Music sounds better with you

His other half

When Nick wakes up on Sunday morning, it takes him a second to work out what it is that actually woke him up.

And then he realises.

The sound of sick coming from his en-suite bathroom.
He's up and out of bed like a shot, scrabbling towards the bathroom as quick as he can. The door isn't closed all the way and he flings it open to see Charlie curled up around the toilet bowl, shirtless and sweaty as he throws up the remnants of last night.

"Char," he breathes out, tumbling to his knees. He's careful not to touch, because as much as he wants to, he knows he should wait for Charlie's permission, especially when he's feeling this vulnerable. "God, you poor thing."
"Go away," Charlie groans, shoulders tensing. "I don't need you to see me like this."

Nick snorts. "Too late, love. Are you alright?"
"Do I look alright?" Charlie moans. He spits into the toilet bowl and slumps on his knees, leaning back to Nick just enough for Nick to rest hands on his hips. "Urgh, god. This is embarrassing."

Nick laughs and kisses his sweaty bare shoulder. "If you can't throw up in front of me, who can you throw up in front of, eh?"
"Nobody," Charlie says, but he does lean into Nick a bit more. "I don't want anyone to see me like this, thanks."
"Like I said, it's too late for that," Nick tells him. "Doesn't make me love you any less, if that's what you're worried about."

Charlie snorts. "Thanks." Then he tenses, pulls out of Nick's hold, and leans forward again. Once he's finished, he flops down onto the floor so he's sitting cross-legged, then he tilts his head up and stares at Nick. "Can you grab me a bottle of water?"
"Sure." Nick hurries to stand, then grabs his keys from the side so he can make a dash to the kitchen.

He's also not wearing a shirt and he doesn't realise until he reaches the doorway of the communal areas. His flatmates are all sprawled across the sofas in various states of hungover, and they all wolf whistle when he walks in. "Oh, fuck off."
"Nick Nelson's naked," Harry sing-songs. "Charlie is a lucky boy."

Nick snorts and shakes his head as he opens the fridge, grabbing two water bottles with one hand. "Yeah, alright. He's not in the best way this morning, my poor Char."
The group all chuckle. "Couldn't hack his first clubbing experience?" asks Holly. "Bless him."
"I just don't think he quite knows his limits yet,"

Nick says, smiling as he thinks about the way Charlie had danced on him last night. "Anyway."
"Look at you," Holly says teasingly. "Look at that fucking smile. You're absolutely smitten with him, aren't you? Like, we knew it was going to be bad but not this bad."
"I..." Nick glances at the door, then back at his friends. "Yeah, yeah, you can have a good laugh about it when I go."
"We will," Ben says, his grin wide. "He's fun though, your Charlie boy. A proper good laugh."
"He is," Nick agrees, then waves a hand in the direction of the girls as they all coo. "No, stop it. Stop making fun of me."
"But it's so easy," Holly says.
"It's jealousy, babes," Manrika tells him from where she's tucked under Harry's arm.

Nick is starting to wonder if there's something going on between those two.
"I just don't think it's really fucking fair that you're dating someone who is clearly also your best friend and that makes long distance worth it," Holly moans.
Manrika gestures between her and Nick. "See? Jealousy, I tell you."
Nick looks at the floor to hide his blush. "Thanks, I guess?"
"Fuck off back to your boy," Holly tells him, throwing a balled up tissue in his direction. "Look at that face, for fuck's sake. I can hardly stand to look at it."
"Alright, I'm going," Nick says, shooting them a wink and a wave before he hurries away, shouldering the kitchen door open so he can grab his keys from his pocket.

He unlocks his bedroom door clumsily and pushes inside, seeing Charlie has moved back to the bed, the duvet tucked up to his neck so all he can see is a mess of curls on the pillow.