Moment in the Sun

32. Festive

Nick POV

I wake up the day before Christmas Eve with Charlie snuggled into me. He's still fast asleep so I keep still, not wanting to wake him but it's not much longer before he starts to stir, nuzzling his head against my shoulder.

"Morning." He whispers, turning to look up at me.

"Merry Christmas Eve-eve." I reply, earning myself a poke in the ribs and a roll of the eyes.

"Funny." He kisses me anyway and then rolls away to get up. I let out a whine and reach for him, grabbing him by the hips and pulling him closer. "Nick, stop, please."

"What's wrong?" I sense that he's not feeling himself today.

"I just don't feel like doing that today." He frees himself from my grip and disappears down the hall to the bathroom. I'm left alone in our room, trying to think about what might have triggered Charlie to have a bad mental health day.

When I hear the shower start up, I get out of bed and go into the kitchen to make us both a cup of tea. Figuring he probably won't want any actual breakfast when he's feeling this way, I quickly make myself some toast and I'm just eating the last bit when Charlie emerges from the bathroom, looking more down and dejected than I've seen him in a long time.

"Do you want a hug, baby?" I ask softly, passing him his tea which he accepts gratefully but he shakes his head.

"No, thanks. I just need some time alone, okay?" I want to push more but I know when to just let him go. He sips at his tea and goes into the living room, curling up on the armchair. I watch quietly for a bit, seeing how he's just staring into space and decide to give him a couple of hours before I get worried. Sometimes he just needs time to think.

I fill in the time by going into the study and working on some stuff for university. I have my final semester coming up so I want to make sure that I have everything prepared so I can have the least amount of stress.

I'm completely focused on building a simple lesson plan so I jump when there's a soft knock at the study door and I look up to see Charlie peering in. He looks better than before.

"Can I come in?" He asks quietly. I slam my laptop shut and stand up, holding my arms open to him.

"Of course you can. Are you feeling better?" He buries his face against my chest and is quiet for a moment before looking up at me.

"I love you, Nick."

"I love you too. But you didn't answer my question."

"Sorry, yeah. I am feeling better. Just my head was a mess this morning."

"That's okay. I'm glad you're feeling better. Do you want to talk about it?" I watch as he chews on his lower lip for a moment, trying to decide if he wants to tell me what hes been thinking. I gently pry the abused lip from between his teeth and go to sit back on the desk chair, pulling him to sit on my lap where he curls into me.

"I had a dream, I don't remember the exact details, but we were fighting and I left the flat to get some space. I guess you were trying to find me because you were out in the streets too and got into an accident and I nearly lost you." He says finally, fingers gripping tightly to my shirt. "I couldn't breathe properly, thinking that I'd have to live without you. And then when I woke up and you were fine, still holding me, my brain just short-circuted a bit and was trying to come up with all these horrible scenarios."

"Oh, baby." I hug him tighter. "Thank you for sharing that with me. I know I can't promise that I'll always be fine but I can promise that right now, I am and I'm here with you. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know." He leans up to kiss me gently. "I'm glad it was just a dream."

"Me too."

We sit there for a while, just holding each other quietly. Eventually Charlie gets up and we go into the kitchen, working together to make lunch. After we're done, Charlie suggests we go for a walk.

It's starting to get dark by the time we actually leave the flat, thanks to a pair of missing gloves that Charlie swears he put away in the drawer but I found shoved under the sofa. Neither of us mind that it's a little dark, enjoying the soft glow of the Christmas lights in people's windows.

Charlie clings tightly to my arm as we walk, keeping himself close to me so he stays warm.

"I love this time of year." He says as we walk by a park where a group of kids are attempting to build a snowman.

"Mm. It reminds me of the first time we really hung out. Do you remember?"

"Of course I do. I know its one of your favourite days, it's mine too."

"I have to admit its moved down the list a little since then. Our wedding day is up the top now." I say and he laughs.

"I'm glad. If a random day in the snow was a better memory of us than our wedding day, I'd be a little worried."

"It's still in my top twenty." He pulls me to a stop and glances towards the park where the kids have now given up and are heading towards the exit.

"You wanna recreate it?" His eyes are lit up in glee and I smile at him.

"Do you really think you have a chance to win a snowball fight against me?"

"I might not have strong rugby arms like you, but I have other ways I can get an advantage." I raise an eyebrow at him but he just bites his lip a little and turns away to go into the park.

I follow after him and we find a little clearing with plenty of fresh snow piled up and as he sets to work creating a pile of snowballs, I quietly made a big one and chucked it at the back of his head. He lets out a startled squeak and turns to look at me indignantly.

"Not fair! I wasn't ready yet."

"No such thing as fair in a snowball fight, baby." I reply. He smirks and grabs two of the snowballs he's made, chucking them both at me. One sails right over my head, crashing somewhere behind me but the other hits me squarely in the chest, the impact making me stumble. "Oh, it's on."

We're in fits of laughter within minutes, snow flying everywhere until Charlie slips on an icy patch of ground and falls down. He's breathless for a second as I rush over and drop to my knees beside him.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," He's shivering violently by now and sits up, "Just cold. Can we call this a draw now and go home?"

"Of course." I help him to his feet and wrap an arm around his shoulders as we head back in the direction of our flat.

We're both glad to be back inside where it's warm and while Charlie changes into some dry clothes, I make hot chocolates for us both to enjoy while we snuggle on the sofa and watch a Christmas movie.