After saying their goodbyes to Sarah, the boys decided to walk round to the Springs’ house. Oliver and Charlie were both grateful for the extra time to mentally prepare themselves for seeing their mother. Jane Spring never really understood any of her children, to her Tori wasn’t ‘feminine’ enough, Charlie was too ‘fragile’ to make his own decisions and Olly was still just a baby in her eyes.

Things had gotten a little easier for both Tori and Charlie when they moved in with their partners, but they still tried to minimise the number of times they visited, keeping to the lowest number they thought they could get away with. They both knew if they didn’t occasionally show their faces that it would just be another compliant for their mother to add to the long list of things that made them bad offspring in her eyes.

Olly hadn’t yet ‘officially’ moved out of their parents’ house, but these days he spent most of his time at David’s, they practically lived together in all but name. Jane still wasn’t happy about his relationship with David, she didn’t view him as being suitable for her son because he was ‘too old’ for Olly. So although David had asked him several times to move in with him, Olly had been resisting so that it wasn’t something she could hold over David as another reason they shouldn’t be together.

Sensing Charlie’s anxiety building as they got closer, Nick pulled him in tight to his side, giving Charlie something else to focus on and ground him in their happiness rather than his anxiety. While Nick didn’t hate Jane Spring, he certainly hated the way that even the thought of her affected his fiancé. Nick was a natural protector, he would fight fiercely to protect anyone and everyone that he cared about, and that instinct was at it’s strongest when it came to the man he loved.

Olly was also nervous about seeing his parents. He didn’t know how his father would react, but his mother would most likely be furious with him and David. He just hoped that David would remain calm and not get riled by her reaction. Unlike Nick who spent many of his teenage years visiting the Springs’ home, David had been spared too many encounters with Jane so far and had yet to experience the full force of Jane Spring’s wrath.

When the Springs’ house came into view, David instinctively reached down and took Olly’s hand in his own. He gave it a reassuring squeeze to wordlessly let him know that he was by his side and nothing was going to change that.

None of them had spoken since they left Sarah’s, and when they arrived at the house Nick turned to Charlie and asked, “Ready Char?”

Charlie let out a long breathe before giving a silent nod to his partner. Nick turned to David & Olly who had been walking behind them, “Ready guys?”

David and Olly looked at each other and Olly was the first to speak, “David, I just-,”

David held his finger up to Olly’s lips to interrupt him, “Olly, I love you, nothing that happens in there is going to change that, so if you’re about to apologise before anything has even happened, save it ok?” Olly thought in that moment he fell in love with David even more than he already did. They shared a chaste kiss and turned back to Nick to say they were ready.

After one final deep breathe, they approached the front door and as Charlie was about to ring the bell in an attempt to give them a few more seconds to compose themselves, the door opened and their sister Tori was standing there.

“How do you do that?” Charlie and Olly asked in unison.

“Older sister magic,” Tori stated without a change to her usual solemn expression. Tori stepped aside so her brothers and their partners could move inside the house.

“How come you’re here today?” Olly asked his sister.

“Jane called saying she absolutely needed me to clear out my old room today so that she could turn it into a guest room,” Tori said before sipping lemonade through the jet black straw sticking out of the top of her glass. “I don’t know why, she hates having people stay,” Tori added.

“So you’re here to tell them then?” Tori asked Nick & Charlie having seen Nick’s post on Instagram, Charlie just nodded knowing his sister would understand how he was feeling. Tori then turned to Olly and David and stated, “You got engaged too didn’t you.” There was no question in her voice, just a statement of fact. Unlike their brothers, David & Olly hadn’t posted anything online about their own engagement yet, choosing to keep it for themselves a little longer.

“What? No, Shut-up” Olly tried to act as if Tori had made a ridiculous suggestion, but she always knew, he didn’t know how but neither he nor Charlie could ever get anything past their sister.

“Nick, David, I didn’t know you were coming over today,” Jane questioned as she walked into the hall.

“Nice to see you too Mum,” Olly muttered under his breathe, if Jane noticed she didn’t say anything.

“We thought it was time we visited you and Dad,” Charlie said while shooting his brother a look trying to tell him to not rile Jane the second they arrived.

“You could have called first,” Jane snarkily replied before leading them into the lounge. David couldn’t get his head around why she wasn’t just happy to see her boys, his own Mum was always thrilled to see him and Nick whether they called in advance or not. He chose to bite his tongue rather than say anything, for Olly’s sake, but he knew things were only going to get worse before they got better.

Julio Spring was sitting in an armchair reading a paper when they walked into the lounge, “Hi boys, this is a nice surprise,” he greeted his sons and their partners as he put his paper down on a table beside him. Unlike at Sarah’s, Nick and Charlie didn’t sit on each other’s laps they just squeezed in side-by-side on the sofa alongside David and Oliver. Jane sat next to her husband in the other armchair while Tori stood in the doorway still drinking her lemonade.

Charlie decided it was best to rip the plaster off and share the reason for their visit straight away, hoping to get out of there as soon as they could and back to their own home, their safe space. “Mum, Dad, we have some news,” Charlie started pausing to take one final deep breathe. “Last night, Nick and I, well,” he looked to Nick who was looking back at him with nothing but adoration in his eyes, “we got engaged.”

There was silence for a moment before Jane started, “Are you sure you’re ready? What with your health issues and everything. I think it might be too soon.”

“We’ve been together 10 years Mum, it’s not too soon,” Charlie replied choosing to ignore her comment about his ‘health issues’, it had been years since he’d had any major setbacks with his mental health.

“Marriage is a lot of work. You and Nick are young and might not be able to handle that,” Jane said really digging in on her thoughts that Charlie was mentally unstable.

“Mrs Spring, I love your son and we take care of each other, through good days and bad,” Nick responded this time, trying to ease the pressure for Charlie.

“I’m sure you do Nick, but Charlie isn’t like other boys-“ Jane continued before Tori interrupted her, “Charlie is fine Mum, and as you seem to have forgotten, Nick was there for him when he was at his worst and he’s still here.” Charlie & Nick were so glad Tori was there to fight their corner for them.

Before Jane had a chance to say anything more on the matter, Julio stood up to cut her off and walked over to Nick & Charlie to shake their hands saying, “Congratulations boys,” as he did. Jane glaring at his back in annoyance.

One down, one to go, Olly thought to himself, it was his turn but nothing could prepare him for what happened next.

“So, erm, I’ve got some news to share too,” Olly shakily started once Julio had returned to his armchair. David squeezed Olly’s hand between them before Olly continued, “David and I, well, we,” Olly paused dreading what he thought was about to happen, “we got engaged too.”

“Called it,” Tori chimed in from the doorway.

“No, no you didn’t,” Jane said as if it was a matter of fact.

Slightly confused by her reaction Olly responded, “Yes Mum, we did. We’re getting married.”

“Don’t be silly Oliver, you’re far too young, I forbid it.”

“Forbid it? I’m not a child, I’m 22.”

 “You are too young to make a decision as big as this Oliver. I don’t care what notions he’s been filling your head with,” Jane stated while waving her hand in David’s direction, “but this fling will not last. He’s far too old for you. You’ll find someone much more appropriate for you when the time is right.”

David’s hand that wasn’t holding onto Oliver balled into a fist, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t care what Jane said about him, all that mattered to him was what Olly thought, he considered stepping in and saying something but before he could a voice shouted from beside him.

“MORE APPROPRIATE! My brother would give his life for your son. They are so in love and you have the cheek to dismiss what they have as a fling,” everyone turned in shock towards Nick, who had stood to shout at Jane Spring. David felt tears forming in the corners of his eyes, he’d never felt as close to his younger brother than he did in that moment.

In an attempt to try and calm the situation Julio started to speak, “What I think your mother means is-,” but he was cut of by Jane who was also now standing, “OLIVER JONATHAN SPRING while you live under my roof you will not be marrying this man!”

Rather than rise to her outburst, Olly calmly turned to his partner and asked, “Is that offer to move in still open?”

David gave Olly a loving smile, “Always my love.”

Olly smiled back before standing, not realising their hands so that David had to get up to his feet with him. He turned back to Jane and coldly said, “I’ll go pack my things,” before leading David out of the room and up to his now former bedroom.