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They met outside the old arcade, which threw bright golds and reds across the dark October sky. When Charlie arrived, Nick was already there, gazing at the sea, his blonde hair ruffling in the wind.
"Hi." Charlie smiled.
Nick turned to meet his gaze and grinned. “Hi.”
Somehow, Charlie's stomach still flipped when he took in his boyfriend, looking delicious in a soft blue Caharrt shirt that brought out the warmth in his honey-brown eyes. Charlie moved closer and stood on tiptoes to gently kiss Nick on the lips. Nick responded by wrapping his arms around Charlie and pulling him in for a deeper kiss. Their bodies connected and Charlie's hand slid up the back of Nick's neck, winding into his hair…
"Wahhhheeeyyy! Get in, lad!" a teenager dressed as the Joker laughed as he and his mates passed by. Nick and Charlie broke away giggling, slightly embarrassed.
“Do you fancy trying the mini-golf beneath the arcade?" asked Nick. "Apparently they go for it at Halloween. It shouldn’t be too scary, though, right?”
"Sounds good," Charlie replied, taking Nick's hand and leading him inside. They paid and descended downstairs where Disturbia was playing over the speakers.
The course was decorated with gravestones, pumpkins that cackled as you approached them, cobwebs, and huge, plastic hanging spiders.
Much to Nick's consternation, Charlie proved to be a fiend at mini-golf. Apparently it didn't fall into the "real sport" category that was Nick's domain.
Charlie lost count of how many times Nick jumped when he forgot about the motion censored cackling pumpkins. After eight holes, Nick was looking positively shaken and was lagging points-wise. Charlie wrapped his arms around him from behind, kissing his neck.
"Aww, are you struggling with the pumpkins?"
"I know it's silly, Char. They just make me jump and put me on edge," he moaned, turning around.
"It's okay, Nick. I won't let anything happen to you," Charlie said soothingly, stroking Nick’s hair and planting kisses along his jaw. "Tell you what, the winner gets to decide our next date. Sound good?"
"Oh, I want that bad.” Nick grinned. “Bring it on!"
With a bet on the table, Nick's competitiveness kicked into gear, and he kept better track of the pumpkins. Then, disastrously, Charlie scored a 6 on one hole, leaving Nick trailing by only a couple of points.
They continued until Charlie grabbed Nick's hands and stared at him seriously. "Don’t panic, but there's something scary over there. Just remember, it's not real…"
Nick looked over Charlie's shoulder in concern. Charlie could tell when he'd seen them because Nick gripped his hands tighter.
"Whhhhhyyyyy are there evil clowns over there?" he whined. “You know I’ve hated them since Tao made me watch IT.”
Charlie couldn't help but giggle as he took in his boyfriend's horrified expression at the sight of the creepy clowns, their bloody grins menacing.
"Don’t worry, we won't look at them,” Charlie assured him with a kiss. They ended up skipping the next hole to save Nick the trauma of standing close to them.
With only two holes left, Nick carefully lined up his club and scored a hole-in-one.
"Yes!" he shouted, jumping in the air. "Get prepared for the Nelson date-of-choice, Spring!"
"Shit,” Charlie muttered. Maybe he should’ve let the clowns have Nick after all. Charlie scored a 3, and then they both scored a 2 on the final hole, which meant Nick won the game by 2 points.
“Woohoo!” cried Nick. Charlie watched as his boyfriend ungraciously did a victory dance in his face, which looked suspiciously like bad dad dancing (and scared some nearby children). “Aren’t you proud of me?”
“Despite the dancing, I am proud of you. I just can’t believe you get full control of the next date… you’re going to make it unbearable, aren’t you?”
“What could be unbearable about a date with me?” Nick grinned, pulling Charlie close.
“Well, how about all of the cringe?”
“Just admit you love it, mon amour.” Nick laughed, kissing Charlie’s cheek.
Charlie affectionately batted him away. “Get off me, you rugby oaf!”
They headed down the street past a group of Trick or Treaters and found a charming American diner where they ordered cheeseburgers, chips, and two chocolate milkshakes for their cosy booth.
“How about… a date in London where we kiss at every Monopoly square?” Nick suggested as he dunked a chip in mayonnaise.
“That’d take so long!” groaned Charlie. “Although the kissing part sounds fun…”
“Hmmm. Making bears at Build A Bear and recording cute messages we can listen to when we spend the night apart?”
Charlie made fake vomiting noises at that idea.
“Hey! I won the bet, remember.” Nick teased. Then his eyes unfocussed and he slowly smiled at something in the distance.
“Oh, no. What’s going on in your head, Nelson?”
Nick’s eyes flashed with excitement and then rather worryingly, Charlie noticed a blush creep up his neck and onto his face. Charlie braced himself for whatever horror was coming.
“I read about a... convention that happens in London…”
“What kind of convention?”
Nick’s blush deepened. “It would involve… dressing up…”
“Dressing up as what?” Charlie asked levelly, doing his best to hide his alarm at whatever could be making Nick this shy.
Nick rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the table. “Pirates," he managed quietly.
“...Pirates?”
“It’s a… pirate convention. It takes place on The Golden Hinde, a boat on the South Bank. You can be any pirate. It’d be fun! We could… go as Stede and Blackbeard?”
Charlie giggled, but stifled it when he saw Nick’s frown.
“I’m sorry. Yes, Nick,” Charlie said, reaching out for Nick’s hand. “I’d love to dress up as Blackbeard for you. At the convention, and... afterwards...”
Somehow Nick’s blush intensified. “Okay then, Char,” he gulped. Charlie smiled fondly at his beautiful, dorky man.
Nick chatted excitedly about pirate costumes all the way back to his house, which although endearing, Charlie soon tired of. Luckily, Charlie knew several ways of putting Nick's enthusiasm to much better use…