Music sounds better with you

Things might be shit sometimes, but he'll always have Charlie.

It's not a very long walk to the pub, thankfully, and when they get there it's easy to spot Charlie and the group he's with.

They've managed to reserve a decently large table but the current group are only taking up one half of it. Charlie's chatting away animatedly to Polly and her new person, a tall, pretty brunette named Ashley that he's met once before. On the other side of the table are Kate and a couple of her friends that he vaguely recognises, wrapped up in their own conversation.

Charlie doesn't look at him as he approaches, but he does lift up his arm to pull Nick in, keeping focused on the conversation for a second but letting Nick know he wants him close. Nick's arms go straight around Charlie's middle, his head tucked over his shoulder, and he presses three kisses to Charlie's cheek.

"Fuck, are you a sight for sore eyes."
He feels Charlie's grin more than he sees it.

"Did you miss me or something?" he asks. "I thought you were on a rugby social."
Nick lets out a long exhale. "Yeah, about that. Plans changed."
Charlie turns in his chair and takes Nick's face between both hands, concern written all over his gorgeous face. Nick could cry there and then with how much he loves him.

"Changed?" Charlie asks. "Why?"
Nick licks his lips. "You're not going to believe this, but I sort of ran into David."
Charlie's mouth drops open. " David ?" he asks incredulously. "As in your David?"
"He's not my anything," Nick grumbles. "He's a bloody miserable prick who I want nothing to do with ever again."
"Jesus," Charlie mutters. He smooths over Nick's cheeks with his thumbs. "What happened? You feel tense as hell, babe."
"I am tense," Nick says, letting Charlie coax him into his lap, arms wrapping around his middle. It's an impractical way for the two of them to sit because nobody can see Charlie anymore. "Here, stand up and let's swap so I'm not hiding you from everyone."
"But I wanna hold you," Charlie grumbles. His head appears under Nick's arm. "Sorry to derail the conversation, everyone."
"It's fine," Polly chuckles. "Are you alright, Nick? You look a bit like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards, no offence."
" Polly."
"None taken," Nick says with a hollow laugh. "It's been a weird evening so I'm not surprised I don't look my best."

Charlie's long fingers slide under his shirt and rub at his hip. "Do you want to talk about it?" He presses a kiss to his back. "Either here or we can go outside?"
"Pint for you, Nicholas," Pete interrupts, appearing from the direction of the bar with a drink in each hand. He drops into the seat directly opposite the pair and hands Nick over his drink, and they clink their glasses together. "Cheers to a well deserved bev."
Nick glugs down a good portion of his pint thirstily. Charlie's grip around his middle tightens. "Fuck yeah. I needed that."

Suddenly, a hand runs itself through his hair and he jumps, nearly dropping beer all down his front, but it's just Manrika, standing hand in hand with Harry.
"Fucking hell, Rika, you scared the shit out of me."
She grins. "Sorry," she says, sounding not that sorry at all. "I thought you were at a rugby social."
Both Nick and Pete groan in unison and she raises her perfect eyebrows. "You better sit down," Nick says, gesturing to the empty seats next to Pete. "I'll tell you all in one go." He bites his lip. "Unless you were meeting someone?"
"Yeah, I was," Manrika says. "Your boyfriend. Hi, Charlie love."
"Hiya," Charlie says, craning his neck around Nick's broad body. Nick groans.
"Baby, swap with me," he says. "Sit in my lap, it'll be easier."

Charlie mumbles something Nick can't hear but he obediently follows Nick's lead and swaps their places, so Nick is in the chair and Charlie is in his lap. He immediately brings him closer and tucks his face into Charlie's neck for a second, taking a second to recharge before he relives the events of the evening.

One of Charlie's hands finds its way to Nick's hair, the other a strong, supportive weight on Nick's shoulder. Charlie smells like home and his presence in Nick's hold is so second nature to him now that it does wonders at straightening his head out a bit, even though he does still feel a bit out of sorts, like he's looking over his shoulder to see if he's there.