Chapter Text
They stayed there in the park by the near-frozen pond with damp shoes and frost-covered heads until they couldn’t stand it any longer.
Charlie wished he was more immune to the cold.
He wanted to stay locked in this moment forever.
This was the sort of scene that deserved to be captured in a snow globe.
A snapshot of him and Nick wrapped up in one another, snow falling gracefully around them as they whispered confessions of affection that both had been so afraid the other wasn’t ready to hear.
Glitter would mix with the white flakes that would swirl around the pair of them, the soft glow of the single lamppost highlighting the shimmer.
The bronze base that held their scene would be engraved with their promise to each other.
I love you.
But Charlie’s teeth had started to chatter, and Nick had held him a little closer and insisted that they head back.
Charlie had pouted but let Nick guide him back through the slush-filled street if only under the promise that they could continue once they were back in the comfort of the Nelson home.
“Love you,” Charlie murmured once more, going up on his tiptoes and pressing a feather-light kiss to Nick’s lips before relenting and starting back on the path home.
“Love you,” Nick echoed, wrapping his arm snugly around Charlie, and pulling him into his chest as they made their way down the park path.
“I like saying it,” Nick mused as they walked, their boots sloshing through the slush.
“I like hearing it,” Charlie responded, the lightness in his chest giving the illusion that he might levitate off the ground at any second.
“I also like saying it,” he continued, leaning into Nick’s side as they walked. It was slightly cumbersome to be so intertwined as they moved down the street, but Charlie wanted to stay as close to his boyfriend as possible.
“So get you used to that. I can very easily see myself becoming a broken record.
Nick smirked down at him, those few inches of height difference never more clear than when Nick had to hunch down a little to kiss Charlie’s forehead.
“I look forward to it.”
Charlie’s curls were plastered to his forehead by the time they made it through the front door of Sarah"s house.
Nick took hold of one of the drenched tendrils and pulled it straight. When he let it go, it just drooped against his face instead of bouncing back into position.
“I think a shower"s in order,” Nick teased, stripping off his hoodie and draping it over Charlie’s head, towelling off his curls like he was a longhaired golden retriever.
“Fuck off!” Charlie squeaked, trying to dodge Nick and his ruffling.
Nick sprang at him again, locking one arm around Charlie’s middle and using the other to keep his hoodie latched onto Charlie’s head.
“Nick!” Charlie laughed as he tried to wriggle out of his boyfriend"s grasp, pushing against Nick’s broad chest.
“I hate you!” He grumbled, still cast in total darkness.
“No, you don’t. You love me.” Nick corrected, and Charlie could hear the smug contentedness in his voice.
“Christ, would the two of you get a room?” Even though Charlie had only met David that day, he already recognized his voice.
“Gladly,” Nick snapped at his brother, and before Charlie realized what was happening, he was being lifted off his feet.
“Nick!” he screeched as Nick threw him over his shoulder and started off.
“Careful on the stairs, boys!” Sarah called from the lounge as Nick hauled Charlie up towards his bedroom and Charlie continued to laugh his head off.
How was this his life?
This time the year before, he had been alone in his dorm room in London, waiting for Ben to text him back and trying to convince himself that he wasn’t extraordinarily lonely.
Now he was laughing his head off as his incredibly fit, incredibly kind boyfriend was carrying him up the stairs of his childhood home after confirming their exclusive relationship status, spending a major holiday together, and saying I love you for the first time.
Charlie had said I love you to someone and meant it. He meant it with every single part and fraction of his being.
He loves Nick.
Nick loves him.
It was an incredible feeling.
It was indescribable.
It was all-consuming.
Charlie wanted to feel like this forever.
He wanted to feel like this with Nick forever.
Was that possible?
They’d dipped their toes into a bigger conversation that needed to happen.
They had touched the surface of what was coming.
Like it or not, it was nearly December, and come April, Charlie had to go home.
Maybe more accurately he needed to go back to England.
More and more, being with Nick started to feel like being at home more than he had ever felt living with his parents.
That sounded crazy.
Charlie was well aware of that.
It was sort of insane that he was more attached to a person he’d known for a few months than he had the place he had grown up in.
But he felt safe with Nick.
He felt like himself.
He felt cared for and understood.
He hadn’t always felt that way at home.
Maybe this feeling wouldn’t last.
Maybe the romantic haze would lift and Charlie would realize that what he and Nick had wasn’t special.
It was possible.
Possible but not probable.
It didn’t matter what logic said or what others would think about his choices.
Charlie knew that his mum would have something to say about it when he brought Nick home at Christmas, but he didn’t care.
Not really.
Not when he felt like this.
Nick had carried him up the stairs and into the bathroom on the landing that they were technically supposed to be sharing with David.
Charlie was deposited onto the counter of the bathroom sink, and Nick crowded between his legs.
“Arms up”
Charlie followed instructions, raising his hands above his head and gasping slightly at the cold sensation of his shirt being peeled over his body.
Charlie reached out with grabby hands took hold of Nick’s shirt and pushed it up his body.
“You are so fucking hot,” Nick muttered as he put his hand on Charlie’s hips and hauled him forward so that he was perched on the edge of the counter, their bodies pressed together.
Any response that Charlie might have had was silenced by Nick crashing their mouths together, coaxing Charlie’s lips apart and sliding his tongue into his mouth.
It was all Charlie could do to remember to breathe as he let his instincts take over. His hands were gasping at Nick’s back as he pressed his body further against his boyfriend, wanting to fuse them together.
Charlie groaned when Nick started to pull away from him.
He latched his ankles together behind Nick, wanting to keep him close.
“Hold on, impatient boy,” Nick teased, taking hold of Charlie’s legs and pulling them apart so he could step out of their grasp.
Charlie pouted but wasn’t left disappointed long.
Nick had turned the crank on the shower, the hiss of water and steam filling the room with heat to rival the one building in Charlie’s stomach.
There was a glint of hunger in Nick’s eyes that Charlie recognized when Nick turned back around to face him again.
Charlie reached out, pulling Nick into him again, unwilling to maintain the space that Nick had put between them.
Nick stepped into the circle of Charlie’s hips again, his hands winding around Charlie’s back and pressing him forward.
Charlie"s hand shook with anticipation as he grabbed for Nick’s belt and started to fumble with the buckle.
Nick’s hands followed suit, his hands grabbing at Charlie’s hips and working the fabric of his shorts and jeans down.
Charlie gasped a bit at the cold as his bare skin came in contact with the stone.
“Sorry,” Nick murmured, moving back a bit so he could take Charlie’s jeans off properly.
Nick shoved down his jeans and reached for Charlie again.
Charlie tried to muffle his surprised squeak as Nick pulled him off the counter and walked them backwards towards the shower.
He gasped when his back hit the shower wall, warm from the water having already been grazing against it.
Nick held him against the marble, his hands hooked under Charlie’s thighs to keep them steady as he focused on kissing him again.
“Are you sure this is ok?” Charlie managed to ask, as he tried not to get lost in the sensation of Nick latched onto his neck and their now very wet, very hot bodies moulded together.
“With your—oh fuck—downstairs?”
Charlie could barely string a proper sentence together; he was so caught up in the sensations of Nick pressing against him, touching him, caressing him as the water rained down against their skin and the steam in the air acted like a physical manifestation of the feeling in their veins.
“Don’t worry about it,” Nick murmured into the skin of Charlie’s throat.
“There’s enough wine and turkey in their systems that we could set off fireworks up here and they wouldn’t notice.”
“Fireworks, hmm?” Charlie teased before he nearly blacked out as Nick slid his hand between them and took Charlie in his grasp.
“Something like that,” Nick mused, reaching blindly to the side and knocking over several bottles trying to grasp onto the right one.
Charlie couldn"t stop himself from laughing as the shampoo bottles rattled around their feet before he gasped obscenely as Nick cascaded body wash between the two of them, coating their chests as the suds slipped down between them.
“Oh my god.” Charlie groaned, tangling his fingers in Nick’s hair and pulling tight.
“What was that you said about hating me?” Nick questioned, nipping at Charlie’s neck and then pressing his tongue against the bitten skin.
“I take it back,” Charlie whined, his whole body alight with the anticipation of Nick touching him further.
“I take it back.”
“Hmm?” Nick repositioned Charlie against the wall, one arm holding him more securely so he could run his hand up and down Charlie’s chest and abdomen, just skating past his nipple and not quite dipping below his waistline.
“I don’t hate you,” Charlie moaned, tightening his grip on the darkened strands of Nick’s soaked hair.
“Fuck Nick. I love you. I love you so much.
“I love you,” Nick echoed, rolling Charlie’s nipple between his thumb and forefinger just briefly and then dipping his hand lower to take them both in his hand, the suds from the body wash easing his way.
If this was love, Charlie didn’t know how he had survived his whole life up until this point without it.
…….
Nick and Charlie had to reinstate the ‘no hanging out during study hours’ rule, less for the sake of Nick’s roommates" work schedule and more for their own.
Nick hadn’t thought it was physically possible for them to be more intense with one another than they had been before, but ever since the events of the Thanksgiving weekend, it was as if they had turned the dial of their relationship up times 10.
He supposed he should have suspected that officially becoming boyfriends would do that. Add in the whole ‘I’m in love with you’ and ‘you’re the only thing I’m sure of’ to the equation, and it was as if they’d turned the bonfire between them into an inferno.
Every time that they were in the same room, Nick had to have his hands on Charlie in one way or another. It was as if the magnetic connection that had existed between them had been supercharged.
Nick had never been in love before.
It was a foreign concept to him.
He had made assumptions about what it would feel like.
He had theorized and hypothesized about what he would be like in a relationship of that magnitude, but everything he’d ever dreamed of paled in comparison to what it was really like to be in love.
And in love he was.
He loved Charlie.
Sort of a scary amount.
Every morning he woke up, and his feelings were stronger when he’d sworn that that wasn’t physically possible.
His heart just kept expanding and filling with further affection for the boy who had taken up residence in it.
This was to say that if Nick wanted a hope in hell of passing any of his exams, he and Charlie could not be within five miles of each other when it came time to hit the books.
“Are you good, Nelson?” Christian had asked when he’d emerged from his bedroom and saw Nick standing at the kitchen island, stirring a cup of tea and staring into nothingness.
“You look like your lover is lost at sea and you’re scanning the horizon for their ship.”
“Well, he and Charlie haven’t seen each other in God, three hours? I think he’s in withdrawal.
Otis teased from the living room sofa, where he was going through a fat stack of flashcards.
“Fuck off, Oats,” Nick grumbled, picking up his tea and heading back over to the dining room table where his notes for his child psych class were spread out.
He hadn’t seen Charlie for a day and a half, thank you very much. So yes, maybe he was pouting a little. He missed his boyfriend.
Sue him.
His friends could tease him about being codependent. Maybe he was a little bit.
He was also happy.
So fucking happy in a way he hadn’t been for a million years.
“Missing your lover boy?” Chris mused, sliding into a chair at the table next to Nick.
“Have you been doodling your married names on your notes?” Christian snatched up one of his notebooks and started to read aloud.
“Ah yes. Let’s see.
Charlie Nelson.
Nick Spring.
Nick and Charlie Nelson.
Nick and Charlie Spring.
Nick and Charlie Spring Nelson.
Oh, I think that one is my favourite!”
“Fuck off, Chris, it doesn’t say that,” Nick grumbled, grabbing his notes back.
Nick wasn’t that insane.
Besides, Nelson-Spring was the obvious winner. The ing ending was too strong to lose.
“Where is Charlie anyway? I feel like we haven’t seen him in ages" Sai said, appearing out of nowhere.
“That’s just because Nick keeps him trapped in his room every time he’s over here,” Otis offered as an explanation.
“Seriously, I don’t know how your guy"s dicks haven’t fallen off from overuse at this point.”
Nick balled up one of his old sticky notes and tossed it in Christian"s face.
“Surprised your testicles haven"t retreated back into your body since you haven’t had sex this entire school year.”
“What are you talking about, Nicky! Christian has sex every night! It’s with himself, but that still counts.
“Otis, I swear I will put that video of you drunk crying about La La Land on my Insta highlights if you don’t shut the fuck up right now.”
“Do it, bitch! I’m not afraid to embrace my sensitive side!”
“And he pulls way more than you do, so maybe you should take a note out of his book, babe,” Sai called as he helped himself to the leftover pizza in the fridge.
Nick noticed his phone light up on the table, and he snatched it before Chris had the chance to grab it.
Charlie: Are you done studying yet?
Nick smiled down at his phone as he typed out his response.
Nick: I could be
“Oh, look at that, boys. He’s got his Charlie face on.
Nick flipped off his friends, keeping his attention trained on his phone.
Charlie: That’s not what I asked.
Did you get your outline done?
Nick: Mostly
Charlie: So no?
Nick: Um.
Charlie: Ugh, hurry up.
Nick: You’re telling me you are totally ready for your exam on Monday.
Charlie: Yes.
I manage my time effectively.
Nick: I can manage your time effectively.
Charlie: That doesn’t even make sense.
Nick: I know, but I can’t think straight. I’m horny, and I miss you.
Charlie: If you’re thinking about me, you are definitely not thinking straight.
“You look like such a fucking idiot right now grinning at your phone,” Sai mocked, ruffling Nick’s hair.
“Leave him alone! He’s in love!” Otis crowed.
Nick knew that Otis was only saying that to make fun of him. He hadn’t actually told any of his friends that he and Charlie had taken that next step in their relationship.
It wasn’t as if he had pranced into his apartment after Thanksgiving and announced to the room at large that he and Charlie were boyfriends and that they were in love with each other.
It wasn’t a secret or anything.
Nick was pretty sure the guys already assumed that he and Charlie were boyfriends even if they weren’t acknowledging it.
Nick wanted to acknowledge it.
He wanted to print out posters that read
CHARLIE SPRING IS MY OFFICIAL BOYFRIEND, AND WE’RE IN FUCKING LOVE.
But the conversation hadn’t come up with the rugby guys, and Nick wasn’t wasting any of the precious free time he had waxing poetically about Charlie to his friends.
Not when he could be waxing poetically about Charlie to Charlie.
He had rugby practice, schoolwork, a semblance of social life, and his relationship with Charlie to balance.
Nick would happily throw it all away to just focus on Charlie if he thought he could get away with it.
But time was ticking down toward exams, and there was more and more pressure mounting on him with rugby now that he knew that he was on the prospective recruitment lists for a few scouts.
Nick had been contacted by a recruiter from a team out of Austin, and he’d gotten an email from an agency that represented a few teams out of New Zealand.
He didn’t particularly want to move to Texas.
He didn’t have anything against the state other than that his dickhead of a brother lived there, but there wasn’t anything pulling him there.
New Zealand sounded lovely but far.
Far from Vermont.
Extremely far from England.
Far from Charlie.
There was a thirteen-hour time difference between Auckland and London.
He would be going to bed when Charlie was waking up.
The idea hurt his head.
Nick didn’t want to focus on that now.
There were lots of other things Nick had to focus on.
Exams were on the horizon, sure.
Figuring out his career? That could wait too.
Christmas break was fast approaching, and that would bring something much more intimidating than figuring out his future.
Meeting Charlie’s parents.
As much as Nick had stressed that Charlie shouldn’t be nervous about meeting Sarah, Charlie had stressed that meeting his parents would probably be awkward and terrible but that he didn’t care if it didn’t go well.
Nick, on the other hand, cared a lot.
He loved Charlie.
He wanted Charlie’s parents to love him.
Or at least like him.
He’d settle for not actively disliking him.
Nick knew that Charlie was a part of his future.
At least he was part of the future that Nick wanted.
He wanted Charlie to see him as fitting into his future.
So yeah, he wanted the Springs to like him.
He really wanted the Spring siblings to like him.
Charlie talked about his sister with immense fondness and respect, and his smile was aggressively bright whenever he spoke about his little brother.
Nick wanted Charlie’s sibling to be on his side.
He wanted to hang on to Charlie for as long as possible.
He never wanted to never let go if he could manage it.
Charlie: Come over?
Nick: On my way.
Charlie: Good. Hurry.
Nick got to his feet and shoved all his papers into his bag.
“I’ll see you guys later.”
“Going to see your man?” Sai teased with a raise of his eyebrow.
“Duh,” Christian answered for him.
Nick grabbed his coat and his keys and headed for the door.
On his way to Charlie’s, he formulated plans in his head on how to make sure that their visit over Christmas break was perfect.
He was going to do whatever it took to make this visit go well.
Because he loved Charlie.
He wanted to love him forever,
And he believed that he could.
As long as he managed to get things right.