Off To Uni! (Written after Nick & Charlie by Alice Osmen)

Chapter Four

CHAPTER 4:

Nick:
Charlie's been asleep for the entire train ride, but I don't mind. We have about thirty minutes left and I've spent my time listening to music and googling fun things for us to do while we're there. I know we went once before but Charlie's eating disorder and mental health hadn't really been addressed at that point and I think he is in a better head space and will enjoy himself more this time around. We will for sure see the Eiffel Tower again, but this time, at night. I want to take Charlie to a nice dinner beforehand (if he's up for it), maybe buy a nice bottle of champagne, and pop it open right under the lights. I've made a whole list of things I want us to do; I just want these four days to be perfect. I check the amenities that hotel has and see that it has a restaurant inside the hotel, a pool and a game room. I figure we can just order food and bring it up to our room so Charlie doesn't feel pressured; play some games, spend some time in the pool and end the night walking around outside near our room. The train pulls into the station and Charlie rubs his eyes and looks up at me.

"Are we here?" He asks, his voice all scratchy which I think is adorable.
I smile. "Yeah, sleepyhead. We're here."

We grab our things and get off the train, jump into a taxi and check in to the hotel. Instead of going straight up to our room, we walk over to the restaurant and order food. I ask Charlie to wait for the food while I get us settled in upstairs. I take his things along with mine and head up to our room. The truth is, I would have waited with him but I have something planned. I get up to the room and know that my time is limited before Charlie comes up. I grab the electronic candles from my bag and place them all over the room. I grab the extra blankets from the closet and set us up a little picnic on the floor by the TV. Once I finish, I shut off the lights to make sure we can still see with just the candles on. I smile at the job I've done and realize Charlie isn't back yet so I decide to go meet him. I walk out of the room and down the hall when I see him walking towards me. I smile.

Charlie:
I see Nick walking towards me and I smile. He walks over and grabs the food and drinks.

"Nick, I can carry these things myself you know," I say.
"Not on this trip. Prepared to be spoiled," He replies.

And again, as always, my stomach is doing flips. We get to our room and Nick turns to face me.

"Close your eyes," He says.

I look at him confused.

"Why? What's in there?" I ask.
He sighs. "Char, can you just please ---"

I put my hands over my eyes and wait for him to guide me in. I hear the door open.

"Okay, open them!" He says.

I open my eyes and am in awe of what he has done. I'm also impressed with how quickly he put this together. I walked into a sea of candles flickering, and a little picnic set up on the floor. There have been many times in my relationship with Nick where I figure I must be dreaming; life cannot be this good. This is one of those times. I turn around and look at Nick who is still standing in the doorway.

"What is all this for?" I ask, smiling as I walk over to him.
"I just want this trip to be special. I want everything to be perfect and I want to reassure you that you mean everything to me," He says.

I wait for him to put down the food and then tackle him onto the bed with a hug. I kiss him repeatedly as I speak in between them.

"You.are.perfect", I say.
In between the kisses, he responds. "So.are.you"

He flips me over and deepens the kiss. I run my hands through his hair and up and down his back while we kiss. He pulls away and looks into my eyes.

"I'm going to end up driving home every single day from Uni. I'm not sure how I'm going to survive without those lips," He says, kissing me again.