Music sounds better with you

You have an admirer

He'd managed to get the ball rolling pretty quickly on securing the flat. His mother had transferred him enough money for the deposit and he'd signed the lease in an afternoon where Charlie had had a music exam, and he'll be collecting the keys the day before graduation, which worked out perfectly because his contract with his current house came to an end four days, so he'd have ample time to start moving his stuff from one place to the next.

The process to get Charlie's name changed on his current flat was surprisingly easy too. Rosemary is set to move in a good week after Charlie moves out, so they shouldn't run the risk of running into each other and giving the game away.

Nick couldn't be more excited, honestly. He'd told his housemates about it on one of the rare evenings where they weren't seeing each other because Charlie was celebrating the end of second year exams with his coursemates, and all five of them had been just as excited as he was.

The other thing they'd talked about a few days ago, and what Claire is presumably alluding to now, is a big house party at the end of the summer, a mix of a housewarming for the couple as well as one final hurrah before real jobs and new lives begin for all those who graduated.

"A bit," he stage-whispers. "I do think I need to discuss it with Charlie when we... you know." He necks the rest of his drink. "Let's talk about something else, shall we?"
"Are you guys going on holiday anywhere this summer?" One of the lads in their group – Daniel, Nick thinks his name is – asks the question. "Me and my girl are doing a three-week trip to Greece before we start working opposite ends of the country. I'm really excited but it'll suck when we have to be apart again."
"Oh, man, I'm sorry," Nick says sympathetically. "Honestly, I'm not sure what we're going to do. Charlie still has another year of uni so we're not exactly rolling in cash at the minute, so we'll probably do a staycation or something." He scratches at his cheek. "We might go and stay with Charlie's sister and her partner, actually."
"That's so domestic," Claire coos. "Why go to Greece when you can go to Blackpool, am I right?"
"Shut up," Nick tells her, poking her playfully in the boob.

She shrieks and twists his nipple, and the two engage in a dumb game of rough and tumble while everyone around them carries on the conversation around them a little more awkwardly.

He's going to miss Claire so much.

After a couple of minutes, he yields because his nipples hurt, and he sighs as Claire settles against his shoulder, giggling as she plucks the can out of his hand and taking a swig. He sighs and pats her leg.

"Look, I'm sorry we're not as exciting with our destinations as Daniel and his girlfriend, or even you and Luke with your Alicante trip. But just you wait, hun. This is just the kind of thing that happens when you've been together for, like, five and a bit years."
There's a spluttering sound next to him, then that Josie girl's voice asks incredulously, "Wait, you two have been together for five years?"
Nick furrows his brows as he nods. "Yeah, like five years and two months?"
"It's five years and three months if you count the month we were kind of boyfriends but didn't realise we were boyfriends," Charlie calls from the other side of the room. Clearly his boyfriend radar is going off. "But I suppose we were young and dumb."
"You were literally fifteen," Nick grumbles playfully, "And I was sixteen and closeted and confused. I think we can cut ourselves some slack, darling."
"That's... cute!"

Josie's voice is high and awkward, and Nick glances over at Charlie again, who starts walking back over towards him with a glint in his eye, the kind of look that makes Nick cock an eyebrow.

Then, just a few seconds later, he has a lapful of boyfriend again. His arms circle Charlie's middle and he pulls him closer, easy as breathing, and Charlie's hand finds its way into Nick's hair, fingers scratching lightly at the soft skin at the base of Nick's skull.