Description (May contain spoilers)

It’s time for the first meal of Nick & Charlie’s married lives.

TW: Mentions of Eating Disorders and Descriptions of Food

Charlie

“If I have to plaster on another smile, I think I’ll be left with no choice but to divorce you,” Charlie said through gritted teeth.

“Just think of all the ways I’ll make you come undone tonight in our suite, be a good boy for me now and I’ll be a good boy for you later,” Nick teased.

“Fuck, that doesn’t help with the hard-on I have now though, does it, Mr Nelson-Spring,” Charlie groaned.

“You like it when I excite you in public,” Nick continued.

“No, I really don’t,” Charlie deadpanned, knowing that his husband knew him so well. Charlie loved that word. Husband! No longer was Nick his boyfriend, or his fiancé, there was no room for doubt with Husband. No turning back, not that the thought had even crossed his mind.

They’d put together a list of all the shots they wanted the photographer to capture, pictures of them together around the picturesque grounds of the hotel; the obligatory pictures with their parents and families; Nick with his best men, being their silly boisterous selves; Charlie with his best friends, Elle having to persuade Isaac to put his book down while the photographer took a few snaps.

Of course, they also had to have pictures of them with the Paris squad. They may not see each other as much these days but it would never matter how much time passed, the bond between them was for life and Charlie wouldn’t have it any other way.

Nick

With the photos finally done, it was time for everyone to be seated for the Wedding Breakfast. Nick still didn’t really understand why it was called that, as they were having it in the middle of the afternoon. Charlie tried to explain it to him once, but when he started going into the whole history of it, Nick sort of zoned out and ended up just being lulled into a trance by Charlie’s sweet voice.

As they waited outside the hall while their guests were being seated at their assigned tables, Nick reached over and took hold of Charlie’s hand.

“Hello, my husband,” Nick cooed.

“Hi,” Charlie blushed back.

“It’s so nice to finally be alone with you,” Nick said as he started to nuzzle into Charlie’s neck.

“Nick-,” Charlie panted, “Nick, not here.”

“But I need you,” Nick groaned as he continued to mouth the soft skin beneath Charlie’s collar.

“Nick-,”

The door beside them opened, and Charlotte, the venue’s wedding co-ordinated appeared causing Nick to quickly jump back, his face flushed with embarrassment. Ever the professional, Charlotte smiled and spoke softly, “Nothing to be embarrassed about, I’ve seen it all. Are you ready to go in?”

Nick looked across at Charlie for his approval, and with a small nod and a smile, Nick turned back and confirmed, “We’re ready.”

Opening the door in front of them, Charlotte announced, “Ladies and Gentleman, please be upstanding for the happy couple, the new Mr & Mr Nelson-Spring.” As they entered the room, Nick saw everyone was standing on their feet, clapping and cheering them again as they walked between the tables to their place at the top table. A few people patted him on the shoulder as they walked past, hand in hand. Nick smiled and offered small nods to each one, pleasantly surprised to see so just how many people have turned up just for them.

As they took their seats with everyone seated around them, the pianist started playing softly in the corner of the room. Nick was looking out over the room, their friends and family chatting to one another while they waited for the food to be served.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it,” Charlie spoke softly into Nick’s ear.

“That’s just what I was thinking,” Nick said as he turned to smile at Charlie, their hands still joined under the table.

They couldn’t fit everyone they wanted at the top table, so instead of their families, Charlie was joined by Tao and Isaac while Nick was joined by Otis and Sai. While Charlie’s family were sat with Sarah and David at the next table across from theirs.

Charlie

The waiters started to come round serving the wedding breakfast. Learning from his past experiences with his eating disorder being heightened when he was anxious, Charlie and Nick had worked with the hotel to carefully plan a menu which gave people some flexibility in what they were served. Each course having two options, which their guests were asked to pick from when they RSVP’d.

Charlie watched as the waiters worked like a well-oiled machine around each of the tables. The waiters knew exactly where in the room to deliver each choice, thanks to the plan they had provided a few days ago. The only mistakes that were made happened because a couple of their guests had moved their place cards and changed the seating order. Charlie felt bad for the staff when that happened, he was sure it wasn’t an easy job to do at the best of times.

For starters their guests were given the choice of a ‘Cocktail Melon Trio’, which featured a selection of Ogen, Honey Dew and Galia Melon complemented with Fresh Grapefruit or ‘Saumon á la Mayonnaise’ which was a Poached dressed Salmon, served with salad and mayonnaise. Charlie had opted for the lighter Melon dish, knowing he could have as much or as little of the small chunks as he liked. While Nick had gone for the Salmon as it was one of his favourites.

As everyone ate, the pianist was singing along to the tunes he was playing, a medley of romantic melodies. It was difficult to hear over the gentle din of the room, but occasionally Charlie would catch a few lines, smiling when he heard their own names slipped into some of the lyrics.

Although most of his nerves about the day had now passed, Charlie still didn’t feel he could finish his starter. He wanted to make sure he didn’t overload himself before the main course, which he worried would be the biggest struggle of the meal.

Once all of what remained of the starters had been cleared, the waiters appeared with the main course. The hotel had given it a fancy French name, ‘Dinde Rôtie Garnie’, which Nick’s father would have probably approved of if he’d bothered to turn up, but really it was just a simple Roast Turkey dinner garnished with a chipolata sausage encased in Canadian bacon and sage & onion stuffing, with a side of fresh green beans, steamed broccoli florets, thin batons of carrot and a mixture of roasted  & new potatoes. It sounded like a lot when he read it out from the menu cards on the table, but once it was plated in front of him, it didn’t actually seem that bad.

Not wanting to leave anyone out, when trying to decide what option to give to their vegetarian guests they’d spoken to Olly to get his view and he was very clear when he’d told them, ‘Anything but mushrooms!” So, he and their other vegetarian guests had received ‘Crêpes des Legumes de Saison’ which was a simple French-style crepe in a light cheese sauce.

Nick

Trying not to be too obvious, Nick was watching Charlie eating out of the corner of his eye to see if everything was going ok. So, when he heard Charlie place his cutlery down with a clatter, Nick turned and struggled to fight the grin that spread across his face when he saw that his husband had cleared his plate of everything.

“How was it?” Nick asked.

“So good,” Charlie purred.

“Shall we thank our guests now, before they all start wandering around?” Nick asked.

“Let’s,” Charlie beamed as he placed his napkin down on the table. Nick stood and held his hand for his spouse to take, leading Charlie around to the tables of their guests. They took time chatting to guests at each of the tables, making sure everyone had the opportunity to speak with them and offer their congratulations.

By the time they’d made their way around all the tables, Nick could see Charlie was in need of some quiet time to recharge. Nick couldn’t blame him, he felt the same. Pulling him in close as they sat back down, he whispered in his ear, “Not long left and then we can sneak away for a little break my love.”

“Always taking care of me,” was all Charlie managed to reply with a small smile.

Pulling back as the waiters approached again, this time with the dessert course, when they’d been looking at the options with the venue, Nick had jumped at the chance to have Profiteroles Suchard, despite Charlie’s protests that he’d end up with the hot chocolate sauce all down his rented suit. After a lot of indecision, Charlie had decided their second option would be a Cranberry & Lime cheesecake, to give a very un-chocolatey option for their guests to choose as alternative.

Both desserts looked amazing, and Nick couldn’t help but try a small bite of Charlie’s cheesecake too. Although Charlie was very reluctant to let him after he’d tasted it himself and found it surprisingly light with just a hint of tartness from the layer of fruit on the top.