Nick

As they pulled up outside the Treetop Lounge in the heart of the City of London, Nick entwined his fingers with Charlie’s instinctively as they climbed out of the back of David’s Lexus. Drawing comfort for himself to steady his nerves and, unknown to him, helping to steady his boyfriend’s nerves too. The building in front of them was one of the tallest in the city, with the restaurant at the top advertising the best 360-degree views of the capital.

After David handed over his keys to the parking valet and came round to take hold of Oliver’s hand, the four of them boarded the lift at the bottom of the tower that would whisk them up to the restaurant level where they had made their reservations for the evening. Nick gasped when the lift doors open and they stepped out. He’d seen pictures online when he and Olly were discussing where to pick but the pictures didn’t do it justice.

The restaurant was both elegant and magical, a canopy of leaves and branches adorned the ceiling making it feel as if you were up amongst the treetops. The bar situated in the centre of the space was made to look like the tree’s trunk, with little indents for bottles at different points. Branches fanning out from this central point to make it all feel connected. Each table had silk napkins in golden earth tones and delicate tea lights placed in the centre to give a subdued atmosphere. The lighting from above being intertwined with the tree canopy to add to the effect of feeling like you were up at the top of the trees instead of just at the top of another of  London’s ever-growing number of skyscrapers.

Someone must have given the maître d their names, but Nick wasn’t sure who as he had been too distracted by the restaurant’s magical atmosphere. As they were shown to their table, that was when Nick noticed for the first time the view outside the windows. London’s skyline was  lit beautifully against the dark night’s sky.

David

The maître d asked Nick for the name of our party twice and he hadn’t noticed, so David had to step up and tell him instead. They were led to a table next to one of the many windows that surrounded the space, views of the historic Tower Bridge and the Tower of London down below. David pulled out a chair by the window for Olly and then went round and sat opposite him, thinking that Nick would probably want to be on the outside if he was going to do the traditional proposal down on one knee.

Once he sat down, David watched as his brother copied his actions for his own boyfriend by pulling out the chair next to him for Charlie to sit and then Nick sat opposite, next to Oliver. David gave Nick a small smile across the table, sensing how nervous his younger brother was for tonight. The maître d handed each of them a menu and they all started to look through the options inside.

David felt Charlie’s leg start to twitch next to him and Nick must have felt it too because he looked up and asked his partner, “Everything ok Char?”

“Erm, yeah it’s just, this place, its,” Charlie paused, “a bit pricey.”

“Oh, erm” Nick breathed out and before he had a chance to continue, Oliver turned to his brother and said matter of factly, “Don’t worry Charlie, tonight’s on David,” before turning to David and saying, “Isn’t that right Davey,” with the most outrageously flirty look that he knew David would do absolutely anything for.

David’s mouth suddenly felt dry, “Absolutely,” he coughed, “Of course, don’t worry about the cost,” he tried to reassure Charlie before taking a sip of the water on the table.

Oliver

Oliver knew he probably should have checked with David first, before offering for him to pay for their evening, but he’d make it up to him when they were alone in David’s apartment later that night, and if it gave David an excuse to spank him as part of that, then even better, he thought to himself.

He knew how nervous Nick was when planning tonight, what with trying to balance the romance of his proposal with making sure there were safe foods available for Charlie to choose from, particularly in this space he wasn’t familiar with. Oliver was really impressed with how it wasn’t something that Nick struggled with, or even really had to think about, to him, it was just part of Charlie and he made sure to do whatever he could to help.

Oliver was looking forward to officially being Nick’s brother-in-law, because he already felt like family to him. Not just because Nick had always been around since he was a teen, or because he was always looking out for Charlie, but because he was also there for him. When Charlie was taken to hospital as an in-patient, Nick would still visit and spend time with Olly, spending time after school playing Mario Kart with him and teaching him how to bake. Sure it was probably as much for himself as it was for Olly, but he was so grateful to him for that time. His parents never wanted to talk about why Charlie wasn’t around.

A few years later, when Olly was first trying to understand his sexuality, Nick was there for him. He didn’t judge him or question him, he just listened and tried to give advice. He’d been through the same gay-crisis when he met Charlie and with Nick’s help Olly realised he was pansexual. He also stood by him when Olly was ready to come out to his family, he knew his brother and sister would be fine with it, but his parents still saw him as the baby of the family who needed to be protected at all costs.

Charlie

Everything on the menu looked so good to Charlie but also so expensive. He didn’t want to look like he was taking advantage of David, he couldn’t believe Oliver had announced that David was paying. He was pretty sure from the expression on David’s face, that he and Olly hadn’t talked about that before hand, but if Charlie knew his brother, he was sure he would find some way to make it up to him once they were home later. Not that he wanted to know what that way would be, as he mentally tried to shake away any thoughts of David and Oliver in that way.

He saw several of his safe dishes on the menu and while Charlie would have liked to try some of the more interesting items on there, he knew with how anxious he currently was, that if he stood a chance of eating anything tonight he should stick to one of those choices instead. From beside him, David asked if anyone was getting a starter and he was grateful that both Nick and Olly, knowing that Charlie might struggle more with a starter first, said they were going to go straight to main and save room for dessert if they wanted anything more.

David didn’t know about Charlie’s eating disorder, he’d been away at uni when Charlie was admitted to hospital, and as it was only in the last few years that things had improved between the 3 of them, it just wasn’t something he’d ever shared with David.

The waiter came over and took their orders before returning with everyone’s drinks. While they were waiting for their food to arrive, Charlie had made his decision. He was going to ask Nick before their food arrived, he knew he wouldn’t be able to eat at all if he waited any longer.