Nick

After their drinks arrived, Charlie got up to go to the bathroom saying he just wanted to wash his hands. Nick was grateful to get a few moments alone with his brother and Olly. Once he was sure Charlie was out of sight Nick turned to the other men and confessed, “Guys, I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since I was trying to come out to our friends at school.”

“You know he’s going to say yes, what have you got to be nervous about,” Olly stated as if it was already a certainty that Charlie was going to accept.

“Exactly Nick, it’ll be fine,” David agreed then turned to Olly, “Wait, you knew?”

“D’uh,” Olly replied not giving any more of an answer to David than that.

Olly put his hand on Nick’s shaking knee and reassured him with a soft smile, “You’ve got this Nick.”

Nick rubbed the back of his neck they way he often did when he was stressed, hoping it would somehow ease the anxiety that had been building more and more since he first decided to propose last year. When he saw Charlie walking back towards the table, his mood changed instantly. Giving  Charlie the biggest sappiest smile, the one he always got whenever he saw Charlie walk into a room.

David

Olly knew that Nick was going to propose to Charlie, this was news to David. David realised Nick must have confided in him before today, as they certainly hadn’t had time alone together since David and Nick had picked up the Spring brothers. He was a little sad to know that Nick didn’t feel he could come to him, but David knew that was his own fault really. They had been gradually working on repairing their relationship, and David was grateful that the damage he caused hadn’t been irreparable, but there was still a way to go.

He was glad though that Nick felt he could go to Olly. Olly was an such an amazing man. David loved how caring, kind and passionate he was. Every time he woke up next to him he felt so lucky that Olly wanted to spend his time with him. David looked at his boyfriend and he could see just why Nick always got a sappy look whenever he saw Charlie, he was sure he got the exact same look whenever he looked at Olly.

Could he see himself marrying Olly? Sure, he’d like to, but David wasn’t sure if Olly would even be the marrying type. It wasn’t something they had ever discussed; they’d only been together for a few years and honestly David didn’t need to be married to Olly to know how they felt about each other. But someday, if Olly hadn’t got tired of him, yeah, he really could see it.

Oliver

David was looking at Oliver with such a goofy smile that it was making him want to ditch his original proposal plan and just ask him now. He was so in love with David Nelson and he wanted the rest of their lives together to start as soon as they could. But no, tonight was supposed to be Nick’s night, Olly was going to stick to his original plan.

Before Charlie came back to the table, Olly pulled out his phone and sent a quick and simple text to David that he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. It simply said:

Meet me in the bathroom before dessert 😈

He saw David pull his phone out of his pocket and his eyes immediately shot up towards Oliver when he read the message. Oliver gave him a look that David would know meant that Olly had mischief planned for them, and then grinned when he saw David was so flustered that his hands were shaking when he reached for his drink.

Oliver couldn’t deny that making David flustered was one of his favourite things, especially when he was being a brat. He loved that it brought out David’s dominant side when they were having sex, sure sometimes he loved it to be sweet and sensual, but honestly sometimes he just needed it rough and hard, and he knew David loved it too. Everything was just so intense when they were together and Olly hoped it always would be.

Charlie

Charlie went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face and give himself a moment to take a few deep breaths before he made his move. He looked at himself in the mirror and tweaked a stray curl that wasn’t quite sitting right. He reached inside his jacket pocket, pulled out the ring box and checked its contents one last time. He held the box in his hand, took one final breath and returned to the restaurant.

As soon as Nick saw him returning, his face lit up, Charlie loved the way Nick still lit up whenever he entered the room. His smile was always so infectious and had him smiling straight back. It was now or never, he got back to the table and instead of sitting back down in his chair, Charlie got down on one knee in front of his Nicholas.

Nick’s smile turned to shock, as did David and Olly’s but Charlie didn’t notice them, his  eyes were firmly fixed on his boyfriend. Charlie opened the ring box and held it out in front of him before he started to speak.

“Nick, we’ve been together since we were teens, we’ve gone through so much and come out the other side stronger, I love you so much. Will you marry me?”

He’d done it, Charlie had popped the question, he can’t believe he actually did it. But, wait, Nick was just staring at him. He wasn’t saying anything. “Oh god”, Nick didn’t want to marry him, what had he done. Charlie jumped to his feet and ran back to the bathroom, Nick was calling after him but Charlie couldn’t stop, he needed to get out of there.