Music sounds better with you

Wanna christen our bed?

The second they get through the door of Nick's new house, which is a six-bedroom semi-detached somewhere in between the uni campus and the city centre, Charlie is instantly greeted by the housemate of Nick's that he's missed the most.

"Charlie!" Manrika jumps up and rushes over, pulling Charlie in for a tight embrace, and Charlie is quick to squeeze her back. He's missed her rather a lot. "Oh, darling, it's so good to see you!"
"Hi, Rika!" Charlie squeezes her back with just as much enthusiasm. "I've missed you so much."
She smacks a kiss into the side of his head. "How's your flat? How was moving in?"
"It was fine," Charlie says. "None of my other flatmates are moving in until tomorrow though, which is why I'm here."

"Babe, I wasn't ever going to question you being here," Manrika laughs. "You're always welcome here, obviously. I think Nick might even get you a key cut even though that's against our lease."
Charlie gasps. "Don't do that," he chided, slapping Nick lightly on the tummy. "You wouldn't do well in jail."
"It's worth it to see your smiling face in my house every day," Nick says cornily, pressing such a wet kiss to Charlie's ear that Charlie wrinkles his nose and nudges him away. Manrika groans.
"I'd forgotten how disgusting you both are," she tells them. "Now fuck off and go have sex. Nick's been a right horn dog without you here the past few days."
"I have not ," Nick whines, but it's not convincing in the slightest. "Go and get a boyfriend and leave me and mine alone."

She sticks her tongue out at him and disappears off into the sitting room. Charlie giggles.
"You two are so funny."
"I must say, I don't think I ever really understood yours and Tao's relationship until I met Manrika."
Charlie lets out a full-on belly laugh at that, then bounces up on tiptoes and kisses Nick on the corner of the mouth. "You're cute. Come on, let's go and see your boudoir ."
"Ooh, yes, speak French to me, mon amour ."
If Charlie was a stronger soul, he would have learned not to turn pink from head to toe every time Nick slipped so easily into speaking French. But he isn't, so he pulls Nick behind him so he's draped across his back (full body contact but not enough so Nick has to see his ruddy cheeks of embarrassment) and drags him upstairs.

"My room is the biggest," Nick tells him proudly as they shuffle up the stairs. "And there's three en-suites in the house and I got one."
"Oh yeah? Who did you have to shag to get that?"
"You, to be fair," Nick laughs. "I pay a little bit more each month for the honour, but it means I get the bigger bed for when you stay over and you don't have to share a bathroom with anyone but me."

"Wait, you're paying more a month?" Charlie freezes before they get to the doorway and he spins, staring up at Nick with wide, concerned eyes. "Babe, you don't need to pay more a month for a slightly bigger bed for me ."
Nick rests his gentle hands on Charlie's shoulders. "It's not just for you, my little narcissist. I mean, it is partly for you, of course, but you know my dad pays my rent anyway. It's a really easy way for me to milk some extra guilt money out of Stéphane, to be honest."

"I don't know whether to be proud of you or indignant that you just implied I'm incapable of sharing a bathroom with your housemates," Charlie says with a sigh. "Although... yeah, alright. If Stéphane wants to cough up the cash, I won't say no."
Nick chuckles. "You don't have to pretend to be diplomatic, baby."
"I'm not," Charlie sniffs. "I think the man's a knob and a dumb fucking idiot for the way he treats you, you know that."
"I know," Nick hums. He reaches under Charlie's arm and twists the doorknob. "But it does mean I get this room."

The door clicks open and Charlie peers inside the room eagerly, gleefully surveying the scene. The room is massive, with a sprawling double bed against the furthest wall with a tall, antique headboard. There's a chest of drawers on each side of the bed and a gigantic wardrobe that looks like it'll take you to Narnia, and on the opposite wall is a scrappy looking door, which Charlie presumes takes them to the ensuite.

What's wonderful though, is how in such a short space of time Nick has made the room so remarkably his. The duvet on the bed is the same one that Charlie's always known him to have, a threadbare blanket from his childhood spread across the bottom. The desk is already messy and his rugby socks are already on the floor, and there's even some of Charlie's clothes in a pile beside one of the chests of drawers. On the wall, pictures printed from the Max Spielman printers have been crudely stuck up at all sorts of angles, and Charlie grins when he realises he's in almost all of them.

"Okay, some of it's not the prettiest," Nick says, settling his arms around Charlie's shoulders. "But this is our little slice of heaven for the next year. What do you think?"
Charlie spins and bops him on the nose. "Aren't you the one who said we shouldn't spend all of our time together this year?"
"That was a different Nick. This Nick thinks that Nick was an idiot, and that you should stay in here and never leave my bed."

Charlie throws his head back in a laugh and fists his hands in the back of Nick's hoodie. He's so fucking happy to be here. "Our little slice of heaven but it's your bed, huh?"
Nick tugs him in by his hips. "Wanna christen our bed?"

Charlie's mouth drops open. " Nick . I'm barely over the threshold."
"Alright." Nick scoops him up bridal style and deposits him on the bed, and Charlie shrieks and clings to him gleefully.
"Put me down!"

"I have put you down," Nick says dryly, raising an eyebrow. "God, you're so dramatic."
Charlie giggles and pulls Nick down for a kiss. "Sorry. You caught me off guard."
Nick tuts and pins both of Charlie's hands above his head. "I'll ask you again. Do you want to christen the bed?"

"I would love to christen the bed," Charlie tells him earnestly, "But I'm sweaty from all the lugging stuff around and I could do with a shower first if you wanna... you know."

Nick smirks at him. "I do wanna... you know ." He tilts his head towards the en-suite. "You can shower here, of course you can. And if you want company..."

Charlie takes his face in his hands and kisses him soundly. "If we shower together then we'll never christen this bed, you handsy fucker."
Nick pouts at him. "You think I wouldn't be able to get it back up again? We've been apart for three whole days, Charlie Spring. Three . I'm not accustomed to being without you anymore."
"I see," Charlie says. "I knew you only loved me for my body."

Nick bends down and nips at his lip. "It's a great body," he says, voice low, as he trails his hands down Charlie's smaller frame. Suddenly, Charlie's no longer giggling. "My god . You're so fucking beautiful, Char. I'm so fucking lucky to have you here."

"Me too." Charlie cranes his neck to one side as Nick latches on to it, kissing over all the spots that he knows drive Charlie crazy. "Oh, Jesus, Nick. Yeah ."

"You smell so good," Nick tells him, voice muffled against Charlie's skin. "You smell like home."
His words are cheesy, but they go straight to Charlie's dick and he groans, his hands clutching tighter at the fabric of Nick's hoodie. "I love you."
"Love you too," Nick hums, then swaps sides.

"I'm gonna make you feel so good, my darling."
Charlie feels his whole body ebb and flow upwards as Nick presses their hips together, pushing Charlie deeper into the pillows. "Nick," he gasps. "I need to shower."

With a reluctant groan, Nick pulls away from where he's suckling on the tender skin of Charlie's collarbone, sharp enough to leave a mark. "I'll give you five minutes," he says sternly. "And if you're not out by then, I'm coming in myself."
"Is that a threat or a promise?"
Nick's hands slide down and hover lightly over Charlie's crotch. "It's both."

It's with enormous reluctance that Charlie pushes himself up on his elbows and slides out from under Nick's bigger body. He sidles awkwardly over to the bathroom door and rests his hand on the handle, then glances over at Nick, who is still smirking at him. He's wearing grey joggers, because of course he is, and they're not doing a very good job in hiding how ready he is to christen the bed.

"I'll be quick," Charlie promises, then takes three strides back over to his boyfriend and kisses him, deep and intense but short, enough to leave him wanting more. Nick groans as Charlie pulls away and rests a hand across Charlie's arse, but Charlie slides away and backs into the bathroom with a wink.