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Assistant: Title: Lavender Fields
        Author: scienceisrealyo scienceisrealyo 
        Chapter: 8/60 
        Summary: 31 year old Nick Nelson retired from professional rugby and is giving Sarah Nelson a well-deserved year off from running Lavender Fields Bed and Breakfast. And Nick’s doing fine, thank you very much. Until the guest name C. Spring changes everything.Note: 1-31 are the original story (Nick's point of view). Chapters 32 - 60 are from when Charlie bullied me into providing his perspective, too.
        Contents: Chapter 8: Badgers
    

    

        
          
          
            Last time: A Canadian goblin arrived.This time: A mixture of European, American, and Australian goblins arrive.
          
        

      
        
          Another week, another chance to bask in the loveliness of humans - specifically the people in the Heartstopper Facebook group (it kills me to not respond to the truly lovely posts!) and then of course, waveofyou and Nelliesayzbork. Wavey is writing Narlie Waves and makes me feel things regularly, which I resent because feelings are dumb. [Kidding wavey I am sorry and I love you.] Wavey does that while while being an incredible human who makes other humans lives' brighter. NSB is writing As You Are and is just showing such a tender, nuanced hand at what it can look like to rebuild and discover new things. NSB also does this while being an amazing human who makes a specific effort to make the work they impact better. How lucky am I to have both of them in my life? And you all and your kind comments, too? In tough work weeks, this makes everything so much brighter! Thanks for joining me on this journey ❤️Here's your weekly chapter 😍 Keep an eye on Rugby Sweater Weather over the next few weeks for the second-to-last epilogue!
            
            (See the end of the chapter for  more notes.)
            
      
  

  
  
    
    Dinner was nice, except for the parts where Amy and Charlie ganged up on Nick, which was the entirety of the meal. Nick laughed loud and often, feeling more alive than he had in a while. It had been hard since leaving the Badgers. Nick was used to being around people nearly every day: the lads in the changing room and on the pitch, the fans during fixtures and events, the team staff when they were at the stadium. He’d been around people at Lavender Fields, of course, and that had helped. But it was…different. His place here was dipping in and out of people’s lives quickly, being a friendly face that they’d see and then forget. Being back with Amy, though - that was like going back to a warm, well-known home. Charlie, too. He and Charlie hadn’t known each other long at all - six weeks by the calendar - but Nick felt like he’d known Charlie for ages longer than that. Charlie and Amy together were terrible and wonderful. Nick loved it.They ended up spending a long time at the table, Nick and Amy telling Charlie more about everyone coming and regaling Charlie with some stories from the Badgers, including the infamous annual Breakfast Blowout. Nick and Amy were talking over each other, Charlie giggling as they explained it to him.“Okay, so pre-season can be pretty tough, you know?” Amy was saying. “You’re coming back from a couple months off, you’re getting back in season shape, there are usually new guys joining the team and that’s an adjustment for everyone…”“You have angry physios assaulting you-”“Encouraging  you…”“Right, and like Amy said, it can be tough. So Wilco decided a few years ago that there needed to be some sort of surprise day off and event for team bonding-”“…And unfortunately, he let Danny plan it the first year…”“And that went exactly as you might expect.”Nick and Amy laughed as they described the yearly Breakfast Blowout, where the captains had worked with Coach Croft to determine a day off from training. There was an all-team message that went out that morning cancelling practise and telling the players where to be instead. They’d show up to a space with a buffet of breakfast food, of course, but also with a slip-n-slide that was covered in syrup, orange juice, beer, and champagne. The mimosas were endless and there was always a maple syrup chugging contest at some point.“You’re looking at a four-time champion, Charlie,” boasted Amy, tossing her head.“That sounds…horrific,” said Charlie, laughing and grimacing. “Oh, it was,” agreed Nick. “The chugging contest always immediately transitioned to a vomiting contest where everyone loses.”Charlie groaned and laughed again. “Aaaaand I hope you didn’t make a dessert tonight. Because now I don’t want it.”Nick chuckled. “Sadly, no. I’ll make some when everyone gets here though. I have a few special things I’m thinking about.”“Love that journey for us,” said Amy, getting up. “That’ll do it for me; I need to rest up for the rest of these goons coming in tomorrow.”“I should go to bed too,” said Charlie, stretching so that his shirt pulled up a bit, exposing some of his stomach. He yanked it down again, blushing slightly, and Nick averted his eyes. “I’ll see you two in the morning?”“I’ll have breakfast ready,” smiled Nick. Amy and Charlie wished Nick goodnight, Amy pinching his cheek and Charlie giving a little wave. Nick set up a few things for the morning and then got into bed, scrolling through his phone pictures to cycle through a few favourite Badgers memories. He paused on a picture of a group of them one year at the team New Year’s Eve party one season when they’d had an international match. It had just been the team and staff for that party, and Nick smiled to himself looking at the faces - Danny, James, Wilco, Amy, Seamus, Tex, Stig, Lunker, Decker - all of them. He really couldn’t wait for the team to get there tomorrow (and Friday, for Seamus). Some of the team had come to the bed and breakfast when they played together during some of the bye weeks and during the summer. This would be the first time that they’d be coming when Nick was running Lavender Fields (and not part of the team), and it was going to be a f@ck@ng blast. Nick had always loved it when people came over to his flat in Leeds. He loved being in the kitchen, making things with his hands for the people in his life to enjoy, with everyone nearby, laughing and talking. Nick…missed that. He missed being geographically close to everyone, but he also missed being part of the team. He knew it was going to be different when he came back as a coach - he’d need to have a different relationship to everyone in that leadership role. This week would be one where maybe - hopefully - he’d be able to feel like he was truly a part of the team again. Nick missed the feeling of community and inclusion and understanding how he fit into the world more than he knew how to put in words. He had just felt so - connected, maybe, when he played. Like he was grounded and rooted in relationships that fed him. He still had most of those relationships, of course, but breaking up with Marla and then retiring from rugby had shown him that he craved that deeper connection. At least he’d had that feeling this week, even if it was temporary. Nick set his phone on the table next to him and rolled to his side, tucking a pillow under his arm to cuddle it as he always did. He knew that the Badgers would like Charlie. He hoped Charlie would like them, too.-The next day, Charlie and Amy both joined for breakfast, Charlie excusing himself for work fairly quickly after complimenting Nick on the raspberry Dutch baby that Nick was  very  proud of. Amy and Nick did the chores and then a workout as they waited for everyone to arrive. Arrival times weren’t a mystery at all for their group; Danny had insisted years ago that they all turn on Find my Friends so they’d be able to track one another. Everyone on the team had eagerly done it besides Amy, who insisted that it would ruin her mystery. Nick and Amy periodically checked everyone’s locations throughout the day to see when everyone would get there. It looked like Danny and James would arrive just behind Regan and Tex, right around lunch time. Nick made a vegetable lasagne to have something easy on hand if people came hungry.A few minutes before everyone was imminently due, Charlie came down the stairs, stretching as he did. “God, it smells good,” he said. “You’re going to ruin me for Elle and Tao’s, I’m going to expect three meals a day from them when I’m there on Mondays and Tuesdays.”Nick laughed. “You should message Tao and send him a shopping and recipe list to feed you when you’re there.”Charlie laughed, too. “I bet that would be so well received.”Nick grinned back. “Reckon he’d run you out of Tao-wn?"Charlie covered part of his face with one of his hands. “Oh god.”“Get ready, there’s essentially two more of me coming in the next few minutes,” said Nick.“Ugh, he’s right,” called Amy, coming down the hall. “Charlie, please don’t leave me alone with them.”Charlie laughed and started to respond when they heard a car coming in the drive, the sound of the wheels telltale on the crushed shells. “That’ll be Regan and Tex,” said Nick, opening the door to see Charlie hanging back, still inside. “Charlie? You coming?”“Oh, I didn’t…I don’t want to - don’t you all want to catch up?”“Yeah, and we want to introduce  you, too,” said Amy with fond exasperation, trotting back inside to push Charlie out the door by the small of his back. “Come on, you absolute b@@b.”The three of them stood on the porch while Regan and Tex popped out of the car, coming up the stairs and seizing Nick and Amy in hugs and accepting the beers that Amy pressed into their hands.“Howdy,” said Tex, tilting an invisible hat to Charlie and extending his hand. “Oh my god, people actually  say  that in real life?” murmured Charlie, shaking Tex’s hand back.Tex laughed. “No, not really, just like to play up the stereotypes,” he said cheerfully. “Glad to meet ya, though!”“Likewise,” said Charlie, turning to shake Regan’s hand. She smiled and politely pushed his hand aside to give him a hug. “Have you not gotten used to it from Amy yet?” she asked, pulling back and grinning at Charlie. “We’re a hugging people.” They all were. Nick loved that about this group. Marla one time had made them take some Love Language test and Nick had scored really highly on Physical Touch and something called Words of Affirmation. “So, Nelson, where are we staying? Are there any portraits in our room this time?” asked Tex. Nick laughed. “No, they’re only in Room 5 and then in that hallway, why?”Tex grinned. “I like that one in room 5, the angry-looking woman one. She looks like she’d tell me off if she knew I’d been bad.”Charlie snickered and Nick shot him a grin. “Sadly, only Danny and James will be judged by her glassy stare,” Nick told him. “Sorry to ruin your plans.” He turned to Charlie. “But Charlie, I’d be willing to risk inevitable haunting by moving them if you’d prefer that I move all of them in  your  room instead!”Charlie’s smile faded and he looked mildly terrified, making Regan and Tex laugh. “I would never sleep again,” he said, shaking his head firmly. “No  thank  you.”“Smart man,” agreed Regan emphatically. “Those are f@ck@ng terrifying, Nick.”“They’re harmless. Until they bite off your toes to suck out your spirit.”“Nick!” Charlie squealed at the same time that Regan swatted at him, Nick covering his head and laughing. He heard a thumping bass before he even saw a car, lowering his hands with an expectant grin on his face. “And then this will be Danny and James,” he said to Charlie, rising up and walking over to the edge of the porch, folding his arms.A black Range Rover came up the drive, going faster than was entirely reasonable. That would have to be James as the driver - the car was the only place where he was more reckless than Danny. Nick laughed as he immediately recognised the song pumping from the speakers, an electronica dance version of Take Me Home, Country Roads. Nick had a core memory of a folding table collapsing at a rugby house party when Seamus did an elbow-drop through it to this song. The driver’s side door to the car opened and James stepped out, grinning in sunglasses. He was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt with the sleeves slightly rolled up, showing off his ridiculously defined arms. James walked up onto the porch to a chorus of yelling, hugging Nick, Amy, Tex, and Regan enthusiastically and accepting the beer that Tex immediately handed to him. James noticed Charlie hanging back and smiled, leaning forward and extending his hand. “Hey,” he said warmly. “Nick said that he had a friend staying. You’re Charlie, yeah?”Charlie looked startled, then his face relaxed into a smile. “Yeah, I am,” he said, shaking James’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”“You, too.”“James?” asked Amy. “Why is your man still in the car?”James sighed in equal parts affection and exasperation. “He’s waiting until he has everyone’s attention, you know that. He’s…well, just wait.”The group turned toward the car to give Danny his due, the tinted passenger side door opening to reveal the toe of a boot. Danny slowly extended his leg with the door still only half-open, displaying cowboy boots tucked into acid-washed jeans. Nick laughed aloud as Danny swung the door fully open and got out to reveal his full outfit: jean coveralls (with no shirt under), a cowboy hat, and his full-ass cowboy boots, chewing on a piece of grass.“He made me stop to pick that piece of grass for him to have in his mouth, you know,” remarked James as they all watched Danny swagger up to the porch, the rest of the group laughing. Danny did an exaggerated, hip-swinging walk as he went up the porch stairs, tipping his hat at each of them, saying, “ma’am”. Regan laughed. “Danny…why?”“Ol’ Tex here grew up on a ranch,” said Danny with a terrible Southern American accent. “Then we’ve got farmer Nick. I wanted to fit in with the locals, really look the part. Y’know, be like a cow.”He glanced at all of them, letting the silence stretch until Amy finally broke it, rolling her eyes. “Like a cow how,” she asked in a deadened voice, shaking her head in already-burgeoning disappointment.“Outstanding in my field.” Amy, Regan, and James groaned and the rest of them laughed, Danny dropping the act and launching himself at each of them to affectionately hug the lot of them, nearly tackling Nick with his enthusiasm.“Oh, Nicky, Nicky, Nicky boy, I’ve missed you,” Danny crooned, rocking them back and forth and mussing Nick’s hair as he laughed. “And not just because you’re one of The Daddies who understands my jokes unlike this absolute drongo god that I live with and love with all my soul.”Charlie snorted and Danny released Nick and whipped around, a look of delight on his face. “I heard we had an extra this week,” he enthused, seizing Charlie in a tight hug. “Remind me of your name?”“Charlie,” squeaked Charlie, looking as though he needed a bit more oxygen than Danny’s tight embrace would allow him. Nick knew from experience that Charlie was probably momentarily worried about his bones being crushed. “Charlie!” exclaimed Danny as he finally let him go. “Welcome to a weekend of goon and goons; you’ll fit right in.”Charlie looked puzzled and Tex laughed. “He means drinking and idiots, which is us.”Charlie laughed a little nervously as Nick ushered them all inside, the group chatting with beers in hand, all glad to be there and together. Charlie had to excuse himself and dart away quickly to get back to work, and Nick remembered to tell everyone where they were staying. “Okay, Tex and Regan, you’ll be in Room 1, where I think you stayed before. Danny and James, you’re banished downstairs to Room 5 for repeated health and safety violations.” Danny beamed. “One time my Apple Watch gave us a noise notification that we exceeded the safe hearing limits!”Nick closed his eyes momentarily and shook his head while James looked a combination of mortified and pleased. “Charlie’s in Room 3, so Amy, you’ll be in Room 2 and Seamus when he gets here will be in Room 4.” Danny nudged Tex, who grinned. “What?” asked Nick.“Nothing,” said Tex, the sh@t-eating smile still on his face. “I just love seeing Mother Nick in his element, all checklists and clipboards.”“Seriously, you’re a beauty of a man,” said Danny, toasting Nick with his beer.Nick rolled his eyes and laughed. “Shut up.”“Love you too, my little poppet.”The group headed up to their rooms to drop off their stuff and change before grabbing a rugby ball and heading outside, stopping by the cows to say hello and then playing around a little in the same spot that Nick and Charlie had practised the night before. It felt so good and right to be playing with these lads again, though Nick wished Charlie was with them, too; that had just been so fun the night before. After a couple of hours, they headed back inside, sweaty and loud. Everyone trickled off to have showers and lay around a bit before gathering back in the kitchen, James turning on music and making c@cktails while the rest of them chatted and made predictions about Seamus’s match the following evening. “What time are they playing - half six?”“Yeah,” said Nick. “So he won’t be here until what - 10:30? Unless it goes into extra time?”“Well then tonight we go to bed at a reasonable hour so tomorrow we can watch Shea’s match and afterwards we can stay up late and talk about what we’re thinking and how we’re feeling about what we’re thinking and make friendship bracelets,” said Danny. “And get legless.”“That, too,” agreed Tex.  The rest of the afternoon passes in a pleasant blur, everyone catching up and exchanging stories from the summer. Tex and Regan had spent a few weeks in Texas, and Regan was retelling stories of her culture shock, including ordering what she thought would be the light option of a pork chop to have a 32-ounce monstrosity brought to the table. They’d had a great time, though, and Tex boasted about Regan’s roping ability he’s taught her, which made Danny light up and start to ask pointed questions before James elbowed him to be quiet. Danny and James had likewise gone to his sister’s place in Australia and hung out with Danny’s niblings, Danny affectionately showing a multitude of videos and pictures of James with the kids. Everyone hung out in the kitchen as Nick cooked, which Nick truly loved. He had made pizza dough earlier and shaped it into rounds, setting out a ton of toppings and letting everyone go to town to make a truly personal pizza.Nick excused himself to go to Charlie’s room, gently tapping on the door. Charlie opened the door and smiled at Nick, and Nick smiled back for a moment before he remembered why he’d come up. “Do you want to come down for dinner? I made pizzas, so everyone can pick their own toppings and make what they like. I remembered that you’re a monster who said that you like olives, so I even committed the ultimate sin and bought a jar for you.”Charlie grinned and nodded happily. “Just wait - try them on  pizza and I bet you’ll change your tune.”“No, I prefer to keep my pizza pure and devoid of salty hatred.”Charlie laughed. “You have not lived, Nick.”“So, do you want to come down? That lot was all saying they wanted to chat with you more,” said Nick, which was true.“They…do?” asked Charlie, his dimples appearing with his puzzled grin. “Uh, yeah?” Nick was puzzled right back;  of course  they wanted to get to know Charlie better. Who wouldn’t?“I, uh - yeah, that sounds nice,” said Charlie. “I’m done now, I’ll come down with you.”“Great,” said Nick, grinning and backing up to wait for Charlie to shut his computer. They headed downstairs and there was a cheer when the group saw Charlie walk in, Charlie’s blush evident in his neck even from Nick’s view behind him. “Charlie Spring. Springtime. Springer Spaniel,” said Danny with a giant smile. “We’ve never gotten to interact with Lavender Fields guests before; Sarah forbade it. Things have really gone to sh@t@ with Nicky here at the helm.”“Sarah is just smarter than Nick is,” Nick said, rolling his eyes at himself. “She knew that business would evaporate if I turned you lot loose on poor, unsuspecting guests.”“Charlie’s a guest,” Danny pointed out, cheek in his voice. “Charlie’s a fruest,” Amy said, hugging Charlie from behind and making him jump, then laugh. “A friend-guest.”Nick had been opening his mouth to say something similar - that Charlie was a friend,  not  a guest, but closed it at Amy’s response, which was better. And probably more correct. “No, I’m a tenant of this landlord,” said Charlie, pointing at Nick. “He’s letting me stay here for way longer than he probably should while the flat I’m moving to gets fixed up.”“New place, huh?” asked Tex. “What made you move?”Nick cringed internally and he saw Charlie’s jaw tighten a little. “I had it out with my ex-fiancé,” he mumbled. “He ended up staying at the old place, so I got myself somewhere new. New place, new life, you know?”“Hell yes,” said Amy firmly, pushing a glass of wine into Charlie’s hand. “And no conversation about exes without alcohol, ever.”“Bl@@dy oath,” agreed Danny, toasting his drink at Charlie. “F@ck. That’s sh@t, mate. On a scale of 1 to f@ckw@t, where does this w@nk@r land?”“He’s a nine point Caden,” Amy chimed in, and James and Danny growled, Nick glowering a little too. “Worse, actually.”“F@ck  that guy,” muttered James. “Both of them being ‘that guy’.”“Oh, so this one is a true f@ck knuckle,” mused Danny. “What, did he-” Nick glanced at Charlie the same time that Danny seemed to, noting the miserable look on Charlie’s face. “Right, shut the f@ck up, Turner,” Danny said, referring to himself by his own last name. Danny had a huge mouth but he also had a keen sense of other peoples’ emotions, and Nick was grateful that he’d clocked that it was time to move on. “Well, maybe he’ll drown in a dunny soon trying to hang out with his friends, the fellow pieces of sh@t, and we’ll all have a belter to celebrate, yeah?”“Dunny means toilet,” James informed Charlie, and Charlie snorted. “I’d be so lucky,” he said. “But yeah - Nick’s been really kind to let me stay here for a bit while the new place gets ready.”“Nick’s a gem,” said Regan, the rest nodding and making Nick blush madly. “He’s as fine as a frog hair split four ways,” added Tex with extra twang in his voice, making them all laugh.“He’s…okay,” said Amy, deadpan. Nick took out his phone and spoke into it. “Siri, what is an anti-bullying hotline number I can call?” He caught Charlie’s grin as the group laughed again.“How long are you here for?” asked James to Charlie.“I think four weeks or so,” said Charlie. “They said it would be ready during the first part of December.”“I feel like those things always take so much longer than they say,” said James, shaking his head. “It’s so annoying. When I moved to Leeds to play for the Badgers, I was supposed to move into my place in, like, a month. But it ended up taking over three. I think Wilco was ready to strangle me by the end of it.”“Don’t lie, you made up the fact that the work got extended to keep eating Annette’s cooking,” said Nick. “I mean, good cooking  is  a strong incentive to stay somewhere,” said Charlie with a grin at Nick, making him flush with pride. Who knows, maybe Charlie’s construction would get extended and he might end up staying a little bit longer. Nick wouldn’t mind that.“Speaking of,” said Danny in a whiny voice. “I’m so hungry I could eat a sh@t sandwich on the keto diet and even have it without the bread. Can we eat?”There was an outburst of disgusted laughter and Nick started sliding pizzas in, pushing the group over to the dining room to get settled in. “How’d you two meet?” Charlie asked Regan politely, indicating her and Tex. “She fell for my boyish charm and chivalrous wiles,” said Tex, laying an arm around her shoulder. “And her knowledge that I’m a dynamite person to have around if you’re hung over in the morning.”Charlie c@cked his head in puzzled interest and Regan laughed. “God, I hate this story,” she said.“You don’t have to tell it,” assured Tex.“I know,” she said, smiling at him. “We met on a rollercoaster in Sweden. The Monster roller coaster, to be specific. We were both with friends and were the odd people out and got paired up to sit together. I got  so  nauseated during the ride and dashed over to the bin afterwards, and Walker here followed me to hold back my hair. He said it was too pretty to ‘blow chunks in’.” She made air quotes and put on an American accent on the last phrase.“Amazing dinner talk,” said James, taking a polished sip of his wine and making Danny laugh and nose into his neck to kiss it quickly. “That’s…amazing,” said Charlie.“And disgusting,” added Regan.“Well, I didn’t want to say that…” said Charlie, grinning and making everyone laugh, and Nick just felt so,  so  happy. He  knew  that Charlie was going to fit in with everyone and they were all going to love him, but seeing it live was gratifying. Charlie looked at James and Danny, James’s hand on the back of Danny’s neck, just resting there. “And you two?”“We met in uni,” said Danny. “We were freshers in the same dorm together.  Roomies,” he added, squinting his face playfully at James. “And you’ve been together…since then?”Nick saw James’s face change a little, a combination of openness and regret and love as he looked at Danny. “No, that…that took a bit,” he said, nodding at Charlie and maintaining eye contact. Nick snuck another glance at James and at Danny, who was looking only at James, his face an unreadable mix. Nick knew a  little  about Danny and James’s past, but none of the details. “F@ck@ng worth it though,” said Danny cheerfully, breaking the energy up. “Now I get to live with Superman - c’mon, Charlie, admit he looks like Henry Cavill, am I right? - and get to pash him every single g@dd@mn day. One hundred percent f@ck@ng worth it.”Charlie had looked a little worried when James had answered him, the tension draining from his face at Danny’s easy attitude. He raised his wine glass. “Well, cheers to that.”“Amen,” chorused Amy and Regan.“Gay-men,” agreed Danny, toasting Charlie and making him laugh. The rest of dinner was great, the group telling Charlie stories about Seamus and other members of the team that weren’t there. After dinner, they headed into the parlour, Danny and James cuddled together on the loveseat. Amy sat on the floor in front of Regan, who was using her perched position on the touch to give Amy a scalp massage. Tex was sitting next to Regan, leaning back on the couch and laughing and chatting with the team. Nick was on the other couch, and smiled at Charlie, who joined him on the free end and gave a shy smile back. Nick was glad that Charlie had come out to hang out with them; he had hung back after dinner, looking towards the stairs like he wasn’t sure if he was going to go up or not.“Should I…I might go up to my room,” Charlie had said quietly to Nick as the others had gone toward the parlour. “Since I have to work tomorrow.”“Oh,” Nick said, trying not to look crestfallen. He really wanted Charlie to get to know everyone and see that a group of rugby lads could be kind and fun and welcoming. “Are you sure?”“Well, you’re also all - like, friends, you know? Like, dinner is one thing, since you’re now a bed-and-breakfast-and-other-meals,” said Charlie, Nick chuckling. “And I don’t want to interrupt like some…” Charlie paused to do a quick calculation. “Seventh wheel?”Nick smiled. “I’ve been the fifth or sixth or seventh wheel for a while, so come join. I wheel-y want you to.”Charlie tilted his head and looked at Nick with utter disappointment, Nick breaking to laugh, then Charlie following him, giggling too. “You wheely, wheely do?”Nick gasped. “Charlie, yes!”“Charlie no,”said Charlie, already laughing and shaking his head at himself. “Come on, you two, Nemo isn’t going to find himself!” called Danny from the parlour. Charlie laughed lightly. “Are we really watching Finding Nemo?”Nick rolled his eyes. “Danny insists that it’s positive Aussie representation and it’s both homophobic and xenophobic to not have it on at least once a month. But we usually ignore any movie and just talk anyway.”So now Charlie was with him on the couch, and Nick was chuffed to see how well Charlie got on with everyone, not that he didn’t think he was going to. Charlie was just so easy to be around - and funny, and kind, and interesting - and he wasn’t surprised at all that the group seemed to like him immediately. He was sassy with Amy and laughing at stories from Danny and Tex and engaged in conversation with Regan and James. Nick drifted in and out of following the conversation, mostly just pleased to have everyone there. As he listened and occasionally interjected, his gaze wandered, eventually falling on Danny and James, their hands intertwined. Nick had seen them exchange way more PDA before (sometimes an amount that was hard to forget), but for some reason, his eyes stayed on their hands, fingers laced together. There was something about the sight of two large and tan, masculine hands that felt…Nick didn’t know - unusual? But not, like, bad  unusual. He’d always see straight couples holding hands, or movies or TV where a heterosexual couple were holding hands, with close-ups that featured their connection, fingers connected. Nick reflected on the fact that he’d never really  looked  at two men holding hands, and even though it wasn’t something he’d seen much, it was just…nice. Nice that Danny and James felt comfortable enough with all of them to do that without thinking, nice that after four years together, they still felt that need to hold hands, Danny’s thumb mindlessly stroking against James’s index finger as they spoke. “Oi, Nicky?”Nick started. “Yeah?”Amy grinned. “You good? Did you take an edible after dinner that you’re not sharing with the group?”“Oh, edibles,” said Danny wistfully. “D@mn the league and their cannabi-phobic testing policies.” He shook his head ruefully and then looked at James. “Angel, when I retire I am getting lightly stonkered for a month straight. I miss mull.”James chuckled and patted Danny on the head. “I know, baby, I know.”Nick laughed, too. “No, sorry, I just spaced out for a little.” “It did get late,” said Regan, yawning and looking at the clock. “And the next two nights are going to be a right sh@tshow, so I might head to bed.”“I’ll join you,” said Tex with a wink, getting up and exchanging hugs with everyone (including Charlie, to Nick’s delight) and chasing Regan up the stairs, both of them laughing and calling out good nights to everyone on their way up.“Ah, to be young and in love and getting laid,” said Amy with a sigh, getting up too. “I’ll see you all in the morning.” She pointed at Charlie. “Run tomorrow, first thing?”“Yeah, sounds good,” said Charlie, Nick smiling at him from his side of the couch. “You’re a brave man,” he muttered to Charlie.“No,” stage-whispered Charlie back. “I’m a cowardly man who is too afraid of what she might do to me if I don’t agree.”“God I love you, Charlie,” said Amy, nodding with approval. Danny and James got up too at Amy’s prodding and headed to their room after hugging everyone along with Amy, leaving Nick and Charlie for a moment.“So,” started Nick. “Did you-”“D’you think they-”“Oh, sorry, you go-”“No, sorry, you-”“Sor-”“Toll!”“You did it too!”“…Well, we’re watching a rugby match anyway tomorrow, so we can cancel this toll,” said Nick, laughing lightly. “But, uh - did you…do you like them?”“They’re really great,” said Charlie authentically. “I really do like them. Everyone is just…nice, you know? And it’s like - kind of weird, I guess, to see two guys like Danny and James just so comfortable with being together in front of other people. Which makes me feel so small-minded to say - like what, just because they’re too stereotypically rugby-looking lads, it’s weird to see them being gay?” He shook his head, trying to get his words together. “It’s just…nice, I guess. That you all are so comfortable with them, and they’re so comfortable with you.” He paused and sighed, dropping his eyes from Nick’s face. “And each other.”“Yeah,” said Nick, wanting to say something else to reassure Charlie that he would find someone who was open with their feelings about Charlie; someone who appreciated what they had when they had Charlie. But he couldn’t find the right words. “Anyway,” said Charlie with another little breath and a straightening of his shoulders. “Tomorrow should be a lighter day of work. I might be able to finish up a little early.”Nick brightened. “That’s great! I have to go to town again tomorrow to drop off all of the stuff for the markets, reckon you’d like to join?”Charlie gave a small, shy smile back. “I mean…only if timing worked out for you.”Nick gave a cheeky grin. “I got nothing but time. Think you’d be done round…what, like three?”“That should work,” said Charlie, looking happy. “Then I’ll see you at three,” said Nick. He automatically stepped forward to hug Charlie like he had everyone else goodnight, then stepped back, catching himself, probably looking like he was doing some weird two-step dance. He needed to remember that as much as he thought of Charlie as a friend (and Charlie  was  a friend), he didn’t want to come on too strong. The Badgers group was one thing - but Nick didn’t know if that’s what Charlie was like. He also needed to remember that he kind of  was  like Charlie’s landlord, even though he knew Charlie had been joking earlier. He was ultimately the (temporary) owner of the place where Charlie was living for a month. Nick didn’t want Charlie to feel like he had to hang out with Nick and that lot all weekend; he was sure Charlie wanted some time for himself, too. He wanted Charlie to feel welcome but not obligated, and that probably went for physical contact, too. Nick couldn’t just…assume. So instead Nick just swung his arm forward and gave Charlie a friendly, laddish pat on the upper arm. “Goodnight, Charlie,” he said, looking at him quickly. Charlie looked back at Nick, giving him a quick, small smile. “Goodnight, Nick.”-Breakfast was loud and late and fun. Charlie had dashed in and out after his run with Amy (apologising to the group that he wanted to get done with work early so he’d be able to join for their planned happy hour, to raucous approval), and the rest of the group lingered even while Nick did the chores and returned to find a game of mimosa flip-cup on the table (with a plastic tablecloth thoughtfully laid over the wooden surface, likely the work of Regan or James). Nick played a few rounds before stopping so he’d be ready to drive into town that afternoon, eventually working out and showering himself, then laughing when he came through the parlour to see most of the group draped dramatically over the couches as they napped. Charlie came down right around three, grinning at Nick and speaking in a low voice. “I see everyone got started early?”Nick snorted. “It’s going to be a hedonistic next couple of days, Charlie.”“They look like a Renaissance painting called  Rugby in Repose.”Nick laughed, trying to quiet himself and not wake everyone up. God, Charlie was funny. “You ready to go?”They headed into the old truck (Nick had already loaded it, wanting to avoid Charlie having to do any work after his workday) and set off, chatting and listening to music that Charlie put on. Today Charlie said they were time-travelling, putting on a playlist of songs from 2016 that Nick ended up loving nearly every one of, nodding his head along to one about Dover Beach that just felt perfect as they drove. Nick tried to catch a few of the lyrics, which wasn’t always easy to do when listening to a song for the first time. 
   ‘Cause he’s colouring my insides ocean blue 

   And everywhere I look, I look at you 
Nick loved having the team there almost more than he could say, but it was also really nice to have time hanging out with Charlie again, just the two of them. They headed into town, and this time Charlie said he was going to walk around while Nick did his deliveries and maybe get something for Elle and Tao. Nick picked him back up about an hour later, Charlie swirling an iced coffee and showing Nick the citrus-infused olive oil he’d picked out. “The olive oil looks amazing, but an iced coffee?” Nick shivered and zipped up his coat to his chin, making Charlie laugh. “It’s freezing!”“I’m gay.”Nick laughed. “Is that, like, a mandate?”“It is,” assured Charlie. “I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.”“You drink hot coffee at Lavender Fields,” said Nick, pointing accusatorily. “I’m nothing but polite in the face of your inn-based homophobia, Nicholas,” said Charlie sanctimoniously, making Nick laugh. Nick drove them home a different way again this time, on a road that was edged by a stream, huge trees along the bank. He tried to describe how different it looked in the spring with everything in bloom. “You should see it in April and May,” he told Charlie. “It’s just so lush and green, you’ll love it.”Charlie glanced over towards the trees, then looked away again. “I - yeah,” he said, lapsing into silence for a moment. Nick drove on, puzzled by the change in tone before Charlie spoke again. “So, I did some chatting at the office when I was there this week,” he said. “One of my colleagues, Anita - she thinks that there would be a great market for a ‘Taste of Bed and Breakfast at Home’ type of cookbook. I know you had just mentioned putting the recipes for your mum together in a cookbook for her, but would you - do you think she’d want to sell them, too?”Nick glanced over at Charlie in delight before returning his eyes to the road. “Seriously?”Charlie cocked his head and looked at Nick with a smile. “Yes?”“Oh my god, that would be unreal,” enthused Nick. “She’d die! I’d die!”“I don’t want that,” said Charlie with a laugh.“You’re…that’s incredible, Charlie,” said Nick. “Thank you so much for, like - asking around about that. You truly didn’t have to do that; I thought it would just be you showing me how to copy-paste into some template.”“Well, she deserves more than that, it sounds like,” said Charlie with a soft grin. “I’ve been benefiting from her cooking; I should know.”“Her cooking,” snorted Nick. Charlie rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Sorry, her recipes, Nick Nelson’s cooking.”Nick grinned. He wasn’t sure that Charlie had said his full name before like that, and he liked the sound of it coming out of Charlie’s mouth. “Thank you.” They chatted a little bit about logistics, Charlie asking if he could access Sarah‘s recipes to get started and Nick eagerly agreeing. They got home and walked into the house, James shaking more drinks in the kitchen. “Charlie,” he called, tossing a kitchen towel over his shoulder. “What’s your poison?”“Oh, what’ve you got?” asked Charlie.“Anything you want, Chuckie,” said Amy, squeezing his shoulders from behind and making him jump and laugh. “James here is basically Tom Cruise in  Cocktail, just minus the Scientology and weirdness.”“And he’s great with a hard cock…tail,” added Danny, popping his head in from the kitchen.Tex shook his head. “Too obvious,” he scolded Danny. “You’re better than that.”“Yeah,” agreed Nick. “That was a real cock-fail, Danny.”Charlie let out a smothered laugh and Nick whirled, pointing at him with delight. “You laughed!”“I didn’t!” insisted Charlie, trying to school his face. “Jury of my peers?” Nick implored the room.“Sorry, Charlie, that’s a laugh,” ruled Tex, nodding firmly. “I have to count this as a laugh for Nick,” agreed Regan.“Ace! A win for Daddies everywhere!” cheered Danny from the kitchen, making them  all  laugh.“Fine,” said Charlie, grinning back at Nick, who returned the expression. “You got me.”“Yes, I did,” said Nick smugly, Charlie’s ears turning slightly pink. There wasn’t much time before Seamus’s match (Sharks versus Irish), but fortunately Nick had defrosted a huge portion of frozen bolognese and had that simmering on the stove since noon, and now just had to make the pasta and veg. He did those easy tasks while everyone hung out in the kitchen and dining room, Nick glowing inside. He loved this feeling: The feeling of making something for the people he cared about while everyone was in arm’s reach. Everyone dished out bowls of spag bol and salad before heading upstairs to Nick’s living room, which was less spacious but a little more casual and relaxed. Amy, Regan, and Charlie were on one couch, with Tex against Regan’s legs. Danny and James were on the other, with Nick banished to one of the chairs due to his “match-viewing exuberance.” “Have you had the misfortune of watching a match with this hooligan?” Tex asked Charlie, nodding toward Nick who squawked in protest.Charlie nodded gravely. “The first week I stayed here,” he said solemnly. “You’re going to let that guy be your coach next year?”“Charlie Spring, you f@ck@ng legend,” laughed Danny. “You’ve known this lad for what, 6 minutes and you already have his number?”Charlie blushed and Nick felt himself do the same. “I’m not that bad.”“Nick is legitimately one of the nicest people I know,” said James, turning to Charlie. “Until he’s on the sideline of a match and is trying to play in it from afar.”Danny laughed. “Do you lot remember when he pulled his calf a few years back and the camera kept picking him up? Remember the memes?”“Oh hell to the yes,” laughed Tex, opening his phone over Nick’s protests and showing Charlie a series of memes pictures of Nick, including one where he was labelled as, “When you see the human version of Sam the Eagle,” his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance like a shelf on his forehead. Charlie laughed and Tex kept showing them until thankfully, the match coverage began. Nick used that as an excuse to ban all phones ‘in respect of Seamus and the great teams of our nation’. The match was a tight one, both teams near the top of the table this year. Nick still hated that Seamus had been traded, but it was good to see him on a team that would have a decent run at the Champions Cup that year. The match got scrappy as the score stayed close, with a handful of yellow cards popping up in the second half, including one earned for a hit on Seamus that made everyone yell loudly, startling Charlie, Nick spilling his drink as he gestured angrily.“Why’s that not allowed?” Charlie asked, looking at Nick. “What made that hit different?”“It was too high,” said Danny grimly. “That’s a cheap coathanger move, see the way he collared Shea? First of all, you can’t tackle above the line of the shoulders.”“Plus you can’t be a  f@ck@ng douchebag,” said Amy, glaring at the TV and the player who did the tackle receiving a yellow card, Seamus slowly getting up. “Yes, that’s in the rulebook as well,” confirmed Danny. “C@nt-ery is not permissible on the field of play.”Charlie let out a surprised laugh and Nick looked over. “You’ll get used to his language eventually.”They watched Seamus’s team, the Sale Sharks, eke out a narrow victory over the London Irish, and Tex checked the time. “It’s only just past eight,” he said. “Hour after the match, then about an hour drive, yeah?”“Just about,” confirmed Nick.“Excellent, let’s get derro so he feels welcome and peer pressured to drink heavily to catch up with us,” said Danny enthusiastically. Charlie laughed. “This sounds like the start of an anti-drinking assembly in secondary.”“Perfect,” beamed Danny. “Those always ended amazingly for the main characters, right?”Despite that, they ended up staying in the living room talking and messing about for another hour until Seamus messaged to say he was on his way, Charlie receiving a well-intentioned and likely unwanted rugby rules practical lesson, the lads delighted to hear that he was playing in the scrimmage the next day. Danny pointed at Amy. “You said you ran with him today. Is he fast?” He pointed at Charlie. “Are you fast? You look fast as f@ck, mate.”Amy raised her finger back, wagging it at Danny. “I’ve done my scouting, you do your own.”Danny turned to Charlie. “Race you down the stairs? For totally normal, non-competitive advantage-seeking reasons?”Charlie laughed. “I can see the headline tomorrow:  Rugby lad out for several months with broken leg after falling down antique wooden stairs and crashing into haunted portraits at the landing; reportedly deeply possessed.”Danny shouted out a laugh, making Charlie jump and grin. “Charlie  f@ck@ng  Spring. We didn’t know we needed you in this group until we met you, you menace-laden c@nt.”Nick grinned again,  loving  how welcome the team was making him feel. They really  hadn’t  realised that they were missing Charlie Spring until they had him in their midst. They finally all headed downstairs to drink and play card games until Seamus arrived, James preparing celebratory, ‘You won and it’s our bye week’ shots for when he got there. Time seemed to fly as they all enjoyed themselves, Nick no longer closely watching to make sure Charlie felt like he was included; that Charlie was comfortable. Charlie was smiling with his whole face, warming up Nick’s chest with joy. Charlie just looked so  happy. Nick loved to see that. The team got a buzz when Seamus was a few minutes away from the Find My Friends app, and the group piled on the porch, Nick playfully pulling a laughing Charlie along by the arm to join them. They all waved their arms madly as Seamus pulled up, blasting the horn and raising a startled round of mooing from the barn. Danny barreled towards Seamus first as he got out of the car, clearly unable to contain his delight for even a second longer. Seamus laughed and hugged him back, then each of them in turn, shaking Charlie warmly by the hand as well. They all hustled back inside and Regan passed out shots, all of them yelling, “Badgers!” as they did, Charlie and Regan and Seamus all joining in, too. Nick shooed everyone into the parlour and stepped into the kitchen for a moment to pull out the charcuterie board from earlier. He and Shea had lived together for a few months when they were both first starting on the Badgers together, and he knew and loved Seamus’s propensity for meat-and-cheese-based snacking following a fixture. Nick was slicing a bit more cheese and freshening up the crackers when he saw Charlie slide into the kitchen and turned to look at him, smiling. “You right? That lot not giving you too hard of a time?” Nick asked.Charlie smirked. “I feel like  you’re  sometimes the one who gets a hard time,” he said with a playful grin.Nick chuckled wryly. “You’ve clocked it in a day, Charlie. Though I think sometimes Shea gets it even worse than I do; they love to give him sh@t even more than me.” He turned fully to face Charlie, leaning his hip against the counter. “So - what do you think?”Charlie made a tiny movement. “What…do you mean?”“About  them,” Nick smiled. “Oh!” said Charlie, nodding minutely, then brightening. “They’re…fantastic, Nick.”Nick beamed. “Aren’t they? Do you actually like them?”“I truly do,” said Charlie. “Everyone is just so…I don’t know, they seem to want to make everyone feel included, you know?”“Exactly,” said Nick. “That’s why it was such a great time. It was just…I felt like truly a  part  of it all, you know? Like I had…my people, I guess.” He looked away for a moment, chewing his lip in anxiety. Charlie was dealing with his own shit, he didn’t need to deal with Nick’s whinging. “But, yeah,” he said, shaking it off. “I’m so glad they’re here. And that you’re meeting them. Everyone thinks you’re amazing.”Charlie blushed. “That’s-”There was a loud electric buzzing, skipping sound from the parlour, making Charlie and Nick exchange looks. “What the f@ck…”“I have no idea…”They both went through the dining room to the parlour, the buzzing shifting into a thumping bass. In the parlour, Danny had pulled out a Bluetooth speaker, the lights turned all the way down. Nick vaguely recognised the song - Dancing on my Own, he thought it was called, or at least that was the chorus as he remembered it. He and Charlie laughed at Amy, Tex, Regan, and Danny dancing wildly to the song, Regan grabbing Seamus and Tex seizing James to pull them onto the carpet slash dance floor. “Oi! Nelson! Springtime!”The song slowed down a little to a bridge as Charlie and Nick watched, Danny dancing up in front of them, his shoulders shimmying as he mouthed the words to the slower part, dropping to his knees in beseeching invitation. 
   So far away 

   But still so near 

   The lights go on, the music dies 

   But you don’t see me standing here 

   I just came to say goodbye 

   I’m in the corner 

   Watching you kiss her, oh 
As the bass came back in, Danny pounded his fist on the carpet in time with this music, leaping back up and dragging them to join everyone. Nick looked at Charlie who rolled his eyes with a grin and then jumped up and down for a moment, joining the group until he went into a round of air-drums, making everyone laugh and whoop. Nick hung back for a second longer, taking it in - the group of people he’d known for ages and the person he’d just met, limbs and bodies moving happily, the lights down low. Amy’s eyes were closed as she moved around, and Danny now had his arms wrapped around James’s neck. Seamus was bouncing in time to the music with Regan, and Tex was waving his arms and doing some two-step dance. Nick had one of those flashes, the ones where he knew this would be a moment he’d remember forever. Nick finally joined in, moving his shoulders and jumping around with the rest of them, Charlie grinning beside him. It was one of those moments where Nick felt like he had everything he ever wanted, and he threw his head back and laughed aloud, living in the moment where he felt on top of the world. 
  
  

    
      
        
        
          (Raspberry) Dutch Baby RecipeNotes: This is an easy one to substitute in non-dairy milk and/or a gluten-free flour mix if you have either of those dietary restrictions. You can also swap the butter for coconut oil if you are dairy-free.Ingredients:2 eggs, room temperature½  c milk, room temperature¼ tsp cinnamonPinch salt½ c flour3 Tbsp butter½ c fresh raspberriesPreheat the oven to 425 degrees F and wait until it is fully at temperature. While it preheats, place a cast-iron skillet in the heating oven.While the oven is preheating (with the pan in the oven), whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, and salt until it is frothy. Add in the flour, whisking hard until it’s fully combined. Use an oven mitt to remove the hot skillet and add in the butter. Place the skillet back in the oven and wait until the butter melts. As soon as the butter is melted, remove the skillet again. Pour in the batter, then put the skillet back in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are brown and the dish is puffed in the centre.Remove from the oven, then cut into wedges. Top with the raspberries, and then consider adding powdered sugar, syrup, and/or whipping cream.'
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