Archive of Our Own

It’s raining and Nick is freezing, but he barely even feels it because Charlie's train just pulled up into the station and he’s going to see him in so little time that he can barely stand it. He’s already grinning at nothing, too excited to care who's looking at him because suddenly it’s Charlie who’s looking at him, stepping off the train onto the platform and spotting him almost straight away.

His gorgeous face breaks out into a beam and then he starts dodging through the people walking towards the exit towards him, almost running as he reaches him. Nick lets out a happy sound as he scoops Charlie up in his arms, stumbling a little as he hoists him up and spins him around, laughing into his mouth as he squeals and grips at his shoulders.

“You’re making a scene,” Charlie giggles as he stares down at him, pressing their lips together again. Nick kisses back happily; it somehow feels less of a big deal now he’s at uni rather than in his hometown, and he’s missed Charlie so much that he isn’t even tempted to check how many people are looking at them.

“Don’t care,” he mumbles back, setting him down and then pulling her in for another long kiss. “And don’t act like you don’t love it, love.”

Charlie does love it but they both know he’s certainly not going to mention it. He shakes his head as he pulls back and links their hands together, tucking himself into Nick’s side. Nick kisses his hair as they head out of the station and onto the high street, towards the bus stop.

Fuck , has he missed his boy. 

Charlie hasn’t been up to Leeds yet. Whenever they’ve been together since Nick went off to uni, it’s been back at home. He came home for two weekends last term, once for a sixth form awards ceremony and once for his mum’s birthday, then they got to spend four glorious weeks at Christmas together as well. 

They’ve seen each other less in this spring term now that Nick’s rugby schedule means he plays games most weekends, but this was a weekend that neither of them wanted to miss. Charlie’s not long turned 18, and he promised Nick ages ago that they’d go together for his first time clubbing. Always over-cautious when it comes to Charlie, Nick had immediately agreed, insisting they use it as an excuse for Charlie to come up and visit him so they can go proper gay clubbing up here in Leeds.

He’d surprised Charlie with the train tickets as a birthday present, just as he’d surprised him with a trip home on his actual birthday. He’d been texting back and forth with Elle, the only one who knew about his plan (because she was pretty much the only one he trusted to keep it an actual secret) and he’d managed to arrive at the pub just in time, so he was casually sitting at a table waiting for them as the group came in for Charlie’s first legal pint.  

The look on Charlie’s face was well worth the extortionate ticket price and the four and a half hour journey. 

He’d only been able to stay for one night because he had an essay due a couple of days later, but it didn’t feel nearly as daunting to leave him this time, not now the promise of a visit in just a couple of weeks time was looming. 

And now it’s here and Charlie is here, and Nick feels like he can breathe again. 

“Is that all you brought with you?” Nick asks, pointing to Charlie’s backpack. Charlie shrugs and nods.

“Well, for a start, you’ve got, like, half my hoodies and at least one pair of my trackies, even though I know you won’t have worn them because they’ll be too small,” he grins. “But also I figured if I played my cards right, I wouldn’t need many clothes.” 

Nick barks a laugh. It sends a little thrill down to his toes whenever Charlie hints at sex, even though they’ve been together long enough that that should have passed by now. He wonders if it ever will. 

“I’ve also got, like, one nice shirt for a nice dinner somewhere or something, then just another t-shirt and some pants and socks and stuff. Oh, and my clubbing outfit. Why, did you have a list of things planned for us?”

“A list of things that pretty much just includes holding you, clothes or no clothes,” Nick grins, ignoring the mother covering her child’s ears with a glare as they walk past. “But a date out sounds nice too. My treat, of course.”

“Rubbish,” Charlie hums. “You paid for the train tickets.”

“And?” Nick tells him. “They were a present, Char. It’s not exactly fair to ask you to spend four hours on the train and then pay for anything. You paid for everything when I came home anyway.”

“Shut up and let’s just talk about it later,” Charlie laughs. “Let’s just get out of this infernal rain.”

Nick nods and they take off at a slightly quicker pace, jogging until they finally get to the bus stop, which is tucked just off the corner of the main road. He’s only got one lecture tomorrow and it’s not until four (which he’s probably going to skip, he doesn’t know why he’s lying to himself) and he’s got Charlie here, warm and soft by his side as they tuck into the little fibreglass shelter.

He gets Charlie for four whole blissful days and that doesn’t feel real yet. The last thing he needs is to leave their little happy space for a lecture on… whatever it is. 

“Fuck, I’m so glad you’re here,” he mumbles, wrapping his arms around Charlie’s waist again now they’re sheltered from the rain. He cuddles him in and smiles as Charlie makes a noise of agreement into his shoulder. “You’re warm.”

“You’re freezing,” Charlie replies, squeezing Nick a little tighter. “How long were you waiting in the rain?”

“Like twenty minutes?” Nick says, teeth chattering. He hadn’t even realised how cold he was until they stopped walking. “Didn’t want you to arrive early and me not to be there.”

“Nick,” Charlie chuckles, pressing another kiss to his damp hair. “It’s the British rail system, I was never going to be early.”

“Yeah, well,” Nick shrugs. “Didn’t wanna risk it. Missed you too much.”

“Sappy twat,” Charlie says. He knocks Nick’s chin up and kisses him again, just one small peck. “Don’t wanna stop doing this all weekend, bloody hell.”

“Then don’t,” Nick grins, tugging him down for another. He smiles into it, and it’s soft and warm and so very wonderfully familiar that he wants to press himself further into him, wants to carve himself into his chest and make a home for himself there because he’s pretty sure he never wants to be anywhere else ever.

The bus pulls up a few minutes later, soaking their ankles as it skids into a puddle. Nick hisses as he steps onto it, flashing his bus pass while Charlie digs around in his pocket for some change. They choose a seat near the back, bodies pressing close as Nick shivers through his thin hoodie and rugby shorts.

It’s not a long trip and pretty soon the bus gets them to campus, where they hang back for most of the throng of students to jump off first before they follow. It’s raining harder than before now so Nick unzips his hoodie, pulling Charlie into his side and shielding them both with it. He pretends not to notice how Charlie grins as he winds an arm around his back, sinking into his space. 

Nick guides him through the rows and rows of towering student blocks and towards his accommodation. He digs around for his keys as they walk and manages to let them into the building with only a little awkward fumbling.

The lift has a few people he recognises in it so he smiles at them all politely and then turns his face into Charlie’s shoulder, so he isn’t forced into any unwanted, polite conversation. The lift slows down to their floor and he leads Charlie out after him, fumbling for his keys again with freezing hands.

“Need some help there?” Charlie grins.

“Fuck off,” Nick whines back, finally getting the key into the lock. He stumbles in, pulling Charlie in from behind him as he crowds him up against the wall for another kiss. “Home sweet home.”

“I can’t believe you live here now,” Charlie murmurs, bewildered. He isn’t looking at Nick, even though his hands are cupping Nick’s face. His eyes flit across the hallway and around, like it’s a sight he wants to properly take in. Nick has no idea why—it really is nothing special as far as uni accommodation goes, just six identical doors along the far wall, then a double doorway that leads them into their kitchen and living room area. 

“What do you mean?” he asks. “It’s just uni accommodation.”

“Yeah, I know,” Charlie says with a roll of his eyes. “But you live here and not at home anymore. It’s weird seeing it in person, I dunno.”

“Good weird or bad weird?” 

“I dunno,” Charlie says again. “Whatever. Let me see your room.”

“Hang on.” Nick tucks two fingers under Charlie’s chin and draws him in for a proper snog, much better than the one on the train platform. He feels Charlie melt into it, his grip on Nick’s face tightening as their tongues slide together, then he feels Charlie push himself up on his tiptoes, using the wall as extra leverage. 

He grins (he can’t help it) and breaks the kiss, but his grip on his boyfriend never falters. 

“I missed you so fucking much.”

Charlie beams at him, flushing a pretty shade of pink. “I missed you too. Like, so much.”

Nick shakes his head and chuckles. He’s so fucking happy. “Come on. Come to my room and let’s get you out of these wet clothes.”

Charlie scoops up his bag and follows him down to his bedroom, the last one at the end of the hallway. Nick unlocks the door and lets them inside, flicking on the light. It’s not a big or glamorous room by any means—just a single bed built into the wall with a desk and a wardrobe, then a little door that leads into a tiny ensuite. Charlie sighs as he sets his bag down again, pulling off his hoodie and tossing it over the desk chair. 

“Home sweet home indeed.”

“I always think it must look bigger on FaceTime,” Nick admits, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Single bed too. That’ll be fun.”

“We sleep in a single bed at mine,” Charlie points out. 

“Which is why we stay at mine more often,” Nick says pragmatically. “But yeah, nothing fancy.”

“This is fancy,” Charlie says, walking over to the wall of photos that Nick has pinned above his desk, all the way up to the ceiling. “Lots of little us’s staring at us as we make out on the bed.”

Nick chuckles. “I think you’re on there more than anyone. Even me.”

Charlie stabs his finger at a photo that Nick knows he hates; in the picture, he’s asleep at Tara’s house, passed out in the conservatory after a night of drinking, and he’d curled himself up in one of Nick’s rugby jumpers for warmth and it had absolutely swamped him. It makes Nick smile every time he sees it, so he’d given it pride of place on his photo wall, so his eye would always fall to it whenever he was stressing over his coursework. 

“I hate that picture.”

“I adore that picture,” Nick counters, moving over to wrap his arms around Charlie’s shoulders, burying his nose into his hair. He smells like rain and curl cream and home. “It makes me feel like I’m watching you even when we’re all these miles apart.”

Charlie turns in his arms, smiling in that shy way he still does when Nick says something particularly sappy. His hands come back up to rest on Nick’s cheeks and then they’re kissing again, drawn together like magnets as their lips meet over and over. 

Somehow, they end up on the bed. Nick presses Charlie into the pillows and licks into his mouth as Charlie winds both arms around Nick’s neck, every inch of their bodies tangled, touching, tender. 

Nick has not yet had sex in this bed (obviously), but Charlie’s got a single bed back at home, so it’s not like either of them are strangers to the mechanics of working around a small bed. The main difference between their setups is that Nick has a double duvet, but he’s quick to kick that off the edge of the bed so he can move easier, leaning back on his haunches so he can pull his hoodie off. He discards it on the floor and leans back in, attaching his mouth to Charlie’s neck. 

“Fuck,” Charlie whispers, hands fisting in Nick’s hair. “Jesus, Nick, I know I keep saying it, but I’ve missed you so much.”

“God, me too,” Nick groans. “I’ve missed you more than I thought possible, especially this term. This term was harder.”

“It was,” Charlie agrees. His hands toy with the bottom of Nick’s t-shirt. “I’ll feel better about it when you get your shirt off though.”

Nick laughs and pulls his t-shirt off in one fluid motion, then he turns to Charlie’s own state of dress. “I should think the same could be said about you.”

Clothes fly in all directions and pretty soon it’s all white hot heat, sweaty bodies tangling together and moving in perfect sync. They cling to each other like one of them has returned from war, unabashed in chasing both their pleasures. It’s been too long since they’ve had the chance to do this, and it’s an even rarer occasion that they’re alone in the house or not on a time crunch, so Nick relishes their time to coax the most beautiful, drawn out noises from his boyfriend and show him just how much he’s missed him.  

Once they’ve both come down from their highs and Nick’s gotten rid of the condom, he pulls Charlie into his arms and kisses him soundly. 

“You good?”

“Pretty great, yeah,” Charlie says as he tangles their legs together. “Sometimes I forget it’s that good, like, when we don’t get to do it for a while. But it’s always so good, you know, with you.”

Nick pretends to look affronted and twists Charlie’s nipple. “Um, hang on there. You’ve only had sex with me.” 

“Yeah?” Charlie blinks at him like he’s missed something. He’s fucking adorable. “That’s what I mean, idiot. Because we’re all in love and stuff.”

“And stuff.” Nick jabs him in the ribs and starts tickling him, which he knows Charlie fucking hates, but it’s always a fun way to wind his boyfriend up and have an excuse to touch him, so it’s a win-win, at least for him. 

Charlie grabs his hand, his eyes wide, lips parted. “Don’t you dare.”

“Or what?”

Nick redoubles his efforts, pushing himself up onto his knees and swinging a leg over Charlie’s smaller body. Charlie lets out a shriek, even louder than he was before when they were shagging, then slaps his free hand over his mouth. 

“I can’t believe you made me do that.”

Nick snorts. “Why? In case my housemates hear and think I’m torturing you?”

Charlie frowns. “I don’t think they’ll think it’s torture. Your housemates know I’m here, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.” Nick grins. “I haven’t shut the fuck up about it since we booked the train tickets.”

“Remind me of their names again?”

“Actually, do you want to meet them and get a proper introduction?” Nick tilts his head in the general direction of the kitchen. “They’ll probably all be in the kitchen making dinner by now.”

“Oh?” Charlie’s eyebrows shoot up. “Are they the people we’re going out with to the gay clubs?”

Nick nods. “Yeah. The whole gang wants to meet you and come out with you. I think, like, to some extent you’re already part of the gang because I talk about you all the time.”

Charlie shakes his head, looking embarrassed. “You are so annoying. People are going to expect you to be dating, like, Timothée Chalamet or something and then this random scruffy gay nerd turns up in his place.”

“But you’re my random scruffy gay nerd.” 

Sometimes, Nick’s heart feels too big for his chest when he speaks to Charlie, and now is one of those times. It’s not uncommon for Charlie to be self-deprecating about himself, but whenever he talks as though he’s worried he’s not good enough for Nick or his friends, he can’t help but feel overwhelmingly in love with him. He loves him so much that his heart aches with it, and more than anything in the world he wishes for him to see himself the way Nick sees him. 

Charlie is his random scruffy gay nerd, but he’s also his best friend and probably his soulmate and the love of his life, and even after three years of being together, he still can’t get used to how Charlie talks about himself. Half the time he’s not even saying anything particularly rough, but the way his tone and body language changes is enough to make Nick leap into defence mode. 

That’s Nick’s favourite person he’s talking about there, so Nick will defend him to the hilt. 

“I love you, scruffy gay nerd,” is what he settles on, clutching at the back of Charlie’s head and cradling it to his chest. Charlie mumbles the words back and presses a kiss just above Nick’s nipple, shuffling up so they’re both sharing the pillow. 

They don’t speak for a little while, content to just hold each other for a bit. They’re trading sleepy kisses when Nick realises that Charlie is shivering so he reluctantly unwinds himself from his embrace so he can pull the duvet up and over them. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me now,” he warns, though it doesn’t stop him from yawning into Charlie’s shoulder. He’s so warm and cuddly. “Are you hungry?”

Charlie shrugs as he matches Nick’s yawn. “Are you?”

“After that? I could eat.”

“Did you wear yourself out?” Charlie teases. Nick snorts. 

“Last time I checked, I wasn’t the one lying there while someone else did all the work…”

Charlie lets out a loud noise of protest and slaps a hand over Nick’s mouth. “Oh my god, shut up .”

Nick licks his palm until he lets go, then rolls him over for another sickeningly sweet snog. “Come on. I want you to meet the guys.”

They get dressed (Charlie takes great pride in dressing in Nick’s rugby hoodie, which delays them leaving the room for ten more minutes because he looks so fucking cute that Nick can’t bear to let him go), then they head towards the kitchen with their fingers tangled together. 

All of Nick’s flatmates are in the kitchen area, either cooking their dinner or sprawled on the sofas already eating. Nick clears his throat to let them know they’ve arrived. 

“Hi guys,” he says loudly, and everyone stops what they’re doing immediately. He feels Charlie’s grip on his hand tighten. “This is Charlie.”

“Charlie,” Holly yells, abandoning her pasta in favour of charging over and pulling him into a hug. Charlie drops Nick’s hand and goes—he doesn’t have much of a choice—but Nick stiffens, painfully aware that he doesn’t love to be touched by strangers. “It’s so nice to finally fucking meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Charlie stammers out. “Um, hi.”

“Give him back,” Nick harrumphs, sliding an arm around his waist. “This is Holly, Char. Then we’ve got Ben, Harry, Manrika, then over there is Claire.”

The irony of Nick’s two male housemates being called Ben and Harry isn’t lost on either of them and they share a secret smile. Luckily for Nick, both lads are incredibly different from the ones they know back home and they’ve become two of his closest friends since his move to Leeds. 

“Hi,” Charlie says again, offering them all a small wave. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, I can promise you, mate, the pleasure is all ours,” Ben says merrily. “We’ve all been desperate to meet you because Nick honestly never shuts the fuck up about you.”

Charlie giggles and turns to Nick, who just shrugs, unembarrassed. “Why does everyone act like it’s so weird for me to be obsessed with my boyfriend?”

“Because you’re not just obsessed with him,” Holly joins in. “Someone could say something like ‘I like orange squash’ and you’ll then launch into a ten minute story time about how much Charlie loves orange squash and one time he drank it and he looked so cute…”

“Okay, shut up now,” Nick huffs, but he’s laughing. “I guess I talk about him a lot but you get to meet him now. You can see for yourselves how brilliant he is.”

“Nick,” Charlie hisses, elbowing him in the tummy. “Stop overselling me.”

“In the nicest way possible, Charlie boy, Nick has basically sold you to us like you single-handedly hung the stars in the sky,” Ben says. “The moon, too.”

“Oh,” Charlie says, his smile embarrassed but very real. Nick just shrugs again and pecks him on the cheek. “I mean, thanks Nick?”

“Anyway,” Nick says, cuddling him closer, moving his arms up to wrap around his shoulders, and he tucks his chin over Charlie’s shoulder. “I love Charlie very much and here he is. No, he doesn’t have any baby photos of me on his phone but he will tell you about how awkward I was in high school and when we first started dating, okay?”

Everyone groans and, from somewhere to his side, a piece of popcorn hits Nick’s temple. 

“What the fuck was that for?”

“It’s worse than we thought,” Ben says to the room at large. “Nick Nelson is a hopeless romantic.” 

“They’re taking the piss,” Nick murmurs in Charlie’s ear. “Maybe I do talk you up, but I mean every word.”

“I know you do,” Charlie whispers back, pressing a quick kiss to Nick’s jaw. “I appreciate it.”

“How was your train journey?” Manrika asks, coming over and opening her arms for a hug that Charlie politely returns. “It’s a long old journey up from Kent, isn’t it?”

“It was fine,” Charlie says with a little shrug. “Pretty boring but I’ve got studying to do to fill the time.”

“Ah, the joy of A-levels,” Manrika drawls, then claps him on the shoulder. “And you’re coming here next year then?”

Charlie glances at Nick, who can’t help but grin like an idiot just at the thought. “Um, yeah. That’s the plan, anyway. I just need to get the grades first.”

“Which he will,” Nick says proudly. “Charlie’s much smarter than me.”

Everyone groans again. “Of course he is,” Holly says knowingly. “What are you hoping to study, Charlie?”

“Music with a minor in Maths.”

“That’s cool,” Ben says, wandering over and slinging an arm over Manrika’s shoulders. “I do a minor in Music, you know. If we get any of the same professors, I’ll give you my notes.”

“Wow, okay, yeah.” Charlie beams and nods. “Thank you.”

“I’m sure you’ll be round ours enough for me to get them to you,” Ben adds, waggling his eyebrows. “You’ll become one of the gang in no time.”

“Um, cool?”

“Right, thank you,” Nick says loudly. “Scaring the poor lad before he’s even remembered which of you is which.”

“I’m not scaring him,” Ben says, a hand on his chest like he’s affronted. “I’m being nice.”

Nick narrows his eyes. He likes his flatmates a lot but they’re very different people to Charlie, and he can’t help but feel incredibly protective and defensive, even off the bat. Maybe he’s being ridiculous, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. 

“Nick,” Charlie says softly. “It’s fine. He is being nice.”

“You see?” Ben clicks his tongue and then moves back over to the oven. “Not only is Nick Nelson a hopeless romantic, he’s also a drama queen.”

Charlie giggles and leans back against Nick’s chest. “Don’t I know it.”

Nick rolls his eyes and hooks his chin over Charlie’s shoulders. “Okay, yes, maybe. Sorry, I just… I forget we’re not still in high school sometimes.”

“It’s fine,” Charlie says again. “Come on, what are we having for tea?”

If it’s a ploy to change the subject by mentioning food, it works, and Nick can’t help the way his face lights up. “What would you like, love?”

“What do you have in?” 

“Not a lot, actually,” Nick says with a wince. “There’s a Tesco Express down the road if you want to nip down with me and we’ll find something.”

“I’ve got a pizza you guys could share?” Harry offers. “It’s ham and mushroom.”

Nick glances at Charlie, who offers back a small nod, and he grins even wider. “Yeah, if that’s alright, cheers. I’ll buy you a replacement next time I go to the shop.”

“Thank you,” Charlie tacks on. “That’s really kind of you.”

“Do you want a drink?” Nick reluctantly drops his hold around Charlie’s middle and tilts his head, gesturing he should sit on the sofa. “Water or squash or…”

“Water is fine,” Charlie tells him, smiling gratefully. “Thanks.”

Nick busies himself with popping the pizza in the oven (thankfully already on) and fixing himself and Charlie two cups of water. By the time he’s rejoined him on the couch, Charlie is giggling away at a story that Holly’s telling him about Nick drinking a dirty pint during freshers week and throwing up down himself in a pub, which was not one of his finest moments. 

“Funnily enough, no, he didn’t mention this to me,” Charlie drawls as Nick sits down next to him. “Why is that, Nick?”

“Because I knew you’d take the piss out of me forever, that’s why.” He isn’t really that bothered, but he just felt that Charlie could do without the image of him covered in vomit. “You’ve got all this to come, love.”

“Yeah, like Saturday night,” Holly giggles. “You’ve never been clubbing before, we’ve heard?”

Charlie shakes his head. “I’ve literally only just turned 18. I’m a baby when it comes to going out.”

“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” Claire chimes in. “Honestly though, the gay nights out up here are some of the best. The best music, the best vibes…”

“You all go gay clubbing?” Charlie asks, sounding surprised. “Even, like, even though you’re not gay?”

“Of course,” Holly says. “There’s loads of socials with the LGBTQ society that we go on. Also, like, I’m bi as well and Ben’s gay.”

Ben salutes them. “Guilty as charged.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“It’s fine,” Holly grins. “You say sorry a lot, young Charlie.”

Nick groans. “Don’t I know it.”

“Shut up,” Charlie tells him. “Sorry.”

Nick snorts and drops his arm so it’s hanging between Charlie’s legs, and he gives the back of his calf a quick squeeze. In turn, Charlie leans back into him and lets his head thump back on his shoulder. Nick kisses his temple and smiles. 

Holly groans. “You two are so fucking cute, I can’t even stand to look at you. You can actually fuck off.”

“Nah,” Nick says, then starts kissing Charlie several times in quick succession. “I’m quite happy here actually.”

“I’m sure you are,” Holly tuts. “Your pizza’s burning, by the way.”

“ Shit .” Nick scrabbles to his feet and stumbles over Holly’s legs to get to the oven. The pizza is hardly burning—it’s a little black around the edges, but he’s happy to eat the less desirable half—and he clumsily scoops it onto a random plate. He cuts it into slices with a bread knife and tucks a piece into his mouth, then heads back over to the sofas. 

“Thanks,” Charlie says with a pleased smile as Nick sits back down. Nick is quick to drop a supportive hand onto Charlie’s leg and makes a point to join in the conversation, letting Charlie pick up the pizza in his own time. 

Someone puts the telly on and they end up watching Shrek of all things, laughing and shouting out quotes and singing the songs at the top of their lungs. It’s really good fun and they all end up in pools of laughter for the whole evening, then once the film comes to an end, one by one, they all call out their good nights and traipse off to bed. 

Nick and Charlie head back to their room hand in hand, even though it’s barely twenty feet away, and once they’re inside, Nick locks the door and sighs happily. 

“That was a good laugh,” he says to Charlie, who’s currently bent over rifling through his bag. “Thank you for hanging out with them.”

Charlie stands back up, with his pyjamas and wash kit in his hands. “It was good fun,” he agrees. “I like your friends.”

“They like you,” Nick says, walking over and taking the things out of his hands, wrapping Charlie up in an embrace. “Not that I ever doubted, of course. You are perfect.”

“Shut up,” Charlie huffs, but he blushes prettily as he cuddles Nick back. “You really have over sold me to that lot, you know.”

“I have done no such thing,” Nick says, bopping him on the nose. “You’re brilliant and funny and fun to be around. It’s really weird when you come away from school, you know, when you realise that the stupid high school hierachies actually mean nothing at all.”

“I know they mean nothing…”

“But do you?” Nick didn’t mean for the conversation to get so serious all of a sudden, but he never feels like he can get through to Charlie enough. “Because people here don’t give a shit if you’re popular or not in school. The lads didn’t ask me if we were in the same friendship group or anything like that. They asked me if I was happy or how much I missed you, you know?”

He hears Charlie gulp. “And are you happy?”

Nick almost wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all. “I’m the happiest, Char. The happiest I’ve ever been.” He smacks a kiss onto his lips. “Are you happy?”

“Me? Yeah, I’m happy,” Charlie grins, then kisses him again. “With you, like, I’m just always happy. I miss you like mad, obviously, but knowing I’ve got this to look forward to next year is really keeping me going.”

“Me too,” Nick tells him. “Fuck, I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Charlie murmurs, and then they’re kissing again, open mouthed and messy. It’s one of those kisses that makes Nick’s head spin, like he’s not quite attached to reality anymore because all he knows and thinks and breathes for is Charlie. He’s pretty sure they’ll never ever be able to get close enough, not unless he can find a way to meld the two of them together and keep Charlie with him at all times. 

He really wouldn’t be opposed to that idea, and he has a sneaking suspicion that Charlie wouldn’t be either. 

They’re both tired though, and the kiss doesn’t go anywhere more than just kissing to be close, kissing because they’ve missed each other like mad and they no longer have to fight the pull that keeps them together. Nick is infinitely happier when he’s with Charlie and their love language has always been touching just to touch, whether that’s holding hands or linking their pinkies or curling up in each other’s arms in a wholly inappropriate way in any social setting. 

There’s something so routine and familiar about how Charlie holds him and he holds Charlie. Their arms clutch at each other like they fit there, Charlie’s smaller hand slotting into the hairs at the nape of Nick’s neck, while his arms wrap around Charlie’s slender waist, anchoring them together. It’s his favourite place to be in the whole wide world. 

Here in the safety and comfort of Nick’s little room though, his personal space that’s just his and nobody else’s, he’s not going to stop touching Charlie for anything. Even when they (reluctantly) separate so Charlie can jump in the shower while Nick unpacks his things for him, he still joins him in the bathroom after, tucked together as they clean their teeth. 

Charlie gets into bed as Nick hurries through the shower himself, then once he’s pulled on some fresh boxers and a random old t-shirt, he flicks the main light off and makes sure the door is locked. 

“Budge up.” Nick pushes at Charlie’s spindly legs so he moves closer to the wall, then he slides into bed next to him. Their legs tangle together easily and their fingers link together over Nick’s chest, and Nick cocks his head to the side to rest it on Charlie’s shoulder. “Perfect.”

“This will not be a comfortable sleeping position,” Charlie points out, but he doesn’t make any effort to move. 

“We can sleep in a bit,” Nick says, then moves his head over so he doesn’t yawn directly in Charlie’s face. He’s tired after a long week of late nights, trying to get his work done in advance so he doesn’t have much to do while Charlie’s here, but now he’s actually with him in his bed, the last thing he wants to do is sleep. “Tell me about school and stuff. How’s it going?”

“We talk every day,” Charlie mumbles, like he’s trying to cover his own yawn as he speaks. “You know how school is.”

“I know, but I want to hear you talk for a bit.” 

“Okay, but let’s not talk about school. I’d rather hear you talk about uni and life up here or whatever.”

Nick snuffles a sleepy laugh. “I was hoping I could just listen to you and not do much of the talking.”

“We could just sleep,” Charlie suggests, then rolls over so he’s properly on his side, arm draped over Nick’s middle. “I’ll still be here in the morning.”

“I know,” Nick says, sighing. His grip on Charlie tightens and he makes the move to roll over so he’s spooning Charlie from behind. He fumbles behind him and flicks off the lamp. “Okay. Sleep now.”

“Sleep now,” Charlie repeats, already sounding halfway off to sleep. “I love you.”

“Fuck, I love you so much.” Nick kisses the back of Charlie’s neck and adjusts his hold so it’s less tight, but then Charlie takes his hand and keeps it in place against his chest. 

He’s out like a light in seconds, and he sleeps better than he has in weeks. 

*

Nick wakes up to Charlie staring at him. 

It takes a few seconds for him to realise that he’s in his university bed with Charlie in his arms, but when he does, he breaks out into a huge grin and snuggles closer, hooking his chin over Charlie’s shoulder, tugging him closer. 

“Why are you watching me?” he hums, arms linking across Charlie’s back. “Did you miss me that much?”

“Maybe,” Charlie giggles, snuggling closer. He kisses Nick’s neck. “I know we hate single beds, but it is funny that I sleep better with you in one than without you.”

“Same.” Nick presses three kisses in quick succession to Charlie’s cheek. “This bed sucks but it’s better with you in it.”

“What a line,” Charlie says with a groan. “I wonder if you’ll be able to get a double bed when you move out in second year.”

“I think I do,” Nick murmurs, leaning back on the pillows and winding one of Charlie’s curls around his finger. “I haven’t chosen my room yet but I think I’ve got a good argument for a double.”

“What, me?” Charlie blinks at him. “But I’ll have my own place. Well, hopefully.”

“You will,” Nick says. “But if we’re in the same city, I have the feeling we’ll be together a lot. I mean, I don’t want to distract you from your studies or anything but we’re going to be in the same city, you know?”

“That was a really good sentence,” Charlie says, smiling cheekily. “I think I do know that when we’re in the same city, we’ll be in the same city.”

“Shut up,” Nick whines. “I just woke up.”

“I’m teasing,” Charlie hums. “But yeah, I think we will. If you’re not too embarrassed to be seen with a fresher, of course.”

“Char, we’ve been dating for a million years,” Nick laughs. “I don’t think you being a fresher in my university— your university next year—will make a single shred of difference.”

“Sounds weird to say we’ve been dating,” Charlie says. He hooks his leg through both of Nick’s so they’re pretty much entirely tangled together. “But yeah, I suppose. I still can’t believe I might live here soon.”

“I’ll take you on a city tour at some point,” Nick says. “Just, like, have a stroll around the city and I’ll show you all the places to go and the places I think you’d like. I have a few I want to show you.”

Charlie raises his eyebrows. “Like what?”

“Like the board game café,” Nick says. “Or there’s this place that’s like a hub for computer games. And then there’s an open drum night at one of the student bars so you can just go in and play the drums, kind of like karaoke.”

Charlie’s face lights up. “You found all these places for me?”

“Of course,” Nick says, shaking his head. It makes him chuckle how disbelieving his boyfriend is sometimes, but he can’t deny that he still gets an unrivalled zing of joy whenever Charlie smiles at him like that. “You’re not just coming to this uni to be with me, you know? You’re going to be living here too.”

“In the same city as you, yes,” Charlie grins, taking Nick’s face in his hands and pecking him lightly on the lips. “I love you, you know.”

“I love you too.” No matter how many times they say it, Nick still can’t believe how much he means it. Charlie really is his favourite person in the whole entire world and he’ll do anything to keep him smiling like this, soft and happy in a too-small bed. There’s nowhere else in the world he’d rather be. “I can’t wait until you’re here all the time.”

“We’ll never sleep apart, will we?” Charlie says. “I don’t want to sleep apart if we can help it.”

“Depends,” Nick murmurs. He traces patterns into Charlie’s arm with his fingers. “During freshers week, you’ll probably want to stay with your flatmates and course mates and stuff. That’s the best way to get to know these people. But after that, I’m not so sure we will, no.”

“Yeah, like, I don’t want to be too codependent,” Charlie says, sounding more earnest than Nick thinks he really is. “But if there’s the option for us to stay in the same bed and we’re not too far away from each other, I just think we’d be foolish not to.”

“Me neither,” Nick admits, “but you need to spend some time in your flat and stuff. You’re always welcome round mine, obviously, but I don’t want to stop you from having your own uni experience because I’m needy.”

“We’re both needy,” Charlie points out. “It’s probably why we work so well together.”

Nick grins and knocks their lips together, kissing Charlie languidly just because he can. Even though they’ve not long woken up, things turn messy and charged pretty quickly, and soon their pyjamas are off and thrown to the ground. Their bodies wrap around each other like vines and they move together in that perfect, well practiced harmony that makes Nick’s heart feel like it’s too big for his chest, like he can’t imagine how this could get any better, but it always seems to. 

They don’t get out of bed for hours.

By the time the afternoon rolls around and the pair are up and dressed and sharing a lasagne that Nick found in the back of his freezer drawer on the couch in the living room, a little notification pops up on Nick’s phone to remind him that his lecture is in an hour. He groans. 

“Yeah, I’m not going,” he says decisively. “Silly of me to pretend that I was, really.”

Charlie frowns. “You’re not gonna go?”

“I was never going to go,” Nick scoffs. “I’m not going to spend an hour and a half sitting in an overcrowded lecture hall when I could sit with you.”

“Won’t they mark you absent though?” Charlie worries his bottom lip between his teeth. 

“No,” Nick says with a snort. “Seminars have marked attendance but lectures don’t. And this one has, like, two hundred people in it so I doubt anybody would even notice.”

“Okay.” Charlie’s grip around Nick’s middle gets tighter. “In that case, what do you want to do?”

“Whatever you want, love.” Nick waggles his eyebrows. “We could go somewhere like the cinema, or crazy golf? Or we could go for fancy cocktails?”

“Like a date?”

“Like a date,” Nick confirms. “Like I’m trying to woo you all over again.”

Charlie’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me? I wooed you, if anything.”

“Sure you did.” Nick shuffles down the couch and pulls his legs up, sliding them onto Charlie’s body so there’s pretty much no part of them that isn’t touching. He wraps his arms around Charlie’s shoulders and buries his nose in his hair. He smells like sweat and Nick’s own cologne, probably because he’s not stopped wearing Nick’s clothes basically since he got here. “We could also just stay here for a bit, if you wanted.”

“I’d like that,” Charlie hums. “And then we can go out later.” He glances up, rubbing his chin against Nick’s chest. “I just want to be with you for a bit.”

Nick smiles and closes his eyes, hugging him tighter. “Do you fancy a nap?”

“God, yeah, that sounds lovely actually.” Charlie shifts up a little so he’s resting his head more on Nick’s shoulder than his chest, resting on his side so they’re more comfortably balanced on the uncomfortably boxy sofa. 

“Love you,” Nick murmurs, then he’s pretty sure he falls asleep before he even hears Charlie’s mirroring response. 

It’s a very lovely nap, until he’s jerked awake by all five of his fucking housemates yelling right by their ears to wake them up. He lets out the most undignified scream of his life and clutches Charlie painfully close because his stupid unawake brain tells him there’s a real threat. Similarly, Charlie’s hands fist in Nick’s shirt so tightly that they hear fabric rip, which makes everyone laugh even harder. 

“You’re all fucking pricks,” Nick hisses, scrabbling to sit up. Charlie slides away from his body with a thud, rubbing at his eyes to try and wake himself up. “Jesus Christ , guys.”

“Nah, that was fucking funny,” Ben howls, slapping his thighs. “Holly, you got it on film, yeah?”

“Duh,” Holly says, then turns her phone landscape so everyone can watch. Nick feels himself burning red when he sees how much of a full body reaction he has and how tightly he clutches at Charlie’s body, like he’s genuinely scared he’s going to be taken away from him. 

“ Bastards .”

“Aw, look at how you’re clinging to me,” Charlie coos teasingly. “It’s so cute.”

“I’m breaking up with you too,” Nick says flatly, which makes everyone cackle again. “Fucking hell .”

Ben claps him on the shoulder. “Little cuties, aren’t ya?” 

“Broken up cuties, apparently,” Charlie says dryly. “Better go and pack my things.”

“If the way he grabbed at you in that video is anything to go off, I’ll be surprised if he lets you get to the door.”

“Yeah, I said that I wanted to break up with you, not that you have to leave,” Nick insists. Charlie cocks his eyebrow. “We’ve got a table booked for later, remember?”

“Ooh, you guys are going on a hot date?”

Nick snatches Charlie’s hand back and pulls him back towards him. “I guess so now we’re broken up. We’ve got to rekindle the magic.”

Ben and Holly exchange glances between themselves, then look Nick and Charlie up and down. They’ve been back in the vicinity of each other for all of ten seconds, yet Nick’s arms are around Charlie’s waist, Charlie’s hand is resting on Nick’s chest, his other hand tucked under his shirt at the back. 

“What?” they both say in sync, in the same deadpan tone. 

Everyone falls about laughing all over again. 

Halfway through getting changed, Nick realises he’s not actually booked the table at the cocktail bar before he fell asleep. He stutters all the way through telling Charlie that, embarrassed, but Charlie is quick to step into his space and kiss the apologies off his lips. 

“Nick,” he says firmly, cutting off Nick’s babbling, “you don’t have to apologise. You know it’s fine if we don’t go out.”

“No, I want us to go out,” Nick says, pulling him in. “You’ve not come all the way to Leeds to lie in my bed.”

There’s a pause. “Well…”

“Charlie,” Nick laughs. “Come on, darling. Let’s go out.”

“Okay, okay.” Charlie kisses him quickly, just one little peck. “Let’s go for silly overpriced cocktails, okay?”

And they have a fucking great time doing it. 

Charlie isn’t wrong; they’re usually fine with not going out because they don’t need to. They’re perfectly content just being in each other’s company and staying in usually avoids any food issues, so they watch a lot of movies, play a lot of Mario Kart, and spend a lot of time kissing in various states of undress, depending on who else is in the house. 

But being out in a nice bar, located not too far from the club they’ll be heading to tomorrow, daring each other to try the cocktails with the stupidest names, that’s special too. 

Nick orders Charlie something called Sex with an Alligator (which is actually quite nice) and Charlie retaliates with something called the Blood of Satan, which is pretty fucking disgusting. He pulls a face all the way through drinking it because Charlie insists he must finish it (“I paid nine quid for that, Nick!”) and then immediately orders them two Mai Tais to wash it down with. 

Their ankles stay locked together until the table, fingers tangled together between the glasses as they make easy conversation. It’s nothing they’ve never done before, of course, but somehow it feels different doing it here in Leeds, like they’ve come all this way for an evening apart from everyone and it really is just the two of them in their own little world. 

They don’t stay out too late because neither of them want to be hungover for the following day, but they’re tipsy enough to be handsy as they walk home, stopping in the street to snog against a lamppost. 

“This is the life,” Nick sighs into his mouth. “This is what I wanted from uni. You and me in this city together, doing shit like this.”

Charlie clings to him, smiling brighter than all the street lights around them. “Really?”

Nick nods and kisses him again. “Really.”

When they have sex again that night, foreheads pressed together as they move in perfect sync, Charlie tangles both his hands in Nick’s hair and links his legs around Nick’s back, anchoring them together. 

“Never break up with me,” he begs, his eyes falling closed as Nick aims particularly well inside him. “Never leave me.”

Nick’s mouth falls open. “What?” he groans, then pulls him even closer. “No, never. Never.”

“Never,” Charlie echoes. 

“Never ,” Nick grunts out as his orgasm hits him like a bullet. “Never ever, my perfect boy.”

“Yes.” Charlie’s back arches off the bed and he clings to Nick even tighter as his own pleasure washes over him. “Same. Never ever. Love you so much.”

Nick pants into his mouth as he comes down, pulling Charlie even closer so they can kiss (it’s half-hearted at best because they’re both panting, but it feels like the thing to do). “Love you so much,” he assures him again and again, pressing damp kisses into his cheek, his jaw, his hair. “Breaking up is, like, the emptiest threat of all time.”

Charlie hums happily. “I thought so, but it’s nice to hear it.”

“I’ll tell you every day.” Nick moves to pull out and makes quick work of sorting them both out, moping them down and disposing of the condom by wrapping it in a baby wipe and chucking it in the vague direction of the bin. Ever since Harry told him in fresher’s week (when he still thought Nick was single and interested in a one night stand) about keeping a packet of baby wipes by the bed for hurried clean ups, it’s changed his life. 

Charlie adjusts his legs so one is draped over Nick’s middle. “You don’t have to,” he murmurs. “But I like hearing it. You’re so good to me, Nick.”

Nick smiles and laces their fingers together, going back to pressing silly little kisses into Charlie’s sweaty skin. Part of him thinks they should shower, but he’s definitely been around Charlie in a grosser state. 

“Hey, there’s nobody I’d rather cling onto for dear life.”

Charlie laughs and clings to him tighter. “Yeah, same.”

The last thing Nick thinks before he drops off to sleep is that he’d probably cling to Charlie forever if he had to, especially if Charlie holds him back, lips pressed to his neck as he drifts off to sleep. 

It’s a nice thought. 

A very nice thought indeed. 

*

Saturday morning is deliciously slow. Nick wakes up with Charlie curled up on his chest, snuffling away in his sleep. It isn’t very often this happens, where Charlie sleeps longer than Nick, so he takes the time to relish it, trailing light fingers down his arm and over his jaw, playing with his curls, taking in how peaceful he looks in sleep. 

All too soon, Charlie wakes up and yawns right in his face, which is just lovely. Nick pulls a face but immediately pulls him in for a soft, sleepy cuddle. 

No parents, no siblings, no dogs, no responsibilities to kick them out of bed. He could get very used to this. 

Since they’re going out that evening, they have a very lazy day, much like the day before. They laze around watching Instagram reels and TikToks until Charlie begs for a coffee, so they get up and hang around in the kitchen instead. Saturdays are the days that their gigantic Sainsbury’s order of all their pasta and jars of pesto and jumbo bottles of vodka arrive, but Nick lets the others put it all away while he stays with Charlie on the sofa as they share another oven pizza. 

Nobody else has any plans apparently, because they all just end up piled on the sofa together watching random episodes of Friends until it’s time to get ready. They don’t really watch the show so much as chat over all of it, talking about which of them would be each member of the cast and laughing until their ribs hurt at Harry’s truly terrible impression of Ross Geller. 

Nick orders them a KFC on Uber Eats for their dinner and they eat it in the kitchen as everyone makes their own dinners, lining their stomachs for their night out. After they’ve finished, someone puts the music channel on the telly at full volume, then everyone heads back to their rooms and props the doors open so the girls can do their makeup and everyone can get ready together. 

Charlie gathers his clothes up and sheepishly disappears into the bathroom to change. Nick, who is comfortable enough around these people to change in front of them, swaps his hoodie and shorts for a pair of jeans and a tight fitting white t-shirt that clings to his arms just so , which he knows Charlie loves. He puts a necklace and some rings on, spritzes himself with some aftershave, and is just pulling his shoes on when Charlie emerges. 

He’s wearing a plain long-sleeved black shirt and grey skinny jeans, his hair tousled so his curls are pulled to the front, sitting styled on his forehead. His socked feet shuffle across the bedroom floor towards his bag, but Nick stops him before he gets there and cups his face, giving him a greedy once-over at arms length. 

Charlie blushes. “What?”

“You look stunning.” Nick teases the curls at the front of Charlie’s hair, biting his lip. “You really do. I love your hair like this.”

“Shut up,” Charlie huffs. “I look the same as I always do.” His eyes trail up and down Nick’s body. “But you look…”

“I look the same as I always do,” Nick echoes, then kisses the protests right off Charlie’s lips. “Take the compliment, my darling. You look unreal.”

Charlie still looks like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. His cheeks are flaming red as he kisses Nick one more time and then busies himself with sorting out his bag. Nick sits on the edge of his bed and messes around on his phone for a bit, occasionally chiming in with the conversation going on in the rest of the flat, then once Charlie is ready, they head down to the kitchen to get some drinks. 

Harry’s already in the kitchen, drinking a beer on the sofa. “Hey,” he greets, leaping to his feet. “What are you boys drinking?”

“I’ll have a beer too. Char?”

“I’ve got a bottle of Lambrini because I’m cheap.”

Harry bursts out laughing. “Oh my god, Lambrini. As if I couldn’t already love you more, Charlie-boy.”

They make easy chatter as a trio as Harry pours their drinks and they wait for the rest of the flat to arrive. Apparently, a few people from the flat next door might pop over and come out with them; Nick likes them well enough, but he couldn’t really give a shit who he sees tonight other than Charlie and his core group. He trusts these guys to make his boyfriend’s first clubbing experience the best ever, and that shows when the girls come charging in, all dressed up to the nines, and immediately drag Charlie into a photo shoot for Instagram. 

The drinks continue to flow and the conversation moves through everything from what the clubbing scene is like in everyone’s hometowns to everyone’s favourite drinking game. Nick isn’t a huge fan of drinking games, but Charlie seems to perk up at the idea. 

“We play Fingers sometimes,” he says. “But not gonna lie, we don’t really do, like, Never Have I Ever or anything like that.”

Everyone blinks at him. “Um, why? It’s the best one,” Claire says. 

“Yeah, but my friendship group is small enough that I already know everything,” Charlie explains. 

“So? The point is to make people feel, like, smug or embarrassed about the stuff they’ve done,” Claire replies. “Have you ever played it with a group of people you don’t know that well?”

Charlie shakes his head. “I’ve never been out drinking or, like, parties without my friends.”

“Let’s play,” Ben chirps. “Come on, we’ll get the dirt on these two.”

“I never kiss and tell,” Nick says somberly, dropping his free arm around Charlie’s shoulders. “And you don’t have to either.”

“Don’t be fucking boring, Nelson,” Harry groans. “Let Charlie play the game.”

“I do kiss and tell,” Charlie says very seriously. “Nick and I kissed once and it was, like, fine? He’s not the best kisser…”

“ Oi .” Nick’s mouth drops open as the group roars with laughter. “Do you want to sleep on the couch tonight?”

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Harry says gleefully. “I’ll start. Never have I ever done bum stuff.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Nick squeaks. “Bum stuff.”

He sighs and takes a chug of his beer. Beside him, Charlie drinks and, funnily enough, so does a very pink Holly. 

“Gross,” she says with a grimace.

“We’ll skip the boring ones and go straight in with a fun one,” Ben says gleefully, then looks directly at Nick. “Never have I ever had sex with someone in this room.” He waggles his eyebrows. “And finish your drink if you’ve had sex with them this weekend.”

“Fucking hell, Ben,” Nick groans, but he obediently tips his drink back and necks the whole thing. Beside him, Charlie does the same. “Go for the jugular.”

“Just making sure you’re both getting involved,” Ben laughs. “Okay, Manrika, it’s your turn.”

“Never have I ever been in love,” Manrika drawls, waggling her immaculate eyebrows. “Although to be honest, I’m not even sure that’s a flex.”

“I haven’t got anything to drink, but yeah,” Nick says, then groans as Charlie thrusts his cup at him. “Did you even drink?”

“Of course I did,” Charlie says, pouting. “You said you didn’t have a drink.”

“Someone get the boy a drink,” Manrika hollers. Seconds later, there’s a can of Carling in his hand and, on his other side, Claire is pouring Lambrini into Charlie’s cup. 

“Never have I ever had a one night stand,” she says for her turn. A couple of people drink, which isn’t new information for Nick. “Not either of you? Fuck’s sake. I want the dirt on the two of you.”

“And that’s the question you chose?” Manrika asks incredulously. “Bloody idiot.”

“I’ve literally only kissed one boy,” Nick grumbles. “Charlie is literally my first everything. First kiss with a boy, first shag with a boy…”

“We’re each other’s one and only,” Charlie chimes in, resting his head on Nick’s shoulder and gazing up at him. “First love and only love and all that.”

Nick beams and leans down to kiss him, and all the group coo. 

“This isn’t fucking fair,” Holly whines. “Look how gorgeous the two of you are. So in love I can barely stand to look at you.”

“It’s actually pretty unfair to meet your other half like this when you’re still in school,” Manrika adds. “Some of us haven’t met one nice boy in all our years of searching.”

“Sorry?” Charlie says, and Nick has to bite his lip to keep from bursting out laughing. Trust bloody Charlie to apologise for the two of them being happy, for crying out loud. “If it helps, I didn’t meet a single nice boy before Nick. I had a really nasty, like, sort of boyfriend…”

“He wasn’t a boyfriend, he was a fucking dickhead,” Nick cuts in, affronted. He grips at Charlie’s leg a little tighter. “God, fucking Ben.”

“What did I do?” Ben asks from the other sofa. Charlie bursts out laughing. 

“Has Nick not told you that the two people we hated the most in school were actually called Ben and Harry?”

Nick snorts and shrugs. “I don’t think I did tell them, but Charlie and I have had a good laugh about that, lads.”

“Charming,” Ben tuts. “So what did dickhead Ben do then?”

Charlie opens his mouth, but Nick really doesn’t want to talk about Ben Hope right now. This is his safe space, up here in Leeds, and he doesn’t want Charlie’s first proper LGBT night to feature any mention of that prick. 

“He was vile to Charlie and I had to put him and dickhead Harry in their places more than once,” he says loudly. “But that’s another story for another day, yeah? Only good things tonight.”

Charlie closes his mouth and shrugs. “Yeah, he was nasty,” he mumbles. “But, um, yeah. Sorry.”

“Oh, god, you never need to apologise,” Nick rushes out. “But I only want tonight to be about good things, and they’re not one of them, yeah?”

“Uh, yeah.” Charlie nods, then stares down at his feet. 

The silence in the room is a little bit awkward after that, until Holly yells out for everyone to do shots. Suddenly, there’s a bottle of apple schnapps being passed around, and Nick watches with an open mouth as Charlie swigs a good amount straight from the bottle rather than pouring it into a shot glass. 

“Since when could you do that?” he asks incredulously, before it’s thrust into his hand. “Oh, god, do I really just neck this?”

“Don’t be a pussy, Nelson,” Ben yells from across the room. “We… like to drink with Nick, ‘cos Nick is our mate!”

Obediently, Nick chugs down the sweet liquid, wincing when he pulls away. “God, that’s disgusting.”

“It’s not that bad,” Charlie counters, then plucks it back out of Nick’s hands and takes another swig. “I like it.”

“You have terrible taste in booze,” Nick tells him, grimacing as he smacks a kiss into Charlie’s mouth and it tastes of schnapps. Charlie pouts at him. “What? You do.”

“Alright, beer drinker,” Charlie shoots back. “Are you straight or something?”

“I’ll fucking show you straight.”

Nick shoves the bottle into Claire’s outstretched hands and grabs Charlie by the shoulders, kissing him with all his might. It doesn’t last long because a bottle cap hits the back of Nick’s head and they break apart, and Nick waves his middle finger around before grabbing Charlie’s hand and pulling him to his feet. 

Once the bottle has been passed around the room and runs empty, the games fizzle out and more people turn up at the door, Nick and Charlie end up away from the sofas and standing against the far wall, tucked away from everyone, hands tangled together. 

“Sorry for bringing up Ben earlier,” Charlie mumbles. His eyes don’t quite meet Nick’s, settling on his chest rather than his face. “I know you hate talking about it.”

“Hey, no,” Nick says, sliding an arm around his middle and pressing a gentle kiss onto Charlie’s forehead. “It’s literally fine. I didn’t mean to talk over you or anything.”

“No, it’s okay.” Charlie looks up, dropping an arm over Nick’s shoulder, fingers messing with the short hairs at the nape of his neck. “I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s the kind of thing I don’t like talking about, but it was, like, word vomit.” 

Nick snorts. “Babe, you’re absolutely fine. I’ve just, like, had a couple of drinks and I don’t want to go on a proper rant about how much of a piece of shit he was.” He leans into Charlie’s space, lips hovering only a few inches from his boyfriend’s. “I don’t know why you’re still always so surprised that I’m protective of you.”

Charlie honest to god giggles , cheeks pink. “I don’t either. I just… I love you. I love being here with you and I don’t for a second want you to be annoyed that I said something dumb.”

“You’re being dumb right now if you think I could be annoyed at you for anything like that,” Nick tuts. He closes the gap between their lips, licking into Charlie’s mouth languidly, tasting the Lambrini on his tongue. When they pull back, they stay connected by a thin trail of spit, which makes them both giggle. 

“Sorry.”

“You’re killing me,” Nick laughs, nudging even closer. “How is that something to even apologise for?”

Charlie shrugs. “I don’t know. I feel a little tipsy, you know.”

“Good. I love tipsy Charlie.” Nick kisses him again. “Do you want to go and mingle?”

Charlie shrugs again. “Do you?”

Nick glances over his shoulder. There’s a few familiar faces in the room, but quite a few he doesn’t recognise, and he’d much rather spend time with his favourite face. “Nah,” he says. “I mean, I don’t want to stop you from, like, meeting anyone or whatever but…”

“Nick, who do you think I am all of a sudden?” Charlie laughs. “I would obviously much prefer to stay here with you, but I don’t want to be antisocial if you don’t want to be.”

Nick cuts him off with a kiss, one that may be wholly inappropriate given their communal location, but he really doesn’t give a fuck. His grip around Charlie’s middle is tight and possessive, because while he is thrilled that he seems to be getting on well with his friends and housemates, there’s a selfish part of him that wants to keep Charlie all to himself, always. 

They only break apart when a sheepish Claire taps Nick on the shoulder. “You’re blocking the fridge,” she says with an awkward grimace. “Sorry.”

“Sorry,” Charlie says as Nick hauls him backwards a few steps. “Do you want us to move somewhere else?”

Claire looks them up and down and snorts. “You can stand there and make out for all I care, I just wanted my mixers.”

Nick pulls him in so they’re chest to chest. “Good, we won’t be moving.” 

“Carry on.” Claire gestures in their direction, and Nick chuckles as he guides Charlie’s mouth back to his own. 

They stay by the fridge, making easy chat and snogging until Ben yells to the group that the taxis are on their way. Nick slings his arm over Charlie’s shoulder as he guides him towards their room to collect their wallets and use the bathroom. 

“Do you think you’ll be warm enough?”

“Jesus, Nick,” Charlie laughs. “Are you my mum or your boyfriend?”

“I’m just checking,” Nick says, holding his hands up in defence. “I never take jackets out because I lose them, but I know you’re always cold.”

“I guess you’ll have to keep me warm then, won’t you?”

Nick grabs Charlie and is seconds away from kissing him again, but a resounding thump on the door makes them both jump. 

“Oi,” a voice yells; Nick thinks it’s probably Holly. “Get your arses moving, the taxis are here.”

“Yes, we know,” Nick grumbles, resigning himself to a quick peck to Charlie’s lips before tangling their fingers. They head out and Nick hurries to lock the door, then they hurry downstairs to meet the rest of the gang. 

It’s not a long taxi ride into town, and once they get there they head straight to Wetherspoons for their first round of drinks. Predictably, one of the bouncers stops Charlie entering without showing ID first, and everyone coos and boos as he fumbles to pull his green license out of his wallet. 

“Alright,” the bouncer says gruffly, after he’s given Charlie a good once over and returned his license to him. “Baby face and all that.”

“Charming,” Nick scoffs as he leads Charlie inside. Charlie giggles and shakes his head. 

“Come on, I was expecting it. You can’t tell me you weren’t.”

“I mean, you do have a baby face, but I don’t think the bouncer needed to tell you you do.”

The table they find themselves at is actually several tables put together, sticky with the remnants of earlier drinks and what looks like (what Nick hopes) is salt. Everyone hurries to order drinks on the app as the bar queues are hideously long, so Nick orders two beers for himself and a pitcher of some fruity cocktail for Charlie. 

“That looks disgusting,” he tells him when it arrives. “Should anything consumable be that colour?”

“Probably not,” Charlie says with a bemused grin, but he drops his straw into it and slurps away at it happily. “It tastes alright. Certainly better than whatever you were drinking last night.”

“Let me try some.” Nick shifts his seat forward and wraps his lips around the straw, frowning as the taste of pure sugar and unmixed vodka hits his tongue. “Okay, gross.”

“Stick to your beers then, rugby lad.”

Nick does indeed stick to his beers, sinking five pints (as well as a couple of sambuca shots) before they head out to the club. It’s coming up to 11pm so it’s pretty chilly, but none of them ever wear coats out because it’ll be too hot in the club and the alcohol blanket tends to keep them in check. 

Having said that, Charlie balls his hands into the long sleeves of his shirt to the point where Nick can’t hold his hand. Instead, he keeps an arm slinked across his shoulders as they stumble through the busy streets, lined with people queuing and stumbling out of various other bars and pubs. 

It’s not a long walk to their club of choice, and by the time they get there, everyone is ready for a dance and another drink. Charlie presses himself close to Nick in a bid to keep warm, but he still makes conversation with the rest of the group, laughing a goofy drunken belly laugh when Holly tells him about another not-so-proud moment of Nick’s uni career, where he’d fallen asleep in a booth at the back of the club. 

Having assumed he was high or something, the bouncer had kicked him out, only for Ben to find him because he was in the queue to get in. Ben had taken him home in an Uber and he shows Charlie the video he’d taken of Nick asleep on his shoulder, snoring away at an alarmingly loud volume. 

“You’re all fucking bullies,” Nick grumbles. “I swear to god, Charlie, if you bring any baby pictures up or anything next time you come up…”

“You’ll what? Break up with him?”

Holly sounds so incredulous that the entire group burst out laughing. It makes Nick break character and smirk, feeling a bit smug about the fact that all his friends can tell even after just three days that he and Charlie are endgame. 

“I’ll text his mum in a bit,” Charlie stage whispers, then presses himself up on his tiptoes and presses a sloppy kiss to the corner of his mouth, then stares at him rather intensely with wide, earnest eyes. “Love me.”

Nick sighs dramatically, shrugging his shoulders like he doesn’t care, like his hand isn’t tucked into the waistband of Charlie’s jeans. “Who are you again?”

“Shut up,” Charlie whines. “I’m cold , love me.”

Nick may be drunk and trying to be funny, but protective boyfriend mode will always trump everything, so he shuffles behind him and wraps him in a full body embrace. 

“You okay? This okay?”

“Yeah.” Charlie’s teeth are chattering a bit. “It’s fine, we’re almost at the front.”

He’s not wrong; they don’t have much longer to wait until they get to the front of the queue. Charlie taps his card to pay for both their entry fees and they get a stamp on the backs of their hands before they head up some stairs into the main entranceway of the club. 

A Dua Lipa song is playing unfathomably loud as they linger to one side, waiting for the rest of the group of pay and come through. 

“What do you think?” Nick says loudly into Charlie’s ear. This is a safe space, a wonderfully friendly and accepting queer space, so he feels deliriously happy to hook his chin over Charlie’s shoulder and rock them side to side to the beat. “Is this what you thought the inside of a club would be like?”

“Jesus, Nick, you act like I’ve never seen a film or even been to a party before,” Charlie laughs. “I’m not a total loser, you know.”

Nick pouts at him. “I’m sorry for taking an interest in how my boyfriend is finding his first clubbing experience.”

“You’re cute,” Charlie tells him. He pecks him on the lips. “I’m glad I’m here with you.”

Nick bops him on the nose. “I’m glad you’re here with me too. I think I’d get very jealous if you were doing this with anyone else.”

“To be fair, who else would I even do this with?” Charlie starts to ask, but then the girls appear up the stairs and he waves them over. “Hiya!”

“Hi again,” Claire says, sounding a little breathless. “We’re just going to say hello to some of Holly’s coursemates, then we’ll come find you, okay?”

“Cool,” Nick nods. “Where are the lads?”

“Coming in now,” Claire says. She darts forward and slaps a drunken kiss onto Charlie’s cheek. “See you darlings in a few minutes!”

They disappear into the throng of people, then just a few moments later, both Ben and Harry appear. 

“Where’s Manrika gone? I’ve got her bloody bag.”

Nick tilts his head back towards the dance floor. “Somewhere that way. They’ve gone to see some people Holly knows.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Harry swears, then stomps in the general direction they went. Nick looks at Charlie, who just shrugs, then he points at the bar. 

“Drink?”

“Yes, please. Ben?”

“God, yeah.”

The three of them join the busy crowd of people queuing for a drink. It’s not so much a queue as a throng of people, so they line themselves up with one of the tills and shuffle forward as people collect their drinks and move out. 

“What do you want to drink?” Nick asks, stroking a hand up Charlie’s back. “I’m going to get a vodka coke.”

“I’ll have one of those too,” Charlie shouts over the music. “Do you know where the loos are?”

“Here, I’m going that way now,” Ben tells him, tilting his head towards the back of the club. “Come with?”

“Okay,” Charlie says, offering Nick a short wave before they disappear into the throng.

It’s almost comical (and probably the beer talking) how Nick misses Charlie’s hand in his from the moment he’s gone. All around him, couples and friends of all genders are tangled together, kissing or swaying together or knocking back shots in the bar queue, and it makes Nick’s fingers itch to pull Charlie back into his arms. He wants to be the one swaying his boyfriend, for crying out loud. 

Realistically, he knows he won’t have to wait long. He’s just impatient and excited because as much as it’s Charlie’s first time clubbing in general, it’s his first time clubbing with his boyfriend, someone he can dance with and hold close and kiss under the rainbow lights. 

He shuffles closer to the bar and waits his turn, finally calling out his order to a tall girl with a cool neck tattoo, who starts making his drinks at lightning speed. 

He’s just typing in his passcode to get Apple Pay loaded on his screen when he feels a hand slide into the back pocket of his trousers. He lifts his arm up, ready to tuck Charlie underneath it…

And then he realises that this is absolutely, definitely not his Charlie. 

It’s not even someone he recognises. It’s a total stranger; the lad is short, probably about Charlie’s height, but that’s where the similarities end. He’s blonder and stockier than Charlie, his hair much straighter and floppier, and he’s got a lopsided grin on his face. 

“Hi there, stud.”

Nick’s stupid brain finally catches up with him and he turns at speed, so this stranger’s hand falls back to his side. “What are you doing?” he asks angrily. “I’m not your boyfriend.”

“Not yet, but you could be.” The stranger waggles his eyebrows. “Are you here on your own?”

“I’m here with my actual boyfriend and my flatmates,” Nick answers hotly. “Please don’t touch me.”

The guy holds up his hands defensively. “Alright, alright. I was only seeing if you fancied it, you don’t have to make up a fake boyfriend.”

“My boyfriend is very much real, thank you,” Nick says primly, turning his attention back to the bartender so he can pay for their round of drinks. “He’s in the loo.”

“Course he is,” the stranger drawls. “I was only trying to be nice.”

“It’s not nice to…”

“Nick?”

“Baby!”

There’s never been a time that Nick hasn’t enjoyed seeing Charlie’s gorgeously familiar face, but right now is definitely one of his favourite times. He darts forward and thrusts their drinks into Ben’s hands before he wraps his arms around Charlie’s shoulders, kissing him on the forehead. 

“Um, hi?”

“Hi,” Nick breathes out, purposely turning his back on the stranger and frog marching Charlie back a few steps. “How was the bathroom?”

“Um, it was… did you just call me baby?” Charlie looks a mix of delighted and flustered. “That’s, um, new.”

“I… yeah, I did.” Nick blinks at him a few times. “Did you not like it?”

“No, I liked it,” Charlie says, sounding a little breathy. “I really liked it, actually.”

“Then baby it is.” Nick laughs into Charlie’s mouth as he kisses him soundly. Charlie’s clear joy is infectious and it makes him want to scoop him up in his arms and never let him go. “Come here.”

They stumble out of the queue and into the open space of the club, kissing over and over until Ben jabs him between the shoulderblades and yells, “I’m not a fucking drinks trolley, dickhead!”

“Sorry,” Nick says, only a little sheepish as he accepts his cup back. Charlie grins that wide smile of his that almost always manages to make him look embarrassed as he takes his drink back, and the pair cheers before they follow him onto the dance floor. 

The music shifts to a remix of a song from Drag Race that Nick vaguely recognises, which isn’t his usual style of song to dance to, but Charlie loves Drag Race and immediately bursts into song. 

Nick laughs and tangles their hands together, twirling Charlie under his arm and then into his body, an arm sling around his waist as they begin to move together. It’s not that Nick is feeling possessive or anything, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little rattled by the stranger from earlier, and the last thing he wants is for someone to do that to Charlie. 

Not only that, it feels wonderful to dance with Charlie’s body pressed up against his, hands on each other’s hips as they sway together until the dim light and pounding bass. Every few songs, Charlie turns so his back is pressed up against his chest, moving his hips just so, the little tease. It might be his first time in a club, but Nick has no doubt he knows exactly what he’s doing. 

“My trousers are too tight for this,” he murmurs in his ear, then kisses the patch of skin there, a particularly sensitive spot on Charlie. “You little minx.”

Charlie turns around and winds his arms around Nick’s neck, blinking at him innocently. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating.”

“You absolutely do.” Nick grins at him, marvelling at how gorgeous he looks in this light. He pulls him in for a filthy snog, can’t fucking help it. “God, you’re so hot.”

Charlie grins and licks into his mouth again. It feels alarmingly easy to be so brazen in a club setting, particularly because the dance floor is littered with couples of all genders doing the same thing. And it’s not like they’re not usually ones for PDA because that’s simply untrue, but here it feels safe. Nobody is going to stare or make a shitty comment or act like what they’re doing is unacceptable because it isn’t. 

He looks like he’s in his element here, does Charlie. It wasn’t that Nick was worried about him, not really, because it was Charlie who asked to come out, but he always worries. He worries that Charlie only elected to do this because he knows that Nick really likes clubbing or he wants to test the waters before he comes to uni himself. 

Drunk Charlie is adorable though, loves a song and a dance, and he seems to be loving this. And as they belt out their favourite songs and hang off each other and kiss at every opportunity, Nick realises he’s never enjoyed clubbing like this before though. He loves his flatmates to death and they always have a good time, but there’s never been a night for him quite like this. 

Everything is always better with Charlie, somehow. 

He has no idea how long they dance for; after a while, all the songs begin to blur together into one, as do the drinks. He’s sticky and sweaty and so is Charlie, his curls falling lower and lower into his face the sweatier he gets. It’s boiling hot in there, to the point where even Charlie has rolled up his sleeves a bit, and Nick thinks it might do them some good to get some air. 

“I want a cigarette,” he announces after a bit. He steps into Charlie’s space and tightens his grip on him, tugging him forward so he can plant a sloppy kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Would you still love me if I had a ciggy?”

“Can I try one?” Charlie’s little face lights up. “I’ve never tried one.”

“Surely you have.” Nick pulls back and stares at Charlie, brows furrowed. “Seriously never?”

Charlie shrugs. “Seriously never.”

“Well, yeah,” Nick says. “I’d rather you tried one with me, I suppose. I’m worried you won’t like it.”

Charlie pushes playfully at his face. “Shut up. This is like how you thought I wouldn’t like coffee, isn’t it?”

Nick holds up a defensive hand and puffs out his cheeks. “I worry about you all the time, what can I say?“

“You can stop worrying and give me a cigarette,” Charlie laughs, jumping up on his tiptoes and kissing him again. “Come on.”

They spin around to see Claire making a gesture to the larger group about heading to the smoking area, waving around an invisible cigarette and nearly spilling her drink everywhere. They all traipse outside and the cold evening air hits them like a wall, both brilliant and biting at the same time. Nick hadn’t quite realised how much he’s sweating until Charlie starts to mop at his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. 

“Gross,” he chuckles, pushing the hand not shoved in the back pocket of Charlie’s trousers to push his hair out of his face. “Does anyone have a cigarette I can buy off them?”

“Yeah, me too,” Ben asks, pulling a packet out of his pocket and groaning when it comes up empty. “Fuck’s sake, I meant to pop to Tesco and completely forgot.”

“I’ll sell you lads a packet for fifteen quid,” a stranger pipes up behind them. They’re wearing a sparkly jumpsuit with a deep V that shows their entire chest right down to their belly button, and Nick watches with a mix of shock and amusement as they pull a carton, still wrapped and everything, out of seemingly nowhere. “I’m going home in a minute so you’re welcome to them.”

“Fuck yeah,” Ben says, scrabbling to pull out his wallet. “Get me a drink and we’re even, dear Nicholas.”

“Deal.” Nick plonks himself down on one of the picnic tables and crosses his legs, pulling Charlie into his lap. “Pass them round, there’s a good lad.”

“Shall I just try a drag of yours?” Charlie asks. “I don’t want to waste a whole one.”

“I’m sure it would get smoked,” Nick says. “But I’m still not convinced you’ll like it very much, love.”

“Wait,” Ben says as he joins them, offering the carton out to Nick. “You’ve never smoked before?” Charlie shakes his head. “Jesus Christ. What kind of fucking sixth form did you two go to?”

“A normal one,” Nick insists. He pops the cigarette between his lips and waits for Ben to pass him the lighter. “My Charlie’s just a good boy, aren’t you?”

“You’re a gross boy,” Ben replies dryly. “Here, come here, Charlie. Nick’s only a social smoker so let me show you how it’s done.”

“You suck,” Nick calls after them, snorting as Charlie gets moved to the picnic table next to them, and all his flatmates start fussing around him, showing him how to light and inhale the smoke at the same time. He grins and takes a drag, leaning his head back and blowing smoke into the air. “Look after him, will you? Don’t laugh at him if he chokes!”

“He’s eighteen, not fucking eight,” Ben calls back, waving two fingers in Nick’s direction. Nick shakes his head and pulls his phone out of his pocket, ready to take some pictures to send to the guys back home, but he ends up just watching for a little bit. Charlie looks bemused by all the attention, and he only splutters a little bit through his first drag, which makes Nick feel stupidly proud. 

He’s a fucking idiot for this boy, for fuck’s sake. Only lovesick idiots are proud of their partner for learning to smoke a cigarette. 

Manrika slings an arm over his shoulder from where she’s perched on the top of the table. Nick offers her his cigarette and she takes it between her fingers, taking a long drag. 

“You’re very protective of him,” she notes, not a hint of judgment in her tone, just observing, as she exhales. “Like, more so than I thought you’d be, I dunno.”

Nick furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”

“Just, like…” Manrika takes another drag. “You never stop watching him. You look at him like you want to eat him, which is cute and all, but you also look at him like you need him to know you’re watching him. I don’t know if that makes sense.”

“Do I?” Nick asks quietly. “I mean, I know I watch him a lot, but that’s just because I love his little face.”

Manrika pinches his cheek. “You are gross,” she tells him with a shake of her head. “It’s more than that, though. You’re protective. God forbid anyone makes a joke at his expense or anything.”

“Hey,” Nick grumbles. “I don’t want him to, like…” He cuts himself off mid-sentence. “Jesus, maybe I am over-protective.”

Manrika raises an eyebrow. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but I did wonder why.”

Nick takes the cigarette back and inhales it sharply. He chuckles as he exhales. “You say that like me being protective is a bad thing.”

“I did no such thing.” Manrika pinches his nipple. “I’m simply making an observation. You’re extremely protective of him in, like, I don’t know. A different way to anything I’ve ever seen.”

Nick chuckles again. “Okay, yeah. I am protective of him,” he admits softly. He drops his gaze. He’s not spoken to any of his uni friends about Charlie’s past, hasn’t really mentioned anything about their relationship other than the positive stuff, but he does feel like he can trust Manrika. “He, um, well. School and sixth form weren’t exactly a walk in the park for him and he, um.” He pauses, taking another drag of his cig. “He was in hospital, for a bit.”

Manrika doesn’t say anything as she takes the cigarette off him again. “I had my suspicions,” she says, leaning her head back so she’s not blowing smoke in his face. “I mean, I don’t know what he went in for, obviously, but I had my suspicions it was health related or, like, maybe bullying related.”

“A bit of both,” Nick admits. “I, um, we got together when we were in Year 11 and Year 10. We’ve grown up together and it’s been highs and lows and all that bollocks. I just…” He takes one last puff and stubs the cigarette out of the side of the table. “I love him more than anything. He’s my favourite person in the world.” He puts his head in his hands. “Fucking hell.”

Manrika pulls him closer and kisses the top of his head. “Hey, sappy twat. I didn’t mean to get you all mopey and down in the dumps.”

Nick grins against her shoulder. “No, I know. It’s just, like, something a few people have pointed out, like my mum and our friends from home and stuff. I am protective of him, but can you blame me?”

“Darling,” Manrika laughs, “I just watched you buy a packet of fags off a stranger and then get all big chested and defensive when he asked to try one.”

“I didn’t want him to burn himself,” Nick says petulantly. Manrika raises an eyebrow. “Okay, fine. I’m being dramatic and protective and too much again, aren’t I?” 

“Look at him,” Manrika says, grinning as she points to where Charlie is sitting on the table to their left, tucked between Holly and Harry as they teach him how to smoke. “He fits in proper nicely with all of us. And I think when he’s up here next year, we’ll be protective of him too.”

Nick chuckles hoarsely. “Do you think it’s odd that I’m really looking forward to having him up here because at least when we’re in the same city, I can be the one to make sure he’s all alright? Like, our friends back home are so fucking great and I know his sister would do anything for him too, but…”

“But he’s yours ,” Manrika says knowingly. “I mean, I don’t get it as such because I’ve never been in love, certainly not like the two of you are. But on the surface, like, I get it.”

“It’s a weird thing to find your person as a teenager,” Nick says solemnly. “People tell me all the time I have all this life to live and stuff, and even Charlie’s parents have told him stuff like he shouldn’t just assume we’re going to be together forever...”

“But you will be,” Manrika finishes. Once again, there’s no judgment, no humour, just stating facts. “It’s really nice. It’s a pretty compelling argument for there being a love of your life, that’s for sure.”

Nick hums and smiles. “You’re not the first person to tell us that.”

“And I’m sure I will not be the last.” Manrika ruffles his hair. “You two are gorgeous together. I can’t wait for your wedding.”

Nick bursts out laughing. “Our wedding? Wow.”

“Yeah, your wedding. I’ll be a bridesmaid, I’m sure.”

“Okay, yeah.” Nick grins and pulls her in for a proper hug. “Thanks for listening.”

“I literally asked.” Manrika bops him on the nose and then pushes him away playfully. “Oi, Charlie. Come and collect your mopey boyfriend.”

Charlie is clearly mid-sentence, but he pushes himself out of his seat and stumbles straight over to Nick, concern written all over his face. “Mopey?”

I love you so much, Nick thinks. What on earth I did to deserve you, I have no idea.

“Hi,” he breathes out, wrapping his arms around Charlie’s shoulders. 

“Hi,” Charlie echoes, sliding his hand under Nick’s shirt. “Mopey?”

“I’m not mopey,” Nick denies, pressing a kiss into Charlie’s sweaty hair. “I was just telling Manrika about, well, us . Our love story or whatever.”

“Our love story?” Charlie raises his eyebrows. “That makes it sound grander than it is.”

“Shut up, It’s very grand.” Nick manoeuvres Charlie in his arms so they’re facing each other properly, foreheads resting together. “It’s the best story I know.”

Charlie giggles. “Then dare I ask why you’re mopey?”

“I’m not mopey, Manrika was being funny,” Nick says. He pecks Charlie’s lips and readjusts himself so he can lock his legs around Charlie’s. “She just asked why I was so protective of you, that’s all.”

Charlie stills in his hold. “Oh.”

“I didn’t tell her anything.” Nick takes Charlie’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, his other arm tightening around Charlie’s middle. “Just that I am super protective because I love you so much.”

Even in the dark of the smoking area, Nick watches as Charlie’s cheeks go pink. “Shut up.”

“I do,” Nick says as he moves to touch their lips together, then he wrinkles his nose. “Your breath smells like smoke.”

“So does yours,” Charlie says with an indignant pout. “Don’t stop.”

Nick’s heart beats Charlie Charlie Charlie as he pulls him in for a messy kiss. He’s not sure he can recall a time when they’ve kissed like this in public, with teeth clacking together and their hands clutching at each other frantically, like they physically, desperately can’t stand to be apart. 

“Fuck,” Charlie whispers against his lips. “Fuck, I’m so in love with you, Nick Nelson.” He leans back a little, trusting Nick’s strong arms to keep him upright. “I know I’m, like, a little bit drunk and all but I still can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Believe it, baby.”

It always makes him chuckle whenever Charlie gets all misty-eyed and pensive about their relationship, which he often does when he’s a bit pissed, but Nick can’t believe Charlie is his either. He can’t believe he’s in the best relationship of anyone he knows, that he gets to kiss and hold and love his best friend in the whole world and that even after all this time apart, everything still feels so magical . 

Charlie stares at him very intensely, and perhaps he’s drunker than Nick thought. He’s always been a very philosophical drunk, but mostly he reserves it for someone like Darcy or Tao who hangs on his every word. He waits for Charlie to find his next words, excited to hear what titbit he’s going to come out with. 

“You are so fit.”

Nick bursts out laughing. Perhaps not as philosophical as he thought. “Thank you, baby. So are you.”

“Lovebirds, come the fuck on.” Manrika slings her arms over their shoulders, manoeuvring them towards the doors again. “Time to party. Shots?”

“Shots!” Charlie yells, pointing towards the door and hurrying them forward. “Yes, let’s do shots.”

“And then we’ll go to the cheesy pop room, yeah?”

“Fuck yeah,” Nick agrees, because secretly (not so secretly) that’s his favourite room to go to. “Onwards!”

Charlie buys them all a round of sambuca shots and they take a cheesy Instagram boomerang that Nick is pretty sure is completely in the dark, then they head upstairs to the best room, the one that plays back to back cheesy pop. Manrika shoulders open the door and they’re immediately hit with a wave of S Club 7 and people around them reaching for the stars. 

And after that, the bangers just keep on coming. They move onto Steps, followed by Vengaboys, Rihanna, Blue, 5ive, Anastasia, so much cheese that Nick just loves. The rest of the guys appear just as One Direction appear and they scream the words to What Makes You Beautiful before going for another cigarette. 

Charlie gets steadily drunker as the night goes on. He smokes more cigarettes than Nick thought he’d ever see his boyfriend smoke (not that that’s a bad thing, just different) and he’s really loosened up around his friends. Don’t get him wrong, Nick has seen Charlie drunk before; hell, he’s seen him really drunk before, but here he just seems to fit. 

He hopes that this is a good sign for the next few years to come, that Charlie slots into life up in Leeds and loves it like he’s come to love it. He fits around his flatmates too, and they seem to like him back. They’re living together in a house of six again next year, so he’s already excited for film nights and lazy mornings and Sundays spent together in their proper lounge area with Charlie by his side as well. 

Charlie’s part way through teaching the girls the dance to Saturday Night by Whigfield, but Nick is also fairly tipsy and doesn’t care that he’s interrupting. He grabs Charlie away from them and snogs him breathless, just because he can. 

Charlie’s arms wind around his neck and he sways, not the most steady on his feet. “Oh,” he says, voice sounding like it’s lost in his throat. “Hello, I guess.”

“Missed you,” Nick says, dopey and honest. “I just love having you up here, that’s all.”

“Me too.” Charlie grins at him like he’s magic. “I love you very much, but…” He breaks away and tangles their fingers together instead. “I want to dance!”

It’s 4am when the DJ announces that there’s only to be one more song until they close. Charlie utters a drunken protest against his shoulder, then cheers as the song shifts to Yellow by Coldplay, of all bloody songs. 

“I wanna keep dancing,” he slurs, swaying Nick from side to side. “Is this a dance song?”

“Not really,” Nick tells him, adjusting their hold so his arms are wrapped around Charlie’s shoulders, ready to slow dance. “It’s a bit Gavin & Stacey, this.”

“That’s Fix You ,” Charlie corrects, always right even when he’s pissed. “This one isn’t great though. I want Steps!”

“We can listen to Steps when we get back,” Nick offers weakly, even though he has a sneaking suspicion that Charlie will conk out the second they get back to his flat. “Come here, my tiny baby gay.”

“Baby,” Charlie giggles. “I like baby so much.” He hiccups, then stares at Nick with wide eyes, full of sincerity even as drunk as he is. “Do not use it for me around Tao.”

Nick throws his head back in a laugh. “Oh, I am absolutely using it in front of Tao. You underestimate how much I want them to tease us for being gross.”

“Fucker,” Charlie hisses, then leans back and starts to sing. “Your skiiiin, oh yeah, your skin and bones…”

“Jesus Christ,” Nick mutters, mostly to himself. “Maybe stick to the drums, baby, yeah?”

“For you I’d bleed myself dry,” Charlie finishes, then slams their lips together, which Nick happily sinks into. They spend the rest of the song swaying and snogging, until he’s rudely tapped on the shoulder by Manrika.

“Oi, lovebirds,” she says, gesturing to the room at large. “The house lights are on. Time to go.”

“Are we sharing taxis?” Nick asks, arms tight around Charlie’s waist as his boyfriend leans all his weight into him. 

“Yeah, but I think we’re going to Maccies first,” Manrika says. “Wanna come?”

“Fuck yeah,” Charlie says, blinking himself back awake. “I want an Oasis.”

“You probably need it,” Nick mutters under his breath. He kisses the side of his head before he tangles their sweaty hands together again. “Follow me, yeah?”

Charlie’s drunk enough that he stumbles a little bit on the sticky floor, but they manage to make it out of there in one piece. They hold hands and kiss in the crowded streets, still full of people but with nobody sparing them a second glance as Charlie pushes them against a lamppost and snogs him breathless. 

Even at the start of uni, just the very idea of doing something like this would have filled him with a weird anxiety, an anxiety he doesn’t want to have, but struggles with all the same. It’s the same anxiety that bubbles in his belly whenever David makes a shitty comment or if the rugby team they’re playing against are particularly brutish and make offhand homophobic comments. 

But this, this is everything . 

And a few minutes later, when he’s eating cold chips with Charlie perched precariously in his lap, slurping obnoxiously loudly at his Oasis, he thinks that yes, these are the best years of his life and he’s going to enjoy them for all they’re worth. 

Because things like this are what university is all about. 

It’s the best feeling in the world. 

*

When Nick wakes up on Sunday morning, it takes him a second to work out what it is that actually woke him up. 

And then he realises. 

The sound of sick coming from his en-suite bathroom. 

He’s up and out of bed like a shot, scrabbling towards the bathroom as quick as he can. The door isn’t closed all the way and he flings it open to see Charlie curled up around the toilet bowl, shirtless and sweaty as he throws up the remnants of last night. 

“Char,” he breathes out, tumbling to his knees. He’s careful not to touch, because as much as he wants to, he knows he should wait for Charlie’s permission, especially when he’s feeling this vulnerable. “God, you poor thing.”

“Go away,” Charlie groans, shoulders tensing. “I don’t need you to see me like this.” 

Nick snorts. “Too late, love. Are you alright?”

“Do I look alright?” Charlie moans. He spits into the toilet bowl and slumps on his knees, leaning back to Nick just enough for Nick to rest hands on his hips. “Urgh, god. This is embarrassing.”

Nick laughs and kisses his sweaty bare shoulder. “If you can’t throw up in front of me, who can you throw up in front of, eh?”

“Nobody,” Charlie says, but he does lean into Nick a bit more. “I don’t want anyone to see me like this, thanks.”

“Like I said, it’s too late for that,” Nick tells him. “Doesn’t make me love you any less, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Charlie snorts. “Thanks.” Then he tenses, pulls out of Nick’s hold, and leans forward again. Once he’s finished, he flops down onto the floor so he’s sitting cross-legged, then he tilts his head up and stares at Nick. “Can you grab me a bottle of water?”

“Sure.” Nick hurries to stand, then grabs his keys from the side so he can make a dash to the kitchen. He’s also not wearing a shirt and he doesn’t realise until he reaches the doorway of the communal areas. His flatmates are all sprawled across the sofas in various states of hungover, and they all wolf whistle when he walks in. “Oh, fuck off.”

“Nick Nelson’s naked,” Harry sing-songs. “Charlie is a lucky boy.” 

Nick snorts and shakes his head as he opens the fridge, grabbing two water bottles with one hand. “Yeah, alright. He’s not in the best way this morning, my poor Char.”

The group all chuckle. “Couldn’t hack his first clubbing experience?” asks Holly. “Bless him.”

“I just don’t think he quite knows his limits yet,” Nick says, smiling as he thinks about the way Charlie had danced on him last night. “Anyway.”

“Look at you,” Holly says teasingly. “Look at that fucking smile. You’re absolutely smitten with him, aren’t you? Like, we knew it was going to be bad but not this bad.”

“I…” Nick glances at the door, then back at his friends. “Yeah, yeah, you can have a good laugh about it when I go.”

“We will,” Ben says, his grin wide. “He’s fun though, your Charlie boy. A proper good laugh.”

“He is,” Nick agrees, then waves a hand in the direction of the girls as they all coo. “No, stop it. Stop making fun of me.”

“But it’s so easy,” Holly says. 

“It’s jealousy, babes,” Manrika tells him from where she’s tucked under Harry’s arm. Nick is starting to wonder if there’s something going on between those two. 

“I just don’t think it’s really fucking fair that you’re dating someone who is clearly also your best friend and that makes long distance worth it,” Holly moans. 

Manrika gestures between her and Nick. “See? Jealousy, I tell you.”

Nick looks at the floor to hide his blush. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Fuck off back to your boy,” Holly tells him, throwing a balled up tissue in his direction. “Look at that face, for fuck’s sake. I can hardly stand to look at it.”

“Alright, I’m going,” Nick says, shooting them a wink and a wave before he hurries away, shouldering the kitchen door open so he can grab his keys from his pocket. He unlocks his bedroom door clumsily and pushes inside, seeing Charlie has moved back to the bed, the duvet tucked up to his neck so all he can see is a mess of curls on the pillow. 

“Oh, Charlie,” he hums, kicking the door shut behind him and plonking himself down on the foot of the bed. He touches his hip through the covers. “Here, can you sit up and drink some water for me?”

“I’m drinking the water for me,” Charlie mumbles, but does as he’s told and pushes himself upright. Nick hands him the bottle and Charlie leans into his hold as he uncaps it, fingers stroking lightly over his clammy skin. 

“Good boy,” Nick says warmly, taking the bottle off him once he’s had his fill and setting it on the floor. “Are you feeling too unwell for a cuddle?”

“Absolutely not.” 

Charlie pulls him down awkwardly so Nick’s kind of sprawled on top of him for a second, then rolls over and lets Nick manoeuvre them so Charlie’s back is to the wall and he’s cuddling him in, the duvet tangled between their legs. 

“Sorry if I smell like sick.”

“I don’t care,” Nick insists, rubbing his nose over Charlie’s jaw. “There’s nobody else in the world I'd rather cuddle, sicky or not.” 

“You’re gross,” Charlie says. “Sorry for being sick like that. I hope none of your flatmates heard.”

“Nah.” Nick shrugs against the pillows. “They all took the piss out of me in the kitchen though.”

Charlie glances up. “Took the piss out of you? Why?”

“Because apparently I’m just as sappy with you here as they expected me to be, if not more so.”

“Oh,” Charlie says, sounding surprised. “I didn’t think they’d think you were sappy. Like, I know you said you’ve talked about me a lot, but…”

“Char, I bring you up every bloody chance I get,” Nick laughs. “In case you hadn’t realised this after three years of being together and spending the past few days dragging you into my lap and kissing you any chance I get, I’m a little bit obsessed with you.”

“I know,” Charlie huffs, blushing prettily. Nick loves him so much. “But I did wonder if I’m what your friends thought I was going to be like. And I’m sorry if I embarrassed you last night by getting too drunk or anything.”

Nick hasn’t brushed his teeth yet, but he doesn’t care. He slams their lips together in a closed-mouthed, chaste kiss, a move that takes Charlie so by surprise that he squeaks. 

“I fucking love you,” he mumbles against Charlie’s lips, then pulls back with a loud smacking sound. “Am I seriously going to spend the rest of my life telling you to stop apologising?”

“Yes,” Charlie deadpans, then he laughs. “I fucking love you too.”

“You’re not embarrassing in any way.” Nick bops him on the nose. “Did you enjoy yourself? That’s the main thing.”

“I did,” Charlie says earnestly, though he’s starting to look a little green again. “I’m glad I went out with you for the first time. I feel like Tao would have hated that.”

“He absolutely would have hated it,” Nick chuckles. “But you’re always welcome here for a weekend out if you don’t want to go back home.”

“When you’re next home, we should look for some gay clubs though,” Charlie suggests. “Elle would come and Tao would probably follow. And I bet Darcy would fall over to come out and party with us.”

“I’d like that,” Nick says. He brushes some of Charlie’s curls behind his ears. “Do you feel any better? Do you want to sleep some more?“

“I think I might need to sleep this off, yeah,” Charlie admits. “Sorry.”

Another smacking kiss. “No more sorry’s, Charlie!”

“I’m sorry I’m sleeping after travelling all the way up here and wasting our time together,” Charlie says, bringing a hand up to cup Nick’s face. “I don’t know if you had any plans for today, but if you did, I’m sorry about those too.”

“Shut up,” Nick laughs, shifting up a little so their lips are mere centimetres away. “You know I don’t care. Oh, what a bloody hardship for me, cuddling my sleeping boyfriend for as long as he’ll have me.”

Charlie grins and pecks him on the lips, just once, then rolls over so Nick is spooning him from behind. They lie there for a little bit longer, not speaking but just being. After a while, the even breathing of Charlie having fallen back to sleep fills the bed, and Nick is content to lie there for a little longer, holding him as close as he can without waking him. 

He’s not very good at staying in bed once he’s woken up though, so he presses a kiss to his shoulder and shuffles out from under the duvet. He might as well get some work done rather than lying there going stir crazy. 

He gets a few hundred words of essay written before Charlie stirs again. He hears him yawn and the bed creak, so he saves his document and turns to him. Charlie rolls over onto his stomach and gazes at him. 

“Hi.”

“Hi,” Nick says, standing up from his chair and clambering back onto the bed, arms open for Charlie to crawl into. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m better,” Charlie tells him. He links his arms around Nick’s back and presses several kisses to his jaw in quick succession. “Thanks for waiting for me.”

“Any time,” Nick says breezily, rolling them over so Charlie is sprawled across his chest. “Are you okay, yeah? You think you’re going to be sick again?”

“Nick, I’m fine,” Charlie laughs, kissing him softly. “I feel alright now. I’ll be even better once I’ve had a shower and a cup of coffee.”

“I’ll go and make you one in a minute,” Nick says. “But first, you know, because you made me wait so long to see you properly this morning, you can kiss me for a bit.”

“Sorry,” Charlie says, but he smiles as he leans in for a kiss that Nick meets easily. It’s soft, closed-mouthed and slow, but it seems to wake Charlie up because he sinks into it like he needs it to recover. 

Sometimes, Nick wonders if there’s something to that theory. It seems bonkers and he’ll probably never voice it out loud, not even to Charlie, but it always feels like when things are bad, he’ll never truly recover from them unless Charlie tells him everything’s going to be alright. When he feels sick, he feels his best again when Charlie’s been there to help him through it, or if he’s stressed about exams or uni or a particularly important rugby game, the only thing that’ll straighten his head out is Charlie holding his hand. 

Maybe this is what happens when twin souls find each other. They need their other half to set them right again when they let themselves go a bit askew. 

And the thing is, regardless of how bonkers it sounds, Nick never wants it to change. For every milestone in his life, he wants Charlie by his side, and he knows Charlie feels the same. 

Even if they’re sad or stressed or hungover as fuck, they’ll always need each other, and there’s something a little bit lovely and poetic about that. 

“You’ve perked up,” he notes as they pull apart. “That sleep did you some good.”

Charlie grins and kisses him again. “Do you know what else would do me some good? A black coffee.”

“You’re nasty,” Nick says with a laugh, but he clambers back out of bed and heads towards the door. “I’ll miss you, darling.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Charlie rolls into the centre of the bed and snuggles back under the duvet, and he looks so cute that Nick almost considers taking a photo until Charlie cracks one eye open. “Don’t you dare get your phone out.”

Nick chuckles all the way to the (blissfully empty) kitchen and knocks together an instant coffee. He’s not a coffee drinker himself, but he’s had a jar of Charlie’s preferred brand sitting unopened at the back of his cupboard since he moved in. 

He grins to himself as he makes it, perhaps not stirring it as much as he could or should, because he’s absolutely desperate to get Charlie back in his arms. 

His other half. 

He hurries back, nearly spilling the coffee everywhere in his rush to get into his room. He shoulders his way in and sets the coffee down on his desk, just out of Charlie’s reach, then clambers back into bed and cradles Charlie to his chest again. 

“Coffee acquired.”

“Not by me,” Charlie says, feebly stretching his arms around Nick like he’s pretending to actually reach his drink. “Come on, I need my coffee.”

“Kiss then coffee.”

Charlie groans like it’s a chore but he does as he’s told and gives Nick a quick, chaste kiss before he scrabbles out of bed and downs the coffee alarmingly fast. Nick’s eyebrows shoot up. 

“Bloody hell, love, you’ll burn yourself.” Nick sits up and shakes his head. “Damn, you really did need that coffee.”

“Yes, I bloody did.” Charlie sighs in delight, like it’s the tastiest thing he’s ever consumed. “God, I feel so much better now.”

“Good enough to finally get ready for the day?” 

“Cheeky bugger,” Charlie says, necking the last of his coffee and slamming the mug down on the counter. “Wanna join me in the shower?”

They share a shower, pressed close together in Nick’s wet room. Nick washes Charlie’s hair for him, giggling as he tries (and fails) not to get soap in his eyes. After that, they stand naked side by side as they brush their teeth, then they get dressed. Charlie pops on one of Nick’s hoodies and Nick beams into his shoulder as he pulls him into a hug. 

“I’m obsessed with you in my clothes,” he says, voice muffled. “Next year, you’re going to have to have one of my rugby jumpers, like, properly.”

Charlie beams and opens his mouth to reply, but it’s cut off by a knock on the door. Nick pulls a face, but goes over to answer it. 

It’s Harry, and he looks a lot less hungover than he did a few hours ago. 

“Alright, mate?”

“Morning,” Harry chirps, offering them both a wave. “Charlie, my boy! How are you feeling?”

“Um. I guess better than a couple of hours ago,” Charlie tells him. “How are you?”

“Dehydrated as fuck, but alright,” Harry says, laughing. “I’m glad you’re alright. You were pretty pissed last night.”

“Ha, sorry,” Charlie huffs, going pink as he says it. “I really enjoyed last night, I’m just, like, not the best at handling my booze yet.”

“I think we could all tell,” Harry snorts. “But it’s cool. You were a fucking riot, Charlie boy. I can’t wait to go out with you again.”

“Oh,” Charlie says, sounding surprised. “Really? I thought I was, like…”

“Nah, you were a proper laugh,” Harry insists. “Teaching everyone the Macarena like that? Absolutely iconic.”

“Sure, wow.” Charlie sounds stunned by the very admission, and Nick can’t help but chuckle and link their hands together. “Okay, yeah. I’ll, um, I’ll try and come up again once my exams are done.”

“Can’t wait,” Harry sing-songs. “Anyway, do you guys have plans for today?”

“Yeah, we’ve got plans,” Nick says, pulling a face. “Why, what did you have in mind?”

“We’re thinking of going to the pub tonight if you lads want to come?” Harry asks. “Just for a couple of drinks and some dinner. None of us can be arsed to cook.”

Nick glances at Charlie, who nods and squeezes his hand. “Um, yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

“Hair of the dog and all that,” Harry chirps. “Nice one. We’re leaving here around six, I think. Feel free to do… whatever it is you lads want to do until then.” He waggles his eyebrows and then disappears, letting the door slam closed behind him. 

Nick snorts and turns to Charlie, who laughs and reaches for Nick’s other hand. “He’s going to be disappointed when he finds out we’re going for milkshakes and a walk around.”

“I don’t know what he thinks we’d be doing when you’re this hungover.”

“Bloody hell,” Charlie says with a grimace. “I love you very much but that is very much off the cards at the minute.”

Nick laughs and steps into Charlie’s space, swapping hand-holding for a proper embrace. “As long as you’re not too hungover for a snog and a milkshake.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be too hungover for that.”

Nick raises his eyebrows. “Love, I mean this sincerely. This is only your first night out and you’ve not even gotten uni pissed yet. There will definitely be times when you won’t want a snog and a milkshake.”

“Can’t wait.” Charlie pulls a face. “Shall we go?”

Hand in hand, they wander out of Nick’s accommodation and head down to the bus stop. The bus ride into town isn’t very long and once they get there, they step off and head straight to one of Nick’s favourite places in Leeds, a dessert shop that serves the most elaborate milkshakes. 

They share a chocolate chip milkshake (Nick dares to mention bubblegum as a suggestion, but one look from Charlie tells him all he needs to know) and a bowl of chips for their lunch. It’s not the healthiest meal they’ve ever eaten together, but Charlie does well at eating a good portion, and Nick tries not to let all the pride show on his face to draw attention to it. 

After that, they walk for what feels like ages, making easy conversation about everything and nothing. They pop into a couple of shops, like Waterstones and JD Sports and Game, and Nick buys himself some new rugby socks and a travel case for his Nintendo Switch and Charlie buys a revision book for his Further Maths A-Level, then they head back to the bus stop and back to Nick’s accommodation. 

Charlie keeps his head rested against Nick’s chest for the majority of the bus ride, their hands clasped together, their bags tucked between their feet. As they go around a particularly sharp corner, Charlie groans and Nick grips him tighter, kissing his hair. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Charlie mumbles. “I feel alright, I think. Just, like, travel sickness or whatever.”

“Travel sickness?” Nick frowns. “I’ve never known you to get travel sick.”

Charlie huffs. “Okay, fine. I feel sick again, sorry.”

“You do?” Nick’s frown deepens. “How long have you felt sick? Also, why are you apologising?”

“Because I drank too much last night and I was trying to have a normal day with you and I…”

“And I don’t want to hear it,” Nick finishes for him, knocking his chin up. “Do you want to take a rain check on the pub tonight?”

Charlie shakes his head. “No, I’ll be fine. I want to see your friends again after last night. I probably won’t drink though.”

“No, that’s fine. I won’t drink if you won’t.”

“Nick…”

“It’s fine,” Nick insists, then reaches over the threshold to press the bell on the bus for their stop. “Come on, we’ve got a couple of hours yet. We can have a lie down and a cuddle and recharge before we go out.”

“I’d like that,” Charlie tells him softly. “Sorry again.”

“Shut up.” Nick gathers up their things in one hand and takes Charlie’s hand in his other, shaking his head. “Seriously, stop apologising. You drank a lot last night.”

“Yeah, I’m a lightweight, I know.” Charlie traipses after him, swinging his hand as he walks. 

“Yeah, but it’s cute.” Nick kisses the side of his head as they wait at the pedestrian crossing. 

They spend the rest of the walk back making light chatter about what they’ve both got on for the next couple of weeks, from revision on Charlie’s end to boring lectures and a group project that Nick’s hating. They pop into Tesco as they walk past it and pick up some drinks and snacks so they can watch a film when they get in, then head back into Nick’s flat and go straight to his room. 

Nick sets up his laptop while Charlie empties his bladder. He props up his pillows against the headboard and tries to make it as comfortable as possible for the two of them to squeeze onto the silly little single bed together, then clambers on so Charlie can fit around him. 

In true Charlie fashion, he jumps straight into Nick’s lap and wraps himself around him like a vine, head resting on the centre of Nick’s chest. 

“Hi.”

“Hi,” Nick chuckles. “Comfy?”

“Very,” Charlie tells him. “What film do you want to watch?”

They settle on some new Netflix original film that they’ve both seen all over Instagram. Nick tangles his hand in Charlie’s curls and strokes his thumb over the patch of skin behind Charlie’s ear; he knows well enough by now that it’s one of his favourite things for Nick to do, especially when he’s not feeling well. He half expects him to fall asleep, but neither of them do. Every now and then, he hears a little titter of laughter from Charlie, which makes him smile like a bloody idiot each time. 

He isn’t really paying attention, not like Charlie is, spending a lot of the film on his phone or watching Charlie, and it almost makes him jump when he looks down after a while and Charlie is staring at him rather than at the laptop. 

“Can I help you?”

“Are you even watching?” Charlie asks him. “Or are you texting your secret boyfriend or something?”

Nick snorts. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. He’s coming over in a few minutes actually, so you’d better make yourself scarce.”

Charlie raises his eyebrows, then moves to sit up. “Okay, guess I’ll leave then.”

Nick waits all of three seconds before he grabs Charlie back. “No, you can’t leave. You’re keeping me lovely and warm.”

“I bet your other boyfriend isn’t as good at cuddling as me either,” Charlie says very seriously. His eyes flit to Nick’s lips. “And I bet he wouldn’t kiss you like I do.”

“He doesn’t,” Nick agrees, laughing into Charlie’s mouth. Charlie’s hands come up to cup Nick’s neck, deepening the kiss, and clambers into Nick’s lap, and suddenly Nick isn’t laughing anymore. 

He’s definitely not laughing when he goes to roll them over and his laptop crashes into the wall, which makes them both freeze and then pull apart. 

“Best to calm down, I think,” Nick says, and Charlie hums his agreement. “Imagine me having to text Mum asking for, like, five hundred quid because we’d accidentally booted my laptop to the floor getting frisky.”

“Better you text that to your mum than me to mine,” Charlie says with a grimace. He pecks Nick on the lips and shuffles off the bed. “Can I have a shower before we go to the pub?”

Nick’s come to learn that Charlie has a lot of showers. He likes to shower before he changes outfits, even if he’s just changing from his school uniform to comfies to hang with Nick, and he likes to go for one when him and Nick have been together for a long time without a break and he’s too polite to say anything about it. Nick doesn’t mind–he gets that Charlie has slightly different needs to him–so he smiles and nods, sorting him a towel and disappearing to the kitchen so Charlie can have his time to himself. 

He heads to the kitchen for a bit, putting the snacks and drinks they bought (they didn’t end up eating any, but that’s okay) in the fridge and his cupboard before he catches up with a couple of the guys on the plan. They’ve got an hour or so before they all plan to head out, so Nick makes Charlie a coffee and himself a tea before he heads back to his room. It’s been about ten minutes, so Charlie should be wrapping up his shower, or close to it. 

As he carefully lets himself back in his room, he sees Charlie sitting on the bed, wearing just his boxers as he taps away at his phone screen. He beams brightly when he spots Nick and smiles even wider when his eyes drop to the steaming mugs in his hands. 

“Just texting Dad,” he says. “Is one of those for me?”

Nick shakes his head. “Nope, one’s mine and the other is for my secret boyfriend.”

“Ah,” Charlie says, then goes back to texting. “I hope he doesn’t mind me chilling in here in my pants then.”

“I certainly don’t,” Nick hums, plonking himself down on his desk chair. “We’ve got, like, an hour before they head to the pub. I don’t know if I can be bothered to change.”

“What’s wrong with what you’re wearing?” Charlie asks. He’s wearing jeans and an Adidas jumper, nothing special. “I like that outfit on you.”

“You like every outfit on me,” Nick drawls. He takes a sip of his tea. “You wanna finish the film?”

Charlie nods and stands, moving to get dressed before they curl back in each other’s arms to watch the last half an hour. As the credits roll, Nick freshens up a bit by slapping on some aftershave and giving his hair a bit of a tousle with some gel, then they head into the kitchen to join everyone else. 

It’s not a long walk to the pub, maybe ten minutes, and they meander down there slowly, hands clasped and swinging between them. When they get to the pub, they find a large round table that they can all squeeze round, and within minutes of them sitting down, half the table are back up again to order drinks at the bar. 

“I’ll have a Diet Coke,” Charlie mumbles in Nick’s ear. “Because I’m a shit lightweight.”

“You’re not a shit lightweight,” Nick chuckles. He kisses Charlie’s cheek. “Do you want some food too?”

Charlie sighs and bites his lip. “Probably should, shouldn’t I?”

“I’m going to get something,” Nick says with a shrug. “Something we can share, maybe?”

Charlie nods, just once. “I’d like that. It’s easier, like, in a group setting like this to share a plate with you.”

“Okay.” Nick beams at him, curling a hand under his chin to pull him in for a quick kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Charlie says. “Here, let me get us our drinks. What do you want?”

Nick elects to stick to fizzy pop too and orders a lemonade. He has a quick glance over the menu and mentally picks out a few things he knows Charlie will eat. By the time everyone’s coming back with drinks, including Charlie, a waiter comes over and asks if they’ll be eating. Thankfully, everyone seems absolutely ravenous so everyone orders something, some going for roast dinners with all the trimmings and some going for a collection of starters and sides. 

He holds Charlie’s hand under the table and reels off their order easily, and Charlie gives him a subtle, grateful peck on the corner of the mouth when the waiter disappears off. 

Nick hadn’t realised it was pub quiz night, which is normally quite fun, but his general knowledge isn’t the strongest at the best of times. Charlie’s is, though, so he perks up at the thought of a quiz. 

“I might be a shit lightweight, but I know a lot about stupid stuff,” he says brightly, and everyone at the table laughs. 

“Charlie, my boy, you were the funnest of all lightweights,” Harry tells him, clapping him on the shoulder. “Everyone’s a bloody lightweight at first.”

“It’s true,” Holly says sardonically. “It’s also a good thing. I go out with a tenner and come back with change some nights out.”

“A toast,” Ben says, raising his pint glass. “To Charlie Spring and his first clubbing experience. Long may he reign as shit lightweight and our clubbing companion.”

Everyone raises their glasses and knocks them together. Even Charlie, who looks delightfully bemused by the whole thing, lifts his glass of coke, and Nick takes his free hand under the table, giving it a quick squeeze. 

Their shared food arrives and Nick takes a point to take some first, putting some wedges and chicken strips on a plate for him and Charlie to pick at. They order another round of drinks on the app, and then the quizmaster comes round and takes payment for them to join the quiz. 

Apparently the quiz team name Quiz on my Face remains the height of humour, so much so that they win the second prize of five additional points for their name. After that comes a music round that Charlie smashes, then a sports round that Nick does alright in, then a pop culture round that collectively the whole table excels in. 

They end up coming third overall, which for a hungover group of university students doesn’t feel too shabby. 

It’s a really nice evening, and seeing Charlie slot into the group of his housemates is so utterly delightful that Nick starts to wonder if he’ll ever stop smiling. Charlie’s been included in all the weekend’s Instagram posts, they’re all mutuals, and Manrika’s even started tagging Charlie in memes about some TV show they’ve both binge-watched. 

It’s always worried him, perhaps unnecessarily, about combining his home life and uni life. Perhaps it’s because at home his life is almost entirely Charlie, so if for some hideous reason, these two halves of his world didn’t align then he didn’t know what he’d do. 

Maybe Manrika is right, maybe he does worry about Charlie way too much. 

Because why wouldn’t everyone love Charlie? Charlie is the easiest person in the world to love, a kind soul with an excellent sense of humour and a heart the size of Texas. He’s so earnest and full of joy every time someone laughs at one of his jokes or pays him a compliment. He’s the human embodiment of sunshine, and Nick can’t get his head around the fact that someone who is so full of love and wonder chooses to direct his love towards him. 

School dealt Charlie a lousy hand of cards, but it also brought them together. Charlie has often said that he wouldn’t change their school experience for anything because they wouldn’t have met were it not for them being in form together, but Nick doesn’t necessarily agree. He thinks they’d have found each other eventually, and even though selfishly he’s thrilled they found each other at such a young age, there’s a part of him that thinks he’d be happy to wait if it meant that Charlie didn’t have such a horrendous time otherwise. 

He loves Charlie so damn much that it feels almost comical, but fuck, does he not feel like the luckiest guy in all the world?

Which makes it even shittier that Charlie is leaving tomorrow. The idea of a month apart is gut-wrenching, even though they’ve done longer. It’s just, now Nick’s had a taste of what it’s like when Charlie will be here full time, for them to live proper adult lives without relying on parents or school hours or anything like that, he doesn’t want to give that up for anything. 

When they get into bed that night, he doesn’t waste any time in pulling Charlie straight into his arms, unwilling to be apart for any of the precious minutes they have left together. Charlie cuddles him back, and Nick doesn’t need to be looking at him to know he’s pouting. 

“I don’t want to go,” Charlie whispers. 

“I don’t want you to go either,” Nick murmurs, hooking his chin over Charlie’s shoulder. He quite likes having to sleep with Charlie up around him like this, even though there really isn’t enough space for the both of them. “God, I’ll miss you so much.”

“How long until you’re home?” Charlie asks, hands sliding under Nick’s sleep shirt. “I need the date so I have something to look forward to.”

“July 9th,” Nick breathes out. “Mum is coming up to help me move out. I don’t get the keys to the new place until September so I’ll be home all summer.”

“Thank god .” Charlie groans with relief. “We’ve been apart longer so I can do that, I think.”

“Me too,” Nick mumbles, tightening his grip around Charlie’s middle. “God, Char. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re the best thing ever and I really, really don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Charlie says again. He pulls back and presses their lips together frantically. “It’s like, now I’m up here I can’t stop thinking about our future together next year. Being together loads and sleeping together loads…”

“I knew you only wanted me for my body,” Nick laughs, then giggles even louder when Charlie covers his mouth with his hand. “I knew it, I knew it.”

“You’re awful,” Charlie tells him with a shake of his head.

“And yet you love me very much.” Nick coaxes Charlie’s hand down and moves back in for another kiss, a slower one, teasing. “So much that we get to live in the same city again. Fuck, I can’t wait.”

“I do love you very much,” Charlie says, his smile wide and brilliant. When he’s tired like this, he gets all giggly and smiley and goofy, unabashedly so, and it might be Nick’s favourite Charlie. “I can’t wait, Nick. I can’t bloody wait to be here with you.”

“Neither can I.” Nick shuffles as close as physically possible, nudging their noses together. “God, just picture it. Us together, same city, working out our schedules around each other. You enjoying freshers week, but letting me come round and cuddle you and make you coffee in the mornings when you drink too much.” 

“Nick,” Charlie giggles, shaking his head so their noses rub together. “You don’t need to come around every day.”

“I will if you need me to,” Nick says, and he means it. “You’re coming to every single one of my rugby games too. My little lucky Char.”

“As long as I don’t have to play it.”

“Never again.” Nick pulls a face. “Every match up here is like that fucking St. John’s match. Some of the lads from other teams are so big that even I feel intimidated.”

“Poor Nick Nelson,” Charlie drawls, giggling again as Nick nips at his lip. “Do I get a rugby jumper with your name and number on it?”

“You can have as many as you like.” Nick strokes a thumb over Charlie’s jaw. “It’ll just be so fun, won’t it? Our own little life for ourselves up here without any bloody parents or older siblings or the threat of people walking in.”

“Just got to get the grades for it first,” Charlie huffs. “Which, I mean, I think I will.” He winces. “I hope I will.”

“You’re going to get in,” Nick assures him, voice soft and sure. “I mean it when I say you’re the smartest person I know.”

“You’re a liar, but I appreciate it.” Charlie snuggles deeper into his hold, stifling a yawn. “God, I’m going to miss you but I really want to sleep.”

“I know, me too.” Nick kisses him chastely, then reaches behind him and flicks the lamp off so they plunge into darkness. They share a few more sleepy kisses before Nick finds himself drifting off, Charlie’s hands clutched tightly in his. 

*

Walking to the train station feels like he’s walking the gallows or something. 

Okay, maybe a tad dramatic, but Nick really doesn’t want to say goodbye. He wants nothing more than to keep Charlie in his shitty little single bed for the rest of the term until they can come home for the summer together, but sadly that isn’t an option. Charlie has A-levels to study for and Nick has a couple of exams coming up. He doesn’t need more than 40% to pass the year, so he’s not that stressed, but he knows Charlie is a little bit stressed. 

He finds himself walking slowly, too slowly for someone who has a lecture in a couple of hours and could really do with doing the required reading before he goes, but he’s really reluctant for the happy bubble of the weekend to burst. 

And Charlie seems just as reluctant to leave, chattering a mile a minute about how much he doesn’t want to go because he hates the train and he hates revising and he won’t be able to think about anything about how much fun he has with Nick and how little fun he has at home without him. 

“Why do I even need to do exams when I know you’d let me stay up here anyway?” he mutters, smacking his head off Nick’s shoulder as they wait at a pedestrian crossing. “I could cook and clean for you and the rest of the house.”

Nick snorts. “You’d hate that, sweetheart. And anyway, you’re going to be the one that becomes a doctor or something.”

“A doctor?” Charlie blinks at him. “Nick, I’m studying Music.”

“A PhD or something,” Nick says with a shrug. “When we’re old and grey, you’re going to be the one with the good job making all the money because you’re the smart one.”

“You think?” 

“I know,” Nick corrects. They come to a slow halt outside the station, footsteps getting smaller as they approach the entranceway. “You’re going to ace your exams, Char.” He takes both of his hands in his. “Fucking hell. Next time I see you, your exams will be over. How cool is that?”

“That’s so tragic,” Charlie moans. “This isn’t fair, actually. When you were doing your exams, I was right there bringing you Red Bull and making cue cards with you. You’re a bloody million-hour train journey away now it’s my turn.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nick says, then pulls him in for a proper hug. “I’m only a FaceTime away though. It might not work for the cue cards, but I can offer supportive words and motivations and shit like that.”

“You better,” Charlie grumbles. “God. I’m really going to miss you.”

Nick’s heart clenches. “I’m going to miss you so fucking much,” he whispers. “I can’t believe you’re going home.”

“Me neither,” Charlie says with a shake of his head. “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for long enough to be leaving already.” 

“Maybe, hopefully, your train will be delayed or cancelled or something and you’ll have no choice but to come back with me,” Nick says wistfully. 

It’s not the case, of course. For the first time in the history of National Rail, the cross country train from Leeds to Kings Cross is running on time, which means they only have ten minutes left together before they’re apart for over a month. They spend seven of those ten minutes just holding each other, then they reluctantly pull apart so Charlie can get on board and get a seat. 

“I miss you already,” he whimpers as Nick squeezes him almost painfully tightly before he reluctantly lets him go. “I love you.”

“I love you, baby. Char.” 

“Love you so much.” 

Nick darts forward and gives Charlie one last, lingering kiss before he steps back. If he doesn’t force space between them, he’s not sure Charlie will ever get on the train. “Be good, yeah?”

“I’ll try. Bye.” Charlie looks like he’s in some sort of physical pain as he steps onto the train, shuffling out of view down into the carriage before he reappears at a window seat. He presses a hand against the window and Nick raises his own hand as if to press their palms together through the glass. 

“Love you,” Charlie mouths again as the train doors beep and close, then only a few moments later the train begins to move. 

“Love you,” Nick mouths back as he watches Charlie and the train disappear from view. He watches it vanish out of the station completely before he shoves his hands in his pockets and walks out of the station, teeth worrying his bottom lip as he thinks about going back to an empty flat, or at least a Charlie-less flat. 

It feels like the most depressing concept in the world. 

The journey back to campus feels long and sad; he puts his AirPods in but he doesn’t listen to anything, instead opening his WhatsApp chat with Charlie and sending him a mix of sad and heart emojis instead. 

He’s just pulling back into campus when his phone buzzes with a message from Charlie, and he thumbs it open to see it’s a voice message. He presses play, already smiling. 

“Okay, I hope you can hear me because there’s a baby screaming on the other side of the carriage and these headphones are definitely past their prime, but I miss you. I miss you so fucking much already that I feel like I’m annoying but then I remember that you’re probably the same and if I can’t tell this to you, then who can I tell?”

Nick beams to himself, dropping his gaze to his lap so he doesn’t look like a crazy person with a lovesick smile. 

“Anyway, I’m going to look over Further Maths now with my lovely souvenir textbook, but I miss you and I love you and I can’t wait to see your stupid face again soon, yeah? I hope your lecture isn’t too boring and that you get a decent night of sleep without someone else hogging the duvet. Love you lots. Bye.”

He plays it again as he gets off the bus, then starts recording his own as he heads back through campus towards his flat. 

“Hi, baby,” he starts. “I miss you loads already, but we don’t have long before we’re back together, yeah? Just a few short weeks–actually, when I get back from my lecture I’m going to set up a countdown on my phone so we can track the days together. I can’t wait for you to come here next year and we’ll get to do this every weekend, it’ll be the best. I hope the train isn’t too loud that you can’t revise because otherwise you’ll just have to message me for the next four hours, which I’m sure you’ll hate. ” He chuckles. “I really do love you so much, Charlie Spring. You being up here has been one of my favourite weekends of my whole university experience. I’ll message you again after my lecture, but please do keep sending me updates of your journey. Speak soon, yeah?”

He sends it and shoves his phone in his pocket, hurrying through the throng of students moving around so he can get home. He only has an hour before his lecture and he wants to get some lunch before he goes. 

The flat is quiet when he lets himself back in. He hurries to his room and packs his backpack for his lecture, unwilling to linger in there longer than he has to because he smells like Charlie and if he’s not careful, he’ll just end up clambering back into bed and hugging his pillow like a child. He sighs and moves out of there towards the kitchen, suddenly more hungry than he’d realised. 

Manrika is sitting on the sofas, feet on the coffee table with a bowl of food balanced in her lap while Loose Women plays on the telly. He must look more forlorn than he realises because she takes one look at him and hurries over to him, pulling him into a hug. 

“Oh, babes,” she coos, kissing his cheek. “You’ll see him again soon enough.”

“I know,” Nick huffs with a small chuckle. “It’s just, like, the immediate aftermath. It sucks going back to being apart.”

Manrika pets him on the head like he’s a sad toddler. “I know,” she says sagely. “And it sucks going straight back into lectures but just think. Next year, you get to see him almost every day. That’s worth waiting for, surely?”

“It is,” Nick grumbles. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”

She shakes her head and pops their hips together. “Get some lunch and go to your lecture. You’ll feel better once you’ve eaten.”

“Yes, Mum,” he drawls. He gives the back of her neck an appreciative squeeze before he heads over to the fridge, pulling out a ready meal to heat in the microwave. He joins Manrika on the sofa and scoffs it down quickly, then pops the bowl in the sink and heads out to his lecture. 

As he gets out of his building, he feels his phone buzz with another voice message from Charlie. He’s quick to put his AirPods back in so he can listen. 

“I’ve already done it,” Charlie’s tinny voice says. “It’s 33 days until we see each other, which feels like a lot but I reckon because I’ll be so busy with exams, it’ll be faster and also it’ll be, like, the perfect reminder of what’s to come at the end of them. I cannot believe how quickly this feels like it’s come round and it’s, like, kind of terrifying but also so exciting at the same time.” There’s a pause. “Though honestly, if I don’t get into Leeds Uni, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“You’ll get in,” Nick mumbles under his breath. 

“Anyway, set your reminder and enjoy your lecture. You’re probably on your way there now, right? I’m about to move on from Further Maths to regular Maths to really break up the excitement of this four hour train, but yeah. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Nick murmurs to himself, then slides his phone back into his pocket and keeps walking. 

It really isn’t that long when he thinks about it. Not in comparison to the rest of their lives, anyway.