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Nick Nelson always knew he was a tactile and emotional person, and he wasn’t ashamed of that. But growing up with a homophobic brother and being around some very straight and toxic rugby lads at school forced him to hide that side of himself.
He reserved his hugs and vulnerability to his mum and Nellie only, and he received it only from them as well.
So naturally, Nick assumed that things would stay that way, but everything had changed when he met Charlie, of course.
He loved Nick unconditionally and wasn’t shy about it. Nick quickly learnt, over many years together, that his husband showed his love and affection in many different ways.
And Nick knew he was the luckiest guy in the world.
***
Charlie usually woke him up with a sweet kiss (“Good morning, sleepyhead,”) and made his favourite Earl Grey while Nick took a shower.
When Nick came out of the bathroom, he tried to catch Charlie, pressing his still wet hair into Charlie’s cheek.
“Hug me, babyyy!”
“Stop it, you twat!” Charlie yelled with a cheery laugh, pushing Nick away playfully. “You’re such a menace! I hate you.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Nick said with his signature lopsided smile. “I think you like me,”
“Well… maybe just a little bit,” Charlie replied with a hint of glee in his voice, pushing Nick’s wet hair away from his face.
***
Nick hated tying his tie every morning, so Charlie usually gladly did it for him.
“Is this one ok?” he asked, taking the light blue tie with a pattern of small leaves out of the drawer.
“Yeah, I like this one,” Nick replied with a smile, standing in front of his husband.
“I love when you wear this colour,” Charlie said, tying the tie carefully. “It brings out your gorgeous freckles,” he added, finishing his task and pulling in Nick gently for a quick, tender kiss.
“Thank you, darling,” Nick smiled and pecked his lips again.
These morning rituals were one of his favourite parts of the day.
***
And even though they tried to spend as much time together every morning as possible, Charlie still could find his ways to sneak sweet little notes (“You looked especially cute this morning xx,”) or terribly bad jokes (“What does garlic do when it gets hot? It takes its cloves off.”) into Nick’s lunchbox.
Nick saved all of them, because of course he did.
Charlie always knew how to brighten his day. And he always, always made sure to kiss him goodbye ("See you later, baby. Drive safe,”).
***
“Oh my god, Nick! Look at this cutie I just met!” Charlie cried enthusiastically when he called during the day.
And sure enough, after just a second Nick received a picture of a cute Cocker Spaniel puppy playing with a ball.
“Oh Char! That’s the most adorable puppy ever!” Nick squealed.
“Right?!” Charlie replied cheerfully. “I knew you’d love it too! And I just wanted to make you smile.”
Nick saved all those pictures in a separate folder as well. They recently started talking about adopting a puppy for themselves, after all.
A little inspiration board never hurt anyone, right?
***
And if their morning and goodbye kisses were some of his favourites, the ‘welcome back’ ones were even better.
“Hi, baby,” Charlie said softly, just before they kissed by the door. “I missed you.”
Nick looked forward to that so much. He loved his job, but he couldn’t wait to come back home every single time.
***
Nick was an organised person, but sometimes he tended to forget things, even if he put them in his calendar.
“Oh shit, Char! Our car insurance expired yesterday! I totally forgot to extend it,” Nick realised, looking at his phone.
“No worries, baby. I took care of it,” Charlie replied, not taking eyes from his book.
“You did?” Nick asked, surprised. “How did you even know about this?”
“You mentioned it last week. And I saw how overworked you were those last few days, so I wanted to help,” he said easily.
“Thank you. You’re the best, do you know that?” Nick sighed with relief, sitting next to Charlie and curling into his side.
“Oh, I know,” Charlie replied and started stroking his husband’s soft, golden hair.
***
“Char, I made steamed buns!” Nick yelled when he finished preparing dinner. “They turned out great, I think you’ll like them!”
“Did you just say ‘buns'? Sounds delicious!” Charlie said, coming to Nick and squeezing his bum playfully.
“Oi! Dinner first, dessert later,” he smiled and pecked Charlie’s cheek. “If you want, we can try something new tonight,” he added quietly after a moment. “But only if you want to.”
“Oh, I want to. I trust you,” Charlie replied, looking at him meaningfully. “But now, let's eat those buns!” he said, rubbing his hands together.
***
Charlie could read Nick like an open book. He instantly saw when Nick had a bad day.
“Hey, is everything alright? Did something happen?” he asked worriedly, hugging Nick tightly from behind.
“It’s fine…” he replied weakly.
“Has anyone been mean to you? I’d fight them,”
“You’d fight? Char, I’m working with 8 year olds,” he said, turning his head and smiling.
“I don’t care,” he replied seriously. “I’d fight anyone who’s mean to you,” he added, hugging Nick even tighter. “Now please talk to me, darling.”
So Nick did.
***
He was also his biggest cheerleader and supporter (“You’re amazing! I’m so proud of you, baby!”) and Nick never took it for granted.
He knew they could talk about everything, and even after they argued, they both tried to reconcile quickly (“I’m so sorry, Nick. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have yelled.”).
***
In the evenings, they loved to stay close and cuddle each other (“Come here, my little spoon.”).
Nick felt so unbelievably lucky.
“I love you, you know,” Charlie whispered into Nick’s neck, just before falling asleep.
“I know, sweetheart,” Nick whispered back, turning his head and kissing Charlie gently. “You tell me that every day.”