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“Come on, man, you’ll love it.”
“I still don’t understand it, dude.”
Dennis' face broke into a soft grin at the shorter man’s confusion as they walked back to the car, Charlie trailing a little behind as he tried to wrap his brain around the concept of a spa.
“You don’t have to, Charlie, you’ll see when you get there!”
“Whatever, dude, all I know is we’re going for spaghetti, that’s all I’m thinking about right now. Or “spa” as you call it for some reason.”
Dennis laughed as they approached his SUV, reaching into his back pocket for his keys.
“It’s not short for spaghetti, Charlie, it’s just a short word. With a whole separate meaning, no connection whatsoever.”
Charlie went round the back of the car and began pulling at the door handle and wouldn’t stop until Dennis unlocked it - an action Dennis would normally find infuriating if executed by anyone else.
“That’s just bullshit, dude, I don’t buy it.” Charlie raised his voice, flailing his arm before bringing his beer to his lips
“You don’t have to buy it, it’s just…what it is, I dunno what more you want me to say.”
They slid into the car at the same time, and Charlie pulled his chair forward as Dennis adjusted the mirror.
“Either way, all I can think about is spaghetti.”
“Yeah, well, that’s fair. I mean, I could eat. We can grab lunch somewhere first.”
Apparently, it was Charlie’s birthday, which the others seemed to believe unwaveringly, whereas Dennis could have sworn it had already happened a few months ago. He wasn’t sure though, so he had been tasked with distracting Charlie while their friends set the bar up in preparation for a surprise party later that day. Frank had given him two spa vouchers and instructed him to take the shorter man with him while they decorated, and while Dennis wasn’t complaining in the slightest - there truly wasn’t anything he enjoyed more than doing absolutely nothing while getting waited on hand and foot - considering it was “ Charlie’s” birthday, he didn’t think it was a very “Charlie” thing to be doing . Charlie couldn’t even get his head around the word , and in contrary to himself, Dennis couldn’t imagine anything that Charlie would be interested in less, but as selfish as it sounded, Dennis didn’t care - all that mattered to him was he had been given the day off work for a hot steamy afternoon of endless pampering, all for free, with the person he was currently sleeping with in secret. Sure, it wasn’t exactly Charlie’s first choice of activity, but Dennis had a feeling he’d be able to find at least something for the other man to enjoy.
“Where were you thinking for food?” Dennis asked as he put his keys in the ignition and started the car. Charlie looked around for somewhere to put his empty bottle. The cup holder occupied with a bag of strawberry gummy snakes, a Hershey's bar and two pack of white chocolate Reese's buttercups, and he smirked up at Dennis - who had craned his neck round to reverse and didn’t see - before deciding against bringing attention to his stash of car candy by asking him to move them and instead rolled down the window and threw it into the road with a loud shatter.
“Well, I want spaghetti, so wherever is gonna get me spaghetti.”
“I mean, we could go to Guigino’s but that’s two trips. We could see if there’s anywhere near the spa?”
“Dude, I swear to God, that word gets more ridiculous every time you say it.” The sincerity in his voice only made Dennis crack up harder. Charlie made Dennis laugh more than anyone else. He never laughed at him though, only with him, and most of the time it went over Charlie’s head anyway.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it, let’s get you some spaghetti.”
The drive was quick, and they parked the car up against the curb of the high street in the shade. It was hot out, Summer was at its peak and both men squinted under the bright sun as they got out of the car. After slamming the door, Dennis began tugging on the collar of his pale blue polo, looking over at Charlie and wondering how on earth he could stand to wear that stupid bomber jacket in this heat.
“I dunno how you’re not burning in that thing,” He remarked, still fanning himself with his shirt, and Charlie waved him off before clapping his hands and rubbing them together.
“Right, spaghetti!”
“Sure, man, yeah. Let’s take a walk up that way, if my memory from when I was last here serves then I think they’ve got a decent Italian place a couple doors down.”
“Oh, you’ve been to this spaghetti before?”
Dennis snorted.
“No, I’ve been to this spa before, asshole.” Charlie had no idea how hilarious he was and simply shrugged it away. “Are you sure you don’t wanna leave your jacket in the car, dude? It’s real hot and you’re gonna be taking your clothes off when you get to the spa anyway.” Dennis was being realistic, but he had forgotten who he was talking to for a moment until Charlie jumped back in horror.
“WHOA! Dude? I’m gonna be WHAT?”
“No, no, not like that, like, for the massages and shit.”
“I am not getting massaged in a spaghetti restaurant, Dennis, are you crazy?”
Dennis put his head in his hands. Frustrating as it was, he was still trying not to laugh harder but it was impossible; Charlie’s misled perception of what they were going to do just kept getting funnier.
“Look, let’s just move past it alright? We’re going for spaghetti right now, so just focus on that. It will, however, be hot in the restaurant too, so last chance to leave your jacket or I’m locking the doors.”
Charlie narrowed his eyes as he stared ahead, contemplating. He was fine now, but Dennis was usually right, so he complied, slowly pulling the jacket off with his arms behind his back, and Dennis made the mistake of glancing over at him from the other side of the car.
Charlie was wearing a grey t-shirt, with fading blue graphics on the front and sleeves short enough to fully expose his freckled biceps. The pits of his shirt were sweaty, but in a sexy way, and Dennis swallowed as Charlie rolled his shoulders back, his shirt riding up a touch and giving Dennis a quick glimpse at the thin sliver of Charlie’s flat stomach. He kept his wide stance as he tossed his jacket in the back seat, the bow legged nature of his legs always keeping his knees and feet apart, and he ran a hand through his wild scruffy hair as he closed the door with a lazy flick of his wrist. Dennis licked his lip; he was so fucking attracted to him that he physically didn’t know what to do with himself. His intentions behind Charlie taking his jacket off had been pure - it was hot out - but he’d be lying if he said the visual wasn’t a bonus. It was funny, Charlie quite literally didn’t give a shit what he looked like. He never used deodorant, yet unbelievably considering all the dirty work he did he never smelled bad. He showered once a week, he didn’t know what moisturiser was and Dennis wasn’t even sure he used shampoo, but none of it mattered. To Dennis, he was the sexiest man alive - besides himself, of course. Charlie hadn’t noticed any of Dennis’ comical lusting, and he walked back around the car, totally oblivious, to stand next to the taller man, putting his hands on his hips.
“Are we going then? I’m starving.”
“Yeah, me too, but we gotta be quick yeah? I wanna make the most of these vouchers.”
After a short walk down the high street, they came to a nice Italian restaurant on the corner. It wasn’t fancy like Guigino’s, but it looked authentic and it was busy inside so the food must be decent. Dennis led the way, pushing through the glass doors with Charlie trailing behind looking around in awe as he did whenever he found himself in a new place.
“Maybe we should get it to go, I wonder if that’s possible here.” Dennis said to no one in particular while Charlie continued to take in his surroundings, but the shorter man piped up.
“Nah, dude, we’ll be quick. Trust me, I’m gonna eat this spaghetti so fast you’re gonna start questioning all the laws of nature.”
Dennis grinned, nodding his head as a waitress approached them and pulling Charlie’s arm when they were taken to a table.
“They’re not gonna let you in with that, dude.” Dennis called out.
“Are you sure about that? Like, is that part of the rules?” Charlie spoke with his mouthful from a few steps behind.
“Well, yeah, man, you can’t bring spaghetti into a spa.”
“Oh right, I get it, competitive industry. Makes sense.”
As amusing as Dennis still found it, he didn’t engage this time; they were going in circles and he knew he’d grow tired of it soon if he kept feeding into it. If it had been anyone else he’d have had no problem telling them to shut the fuck up, but he didn’t like getting annoyed at Charlie. Dennis had picked up his pace, looking from side to side as they passed buildings trying to find the spa before turning back to face Charlie, who was eating the rest of his pasta from a cardboard box in the middle of the street.
“Are you nearly done? You told me you were gonna eat fast!”
“I didn’t know the plates were gonna be that big, dude! They were huge.”
Dennis pulled a face and brought a gentle hand to his belly. “Yeah, they were.” Charlie was right, it had been really good pasta, but the servings were very generous. Dennis had eaten a little more than he’d planned to, as he’d been doing for a few months now, and he scrunched his nose up remembering he’d be taking his clothes off shortly - something he’d temporarily forgotten the moment the waitress placed a large plate of four cheese fettuccine on the table in front of him. He could feel the effect of his lunch through the material of his polo, and he scrunched his nose again at the realisation that he still felt hungry in spite of how full he knew he was. Charlie had the right idea with pacing himself. Dennis’ chin turned up, tilting his lips into a nervous pout. It was so good though. He tugged on the hem of his shirt, suddenly having second thoughts about the whole thing, but Charlie caught up to him and grabbed him by both shoulders from behind, jumping up against him and landing at Dennis’ side, and Dennis instantly felt calmer.
“Did you finish?” Dennis asked, gazing down at the shorter man next to him whose hands were now empty.
“Nah, I had most of it but you were right, I think I took too long, it was starting to get cold.” Dennis caught the inside of his cheek between his teeth and began to chew. Charlie could sense Dennis’ subtle change in demeanour and nudged him with his arm. “You okay, dude?”
Dennis snapped back, turning to face Charlie and offering a weak smile. “Yeah, yeah no, I’m fine, I just uhh...I think I ate too much.”
“So what? Don’t think about it.” The actual words weren’t very reassuring at all, almost dismissive, but they weren’t; not from Charlie. The way Charlie was able to deliver them put Dennis at immediate ease, a seriousness in his tone he rarely used unless he needed to. Dennis nodded and they carried on walking. Arriving at the entrance of the wellness facility, Charlie’s eyes widened.
“Shit, dude, you were right! I can’t see any spaghetti! What is this place?”
Dennis laughed. “Yeah, buddy, I told you, it’s where people go to relax, get all clean and comfortable.” Charlie was in awe, blinking up at the bright interior, “so that’s what we’re gonna do, you ready to get all clean and comfortable?”
“Yes, sir!” Charlie exclaimed, and Dennis bit his lip. It caught him off guard every time, but he couldn’t lose his composure this quickly.
“So, what did you wanna do first?”
“I have no idea, dude, what even is there?”
“Well, you could get a massage, or skin care treatment? I know I wanna get a wax at some point, or there’s the sauna-”
“Look, dude, I’m gonna need you to stop making up words.”
The corners of Dennis’ lips curled up in a smirk at the shorter man’s matter-of-fact tone before exhaling, briefly closing his eyes before placing his hands on Charlie’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take the lead, yeah?” He could tell Charlie was tense, and while he knew that this is exactly what would ease that, Charlie was difficult to navigate, and the things that other people found calming sometimes made Charlie feel worse. “If you wanna go at any point, we can, yeah? But if you give it a chance, I think you’ll like it.”
Charlie nodded, relaxing in Dennis’ grip and loosening up. He had been getting a lot better at trying new things lately; his calm-down time had been cut in half and he shook all the anxiety out through his hands as Dennis walked in front of him and approached the front desk.
“Hi there,” Dennis offered with a dazzling smile, “my friend and I would like to use our vouchers! We wanna get as much in as possible, and it’s Charlie’s first time at a health centre. He’s a little nervous.”
The woman at the desk shot Charlie a kind look and for some reason it actually put Charlie at ease. He was fairly specific with the kind of people he engaged with, particularly strangers, but he trusted her.
“That’s good to know! What would you boys like to start with?”
“Right, yeah,” Dennis leaned in a little and lowered his voice, “maybe something a bit private? He’s sorta averse to touch and I think I gotta ease him in a bit first. Maybe a hot tub? I don’t think he’s ready for a sauna yet.”
Charlie peered over Dennis’ shoulder, his feet bouncing a little. He was having a hard time adjusting to his surroundings as he couldn’t quite figure out the energy. It was clean but not clinical, bright but not blinding, and he hadn’t decided if he liked it yet. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew what Dennis was doing, but he appreciated it. He’d rather not have to confront the woman herself and Dennis was good at talking to new people. Dennis was the only person that actually made the effort to make things easier for Charlie. Mac was great, Charlie loved him like a brother, but he didn’t have the same understanding, and neither did Dee. Charlie moved closer to Dennis and began playing with the hem of his polo, tugging gently at the material as he continued to look around. Dennis didn’t react to Charlie’s pull at his clothes, it was normal for them, and instead continued to ask the receptionist for advice on which treatments would be best. Charlie moved closer and tugged a little harder. He wasn’t rushing Dennis or anything, he just needed something to do with his hands. Dennis had finished, and turned around to face Charlie, in doing so yanking the material from between Charlie’s fingers that brushed against Dennis’ exposed skin for a moment. Charlie felt it, and so did Dennis, and Charlie grinned as a faint pink bled across the bridge of Dennis’ nose. It didn’t make any sense, but Charlie loved when tiny gestures like that would occur; he loved being reminded that Dennis was real.
“Okay, so I got all the information.” Charlie’s eyebrows lifted as he gave Dennis all his attention, “she recommended a light hand massage first, to give you a feel of it and see if you like it, then I’m gonna get a wax, and I’ve put us down for a full body massage but you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. Then I booked a uh..hot tub room? I think it's called? They said they’re private and we can apply our own facemasks and shit, and then, if you’re up for it, the sauna- oh shit, sorry, steam room.”
Charlie had been nodding along, trying to keep up, but Dennis could see he didn’t really get any of it. No bother, show is often better than tell. “Just come with me, you’ll see. I think she said the hand massages are this way. I’m gonna get my nails done but we’ll be in the same room so it’s all good.”
“Should I get my nails done too?”
Dennis’ laugh was light, all his bitchy features softened whenever he looked at Charlie.
“Sure, if you want. You can see when you get in.”