Chapter Text
“Fuck me,” Charlie groans, dropping his head onto the table with a thud.
Nick looks up questioningly from where he was sitting next to Charlie, doing his own studying. When Charlie heaves another deep sigh, Nick brings his head down to the level of the other boy’s and asks, “What? What’s up?”
“I’m so fucking stressed about these clinicals coming up in a couple of days,” Charlie mumbles into the table. Nick gives his own little sigh. He has been watching his best friend mope and pace about the flat they shared at Uni for the last couple of weeks and Charlie only seemed to be getting wound up tighter and tighter as his exams drew near. Exam times were never the best times for Charlie and he hated seeing him go through this same cycle month after month. Nick’s own graduate teaching courses were quite rigorous but Charlie seemed to be walking through all nine circles of hell each time exams came around. And somehow, this time seemed even worse.
“Want to talk about it?” Nick asks, not really sure how he could help but maybe he could at least ease the stress a bit. Charlie was just about the closest friend he had, going way back to high school, and he hated seeing him like this.
“I don’t know! God, I don’t know how I’m supposed to learn all this stuff by the day after tomorrow. This is our first time doing actual case scenarios with real pretend patients and I’m freaking out. Like, the only genuine chances I’ve had to do any physical exams have been on stupid dummies and then maybe copying the residents when they do it on rounds. Fucking hell, I’m going to fail,” Charlie declares. Nick was fairly sure that was highly unlikely to happen but knew there was no point in trying to tell Charlie that. Charlie is one of the smartest people he knows but he could be really blind to his own strengths sometimes.
Charlie presses his fingers around his eyes, trying to rub out the fatigue and massage his temples at the same time. Nick looks at the clock, then says decisively, “Okay look, you’ve been at this for a few hours now. Time to take a break. Let’s order some pizza, open up some beer and relax for a bit. I’ll even let you pick the toppings and beat me at Mario Kart.” Charlie hesitates and then smiles gratefully at Nick. “Okay, fine,” he says, “I can only cram so much about the differential diagnosis of shortness of breath in my head tonight.”
Nick lets Charlie order the pizza on the delivery app while he grabs a couple of beers from the fridge. They settle into the sofa and start getting into one of their favourite ways to decompress and just be with each other. They start with FIFA, which Nick is fairly decent at, with him winning some and Charlie winning some, and then Nick lets Charlie beat him at Mario Kart, for old time's sake.
When their beers are finished, Charlie gets up and asks Nick if he wants another one. Nick thinks for a minute, “Maybe one more but that’s probably going to be it for me.” Charlie nods, knowing how Nick’s antidepressants had made him somewhat of a lightweight in the last six months. “Yeah, take it easy Nick.”
Soon their pizzas arrive and with another beer for Charlie, they temporarily abandon the games for dinner. As usual, Charlie halfheartedly picks at his slice while absently gazing off into nothing. This also always got worse around exam time. He seems to be making up for the caloric intake in beer, however. As soon as he finishes his third, he walks over to the fridge and opens it. “Well, looks like there’s just one left. Might as well finish it.” Then with a shrug and a lopsided grin that brings out some adorable dimples aimed at Nick, he pops open the tab and takes a long swig. Nick watches Charlie’s throat move as he swallows, his eyes then moving up to rest on Charlie’s lips, wet and shiny from the beer as he brings the bottle back down.
Nick clears his throat, “I hope you’re feeling a bit better now.” Charlie nods and smiles again, “Yeah, definitely. Thanks, I guess I needed that.” Then, with a frown, “I just wish I had a better way to practise my physical exam skills. I know that’s going to be my weakest area.” Charlie looks up at Nick from beneath his lashes then, a contemplative look on his face. “It would probably help if I could do a full physical exam on a real person. But where would I find a pretend patient at this point?” Then he breaks out into giggles, “Unless you want to be my patient? God, can you imagine me doing an exam on you?” Nick starts laughing too. “What, like bring out your stethoscope and that stupid hammer to test my reflexes and everything?” He had heard Charlie discuss medical things with his classmates enough times to have picked up on some of the terminology.
“Yes! Exactly!” Charlie chortles. “Even the lights to look inside your eyes and ears and stuff!” He looks at Nick, who was looking back at him intently, a small smile on his lips. “But don’t worry, I’m not going to make you do that.”
Nick frowns slightly, “Why not?”
“Noooo, I can’t!” Charlie replies, but he sounds uncertain. Nick presses his advantage. “Look, Charlie, you're my best friend. And you yourself just said you need to practice your exam skills. I’m right here! I’m happy to be at your service. It doesn’t have to be weird. Just pretend I’m a patient.”
Charlie hesitates, but he couldn’t deny the little thrill he feels at hearing those words. Charlie has a little secret. Nick was his best friend, for sure. A better friend couldn’t be asked for if he wrote out a list of specifications himself, but, he is also a little bit in love with Nick. They had started off being really good mates from the very beginning, but over time, Charlie had begun a gentle but inexorable slide into having deeper feelings for the handsome blonde.
These feelings were bigger than just friendship…and also naughtier, but he had kept these feelings very tightly locked away. Nick knew Charlie was gay and that had never been an issue in their friendship but Charlie also knew Nick was as straight as straight can be, and Charlie was petrified of damaging their friendship.
Now though, perhaps it’s the four beers giving him the courage or his very real fear of failing his upcoming clinicals, but he can’t pass up this chance to be close to Nick, to touch Nick, with his apparently freely given permission.
Decision made, Charlie sets down his now empty bottle of beer and goes into his bedroom. He comes back with a small bag that contains some ridiculously expensive medical equipment purchased second-hand for school. Nick stands awkwardly in the dining area, seemingly unsure of what to do with himself. He clasps his hands together and then brings them back to his sides again, surreptitiously rubbing his palms on the fabric of his jeans.
“What…uh,” Nick trailed off. He tried again, “What do you want me to do?”
Charlie looks around and then points to the simple dining chair that Nick is standing near. “Just sit there.”
Nick sits, palms carefully placed on his knees, and looks at Charlie expectantly. Now Charlie begins to feel a little nervous. Not only was he going to have to try and do this physical exam sequence properly while sloshed, but it was Nick! He takes a deep breath and tries to remember his training.
He starts with the head and neck portion of the exam. He checks Nick's eyes by shining a light in them and then asking him to follow his finger as he moves it around. Charlie can’t resist booping Nick on the nose with his fingers at the end, making him smile, cross-eyed. Charlie’s cool slender fingers then glide over his throat, pressing gently here and there, checking for enlarged lymph nodes.
Then Charlie moves on to check his ears and throat. Nick starts squirming when Charlie is trying to look in his ear with the otoscope. Charlie drives his hand not holding the scope into Nick's hair and holds firm. Nick freezes, breath hitching. “Ticklish?” Charlie asks, playfully. Nick nodded, smiling to himself. Charlie brings his mouth close to Nick’s ear and in a slightly breathy but firm voice commands, “Hold. Still.” He feels Nick give a little shiver.
They move on to Nick’s torso for the heart and lungs exam. Charlie starts by placing his stethoscope on Nick’s chest over his shirt. He is soon shaking his head. “No, no, that doesn’t work. I can’t hear through the fabric as well.” Nick looks up at Charlie, eyes a little unfocused. “So, lose the shirt?”
“Yup, lose the shirt,” Charlie replies.
Nick takes off his shirt and waits. When Charlie doesn’t move for several seconds, Nick looks up at him again. “Charlie?” Charlie seems to come to himself from wherever he had been and proceeds to go through the heart and lungs portion of the exam. Nick is looking at the top of Charlie’s head while it’s bends down in concentration. “So, am I gonna live, Doc?” Nick jokes. Charlie grins and pulls away. “Do you want to have a go at it,” he asks Nick. When Nick nods his head, Charlie snakes the bell under his own shirt and hands Nick the earpieces. Nick is transfixed for a few minutes, just listening to Charlie’s heartbeat.
“Okay, the abdominal exam is next but you’re supposed to be lying down on your back. I can’t do it with you standing or sitting like this.”
Nick stands up and looks around. “Maybe we should go to my bedroom then?” Charlie nods and follows him there. Charlie has him lying down on his back on the bed and after first listening to his abdomen for bowel sounds with the stethoscope, he goes through a series of bewildering motions of tapping on Nick’s abdomen and then pushing around. “Hey, what are you doing?” Nick exclaims, squirming and giggling. “That tickles!”
“Hold still, Mr Nelson,” Charlie intones, in his professional voice. His trembling lips betray his own giggles, however. He gives in and starts tickling Nick in earnest.
“Charlie!” Nick gasps, “If…you…want…to…pass,” Nick is trying to speak, “you have to get…serious! Finish your exam!”
“Alright fine,” Charlie stops tickling him, trying to think of what’s next. “Well, I should probably practice taking your pulse at all the different locations.” When Nick gives him the go-ahead, he starts with Nick’s carotid pulse at his neck, beating nice and strong. He then moves his fingers down Nick’s arm to check his radial pulse at the wrist. This almost feels like he’s holding hands with Nick. Charlie tries not to think about that too much. He then slides down the bed to press his fingers over the top of Nick’s feet, to check his pedal pulse. Once he’s done with that one, he looks at Nick, who has been watching him this whole time.
“I, uh…have one more pulse point to check,” Charlie says.
“Okay, have at it.”
“It’s, uh…it’s in your groin? Right at the top of your leg? So, um, you’ll have to take your trousers off.”
“No problem,” says Nick, and to Charlie’s surprise, Nick is undoing his fly, lifting his hips off the bed, pulling his jeans off and throwing them across the room.
Moving a little slower, giving time for Nick to stop him if he changes his mind, Charlie slides his hand under the lower hem of Nick’s boxers until his fingers meet the junction of the upper thigh and his pelvis, right at the crease. It takes a few seconds and some rooting around for Charlie to find the right location, his nerves not helping one bit. As his fingers press firmly over the femoral pulse, Nick holds very still. He seems to be staring hard at the ceiling. Interesting, Charlie thinks. His pulse is definitely faster than it had been a few minutes ago.
“How thorough do you want this exam to be?” Charlie asks.
“As thorough as the real thing,” Nick replies, “give me the full monty, Doc,” he chuckles.
“As you wish. You might have to strip down, is that okay?”
“Yeah, nothing you haven’t seen before, right?” Nick says. It was true, over the course of their friendship, the odd instance of nudity had occurred. Skinny dipping at New Years', getting changed together after the gym, none of it had ever phased either of them, though sometimes, Charlie did secretly recall those images late at night, his hand in his underwear.
“Right then, Mr Nelson, I’m going to ask you to stand up and remove your boxers,” Charlie says, putting on a funny deep voice.
“Yes, Doc.” Nick replies, standing up. He pulls down his boxers and kicks them off to the side. “Examine away. People pay good money for these check-ups, I suppose I won’t have to go in for mine this year.” Nick jokes.
Charlie is still sitting at the side of the bed and now he’s looking at Nick standing right in front of him. “Okay…so if you were a real patient, I would, um, examine your scrotum and penis at this point.”
“Okay,” Nick nods his head a few times, hands hanging limply at his side. Charlie once again marvels at Nick’s willingness to participate in this to such a degree. He must really love him as a friend…or think he’s going to fail so horribly, he needs all the help he can get.
Charlie brings his hands up, hesitating briefly at the last second, and then cups Nick’s balls. Nick sucks in a breath and Charlie lets go immediately.
“I’m sorry!” Charlie exclaims. He makes as if to move away but Nick puts a hand on his shoulder to hold him still. “Charlie, it’s fine,” he reassures him. “Your…hands are just cold, that’s all.”
“Oh,” Charlie laughs nervously and briskly rubs hands together and huffs on them. “Okay, let’s try that again.”
He once again brings his hands back up to Nick’s balls and this time, Nick doesn’t react. He gently rolls each testicle around his fingers, one at a time, palpating for any tenderness or lumps. Once he is done with the testicles, he moves on to the penis. He starts to feel along the shaft for any abnormalities when within a few seconds, Nick is…hard. He stops, unsure of what to do. Now it’s Nick’s turn to apologise. “I’m so sorry,” he gasps. “I didn’t mean…I’m sorry!” His face is bright red and the flush is creeping down his neck to his chest.
Charlie, feeling the full brunt of second-hand embarrassment for him, rushes to reassure him. “Nick, no sorries!” He places his hand on Nick’s hip to keep him from running away, fingers digging into the side of his toned butt cheek. “Look, it’s a perfectly natural reaction! It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I promise.”
Nick has frozen in place with Charlie’s hand on his hip. “I know what I’m talking about,” Charlie jokes, “I’m almost a doctor.” Charlie waggles his eyebrows and Nick laughs, relaxing.
“So, the last part of the exam is the prostate check. Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Charlie asks, swallowing nervously.
“Might as well, heck, can you imagine if this is how I find out there’s something wrong with me? You could literally save my life.”
Charlie smiles and grabs a pair of gloves. “Do you have a history of prostate cancer in your family?” Charlie asks, trying to keep his demeanour professional.
“Yeah, I think on my dad’s side of the family.”
“Actually, do you have a spot of lube? It’ll make it less unpleasant for you.” Charlie wonders out loud.
“Er... Yeah. In my drawer,” Nick responds.
Nick fumbles in the bottom drawer of his bedside table. “Here,” he said, handing Charlie the bottle.
“It’s quite full,” Charlie jokes.
“Well, I haven’t been getting much action,” Nick chuckles.
“So, uh, I’m going to ask you to bend over onto the bed, just rest your weight on your elbows, okay?”
Nick breathes in deeply and leans over onto his bed, suddenly feeling very nervous. “Is it going to hurt?” he squeaks.
“It might be a little bit uncomfortable, but I’ll be really gentle, I promise,” Charlie says, resisting the urge to reach out and stroke Nick’s hair to reassure him. “You’ll need to try and relax as much as possible. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Nick says quietly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, “lube me up.”
As gently as he can, Charlie puts a little bit of lube onto his gloved finger and presses it against Nick’s entrance. “Deep breath in for me,” he says.
Nick obeys. Charlie’s finger presses in, past the tight ring of muscles, and then curves down, pressing against Nick’s prostate.
Nick gasps.
“Okay?” Charlie asks.
“Just... different,” Nick manages, “it kind of makes me feel like I need to pee, is that normal?”
“Very normal, now hold still, I need to have a feel around.” Charlie wiggled his finger, pressing Nick’s prostate, trying to keep his internal monologue about literally being inside Nick quiet. His fingers are shaking.
“Oh,” Nick gasps, “fuck.” Charlie wiggles his finger again, and Nick clenches his jaw.
“You’re doing great, stay still,” Charlie says, feeling Nick tense around his finger.
Nick’s breath grows rapid, and he squeezes his eyes closed hard. “Fuck,” he pants again.
“Almost done,” Charlie says, worrying that Nick is feeling too uncomfortable.
“Please,” Nick gasps, “Just a little bit more.”
Charlie pauses, wondering if he heard Nick correctly. He gently feels Nick’s prostate for any unusual texture or swelling, and then feels Nick clench around him again.
“Oh, fuck,” Nick whispers, his jaw now clenched tightly and his thighs start to tremble. Biting down on his lip to stop himself from moaning, Nick comes.