nick in a light grey suit. His shirt was a very pale pink and his tie light blue. His suit jacket was the same light grey as his suit’s trousers. Charlie had noticed how gorgeous Nick was when they’d first met, but dressed up like this it was even more overwhelming. The sight took Charlie’s breath away.

“I like your suit,” Charlie told him with a smile. “You look, um, good.”

“Thanks,” Nick smiled. Then he looked Charlie up and down and added, “Yours looks good too.”

When he’d first met Nick, Charlie had assumed Nick was straight, but the more they’d talked the more Charlie felt like he’d been mistaken. Nick was definitely more than he appeared. Even if Charlie discounted agreeing to come to this party with him as a friendly favour, there was still something there in the way he looked at Charlie.

Nick held out an arm to him. Such a slight thing, but still Charlie felt himself blush slightly. He had to keep it together. This was just ‘the guy he met at a pub doing him a favour’ after all. He couldn’t get his hopes up here, no matter how beautiful this man was.

Still Charlie couldn’t not be aware of Nick’s touch as he intertwined their arms. He kept his eyes forward as they walked together through the main doors and into the large formal ballroom.

It was the same as last year. The ceiling was dark wooden beams converging to meet in the center, where an extravagant chandelier floated like a glittery crystalline firework. Below the chandelier was a spacious hardwood floor, presumably for dancing, but currently devoid of dancers. Instead, all the lawyers were standing around drinking out of tiny delicate flutes. Around the edges of the room were small round tables adorned with towering glass vases and lush white rose centerpieces. The catering staff could be seen among the guests, holding silver trays of more wine flutes and what looked to be finger food.

“Wow,” Nick whispered.

“If you think this is impressive, you should have seen last year’s party,” Charlie replied.

“I doubt it could have topped this,” Nick said in awe.

“Trust me it did,” Charlie countered. “The chocolate fountains alone were something spectacular.”

“You lawyers sure know how to live, don’t you,” Nick stated, smiling with a slight shake of his head.

They walked past a woman carrying a food tray, and Nick took three of whatever was there, eating them all quite quickly. “And you sure know how to eat too!” he exclaimed. “These are delicious.”

Charlie was glad Nick looked to be having a good time. He’d hate to have dragged the poor guy here just to make him miserable.

With Charlie watching Nick, and Nick turning his head every which way to try and take in the whole room at once, neither of them noticed Ben approaching them.

“Charlie!” Ben’s voice made Charlie turn. There stood Ben, with Linda on his arm.

They’d been here all of five minutes and already Ben was making his move. Unbelievable. Had he had his eyes glued to the door waiting to pounce?

“You actually came! And even more surprising you brought your-” Ben broke off mid sentence as if expecting someone to finish it for him.

“Nick,” Nick said.

Charlie watched as Ben surveyed Nick. If he hadn’t known any better, Charlie would have guessed Ben was checking Nick out, but really Charlie knew that Ben was sizing him up.

Charlie’s jaw clenched as he held his tongue. Why did Ben have to be like this? The jealousy was so uncalled for. Ben hadn’t even been willing to speak to Charlie in front of anyone at work while they’d been secretly meeting up. Not even a hello or good day. Ben had no right to be jealous.

“Nice work, Charlie,” Linda said grinning as she also eyed-up Nick like a piece of meat. In her case though, Charlie knew she was only checking him out.

“Um, thanks?” Nick said, clearly not interested in her praise.

Linda sighed. “Such a waste. Why are all the best looking guys gay?”

“I’m bi, actually,” Nick replied. Charlie tried not to smile. Well that explained a few things.

Ben laughed at this. “Oh so you just don’t like Linda for her personality then.”

“She isn’t my type,” Nick explained with a shrug. “Besides, isn’t she with you?” The way Nick spoke the last few words implied heavily that he knew exactly why Ben didn’t care about Linda. Ben hated this. He ground his teeth together and glared at Nick hatefully.

Leaning in closer so Linda couldn’t overhear, Ben whispered to Charlie. “Don’t pretend you aren’t just as bad as me.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Charlie muttered back.

“You moved on quickly. I know there was overlap.”

Ah, so Ben had decided to go with the cheating on him angle, even though they were never actually in a relationship. Charlie held back a frustrated sigh. Ben’s voice was full of anger and Charlie just couldn’t match it. His anger was gone. He felt sorry for Ben, but not anything else anymore. This guy so badly needed a therapist, it was starting to be everyone else’s problem.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Nick asked. Charlie turned to look at his date for the evening and smiled.

“Ah yeah,” Charlie said, confidently.

“Great cause I think I see more food over there,” Nick grinned back. “Come on.” Nick pulled on Charlie’s arm in the opposite direction from Ben and Linda, and Charlie gratefully let himself be led.

After a few moments they were far enough away that they couldn’t see Ben or Linda anymore. Charlie let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Thank you,” Charlie told Nick with as much genuine emotion as he could manage.

“No problem,” Nick smiled. “After all, that is why I’m here, isn’t it? What did he mean about that overlapping thing anyway?”

“Oh you heard that?” Charlie replied. Nick just nodded. “He’s just implying I cheated on him while we were not in an exclusive relationship.”

“Ah yes, makes perfect sense,” Nick replied sarcastically, with a light chuckle.

“The day Ben makes sense is the day hell freezes over,” Charlie laughed along with him.

“I really did want to find more food but these waiters are elusive. Isn’t there like a buffet table or something?”

“Nope, they said it was too informal to have a buffet,” Charlie replied. “Thus we are reduced to snacking.”

“In that case we shall just have to stand near the entrance to the kitchens and catch the trays as they are coming out,” Nick said.

“You know that’s actually a really good idea,” Charlie agreed. He took Nick’s hand and dragged him off to station themselves like snack sentries at the entryway.

Escaping most of the other party guests, they monopolized the food as it arrived. Nick ate twice as much as Charlie.

“Oh, these are good too!” Nick exclaimed as he stuffed a few of whatever was on the tray into his mouth.

“I take it you don’t attend many catered events,” Charlie laughed easily at Nick’s excitement.

“First one,” Nick mumbled through his mouth full of food.

Charlie chuckled and had a few himself. He found finger food for dinner an exhausting way to eat, stretching out an already tedious task until it took an unnecessary long time. Somehow though, with Nick here, it wasn’t quite so bad as usual. Nick was a great distraction and Charlie could eat more easily when he focused on Nick’s easy enthusiasm.

Just then Charlie spotted someone on the other side of the ball room that he actually liked, and decided that as long as he was going to show Nick off tonight, he might as well do it right.

“Full yet?” Charlie asked.

“I mean I’m less hungry,” Nick replied. “Eating like this is dangerous. I could just keep going. Every bite is so small.”

“Well do you want a break then?” Charlie asked. “I could introduce you to some of my coworkers who aren’t huge jerks?”

“Charlie, are you offering to show me off?” Nick asked. Charlie couldn’t help but hope he hadn’t imagined the flirting note in his tone.

“Maybe,” Charlie said grinning. Nick smiled back and put his arm through Charlie’s again as if saying ‘lead the way.’

Charlie walked arm in arm with Nick as they headed towards the familiar back of a head Charlie would have known anywhere.

“Tara!” Charlie called out to her. She turned and smiled when she saw him.

“Charlie,” she said. “And-” She stopped looking stunned as she gazed at Nick. At first he thought she was just surprised he’d brought someone but then Charlie realized it was more than that. They knew each other.

“Oh my god,” Nick said slowly. “Tara. It’s been what-”

“Fifteen years at least,” Tara said.

“I’m missing something here?” Charlie said, confused that he hadn’t needed to introduce them.

“Sorry to be the one to tell you this but your date was my first kiss back in primary school,” Tara laughed.

Nick was still looking a little stunned, but not in a bad way. “Wow so you became a lawyer, huh?”

“Yep,” Tara sighed. “And I got married too.”

“Congratulations!” Nick said, genuinely.

“Darcy just doesn’t like to come to these things,” Tara continued. “No one will use their pronouns correctly here.”

“How come?” Nick asked.

Tara shrugged. “Some of them are just being horrible but others I think genuinely can’t wrap their head around the non-binary thing. Either way, I’m on my own for work stuff, that is unless Charlie keeps me company.”

“I’m afraid Charlie is mine for the evening,” Nick said very seriously. “But you are welcome to keep us both company if you like.”

“Sure for a bit,” Tara said. “Unfortunately I still have some networking to do tonight.”

“Ah right yes,” Charlie sighed. “I probably should do that too. I just kinda hate that part of the job.”

“I know you do,” Tara laughed. Then she turned to his date and asked, “Have you been living in Vancouver long, Nick?”

“Moved here for uni,” Nick explained. “Then I kinda took a break for a while and now I’m about to graduate way later than anyone else I know.” He laughed humorlessly.

“Nothing wrong with that. Everyone does life at their own pace,” Tara smiled. “So tell me how did you two meet?”

Charlie wasn’t sure how to answer this given the entirely strange situation. He was still deciding what to say when Nick spoke.

“My teammates were all at a pub after practice. We play rugby. Anyway I saw this guy-” he gestured to Charlie “-repeatedly banging his head against the counter. What can I say, curiosity got the better of me.”

“Oh my,” Tara laughed.

“Is that why you walked over to talk to me?” Charlie asked. “Curiosity?”

“That’s partly why,” Nick admitted, but he didn’t elaborate. Charlie found he really wanted to know the rest of his answer, but sensed that Nick wasn’t about to share.

“What did Ben think of you bringing Nick?” Tara asked.

Charlie did a double take, blinking at his friend. “Oh please,” Tara added. “Like it wasn’t completely obvious Ben’s obsessed with you. I was in the closet once myself. I know the signs.”

“Do you think anyone else knows?” Charlie asked. No matter how things had been between them, Charlie wouldn’t wish being forcibly outed on anyone, not even Ben.

“No,” Tara replied. “I think you and I are better at noticing this kinda stuff.” She smiled kindly and Charlie knew it was fine. Then Tara turned back to Nick and he answered her question.

“Ben was a rather entertaining combination of pissed and jealous,” Nick explained with a grin on his face.

“I bet that was fun to watch,” Tara said with a cheeky smile.

“Most definitely,” Nick agreed.

Just then Charlie caught sight of the one person he wanted to see least in the world. “Speaking of,” Charlie said, gesturing behind Tara at Ben walking towards them, once again with Linda on his arm.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Tara said. “Nice to see you Charlie. And Nick… the world is smaller than we thought, huh?”

“I believe it is yes,” Nick smiled back at her and then Tara turned and walked off into a crowd of people.

Just in time, because mere seconds later Ben joined them.

“Charlie, there you are,” Ben said as he got closer. “I was hoping to run into you again tonight.”

Charlie didn’t reply. He just waited, hoping for a way out of this situation.

“Don’t look at me like that. We came to talk to Nick,” Ben added.

“Why?” Charlie asked suspiciously.

“Linda here wants to ask you something,” Ben said.

Everyone turned to Linda. “Yes, well,” she began. “You see, I’ve always wanted to try something. A three way with me and two guys and Ben and I were wondering since Nick’s bi, if he’d be interested in being the other guy.”

“Oh my god what?” Nick said, clearly stunned. Charlie couldn’t help turning to try and decipher Nick’s face. He couldn’t imagine a worse scenario than Nick going off with Ben right now.

“Well, since you two can’t be exclusive,” Ben stated as if he knew everything.

Ben was looking at Nick who still looked too stunned to speak. For a few seconds no one spoke and then Nick broke the silence.

“Wait, so that was a serious question then? Not a joke. Yikes, okay in that case that’s a no, never going to happen while the earth's still spinning, absolutely not to your question.”

Ben didn’t look surprised, but Charlie could see a hint of disappointment in Ben’s expression. Linda didn’t even try to hide her disappointment. She sighed deeply as if Nick had denied her something profound. Charlie really didn’t like Linda.

While Linda was distracted with her dramatic overreaction, Ben leaned in closer so only Charlie and Nick could hear him.

“I didn’t quite believe it, you know. I mean you’d said it, but I figured you were making it up to avoid me. Then you showed up with him and it got me thinking.” He paused and all Charlie’s muscles tightened. “Maybe he proves nothing. Maybe you just picked a guy up at a pub. I mean it’s an easy enough thing to do…”

Charlie couldn’t reply. He didn’t even know if he was too mad to speak, or too afraid to speak. He just knew his throat wouldn’t make a sound.

“We did meet in a pub,” Nick said calmly. “But I really don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“It is actually,” Ben growled back in barely more than a whisper. “Because Charlie was mine until you stole him from me.”

“I do believe that he broke things off with you,” Nick answered, matching Ben’s volume so Linda couldn’t hear them. “And even if that wasn’t the case, he was never yours. You can’t own a person. Last I checked slavery was illegal.”

If looks could kill, the way Ben was glaring at Nick now would have made Charlie worried for Nick’s life.

“But he isn’t yours either,” Ben snapped. “Because this is just a pretend date Charlie cooked up to make me jealous.”

“And it’s working isn’t it?” Nick smirked. Charlie could hardly believe how amazing it was to watch Nick stand up to Ben.

To Charlie’s utter astonishment, he suddenly felt Nick’s arm wrap around him, over his shoulders. Nick’s arms were thick and solid. They felt good against Charlie’s shoulder. Charlie reached up with his opposite hand and held the hand Nick had draped over his shoulder. He had a feeling he knew what Nick was doing and he wanted to help make it look good.

Nick and Ben were staring each other down. Neither seemed to want to back off. Then Nick upped the stakes. He turned away from Ben to look at Charlie. As if hypnotized, Charlie turned his head to look back at Nick. Their eyes met.

For a split second Charlie’s mind was blank and then he understood perfectly what Nick was about to do. Even so, Nick didn’t move very quickly. It was as if he wanted Charlie to have time to refuse, but refusing Nick was the last thing Charlie wanted to do.

Instead Charlie closed his eyes. Nick kissed him soft and sweetly. Both their mouths stayed closed even if their lips moved together. It was such a polite kiss. Kind and full of understanding.

Speaking of eyes, Charlie’s were still closed. He opened them and saw Nick looking at him. Charlie smiled and he was rewarded with Nick’s answering smile. For a moment Charlie forgot where they were. He was entirely captivated by the warmth of Nick’s gaze.

“I know you two are just pretending,” Ben’s angry hateful voice broke their moment. “And I’m gonna prove it.”

With that Ben grabbed Linda’s hand forcefully and dragged her behind him as he stormed off looking more angry than Charlie had ever seen him.

Chapter Text

“Oh he’s real mad now,” Nick said, grinning.

“I’ve actually never seen him so pissed before,” Charlie said, trying and failing not to snigger. “It’s amazing. You’re amazing. If the drinks weren’t already free the next round would be on me!”

“Thanks,” Nick said awkwardly as a slight pink blush appeared across his face. “Sorry, I didn’t really ask first or anything.”

“It’s okay,” Charlie smiled at him. “And you did kinda ask, just not with words.”

“I’m glad you got that,” Nick replied.

There was silence for a moment. Nick filled it by grabbing some food off a nearby tray and shoving it all into his mouth. Charlie chuckled lightly.

Charlie turned his head pretending to notice the decor -- it was a black and silver theme, the tables either covered in shimmering silver cloth, or satin black depending on their placement in the room -- but he didn’t really care about the decorations. Charlie was just trying not to look at Nick for a moment. He had been pleasantly surprised all evening by how much he was enjoying himself in Nick’s company. There was just something calming about the man’s presence.

“What are you studying at uni?” Charlie asked in the hopes of making conversation.

“I am about to graduate with a BA in sports science, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten career wise,” Nick replied when his speech was no longer marred by the consumption of hors d'oeuvres. “And I do believe it is my turn to ask the questions.”

“What?” Charlie laughed.

“So far this evening you’ve heard pretty much everything about me and I do believe that it’s your turn now.”

“How have I learned everything about you?” Charlie scoffed.

“Well for starters you know who my first kiss was,” Nick replied. “That was quite a surprise. I never thought I’d see Tara again.”

“That was wild,” Charlie chuckled. “She and her partner were friends with Elle even before Tara worked here. Oh, Elle is my best friend’s wife, by the way. We all grew up together. Childhood friend group kinda thing.”

“See? Already that’s something I didn’t know before,” Nick reminded him. “Tell me more.”

“Oh, I promise I’m not that interesting," Charlie shrugged.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Nick smiled. Charlie waved a dismissive hand, but Nick persisted. “I thought lawyers were all stuffy rich shirts, but you strike me as something else entirely. Did you always want to be a lawyer?”

“I mean I wanted to make a difference in the world,” Charlie shrugged. “This just seemed like one way of doing that, but it turns out that there isn’t a lot of money in environmental law.”

“Why choose environmental law then?” Nick asked. “If, as you said, there wasn’t a lot of money in it.”

“I mean I could make a ton of money if I wanted to help rich old men divorce their wives without losing a dime,” Charlie shrugged. “But I’d rather be the one fighting against the rich old men when they are caught dumping chemical waste in the ocean.”

“I supposed I’d have to agree with you on that one,” Nick said. “Not everything is worth the money.”

“So is that it now?” Charlie asked. “Are you satisfied?”

“Not even a little,” Nick replied with a smirk that made Charlie feel flirtied with. Like maybe Nick wasn’t talking about the ‘friend type get to know you’ questions anymore, but Charlie was probably overthinking it.

“What else do you want to know?” Charlie asked, choosing to not react to whatever else was going on right now.

“So you’ve got a best friend you’ve known since childhood, but are you close with any of your family?” Nick asked.

“My big sister is the best,” Charlie answered. “I don’t see her as much since we all grew up and moved out but we make sure to stay in touch no matter what.”

“That sounds nice,” Nick replied. “My brother is a jerk. We never really got on.”

“That sucks. Family can be like that though,” Charlie said. “My parents mean well but mom and I tend to clash. It’s been easier since I’ve been an adult but those teenage years were a bit rough.”

“Ah yes, well, no one ever said being a teenager was easy,” Nick agreed. “My parents divorced when I was really young. My mom’s the best, but dad never shows up when he says he will.”

“That must be hard,” Charlie tried to empathize.

“It was, until one day I realized that if he didn’t care neither should I,” Nick shrugged. “And everything got better after that. My mom was enough of a parent to make up for him three times over so I was lucky.”

They lapsed into silence again and Charlie wasn’t sure if this meant Nick was out of questions. It was obvious that Nick wanted to get to know him, Charlie just couldn’t figure out why.

“Was there anyone else in this childhood friend group of yours?” Nick asked. “Apart from your best friend and his wife.”

“Just Isaac,” Charlie continued. “Now he’s got a job just across the street from me and we tend to commute to work together most of the time.”

“What’s he like?” Nick inquired.

“Always got a book in his hand,” Charlie chuckled. “And kind. That is when he isn’t mocking me.”

“Sounds like a good friend to me,” Nick smiled at him, squeezing his arm gently. “I’ve never been any good at making friends myself.”

“I find that very hard to believe!” Charlie laughed. Nick was basically the nicest person Charlie had ever met. Surely, someone this great would have a boat load of friends.

“It’s true!” Nick chuckled. “It’s like people find out I’m bisexual and just want to take me for a spin like a freaking ferris wheel. That wasn’t the first three-way I’ve ever turned down.”

“Oh wow I feel so sorry for you,” Charlie mocked him.

“Shut up,” Nick shot back. “It’s like an actual problem.”

“It must be such a burden to be so attractive that everyone wants you.”

“Everyone except straight guys,” Nick corrected. “Which means basically all my friends are straight guys so I end up spending way too much time in pubs listening to them saying inappropriate things about women.”

“Ah okay fair that would be annoying,” Charlie admitted. “I will confess though that I can’t feel too bad for you since, as you know, I was reduced to snogging a closeted coworker for lack of options.”

“Now that I do not understand,” Nick replied. “You should have your pick of guys.”

Charlie couldn’t hold back a self-depricating laugh at Nick’s response. “As if,” he said.

“It’s true!” Nick protested. “You’re adorable.”

“Oh hush,” Charlie groaned. “I’m a professional and well established lawyer. I am not adorable.”

“Why can’t you be both?” Nick asked.

“Because they are like oil and water,” Charlie explained. “Cute and professional don’t mix.”

“You just have to add an emulsifier then,” Nick said.

“A what?” Charlie asked.

“An emulsifier, like dish soap. It makes the oil and water temporarily able to mix together,” Nick explained then he caught the look on Charlie’s face. “Hey don’t look at me like that. Sporty people are allowed to be smart too.”

“I never said they weren’t!” Charlie replied. “I just wasn’t expecting you to know such an obscure chemistry fact off the top of your head.”

“Yeah well, sure showed you,” Nick mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

“Do you want to go camp out by the kitchen doors again?” Charlie asked after a moment.

“Ah yes!” Nick agreed enthusiastically.

They spent an enjoyable hour hovering around the kitchen doors sampling food trays as each one came out. Charlie had never had so much fun before eating in such a tedious way. When Nick was finally too full to eat anymore, they tried to walk around and talk for a while but Nick complained about the stitch in his side.

“You shouldn’t have eaten so much then,” Charlie chuckled at him.

“But it was so good,” Nick whined.

Before long they were seated in the very back corner of the room, away from basically all the other guests. They talked easily; Nick asked more ‘getting to know you’ questions that Charlie did his best to answer.

“You play the drums too!” Nick exclaimed when Charlie answered his questions about hobbies.

“Not well,” Charlie countered. “And I haven’t actually performed in front of people since high school.”

“Is there anything you aren’t good at?” Nick asked.

“I think your very presence here proves that I am shit at keeping myself out of stupid social situations,” Charlie admitted.

“Fair,” Nick laughed. “Even so I am impressed. I don’t really have any hobbies.”

“None at all?” Charlie asked.

“See now that’s judging,” Nick laughed.

“Sorry,” Charlie replied. “I just mean like not even something as simple as video games? What do you do for fun?”

“Are you good at video games too?” Nick asked, ignoring the second question.

Charlie shrugged. “I played Mario Kart a lot when I was a kid, now don’t dodge the question.”

“Fine, I guess maybe I watch movies,” Nick said.

“Do you have a favourite?”

“The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is always there for me when I need it,” Nick replied.

Charlie laughed and in return shared some of his favourite movies with Nick. It was so easy to laugh with Nick. Everything about Nick made Charlie feel at ease.

It was entirely impossible now for him to keep his hopes in check. Charlie wanted very much to see Nick again after tonight. The trouble was that he didn’t even know Nick’s last name, let alone have his number. Why was the idea of asking such a simple question so nerve racking?

Laughing and talking they quite lost track of the time, until Charlie suddenly noticed how empty the room was. He looked out over the ballroom and saw a few stragglers swallowing the last gulps of their champagne before heading for the exit. The catering staff could be seen collecting glasses and tidying up tables. The party was clearly over and yet it had seemed like no time at all.

“It seems the party ended without us,” Nick stated.

“I didn’t even notice,” Charlie marveled. For the first time that night, Charlie pulled out his phone to check the time. It was well past midnight.

“I think we just ditched a party to hang out with each other?” Charlie observed.

“You know I think you might be right,” Nick agreed with a laugh.

“How about that?” Charlie smiled. He’d avoided parties before. He’d even flat out refused to go to them, but he’d never enjoyed one so much before simply because he was spending time with one person.

“I suppose we really should be leaving huh,” Nick said. Some of the catering staff were giving them annoyed looks. “I think they want us gone.”

“I think you’re right,” Charlie sighed, disappointed.

“Can I offer you a ride?” Nick asked. “Or did you bring a car?”

“I took the skytrain,” Charlie replied. “And I’d actually love a ride. Thank you.”

“I’m here to help!” Nick said brightly.

“You most certainly are,” Charlie agreed with a smile. “I just know tonight would have been miserable without you. So thanks. It seems like not enough but I am very grateful that you were here tonight.”

“I’m glad I came,” Nick replied easily. “It was really fun.”

Charlie was still holding his phone in his hand from when he’d checked the time earlier. If he was going to be confident now would be the time. After all, what did he have to lose? If he didn’t get Nick’s number he doubted he’d ever seen the man again.

“Um… would it be okay,” Charlie began. “I mean, could I maybe get your phone number?”

“Yeah,” Nick replied smoothly, his mouth pulling up at one corner. Charlie opened his contact app on his phone and clicked new contact before handing it to Nick. He watched as Nick typed for a moment.

“Thanks,” Charlie said as he took back his cell.

Charlie looked down at his phone screen and saw the string of numbers beside Nick’s name that were so small and yet felt so big. Quickly he opened a new message tab and sent Nick a ‘hi’ text. This way Charlie couldn’t chicken out about it later and Nick would have his number too.

“Shall we head to the car?” Nick asked. Charlie nodded and together they walked off to the exit.

This time they didn’t talk while they walked down the sidewalk. When they turned a corner a small silver car came into view.

“It’s my mom’s old car,” Nick explained and he unlocked the door manually with a key.

To Charlie’s surprise, Nick then held open the passenger door for him. Blushing, Charlie got in.

“Where to?” Nick asked when they were both seated inside the vehicle. Charlie gave him the address and Nick started the car.

Charlie thought of a dozen questions he could ask as Nick drove, but never once opened his mouth to speak. He had Nick’s number so maybe he didn’t need to say anything else right now. Maybe if he tried it would come off as too clingy anyway.

“Home sweet home,” Nick said as parked the car in front of Charlie’s flat. “Thanks for, um, a fun night.”

“Are you kidding!” Charlie said. “I should be the one thanking you. You were amazing tonight, Nick.”

“I did alright,” Nick said but he was smiling.

“More than alright,” Charlie countered looking right into Nick’s eyes. He couldn’t quite get over those eyes, so warm and kind. Brown, like caramel or toffee.

Charlie tore his gaze away from Nick, to place his hand on the door handle but he didn’t push it open yet. Was there something else he should say? Or would saying more now just ruin everything?

“I’ll see you around, Charlie,” Nick said. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Charlie replied before getting out of the car and walking up his front steps.

Chapter Text

Charlie was doing his best not to make a sound, seeing as it was half past one o’clock in the morning. Even so, he refused to go to bed without brushing his teeth first. Unfortunately, all that separated the bathroom from Elle and Tao’s bedroom was a single wall which he knew from experience wasn’t terribly sound proof. Still, if he used his phone as a flashlight instead of flipping the one switch that turned on the fan and light together, maybe he could keep the love birds sleeping.

Bang. The plastic water glass fell on the floor.

Charlie swore under his breath. He hadn’t anticipated the clumsy factor paired with bad lighting. Then again, maybe they hadn’t heard anything. Reaching down slowly Charlie picked up the cup and put it back, before tiptoeing down the hall into his own bedroom.

Finally collapsing on his bed, Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. Even if they woke up now he could just pretend to be asleep. He needed a minute to be alone with his thoughts.

It took a while for Charlie’s mind to slow down. He kept going over the events of the evening in his head.

Charlie had known Nick less than a day but he already liked him so much. The way Nick had handled Ben was somehow both endearing and entirely too sexy.

Most of all, though, Charlie couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d felt during that kiss. Just the thought of it had his heart racing again, but it was entirely possible that Nick had only done it to piss Ben off? He wasn’t sure how competitive Nick was yet. It could also have just been Nick trying to be a good pretend date.

If Nick had wanted to kiss Charlie then surely he’d have wanted to kiss good night at the end of the night, but Nick had just said goodbye. Then there was the fact that Nick had mentioned how hard it was for him to make friends. Charlie didn’t want to be another person in Nick’s life that he wanted to be friends with who tried to date him.

Charlie tried to convince himself that Nick had probably not been interested in him romantically. Charlie felt like he could live with that. What he really didn’t want was to simply never see Nick again. Nick’s friendship alone would mean the world to him.

No matter what happened next, it had been a perfect night and Charlie would never forget it. Nor would he forget that kiss. Whether it had meant anything to Nick or not, Charlie would hold the memory in his heart regardless.

Slowly his mind calmed and Charlie fell asleep.

The sun shining in, through the curtains he’d forgotten to close, woke Charlie much earlier than he’d have wanted. Groaning, Charlie got up and closed the curtains then tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. He was awake. With a sigh, Charlie pulled himself out of bed and went in search of something to eat.

“Morning, party animal,” Tao’s voice sniggered as Charlie entered the kitchen. Charlie replied with a non-committal noise. “You were out late. I hope that means you had a good time?”

Charlie smiled despite himself. “Yeah,” he said.

“Excellent,” Tao grinned. “Cause you needed it, Mr Shut in.”

“Hey,” Charlie whined. “That so isn't fair. Just cause you haven’t been single since tenth grade doesn’t mean you get to give any of us single people a hard time.”

Charlie had been third wheeling it with his best friends for a couple years now. He preferred living with them over living alone. Even if it sometimes made him feel very single, the fact that he’d been such good friends with both of them all his life made it easier somehow.

Elle put the kettle on before turning to him and saying, “Guess what?”

“Do I want to know?” Charlie asked, but he knew she was going to say it anyway.

“Tara texted me this morning,” Elle grinned. “She said she knows the guy you went to the staff party with. Nick Nelson!”

“So that’s his last name,” Charlie replied.

“Since when did you become the ‘don’t know his last name type’ date?” Tao asked.

“Since I found a date just three hours before the party and he only introduced himself as simply Nick.”

“Three hours!” Elle exclaimed. “You have to tell us everything!”

Charlie sat at the breakfast bar and laid his head down on the counter with a dull thud. This was becoming a habit but he didn’t care. It was Sunday and he got to be lazy and pathetic on Sunday. Tomorrow he’d get back to real life, but not today.

“Please,” Elle whined. Charlie smiled a little. He loved that his friends cared but he wasn’t feeling particularly social at the moment.

“I thought you said it went well?” Tao inquired.

“It went too well,” Charlie replied, lifting his head to look at Tao.

“There is no such thing as too well,” Elle interjected. “When are you seeing him again?”

“No idea,” Charlie answered. “I have his number but that’s about as far as I got.”

“The answer is easy then,” Tao said. “You just have to ask him out.”

“But he has an issue with all his friends trying to date him,” Charlie answered. “If he only thinks of me as a friend then asking him out will ruin everything.”

“Well did he drop any hints?” Elle asked. “If someone likes you it’s usually pretty easy to tell.”

“Says the woman who liked this idiot-” he gestured to Tao “-for like a year without noticing he liked her back,” Charlie reminded her.

“Okay fair point,” Elle admitted. “But we were teenagers back then.”

“Is the tea ready yet?” Charlie asked, trying to change the topic.

“Almost,” Elle replied.

“Tea sounds about perfect right now,” Charlie admitted.

“Then tea you shall have!” Tao exclaimed before turning around to get three mugs out of the cupboard.

“Is anyone hungry?” Elle asked. “I could make eggs on toast.”

“I could eat some eggs on toast,” Charlie said.

“Coming right up,” Elle replied. She busied herself with cooking after that, opening the fridge and getting pans out of the cupboard.

Yes, Charlie much preferred living with his friends to living alone. He had never been any good at eating enough when there weren't other people around.

Tao was holding his mug and Charlie held out his hands, but Tao didn’t give it up.

“You have to text him first,” Tao said, holding Charlie’s caffeine hostage.

“That is completely unfair,” Charlie whined.

“Just say hi or something,” Tao replied. “Then this sweet caffeinated nectar is yours.”

“I did text him hi!” Charlie objected. “At the party when he added his number into my phone.”

Feeling the need to provide evidence in order to drink his tea, Charlie got out his phone and opened Nick’s texting screen to show Tao.

“Oh, okay then, I guess the ball’s in his court,” Tao admitted and then finally handed Charlie his mug.

Charlie took a sip and then another. The smooth creamy drink warmed his insides. There was nothing quite like a good cup of tea.

Elle finished making the eggs before Charlie could see the bottom of his mugff and they all ate together before making another pot.

It wasn’t until he heard the slight vibration of his phone that Charlie realized he’d left it on the kitchen counter. Picking up his cell, Charlie expected maybe a text from Tori or a work email, but it was neither of those.

“Oh my god. It’s Nick!” Charlie half squealed.

“What did he say?” Elle asked.

“Hi,” Charlie answered.

“What, that’s it?”

“Yep,” Charlie groaned. “He texted me hi back and that’s it. Now what do I do?”

“It can’t be just hi,” Tao said. “Let me see that.”

Charlie held up his phone to show them both the texting history between him and Nick.

Saturday 12:51am
Charlie: Hi

Sunday 9:33am
Nick: Hi

“Wow he did just say hi,” Tao commented. “What are you supposed to do with that?”

“Maybe send an emoji?” Elle offered.

Charlie groaned and laid his head down on the counter again. At this rate he really was going to get a weird bruise.

After maybe a bit too much thought for such a small thing, Charlie sent a smiley face emoji. Just seconds later he got a reply.

Sunday 9:44am
Nick: Sleep well then?

Sunday 9:46am
Charlie: I did actually. How about you?

Sunday 9:49am
Nick: Yeah I slept fine. It helped that I was up late having a great time.

Sunday 9:50am
Charlie: Glad you had a good time. It was a huge favour so I’d have hated it if I’d ruined your evening.

Sunday 9:52am
Nick: It didn’t feel like a favour.

Sunday 9:53am
Charlie: Well that’s good then. :)

Sunday 9:53am
Nick: Yeah

“I take it that’s Nick blowing up your phone?” Elle’s voice broke Charlie’s focus and he looked up.

“Yeah, the emoji worked,” Charlie said. Then he quickly got up from the table and headed to his room.

Charlie sat on his bed, feeling oddly like a teenager again as he tried to think of what to say back to the hot guy texting him. He wanted to keep the conversation going so maybe something specific that couldn’t be answered with a yes or no, but he had no clue what exactly that could be.

What did he know about Nick? Last night Nick had accused him of knowing so much about him, but now that he thought about it, Charlie felt like he’d given up more info last night than Nick had.

Nick was a university student about to graduate with a BA in sports science. He liked to play rugby. His first kiss had been with Tara in elementary school. He was bisexual and had issues making friends with not straight guys because in the end they all wanted to date him, instead of just being his friend. It was like the opposite problem of being friendzoned and Charlie couldn’t understand the concept at all, but he could respect it. He could be Nick’s friend.

So what did friends talk about?

Sunday 10:01am
Charlie: I think I’m going to watch the first Pirate of the Caribbean movie tonight.

Friends talked about hobbies and entertainment. Friends talked casually about life stuff without making it weird. Charlie wanted to do that for Nick.

Sunday 10:02am
Nick: You won’t regret it. Jack Sparrow is funny and Will is hot. Elizabeth is hot too but I believe that will be lost on you.

Charlie couldn’t help laughing out loud. This guy was funny. He really did seem like he’d be a great friend. Charlie hadn’t made a friend since high school. Even if they could only be friends, it was still exciting talking to him.

Sunday 10:03am
From Charlie: Indeed you are right. Elizabeth’s hotness is lost on me, but I believe you.

Sunday 10:03am
Nick: Good cause it’s true.

Sunday 10:05am
Charlie: So while I’m watching this movie, what are your plans for today?

Sunday 10:06am
Nick: Not much. Just at home. Need to get some stuff done.

Sunday 10:07am
Charlie: Ah yes I am familiar with household chore day. The weekend is usually two days and they boil down to: unwind & recover on day one, then laundry and dishes on day two.

Sunday 10:09am
Nick: With school my days off are rare. I usually mash those two days into one.

Sunday 10:10am
Charlie: Well that sounds exhausting.

Sunday 10:11am
Nick: Oh it is.

Sunday 10:12am
Charlie: You know I really don’t miss being a student.

Sunday 10:13am
Nick: How many years were you one?

Sunday 10:14am
Charlie: About eight I think. Felt like forever.

Sunday 10:16am
Nick: It’s taken me eight years to get a four year degree so I feel you on the forever thing.

Sunday 10:17am
Charlie: Do you mind if I ask what's been slowing you down?

Sunday 10:18am
Nick: Nothing dramatic or anything. Just trying not to end up in a pile of debt at the end.

Sunday 10:19am
Charlie: Fair enough. Probably wise. I do sometimes wonder about my pile of debt.

Sunday 10:20am
Nick: Yeah but couldn’t you just help like one rich white guy divorce his wife and be free of it?

Sunday 10:21am
Charlie: I suppose. But then I’d feel dirty.

Sunday 10:22am
Nick: And not even the fun kind of dirty. ;)

Charlie stared down at the winky face next to his text. Was Nick flirting with him? Charlie must be reading into things wrong. Nick was probably just trying to be funny.

Sunday 10:26am
Charlie: Yep not the fun type. Just feeling like crap for getting paid to help scum.

Sunday 10:27am
Nick: You should definitely help the scum just once to get out of debt and then save all the rainforests!

Sunday 10:28am
Charlie: It does sound very convenient, but I’m not sure my conscience could live with it.

Sunday 10:29am
Nick: You are entirely too good a person. I’m not sure it’s allowed.

Sunday 10:30am
Charlie: Not allowed to be nice?

Sunday 10:31am
Nick: You are really ruining my preconceived perception of lawyers.

Sunday 10:32am
Charlie: Happy to be the one to shatter your world view.

Sunday 10:35am
Nick: Consider it shattered.

The conversation stalled again and Charlie wasn’t sure if he should just leave it for a bit or try and pick a new topic. Before he’d made a decision, Nick sent another text.

Sunday 10:42am
Nick: Sorry. I really have to go do stuff now, but let’s talk again soon, okay?

Sunday 10:42am
Charlie: Definitely. Text you later then.

Sunday 10:43am
Nick: Yeah later.

Charlie laid his phone on his chest as he fell back into his bed, smiling up at the ceiling. He allowed himself a moment to let himself enjoy the exhilarating feeling of a new crush before getting up and spending his day watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies so he would have something to talk to Nick about the next they time text.

Chapter Text

He’d been texting Charlie for a week now, but Nick hadn’t yet gotten up the courage to actually be direct. Charlie seemed immune to his flirting and Nick didn’t really have a next move to fall back on. Flirting had always worked for him in the past.

At this rate Nick was going to get friendzoned by the only person he’d ever met that he had no interest in being merely friends with. The irony was almost too much.

Nick kept hoping Charlie would ask him out but it never happened. He was starting to think Charlie was out of his league. The lawyer and the perpetual uni student. They didn’t exactly make any sense.

He was glad now that he hadn’t told Charlie what he actually did for a living. Being still in uni was bad enough. It just hadn’t felt like the right move to tell the guy he liked that he spent his evenings waiting tables.

Speaking of, if Nick didn’t leave now he’d be late for work.

Luckily traffic was on his side and Nick arrived just barely on time. Nick got his assigned tables for the night and put on his apron before taking drink orders.

He’d been working for a few hours when his manager pulled him aside.

“Nicholas!” she began. “Ivy called in sick, which was fine when that big party we had reserved cancelled, but now a similarly sized group has shown up without a reservation and they want it. Can you be their server tonight? Everyone else is already covering Ivy’s other tables and you know Cameron is still on medical leave.”

“Yeah sure,” Nick said.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed. “I owe you one.”

Short staffed shifts were his least favourite kind. Sure, he liked the extra tips and time flew by but Nick was always so much more tired afterward. At least tonight a busy night meant he wouldn’t be able to think about Charlie the whole time.

As if the universe was trying to make his life as ironic as possible, the first thing Nick saw when he walked into the largest of the private dining areas this establishment had to offer was Charlie. Tara was there too, along with a bunch of other people Nick didn’t recognize and Ben. Nick could only conclude that this was a lawyer work related dinner of some kind.

“Has anyone looked at their menus yet? And where is that waiter?” Ben’s voice made Nick’s jaw clench. No one had seen him yet. Maybe it wasn’t too late to switch tables with someone. Surely one of his coworkers would be willing to take the big tip potential of a group over covering smaller tables.

But then Nick saw Charlie’s face again. That easy, kind smile, sparkling eyes and his beautiful curly hair. Maybe Charlie wouldn’t care that he was a waiter. After all it was a fairly typical uni job.

Nick took a few steps forward and gave his usual waiter introduction with just a slight acknowledgment that he’d met them all before.

Ben was sitting opposite Charlie and slightly to the left. The moment he recognized Nick he turned to glare at Charlie.

“You didn’t tell me your boyfriend was working here tonight,” Ben said, putting emphasis on the word boyfriend as if trying to catch them in a lie.

“He didn’t know,” Nick answered at once. “I switched shifts with a friend. Can I get you anything to drink?” He pulled out his pad and pen. He usually didn’t need it but somehow Nick knew that tonight he was going to have a hard time keeping his mind on task.

He could feel Ben’s glare burning a hole in the back of his head as Nick took everyone's orders. The group was a total of ten people. Most seemed fine but only Tara gave him a real smile as she ordered a cosmopolitan. Ben ordered a beer in the most toxic way possible. Nick would have bet money that Ben hated beer.

“And for you?” Nick asked when he finally got to Charlie.

“Um water,” Charlie said quickly. Nick got a sense that Charlie was worried about being a bother. It was sweet but also completely ridiculous.

“I’ll bring water for the whole table,” Nick replied. “Do you want something else?”

“No, I’m fine,” Charlie smiled. Nick knew he was fine, that was the problem, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t order a drink.

“You sure?” Nick asked. Charlie just nodded. Nick decided to give in before it looked weird. Charlie was clearly the stubborn type.

Nick told the room at large that he’d return to take dinner orders once their drinks were ready and left.

Heading to the bar, Nick put in the orders under the room number. He was probably going to need a trolley for this table or at least take two trips. On a properly staffed night he would have just gotten someone else to help him with the trays.

“I’m so sorry!”

Nick smiled before he turned around, because he recognized that voice.

“Hi Charlie,” he said. “What are you apologizing for now?”

“I didn’t know you worked here,” Charlie explained.

“Of course you didn’t know I worked here,” Nick replied easily. “I never told you.”

“Right okay yes that makes sense,” Charlie admitted.

Nick couldn’t help but laugh. This guy was just so sweet. “Won’t they miss you at the table?”

“I told them I was going to the loo,” Charlie explained. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Nick asked.

“Ben for one,” Charlie sighed. “But also, well I wanted to make sure you weren’t uncomfortable with everyone in that room thinking that we’re together because if you are I can definitely tell them-”

“It’s fine,” Nick assured him. “Not a big deal.”

“You sure?” Charlie asked.

This was what was worrying him? Really? Surely, if Charlie liked him too then this wouldn’t be bothering him so much.

“Yeah,” Nick said. He kinda liked the idea that everyone in that room thought he was with Charlie.

“Okay then,” Charlie said but he didn’t move away. He just stood there and stared at Nick.

This was why Nick hadn’t been able to give up on the idea of Charlie. Every now and then, despite all evidence to the contrary, it almost seemed like Charlie did in fact like him like that too.

“If you don’t go back soon they are all going to think we are snogging in the loo,” Nick said, trying to flirt with his pretend boyfriend.

“Oh my god you did not just say that,” Charlie laughed, but Nick could see a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Go on then,” Nick said. “I’ll be back when the drinks are ready.”

“Okay,” Charlie replied before turning and heading down the hall towards the table with all the other lawyers.

Nick watched him go, only pulling his eyes away when Charlie was out of sight. When he turned to the bar his coworker was chuckling at him.

“Shut up,” Nick said, but the effect was rather ruined by his inability to stop smiling.

“I didn’t quite catch that,” the bartender, Teresa, laughed. “You like him but he thinks it’s all pretend? Or did I miss something?” She chuckled again and Nick managed not to groan.

“Shut up,” Nick repeated, but once again his smile ruined it. Teresa just laughed at him more. “Don’t you have drinks to make.”

“I do actually,” Teresa replied. “But it is way more fun to watch you strike out.”

“More fun for you maybe,” Nick grumbled. She giggled to herself and Nick decided it was best to try and focus on his job and not his troublesome coworkers.

He attended to his other tables, bringing more orders to the bar and the kitchen both. Teresa only teased him a little more before she got too bogged down with orders to have the time.

In the end he took two trips into Charlie’s group with their drinks rather than use a trolley. He’d need one later for meals but with the drinks, more trips were better than more spills.

The first time he walked in with two water pitchers and empty glasses Nick could feel Ben glaring at him. Nick tried to keep the smile off his face. The next time he entered the room with trays of individual drinks, Nick could still feel Ben’s dislike in his stare. There was something rather satisfying about Ben’s jealousy even if it was entirely unfounded.

When Nick refilled the water of the person sitting next to Charlie, he managed to somehow mouth the word ‘sorry’ without anyone but Nick being able to see. Nick wasn’t sure if Charlie was just that empathetic or feeling that guilty about Ben’s behavior. There was also a chance that he just said sorry a lot for no reason. Either way it was rather endearing, even if it was irrational.

Nick managed to hide his smile until he was out of the room again, but Teresa caught him which was embarrassing.

“See, it’s even more fun to watch because it so rarely happens,” Teresa was saying. “Watching you turn down dates is a hit to the ego, but this! This is fun!”

“Well at least one of us is having fun,” Nick groaned as he collected the rest of the lawyers drinks and then moved away from the bar to escape Teresa’s teasing.

While he was setting each glass in front of the right person, Nick got to hear a bit of their conversation. He didn’t exactly understand all the lawyer talk, but he could at least confirm that this dinner was definitely work related. Many of them had brought folders full of papers and seemed to be discussing legal issues around a piece of land somewhere near the ocean.

When Charlie spoke in the meeting, Nick couldn’t help but pay close attention. It was more evident than ever how smart Charlie was when he weighed in on the legal stuff. Nick’s sense that he was out of his league here felt larger than ever while he overheard the lawyers talking. Charlie was proper smart, a real nerd, and Nick was just a uni rugby lad.

He tried to keep his emotions off his face when it came time to take everyone's dinner order. Nick thanked his years of experience in customer service for this skill. He’d never been any good at it as a teenager.

“Does everyone know what they want for dinner yet?” Nick asked, pulling out his pad and pen. “Or do you need another minute?”

Everyone said they were ready and Nick took the orders. Tara ordered the lobster, Ben the salmon. Multiple people ordered the steak and then it was Charlie’s turn.

“I think I forgot to look at the menu,” Charlie said as he frantically picked it up and looked over the options.

Nick completely failed not to smile. Charlie was just entirely too adorable for his own good.

“There is no need to stare,” Ben snarled. “He is your boyfriend, after all. Don’t you see him regularly?”

“Shut up, Ben,” Charlie said as he put the menu down. “Sorry, I’ll have the Blacken Chicken.”

With a nod of his head, Nick acknowledged that he’d heard Charlie’s order. Then he checked that everyone was good for drinks and noticed a few waters needed topping up before leaving the room.

He had the water ready and had just put in the refill for a Shirley Temple when the sound of Charlie’s voice almost made him jump.

“Hi.”

Nick spun round and there was Charlie standing near the bar as if he’d come to talk to Nick again.

“Hi,” Nick said. Charlie smiled and Nick couldn’t resist flirting with him. “You know if you keep leaving the table like this they really are going to think we’re snogging in the loo.”

Charlie laughed. “They can think what they like,” he said. “And I’m sorry Ben’s the worst. He shouldn’t say stuff like that.”

Nick shrugged. “You work in customer service long enough and you learn that people generally are the worst. Besides, he’s your ex not mine.”

“I know,” Charlie groaned. “What is wrong with me?”

“Nothing that I can see,” Nick chuckled. “Though I haven’t really gotten that good a look.”

Nick’s eyes were fixed on Charlie. Was Charlie blushing? Then again the lights were low and Nick was probably just hoping that he’d made Charlie blush.

“Your Shirley Temple is ready.” Teresa’s voice reminded him that he was supposed to be working. Had he been staring at Charlie again? She was so not going to let him hear the end of this.

“I gotta get back to work,” Nick said.

“Right, yes sorry,” Charlie replied quickly.

“What are you saying sorry for?”

“Um, distracting you while you’re working?” Charlie replied but it sounded like a question. “Sorry.”

Nick couldn’t help but laugh. “You say sorry a lot.”

“Yeah sor-.”

“Don’t say it!” Nick laughed.

“I kinda want to say it.”

“Don’t!”

“Earth to Nicholas!” Teresa’s voice said firmly. “Your drink is ready.”

“Shit sorry,” Nick said and he turned around to collect the order.

“Now you’re saying it,” Charlie laughed.

“Shut up,” Nick said, laughing with Charlie.

The Shirely Temple was for one of the ladies in Charlie’s work group. If he took it over there now and Charlie followed him, Nick felt like that would definitely annoy Ben. It would just depend on what Charlie did. There was every possibility that Charlie had actually left to use the loo this time and wouldn’t be heading back to his table right away.

Nick started down the hall towards the room full of lawyers and paralegals. Within a few moments he realized that Charlie was indeed following him. Did that mean Charlie had left his table yet again just to talk to Nick or was Nick reading too much into this?

Charlie was just a few steps behind him as they entered the room. Nick focused on setting the drink down in front of the correct customer while Charlie walked around the table to take his seat. Somehow without even looking up, Nick knew where Charlie was in the room.

“You were gone for a while,” Ben said as Charlie sat down. “Did you meet up with someone in the bathroom?”

“Why would he do that when I’m right here?” Nick said coolly as he passed behind Ben’s chair. He thought he could hear Ben clench his teeth.

Nick managed not to smile like a dork until he had his face turned away from everyone. Nick left with his empty tray and even managed to avoid the bar until he took drink orders at a few small tables in his section. When he went to put the order in he wasn’t at all surprised that she had something to say.

“I know I’ve been having fun at your expense and everything, but I don’t think you are as off base as you think you are,” Teresa said.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked, surprised she hadn’t just teased him more about being such a romantic.

“He seems to really like you,” Teresa explained.

“What gave you that idea?” Nick asked, curious.

“Well he blushed when you flirted with him for starters,” Teresa said. “And he’s come to check on you twice.”

“Yeah to check that I’m not upset that everyone in that room thinks we’re together,” Nick corrected. “If he wanted to actually date me surely-”

“He seems like an overly polite type,” Teresa interrupted him. “Or did you miss the third time he said sorry for absolutely nothing?”

Nick couldn’t help laughing. Maybe she had a point.

“You know you are entirely too observant sometimes,” he told her.

Teresa laughed. “Tell that to my wife. Maybe she’ll forgive me the last time I forgot her birthday.”

“Inexcusable,” Nick disagreed. “A simple event in your phone calendar could have saved you a whole lot of drama there.”

“Like you can talk!” Teresa counted. “You can’t even muster up the courage to ask your pretend boyfriend on a date.”

“I’m leaving now,” Nick said pointedly as he left her the drink orders and walked away.

Nick worked his other tables for a while until the kitchen had all the lawyers' dinners ready. For this he was going to need that trolley.

When he entered the private dining area Nick parked the car near the door and then served the guests two meals at a time.

“Lobster for you,” Nick said as he placed a plate down in front of Tara.

“Salmon,” Nick added, as he placed Ben’s dinner in front of him. A small part of him wished he’d spit in it, but there was such a thing as flying too close to the sun.

He placed all the other meals down and saved Charlie’s for last. Their eyes met for a moment and Nick froze.

“Thanks,” Charlie said smiling.

Nick shook his head a bit and then turned mumbling a quiet no problem back. Not wanting to have anyone see him so flustered, Nick quickly ducked out of the room.

He couldn’t help thinking about what Teresa had said. What if Charlie was just being overly polite and none of the things he’d worried about were actually an issue?

After all he had more to gain than lose here. Maybe it was time to be brave.

Chapter Text

As his work dinner was ending, Charlie could think only about the way Nick had looked at him this evening.

“I’m heading out,” Tara sighed. “All that lobster is gonna put me in a coma real fast and I wanna be in my bed when I pass out, not driving my car.”

“Well I can’t leave,” Ben said. “I’ll still waiting for my cheesecake.”

“Alright but anything else you order tonight is on you,” Tara explained. “I’m gonna pay with the company Visa on my way out. Good night.”

Charlie knew he should leave. He didn’t want to end up alone with Ben, but Nick was still here. Charlie had been planning to stay after everyone else was gone so he could talk to Nick.

He supposed he could just text Nick and say he’d left without saying goodbye, but it felt rude somehow.

“Alone at last,” Ben sneered once Tara had left the room.

“Alone is all we ever were,” Charlie replied apathetically, still thinking about Nick.

“I miss you, Charlie.”

“You miss having a guy to snog in secret,” Charlie shot back. “There is a difference. Besides, I'm taken.”

“Oh we both know that little boyfriend of yours is just pretend,” Ben grinned.

“Is not,” Charlie replied, feeling somehow like a teenager again in his choice of response.

“I’ll admit you had me fooled at the office party,” Ben replied. “But now I know you two haven’t fucked yet.”

“How on earth do you think you know that?” Charlie couldn’t help asking out of sheer curiosity.

“I can see it in his eyes. He wants you, therefore he does not have you.”

Charlie couldn’t quite process Ben’s words. Nick wanted him? That couldn’t be right and yet Ben was so sure. Had Ben seen something that Charlie had missed?

So lost in his thoughts, Charlie didn’t notice Ben move across the room. Charlie backed away automatically as Ben got even closer. He should have been paying better attention. Alone with Ben was not a good time to drop his guard. Charlie backed up until his feet hit the wall.

“I don’t like sharing,” Ben said, but he was so close now that Charlie could feel the heat from his breath.

Charlie’s arms came up quickly to try and push Ben off, but it didn’t help much. Ben ignored all Charlie’s verbal protests and brought his mouth down on Charlie with too much force even while Charlie was trying everything he could to throw Ben off.

Then suddenly Ben was gone. Charlie blinked taking in the scene. Nick was standing there holding a cheesecake on a plate in one hand and yanking Ben backward by his shirt collar with the other.

“Your cheesecake,” Nick said, before bringing the plate up in an arch to meet Ben’s face. The dessert made a satisfying squishing sound as Nick pushed it into every crevice of Ben’s face. Charlie could see quite a bit of it in Ben’s hair as well.

“My eyes!” Ben exclaimed.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Nick said in the least apologetic way possible. “Must have slipped right out of my hand. Clumsy me.”

“You did that on purpose,” Ben accused, like the hiss of a snake.

“Yes, I did,” Nick stated confidently. “But Charlie told you to stop.”

“He isn’t yours!” Ben said, though everything he said now felt less impactful with his face covered in cheesecake. “What me and your pretend boyfriend do when you aren’t around isn’t your business.”

Nick seemed to consider this before he spoke. “Pretend boyfriend’s still more than an ex secret snog,” Nick smirked.

“I know why you needed a pretend date!” Ben snarled, rounding on Charlie. “Because no one could ever want to go out with someone as desperate as you. As if anyone could ever love you!”

“Sounds like you are talking about yourself, mate,” Nick replied coolly.

“I’m going to tell everyone at work that you brought a pretend date to the office party!” Ben threatened.

“If you do that I could just out you to the whole office,” Charlie reminded him with a shrug.

Ben froze, like a deer in headlights. If that deer was covered in cheesecake.

“But you see I wouldn’t do that because I’m a decent person,” Charlie finished. He could see Nick’s huge grin in his peripheral vision and grinned too.

Ben seemed altogether too furious for words. He was almost vibrating with the force of his anger as he stormed out of the room.

“Do you think he’ll actually tell the whole office about the pretend date thing?” Nick asked his focus still on the closed door Ben had just walked through.

“Don’t know,” Charlie shrugged. “And I don’t think I care either.”

“Well that’s good, I suppose,” Nick replied, turning to look at Charlie as he spoke.

“Thank you,” Charlie said, as earnestly as he knew how.

“Um yeah, of course,” Nick mumbled, but his mouth pulled up at one corner.

“Cheesecake in his face,” Charlie laughed. “Epic!”

They both smiled and then their eyes met. Nick was staring at him and Charlie was staring back. Charlie’s face warmed under Nick’s intense gaze.

“Listen umm,” Nick said softly, looking more nervous now than he’d been moments ago delivering justice. “I was wondering, or rather, I was gonna ask-” He stopped babbling and then said quickly. “Do you wanna go on a real date… with me?”

For a few seconds Charlie just stared at him. Had he heard that right? Did he know how to talk? Charlie was pretty sure his mind was currently the equivalent of a computer loading screen stuck half way through a download.

“If you don’t want to, that's, er, fine I just thought I’d ask and ah-” Nick’s babbling made Charlie realize he needed to say words.

“Sorry, yes of course, I want to go out with you,” Charlie managed to say.

“You do?” Nick asked. Charlie almost laughed at how surprised and relieved Nick looked.

“Definietly. You are kind of amazing,” Charlie explained and to his delight this made Nick smile. “I just assumed...”

“What did you assume?” Nick asked.

“Well you said you had a hard time making friends,” Charlie explained. “Because the people you wanted to be friends with always tried to date you. I didn’t want to annoy you.”

“All my flirting didn’t clue you in that maybe you were different?” Nick laughed.

“I’ve been known to misinterrupt flirting,” Charlie defended himself.

“Well then I’ll say it in a way you can’t misinterpret," Nick replied, moving a few inches closer. “I’d like to kiss you right now, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said, his mind going blank. “That is very much okay.”

Slowly, but purposefully Nick closed the gap between them until their breath mingled. Charlie could feel his heart racing in his chest. Charlie moved closer too, helping to close the space and then their lips met. Charlie felt his insides squirm wildly and then all too soon Nick was pulling back.

When their eyes met Charlie saw his own highly emotional reaction reflected in Nick’s eyes and it made him want to kiss Nick again. Almost without his permission, his body chased Nick’s kiss leaning forward until he half fell over.

“Sorry!” Charlie said, feeling himself blush deeply at his blunder.

“You are so adorable,” Nick whispered, bringing his hand up to hold the side of Charlie’s face.

“Adorable enough to kiss some more?” Charlie asked, smiling.

“Oh yeah,” Nick replied with a cheesy grin before placing his other hand on Charlie’s face as well and pulling him in for another kiss.

Charlie’s arms came up to hold Nick as he pressed himself against Nick’s body. All his fantasies didn’t come close to the real thing. Kissing Nick was like nothing else he’d ever known.

Nick pulled away again, but that was okay because it was more than obvious that he didn’t want to. The look on his face reminded Charlie of a puppy being told to put down his favourite toy. Charlie knew that was a silly analogy but somehow he liked it.

“I have to get back to work,” Nick lamented.

Charlie wanted to pout but he was an adult and he was definitely not going to resort to that right now. There was just something about Nick that made Charlie feel like a teenager again.

“I get off work at nine,” Nick said. “But I was hoping after that I could pick you up at your place and we could hang out.”

“I’d like that,” Charlie replied.

“Good,” Nick said. He was grinning like a dork again and Charlie knew it was because they’d just kissed and made plans but it still felt unbelievable.

They stared at each other for a moment and then Nick heard his name being called from the hall. Reluctantly he pulled his hands back from where they’d been resting against Charlie’s neck.

“See you after work then,” Nick said. Charlie nodded and then Nick turned and walked out of the room.

That man was beautiful, kind and generous and by some miracle Charlie was going to be his actual date in just a few short hours. A part of him couldn’t quite believe it, even though he could still feel the warmth of Nick’s touch on his lips.

How long he stood there feeling starstruck, Charlie wasn’t sure. Eventually he remembered that he had to head home if Nick was going to pick him up from his place.

The whole way home Charlie could think about nothing else but Nick’s kiss. He walked to the skytrain thinking about the way Nick’s hands felt against his skin. He got off the skytrain wondering what Nick’s next kiss might feel like. He walked up his front steps feeling like the next few hours couldn’t go by fast enough.

“I’m home,” Charlie called as he closed the front door behind him. There was a scuffling noise and a loud ‘ow’ and then hurried footsteps. Charlie smiled. This was why he always announced his presence when he walked into his own flat. This wasn’t the first time he’d ever caught two of his oldest friends in a compromising position and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

And sure enough as he looked around he could see clothes scattered on the floor around the couch. The culprits were probably hiding in their bedroom. Charlie hung up his coat and took off his shoes.

“I’m entering the kitchen now,” Charlie announced as he changed rooms.

Charlie had almost finished making himself a cup of tea when his best friend graced him with his presence.

“How was your work dinner?” Tao asked when he walked into the kitchen wearing his robe. Charlie just hoped he’d bothered to put underwear on underneath.

Charlie thought for a moment. “Amazing,” he said finally.

“Well that’s a new one,” Tao laughed. “Usually you just shrug and say it’s always the same.”

“Tonight wasn’t the same,” Charlie said excitedly. “Nick was there.”

“Why was Nick at your work dinner?” Tao asked.

“We happened to go to the restaurant he works at,” Charlie answered.

“You never said he worked in a restaurant,” Tao said.

“That’s because I didn’t know,” Charlie said. “Let me remind you again that I met Nick three hours before the office party last week and then didn’t see him again until tonight?”

“Right, sorry,” Tao mumbled. “But weren’t you texting him all week?”

“We didn’t talk about work,” Charlie replied.

“What did you talk about then?”

“I don’t know just like movies and stuff,” Charlie answered.

“I was wondering why we now own all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies?” Elle’s voice could be heard before she appeared.

Unlike Tao, Elle had actually taken the time to put on clothes. She even looked nice and put-together. Then again she always did.

“They are good movies,” Charlie defended his purchasing choices.

“And it gave you something to talk to Nick about,” Elle figured out the real reason almost instantly.

“Okay fine yes I have a crush but he likes me too so everything is wonderful,” Charlie grinned.

“I’m so happy for you!” Elle squealed. Charlie matched her energy and freaked out with her jumping up and down like a crazy person, arm in arm with his friend.

“I need all the details!” Elle ordered and Charlie was more than happy to oblige her.

“Nick asked me out,” Charlie explained. “And we kissed, a couple times. When he gets off work at nine he’s coming here to pick me up.”

“He absolutely has to come inside so we can meet him first,” Elle said.

Charlie laughed. “I’m not forcing him to do that on a first date, but if it's that important to you I’ll ask.”

“Feels like your second date,” Elle argued.

“Our first real date then,” Charlie amended.

“And you have to tell me everything when you get home even if he doesn’t want to come inside and meet us first!” Elle ordered. Then she squealed again. “I’m so excited for you Charlie!”

Charlie was excited too. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Elle smiled back at him, happy for him, and it made the whole thing feel more real somehow.

“Elle and I have news too,” Tao said, as if feeling left out of the conversation.

“Oh?” Charlie inquired.

“Elle and I have made a decision about our future,” Tao began and for a second Charlie thought this was big news.

“We’re gonna get a dog,” Elle explained with a laugh. “But the way he builds it up, sounds like we’re adopting a kid or something.” She rolled her eyes.

“A dog is a big deal,” Tao objected to his wife’s attitude.

“A dog sounds great,” Charlie laughed, having to side with Elle on this one. “Just not a golden retriever okay?”

“Why?”

“No reason,” Charlie replied. If things worked out the way he wanted, Charlie felt like one golden retriever in his life would be more than enough.

Chapter Text

Nick was a bit too excited after kissing Charlie. He had to focus way harder than he’d ever had to before taking customer orders because his mind kept wondering back to Charlie’s face. Every order got written down on his pad and when work finally ended, Nick had never been so impatient to leave his place of employment before in his life.

Driving home on autopilot, Nick tried to think of what to wear. Why had he suggested they hang out as soon as possible? That gave him no time to plan anything. What would Charlie expect? Had he already screwed this up somehow?

Standing in his bedroom, Nick stared at himself in the mirror. Was just a t-shirt and jeans okay for such a casual meet-up? Their first date had been so formal. Nick wasn’t sure, but he didn’t really have time to dwell on it. Wearing the wrong thing was better than showing up late. Grabbing his jacket, wallet and keys, Nick headed out. Despite the long understaffed shift he’d worked today, Nick felt wide awake and high on adrenaline.

He parked in front of Charlie’s flat for the second time and gave himself a solid ten seconds to compose his thoughts before getting out of the car. The last time he’d parked here, Nick had gotten in his head and chickened out. This time would be different. This time Charlie had agreed to go out with him for real and Nick was definitely going to get to kiss him again.

Getting out of the car, Nick went up to the door and rang the bell. Then he waited, nervously. When the door opened, there stood Charlie smiling at him.

Nick knew that being near Charlie was the reason he was nervous and yet somehow just seeing Charlie also made him feel calmer. This man was turning Nick into some kind of walking paradox. Nick had never met anyone before who had such a powerful effect on him so quickly.

“Hi,” Nick said.

“Hi,” Charlie replied.

“So um,” Nick began and then he realized he actually had nothing to say. He didn’t even know what they should do next. He’d been so focused on seeing Charlie again as soon as possible he hadn’t given a single thought to what came next.

“Do you want to come inside?” Charlie asked. “My friends want to meet you, but you absolutely don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I’d like to meet your friends,” he answered easily, relieved Charlie had offered up something for them to do.

Walking into Charlie’s flat, Nick took in the room generally without dwelling on it. There was a kitchen off to the left and the entry way opened right into the living room. Turning he saw coat hooks on his right and hung up his jacket.

Nick’s focus was entirely on Charlie. Had it only been a few hours since he’d last seen Charlie? Had Nick really missed him in that small amount of time? Why did he have to be such a sap! Hopefully Charlie didn’t notice.

Charlie was walking towards the living room so Nick followed him. He assumed Charlie’s friends were the two people seated on the sofa. They were very obviously a couple, with the man having his arm around the woman’s shoulders.

“Nick, this is Tao and Elle,” Charlie said, making introductions.

“Hi Nick,” Tao and Elle said together. He remembered Charlie mentioning Elle before but he hadn’t realized Charlie lived with them.

“There. You met him,” Charlie said to his friends. “Happy now?”

“Only if he stays for tea,” Elle answered.

Charlie turned to look at Nick, who realized he was supposed to answer. “Sure,” Nick said.

“You really don’t have to,” Charlie said again. How had he not noticed before that Charlie was so apologetic. It was like Charlie worried his presence was constantly inconveniencing people.

“Tea sounds great,” Nick said, unsure what else to do other than be direct. At this point he had at least learned that much. Subtle didn’t work on Charlie.

If they were staying, Nick thought he should probably sit down. The problem was that Nick wasn’t sure where to sit. Apart from the couch there seemed to be one armchair that somewhat faced away from the tv and there wasn’t enough room left on the couch for two more people.

The three friends exchanged looks that Nick didn’t understand and then Charlie spoke again.

“Don’t look at me!” Charlie said suddenly. “I’m not going to put the kettle on and leave you two alone with him. No way.”

“Spoil sport,” Tao grumbled.

“I’ll make tea,” Elle laughed as she stood up. She looked at Tao before she left the room and told him to move to the chair.

“This is my flat!” Tao objected.

“Exactly,” Elle replied. “Be a good host and let them have the couch.”

Tao did not look happy about it but he did indeed move to sit on the armchair, leaving the couch empty.

“They really aren’t as bad as they seem,” Charlie said, turning to look at Nick.

“They seem great,” Nick replied with a smile. He and Charlie were both still standing in the living room. Nick felt strangely aware of the now empty couch just feet away.

“Sorry about this,” Charlie said. “You probably had plans that didn’t involve us hanging out with my roommates.”

Nick laughed. “I asked you out like three hours ago. I barely had time to change, let alone plan.”

“Right,” Charlie smiled at him. “Sorry, that makes sense.”

“You really do say sorry a lot, huh?”

“Yeah sorr-”

“Don’t say it again!” Nick interrupted him. Charlie just laughed. The look on his face when he laughed like that was entirely too attractive. Charlie made Nick want to give in to his romantic side, but also fantasize about shoving Charlie against a wall and snogging him senseless.

Nick didn’t like the space between them just standing there in the living room. Nick sat on the couch. Once there he turned his head to look at Charlie, hoping that was enough to invite the other man to join him.

To his relief, Charlie seemed to understand. He walked over and sat down right beside Nick.

“Hi,” Nick said, looking at Charlie feeling relieved they were finally close enough to touch even if it was just the sides of their legs.

“We did that already,” Charlie chuckled at him.

“Right,” Nick agreed, staring unabashed into Charlie’s beautiful blue eyes.

Charlie giggled a little. “You really were flirting with me this whole time, weren’t you?”

“I thought it was obvious,” Nick replied.

“It probably was,” Charlie said with a smile.

Nick decided to put it as simply as he could. “I really like you,” Nick admitted. He watched Charlie face and saw his eyes widen in surprise. “Do you like me?”

“Yes, obviously,” Charlie laughed.

“See now I don’t think you were actually being that obvious,” Nick argued.

“I asked for your number after the party,” Charlie reminded him.

“Okay yes, but I saw you across a room, walked over and agreed to go on a pretend date with you to piss off your ex,” Nick reminded him.

“You said you just wanted the free food!” Charlie laughed.

“Would I have kissed you if I'd just been there for the food?”

“I thought that was for Ben's benefit.”

“You're unbelievable," Nick laughed. “Was it so impossible to believe that I liked you?”

“Yes!” Charlie exclaimed but he was laughing.

“What am I going to do with you?” Nick smirked.

He didn't like how Charlie seemed to think he was so unlikable but at the same time his cluelessness was adorable. Nick couldn't get enough.

“Why am I like this?” Charlie groaned, covering his face with his hands.

Gently Nick reached out to uncover that beautiful face, peeling back his fingers one by one.

“I think the correct phrase is ‘why are we like this?’” Nick said once he could look the one he liked in the eyes again.

Gently, Nick placed a hand on either side of Charlie’s face. They were both inching forward, about to kiss when Nick was suddenly reminded that they had an audience.

“If you two are going to make out I need a heads up.” They both turned to look at the armchair when Tao spoke. Nick had forgotten Tao was still in the room.

“Oh you mean like how we always remember to let Charlie know when we fool around in sharing living spaces?” Elle shot back as she reappeared holding two mugs.

“That’s different,” Tao said at once, turning red.

“Yeah what we do is worse,” Elle laughed as she placed the mugs down on the low table in front of the couch.

Her hands now free, Elle reached one out to Tao. She pulled on his arm until he got off the chair and then the two of them disappeared down the hall, presumably to their bedroom.

“I think Elle is trying to give us some space,” Charlie explained.

“That’s nice of her,” Nick replied. He turned his eyes from Charlie to look at the mugs on the table. “These are for us, I assume.”

“Yes,” Charlie agreed, before reaching out to pick up his cuppa. Nick did the same, wrapping his hand around the warm cylinder and having a sip of the creamy liquid within. Elle had added a little sugar. Nick usually drank it without but he wasn’t gonna complain.

After a few large gulps of tea, Nick put down his mug.

“So if you didn’t plan anything, what did you want to do tonight?” Charlie asked, also placing his mug back on the table.

Nick could think of a few choice replies to this. Just the word ‘you’ being one of them, but Nick decided to hold back. He liked Charlie way more than he’d like anyone in a very long time, if ever. Charlie made him feel romantic and Nick didn’t want to skip to the end.

“Or sorry, did you want me to plan something?” Charlie continued.

“I think I’m going to have to ban you from saying the s word,” Nick said very seriously, even as his gaze shifted to stare at Charlie’s lips. “The only thing you should be saying sorry for is the fact that you haven’t kissed me yet.”

“Oh is that how it is?” Charlie asked, grinning.

“Yes, that is definitely how it is,” Nick chuckled. There was something about being around Charlie that made it easy to smile.

“Well in that case,” Charlie smiled, reaching out his hand to touch Nick’s face again. Their eyes met and Charlie moved closer. When Charlie’s lips pressed against his, Nick felt the jolt of it as if Charlie’s touch had electrocuted him. His insides fluttered like butterflies as he poured himself into the kiss. Wrapping his arms around Charlie, he pulled their bodies close together. Nick couldn’t resist opening his mouth as the kiss deepened.

“You taste like tea,” Nick murmured, when they broke apart just enough to talk. Their faces were still mere inches apart.

“Well we were just drinking tea,” Charlie reminded him.

Nick’s hand was resting against the side of Charlie’s face and for a moment he just stared into those blue eyes. Then they kissed again. Nick didn't think he'd ever get over the thrill that was kissing Charlie.

As Nick pushed forward into the kiss, Charlie leaned back. Now Charlie was laying on the couch with Nick hovering over him. The feel of Charlie beneath him was so good, Nick could hardly believe all they were doing was kissing. Shifting his weight to the side so he could free up his arm, Nick slid his hand down Charlie’s side, stopping to rest against his hip. He could feel Charlie’s hands gripping his shirt. Nick’s heart was pounding in his chest and his breathing was highly erratic.

“Char-,” Nick whispered as their kiss broke for some much needed air.

Nick’s lips moved to Charlie’s neck, kissing the soft skin there. He heard Charlie gasp and pulled back to look at Charlie’s face.

“Is that okay?” Nick asked.

“Um yeah,” Charlie said breathlessly. Nick studied his face. His pupils were dilated slightly and his face was flushed, but most importantly he was smiling. Nick smiled back before returning his attention to Charlie’s neck.

Nick got completely lost in the moment. Being this close to Charlie he could feel Charlie’s chest rise and fall with the same speed as his own. Nick was kissing along Charlie’s jaw line, when he felt Charlie’s hand move to press gently against Nick’s chest as if Charlie wanted to stop.

Respectfully but reluctantly, Nick leaned back until he was sitting on the couch again. His whole body could feel the effects of making out with Charlie. The thudding in his chest felt so loud he was sure Charlie could hear it.

“Sorry,” Charlie said panting.

“I thought I banned the s word,” Nick said through the slight pant of his breathing.

Charlie’s hair was all ruffled from the couch pillows and where Nick had run his hands through the loose curls. The bright blush on Charlie’s face didn’t stop at his cheeks. Nick could see the pink tinge to his skin down his neck as well. He couldn’t help wondering how far down the blush went. This man was corrupting his every thought. Nick forced his eyes upward to lock eyes with Charlie’s.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Nick said firmly. “I’m the one who went too far.”

“Not too far,” Charlie disagreed with a shake of his head.

“What’s wrong then?” Nick asked, concerned by the nervous look on Charlie’s face.

Charlie seemed reluctant to explain. Nick decided he needed space and turned his attention to the semi-cold cup of tea on the table. He picked it up and took a swig of it to give Charlie time to compose his thoughts.

“I guess I just want to slow things down,” Charlie admitted.

“Okay,” Nick said with a smile as he looked at Charlie again. “So long as we aren’t pretend anymore, I can wait as long as you want.”

“You say that now,” Charlie laughed. “But you’ve only seen me on good days. If you saw me on a bad day, I don’t think you’d like me this much.”

“Do you murder people on these bad days?” Charlie shook his head. “Do you secretly hate a minority group enough to donate to causes that marginalize them?” Another head shake. “Well then I’m not worried.

“I am!” Charlie exclaimed.

“In that case, do you want to sit on this couch and watch a movie?”

“Yeah we could do that,” Charlie agreed.

“And next time I’ll plan a proper date,” Nick promised. “Today I just didn’t want to wait that long to see you again.”

Charlie blushed but didn’t say anything. He picked up the remote off the table and turned on the television. Nick leaned back on the couch to get comfortable.

“What are we watching?” Nick asked.

“Priates of the Caribbean," Charlie answered. He was sitting perched on the edge of the couch. Nick rested his arm along the back of the couch closest to Charlie, trying to be inviting but not insistent.

“Oh good, something I haven’t seen then,” Nick chuckled. “I’ll definitely need to pay attention instead of trying to make out with you again.”

“Oh my god stop,” Charlie laughed.

“Never,” Nick grinned at him. “I haven’t been able to resist flirting with you since the moment we met. Why would I try and stop now?”

Charlie turned to look at him and seemed to notice the way Nick was sitting. A shy smile spread across his face and then he came to sit close. Nick lowered his arm and gently pulled Charlie against his side.

“This okay?” Nick asked.

“Yeah,” Charlie said, snuggling in closer and resting his head against Nick’s shoulder. “You’re comfy.”

Nick was glad he didn’t really need to watch the movie once it started playing, because sitting beside Charlie was altogether too distracting for him to pay much attention to anything else.

His mind jumped around from thinking of things to do on their next date, to wondering what else Charlie might want to do on this one. Sometimes Nick’s mind was quiet, just enjoying the moment here with Charlie sitting beside him.

By the time the movie ended, Nick could feel his adrenaline starting to wear off. It was late and he’d worked a short staffed shift today. There was something relaxing back being so groggy next to Charlie. Part of him just wanted to fall asleep right here. His eyes closed almost against his will.

“Getting sleepy?” Charlie’s voice made him smile.

“It’s not my fault you are so cozy,” Nick defended his fatigue.

“Um, did you want to lay down?” Charlie asked. Nick opened his eyes. He’d expected Charlie to suggest he go home. This sounded much better.

“In my bed, I mean,” Charlie continued. Then he seemed to lose his nerve and back track. “You probably want to sleep in your own bed tonight which is completely fair so um I can-”

Nick silenced his babbling with a quick kiss on his lips. “I’d much rather sleep beside you than drive home right now.”

“Okay good cause I really didn’t want you to leave,” Charlie said quickly.

“I really don’t want to leave,” Nick agreed. Looking into Charlie’s eyes Nick could tell there was still something on his mind. He turned his body slightly to face Charlie before asking what else was bothering him.

“I um,” Charlie began. “While we were watching the movie, I was thinking.”

“Oh?” Nick grinned. “Not about the movie I presume?” Charlie shook his head. Nick kept his focus on Charlie’s face as he waited for Charlie to speak.

“How ‘not pretend’ do you want us to be?” Charlie asked, after a moment’s hesitation.

Nick knew the answer to this question, but he also knew he’d pushed too far already once tonight. What mattered here wasn’t his answer.

“How ‘not pretend’ do you want us to be?” he echoed Charlie’s question back at him.

“Um, well, I guess, what I’m asking is… if you want to be, like, a couple.”

“Boyfriends?”

“Yeah.”

Nick couldn’t keep the grin off his face, happy to have this assurance that it wasn’t only him who was thinking such things. Nick had always been a romantic. He didn’t date people he didn’t like and he didn’t date more than one person at a time. An exclusive relationship with Charlie had been what he wanted since their first kiss.

“Yeah,” Nick said. “That is exactly what I want.”

“Really?” Charlie grinned at him.

“Absoluetly,” Nick answered confidently.

Unable to resist completely, Nick leaned in to kiss his boyfriend. It was slow and sleepy, yet still sent shivers down Nick’s spine. After the kiss, he rested his head against Charlie’s forehead, just enjoying the feeling while his racing heart slowed down.

“Still tired?” Charlie asked.

“Yes,” Nick admitted. “Aren’t you?”

“Kinda,” Charlie said. “But also a bit too excited to be tired.”

Nick laughed lightly. “I know the feeling,” he said. Nick turned his head to bury his face in his boyfriend’s shoulder, taking a deep breath in as he did so. Why did Charlie smell so good? He brought his arms forward to hug Charlie and enjoyed the sensation of Charlie hugging him back. They stayed like that for a moment, until breaking the hug at the same time.

Charlie stood up first, holding out his hand to Nick. Nick took it and let himself be led down the hall and into Charlie’s bedroom.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Charlie said. “I’m going to go brush my teeth.”

Lamenting the lack of his own toothbrush, Nick took off his socks and jeans before climbing into his boyfriend’s bed. All the bedding smelled just a little like Charlie in a very good way.

The door opened and Charlie came back in, wearing pajamas shorts and a matching shirt. He looked adorable. Charlie closed the door behind him and turned off the light before approaching the bed nervously. Nick’s eyes took a moment to adjust but then Charlie came back into view. Nick opened up the comforter in a welcoming gesture and smiled at Charlie. He hoped Charlie got the message even in the semi darkness.

When he felt Charlie get into the bed beside him, he pulled his boyfriend in close under the blankets. Nick jumped a little when Charlie’s cold feet touched his skin.

“Your feet are like ice,” he said.

“Yeah sorry-”

“Banned, remember?”

“Right s-”

“Oh my god just come closer so I can warm you up,” Nick laughed.

“Okay,” Charlie agreed. Nick couldn’t see much, but from Charlie’s voice he could guess that Charlie was smiling.

Nick kissed the back of Charlie’s neck and he held Charlie close against him.

“Good night. boyfriend,” Nick said.

“Good night, boyfriend,” Charlie echoed.

Nick was smiling too much to fall asleep right away, but soon Charlie’s slow even breathing settled his mind and Nick fell into a peaceful sleep.