Oliver

Oliver was so excited for his first time joining the Nelson family for their annual trip to Menorca. He’d heard all about them from both David and Charlie, who had been joining the Nelson’s every year since he was 18, when Jane & Julio could no longer stop him. Although their families knew about their relationship before last summer’s holiday, it was too late for Oliver to go too because he’d already made plans to spend the summer on a road trip with his friends from uni.

They were all waiting at the airport for their gate to be announced. He was sat next to David, while opposite them Nick & Charlie were cuddled up in each other’s arms not a care in the world. Around them David’s cousins were running around between the seats working off their excess energy ahead of the flight.

Already this holiday felt different to Oliver, previously most of his trips abroad had been with his family to see his grandparents in Almería, and while he loved to see them, those trips were always the same. They’d start with their mother screaming at everyone for not being ready when she wanted them to be, even when they were. They’d all get in the car to drive to the airport and then Jane would be the last one ready to go, which of course she would always say was someone else’s fault.

Once they got to the airport, even when they were little, their mother had expected them to sit still and not draw any attention to themselves in case they embarrassed her. In fact, this summed up a lot of his childhood really Oliver thought to himself as he watched the joy of the Nelson family all around him. He would have got in a trouble at their age just for being slightly too loud, and he never would have gotten away with even getting out of the seat let alone running around the airport lounge.

No, the Nelson family and the Springs’ were very different and Oliver was very much looking forward to being officially part of it. Since they got engaged 5 months ago, David and Oliver had discussed planning their wedding but neither of them was in any particular rush. David had even suggested a long engagement might help Oliver’s mother come around to the idea of their marriage, although Oliver seriously doubted that Jane would ever change her mind, once she’d come to a decision, she would stick to it even when the world around her was telling her she was wrong.

Oliver was a little sad that his mother wasn’t supportive of their relationship, but he gave up trying to please her long ago as nothing he ever did was enough. He had come to realise that his own happiness was all that mattered, and David made him happy. In fact, he didn’t think he’d ever been happier than when he was with David, sure he made fun of him constantly and they would fight occasionally, what couple didn’t, but they always made up and they truly did love each other.

Nick

Nick looked across at his brother opposite him in the departure lounge. David was curled up holding Oliver close to him in the same way Nick was holding Charlie. He was so glad they found each other, sure it was a little weird at first, not just because their brothers were dating each other, but because David being anything but straight had come as a massive shock to all of them. But as he and Charlie spent more time with them, Nick could see that David seemed truly happy for the first time in his life. Growing up Nick and David’s relationship was strained to the say the least, but since he’d started dating Oliver, they’d grown so much closer, it was almost like now that David was no longer denying to himself who he really was, he was able to let Nick in and they were finally able to be brothers rather than adversaries.

Previously on these family holidays, Nick would do as much as could to avoid spending time with David, especially since Charlie had started joining them. After the way David had treated them when he first found out about Nick and Charlie dating, Nick had done everything he could to keep them apart to protect Charlie. For the first time, this year he didn’t feel like they needed to keep their distance. Sure, Nick and Charlie would enjoy spending some time alone, they were young, horny and in love, but he was actually looking forward to spending time together without it being some forced activity that they were doing just to please their mum.

David looked up and saw his brother looking at him and they gave each other a small smile. Yeah, ‘they could do this’, Nick thought to himself. Everything was going to be great.

Charlie

To everyone around him, Charlie hoped he looked calm and relaxed, like he knew he should be feeling when he was about to go on holiday. He knew once they arrived, it would be amazing, especially getting to share it with Oliver for the first time too. But Charlie hated flying, he was an anxious flyer and the longer they had to wait to board their plane, the more anxious he became. It was a miracle really that no one from Nick’s family, aside from Nick, had discovered his fear so far.

He hadn’t wanted to tell Nick either, but the first time he joined them on their trip he was so nervous that he started biting his nails until they cuticles underneath bled. Nick, being so in-sync with Charlie, immediately sensed his nerves and when they were alone, he had carefully asked him what was wrong. Charlie remembers the way Nick had approached him like a wounded bird that he didn’t want to frighten, always knowing just what Charlie needed even when he didn’t know himself.

Not wanting to burden anyone with his struggles, Charlie had at first thought about lying to Nick and saying everything was fine, but Nick would have seen through that straight away, he always did. So Charlie told him the truth, and since then whenever they were in the departure lounge, Nick would subtly hold Charlie’s hands to stop him from hurting himself and he would wear extra cologne so that when Charlie curled up in Nick’s arms he was enveloped in the comforting scent that to him was the pure Nick Nelson that he fell in love with all those years ago. It didn’t completely erase his anxiety, but it did help. Nick was safe, Charlie was safe when he was with Nick, and he knew he always would be.

David

David was so pleased he was finally getting to share this trip with Oliver. He understood why Oliver couldn’t come last year, he would never want to deny him the opportunity to spend time with his friends, and he certainly never expected Oliver to change his plans for him. But once their relationship was finally out in the open, David just wanted to spend every second he could showing Oliver how much he meant to him. David remembers last year being teased by his friend Sofia that he seemed to be ‘more miserable than usual’ when they spent time together and it was true, every day of their holiday he was pining for Oliver like some love-sick puppy. David knew then that Olly was it for him, he’d never felt this way about any of the women he’d been with before. He never longed to be by their side when they were apart like he did with Oliver, if Oliver hadn’t proposed on Valentine’s Day, David was certain that he wouldn’t have been able to go much longer before he would have popped the question himself.

He’d been chatting to Sofia for the last few weeks planning for this year’s family break, he wanted to make sure this was a holiday Olly would remember for the rest of their lives. When David had told her what he had planned, Sofia was more than happy to start preparing things on David’s behalf. He knew if Olly had his way, they would spend most of their time having sex whenever and wherever the found themselves, and sure David was more than happy to be part of that. But he also wanted romantic day trips for two exploring the island, walking on the beach holding hands, swimming together in the sea. He wanted to give Oliver the world and show him all the things about Menorca that were special to him.

It wasn’t just Sofia David had let in on his plans, in fact everyone knew what he had planned for this trip except for Olly.